Motorsport News Issue 255 - April 23-May 6, 2003

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motoisport news

Issue 255

23 April - 6 May 2003

news and opinion 4

Ticking clock Holden has a deadline to sort out HRT

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Lucky Strike 3 Villenuevc to get sliced from BAR-Honda to Fisi wins It just took a while for everyone to realise 12 Good 01’ Juan Gordon and Montoya to swap seats

SIR IKE,

21 Daijiro Kato A tragic loss to the MotoGP world 25 Motor Mouth A Chat with a Rat in a Hat 26 Box Seat Saward has the eye of the Tiger... er, Newt 82 Talk Converter Please write to us, we love the attention

features 26 Rve Minutes With Jean Alesi A jolly Frenchman in the DTM 30 Number 1 with a bullet Skaifey speaks on his ‘quiet’ start to the year 32 Tall Stories Garth Tander is a busy lad and he is going pretty well, too 36 Fisi Fisi Fisi Giancarlo Fisichella won his first GP in Brazil but he got his trophy in front of his home fans in Italy. Yep, it was pretty confusing to us too yo 35 years on Remembering the great Jim Clark

fface ceverage

38 And the Safety Car wins! No, it was actually Craig Lowndes who was in front when the heavens opened at Phillip Island 47 FFs and CCs The Formula Fords and Carrera Cups kick-off at Phillip Island 50 Victory through the tears Michael Schumacher wins at Imola after suffering a family tragedy with the death of his mother on the morning of the race ●TMOOI MAin nUXSICM nSCHOlA 60 Finn has funn un UnZud Gronholm hits his stride in New Zealand WRC

nacii liCI Ull IIMi

Photos: Cover: John Morris/Mpix, Redzone Motorspori Images and Marshall Cass. Contents: Sutton-lmages, Marshall Cass and Redzone.

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regulars 20 Motorcycles 68 Drag Racing

62 Rallying 73 Histories

64 Speedway

66 NASCAR

74 Nationai Scene

76 Marketplace 3

Holden gets a deadline A TIME frame has been put in place to deal with Holden's ownership of the Holden Racing Team.

The Chairman of the Touring Car Entrants' Group TEGA, Kelvin O'Reilly, confirmed last week that there was a 'deadline' to resolve the ownership issue of the team.

Holden bought HRT from the administrators of the TWR Group, which went into receivership earlier this year.

"There is a date that Holden and TEGA are working to," said O'Reilly, "but it is not for me to say what that date it."

MNews believes that the end of June is the likely date, a fact reinforced by reports in the Sydney Morning Herald last week, quoting "60 days" as the time frame for settling the matter.

Holden's Director of Sales and Marketing, Ross McKenzie, said last week that Holden and TEGA were working closely on resolving the matter.

"We'll structure in a way that completely meets TEGA's requirements," said McKenzie.

Kmart racing; and Team Brock) issue. Atnd we're getting that from the. sport's administrators."

The ovNc/nership of the three teams, vvfltiich TEGA says exceeds the four-car limit laid down in i its rules, is a separate issue, cutrrently under consideration by the three-man TEGA Trifcbunal.

"There- are some teams and individuallsat Ford who wouldn't mind giving us a whack at: the moment," McKenziesarys. "I'm not surprised;.ill's a tough sport.

We're noitita:llking about pub darts.

"The previous owners of TWR Auairalia extracted maximurm adivantage; no quarter was asked or given."

McKenzzie Ihmted that TWR made enemies within TEGA due to acTtionis of which Holden was not aware.

"So I understand when a Ford person says 'bugger 'em' - give 'eTO'heapsI'" "But cci>:mrtnonsense is prevailing:.These blokes and these teanms (HRT etc) are important. To take them out

Commonsense is prevailing. These mokes and these teams(HRT etc)are importanr -Hmllem’s Ross McKenzie "Of course, we'll address all the issues they (TEGA) have had about the concept of 'grouping' and Holden is happy to move towards the principal of what TEGA has always wanted to avoid, and that's market dominance by any one team (either technically or financially).

"We think that's a fair point of view."

He agreed that monopolies are not good for the sport and that all the teams in both camps should "go racing on a parity basis".

"That's easy to say but not easy to achieve," McKenzie continued. "But Holden doesn't have any problem abiding by the teams' agreement.

"Holden is just looking for a little understanding on the temporary ownership (of HRT, 4

would be-' to significantly diminish the sport."

Holden n nnd TEGA are currently 'woirking on a number of alternaztives to resolve the matters. CDne options includes having British Touring Car Champiomshipteam Triple 8 purchase- all or part of HRT(see MNews #=253), though team principal Ian Harrison reported that there -.was "no progress to report" w,'hein: contacted last week.

MNewsals.o believes that HRT tearraHeader Mark Skaife and/or TVWR Racing General Manager Jleffi Grech could also be involved in ownership in some forrm, with a Holden insider cojiiirmning that there had alreacdybeen discussions about the- idea.

- PHIL BRAIMAGAN

Skaife: Ni

Champ not concerned over incident -1

MARK Skaife escaped unpenalised after an overtaking clash with Greg Murphy at Phillip Island during the latest round of the V8 Supercar championship - which raised eyebrows up and down pit lane.

The defending champion's HRT -Commodore came together with the Kmart machine at MG Corner, with Murphy spinning onto the infield before resuming after a loss of six positions.

Race Stewards deemed the clash a "racing incident", while there was deemed to be "insufficient evidence to sustain charges against either party" after a clash in which Jason Bright and Marcos Ambrose came together as the latter attempted to enter pit lane during the late-race downpour.

While some of his peers believe that Skaife got away with something not dissimilar to the Ingall/Murphy incident at the Clipsal 500(which saw Ingall penalised), Skaife is categorical that his move was legit: "If you have a look at tlie vision, then clearly we're in a position to command the comer," he told MNews during an interview this week (see page 30).

"I knew when Greg turned in he didn't see me.To begin witlr I thought he'd left me room,but in the end he actually did turn in not seeing me and n that's the way we had contact."

One prominent driver, who preferred not to be named on the record, described the Ingall/Murphy Adelaide incident and the Skaife/Murphy Phillip Island incident as "identical".

"If you look at Russell getting into Murf,and then what Skaife did at the Island, it's hard to draw a distinction," he said. "It appeared that Skaifey made a pretty late decision to try and get through on Murf,but otherwise, they (the incidents) are the same.

"What happened? Ingall gets, effectively, a 10-second penalty after an incident that cost Murphy 12 seconds. Skaife?'A racing incident' and play on.

"You cannot help but think that, when they looked at the Incident after the race, the stewards looked at the fact that Murf finished ahead of Skaife and decided that it was all okay. As far as I understand it, that is not what is supposed to happen."

Following the conclusion of the Sunday Adelaide race, stewards 'placed' Ingall behind Murphy in the

There has to he a hetter way of getting proper evidence in these cases

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- Marcos Ambrose results,leaving him in 12th place, while the two drivers had previously been battling over third place. A 'time' penalty, which would have meant that Ingall was docked around 25 seconds (the equivalent of a drivethrough penalty), would have put him in approximately 19th position.

In the end,Skaife - who had already copped a pit lane speeding drive-through, which he admitted to - wasn't penalised at the Island and went on to salvage sixth and

moiorspon news

I Worries

ut some drivers unhappy with stewards Marshall Cass

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Good day, not great day: Skaife drove superbly at speed but a mistake in the pitlane cost him points. Other drivers are less happy, though ... valuable championship points.

Ambrose -looking for all intents and purposes the PI race winner until it rained - was also disappointed with the outcome into the enquiry into his incident with Bright: "It's tough on Stewards,I guess, but having adopted the approach of trying to keep my nose clean, I thought the claim that I was out too wide to enter pit lane was disappointing.

"There's nothing I can do personally about it, and it's not a perfect world, but for our fans and the category, there has to be a better way of getting proper evidence in these cases."

This may well come with the delayed introduction of standardised 23 April 2003

in-car cameras in every car, which will provide Stewards with additional data and evidence.

MNews understands that the fitment of cameras has been delayed because of the process of developing the technology or recording vision on a hard disc. This would be advantageous for the Bathurst 1000, which can last up to seven hours, but in few (if any)other events.

However, we hear that an easier and cheaper alternative, utilising 'lipstick' cameras and Sony Digital Video units, is being fast-tracked after an informal trial at Phillip Island.

Should the format get the go-ahead, teams could fit the units to their cars within a month at a cost of approximately $7000 per car.

NEWS

'46'test Stewarils KMART Racing's pre-season Winton Raceway test has been referred to Stewards for investigation.

In late February, Greg Murphy tested a KRT Commodore VX at Winton, using tyres used and marked with '46'- the number allocated to John Faulkner Racing. JFR's two Level 1 licences are now utilised by KRT and Faulkner runs the Holden Young Guns program in the Konica V8 Supercar Series.

MNews understands that the series stewards will investigate the test at Eastern Creek next week to determine whether it breaches the Touring Car Entrants Group's testing regulations.

Currently, neither KRT nor Team Brock have been issued with testing logs, because of the ongoing investigation by the TEGA Tribunal over the ownership of the TWR Racing teams. Because of this, both teams have not conducted testing in their own right this season, though we understand that either team may test under the testing log allocated to the Holden Racing Team.

At the Winton test, HRT tested one car (with two drivers) and KRT one car, with another KRT Commodore reliveried with 46, fitted with tyres marked with 46. The two Level 1 entries tested within a cost of one test day but, should the stewards find that testing the '46' car contravenes TEGA testing regulations, HRT would lose another day's testing, and possibly face punitive action.

MNews initially reported that TEGA had cleared the matter, though it was considering amending the regulations to close the alleged 'loophole' under which the test was conducted. Clearly, the possibility that V8 Supercar Championship Series teams may be able to ally themselves with a Konica Series team, and use the relative freedoms allowed to those teams in testing, is not one that TEGA wants to see expanded in the future.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

He’s coming into the pits AGAIN! LIKE pitstops in V8 Supercars? Well, you're going to love this, then.

Rumour of the week suggests that the fuel capacity of the Commodores and the Falcons may be cut, and soon. We have been told that TEGA is considering knocking back the range of the beasties by dropping fuel capacity from the current 120 litres to about 80 - or, even, 60. That would mean that the range of a car would be a CART-like 120 kilometres, meaning more fuel stops, more pit lane action and, we hope not, more pit lane speed infringement drivethrough penalties ... n Paul Morris escaped with an official reprimand after an incident the Sunday of the V8 Supercar round at Phillip Island. Morris was called before the stewards following an incident in which he was charged with refusing to obey officials after causing a red flag when he speared off the track and made light contact with the wall during practice. n VIP Petfoods has announced yet another Australian motorsport sponsorship. The VIP Petfoods Top Dog is an award given to the driver who gains the most positions from his grid position to his finishing result at each V8 Supercar round. (It seems this is one award Mark Skaife could not possibly win.) A $5000 cheque is available at each round, with Paul Radisich and Russell Ingall taking home the cash in the opening two rounds of the season.

VIP Petfoods has also announced they will present a driver at the end of the year with the 'Top Dog of the Year'. This goes to a driver who shows qualities of a 'Top Dog' throughout the season. n The wait is almost over for all the Pentium-heads waiting to get their paws on the V8 Supercar Race Driver game. The PC version of the hit racing sim is due to appear in your favourite video game shop next week. Speaking of same, the X-Box version of V8SRD hit number one in the most recent sales survey, taking almost 25 percent of the market and outselling the second-most popular game four to one ... n Just when you thought that there would be two Joneses suiting up for OzEmail Racing in the V8 Supercar enduros, you could be wrong. We hear that a number of Level 1 teams have been inquiring into the possibility of acquiring Konica Series standout Andy Jones for the distance races. At least one Holden and one Ford team have had a sniff at the 22-year-old (nephew of Brad and son of BJR team manager Kim) and it would not shock us to see him drive for another team on the Brock, er, block ...

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by MARK GLENDENNING

THE British American Racing team will drop Jacques Vilieneuve at the end of the season.

Vilieneuve, the 1997 world champion, will lose his seat to Takuma Sato, BAR'S current . test driver. Jenson Button, who joined the team at the start of the season, will stay with the team.

Sato, who raced for the Jordan-Honda team last season, told autosport.com last week that he would step into the seat; "Obviously I've got a threeyear contract, but a one-year test deal. I can't say anything further, but that says a lot! I expect to be racing here in 2004," Team principal David Richards was known to be less than thrilled with the fact that Vilieneuve was on major money - rumoured to be in excess of $40 million - in the final year of his contract with the team. The Canadian's deal was negotiated by his manager Craig Pollock

vvhp. at the time, was also the team principal of BAR. There had been talk prior to the San Marino Grand Prix linking Vilieneuve or Giancarlo Fisichella with the Williams team. Team owners Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head were said to be less than happy with the early-season form of Ralf Schumacher but, on Saturday, Williams publicly backed his driver, telling the media that the team is going to respect Schumacher's contract until the end of 2004.

Williams and Head reportedly wrote to Schumacher earlier in the month, urging him to lift his game. The German had struggled to match the speed of team-mate Juan Montoya in early races but responded well on the weekend, qualifying within 0.014s of polesitter Michael Schumacher.

The problem Vilieneuve faces is, where will he go? Williams has backed both its drivers, Ferrari is locked into Michael

Mitsubishi saga Part XVII

MEDIA interest in a possible entry into V8 Supercars by Mitsubishi has flared again foiiowing the visit of Sven Quandt, president of Mitsubishi Motor Sports, to the Phiiiip isiand V8 round.

Quandt called In to see the V8s first hand after attending the NZ round of the WRC and. in company with Mitsubishi Australia execs Rob Chadwick and Kevin Taylor, was shown around by AVESCO Chairman Wayne Cattach.

MNews understands that Mitsubishi Australia is looking closely at the options, but that funding concerns have been raised within the Australian company.

The company is, we hear, looking to obtain financial support from MMS(based in Germany)for the project- which in any case is unlikely to see the light of day before 2006.

Mitsubishi has a new model Magna due in 2006 and there is a reasonable school of thought suggesting that as the optimum time for the company to burst onto the V8 Supercar scene. Quandt, in the meantime, will assess the likely contribution to Mitsubishi's international motorsport presence of a V8 Supercar project in relation to expected costs. No deliberation or decision is expected for some time.

The ‘Will they, won’t they' Mitsubishi saga has ground on since MNews published artists impressions of a current model Magna in V8 Supercar trim, back in May last year.

AVESCO has re-iterated its view that it has no fundamental problem with a third manufacturer in the category, but expects a minimum of four factory-backed cars as a starting point. Mitsubishi would also have to acquire franchises from existing Ford/Holden teams.

6

Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello and McLaren is committed to keeping Kimi Raikkonen and would not have a lot to gain by letting David Coulthard leave to accommodate the Canadian. No other team is likely to match BAR'S financial generosity although, having made a considerable amount of money in his career, that may be less of a priority to Vilieneuve now than securing a competitive seat.

There has been talk of Pollock, who runs the PK Racing Champ Car team based in Indianapolis, starting a new FI team, but it already looks impossible to have a new team in place for the 2004 season.

One possibility may be that Vilieneuve could race for PK for a season and then return to FI but, after four fruitless years at BAR, it seems less than likely that he would want to go through the whole building-ateam process again.

POSSUM Bourne is in a serious but stable condition at Dunedin Hospital following a road accident in New Zealand last Friday.

The multiple ARC Champion remains in a drug-induced coma in the hospital's intensive care unit after suffering head injuries in a collision with another vehicle near Queenstown on the South Island during preparations for the Silverstone Race to the Sky. Bourne also sustained two broken legs, wlrich were stabilised in surgery on Saturday night. Hie driver of the other car is reported to have suffered a broken leg, but was otherwise unharmed.

Bourne, right, was travelling in a Subaru Forrester close to the Cardrona ski fields during recce when he encountered a convoy of competitors driving road cars who were inspecting the road under controlled conditions, with official lead and tail cars monitoring speed.

"He(Possum) was on the correct side of the road and was wearing a seatbelt," said Event Director Grant

Aitken.

Ferrari, IVIcLaren delay new machines

MP4-18/F2003GA both postponed BOTH Ferrari and McLaren have had to push back the introduction of g their new cars.

The new McLaren MP4-18 was due § I' to run at Paul Ricard two weeks ago 13 ;; but the car is running behind schedule 3 and was not ready to be tested.

This means that the car is not certain to be debuted in Spain, as had been hoped, and may be delayed as long as Canada. The team will want to be quite sure that the new car is NEXT years' Australian F1 reliable before it enters service as it Grand Prix looks certain to be needs results to mamtain its current run on Sunday February 29. advantage over Ferrari in the World As the provisional calendar Championship. takes shape, Melbourne's race The new Ferrari F2003 GA,which looks like moving forward to was launched in February,is also accommodate the first Chinese proving to be rather more difficult FI race, most likely two weeks than had been hoped, with Ferrari later. now deciding that it is better to A Grand Prix spokesman told collect points from each race rather MNews that "that date poses no than risk having a faster car which problems for us - in fact we ran breaks down. the AGP on March 1 some three The team cannot afford to lose years ago, I think." many more points to McLaren if it The date change is also wishes to mount a serious challenge unrelated to moves to in the World Championship this year, reschedule the Australian Tennis particularly now that the reward for Open from January to March - it winning has been reduced by the is committed to its January date change in the points structure. until 2006.

- JOE SAWARD

Keep Feb free

molorsport news

NEWS

sum injuped It would appear that dusty conditions may have contributed to the collision between Possum and the driver of the last car in the convoy, the Jeep Cherokee of Mike Barltrop.

Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident."

Police estimate that both vehicles were travelling at less than 60 km/h at the time of impact.

Subaru Rally Team Australia has confirmed that it will run two cars for Cody Crocker and Dean Herridge at this weekend's APRC Subaru Rally of Canberra.

Possum's family and team want to win it for him and be there in support of him," said Subaru Australia General Manager Nick Senior.

It is predicted that privateer Simon Evans will be nominated as the marque's third driver to contend for Manufacturers' points at the event.

Bourne's family and friends remain by his bedside and say that they are bouyed by the level of support that they have

received from around the world.

'To all of Possum's fains and the well-wishers, a big bhank you. It's a very difficult time for us all but the support nuakes the difference.

"Family and friends are reading the messages and we're touched by the na.ir.ber of people who care and how heartfelt their wishes are," said Bourne's wife Peggy.

So many people are expressing their absolube faith that he will overcome the challenge he currently fiaces. I know that Possum would be

truly humbled by the response and I am saving each an;d every message for him.

I also want to express our ongoing gratitude for the fantastic work that all the staff at Dunedin Hospital are doing for Possum.

Those wishing to sentd a message to Possum caii do so by visiting his website ait www.possumpwrc.co.ruz,or by fax on 09 238 5737(NZ)i. or 0011 64 9 238 5737(Australia).

GRM = RVCV8ST GARRY Rogers Motorsport's corporate identity has undergone a rebranding for 2003. The team is now known as Repco Valvoline Cummins V8 Supercar Team. The new name reflects an increased sponsorship investment from long time partners Repco, a deal that is also reflected in the company's increased visibility on GRM's 2003 livery, n Stewart McColl will miss this weekend's round of the GT Performance Championship at Symmons Plains. The Volkswagen Dealers team struggled with a lack of horsepower in the VW Golf R32 in Adelaide, and has decided that the super-long straight at Symmons Plains will only exacerbate the problem. The team has thus elected to sit the round out and spend the money on getting the car up to speed for round three at Wakefield Park instead, n Formula Ford round winner Tony Pugliese had a minor scare after his race win in the opening round of the series at Phillip Island. The Sonic Motorsport driver had one of his tyres impounded after an irregularity was discovered. A technical query was raised about the eligibility of the tyre, but CAMS has resolved the matter and Pugliese's win is confirmed. n Paul Trengove has joined the Formula 4000 ranks. The South Australian, who last year won the Level 2 Australian Formula 3 Championship, will drive an exBrenton Ramsay 95 Reynard, He will again receive backing from CPA Australia.

"Last year was about gaining experience at racing an open wheeler race car at tracks across Australia," said Trengove.

"Luckily I was able to win the National Series whilst doing this.

However V8 Supercars is where I want to be, and I see Formula 4000 as the ideal stepping stone to achieving this." n Despite a successful outing last year, the Australian Formula 3 series will not be on the support bill for this year's Lexmark Indy 300. A replacement race for the final round of the F3 Championship is yet to be announced. The new Carrera Cup championship will fill the vacant slot on the program at the Gold Coast this October,

HE said it would never happen. But after dipping his toe in the water a couple of times, Peter Brock is back - and here is his toy.

Following his outings in the Bathurst 24 Hourwinning Nations Cup Monaro in the NC support events at the Grand Prix, Brock has confirmed the worst-kept secret in motorsport by announcing that he will make a return to full-time racing.

Brock will steer the second NC Monaro, which 23 April 2003

has just had the finishing touches put to it at GRM's workshops, for the in this weekend's second round of the Nations Cup Championship at Symmons Plains.

Nathan Pretty, who will race the 'other' Monaro, was due to shake the car down at Winton yesterday (Tuesday) and Brock was in Tasmania, preparing for his Targa assault in another Monaro.

Three Munroes? Yes, it is a little confusing ,,,

n Defending V8 BRute Champion Warren Luff has teamed up with the team run by Ian McAlister. McAlister, who drives his own Falcon in the series, has bought Luff's car from Rod Nilsson and is in the process of preparing it for this weekend's round in Tasmania. Luff will carry his Cooper's sponsorship across to his new team.

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Audi for Bathurst 24 Hour?

COULD Audi be planning an assault on the Bathurst 24 Hour?

The German manufacturer is backing two TT-R Coupes being built for the Nurburgring 24 Hour race in late May and MNews sources suggest that the cars may head down under for the November race at Mount Panorama, An Audi Australia spokesperson said that there had been no communication from Audi Sport in Germany regarding the Australian event.

However, a source close to Team Abt Sportsline, which is preparing the cars, said that the Bathurst race had been discussed.

"Do you really think that these special cars .would be built for just one race?" said the .source.

In any event, the May 31/June 1 race at the .famed Nordschleife circuit will mark the return to touring car racing of Frank Biela. The three-time l Le A/lans 24 winner will drive one of the TT-Rs in '.the event with Christian Abt and Mattias

Ekstrom. A second car will be driven by Kris Nissen, Martin Tomczyk and Karl Wendlinger.

"There is hardly a more fascinating touring car race," explained Werner Frowein, manager of quattro GmbH. "We are really pleased to be able to race there now ourselves with such a strong team and obviously also about Frank's decision to compete in a touring car race for the first time in four years.

The Abt-Audi TT-R, below testing at the Nurburgring, is based on the successful DTM car with which Abt Sportsline won the championship last year.

"It is something very special for me to be able to compete in this race with an Audi," said Biela.

"Obviously I'll have to reacquaint myself with a touring car aher so many Sportscar races.

However, I'm convinced that I'll get used to having a roof over my head again very quickly."

- PHIL BRANAGAN

... and the race kicks off earlier THERE will be a slightly different look to the Bathurst 24 Hour this year, with an earlier start to the twice-around-the-clock race.

The 21-23 November race will start two hours earlier than in 2002,at 2pm, in order to give the event more television coverage.

"Starting two hours earlier will guarantee a better TV package," said PROCAR's Deputy Executive Chairman John Cowley."Channel Seven is doing an outstanding job with the coverage of the series and I am sure that viewers will appreciate 8

getting more TV." Seven will dovetail its coverage of the race with its broadcast of the Rugby Union World Cup Final, due to kick-off at 8:00 Eastern Summer Time.

It will also be crossing back to the race for updates durmg the weekend.

Cowley said that interest in the race was much stronger than it was at the same time last year.

"There are a lot of teams already making their plans for the race," he said. "ITie race is going to be one of the highlights of the year."

-PHIL BRANAGAN

Barra

by MARK GLENDENNING THE high aero loads produced at Phillip Island played havoc - temporarily with a number of the Ford teams during round two of the V8 Supercar Championship Series two weeks ago.

Teams running BA Falcons took to the circuit on Friday to discover that their distinctive long splitters were becoming unstable at high speeds, a problem that was traced to insufficiently strong mountings.

"It showed up on Friday in the wet actually, so we thought,'well if it's doing it in the wet,then it's sure as hell going to do it in the dry!"' said Briggs Motorsport's Paul Radisich.

"We started reinforcing on Friday, and by Sunday it was not a problem at all."

Some of the Ford drivers reported that the cars felt like they were vibrating on a flat front tyre before the source of the problem was found.

The problems seemed to primarily affect the Queensland-based Ford teams. Ford Performance Racing,the only team to test a BA at the track prior to the race, had no problems with the round-winning car of Craig Lowndes. OzEmail Racing, which tests as Winton, also reported no dramas.

Most of the teams were able to overcome the problem relatively simply by reinforcing the splitter mountings on Friday night.

Sandown:PROCAR responds

PROCAR has denied that its owing money to Sandown promoter Jon Davison has caused the demise of the Sandown 500 race.

PROCAR's Deputy Executive Chairman John Cowley said last week that the organisation "doesn't owe him a cent."

"That is not the way we go about our business," said Cowley.

"We did not agree to the date presented to us by Sandown and the

VATC. They wanted money up front, and that is not the way we do business."

Cowley says that Sandown's upcoming Melbourne 500 V8 Supercar race was an obvious clash with the Nations Cup event.

"It is no concern to us what other category managers decide to do. But Jon must have known that the V8 500 must have affected the event."

-PHIL BRANAGAN

motorsport news

NEWS

s gets the splits Dirk h7)

Caterpillar does make front-end loaders: Lowndes had no problems with his splitter but some other drivers did.

Ramsay PD bulk billed out at Team Oynamik KIEREN Wills has assumed

majority ownership of Team Dynamik after buying out the share owned by co-founder Malcom Ramsay.

Wills acquired Ramsay's share of the fledgling outfit just prior to the last round at Phillip Island, however the team will continue to be based in Adelaide at the premises owned by Ramsay.

Team insiders say that there was no acrimony behind the split and that both parties remain on good terms.

Ramsay moved into V8 Supercar two seasons ago, when his Birrana Racing team was renamed as Team Dynamik and ran Simon Wills to tire Konica V8 Supercar Series title in a Commodore VT. Wills and fellow Kiwi Jason Richards joined forces with the team this season, with Wills Sr and former 00 Motorsport engineer Oscar Fiorinotto sharing ownersliip in the team.

- MARK GLENDENNING 23 April 2003

Wine and smoothies: Dumbrell and Morris are in dispute over money.

PAUL Dumbrell has been issued with a legal demand for damages in excess of $100,000 to cover repairs to Paul Morris's Sirromet Wines Commdore VX after the pair collided at Albert Park in March.

The 20-year-old Castrol Perkins Commdore driver received the letter from Nemo Racing Ltd, the Sirromet team's parent company. Dumbrell said that he has passed the letter on to his legal advisors, who are now handling the matter, and that things are now effectively out of his hands.

Dumbrell copped a $5000 fine following the steward's inquiry into the crash, which was followed up by another fine at the following round in Adelaide for an incident involving the Briggs Motorsport Falcon of Dean Canto.

We hear that the matter is causing rumblings at AVESCO and may, even, contravene existing regulations.

- MARK GLEIMDEIMNING

BRUtal Kisser SYDNEY-based driver Nandi Kiss will join the BRUte series at Symmons Plains this weekend. Kiss, who contested the Daewoo Lanos series in 2001 and the MGF championship last season, has bought the ex-Jim Cornish Falcon XR8 ute. The car was raced in Adelaide under a lease deal

by Grant Park. n Three wins from three races has made Paul Tracy the obvious winner of the first quarter of the 'Driver of the Year' award in the US. Tracy will receive a trophy and a Maurice Lacroix Swiss watch in recognition of the award, which he claimed over fellow nominees Brandon Bernstein (NHRA), Tony Kanaan (IndyCar), Matt Kenseth (NASCAR), Danny Lasoski (WoO)and Michael Waltrip (NASCAR). The award is unique in the States, for it is the only honour that is awarded across all disciplines of racing, and which is decided by both a panel of journalists and fan participation.

The award comes on the tail of the Canadian being named the International Ambassador for the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast in October.

"It's great to be named International Ambassador for the Lexmark Indy 300. It's a terrific race and a race I've always enjoyed coming down to. I look forward to coming back this year and being more involved with the race. I have family down there with aunts, uncles and cousins, so it's a great time.

"I'm hoping to be the first repeat winner. Since I won in 1995, there has never been a repeat winner -1 think that is a first for the series. There have been 12 different winners and to be the first to win the Lexmark Indy 300 for a second time would be fantastic." n 'Indy Fever - Catch the Heatwaves' will be the tag line for the 2003 edition of the popular Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast in October. The new-look event was launched on the Gold Coast earlier this month, highlighting the new naming rights sponsor (Lexmark), the new event logo, above, and a TV commercial, which screened for the first time during the Ten Network's coverage of the V8 Supercars at Phillip Island.

"The Lexmark Indy 300 has been in an exciting period of growth over the past six years, and it is an exciting time now with the opportunity to take the Event even further," said Lexmark Indy 300 General Manager James Ashworth.

"We have created a new brand image for the 2003 Event - one that encapsulates excitement, entertainment, the beauty of Queensland and the Gold Coast, a > carnival atmosphere and the feature Doubleheader of the Champ Cars and V8 Supercars."

9

ten home of

[motorsport] 2003 V8 Supercar Championship* May 4 ....Eastern Creek

.Rd3

May 25 .. .Winton

.Rd4

June 8 ..,.Barbagallo

.Rd5

Jun 29 ... .Hidden Valley

.Rd6

Jul 20

.Rd7

OLD Raceway

Aug 17 .. .Oran Park

.Rd8

Sep 14 ...Sandown Oct 12 ... .Bathurst

.Rd9 .RdIO

2003 Konica V8 Series* .Rd3

May 4 ... .Eastern Creek July 6 ... .Phillip Island

.Rd4

Aug 3

Winton

.Rd5

Aug 30 ...Mallala

.Rd6

2003 FIA Formula One Championship* May 4

Spain

May 18 ...A1-Ring Jun 1 Monaco

.Rd5 .RdS .Rd7

Jun 15 ... .Montreal

.rd 8

Jun 29 ....Germany

.Rd9

6

Magny Cours

Rd 10

2003 CART Championship* .Rd4 May 5 Brands Hatch May 11 ...Germany ..

.Rd5

2003 IRL Championship* May 25 .. .Indianapolis Jun 7 Texas —

Rd 4 .Rd5

Jun 15 .. .Pikes Peak

iRdS

2003 MofoGP Championship* .Rd 2

Apr 27 ... .Africa May 11 .. .Spain

.Rd 3

May 25 .. .France Jun 8 .Italy

.Rd 4

Jun 15 .. . .Catalunya

.Rd 6

2003 World Rally Championship* May 11 ...Argentina

.Rd5

.Rd 5

Greece

.Rd6

jun 22 ... .Cyprus

.Rd7

Jun 8

2003 Australian Rally Championship Jun 15 ... .Rally Queensland Jul 6 Sydney Aug 10 .. .Rally Of S.A Oct 5 Melbourne

.Rd2 .Rd3 .Rd4 .Rd5

2003 Pracar Championship .Rd 2

Apr 25 ....Symmons Plains May 16 ...Wakefield

.Rd 3

r

1 ten J

home of

motorsport I All event dates in this calendar were correct at the \ \ lime oi printing. Please consult any individual trades n and>or associations lor date changes.

I

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

Confirmation: Fisi u

by JOE SAWARD THE FIA has announced that Giancarlo Fisichella was the winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix and not Kimi Raikkonen.

The decision was made because of a mistake by the timekeepers that has yet to be fuUy explained. The timing screens immediately after the race showed the race order on lap 54, despite the fact that they had previously shown Giancarlo Fisichella finishing his 55th lap(and thus starting his 56th lap). A few minutes later, while confusion stiU reigned at Interlagos, the classification was switched to the end of lap 53,indicating that the race must have ended when Fisichella was stiU on his 55th lap.

The important issue was where Fisichella had been at the moment the red flag was shown.If it was before he crossed the line to start the 56th lap, the classification would revert to the 53rd lap, two laps before the stoppage, when Raikkonen was still leading. But if Fisichella had crossed the line before the red flag came out the classification should have reverted to the end of lap 54, at which point the Jordan driver was in the lead.

The Jordan team was able to demonstrate to the FIA stewards, who reconvened in Paris on the following Friday morning, that Fisichella was started his 56th lap and so the victory awarded to him.

An investigation has now been launched into how the mistake was made but there is little doubt that it will be found to have been a problem

caused by the fact that Race Control no longer has the ability to see the location of each and every car at every moment.

This was clear on several occasions in Brazil where a number of apparent incidents were missed. The most notable of these was that Race Control missed a clear violation of the rules when Ralf Schumacher overtook Jos Verstappen before the start-finish line at the first restart.

This should have been reported and punished with a drive-through penalty. In addition to that, several drivers also reported yellow flag overtaking incidents which were not punished. In previous years computers are programmed to react if a car overtook another while going through a yellow flag zone.

The reason that these violations were missed was because the systems involved have changed since the demise of the Formula One Digital TV service. In recent years, this used a system of 19 antermas installed around the track and connected by a fibre optic cable which enabled the producers to know exactly where every car was at every moment and at what speed they were travelling.

The data gathered went to a mobile timing centre which processed the information using Siemens computers which perform live calculations of split times,lap times, lap number,speeds and time differences. This was very useful for the TV crews because it enabled them to have the cameras better coordinated and to have the

captioning much more reliable.

In theory there is no possibility of a timing error in FI. For the last 11 years the official timekeeper of Formula 1 has been TAG Heuer,a firm with enormous experience in the world of sport's timing. The company has supplied equipment capable of monitoring lap times to 10,000th of a second using transponders which automatically identify the cars. To eliminate any possibility of error the

Five more years in Paradise THE future of the Lexmark Indy 300 has been secured for the next five years, with the signing of an extension of the contract in California two weeks ago.

Queensiand Deputy Premier and Minister for Sport, Mr Terry Mackenroth signed the Offical Promoter’s Agreement aiong with Champ Car President and CEO Chris Pook, Lexmark Indy 300 Chairman John Cowiey, and Generai Manager James Ashworth at Long Beach.

The current contract was due to expire after the running of this year’s event.

"At iast year’s indy we reached an in-principle agreement with Mr Pook for the next five years after 2003,” said Mr Mackenroth.

“After further negotiation we have now been abie to formalise that agreement and I am pleased to announce that the running of the Lexmark Indy 300 until 2008 is assured.

Pook claimed that the Gold Coast event was an international example of how a Champ Car race should be organised and promoted.

"We are very pleased to be able to continue our relationship,” Pook said.

“The event is extremely popular with our drivers, teams, sponsors and most importantly, the public. The event is a very important part of our ongoing strategy to deliver key markets to our constituents and this agreement reflects the value that our series can deliver into a vital market such as the state of Queensland.”

Tony/Indy deal?

Defending NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart may replace Dario Franchitti at the Indy 500 in May. Although not confirmed yet, Andretti-Green Racing have apparently already built him a seat and wUl begin to test the 32-year-old this week.

Stewart, above in his Chev, won the 1997 IRL title, but last drove an Indy Car for Chip Ganassi in '01, finishing sixth at the Speedway.

Franchitti will be on the sidelines for at least three months after fracturing his back while riding a motorcycle.

motorsport news

NEWS

fins Brazii GP

Servia Service One lucky early Indy 300 ticket buyer will get more than they bargained for when they arrive at the Gold Coast circuit later this year. Any adult fan who buys a four-day ticket before June 30 will be eligible for a chance to watch the race with a friend from pit lane with Visteon/Patrick Racing, The prize also includes a meeting with team driver Oriol Servia, team gear, and a tour of the garage. So if you happen to win and need someone to share the prize with you, feel free to contact us here at MNews. We'd be happy to oblige.

Lion roars

Probably not the way you would like to celebrate your first Grand Prix win, but hey, Fisichella posed for the paparazzi at Imola anyway ... system has two independent time keeping systems and a highresolution video camera which films cars at 100 images a second as they cross the start-finish line.

But the problem in Brazil was not in the timing machinery,nor in the computers but rather it seems in the failure of the timekeepers to know

the exact location of Fisichella at the moment the race ended. This was because the demise of digital TV meant that there is no longer a fibre optic cable 'ring' around each circuit.

It is expected that as a result of the embarrassment in Brazil a new system using global positioning systems via satellite wiU be introduced.

AFTER two races under the HRT Young Guns banner in the Konica V8 Series, the John Fauikner run team wili revert back to the name of Hoiden Young Lions The Young Lions name has produced six of V8 Supercars current drivers and the team hope their iatest acquisition, Tony D’Alberto, above, can add to this statistic.

D’Aiberto, 17, wiii make his V8 Supercar debut for the Holden Young Lions team at Eastern Creek on May 3/4.

Fresh from Formula Ford, D’Alberto is iooking forward to the daunting chailenge of driving V8 Supercar.

“It’s pretty exciting,’’ he said.

“It’s a great opportunity but it’s happened sooner than I expected.’’

- GRANT ROWLEY

...but the Brazil madness doesn’t stop there THE FIA World Council in June is to consider the behaviour of Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher in the recent Brazilian Grand Prix.

Both men have been reported to the WMSC by the FIA Observer in Interlagos for what he considers to have been driving which needs to be considered as dangerous. The WMSC has a range of sanctions which it can impose on the drivers, ranging from fines and time penalties to bans and exclusions.

Alonso caused the race to be red-flagged when

he slammed into a wheei shed by Mark Webber's Jaguar. The Spaniard appeared to hit the wheel at what appeared to be full speed, despite his admission that he had seen the Safety Car sign at Turn 3, almost a minute beforehand.

Schumacher spun his Ferrari into retirement at Turn 3, in spit of the fact that yellow flags were being shown for another car that was already off the track at the same point.

- JOE SAWARD

n Jimmy Vasser is desperately trying to get a last-minute Indy 500 drive. 1996 CART champion is talking to former employers Bobby Rahal and Chip Ganassi about a possible seat, but the availability of a spare car in the teams seems to be the biggest stumbling block.

At this stage, CART will not be represented by any driver in the famous Indianapolis race. n Sergio Rinland is designing the new Peugeot 307 for this season's British Touring Car Championship.

Rinland, a Formula One designer who penned the 2001 Sauber, started work on the project in January. The Vic Lee Racing team has been flat-out getting the twocars ready for the opening round of the series Mondello Park on the 21 April. n Holden HQ racers are preparing for changes to their technical regulations. Amendments to the brake cooling, spring sets and wheel track have been enforced by CAMS. Also, crew/driver communication has now been prohibited. n Jason Plato's bid to join the BTCC will have to be delayed, as a deal couldn't be agreed in time for the opening round at Mondello Park.

A spokesman for the GA Motorsport team blamed the economic climate for funds being tight. n Damien Faulkner returned to Porsches at Mondello by driving the guest car in the Carrera Cup Great Britain races. Faulkner drove a guest car in the international Supercup last year, and has raced in Indy Lights and Formula Palmer Audi in recent seasons. n BTCC team boss John Batchelor (formerly known as John Top Gear and John B-and-Q) has now attracted backing for his squad from Varta Batteries, In a deal worth £1 million, the team will field a brand new Peugeot 307 for Tom Boardman and a venerable Honda Accord for Jim Edwards, although a second 307 is due soon. Plans for a Scholarship team are under consideration as well.

11

!,uUon-im.ii;cs.cuni

Eddie not so steady WE at IVIotorsport News have been accused, in the past, of getting into Eddie Irvine.

While we might take that to task, we do admit that there have been some times in the past when we have allowed our favourite exFormula One driver to hoist himself on his own petard. That has led, on occasion, to some readers writing and accusing us of blatant Irvine bashing.

Well, get out your pens, Eddie. . fans, because we're doing it again. : We j.ust couldn’t allow this one to go I tFirOugh to Gilchrist without bouncing : aj least once... : El gave everyone the benefit of his wisdom prior to the Brazilian Grand Prix'. He was speaking to the London ;'Sun on Saturday, April 5 (ie, ;qualifying day at Interlagos) and we i present his comments unedited; ■' ■;'Although I tried to keep my : career going by offering my services f foiUbrdan, I'm glad it didn't work out while Jordan may be celebrating : their 200th race tomorrow, don't ■.expect any miracles from them. They ’are.a shadow'.of their former selves. ht;.would be great to see them r.running'higher on the grid but it’s just ’ hot going to. happen." . '■Fbilbwing .an enquiry to the FIA, it ! was dbented that car #11., Glancarlo ●●Fisichella (Jordan Ford)', won the race :■ and; as a result, collected TO points. ,.'Fis?, vvha had qualified eighth (the . fastest Bridgestone runner behind ■ the'^ferrarisHbus headed to Imola in Jpqrth'plaee in the World Drivers' fiGhampionship-, with Jordan fifth in s'the Construptors' Championship. ^ ■ W© do. not think that we need make further comment on the .●matter, save to quote Irvine's former team-mate MichaeiSchumacher on the events of, and after, the Brazilian GP; "I’m pleased for Glancarlo," said IVlichael. "I’m pleased he has now been recognised as the winner in Brazil because he drove a really good race."

Class Michael, class. None, Eddie, none.

-PHIL BRANAGAN

No IT E

3-

I

l

,1 V And you can drive Ralf's car: Formula One-bound Jeff Cordon discusses paddles and launch control (not) with Hendrick team-mate, Jimmie Johnson.

Gordon heads for Full Monty

JEFF Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya are to switch roles at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 11.

Montoya will get behind the wheel of Jeff Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports DuPont Chevrolet, while Gordon will sit behind the (much smaller) steering wheel of Montoya's Williams BMW FW25 FI car.

Montoya is attempting to become the first driver to win races at both Indy's 2.5 mile oval - he won the 2000 Indy 500 - and 2.6 mile circuit. Both will drive each others cars around the circuit not the oval .

"This is something I've dreamed of, just getting behind the wheel of an FI car and seeing what's it's like," said Gordon.

"1 don't plan on going FI racing, but I would love the experience," Montoya is equally looking forward to the adventure; "Driving a big heavy NASCAR will certainly be different," quipped Montoya. " I don't think Jeff should be concerned I will take away his job.

There was talk some time ago that Gordon was seriously contemplating a switch to open-wheelers, with an eye on driving in GP racing some day, but recently those reports have gone stone cold.

This wil l be the second straight year that an American has had a 'guest' FI drive at Indy. In 2002, IRL racer Sarah Fisher completed some demonstration laps in a McLaren/Mercedes, - MARTIN D CLARK

by JOE SAWARD THE Formula 1 team bosses have agreed not to tamper with the rules in any major way for the rest of the FI season.

FLA President Max Mosley, above, said in Imola that there are to be a couple of small changes but, odierwise, things will remain as before.

There are some alterations regarding the use of the spare car, which mean that teams will be allowed to use spares but the car which is qualified is the car that must be raced unless the team want to start at the back of the grid. Teams can also change engines if there is found to be a problem, but the car must then start at the back of the grid.

Mosley said that the unpopular pare ferme regulations will remain "until the teams can come up with a way to solve the problem m a better way to ensure that the car that starts the race is the car that qualified".

According to some of those present, there was a generally positive discussion but few decisions.

Sauber grabs another kid

THE Sauber Petronas team has signed a testing deal with 19-year-old Swiss driver Neel Jani. Jani will begin work with the team next week at the Vairano testing facility in Italy.

Jani is currently wii-ming m the new Renault V6 championship with Jenzer Motorsport but has been guided in his early career by former FI team manager Peter Collins.

"Tliere's no doubt that Neel has a

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12

lot of talent," says Peter Sauber, "and I feel that the time has come to give him this chance. I was particularly impressed by the way he clinched

pole position in the final race of tlie Renault Eurocup last year under great pressure, then dommatmg the race as well as setting the fastest lap. To me, this shows that he also possesses the mental strength tliat is necessary for being successful in this sport."

Jani, right, is already acquainted with some of the FI teclmologies as the new Renault V6 series features semi-automatic gearboxes, paddleactivated gearshifts, pit stops and carto-pit radio systems to help train youngsters.

-JOESAWARD

*-0tt motorsport news

NEWS

ore dnkering

su/fon*/mai’e5.coni

Q°©WD©m

J3X].n--TL;L. THE Formula 1 teams and the FIA met on Thursday at Imola to discuss the future regulations.

One subject which is causing lots of problems is the thorny question of whether or not the teams will accept the planned one engine per race rule which the FIA wants to impose.

In principle, there seems to be agreement but the devU is in the detail and a second meeting on Saturday ended with no decision because some teams argued that they

did not want the race meeting to be considered as running from Friday to Sunday but rather from Saturday to the following Friday at the next race.

This was opposed by other teams which argue that they want to use that time to examine and develop their engines.

Uie big problem is that anyone planning a new engine for next year needs a decision now so that the design process can begin. If there is no agreement,it is thought likely that the

FIA will simply impose the new rule, as happened with other rules in January when negotiations with the teams failed.

The biggest problem seems to be for Renault, which must give the green light to its new conventional VIO engine to replace the underpowered wide-angle VIO that is currently being raced. The program is set to begin but the team does not want to invest until it knows what the rules will be.

-JOE SAWARD

Who'S a pretty boy then?

AS if putting the torch to the leading drivers in Formula One isn't bad (or good)enough, Mark Webber has made a hit with the personality-based press.

The Jaguar Racing star has been named one of Who Weekly's 25 Most Beautiful People in its Easter 2003 issue. The 26-year-old from Queanbeyan shares the pages of the showbiz and gossip magazine with such as actors Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody, singers Bono, Delta Goodrem and Olivia NewtonJohn and a cast of others.

including TV vet. Dr Harry Coopeh Not sure if the last one was put in for the April 1 edition or not, but there you are ...

"You must be running short of people," quips MW in the magazine, while he is lounging on a sofa in white Tee, jeans and bare tootsies.

Several females have commented on Webber's cute visage and gym-toughened physique in the past. Can't see it ourselves, of course.

We much prefer not to think about it, and concentrate on Webber's lap times ...

Holland 1, Credibility 0 THE Jordan team has been in deep negotiation with Dutchman Christjian Albers over a testing arrangement with the team and there were suggestions that a deal would be struck in time for Imola. This did not happen because the money obviously did not materialise. Albers has a problem, in that there have now been several stories suggesting that he is close to FI deals but no money is ever forthcoming and unless there are concrete results soon the credibility of the young Dutch driver is going to be underiined. As usual, there appear to be attempts going on in the rival camps in Holland to discredit and destabilise and this might explain the recent rumours that Eddie Irvine was about to be named as the Jordan test driver, which would have impacted on the ongoing talks between Jordan and Albers. n The audience of the San Marino Grand was seriously down this year with a total three-day audience of only 82,200, compared to 108,000 in 2002 and a record of 192,592 in 2000, The drop in numbers has been blamed on the fact that the race fell on the Easter weekend and the new rules, which reduced the amount of running of the oars combined with the high costs of the tickets. n The accident which put Indy Racing League driver Dario Franchitti in hospital led Juan Pablo Montoya to receive a call from his manager to get off his motorbike. Franchitti and Montoya share the same management team - and the same taste in motorcycles. n There is much movement at the moment in the second tier of Formula.

1 engineers, with Williams aerodynamicists Nick Allcock going off to America and his colleague Jason Somerville now being mentioned as a man likely to pop up at McLaren, which has recently been tidying up its aerodynamic department. BAR race engineer David Lloyd has aisp recently disappeared from the team and has now popped up at Ferrari, where he is working on the test team. n As part of the promotion of the new Formula 3 Euro Series, which gets underway at Hockenheim at the end of this month, the French and Germans will be fighting over a Nations Cup. DTM drivers Jean Alesi and Frank Biela have been named as 'team captains' for the rival factions in the new series, which combines the national F3 championships of the team countries. Their job will be to advise young drivers on how best to develop their careers. The Formula 3 Euro Series will be supporting the DTM at a number of races this year.

-JOE SAWARD 13

Aussies do it tough at Snott

THE Easter weekend turned out to be another tough one for the Australians in the British Formula 3 Championship, with both Will Davison and Will Power enduring torrid outings in rounds three and four at Snetterton.

Both drivers again struggled in qualifying, and Davison later said that he was mystified by his car's lack of pace after the Alan Docking Racing team thought they had traced the problems that slowed them down in the opening round at Donington two weeks ago.

"In qualifying the car simply wasn't fast enough and we're not sure why," the Victorian said, "It's not happening for us when we use new tyres at the moment and that's about as good as we can do."

Davison qualified 12th and 15th, but his first race was shot to pieces when he went into the back of Ernani Judice, who slowed suddenly after suffering an electrical problem. The contact cost Davison his nosecone, forcing him to pit for

repairs and putting him out of contention.

The 2001 Formula Ford champ fought back in race two, passing four cars off the startline, but again came undone at the first corner when he got caught up in an accident that also eliminated his team-mate Scott Speed, as well as Robert Dahlgren.

"In the races I never did more than one corner, which is the price of starting deep in the pack," lamented Davison, right,who also pointed out that he was lucky not to get tipped over in the race two shunt.

"Dahlgren got hit by my team mate and that launched him into a spin, and he cleaned me up backwards as he hit my right rear and spun me into the wall. It skated through the gravel and I was pretty lucky not to roll over, actually.

"I'm OK, but it was lucky because it was so close to rolling upside down that it was right up on its side in the gravel, but it held and went back down on all four wheels."

It was a similar tale of woe for Power, the Queenslander

sullon-images.com

qualifying the Diamond Racing Ralt well back in the pack and coming home 19th in race two after failing to finish in the first outing.

Carlin Motorsport's Alan van der Merwe took the wins in both

outings, extending his lead in the Championship.

Rounds five and six of the series will be held at Croft on May 3/4.

-MARKGLENDENNING

Hackett back in F3 ... and a Konica drive is on the cards too

AFTER months of flying across the world trying to drum up support, 2002 Australian Formula 3 Champion James Manderson has secured a seat in the Formula 3 Euro Series.

Assistance from private backers and the CAMS Australian Motor Sports Foundation has enabled the Victorian to accept a drive with the Swiss Racing Team,for which Manderson has already tested a number of times.

"In the last five months I've had to travel to Europe four times to complete a total of 10 test days," said Manderson, beloio.

Hollywood rovival Mandersi

PETER Hackett will return to the Australian Formula 3 Championship this weekend at the wheel of Aircon Racing's new Dallara F301 Sodemo Renault.

The 2001 series champion, who drove in a handful of races for Piccola Scuderia Corse last year, will contest the remainder of the season in the ex-Team Signature (the Sodemo factory team) car that Jonny Cochet drove to victory in the 2001

14

French championship and Korean Grand Prix.

"It's very exciting," said Hackett. "I haven't been this fired up for a long time. It's early in the season, so we're not starting that far behind the competition."

Despite the competition at the head of the field being tighter than ever before, the Sydney driver is optimistic about his chances.

"I think we're going to rock

the establishment!" he said.

"I think my return will surprise a few people and put a few people on edge. I've been brought in to win races, and I'll be doing whatever it takes."

Flackett also confirmed that negotiations are underway for a step into tin-tops in the form of a Konica V8 entry. While he was reluctant to confirm which team he was talking to, MNews believes that it is an outfit currently running a Falcon.

"The idea is to get into the car and get some V8 practice," said Hackett.

"Whether it will be in a testing role or to race, we're not yet sure, but the target is the Konica race at Bathurst."

Hackett and the team are understood to be weighing up the advantages of racing in the regular Konica season but being subject to the testing restrictions, or missing the races and testing freely in the lead-up to Mount Panorama in October.

- MARK GLENDENNING

4

moiorsport news

NEWS

Honda under the sign of Leo FORMER Sauber technical director Leo Ress has been hired by Honda to help the Japanese company with its Formula 1 chassis research and development program. Ress has been sitting on the sidelines in FI since leaving Sauber last year. Ress will work with the engineers at Honda Research and Development in Japan, who are working alongside the BAR chassis department.

Davo

AUSSIE Porsche ace Alex Davison will focus on the German-based Carrera Cup this year after a deal for his program to again include the Porsche Supercup fell through on the eve of the season-opener at Imola last weekend.

Davison, who won all three Carrera Cup support races at the Australian Grand Prix, will again suit up for Phoenix Racing in the German Carrera Cup. However,a lack of funding for liis Supercup team Manthey Racing - has forced him to miss the Fl-supporting series.

There had been moves to place Davison in anotlier team in a different deal, however the funding wasn't

forthcoming and he will stay with a nine-round schedule for the year.

Speaking from his base in Weissach, the 23-year-old(who is entering his fourth year racing Porsches overseas) was disappointed but upbeat.

"I was really disappointed not to get a drive in the Supercup," he said.

"If you'd asked me over the summer,I would have said that it was nearly certain I'd be racing in both championships but everything fell over. It's made me even more pumped up to do well in the Carrera Cup this year."

Davison will again drive for Phoenix Racing, with backing from

Hewlett-Packard and his personal supporters. Mistral and Porsche Cars Australia.

Pierre Kaffer has returned as his team-mate, although the Australian admits that the field will be tough.

"My aim always is to win the championship,especially this year.

But,I suppose, as long as I feel I have done the best job I can no matter what the circumstances out of my control dictate, and the people who are important can see that I've done that, then that's OK. "In terms of my personal expectations, anything less than a championship is not desirable."

- MARK GLENDENNING

)n all set

"It's great to be actually racing and working from the team base in Lucerne after all that travel. I've improved and learned an enormous amount from the testing, but we still have to be realistic about our expectations.

"There are guys in this field with Formula One tattooed on their forehead, and I will have to battle to advance every place."

Manderson's addition to the series bolsters Australia's repesentation to two, with Ryan Briscoe Lining up for Prema Powerteam.

The Formula 3 Euro Series kicks off this weekend at Hockenheim.

SOSCH

2003

A

n The word in the paddock in Imola is that the giant US brewing firm Anheuser-Busch brewery, the world's largest beer-making company, is to become a sponsor of the Ferrari team next year. The deal makes a lot of sense, given Ferrari's red and white colour scheme and Bud's international ambitions. The company has been a major sponsor in US racing for many years, notably with Bobby Rahal. n Jaguar has launched a big new advertising campaign in the United States using the slogan "Born to perform" and the sleek leaping Jaguar is due to become a little more musciy. The advertising campaign will be on TV and radio, in the printed media and at prominent advertising locations such as Times Square in New York City. The intention is to push the new image of Jaguar cars as high technology vehicles and move away from the traditional staid image. n Geoffrey Rowley and Kevin Hellard, both of RSM Robson Rhodes, have been appointed joint liquidators of Arrows Grand Prix International. The assets of the company will be sold off and whatever money raised with be paid to the creditors. It is not likely that this will produce much in terms of remuneration and it is believed that a number of creditors intend to pursue team boss Tom Walkinshaw personally in order to get their money.

Rob shoots^ Rob scores ROB Nguyen had an encouraging first outing with the BCN Motorsport team in the F3000 season-opener at San Marino iast weekend, picking up the iast point on offer with an eighthpiaced finish.

It was a good result for the Australian, above, who qualified 17th fastest, and one that saw him beat several more experienced rivals across the line.

The podium, however, belonged to a trio of series veterans. Bjorn Wirdheim took the win for Arden after being chased aii the way home

by Patrick Freisacher, with Ricardo Sperafico coming home a distant third.

Former Champ Car pilot Townsend Bell drove well to finish ninth after being punted out of fifth by Giorgio Pantano. The Durango pilot was eliminated on the spot with steering problems.

n If modern GP cars bore you to tears and you like the oldies ... the recent Long Beach Grand Prix featured an historic FI race including a couple of very famous combinations, notably Mario Andretti at the wheel of a JPS Lotus from 1978 and Emerson Fittipaldi in a McLaren M23. Also running were Bobby Rahal in a Wolf WR6, Derek Daly in a Tyrrell 009, Parnelli Jones in his own FI car and Pete Lovely in a Gold Leaf Lotus 49B. The field were competing for the Pete Lyons Cup, named after one of the US's best known automobile racing journalists, who worked in FI back in the 1970s.

-JOE SAWARD IS

Frank butts out THE BMW WilliamsFI team has concluded a major new sponsorship deal with the giant GlaxoSmithKline drug company.

The cars will carry branding from GSK's "smoking cessation brand" NiQuitin CQ,which includes products designed to help people stop smoking.

"GlaxoSmithKline's historic move into Formula 1 is excellent news for the BMW WilliamsFI Team and Formula 1 as a whole," said Sir Frank Williams. "With the impending ban for tobacco sponsorships looming, it is highly appropriate that a leading smoking cessation brand is taking its place.

This deal confirms that there is a future for Formula 1 after tobacco sponsorship".

The new sponsorship deal between the BMW Williams team and GlaxoSmithKline's NiQuitin CQ brand is designed, according to GSK's Simon Puisford to "challenge the link between smoking in Formula 1. It allows us to inspire hundreds of millions of smokers, who have been bombarded with pro-tobacco messages through Formula 1 for decades, to give up smoking."

The deal, which is for one year with long-term options, will see the NiQuitin CQ branding on the cockpit surround of the Williams cars, on the nose and on the sleeves of the drivers' overalls.

- JOE SAWARD

"1

Back to the Mount?

Toyota plans for'new'Foil-Japanese GP to move?

THE Japanese Grand Prix,so long a fixture at Suzuka,may move to the legendary Mt Fuji track. .

In 1965 the Japanese decided to build an American-style speedway at the foot of the mountain and plans were drawn up for a 2.5-mile superspeedway.The money for the project ran out and so only one of the sections of 30-degree banking were ever built. The result was that various bits of road were added to create a road course.

Initially, the banking was used but a series of huge accidents led to the construction of a new piece of road to bypass it. The result was a 2.7mile road circuit which in 1976 hosted the championship showdown for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

After a long period of uncertainty, in the autumn of 2000 control of the facility was acquired from ^ Mitsubishi Estates. Toyota paid : US$48.8m ($72m)for a 67 percent

shareholding in the track and announced that it intended to spend another USSlOOm to rebuild the track and to bid for a Grand Prix.

"We want to stage a Grand Prix there as soon as possible," said Toyota Executive Vice President Shinichi Kato.

Honda currently owns the right to stage the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit, near Nagoya,but that deal runs out in 2006.

Hermann Tilke was commissioned to redesign the circuit, which sits in the shadow of Mount Fuji, within easy reach of Tokyo. The plans wdl retain the general shape of the original race track, the topography making it difficult to do otherwise, but the actual track layout will be very different. Tl-ie character of the track will not, however,change, with the long main straight being retained. But aU the corners will be reprofiled to a lesser or greater extent with the result being a circuit

150m longer than the current track.

Safety will be completely revamped with wider run-off areas, better drainage, FIA specification spectator zone protection and new service roads. Tlie rebuild will include a completely new pit and garage area which will house a Media Centre capable of housing 500 journalists and all the necessary race control functions.

The vast main grandstand wdl be revamped to give individual spectators more space and a huge new grandstand will be built at the first comer. This will provide views of most of the rest of the circuit.

In order to improve access two new entry roads will be built.

The track will close after the Formula Nippon race on September 1 this year and constmction will begin almost immediately with the aim being to have everything completed by April 2005.

-JOE SAWARD

engine centrol FFs want more ... and tyres, too

I

i IN the light of all the talk of a deal i between CART and FI boss Bemie Ecclestone, it is interesting to note that the CART board of directors has recently voted unanimously in favour

■jUi of relinquishing its control over all decisions relating to engines and tyres.

This is interesting as it means that the series will be able to operate more easily I as there have been problems in the past I with team owners on the board blocking i decisions. Such a decision will not deter an involvement in CART from outside investors looking for a championsliip which is easy to manage.

It remains to be seen if the CARTEcclestone plan will ever become a reality as a deal witli CART could be just a negotiating ploy of Ecclestone's as he tries to find a solution which will guarantee the future of Formula 1.

-JOESAWARD

(any) television FORMULA Ford teams competing in the National Championship series have expressed major concerns with lack of the television coverage the series will receive in 2003.

The Formula Ford category, which has produced over 70 per cent of our current crop of V8 drivers, will not be on the box at all this year unless a TV sponsor for the series can be found. Talk around the paddock has the asking price for a slot of Network Ten's Trackside program at around $250,000.

With the first round already being completed, the Formula Ford Association is desperately

seeking funds to put the category on our TV sets. The association have now resorted to looking for a sponsor to support selected rounds.

One leading competitor, who wishes to remain anonymous, says without TV coverage, there is no way he can entice a potential sponsor to come on board.

"It makes it so hard for us," he said. "We'll be lucky to do the first three rounds with the funds we have from our current sponsors, I can't believe a category with a heritage as rich as Formula Ford can't get TV coverage."

- GRANT ROWLEY motorsDort news

NEWS

Beyond Thunder Dome The new Lola Dome F3 car took its first European podium finish recently when Christian Montanari finished third in the Italian Championship round at Binetto recently. That backs up a top six finish for the car in Adam Carroll's hands in the UK.

Ferrari holds the aces Whether it’s Concorde or GPWC, the Scuderia cannot lose

by JOE SAWARD THE political manoeuvres surrounding the Formula 1 circus have been becoming more and more intense in recent weeks as the various parties involved try to find a structure to take the sport forward in the future.

At the moment,everyone is trying to give the impression that the negotiations are moving in a positive direction, but there are many who believe that this is the calm Ijefore the storm. FIA President Max Mosley spoke of his fears of a split between the GPWC and the FLA Formula 1 World Championship at Imola and Bernie Ecclestone of the Formula One group indicated that he had made his final offer to the FI teams and will not increase the money he is offering them.

Elsewhere in the paddock there has been a trend to suggest that the GPWC is actually a serious option for some of the teams, but the recent signing of "a memorandum of understanding" at a meeting in Munich does not mean much.

The feeling at Imola was that the most important thing is to bring the shares in the Formula One group back into the fold. The 75 percent stake is now in the hands of three banks that were creditors of the defimct Kirch empire. We understand that JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers are willing to sell their shares for US$100m apiece and take the necessary loss on their investment.

But the main creditor, the Bayerische Landesbank cannot do that because of the likely reaction of its shareholders and because of the effect such a write-down would have on its credit rating.

The manufacturers would like to buy the shares but we hear that the 23 April 2003

banks are, understandably, not willing to drop the price.

If a deal cannot be done at that level, it will come down to which teams are going to sign up for which championship. Mosley said that the outcome of the fight may have to be settled by seeing which championship will survive and which will die.

Mosley said that he hoped a solution could be found betw’een the various parties but said that with several offers having been made by each side and all of these having been rejected, a negotiated settlement is less likely than ever.

Everyone in Formula 1 knows the importance of Ferrari and in the past the Itahan team has been very careful to play the different organisations off against one another. The result has been that Ferrari has managed to negotiate better deals than all the other teams, based on the company's historical role in the sport. This is enshrined in the secret schedules of the Concorde Agreement which cover^ the financial side of the sport.

There are even rumoured to be complex arrangements between Ferrari and the Formula One group in addition to the Concorde Agreement.

This makes sense in that it is very clear that the future of the car manufacturer and the future of the sport are often seen as being inextricably linked. There is, for example,a clause in tlie recent Ferrari accounts which states simply that in the event of a Ferrari flotation, the Formula One group's parent company SLEC wUl pay Ferrari between US$150m and US$200m. No explanation is available beyond that.

TTius, one is led to the question of why Ferrari had agreed to join up with the GPWC unless there are similar incentives for the team. At the meeting of the GPWC in Munich it

was made clear that Ferrari will get four percent of all GPWC revenues.

This does not appear to have caused any upset.

At Imola, however, there was talk that there would also be a US$50m payment up front to Ferrari. We were able to confirm that figure with two highly reliable sources which gave the rumours credibility but we also found several team bosses who had attended the meeting and knew notliing about it. This is decidedly odd given tliat one of the.aims of the GPWC is to have financial clarity.

Is there really the intention at the GPWC to pay Ferrari a large cash sum? Or is this part of an elaborate attempt to torpedo the GPWC? For the moment it is impossible to answer that question but such rumours will no doubt have been discussed when Bernie Ecclestone of the Formula One group and Jurgen Hubbert, the leading figure in the GPWC,met at Imola on Sunday.

There are many other issues that have to be addressed, not least the fact that the Formula One group has long term contracts with many of the major events-notably Monaco (the epitome of FI glamour and excitement) and Indianapolis. When it comes to circuits the GPWC is not in a strong position.

There is also the difficult question of the rules and regulations. Tlie GPWC has not yet created its rules but those who think that the new series can be a cloned version of the existing FI structure may have to think again,as we understand that the intellectual property rights of the current regulations have been leased to the Formula One group by the FLA as part of the huge commercial settlement two years ago. Anyone who attempts to copy the rules would,in theory at least, be liable for the infringement of copyright,

n Odd things are happening in the British GT Championship as the newfor-2003 6T Cup class gathers strength. First there was talk of a new-shape Mini Cooper being raced, and now a VW Golf GTI is set to enter as well. These saloon-based cars weren't quite what the class was aimed at but are being encouraged as they offer variety.

There is talk as well of a delectable Alfa Romeo GTV soon, which is more like a GT car! (ED's note: Mr Addison is a convicted Alfa Romeo 'tragic'. Please be kind ...) n The UK-based EuroBOSS Championship will boast a 1995 Simtek on its grid this year as Paul Smith lines up in the car that Mimmo Schiatarelia took to ninth place in that year's Argentinean Grand Prix.

Against him will be the rebadged Benettons(now Ascaris) of Klaas Zwart and Nick Dalli and the exMichael Schumacher title-winning Benetton of Earl Goddard. n Craig Dolby became the youngest Brit ever to win a singleseater race by scoring victory in round two of the Formula Renault 1600 Championship at Zolder. Dolby turned 15 in March and has limited karting experience but belied his lack of track time. n Former sports car racer Wayne Taylor is rumoured to be looking at putting a Champ Car team together for 2004. The South African was an interested spectator at Long Beach recently. n The popularity of motorcycle racing in Spain has been underlined by the announcement that Jerez will host the MotoGP World Championship series until 2011. The announcement was made jointly last week by Jerez de la Frontera Mayor Pedro Pacheco and Dorna CEO Carmeio Ezpeleta. The track drew more than 200,000 spectators for the three days of the its 2002 MotoGP event. n Suzuki has dominated the 26th Le Mans 24 Hour race. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) of Scot Brian Morrison and Frenchmen Philippe Dobe and Vincent Philippe took their GSX-R1000 to a two lap victory from the similar Frenchcrewed bike Jean-Michel Bayle, Sebastian Gimbert and Nicolas Dessauge.

- DAVID ADDISON 17

Holt to give GTP a jolt GARRY Holt, a stalwart of the Poolrite V8 BRutes Series over the past couple of seasons, has bought the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII formerly raced by Geoff Full and will contest the Australian GT Performance Championship from next weekend's second round at Symmons Plains, Tasmania.

Sydney-based Holt said he had been keen to move up to GTP and . had a long-term goal of rmuiing the Lancer and his own team hr November's Bathurst 24-Hour race.

"I'm really motivated. GT Performance is quite wide open tlris year and I can't wait," Holt said. ^'We tested at Wakefield Park the other day and managed to improve the car by half a second a lap.

However, I tlrink Symmons Plains vviltl suit the Mazda RX-7 and Holden GTS competitors and we'll have to waiit our turn for Wakefield to really get amongst them."

Holt's former V8 Supercar mechanic Nigel Bollii-ig will run the Lancer with continuing support also from Claris

Octagon rebrand

OCTAGON Motorsports UK is being rebranded Brands Hatch Circuits Ltd in an effort to divorce the company from the rest of the Octagon empire.

The intention is to eliminate confusion and differentiate the division from other areas of sports marketing covered so successfully by the Octagon Group.

The company has publicly stated it is looking to sell parts of

m yya

its business but says that this will not affect the commitments made to the British Grand Prix and! a key objective is to cormplete the development of Silwerstone, which it manages tlianks to a deal between its parent company and the BRDC. lira addition, the company owns i aimdi operates four British circuits -Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulfton Park and Snetterton.

- JOE SAWARD

?■

’■3

t-

^

>TiS~C -

—

Like a blur: Ceoff Full campgained this car in ‘02. Holt will use the Evo VII in this season's CT Performance series. and Nick Kousparis, who looked after the car last year for Full and when Adelaide's Ross Ahnond drove it at the recent Clipsal 500 roimd.

Holt has sold his Holden SS V8 BRute to Kim Jane, who will be another newcomer to the Poolritesponsored series.

Holt also will continue to sponsor

karter Troy Hunt in the Falken Tyres Mitsubishi Mirage Series, which starts its 2003 season at Symmons Plains.

Hunt, 21, w'on his fifth Australian Karting Championship in the Clubman Heavy class at the Willowbank circuit at Ipswich last Simday.

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V8 SUPERCAR driver Cameron McConviile, above left, will make his Targa Tasmania debut at the wheel of the new Holden Astra SRi Turbo in May. Partnered by experienced navigator Georgia Warwick, right, McConviile is looking forward to his first drive in the six-day Targa adventure.

"I love the roads down there but I'l l admit I don't know them very wel l," he said. "Georgia knows Tassie as well as anyone so I reckon we won't go too far wrong."

The Astra entry is one of three Holden factory cars competing in the famous event. Peter Brock and navigator Anne Gigney will pilot the same Monaro that Brock used to take sixth place in last year's Targa, while Steven Richards will steer the Gerry Bashford-navig ated Monaro, their second Targa campaign. motorsport news

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Fun? OUCHHI KEVIN Schwantz's idea to have the odd race in retirement bit him at California Speedway.

The 1993 500cc world champion injured his left hand when he crashed his Suzuki in the STTARS Super TT - race at California Speedway. "(Mike) Cinqmars, the freestyle motocross guy, got into me at the start of the Middleweight race," Schwantz told Roadracingworld.com.

"I tangled bars with his seat as we were coming out(of the first turn). He was trying to shove me into the haybales, and I fell.

"There's something broken in my hand, but I haven't gone to the doctor yet. I don't know if the handlebar landed on it or what exactly, but something's not right."

Schwantz suffered three broken bones in his hand but is expected to keep racing on his single-cylinder bike.

Cause of crash un

OK on 2 wheels, less so on 4 nnn

AMERICAN Superbike ace Jamie Hacking won the recent California Speedway round of the AMA Supersport Championship - but he is lucky to be alive.

Hacking and his wife Rachel narrowly escaped injury in a car accident on the night before the race when their car hit a metal parking gate in the grounds of the track.

A metal pole from the gate went through the car's windscreen and only missed Hacking's head because he moved it at the last second. The pole then bounced back over the top of Hacking's head and came back out of the car.

Hacking was unhurt in the incident, while Rachel was treated for shock at the scene. The incident is being investigated by the Speedway and by San Bernardino Sheriff's Department deputies, who were on the property as part of the race weekend security.

Hacking won the race from Aussie Aaron Gobert, with Tommy Hayden third from Damon Buckmaster.

Hi

NORICK Abe will continue to race for Yamaha in place of the injured Marco Melandri in the second round of the MotoGP World Championship at Welkom,South Africa this weekend.

Melandri, 20, suffered multiple leg fractures when he fell during practice at Suzuka earlier this month. He was flown to Italy for treatment from the Championship's Clinica Mobile medical staff in Imola. and is expected to start physiotherapy next month.

Abe, a former GP regular who finished sixth in the

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known RIDER error is the most likely cause of the crash that claimed the life of Daijiro Kato.

The Honda rider, left, fell and hit a wall during the Japanese MotoGP and, after almost two weeks in hospital,succumbed to his injuries last Saturday. The 26-year-old leaves behind a wife and two yoimg children.

Honda Racing(HRC)engineers have examined Kato's RC21TV racer and analysed available data, but fomid no irregularities. The crash has also been investigated via the Suzuka Circuit's on-site surveillance cameras and by the Suzuka Precinct of the Mie Prefectural Police Department, but no specific cause has been ascertained.

MotoGP's Clinica Mobile's Dr Claudio Costa reports that the 26year-old suffered "serious brain injuries with extensive haemorrhaging that worsens towards the base and the brain stem.

Dislocation of the first and second cervical vertebrae with fracturing of the third and, consequently, devastating damage to the spinal chord", as well as "numerous shoulder and upper limb fractures."

Since the crash, a number of riders have criticised the track's safety standards. There has also been widespread criticism of race officials, over the fact that they deemed that the race should continue, and the fact the Kato appeared to be moved from the scene of the crash quickly, despite his serious injuries.

BIKE NEWS VALE

Daijiro Kato 1976-2003 MOTORCYCLE racing has lost one of its brightest lights with the death of Daijiro Kato.

In a brief career, the .

26-year-old established himself as one of Japan's most promising racers before his horrendous crash at Suzuka two weeks ago.

Kato hit the world stage in 1996 when, riding on a wildcard entry, he placed third in the Japanese 250cc GP. In the two following years, still riding as a wildcard, he won the race again before he moved full time into the championship with the Gresini Honda Team, for which would last for the rest of his career.

He had started racing on 'Pocket Bikes' at the age of five and, aged nine, won the Japanese Championship. He then moved on to larger Mini Bikes, taking four National Championship titles.

As soon as he turned 16, the legal minimum age for 'real' racing in Japan, he moved to the 125cc class, then 250s, winning his first major

race at Aida's All-Japan round in 1994.

Following his wildcard races in Japan, he moved into the World Championship full-time in 2000. In his debut season, he finished third, taking four win's, but the following year, he blitzed to opposition to win the title. He won 11 GPs, eclipsing the long-standing record single-season record of 10 wins held by the legendary Mike Hailwood. On the way, he equalled Tetsuya Harada as Japan's most prolific winner of GPs with 17 victories.

He moved into the premier MotoGP class last season, at first racing a NSR500 twostroke until the German GP, after which he was promoted to a fourstroke RC211V. He took two second places in the series, finishing seventh overall, and also won the Suzuka 8-Hour with World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards. This season, he continued to race in the Gresini team in

Telefonica MoviStar Honda livery.

The cause of his Suzuka accident is yet to be established (see news story) and, immediately after the crash, he was airlifted to the intensive care ward of the Yokkaichi hospital. Despite initially showing signs of improvement, he died 13 days after his

final race.

Kato, or 'Dai-chan' as he was known to his team-mates and friends, leaves behind his wife Makiko and two young children, and many friends and fans. To all, Motorsport News extends our sincerest condolences at the loss of a great racer and fine man.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

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AJ's a real Humdinger

STAR rookie AJ Allmendinger has become the quickest-ever driver to win a CART Toyota Atlantic Championship race.

After qualifying on pole position, Allmendinger got the jump on team-mate Aaron Justus at the start and went on to lead every lap en route to a 2.379s victory. The only other driver to win on debut in the series is'02 series champion Jon Fogarty, who won in his first start at Monterrey, Mexico.

Rounding out the podium was Canadian Jonathan Macri, who got a good start that enabled him to move from fifth on the starting grid to third by the end of the first lap.

Macri avoided getting caught up in an incident with Ryan Dalziel on lap 7 in which Dalziel spun while attempting to pass Macri around the outside going into Turn 1.

Dalziel, the fourth place qualifier, subsequently stopped on course and was collected by his Sierra Sierra Racing teammate, Marc DeVellis and Diaz,forcing Dalziel and DeVellis out of the race.

- PHIL MORRIS

Everyone needs a nice warm hug: Paul Tracy, far left and below, got the points. All poleman Michel Jourdain got for his efforts was a hug from team owner Bobby Rahal, left, after a clutch failure.

d Si j. SCOTT OixoiiiLand fdhy kanaan dominated the Bridgestone Japan Indy 300 at I the Twin Ring: Motegi but a late-race crash handed the win : to Scott Sharp. !

The New Zealander and the i Brazilian were disputing the lead i when they made contact. Kanaan I was transported by air to Dokkyo ; University School of Medicine i Hospital in Tochigi, and suffered n a radial fracture of the left arm. , Dixon was held for observation ; at the infield care centre and ; released after the race, I "i was really excited to come ^ to Motegi after running so well at I Homestead," said Sharp after ; the race, "There are a lot of similarities between the two tracks. This is the kind of track that suits my style really well, and I enjoyed 22

everylap of the race.

Kenay Brack took third after passimg Felipe Giaffone late in the race but an accident between Jaques Lazier and Shinji Nakaiiiio, which caused the race tofimish under caution, kept the Swede from challenging for victow.

'Vile ran out of laps at the end," Brack said. "I think we couJidhave won had we had: to more green laps because we were dearly fastest, but we had another yellow."

Giiaffone finished third followed by Michael Andretti.

OnlV those drivers and fifthplaced Al Unser Jr finished on the lead lap.

Rfflro’kie Dan Wheldon, who stooil in for the injured Dario Fran®hitti, took seventh.

"Today was a great experience

for me," said Wheidon. "I think ;' for my first race it didn’t go too bad. I certainly need to relay to the engineers how to get a better racecar, because I was not expecting the track to change the way it did. 1 definitely enjoyed it and learned a lot. Mow I have to concentrate on getting ready for the Indianapolis 500."

The next race will be at Indianapolis - but it will not be the 500. For the first time in the history of the classic, a second race will be held during the month of May. The Freedom 100 is scheduled for two days of practice and qualifying on May 15-16 with the race scheduled for Saturday, May 17 Points: Sharp 106, Kanaan 102, Giaffone 92, Brack 89, Helio Castroneves 83, Unser 79, Michael Andretti 77, Dixon 75, de Ferran 58,Sam Hornish Jr 57.

Honda's track, Toyota's win: Scott Sharp took advantage of the late-race accident to claim the win in his Dallara-Toyota. motorspon news

CART/IRL

ich, bummed PAUL Tracy is perfect. No,the Canadian is not a flawless individual(even he would admit to that) but he is unbeaten in 2003.

Tracy added a Long Beach win to those in Florida and Mexico but, this time, he was the fortunate inheritor of another driver's misfortune.

Michel Jourdain Jr looked to be heading to his first career win when his Team Rahal car suffered a clutch

problem during its final pitstop, allowing Tracy to motor home almost 5s clear of Adrian Fernandez.

"Definitely today we were lucky," said Tracy."I mean, Michel had me covered. He was faster than me on the second stint and the third stint. I was doing everything I could do just to keep sight of him, really having to push hard. I don't think there was any way I was going to get by him, you know, because his pace was just as fast as me.'

Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're lucky and Tracy seems to be both at the moment.

Jourdain had taken pole position on the California streets and looks likely to win one day. It just should have been here, that's all...

"It is by far the best car I have ever had, and it was just real easy to pull away from everybody," said Jourdain."Even when the yellows tried to destroy our strategy, we were so fast that it was OK." Jourdain, who took his first career pole (in 122 starts), was running a slightly different fuel strategy to Tracy and was running 2s ahead, and 36s up on Adrian Fernandez, with 10 laps remaining.

F

When Jourdain stalled in the pits, the Mexican gave chase but killed his rubber and Tracy was home.

"I just overused them,and at the end my rear tyres were just gone," admitted Fernandez."Then I was

not close enough to Paul when he came out of the pits. So, once you give him the chance of at least a lap, I mean,it's over, because once he gets into the straights, you know, you get heat on the tyres, and it is basically very difficult."

Bruno Junqueira got his best result of the season with a third place finish, being there or thereabout all day but lacking the speed and track position to challenge for a win.Jimmy Vasser gave Stefan Johansson's team a good result with fourth, while Mario Dominguez got a great fifth, the Indy 300'winner'picking his way through the field.

Patrick Carpentier came out on top of a furious battle for sixth from impressive rookies Ryan HunterReay and Darren Manning.

Points:Iraq:64,Junqueira 38,Jourdain Jr 34, Fernandez 28, Vasser 20, Roberto Moreno 18, Patrick Carpentier 18, Alex Tagliani 17, Mario Haberfeldl6, Darren Manning 11.

-PHIL MORRIS

Beam me back under a roof, Scotty FORMER Gold Coast Indy 300 winner Scott Pruett has returned to the TransAm series with a third place at Long Beach.

Pruett took his Rocketsports Jaguar to the podium position behind Boris Said's Ford Mustang on the streets of California.

Pruett led the race until a 'competition yellow' bunched the field with 10 laps to go. With his tyres fading, Pruett had no choice but to let Said past. His team-mate Johnny Miller was able to overtake for second spot on the final lap while team owner Paul Gentilozzi was fourth.

"I was running pretty hard today," Pruett said. "I was losing the tyre grip at the end and the car got loose.

The lack of experience on this tyre compound is different, I've got a little homework to do."

Pruett, 43, was a two-time Trans Am champion (1987 and '94) and returned this year after an eight-year absence. He started his CART career with a one-off drive that he financed himself in at Long Beach 1988 and scored scored two wins (Michigan in 1995 and Australia 1997) and 10 podium finishes in 145 starts.

He also drove at Bathurst in 1997, partnering Alan Jones and Jason Bright in a Stone Brothers Racing Falcon.

- PHIL MORRIS

sullon’im3gcs.com

McConville told me to use the kerbs: Yoong is now a CART full-timer.

Alex gets a ride

ALEX Yoong has landed a full-time CART ride.

The former Minardi Formula One driver will finish the 2003 season with Dayle Coyne's team. Yoong drove for the team last weekend at

Long Beach,following his first-up appearance with the team last month in Monterrey, Mexico.

Yoong's Long Beach adventure ended in the concrete after he tried to overtake fellow rookie Mario Haberfeld on the outside of Turn 1.

He had earlier been delayed when

his team failed to get all the fuel into his Lola-Ford at the first attempt.

"It was just a case of trying too hard to make up the places lost," he said. "It had been a disappointing weekend with some problems in sorting out the car but it can't compare really with how Jourdain felt after he most unfortunately lost his certain win in the last pitstop."

Meanwhile,Yoong, who tested 'Lansvale Smash Repairs Commodore last month,is still determined to race at Bathurst, even in the 24 Hour ...

23

NEWS

LSAO 4 PK 911 FORMER FI, Champ Car and IRL driver Eliseo Salazar has agreed terms to race with the PK Sport Porsche team for the remainder of this year's American Le Mans Series.

The 48-year-old, who drove a Racer's Group Porsche in the series opener at Sebring, will team up with GT regular Vic Rice in one of two 911 GT3-RSs entered by the British squad. n The Petersen/White Lightning Porsche squad has won its appeal of its disqualification from second place in GT in last month's Sebring 12 Flours. The 911 GT3-RS, driven by Johnny Mowlem, Nic Jonsson and Craig Stanton, was disqualified for having an oversized fuel tank, but the decision has been reversed because of procedural issues.

B Butch Leitzinger is returning to Le Mans 24 Flours one year on from taking fourth place in the big race with Bentley. The 34-year-old American will drive a Risi Competizione Ferrari 360 GT with fellow American Shane Lewis and Britain's Johnny Mowlem. fl Former Grand Prix driver Philippe Alliot will race a prototype at Le Mans this year for the French Courage team. Alliot, who contested 95 FI races, will team up in one of Courage's new C65 LMP675 contenders with David Hallyday, son of French singer Johnny.

- GARY WATKINS

sullon-ima^es.coin

niming back the years

TWO thirds of the driver line-up that gave Jaguar its historic victory in the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours have joined forces for this year's edition of the French endurance classic.

Andy Wallace, left out of a drive by the withdrawal of US Dyson, team has been snapped up Jan Lammers to share his Racing for Holland Dome prototype in the June event. They will share the car with Dutchman John Bosch, Lammers' partner in the FIA Sportscar Championship this year.

Wallace,42, reckoned that a drive in the Racing for Holland squad's Dome was "the next best thing if you can't be in an Audi or a Bentley".

He said: "The car had the speed to run near the front last year and there are signs that it will be more reliable this time, it's also going to be very good fun.

I've had a lot of good times with Jan down tlie years." hammers, reigning FIA Sportscar Champion,said: "The band is back together. It's great to have Andy on board. He was always top of my wish list, but when it looked like that Dyson were coming to Le.Mans I thought it wasn't going to happen."

Wallace and hammers have a long history together.

They won he Mans in 1988 together, nbmv, and finished second in the same race tw^o years later. They also share a Toyota at the 24 Hours in 1992 and,as recently as last year, finished second in the Sebring 12 Hours sharing the Champion Audi R8.

And,for the trivia buffs, who was the third member of the 1988 winning trio? It was John Colum CrichtonStuart, Earl of Dumfries, better knowm as Johnny.

- GARY WATKINS

l^ow we wanna see Saelens Stuck versus Brockf suffon-/magcs.com

SPORTSCAR and touring car great Hans Stuck is returning to full-time competition in this year's SPEED World Challenge GT series for what will be his 35th season of competition.

The 52-year-old, who raced just once last year, will drive a BMW M3 for the Prototype Technology Group team, with which he contested the American Le Mans Series in 19992001. The deal follows on from his fourth place finish on a one-off start in the series opener at Sebring in March.

Stuck, who also has an ambassadorial role with BMW,said: "The call to do Sebring came as a surprise and I've now got the chance to race full time. This is like a dream come true."

Will he wear a HANS device? Stuck is heading into his 35th season.

24

Stuck's only scheduled race in Europe this year is the Nurburgring 24 Hours,in which he will race an ex-ALMS BMW M3 GTR. - GARY WATKINS

JML Team Panoz has signed Belgian Formula 3000 ace David Saelens to drive the Panoz LMP-01 in for the remainder of this year's American Le Mans Series as well as the Le Mans 24 Hour.

Saelens tested the Panoz LMP-01 at Road Atlanta recently and will join forces with Swiss, Benjamin Leuenberger and Canadian, Scott Maxwell in the #12 Panoz at Le Mans.

This #11 Panoz will be piloted at Le Mans by American, Gunnar Jeannette; Monegasque, Olivier Beretta; and Italian Max Papis.

The six international stars will be on hand for the forthcoming Le Mans Preliminary test day scheduled for May 4.

Saelens is eagerly awaiting the chance to race the Panoz after spending 2002 doing selected Formula 3000 races and acting as test driver for the

Minardi Formula 1 team.

"I am really excited about this opportunity because it is another world opening for me to race in the United States for the first time," Salens, above, said. motorsport news

OP Ilf I O N

Positive signs S O far the 2003 has got off to a very good start for us.

There's been a little bit of luck, keeping out of the way (of others). But Adelaide was a . tremendous start for us - it's always been a bogey track for me, I've had more DNFs there than anything, so to come away with two strong finishes, considering where we had to come from on Saturday, was very encouraging.

It hasn't been difficult settling into Briggs Motorsport at all.

They are a great bunch of guys who are very, very keen to do well. It's been really very comfortable ... a pleasure.

What we have to do now is try and pick up our car speed and try and get towards the top 10. They haven't been in the position of trying to win a race and really that's where I'm trying to take them.

The area that we're stuggling with at the moment is just traction. Power down and lateral grip. It's probably a scenario for n everybody, but its definitely an ; area that we have to pick up to make the package go faster.

We made some changes in the warm-up for the race at Phillip Island and the car was much better. We've just to keep working in that direction.

But we're not in the position to go out and fight for wins as yet. That is the aim, to try to win some races on merit if we can, but we're stil l nowhere near that window of opportunity yet. We have to rely on other people having misfortunes, which is not the way to go racing.

We've just got to keep out of trouble and keep trying to score points. The way the point system is; it's all about consistency. Sure, you want to win and score the highest points you possibly can, but we're not in that position yet.

The main aim then is to keep finishing and try to be as consistent as possible. So, when we are up to speed and running strongly, we are in a position to try and capitalise on something.

There were rumours floating around last year that I would return to New Zealand at the end of 2002, but that was never an option. I made a

commitment to Ford at the beginning of last year that I would stay on with them. That was a three-year commitment, so to do anything other than race V8 Supercars was something I didn't look at any options for.

W

e had our first look at the new 300km race format at Phillip Island two weeks ago.

Phillip Island has never really produced exciting racing. I think going to the format of 300km in one race ... quite frankly, I enjoyed it, but I think probably from the public's perspective it threw up a fairly uninteresting race.

And the rain coming down at the end made it even more processional I Eastern Creek is a very similar track. Never say never, but any race that doesn't produce a pace car is always going to be fairly dull, and the longer the format, without a pace car it will just keep happening. Any time that the pace car is introduced, for whatever reason, will produce something fairly exciting - like Adelaide.-

Motor Mouth wiih Paul nadisiGh I think you could look at Adelaide and say well, without that pace car in race two, you probably would have had two fairly unexciting races.

But because the pace car came out with seven laps to go, all caution is thrown out and it is a completely brand-new race.

That's what makes or breaks the event, as far as being exciting or not exciting.

Looking ahead to the endures, I think it is fairly likely that Dean Canto and I will pair up together.

It's not set in stone yet and nothing is being finalised as far as management is concerned, but I would say that it would be an excellent pairing and I'd be very happy with that.

AFI Im.if’i'K

28

Myogenesis T'S a bit of mystery as to how we got into a quiz but it all started out as something to do with the Sistine Chapel.

Ron Dennis had decided that he would be the king of trivia for the evening and I thought that I could beat him. And it got pretty trivial. Could Ron name the first man to be run over by a train? He could not.

William Huskisson, I said.

And what was so special about him?

He was a Member of Parliament and President of the Board of Trade.

"What is a Zo?" Ron riposted, adding "a useful word if you are playing Scrabble."

A zo?

A small zoo? someone suggested.

There was much scratching of heads. We had no idea.

"A cross-bred Tibetan yak," said Ronzo, rather proudly.

Well, of course. The obvious answer.

"Let's try another one," said Ron. "What is the word that describes the regeneration of a limb in animals and which animal can do it? I'll give £50 to the first person who comes up with the answer and £5 for the animal."

I am not averse to taking money from Formula 1 team owners (unless of course they are trying to bribe me). The following Tiorning I sauntered (nonchalantly) up to Ron. "Myogenesis and the newt," I said. "That will be £55 please ..."

t may all sound like trivial behaviour in the FI paddock but there is a serious point in all of this.

At one point in the evening, Ron and I talked about the value of the quizzes he has with his children and I have with my son.

Ron is acutely aware that children of wealthy people can very easily go off the rails. They get whatever they want and they can easily become hideous people (one sees a lot of this in the paddock). Ron does not want that to happen with his kids and he believes that good behaviour and achievement should be rewarded and that kids should not always get what they want.

It was all eminently sensible and an ’indication that there are times when we all forget that most of the peoplein the paddock are reaf people, and not the cardboard cut-outs we sometimes think they are. Ron telling bad jokes and stories from the good old days gets one away from the corporate spiel which he often uses when he is being Ron the team owner, maximising the potential and interfacing frantically.

i

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"Sen is acutely ai/^e ? - h -? % tliat chililpenaf^aaimy people can easily go off thefaKs ft

isten to Ron talk about the GPWC and it all seems to make sense. He will not say much, of course, because the negotiations are very sensitive at the moment, but he is very plausible.

The problem is that most of the people in the top jobs in FI are very plausible. The difficult thing is knowing which line to take and who to trust.

One thing I have never understood and never will understand is the culture of secrecy that has enveloped FI for the last 20 years. Why is it necessary to hide everything? What is the point of hiding things if there is nothing to hide?

I have long argued that prizemoney can be a huge source of excitement for the sport. Commentators can scream about how "Fred Fanackapan has just won a MILLION dollars! ! I" and people like that. Ask someone in FI how much a team gets for winning's race and anyone would ■oiarsgotl eswi

.t

s

and the newt think you had asked for the codes to launch a nuclear bomb.

/nowledge, so they say, is \power and there are a few people in FI to whom power is the only thrill they have left.

When you are rich, money is irrelevant, beyond being a measurement of your power.

The game is not only about

going to end up sitting on the floor, with egg on their face.

But when all is said and all is done, do the racing fans really care? Is the sport like a money dripping soap opera or is it about racing cars. Is it about Mark Webber doing a good job - or about German bankers who are playing hard ball. There are times when I love the buzz of the

a ;y

ni:

winning races but also about outwitting the people around you.

The talk all weekend at Imola was of the GPWC and the deals that are being discussed between the various players The music is playing and the chairs are reducing in number and, eventuallv, someone is

. -i

politics and there are times when a' want to do is to go to Rivazza and watch the boys hurtling through the corners

slept in Eddie Jordan's truck in the paddock. It was a great time and we were a happy . band of friends who have long ago grown up and had our fights and our fallouts.

Eddie and I had a pretty big fight last year and for some months we were not even talking. I had written a story about EJ not being the man I used to know and how he had lost sight of the goals. In the last few months I have seen Eddie the fighter again.

And I found myself being delighted that he had won in Brazil. Sure, it was a fluke but it does not matter. The race ended

he Box Seat With Joe Saward and Giancarlo Fisichella was in _ l the lead. A win is a win. And you take them when you can.

Which is why I am going to . take Ron's £55- and I am going, to enjoy it...

sulioh/imaOcsxom- .

t is 20 years since I went to Imola as an itinerant Formula 3 reporter with a typewriter and very little else The first time I was in Imola, I

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sSUon’Imaa

I win, you lose: Ron Dennis, right, hands the winning Brazilian CP trophy over to Eddie Jordan. Top, Kimi Raikkonen now settles for second...

... while Ciancarlo Fisichella celebrates a belated Brazilian win on the Imola grid with a happy Eddie.

27

T

Five minutes with

mmm

Jean Alesi

Former GramtPrix winner made his First visit to a2003GP at imoia. A week hetore he starts his second season in the OTM he stopped in tor a chat with ADAM COOPER MN: Have you enjoyed watching these last three FI races on TV? JA: Very much, especially the last one.

MN: Did you want to be there, especially in the rain?

JA: No, I don't have that feeling any more! When I'm watching I'm not thinking I should be there. But I'm watching and I enjoy it. I was a bit scared when I saw Alonso sitting on the floor, I thought he had something broken, but fortunately not.

MN: What have you enjoyed most?

JA: The most enjoyable thing was my DTM car leading the FI cars. That was a good time for me!

MN: As a driver, would you like to do qualifying with a heavy fuel load?

JA: We will do it in DTM. After the first qualifying the 10 best drivers will make the Super Pole with fuel. But for us it won't make any difference!

What is good in FI is it makes the Grand Prix interesting, but I'm a bit sad for the spectators.

We are in Italy, there are 90 percent Ferrari fans. And there will be three minutes of Ferrari in qualifying, for 300 euros!

MN: Were you happy to see Giancarlo Fisichella win a race?

JA: I like it because he doesn't have the car to win the championship, or to win a race, but he won. And that is good for him and it means that motor racing is still full of surprises.

What the spectators are waiting for is a surprise. If you see a movie and you know how it's going to fii iish, it's not so nice.

28

MoBn’tTs^rvzw

MoWI'F

MN: Do you have a different feeling going into your second season in the DTM, now you know what to expect?

JA: Yes, for sure. The feeling is different because I know what DTM is now. I confirmed what I

season, and I will be a pain in the arse for the other drivers!

MN: How much stronger are you going to be at the first race with the experience you now have?

"I finished my career in FI, and I was iooking for something where you don't say,'Shit, i've signed for the wrong team.'",

- Alesi on the DTM

was feeling last year, which is it's a fantastic series. There is a very good competition, and a small gap between the cars, and that is very important in my case.

I finished my career in FI, and I was looking for something where you don't say, 'Shit, I've signed for the wrong team,' There's no doubt it will not happen. In terms of the competition this year, we are still waiting to be altogether to see what will happen.

But I am experienced now in DTM, I know what contact is like during the race, I know what a standing start with a heavy car is like, I know a lot of things. I'm waiting for the beginning of the

JA: I will be strong. Flow much, I don't know, but I will be strong.

Last year I finished third in the first race, vvithout knowing anything. So in terms of competition,.! will be OK. But you know how it is. The weekend can be a nightmare, if you make some wrong things, and if can be a dream if you make good things, so I will be very concentrated.

MN: How difficult is it to beat Bernd Schneider in the same car?

JA: That is not the problem. In my case the problem is during the weekend I have a lot of press, a lot of fans, and at the end I have not a lot of pressure.

but a lot of things to do.

Sometimes it makes me tense because I have no time to relax or concentrate, Schneider js not my problem, honestly, because I know what to do, and I will try to do It every race.

MN: What I mean is, he's been there so long and he's so strongly supported by the team ...

JA: Fle's been in the DTM a long time, that is true, and he knows the team better than me. But what is true is that he doesn't have a better car, no doubt. In AMG we have four cars, and the four are the same. Last year I was team mate with him. This year I'm not going to be in the same garage as Bernd. But that's not the point, because I know how equal the cars are.

MN: Do you know how you will compare to the opposition?

JA: No, because when you show the car for the first race, it's the same for the whole season. You cannot change the wings. So everybody hides a lot of things!

But for sure our direct competition is Audi. There is Opel, but we are looking more for Audi. moiorspon news

INTERUIEini

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3 3

Defending the Faith Defending V8 Supercar Champion Mark Skaife has got off to a soiid start in 2003, despite the need to dial in the new VY Commodore. He spoke with CHRIS LAMBDEN about the new year, the new car, the new 300km race format, HRTs future and THATbingle with Murph at the Island...

MOTORSPORT NEWS: A slightly tougher start to the year than in 2002, but nevertheless you've been a factor in them all and you're still right there in the points.

MARK SKAIFE: It's only a tougher start because of the lateness of the VY programme. The car performance is as strong if not stronger than last year.

It's been great how well the car has progressed in such a short, period of time and how quickly, in an engineering sense, the guys have bee able to get on top of it.

IVIN: At the Island your strategy seemed to be to get the fuel and tyre stops over relatively early compared with others.

Would you describe that as a 'safe' strategy - you would have been in a position to go for it if there were later Safety Cars?

MS: You never know, obviously, how Safety Cars can affect a race and, yes, our strategy was to get the stops done, to protect yourself from being caught by the Safety Car, rather than the other way. We started without a full tank, which some others didn't do and got the benefit of that.

What cost us was a silly mistake by me, overshooting the 40kmh marker. To have three stops and a drive through and finish sixth was as good as we could expect, based on the race not re-starting, not getting the last 10 laps in the wet. If you have 10 laps in the rain, who knows what can happen ...

MN:The incident with Murph was judged a 'racing incident' but after it happened, were you at all nervous about what the outcome might be? Were you driving round waiting for possible bad news on the radio?

30

MS: Not at all. Straight away on the radio I said to the guys to make sure that if the Stewards said anything about that, that they know absolutely that we were within our rights to be up that far.

If you have a look at the vision, then clearly we're in a position to command the corner.

So I didn't have a problem in that respect. I knew when Greg turned in that he didn't see me.

To begin with I thought he'd left me room, but in the end he actually did turn in not seeing me and that's the way we had contact.

I had no illusions that the stewards would look at it, but that when they did, some common sense would prevail.

"What cost us was a silly mistake by me, overshooting the 40kmh marker" - Skaife on his Pi race

Going to Phillip Island and missing out on the 90 minutes on Friday was going to really put us in a difficult position. As it turned out, the car was very good; we made small changes to it in the prequalifying session; it's speed relative to the field on worn tyres

MN: At Perth last year you were on the wrong end of a 'dud' call - did you worry about getting just that - a dud call?

MS: There's always potential for that. We'd started the race with a car that was exceptionally good in terms of consistency and looking after its tyres. 1 was disappointed that by then we were in that much trouble - the infringement in pit lane, the double tyre stop. To have got an unfavourable stewards call would have made up a great day ...

MN: When you first ran the VY there were some early concerns, but you do seem to have dialled it in pretty quickly. Are there any lingering issues with it, or are you quite happy with it as a race car?

MS: Phillip Island was a big test - to me, the 'end of the spectrum' test. We've been to some slow places, we came away from Adelaide with a great result and quite happy that the car speed was good at that style of circuit. moiorspon news

INTERVIElAf was better than on new tyres; and at that circuit more impressed with its stability and performance than our car last year.

If you have a look at the times, it was incredibly consistent. For me that now bodes well for us, from slow, 90 degree, tight radius corners to fast, open, flowing places. We've got both ends of the spectrum reasonable - it's just a matter of us tuning to suit different surfaces etc. Still plenty of work, but I'm happy we've got a good basic package for most circumstances.

sutton-images.com

MIM: You haven't switched to the VY-spec engine yet. Is that the next thing on the agenda is it far away?

MS: The time frame for that is a bit open-ended. We've got parts arriving and our guys are keen to run one, but we won't until we're perfectly happy with it. So it's a bit of a question mark in respect of timing.

MN:There must be a fair bit of behind-the-scenes activity in relation to the future ownership of HRT. Is that having much effect on you, day-to-day, or the team itself as you go racing?

MS: It hasn't much effect day-today on the team in terms of how we go about racing. That's been quite minimal.

MN: Does it take up much of your time - you are a key part of the team these days, in a number of ways?

MS: It has, but in a positive way. People are trying to protect our team and the people who are there, and the way it functions. John Crennan, Jeff (Grech) and I are working very hard with Holden to retain the overall structure of our business. How that is done is an important part of HRT's future.

It has had an effect on our overall thought processes in terms of making sure what happens is for the team and preserves the structure of the team. There's a lot being done by people to ensure that whatever does happen is to the benefit of the team and doesn't detract from the things that have made it such a good team.

MIM: Phillip Island was the first of the new 300km single race formats and, while it's possibly a bit early to make a judgement, how do you view the format?

MS: It's quite a complex review.

To be fair, ft's a circuit that is quite difficult to pass on and it's the hardest place in Australia on tyres and, if it stays dry for the whole race, it's going to win the 'World's Most Boring Race' award. Anyone that didn't assess it li;ke that, doesn't know a lot about motor racing.

However, the number of variables often makes races exciting, sometimes not. On any other day, Mark Skaife may not have sped in pit lane; on any other day it might not have rained; on any other day certain guys might have made different tyre choices, in terms of when they stopped for wets, or didn't.

So, as it turned out, because of circumstances, it turned into a reasonable race.

So there are a lot of things which come into the assessment of that event.

What I'm more concerned with, from day one, is that when you have long races at those styles of circuit, you can be open to ft being a bit of a boring spectacle, not a rip, tear and bust spectacle.

When we had two sets of tyres for ISOkms, you don't have to be a genius to work out that you could go harder on the tyres. That's how it was. When you've got two sets of tyres to do SOOkms. you need to be more conservative with the way you drive the car and the way that the race pans out can be boring - based on not wanting to get involved in battles, spearing do wn the inside of guys, locking brakes and doing stuff!

It is early to be assessing the format, but to be balanced with it, you have to take those things into account.

31

Hie World Acco MOTORSPORT NEWS:So

Garth Tander bounced back into whose decision was it to go onto wets at the compulsory pitstop? contention in the V8 Supercar GARTH TANDER: It was the boys'. They were on the internet Championship Series with a strong the whole time and they knew that it was going to rain. It was fourth at Philiip Island. just a matter of when ...

We pitted with one lap left PHIL BRANAGAN asked him how before the end of the pit window, even though it was, probably, not wet enough to go onto wets at and why, and about life at Garry that time. Just a lap later, it was. If we had pitted for slicks, we would Rogers Motorsport have had to come in again. It was

a risky call, for sure, but it paid off.

AFI-lmages

MN: What were you thinking when they said,'We are putting on wets'?

GT: 1 said, 'Are you sure?' Like I said, 1 did not think that it was wet enough when I was on pit lane, but they were right.

They knew more than I did. It was their call and I just went along with it.

MN: How much could you see from inside the car?

GT: It was incredibly black. I could not really see because I was wearing a tinted visor and it was pretty hard to see anything.

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INTERUIEinr

aith rding to But the sky was pretty dark and it was obvious that it was going to rain.

It was just a matter of timing. I could see it coming but I had no idea when it was going to open up. I just had to go with what they said.

MIM: And now you lost a test day at Winton because of the weather. You must be a big fan of Victorian weather.

GT: We didn't predict that!

No, in all the years we have been testing at Winton, we have only had a couple of days rained out.

MN: That must be a little frustrating because it would seem to be important to get some testing miles under the wheels of the VY. GT: Incredibly important. We have only done one shakedown, prior to the Grand Prix, so we have been doing testing at the race meetings.

That means that it is a little difficult to understand things like tyre life with this car. We got on top of that at Phillip Island and we are learning what the car likes and doesn't like, but we probably have another three or four tenths of a second to find to be there with HRT. They have been testing already but we are pretty happy with the progress of the car.

MN: What sort of compromises does that force you to have? Is it felt more in qualifying or in the races?

GT: It's probably better in the races than we are in qualifying at the moment. We are not getting the new tyre gain that we are used to in the VX and that is a little frustrating, because the car feels fantastic during qualifying it's just not fast enough.

We need to figure that out during testing, but the race set up is pretty good. At Phillip Island, I think we did 47 laps on our set of tyres and it still felt pretty good. If we can maintain that, and find those three or four tenths in qualifying, we will be better off. But as far as everything else goes, the car is getting to be pretty good.

MN: How conservatively were you driving, considering what happens at PI if your right-rear tyre works too hard?

GT: Well, in qualifying, no problems. You just drive the car as fast as it will go!

In the race, I was conscious of looking after the right-rear, and I was doing everything I could to look after it. It helped that we had a good car; if you have a car that is a little average, tyre degradation is a bit higher. We had a pretty well-balanced car so, from that point of view, it was looking after its tyres through the race. continued on page 34

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33

continued from page 33 We were not actually planning on going that long in the first (tyre) stint but, because of the weather, we decided to. It paid off.

MN: You were looking pretty lonely there for a long time.

Were you surprised that there were no Safety Cars to pull you up a bit?

GT: Incredibly surprised. From about lap 5 to about lap 46, I was all by myself I That was good in a way, I could look after myself and not have to worry . about attacking or defending from anyone.

It was odd though. About lap 25 I was thinking, 'I could do with a Safety Car about now', but we were spread out and there were no battles taking place that generally result in a Safety Car. It was just one of those things ...

If the rain hadn't have come, it may have gone green all the way through the race. That would have been fairly interesting ...

MN: How is the team coping with the fact that, at the

moment, you are running two different cars?

GT: It's been good. Obviously, we would like to have two (VYs) because that means you can do development in half the time.

Jamie Whincup is still getting up to speed in driving these cars at all of the tracks that we go to.

With the VX, we are concentrating on getting Jamie up to speed; we are concentrating on developing the new car. We are working hard to get a second VY up and running so we can speed things along.

V8 Supercar driver in the Garry Rogers team.

GT: I think I have taken a little bit more of a senior role. We don't have 'number one' and 'number two' drivers. Jason Bargwanna and I had similar experience and we had been around for the same amount of time, but Jamie is new to the game.

I am really enjoying it, helping Jamie along and helping him to get up to speed. I think that is helping my driving by focussing on the feedback that I give back to the guys.

"I think I have taken a little bit more of a senior role. We don't Lhave 'numbeiLDne' and iff

GarfhTTmm ■a. V

MN: Do you feel like the 'senior driver' this year? You are now the most experienced

MN; One thing that may be helping is that the GRM team is relatively experienced in

running two different cars.

GT: That's right. In 1999, I was in the VS and Jason was developing the VT. The guys are well-versed in that.

If we could have built two VTs straight away in '99, we would have been running two of them.

One new, one old, and it is the same now, with the VY. MINI: There is a lot going on with the team at the moment.

There is a new shop being built and there is the Monaro program as well.

GT: It's massive! We have gone from 18 full-time employees last year to 35 this year. There is double the workshop space, two Monaros, two Supercars and we're building new cars.

We have really grown in the last 12 months and there are probably some growing pains.

But I think that the transition from a medium-sized team to a large team has gone quite smoothly. I think that we will be better for it, once everything gets into place.

It's pretty frantic at the moment. The guys are working some pretty long hours and, at the end of the day, it will all pay off.

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motorsport pews

INTERUIEW MN: Do you know everybody?

GT: I do! It took me a while; after Christmas, every time I came in, it seemed that there were two or three new guys!

But we have a great bunch of guys at the moment. They all work well together, and that's important with everyone working such long hours. The guys need to get along.

MIM: Tell us in layman's terms the difference in feel between the VX and the VY. GT: That's a bit hard, because I have not driven the VX since I started with the VY. It seems that the VY sits a lot flatter at the front. It turns in exceptionally well and put its power down very well. Where we are struggling at the moment is in the middle of the corner; we have some understeer there. The VX is more of a sorted package; it started life as the VT and the whole thing has been around for about four years, so we understand that and can dial it in straight away.

In the longer-term, I am sure that the VY will be a superior package to the VX. MN: Let's throw the Nations Cup Monaro in the mix as well. What's the difference in driving that?

GT: Incredibly different. The Monaro had the sequential box, an independent rear end and much, much bigger tyres. It's easier to drive but it's slower; you don't have to be on top of it as much as in a V8 Supercar.

The Monaro is a nice thing to drive because of the tyres and

the rear end. It's a nicer package to drive but a Supercar, when you have green tyres in qualifying, is more fun to drive.

You would have to go a long way to find something better in a touring car environment.

MIM: Are you driving the Monaro at Bathurst this year?

GT: Yes! As far as I know, we are having the same four drivers in the Just Car Insurance Monaro as last year.

5 ■VIN; There has been some MIM: Hang on. Last time the chat about a team running a Monaro in Europe and, Monaro and the Supercars raced at the same track at the perhaps, even at Le Mans. You same time, the lap times were up for that?

GT: Of course! That car would pretty damn close. be a genuine, world-wide 24 GT: Yes, 2:01s, pretty close. But Hour contender. If we ever take qualifying times at Albert Park (in a V8 Supercar) are ... 58s, 57s? one of our cars over to Daytona Nations Cup cars are not as ; —dr Le Mans, it would be a good thing to have, I am sure. And I slow as they were because, I would love to drive it. guess, they have lifted a lot of

"If we ever take one of our cars over to Daytona or Le Mans, it would be a good thing to have, I am sure"

- Tander on the HC Monaro

suttort-inuiges.com

the restrictions on them. In years gone by, they were probably five seconds slower.

It's a parity formula and there have been big adjustments recently. V8 Supercars is a parity formula too but, speed-wise, the adjustments have had a much smaller effect.

MN: What is Nathan Pretty's role in the team this year?

GT: Nathan's role is to drive the Monaro and go to all the tests, , drive in the Melbourne 500 and at Bathurst. If Jamie or myself get crook, he gets to drive on the weekends.

Nathan is hands-on.

experienced and fits in well. We wanted to have him on-board early in the season and that is a bonus for the team.

We haven't made any decision who he will drive with in the endurance races. Having him there makes the team far more flexible in the endurance races and puts as in a better position than we have been in the past.

MN: How are you dealing with the fact that, apart from the 24 Hour, you have not had a win for a while?

GT: You always go racing to win.

The category is incredibly competitive: you have teams like HRT, Kmart, Stone Brothers and Prodrive, some pretty serious operators. We probably have a little more work to do before we can legitimately put our hand up as a race winner.

But that is what keeps you going. It is nice to win all the time, sure, but the next win will be great. We are one of the few teams to start the season with a full-house VY Commodore and. hopefully, we wil l be the first team to win in one.

MN: What will you be doing in the future? Five years on?

GT: Driving a racing car.

MN: Ten? GT: Driving a racing car! I'll only be in my 30s!

I want to concentrate on the next two years. That is how long I am under contract with the team and I want to work hard on that. After that, we will sort out what happens next - take each period of time as it comes.

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Ifyou win the Brazilian Grand Prix, then lose it, then win it again - as Giancarlo Fisichella did earlier this month -youget to speak to ADAM COOPER

pla

MOTORSPORT NEWS: When did you know that the result might be changed?

GIANCARLO HSICHELLA: On Monday and Tuesday, our engineer did a lot of work to find out what

happened, and there were mistakes from I don't know who.

I crossed the finish line for the start of the 56th lap and after 12 seconds, there was a red flag. And for that, we won the race. On Wednesday,the FIA sent a press release saying there was a problem, maybe we made a mistake, and the winner could be Fisichella. So after that I was very confident. On Friday we had the answer that I was definitely the winner. So I'm very pleased. I feel very excited about that, it's very important for me,it's very important for the team, and I'm looking forward to the future.

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molorsDon news

INTERVIEW

te than never GF: Yes,I was confident about that, but I was a bit confused. You don't remember sometimes what you do two laps before, so it's very difficult to remember when I crossed the line!

The team was very sure about that, but unfortunately on tlie final results it wasn't like that. I'm disappointed I couldn't celebrate on the podium,but the win is back and that's the most important thing.

MN:Going back to the race, how difficult was it on the intermediate tyres in the early laps?

GF: Well, at the end the track was getting drier and drier, and the intermediate was quite good. At the begimiing it was really very difficult, many drivers spun off. So I'm happy that I drove very well and I did my best.

MN: Were you frustrated that your early stop under the safety car put you at the back with a heavy car?

GF: That's true, I wasn't very happy. I was a bit confused. But I think it was the right choice and for tliat I would like to say thanks to the team. They did a great job and it's very important for the future, even for them.

GF; Right at the end when I was, maybe,sixth and it was getting better and better. It was getting dry, and the pace was good. When I was behind Ralf Schumacher, I was much quicker than him. Then he stopped to do his pit stop and I was chasing Kimi Raikkonen. At that moment I was very confident.

I'm disappointed I couldn't celebrate on the podium, but the win is back...rr -Fisictiella

h

MN:How hard was it with such a heavy fuel load?

GF: Very, very difficult. At the beginning the car was too heavy and it was slippery. It wasn't easy to keep a good pace, but it was much more important to drive safely.

MN:How much better were your tyres by then?

GF: At the beginning the Michelin drivers were better, their tyres were more suited for tire fully wet conditions, but not very good for the dry.

At the end, Raikkonen was struggling for grip and my car was good,so I overtook him quite easily.

MN:When did you realise that your strategy was working?

MN:Were you due to make another stop?

GF: I don't know at the moment...

Maybe there was a possibility to get to the end, maybe not! It was a good strategy anyway,because Raikkonen was due to go to a pit stop, David Coulthard stopped a few laps before and Jamo Trulli the same.

MN:When you saw Webber's accident and then the red flag did you think that it had come too early for you?

GF:I was very concentrated on the race. The engineer told me about the Safety Car, and then I saw a big accident and pieces everywhere.

After that I saw the red flag. I thought maybe the race has finished, maybe I'U go on the podium, maybe I've finished first or second,so it's great.

MN:You slowed down quite a lotcompared with Alonso - how difficult was it to get through the wreckage?

GF;It was very difficult, yes, quite difficult and dangerous.

MN:Do you know why your car caught fire?

GF: The problem was going behind the Safet}' Car. It wasn't the normal pace of Safety Car, it was slower than normal,I don't know why. And especially at the end, where tliere was the accident, we nearly stopped, because there was not enough space to go around.So tlie sensors went crazy, and when I stopped the car, the fire came out. I'll tell you,if it was a normal race there was no problem about fire!

MN:You celebrated with the Jordan guys - when did you realise you hadn't won?

GF: When I was there after a few nunutes one of the FLA people came to me and he said,'Unfortunately you are second and Raikkonen is the winner.' It was a very bad moment.I was happy and rmhappy,because second anyway was fantastic, we didn't expect to finish second.

i^ r A day in the life of a GP driven Fisi gets a hug, above, while top right, Giancarlo celebrates (what was) his second place finish in Brazil ...

23 April 2003

MN:What will this win do for your confidence?

GF: It's very important for the future.

Now we have the Imola GP, which is my home race. I like the circuit, I feel confident and I hope to score some points again.

But obviously my target is to get on the podium,

MN: Can it really help you find a better team in the future?

GF: I hope so, this is my target. I really want to drive for one of the top three teams. It's not easy, and I may still consider Jordan for next year. I feel at home,I feel very confident with the Jordan team. It could be,if the car is going to be good, that 1 can stay for one more year.

MN:Realistically, what can you do with this car this year?

GF: Honestly, we'll just try to fight for third or the fourth row in qualifying, and score some points.

Maybe sometimes in difficult conditions like Brazil, we can get on the podium again.

MN:What circuits will the car be competitive at?

GF: It's difficult to predict that, but Tm sure Monaco,Canada,like last year. I'm confident in these next few races.

37

/

T

HAT Ford Performance Racing would one day accumulate a collection of silverware was pretty much considered a given from the moment the team was unveiled.

The only real question was how long we would have to wait for the team to get off the mark. No longer than two rounds, as things turned out.

Craig Lowndes took the hardware home from a soggy Phillip Island two weeks ago in a race that was flagged to a premature close under the Safety Car after the heavens opened on lap 44- and then stayed open for hours afterward.

It was a win that owed as much to circumstance as it did to speed and strategy, but Lowndes had been mixing it up amongst the serious end of the field over the entire weekend.

FPR may still be finding its feet as a team, but if it is still treating 2003 as a development year,then it would have to be said that things are looking rather good.

The weekend also offered further cause for encouragement for Betta Electrical's Red Division. The revamped Team Brock has been quick ever since the cars rolled out of the box at the Grand Prix, and again ended proceedings on a high note when Jason Bright finished second despite a late-race tangle with Marcos Ambrose.

Team-mate Paul Weel,fresh from his first-ever podium at Clipsal(OK, 38

well he didn't get to actually stand on the podium,but you know what we mean),followed up with a maiden Top 10 Shootout appearance that translated into an eighth-place on Sunday afternoon. It was a good showing, made to look all the better by the fact that the Brock-ites have not been able to go testing so far this season. If they can look this good now,then who knows what they'll be able to do once they start racking up some test miles?

Third place went to Greg Murphy, who recovered well after struggling on Saturday with a Kmart Racing Commodore that did not necessarily want to do the Kiwi's bidding. Murf had another heart-in-mouth moment when he was turned around during the race, but on this occasion, things all worked out in the end.

And where was HRT? Up the front, most of the time. Mark Skaife was quickest in qualifying, reinforced his claim on pole position by winning the Shootout, and was looking strong throughout the race until the reigning Champ was a little late in activating his pitlane speed limiter and served a drive-through penalty for his troubles.

Stablemate Todd Kelly, meanwhile, had a relatively quiet afternoon which in this case, means that he was quick all weekend,stayed out of trouble, and finished fifth.

Typically there was a fair bit going on behind the usual suspects, but no team had more of a rollercoaster

weekend than Stone Brothers.

RusseU Ingall was a no-show in qualifying due to damage sustained in a shunt during practice and started from the back of the gird, which left Ambrose to fly the team's colours.

This he did with great aplomb - until he clanged with Bright while trying to pit for wets.

And what of the first look at the new-for-2003 standard format of one 300km race? Well,first let it be said that PhiUip Island is not the kind of circuit to flatter a longer race. Nor is the next port of call. Eastern Creek.

Tyre preservation is far too critical at both tracks to allow the kinds of heroics that you might otherwise get in a sprint race.

But if what we saw at the Island essentially, a procession livened up a little by mother nature towards the end - was anything to go by, then here's hoping things sparkle up a little when the Championship reaches the circuits that are a little easier on the Dunlops.

Practice and Qualifying Between afternoon and had SundayEriday morning, the drivers been faced with pretty much the full spectrum of Phillip Island's meteorological capacity.

Friday's opening session was conducted in torrential rain that restricted many competitors to no

more than a handful of exploratory laps, and kept several from venturing out of the garage at all.

Murphy ended the day quickest by a remarkable 2.32s from Ambrose, but freely admitted that the conditions made it hard to glean much from the day's proceedings.

That didn't stop Adelaide non qualifier David Thexton, who took advantage of the opportunity to circulate at a slower pace and was the only driver to use all of his allocated 28 laps in an effort to get a handle on the circuit before things got serious.

As things turned out,it didn't pay off - the New Zealander wound up falling 0.2s short of the 105 percent cut-off, and by Sunday morning there was an empty space where the team's

moiorsport news

V8 SUPERCARS

the iceoerg It may have rained hard enough to get the animals in surrounding farmland to start lining up by the twos but Craig Lowndes couldn’t have cared less, notching up his first round win since the 2000 Queensland 500, and the maiden victory for the fledgling FPR outfit MARK GLENDENNING donned the raincoat to report from Phillip Island

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transporter had stood the day before.

Compared with Friday, Saturday was about as close as the Island gets to Queensland weather during the racing season -surmy, warm-ish, and virtually cloudless. Skaife sounded an early warning by topping both practice sessions, but the real interest prior to qualifying lay in the misfortunes of higall.

The Enforcer was running well amongst the top order when the Caltex Havoline BA Falcon encountered a patch of oil at turn one during the dying moments of the third practice session, kicking off a chain of events that rouglily went oil,

continued on page 40 23 April 2003

/

continued from page 39 wet grass, ditch,crunch. He came precariously close to rolling over as well, but as things were, there was quite enough damage to keep the team busy for the rest of the day.

Indeed,it was a character-building morrung for just about everybody who turned up with a BA. For most of the Ford teams,Saturday morning was the first time the cars had run at

In most cases, a simple reinforcement of the mountings was enough to cure the problem.

The slower guys got the first swing at the track during qualifying, with the Team Dynamik VY of Simon Wills topping the times ahead of Brad Jones's OzEmail BA Falcon. Most of those who were struggling for pace were reporting chronic understeer ... with tire exception of Dean Canto, who was suffering "chronic understeer - and tlien some!"

the kind of pace that Phillip Island can produce - which meant it was the first time that they discovered that the Barra's distinctive splitter was a little suspect at high speed.

Virtually aU of the blue teams(with the exception of FPR,which had discovered and fixed the problem in testing a week earlier)found that the front end was becoming unstable under heavy loads, which in sortie cases was so bad that the drivers

of the field were sent packing to the bottom of the timesheets fairly quickly, the exceptions being Wills and Jones, who hung grimly on to their top 10 spots right up until the dying minutes of the session.

The only real drama from the session came early, when Cameron McConville had an excursion off the

thought that a tyre had deflated.

track at turn two and tagged the waU.

Then, the faster group's turn came.

As usual the cars from the slower half

I

I

The Lansvale Racing VX was able to get back onto the circuit, but the bump had left some bodywork rubbing against a tyre. McConvUle lost most of the session getting the damage fixed in the garage and only made it back onto the track with just over five minutes to spare.

But at the front, it was the same faces. Ambrose led much of the session before being overhauled by Skaife, who came out revitalised in the latter part of the session after making an early error and then

stopping for some fresh rubber on the right hand side of the car.

"The car was OK,but given that we'd put two fresh tyres down the right hand side and did the last lap, we probably should have gone faster than that on the first run, with four new tyres on," said the reigning Champ.

"Overall as a race car it feels quite good. Probably as a quahfying car it isn't as good as we'd like, but it's OK. "I read through the week, a lot of drivers' comments were that qualifying is not that important. And

TIME CAR POSDRIVER lm33.6884s 1 I Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore VY lm33.7179s 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing/Pirtek Falcon BA lm33.7311s Betta Team Brock Commodore VX 3 50 Jason Bright lm33.9172s Holden Racing Team Commodore VY 4 2 Todd Kelly lm33.9195s Ford Performance Racing/CAT Falcon BA 5 6 Craig Lowndes lm34.0453s K-Mart Racing Commodore VX 6 51 Greg Murphy lm34.1046s 7 888 John Bowe OzEmail Racing Falcon BA lm34.1495s 8 11 Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Racing Commodore VX lm34.2578s 9 34 Garth Tander Repco Valvoline Cummins Commodore VY lm34.2883s Betta Team Brock Commodore VX 10 16 Paul Weel lm34.2885s 11 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Commodore VY lm34.3471s 12 21 Brad Jones DzEmail Racing Falcon BA lm34.4206s 13 15 Rick Kelly K-Mart Racing Commodore VX lm34.4482s 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Smash Commodore VX 14 lm34.5558s 15 18 Max Wilson Shell Helix/DJR Falcon BA lm34.6031s 16 5 Glenn Seton FPR/Ford Credit Falcon AU lm34.6699s 17 00 Greg Ritter 00 Motorsport Falcon BA lm34.7122s 18 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Commodore VY 19 65 Paul Radisich Betta Electrical/Briggs Motorsport Falcon BA lm34.7316s 20 66 Dean Canto Betta Electrical/Briggs Motorsport Falcon BA lm34.7353s lm34.8170s 21 31 Steve Ellery Super Cheap Auto Falcon BA lm34.9900s 8 Paul Dumbrell 22 Castrol Perkins Racing Commodore VX lm35.0856s 23 19 David Besnard Ford Performance Racing Falcon AU lm35.3197s Sirromet Commodore VY 24 29 Paul Morris lm35.3332s 25 17 Steven Johnson Shell Helix/DJR Falcon BA lm35.3738s 26 33 Jamie Whincup Repco Valvoline Cummins Commodore VX lm35.4221s 27 20 Jason Bargwanna Orrcon Racing Falcon AU lm35.6234s 28 23 Mark Noske ICS Team Ford Falcon AU lm35.6293s 29 10 Mark Larkham Orrcon Racing Falcon AU lm35.6970s 30 7 Rodney Forhes 00 Motorsport Falcon AU lm35.7864s 31 75 Anthony Tratt Toll Racing Falcon AU lm35.8393s 32 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Commodore VX lm38.6432s DNQ 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Falcon AU No Time NT 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing/Caltex Falcon BA

Ton iO Shoot-out 1 2 3 4 5

Skaife T. Kelly Ambrose Bright Murphy

1:33.5994 1:33.9104 1:33.9131 1.34.0101 1:34.4169

7 8 9 10

Lowndes Bowe S. Richards Weel Tander

1:34.5677 1:34.8144 1:34.9543 1:35.7069 1:35.8296

U8SCS Round 2 Phillip Islanil 40

I API Images

motorsport news

V8 SUPERCARS

Audi wins! Lowndes trails the Safety Car past the red flag to take the win, above left.

Any old autograph will do: Especially if it's Richo's ... even if you are a Team Brock fan, above clearly it's not, really.

"New tyres on all of the cars here really have masked any problems that the cars may have. On old tyres, the cars move around a lot more and they'll be hard to drive, there's no doubt."

Bright was third-fastest after struggling to get the car balanced earlier in the day. Things were still not right in the early stages of qualifying, prompting him to pull into the garage for some further tweaks with 13 minutes left on the clock. Whatever the team did,it worked. Bright rejoined and jumped from fifth to second before being relegated to third when Skaife bolted to the top with a lm33.6884s.

Todd and Lowndes were fourth and fifth ahead of Murphy,Bowe and Steve Richards. The latter pair had both opted to qualify with fresh tyres on the right hand side of the car only, which JB reckoned was probably costing him around 0.3s a lap.

For a surprisingly long time, it

Unfamiliar temtory

“THERE was some oil on the track -from John Bowe’s car I think, which had an oil overflow problem - and it just let go when I arrived at the corner, as soon as I turned in,” was how Russell Ingall summed up the late-practice crash which ruled him out of qualifying.

“Brad Jones was next around and he had a big moment too ... nothing I could do about it."

Damage to the rear of the car was significant, especially to the fuel cell area, and the SBR boys were in for a good few hours work.

“The car is great to drive," explained the Enforcer, seemed that nobody was going to bump Wills and Jones out of the top ten, but then Garth Tander and Weel came along and spoiled the party with just a few minutes to go.

One weekend of the quirks formatof is the thatnew race everybody went to bed on Saturday night not knowing who would be starting from pole the following day.

Unlike last year, when the Shootout was held shortly after qualifying, the top 10 protagonists had to wait until Sunday lunchtime in between the morning warmup and the race - to do their thing.

When Sunday dawned and the

# Speed

“much easier than I'm used to. In fact I have to hold myself back from over-driving it at times. After so many years of driving one way, it takes a while to undo what are habits."

Prior to the race. Ingall was relatively undaunted by the prospect of starting from dead last.

“Looking at the field, the car Is sufficiently faster, like a second and a half, than most of the lower half of the grid, so if I can work my way up to something like the top 10 around half way, then there's some chance of getting into the top five later in the race depending how the stops work out."

first weather forecasts started to filter through, the potential ramifications of this were all too apparent. It was dark, it was grey, the clouds were hanging low, and the meteorological boffins were predicting that it would dump down around halfway through the Shootout.

Luckily for the guys at the top of the timesheets,the rain never eventuated and the Shootout was,erm,shot out without any real dramas.

Weel was first out and lost a bit of time when he put a wheel off at Siberia, but nevertheless managed to gain a spot on the grid when Garth came out after him and made a mess of the second sector. Richo, Bowe and

Muphy followed, each progressively quicker than the other.

Lowndes looked to be following suit, posting quickest times in the first two sectors, but a mistake in the final sector cost him 0.2s and dropped the CAT Falcon behind Murf.

A neat lap from Todd put a nerv name at the top of the sheets, and he stayed there after Bright made a small mistake in the last sector of his lap and was forced to settle for second.

Ambrose was next out, and gave

continued on page 42

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continued from page 41 ^AVID Thexton is adamant: come Sunday morning at Eastern f^lreek next rnonth, his transporter will still be parked in the V8 t3upercar paddock and not making an early trip back to ^Queensland, as has been the case at the two opening rounds.

■' Thexton failed to make the cut at the Clipsal 500 after falling \around 3.0s short of the mark in qualifying. At the Island, he got the geficit down to just 0.2s, but in real terms it amounted to the same thing. By the time the race,started on Sunday, Thexton's team had long departed the circuit.

“It has taken a bit of getting used to, these high-speed corners,” said the New Zealander. .-‘i By the end of the day I could see 2.0-2.5s that I could gain if I igp'iiild make the car do what I wanted it to do. It was obviously disappointing not to qualify, but when I came into the series I didn’t expect to be right up there instantaneously. (Missing out by) 0.2s is good compared to Adelaide.”

While remaining upbeat about his V8 Supercar campaign, Thexton admits that he may have underestimated the series.

“Before I started, I thought I knew about 50 percent of what I needed to. But I only knew five percent - and that was the drivers' .names! The more I get into it, the more I find out I don't know.”

Nevertheless, Thexton is confident that the ex-Cameron McLean car will be on the grid at Eastern Creek.

“I’ve been there, that’s the difference.

“There are things we can do to the car... and a hell of a lot of things we can to to me!”

- MARK GLENDENNING

M

A

EARL’S pmonMANcspi

Ford fans something to get excited about when he clocked the fastest first sector of the session. The Taswegian was still up after sector two, but he then joined the list of sector three victims to wind up sandwiched between Kelly and Bright.

Then it was Skaife's turn. A tenth up on Kelly at sector one, 0.2s at sector two, 0.3s at the finish line.

Thanks for coming. In two hours, there would be a pair of red cars lining up on the front row. Just like the old days ...

Race (54 laps) Speaking ofof the days (i.e.,oflast year), one theold hallmarks the old format was that as soon as the pit window opened even a crack, there would be a procession of cars trimdling down the pit entry to make their compulsory stop.

But to do so in a 300km race particularly aroimd Phillip Island, which goes through right rears the way Homer Simpson goes through a shrimp tray at an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant- was not going to be an option.

As often seems to happen, the 300km race was actually decided within a fairly short space of time, however when the crunch came, one of the main contenders was already out of the picture.

Skaife had been looking dangerously close to invincible until he carried a little too much speed into pitlane while making his fuel stop and was called back in for a drive-through.

A penalty like that is hard to bounce back from at the best of times, but throw in Phillip Island's excruciatingly long pit entry road and it pretty much amounts to Game Over.

In fact, Skaife was lucky not to be summoned back for a second penalty after nudging Murphy into a spin a few laps later while trying to make up lost ground.

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42

Teflon is a trade mark of dopant

molorsport news

INGAU \darstaULass

Team could-have-been: Ambrose, above, and Skaife, below, were both looking like strong contenders until fate got in the way ...

3

"And in tonight's performance the role of Mary Poppins will be per formed by ..." Murf, above left, survived a punt to finish third. But his Adelaide nemesis. Ingall, above, was forced to settle for an understudy role after missing qualifying due to accident damage.

"It's something I'm getting used to/' said Murf dryly after the race, referring to a similar incident that cost him a podium in Adelaide.

Another major player dropped by the wayside when Ambrose and Bright clanged in one of the wierder accidents seen in V8 racing over the past couple of years. The Pirtek car, which the team admitted later had stayed out a lap too long on sUcks when the rain came down,was trying to pit for wet tyres.

When Ambrose tried to turn into pitlane however. Bright was already alongside him. The pair shd side-byside for almost 400m before the SBR Falcon finally looped into a spin.

"I really don't know what he was doing," said Bright.

"I presume he was coming into the pits, but he's a bloody fool for coming from the outside of the track

3.

S,

f.

to try and get in the pits when I was behind (him). If he wasn't coming into the pits then he's a bigger fool than I thought he was."

Faced with the prospect of another precarious lap with the wrong rubber for a soaking circuit, Marcos spun again trying to tiptoe back around to the pits, and did a remarkable job to rescue himself from the gravel.

He finally made it to his garage, but by then the damage was well and truly done and he eventually finished 17th,first of.the lapped cars. It was a classic case of 'if only' for Ambrose, who only a few laps earlier had been the leader amongst the cars to have stopped twice and was looking wellplaced if the race had remained dry.

All of this played beautifully into

continued on page 44

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HOLDEN 43

continued from page 43 the hands of Lowndes. The first signs of rain had come on lap 44, and Craig pitted to throw a set of wets on three laps later.

After a slightly slow stop for wets, Lowndes had rejoined fourth, which became third when Skaife pitted for some rain rubber. Bright and Ambrose came together two laps

later, promoting Lowndes to PI,and before anybody else had time to do anything about the FPR Barra, the Audi Safety Car had been called out.

And until the red flag was shown just after 75 percent of the scheduled laps had been reeled off, it stayed out.

"We didn't have the speed today.

It's pretty obvious about that, we still have a bit of work to do," said

Lowndes,i "It's a credit to the boys with the strategy. When we made our tyre change we wanted to do it once,not twice like a lot of people did. Really, we had a bit of luck on our side, the rain came at the right time.

"For us it's a dream come true.

This was going to be our best shot at a race win,but as I said, we've still got a bit of work to do yet."

Bright came home in second place after looking strong right through the race.

"The tyres hung in way better than what I expected," he said.

"Towards the end I was like,'how many more laps have we got on these slicks?', because I wanted to start pushing hard just to see how much more we could get out of it."

The #50 Brock machine had managed to keep Skaife just about within striking distance during the earlier parts of the race, but any hope of getting past Lowndes at the end was thwarted when the steering went out the window following the contact with Ambrose.

"The tiring wouldn't turn left at all," he said. ' "Got to turn one,it turned right OK,got to turn two and it wouldn't turn left again. I basically went off the track at the Southern Loop and at the kirrk because it wouldn't turn left.

So we were just struggling around, but everyone else seemed to be doing the same."

After spending most of Saturday

Flamethrower: Bowe fights off McConviUe, who would very soon cease to be a threat courtesy of a dead piston.

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battling a Kmart Commodore that was handling like a sprintcar and then being turned around during the race, third place represented a remarkable recovery for Murphy.

"We had a fantastic car in the wet, but it was pretty bad in the dry," said Murph.

"We were really the sixth-fastest car out there when it was dry. I was hoping it was going to rain earlier and we would be able to get onto wets, because it was going to be our only chance to get further up to the front.

"So I would have been happy if they had green-flagged it, but it was the right decision (to red-flag the race). It was very treacherous and you were going to have some cars in some sort of fence or bunker somewhere,and we were going to be behind the Safety Car again in the next couple of laps."

Tander and the GRM team timed their tyre stop to perfection, stopping to tlrrow some wet rubber onto the car on lap 47-just moments before the rain stepped up from a sprinkle to a deluge. They were rewarded with fourth for their efforts.

It was the first of the VY Commodores to cross the line, and added another hint that the team is starting to work its way back from a couple of seasons in the doldrums.

Todd led Skaife home for an HRT 5-6 after falling foul of the weather

'W.'l

The Key: Look after this stuff, above, and you'll be OK at the Island.

In it together: Bargwanna and Larkham both struggled to find pace and being forced to make an extra stop for wets,followed by Steve Richards, who had been baffled by his lack of car speed all weekend.

"On Saturday we were 1.5s off the pace, and the car didn't actually feel too bad, which is always a worry!" said Richo.

continued on page 46

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45

continued from page 45 Eighth place went to Weel, who was forced to bin his planned tyre strategy after contact with Bowe pushed some of the Brock car's bodywork onto the left rear tyre.

He was consequently forced to throw on some new boots as early as lap nine, which no doubt made the prospect of a premature finish to the race an appealing one.

Glenn Seton's FPR AU Falcon was next home after working liis way up from 18th, having started 16th and then dropped two spots at the start.

But it was a less happy tale for the team's third Falcon. David Besnard had spent most of the weekend putting on a brave face despite having a car that just didn't seem to be up to the job, but it came to a very quick end when the Falcon suffered a broken clutch plate at the start.

Besnard's misfortune was highlighted by the fact that he was one of only two cars not to finish the race, the other being McConville who was benched on lap 22 with a broken piston.

V8SCS Round 2 Rlillliii islsnd

Race

54 laps

Race lime PosDrIver 1 Lowndes 1h37m39.1273 1h37m43.7372 2 Bright Ih37m44.9393 3 Murphy 1h37m49.4776 4 Tender 1h37m52.8441 5 T. Kelly 6 Skaife 1h37m55.0252 7 S. Richards1h37m58.640l 1h37m59.3791 8 Weei 1h38m02.6633 9 Seton 1h38m04.1813 10 Ingall 1h38m05.0735 11 R. Kelly 12 Radisich 1h38m12.5427 13 Morris 1h38ml3.3152 14 Ritter Ih38ml4.7687 Ih38ml7.9756 15 Jones Ih38ml9.3480 16 Wilson 17 Ambrose 53 laps 18 Johnson 53 laps 19 Baird 53 laps 53 laps 20 Ellery 21 Bowe 53 laps 22 Wills 53 laps 23 Larkham 53 laps 24 Tratt 53 laps 53 laps 25 Whincup 53 laps 26 Bargwanna 27 Forbes 53 laps 28 J. Richards 53 laps 29 Noske 52 laps 30 Dumbrell 52 laps DNF* Canto 53 laps DNF McConville 22 laps DNF Besnard 1 lap

Fastest lap lm35.5274 4 1m35.2054 7 1m35.6407 2 1m35.7075 4 lm35.3860 4 1m35.0896 9 1m36.1335 41 1m35.7742 11 lm36.4581 5 lm36.1730 10 lm35.5752 41 lm35.7088 41 lm36.3104 11 1m36.6335 7 lm35.7901 43 1m35.9458 40 lm35.3509 4 1m36.6653 8 1m37.2259 13 lm36.4203 5 1m36.2614 3 1m36.1172 3 lm36.7733 5 1m37.5478 6 1m37.1218 6 1m36.5700 8 lm36.6759 9 lm36.3575 34 1m36.6602 5 1m36.2825 5 1m35.8441 41 1m36.1853 13 2m24.Q895 1

* Subject to appeal Fastest Lap Av Speed 168kph, Race Av Speed 148kph. Current Lap Record 1m33.4389s (Craig Lowndes. 1999, Commodore VT) Points: Bright 357, Skaife 351, T. Kelly and S. Richards 336. Murphy 315. Weel 297, Tander 288, Ingall 279, Radisich 276, Lowndes 270, Seton 258, R. Kelly 231, Ambrose 213, Ritter 207, Johnson 195, Wills 189, Jones 180, Morris and Baird 177, Dumbrell 159, Larkham 141, Bargwanna 138, Wilson 132, Whincup 129, Bowe 105, Tratt and Forbes 96, Ellery 90.

McConville 87, Noske 81, Canto 66, J. Richards 45, Besnard 24.

Points after dropping worst round: Lowndes 192, Skaife 189, Bright 186, S. Richards and Murphy 180, Tander 174, T. Kelly 168, Weel and Radisich 150, Seton 144, Dumbrell and Ingall 141, R. Kelly 132, Wills 123, Morris 120, Ambrose 117, Ritter 114, Jones 108, Johnson 105, Wilson 102, Bargwanna 96, Baird 93, McConville 87, Larkham and Whincup 81, Ellery 78, Bowe 72, Tratt 54, Forbes 60, Noske 57, Canto 54, J. Richards 30, Besnard 24.

46

Ingall had a superb race to end the day 10th after starting from dead last due to his inability to participate in qualifying.

Russell made short work of the rear guard,scything his way up to 14th in the opening 15 laps. From there his progress began to slow as he started to encounter the quicker guys, but he still walked away as the recipient of the new VIP Pet Foods 'Top Dog'award for the most positions gained on the track.

Rick Kelly was unfortunate not to bring the #15 Kmart car home inside the top 10. The 20-year-old former Gold Star champ was well positioned until he got caught out by the conditions and spim while making his way around to the pits for a set of wets.

Paul Radi'sch drove extremely well to finish 12th after qualifying 19th.

The Rat made a great start, climbing seven spots in the opening laps and keeping himself out of trouble, and it paid off.

Meanwhile in the other Briggs car.

Canto was listed as a third DNF,but has appealed the decision. The #66 car was pulled in for an extra pitstop under the yellows toward the end of the race to remove an errant drink bottle hose and managed to rejoin in 30th. A hearing will be held at Eastern Creek.

Paul Morris had a frustrating weekend in the Sirromet VY Commodore. After damaging the car slightly in a spin at turn two during practice, the Dude was making good progress in the race until he pitted for new rubber and found the pit bay already occupied by Anthony Tratt, with whom he was sharing the space.

The mix-up cost Morris around 30s and destroyed what could have been a good result, given that the team had gone down the Lowndes/Tander

No harm done: After getting some glass in his eye during a freak accident at Adelaide, Wilson was back on track, above.

Where's there's fire, there's tyre smoke. Sometimes. Just isi'k Whincup, below.

route of delaying their tyre stop as long as possible in case of rain.

Greg Ritter did a fantastic job to wrestle the 00 Motorsport Falcon to 14th,finishing ahead of Jones. It was a tough day at the office for the OzEmail brigade, who both lost positions as the pitstops shook out.

Bowe's day was made even worse by the fact that by the time he started the race he was up to his third engine for the weekend - and was still suffering from a misfire.

Clutch slippage during a pitstop was the final blow for JB, who finally crossed the line in 21st place.

Max Wilson was the last car on the lead lap in 16th after another frustrating weekend, which was

accentuated when tlite Brazilian was punted off the track on lap 50.

Team-mate Steve J«ohnson did well to finish 18th after starting 25th, but claimed that the car simply wouldn't go any faster.

"I was really pusliiing it out there today and just coulchm't seem to find the speed I was looking for," he rued.

So what can we exipect from Eastern Creek? Well, if it doesn't rain, then you can bet on a procession.

But then again, at tthe start of the season nobody woulid have guessed that after two rounds,a Team Brock car- or an FPR car; if you drop the worst round - woulid be leading the Championship,so perhaps we should just wait and see ... motorsport news

FORMULA FOR[3

Fopmula Fantastic! h

Cau

Good for some, not so good for others: PugHese and McFayden had an awesome battle, with two tenths splitting the pair at the end of a fabulous race.

Below, the dicing for the minor positions was just as hot ...

A MERE 0.207s separated Tony Pugliese and Neil McFayden at the finish of the opening round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship.

Unfortunately though, the fascinating feud could not continue in the second race as torrential rain hit Victoria's Phillip Island circuit, causing the officials to deem the track unsuitable for racing.

Pugliese, the wiimer in an incredible contest,started from grid six but slowly worked his way up to the front of the field. Sitting behind pole-sitter McFayden through the last two turns, Pugliese jumped out of McFayden's slipstream to snatch the win.

"I had a really good run coming out of MG and through the last turn," quipped Pugliese after his victory. "I carried the momentum off the last

"The speed of the car was good all weekend," said the Sydneysider."It's great to come to the first round and be on the pace straight away. The best thing is most of the blokes up the front realise there's a lot of races to go and you don't have to worry about it ending in tears."

Pugliese's team-mate Glen Hastings had a mixed weekend. The Sonic Motorsports driver qualified on the front row and beat McFayden off the line,leading the first two laps. But after a number of passing moves between the leading threesome,Hastings spun on his own at MG comer.

by him."

A disappointed Hastings explained later:"Part of the rear sway bar came loose on lap tWo, causing big understeer. The car was really useless after that but I was happy to salvage sixth after dropping to 13th."

Justin Cotter and Tim Macrow led

McFayden was surprised that Pugliese pipped him but realises this will be a championship that rewards

the Spectrum chassis charge, qualifying and finishing third and fourth respectively. The pair stayed

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23 April 2003

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with the leaders throughout the race distance, but were never in a position at the end to challenge for a win. The racing between them was extremely fierce though. Cotter and Macrow actually passing each other three times in one lap!

Grand Prix support race winner Brett Francis showed his maturity with a gutsy drive after a difficult qualifying session. A problem with the power supply to the coil meant the lad from Mullumbimby would start Sunday's race from 13th.

Regardless of this setback, Francis pushed on,gaining positions quickly and finding himself with the leading group in no time at all.

But despite being in the lead draft, even the experience of Francis could not find a way past the leaders.

David Reynolds and Cade Southall improved impressively between qualifying and the race. Both Van Diemen drivers completed qualification outside the top 10,but would benefit from other's problems to finish in seventh and eighth position.

Other young guns to look out for in this years series after eye-catching performances at Phillip Island were 'Skater Boy' Anthony Preston, Dean Fiore, Mark Ceveri and Ian Dyk. -GRANT ROWLEY Points: Pugliese 20, McFayden 17,Cotter 14, Macrow 12,Francis 10, Hastings 8,Reynolds 6, Southall 4,James Small 2, Bryce Washington 1.

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by GRANT ROWLEY JIM Richards took a clean sweep in the opening round of the Carrera Cup at Phillip Island two weeks ago.

Richards qualified his GTS on pole position and went on to lead each of the three races from start to finish.

This performance ensures he will be the man to beat in the inaugural senes.

'Gentleman Jim' didn't have it all his own way though. Peter Fitzgerald, aboard his Enjo-backed machine kept the reigning Bathurst Champion honest throughout each race.

Richards was thoroughly pleased with the car and the new series, but knows the young gims are not that far off himself and Fitzgerald.

"Everything is going really well at the moment," said JR."But it will only be a matter of time before the young guys and the middle group catch up."

Richards and Fitzgerald occupied the front-row of the grid all weekend, but'Fitzy' could not bridge the

advantage Jim had on him. finishing each heat in second place.

We were sort of there, but not quite enough," claimed Fitzgerald.

Ex-Formula Ford driver Marcus Marshall showed his undoubted potential in the VIP Petfoods car, taking three third places. After qualifying sixth, the Queenslander jumped into fourth place at the start of tlie first race. On lap seven, Marshall snuck under Tim Leahy to grab a podium spot for the opening race of the season.

"I'm starting to get myself up to speed with the car now," said Marshall.

We've seen this before somewhere: Richards, top, and Fitzgerald, above, look like the main contenders for the 2003 Carrera Cup series.

Paul Pederson made great progress, ending the weekend with a fourth place finish. He holds fourth in the championship, abliet a little off the leading trio.

As was the case at the Grand Prix support races last month,both the stewards and the panel-beaters were given plenty of work.

Chris Seidler was sidelined for all bar two race laps. He made a total Troubled times: Piercing the radiator and throwing coolant all over the road never improves your traction, as Tim Leahey found out.

23 April 2003

i

mess of his GT3 in the first event after a spin at Siberia and ended the weekend prematurely in the tyre wall.

Honda corner is always a popular passing area. But for the Carrera Cup racers Paul Blackie, Rusty French, Rodney Jane and Peter Hill, the tight right-hander would involve them in incidents during the three races.

The biggest victim at Honda though was Tim Leahey. After a spin late in the second race, theVictorian was forced to fight back from 13th place in the final. Leahey bolted through the field, only to spear a hole through his radiator, spewing coolant all over the toad at Honda. It put an end to his race and now lies equal 10th in the series. Not the start he was hoping for...

Leahey's coolant at Honda caught out Kevin Bell and Jonathan Webb, who were involved in a spirited battle. Bell got caught out by the

slippery conditions and hit Webb, which earned him a stop-go penalty.

Matt Coleman had a disastrous start to his championship bid, spinning in both of Sunday's races.

Tony Quinn, Dean Grant and Andrew Miedecke all had consistent weekends,avoiding most of the carnage that was taking place around the picturesque circuit and score valuable points.

But Richards is the man to beat for 2003. Yet the experienced Porsche campaigner knows the Championship will only get harder from here.

"The season is only going to get tougher and guys like Marshall, Coleman, Bell and Leahy will start to put the pressure on. Tliey are bloody good drivers."

Points; Richards 180, Fitzgerald 162, Marshall 144,Pedersen 102, Bell 96, Quinn 72, Grant 66, Miedecke 63, Shearman 60, Coleman, Leahey and Webb 51.

49

Great Grand Son I

r

,HE San Marino Grand Prix of 2003 is not a race which the Schumacher Brothers will remember fondly although perhaps they ought to for both Michael and Ralf gave good account of himself in the most trying conditions.

On Saturday night their mother Elisabeth died in hospital in Cologne.

They were there but in the morning flew back to Imola and got on with the job. The whole sorry business was handled in a tasteful manner and the two men put on a grand display of grand driving as it should be. Jean Todt said it all after the race when he stood in for Michael in front of the world's media.

"I think that we should look at what Michael is achieving in Formula L" he said. "It was very difficult for him today and he did the job because he felt he wanted to do the job and he did fantastic work for the team. I think it's important that he shows what he is as a man and that's maybe the most important thing today."

At the end of the race Michael was dignified on the podium and then departed quietly with his brother to be with family.

Itfrom seems perhaps strange to switch such thoughts to analysing the race that took place but that is the whole point of what Michael and Ralf did. It was clear from Friday that Ferrari had the fastest car, but it was very close.

The Williams has got a lot better in recent weeks and it was clear that it was really very quick at Imola. The

so

drivers were happy with the car and they might easily have been on the front row of the grid.

The issue was really whether or not the tyres would be able to last the distance and so the strategic questions came to the fore. Traditionally the Imola track provides a two-stop race but with the new rules it is said that at most circuits this year we will see an extra stop. Three stops was always on tire cards because the bme penalty at Imola for a pit stop is small and the bme lost from running with a heavy fuel load is quite big.

Thus the answer was to go fast and light and hope that the traffic did not ruin the day. But the reality is that the race was all about track position.

McLaren went for a two-stop race and it worked in their favour. It did not work for Jordan back in the pack.

Three stops was the way to go for Williams and Ferrari but it was a disaster for Toyota. One can always talk of strategy but the fact is that a fast car will usually beat a slow car.

The Ferrari team had to work for the victory because Michael Schumacher did not translate pole position into the lead. Ralf made a much better start and slotted ahead of his brother at the Tamburello chicane.

Behind them were Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya and then Kimi Raikkonen.

The start was very fortunate for the McLaren men as the grid tangle itself up a little as everyone tried to get around a very slow-starting Mark Webber. Raikkonen went from sixth to fourth and Coulthard from 12th to seventh. Webber on the other hand

\Red/nne Motonport //n^pt*

Michael Schumacher drove through the grief oflosing his mother early on the morning of the San Marino Grand Prix to score a deserved and emotional victory.

JOESAWARD reports from Imola Red, and Black: With the support of the Ferrari 'family'around him, Michael Schumacher drove a copybook race at Imola.

The coming man: Kimi Raikkonen rode a 2-stop strategy to second, right.

a

X 0

SAN MARINO FI

continued on page 54

t

Kcdzone Motorsport images

23 April 2003

51

Qualifying

F

OR some time, Ferrari boss Jean Todt has been saying that there is no crisis at Ferrari, despite the fact that the team is a way behind McLaren after the first three races of the year.

There have been signs that the old F2002 is still hugely competitive but things have not gone well for the team.

"The toast has been falling butter side down for them all year," says Mark Webber.

The introduction of the new F2003 GA has been delayed because the new car is simply not reliable enough for the team to risk mechanical failure in a race. The team needs all the points it can get and the old car is still perfectly capable of doing the job.

Family

And that is what we saw in qualifying at Imola. Michael Schumacher took pole position by just 14 one thousandths of a second, beating his own brother Ralf in his BMW Williams.

Michael admitted that he had made a mistake on his qualifying run by going wide at the Variants Alta.

"It is great to be back on top," said Michael. "I think I have a good chance to win tomorrow."

With rain being forecast for Sunday, Michael made the point that he was happy with his car in all conditions.

But there were other pressures on both Schumacher brothers for as soon as qualifying was over the pair took off to Germany where their mother is fighting for her life in hospital after an emergency operation following a domestic accident a few days ago. Clearly, the situation was very serious.

Ralf Schumacher had done well all weekend, despite pressures which have been on him for several weeks, but on Saturday morning he made a mistake and crashed. It looked as though he had screwed up badly but the Williams team is made of stern stuff in a crisis and the team set to work getting the spare car ready for Ralf in qualifying and he did not disappoint.

He was the third-last to run and confidently displaced Juan Pablo Montoya, who at that point had the provisional pole having bounced Webber off the top.

Montoya had not been happy with his lap and had made a mistake at the Acque Minerals chicane and had dropped a few vital tenths.

The team was still pretty happy because this is a much better car than we have seen so far this year.

"Credit should be given to the aero department and the factory for making this possible," said chief operations engineer Sam Michael.

T,

e two Williams-BMWs were -2 on the grid as Rubens Barrichello went out with only Michael Schumacher to run after him. Barrichello was in trouble too for he had gone off in the 15minute warm-up session just before qualifying began and the Ferrari men had to rush to get the car cleaned up. This meant that Barrichello did not have a run on new tyres as he had wanted to and so qualifying was a bit of an unknown quantity.

In the circumstances, one could not fault Rubens. And, as he was quick to point out, he would be starting from the clean side of the track, which is always a big advantage.

4 i 'vodafbn

Redionc Motorsport Images

52

That left the stage open for Michael Schumacher to give the tifosi something to cheer about.

There were not many of them (this being the Easter weekend) but cheer they did.

The revelation of qualifying, if indeed the performance of the Jaguar is still revelatory, was Webber, showing once again that he is a force to be reckoned with this year.

"It is interesting that Mark was fifth when everyone was running light yesterday and fifth when people were running with fuel today," said team principal Tony Purnell.

Where Webber impressed the team was the way in which Mark controlled himself and did not go for an all-out banzai lap.

There have been some suggestions that Jaguar has been showboating in the last two races with low fuel loads but Webber was very clear on that subject.

"Just wait and see in the race tomorrow," he said. "We are on a healthy fuel strategy and there is no deception at work. Jaguar is making impressive and clear progress."

But there are still problems as his team-mate Antonio Pizzonia has been finding out.

"The car is quick," the Brazilian said, "but I cannot do a single session without a major problem."

SAN MARINO FI

On Friday, his efforts were ruined by a blown engine and that was repeated on Saturday morning.

"It is difficult to say for sure what went wrong," said Cosworth's Nick Hayes. "When things go wrong these days, everything is so close together that you tend to end up with a pile of shrapnel and trying to figure out what happened is not something you can do in a short time."

In the circumstances, Pizzonia did a rather good job to hustle the car round to 15th on the grid. He could not have hoped for much more.

Minds on the job; The Brothers Schumacher could have been forgiven for being off their game in qualifying, Michael and Ralf jetting to their injured mother's bedside immediately after the session. But both were superb in the single-car session, Michael's Ferrari pipping Ralf's Williams by a hundredth for a emotional family front row.

“The big disappointment in qualifying was McLaren but the team reckoned that the performance was not indicative of the car. The drivers both made mistakes and so Kimi Raikkonen was sixth on the grid and David Coulthard was 12th.

"You cannot afford to make any mistakes nowadays," said Coulthard. "I am disappointed with myself. I don't think the grid position reflects the reality and so I think it will be possible to make up some places in the race."

The problem with Imola, of course, is that overtaking is very difficult indeed and making up

places is not going to be the work of a moment. Pit stop strategy, however, will be vital.

"Everything points to the pit lane being a busy place during the race," said Michelin's director of competition Pierre Dupasquier. "The penalty for a full fuel load is quite substantial here - about half a second a lap for every extra 10kgs you carry and the pit lane entry and exit are quite short so refuelling stops are not too time-consuming."

The likelihood, therefore, was that some of the cars were running lighter fuel loads. The problem was that it was not clear at all who that might be.

“The top 10 featured some interesting additions to the norm, with Jacques Villeneuve seventh and Jenson Button ninth in their BAR-Hondas, which featured the latest development version of the Honda VI0.

"It is very close as the top," said Jacques, "and this is one of the most difficult circuits at which to overtake on, so the start will be interesting."

Button too was right on the pace and reckoned that without a slight mistake at the Variante Alta, he would have been right with his team-mate.

Splitting the two BAR men was the Renault of Fernando Alonso and the indication was that the Spaniard might have been running a little less fuel than others, as happened in Malaysia. The aim was to score points.

[Grand Prix of7rg |San MarirTgf April 19 2003

1 M Schumachi I Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:22^327 iSMW WilliamsFI Team 1:22.341 +0.014 2 R Barrichello(BRA) .Scuderia Ferrari Mariboro 1:22.557 +0.230 BMW WiHiamsFI Team : 1:22.789 +0.462 14 M Webber (AUS) Jaguar Radr^ i 1;23.bl5 +0.6&8 6KRaikk6r)en I West McLaren Mercedes ' 1:23.148 +0.821

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16J VllleneuvetCAN) lucky strike BAR Honda 1:23.160 + 0.833

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j8F Alonso (I MW Seven Renault F1 Team 1:23.169 + 0.842

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17 J Button(GB) Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:23.381 + 1.054

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|9NHeidfeld(D) ; Sauber Petronas ' 1:23.700 +1.373 5 D Coulthard(GB) jWest McLaren Mercedes 1:23.818 + 1.431

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!21 CDa Malta(SRA] :Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:23.838 + 1.511

55)

Sauber Petronas 1:23.932 + 1.605 tSAPtoonlatBRA)

04 wk)

Jaguar Racing 1:24.147 + 1.620 7JTruHi(H Mild Seven Renault FI Team 1:24.190 + 1.863 11 GFIsichella (I) Jordan Ford , 1:24.317 * 1.990 18 J Wilson(GB) Minardi Cosworth 1:25.826 +3.499 Jordan Ford 1:26.357 + 4.030 19 J Vorstappon (NLI Minardi Cosworth ’ No time

l->6

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20OPanls(l Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:23.460 + 1.133

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continued on page 54

53 .

Qualifying continued from page 53 Jarno Trulli was way back in 16th place, thanks to a broken engine which meant that he had to switch to the spare car which was set up for Alonso.

"It is difficult to do well in such circumstances," said Trulli.

Completing the top 10 was Olivier Panis in his Toyota. The cars had started the weekend in a pretty poor state but the engineers worked on the stability of the chassis over the kerbs and gradually the team became more competitive.

The team felt that running early in qualifying because of a poor performance on Friday had not much helped. Cristiano da Matta was 13th.

The mixture of cars resulted in Nick Heidfeld being 11th fastest in his Sauber and that after a last-minute switch to the spare car, after struggling with his own car all weekend and being unable to figure it out. Heinz-Harald Frentzen would probably have been faster but an engine failure in the Saturday morning session meant that he had little track time and so had to settle for 14th. it was no real surprise to see the two Ford customer engine teams down at the back. It n was a bit of a comedown for Jordan, the winner of the Brazilian GP (as it said on the team's trucks), but this perhaps reflected more on the actual competitiveness of the cars in normal conditions.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 17th and Ralph Firman 19th.

"I am very disappointed and confused," said Fisichella.

Firman was beaten by Justin Wilson in his Minardi and he ended up 18th after a solid showing. Jos Verstappen on this occasion was not ahead.

Fie was in the wall at the Variante Alta chicane. The Dutchman had ended the morning with an engine problem and so a new unit was put in which Jos said felt different.

"I just hit the kerb too hard and slid off the track and into the wall," he explained.

More and more people are now beginning to come around to the new format in qualifying and with nine drivers having held pole (including four of the last five) it was a very entertaining session.

The race, we hoped, would be likewise ...

54

continued from page 51

him. Wlien it came to the second

crack. It was a very mature performance from a driver who has been under pressure of later because of poor and inconsistent results.

Are we seeing a new Ralf Schumacher? We will just have to wait and see...

stops, one might have assumed that Rubens would get ahead but he did not and then Vie was back behind Ralf again imtil the third stops. This time, there was a glitch with tyres and, amazingly, Barrichello came out behind the Williams for a third time, hut this time he was in no mood to mess around and made swift work of Ralf.

I

t became obvious however that Michael was in the faster car. And when Ralf came into the pits on lap 16, you could almost see the rear of the Ferrari sink down as Michael gave it full welly and went for a few killer lap times. From being in the mid-lm23s, Michael suddenly went to a lm22.4s. He came in on lap 18 but his IN lap was a lm23.0s, Rah's IN lap had been a lm24.4s. The OUT laps were about the same but at the end of lap 19 Michael was more than two and a half seconds ahead and from then on his progress was about a second a lap.

After the first stop, Ralf's attention was taken up by fending off Barrichello, who would spend the next few laps jammed up behind

i

But by then, the two-stop McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen had moved ahead. Rubens closed up and finished right behind Kimi, but he was never going to get past-and the Finn knew it. He was second and so had minimised the loss of points to Michael Schumacher. With the new points system, Michael won back only two points. Kimi is still 14 ahead of Michael.

T

owards the end of the race, Ralf came under pressure from David Coulthard who had used the twostop strategy to get himself up to a sensible position after a poor qualifying.

"In the end," he surmised,"I paid

the price for my low grid position."

Montoya should have been next based on the performance of the cars, but his race was ruined by poor pit stops. At the first, he lost a few seconds when he arrived a bit too quickly. At the second,the fuel rig malfunctioned and so he had to come back to the pits three laps later. By the time he had done all that, he was behind Fernando Alonso and was never able to make up the lost time and ended the race in seventh behind the impressive Spaniard.

"I could not have hoped for a better result," he said.

The implication was clear. At Imola being 43 seconds behind the winner was all that he could do. A two-stop strategy helped him. Jarno Trulli raced in the T-car which was set up for Alonso and was well off Alonso's pace. He finished 13th. continued on page 56

At last -some horsepower: Honda had a new-spec engine for Imola and Jenson Button put it to good use to finish in the points.

Here he leads Mark Webber's slow-starting Jaguar, left.

Williams versus Ferrari: A great start saw Ralf Schumacher's Williams run ahead of the two F2002s early in the race, right. Note the black bands on Ralf and Michael's helmets.

Under pressure: Rubens Barrichello threw everything at RalfSchumacher as the race wound on, below, and eventually found a way past.

s?

t

moiorsport news

SAN MARINO FI

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23 April 2003

5S

continued from page 54 The final World Championship point went in the end to Jenson Button, who had driven the BARHonda with a two-stop strategy. The hope had been for a clean and quick first lap but the two BARs were both held up by the struggling Webber and,so,Jenson lost a place and was stuck behind Heidfeld. The Sauber was dealt with at the first pit stop and then Jenson attacked and was able to do enough to overhaul Olivier Fanis's Toyota, which was running a threestop strategy. Villeneuve's first lap was rather worse and he ended up 13th and had to deal with da Matta.

Unfortunately as he rejoined after the first pit stop, the back end of his car caught fire.

Fanis finished ninth but he certainly worked for it with three pit stops. Da Matta did likewise but the strategy was wrong,even though the team was encouraged by the fact that it managed to get two cars to the flag.

It was a dull day for Sauber, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen doing two stops and Heidfeld doing one.

Heidfeld did well on the first lap, Frentzen did badly and the two cars finished a second apart so it is probably fair to say that Frentzen's strategy was the better of the two but neither was really that good. It had been a tough weekend for Sauber.

It's like the Arc: The cars lined up almost 2 by 2 in pare ferme, with Sauber, Williams, Toyota, McLaren and Ferrari all getting both cars home. Centre, David Coulthard approaches Ralf Schumacher for a chat. things worse.

At the end of the day, however, Mark was philosophical.

"I would much rather have a

The only car still running at the finish, back in 14th, was Antonio Fizzonia's Jaguar. He had been left at the start when the launch-control malfunctioned and his car had to be

quick car with some reliability niggles than a slow and unreliable car," he said. It was a very sound

pushed into the pitlane and started from there. He was a lap behind. His fastest lap was a half a second slower than Webber's best.

Webber was nobbled by the same problem but managed to keep his car going - but he had lost six places and you cannot do that at Imola if you want a good result. He was on an aggressive three-stop strategy but a drive-through penalty after speeding in the pitlane at the first stop made

philosophy.

Jordan failed to finish either car but was never in the hunt. Both cars had been lapped by the mid-race an odd thing when one considers that Giancarlo Fisichella won in Brazil.

Fisichella tried hard but lost time in the pits, and then had the incident with Trulli and finally went out with a large and smoky engine failure.

Ralph Firman was on a different strategy but lost time behind the Minardis and eventually went out of 16th place with an engine failure.

The Minardi story was similarly disappointing. Both cars started from the pits as there was little to lose in doing so. Jos Verstappen went out with an electrical problem on lap 40 when he was running 17th.

Justin Wilson ran into trouble at the pit stop with the refuelling machine refusing to work and eventually his car had to be retired. Even if Jos had still been running, the refuelling machine would have ended his race as well...

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motorsport news

SAN MARINO FI

The FI teams were on ‘home'ground at Imola - and so was MNews FI Technical Editor Paolo Filisetti to document all the latest tweaks

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Out come the New Toy

THE first'home'race of the 2003 World Championship at Imola allowed the teams to introduce some new items some specifically designed for the Italian track.

Honda made the biggest leap, introducing a new-spec engine designed to produce more torque and a flatter power curve.

Williams had new barge boards, Ferrari, Toyota and Jaguar ran larger-than-usual cooling ducts for their brakes, while Brembo produced a new UHD (Ultra Heavy Duty) calliper that will also be used in Canada.

Renault produced a new front wing for the neat R23, top, with a new wing profile with new endplates that sported a revised horizontal side plane, arrowed. In fact, this version of the wing is characterised by a 'bridge' profile for all its length starting form its foremost point.

This fast anticlockwise circuit can tend to create some overheating problems to the lefthand of the car, and Williams engineers addressed the matter with some asymmetrical exhaust chimneys, centre. With the cool conditions working in the teams' favour, the team chose to use one of its very small versions on the left, with a larger right-side exhaust exit from the middle range of the options available.

The rear wing of Jordan's EJ13, bottom, sported new endplates, featuring a 'U' cut at the rearmost corner, arrowed.

The idea is to reduce the drag on the straights, due specifically to the fact that the car used an high incidence of the flaps so to have a good handling in the twisty section of the track.

23 April 2003

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2003 FIA Formula One World Championship

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2003 San Marino Grand Prlx - Overall Race Classification after 62 laps - 305.609 kms - Provisional

Laps

Time

1

1

Michael Schumacher

GER

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

62

1:28:12.058

2

6

Kimi Raikkonen

FIN

West McLaren Mercedes ;

62

1:28:13.940

01.882

3

2

Rubens Barrichello

BRA

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

62

1:28:14.349

02.291

Pos. No.

Nat

Driver

Entrant

Kph

Best

Lap

207.894

1:22.491

17

207.821

1:22.810

21

00.409

207.805

1:22.775

49 29

Gap

4

4

Ralf Schumacher

GER

BMW WilliamsFl Team

62

1:28:20.861

08.803

06.512

207.549

1:23.265

5

5

David Coulthard

GBR

West McLaren Mercedes

62

1:28:21.469

09.411

00.608

207.525

1:23.200

20

Fernando Alonso

ESP

Mild Seven Renault FI Team

62

1:28:55.747

43.689

34.278

206.192

1:23.844

60 32

6 7

3

COL

BMW WilliamsFl Team

62

1:28:57.329

45.271

01.582

206.131

1:22.946

8

17 Jenson Button

GBR

Lucky Strike BAR Honda

61

1:28:13.071

1 U\P

1 LAP

204.500

1:23.972

15

9

20 Olivier Panis

FRA

Panasonic Toyota Racing

61

1:28:31.807

1 LAP

18.736

203.778

1:25.123

36

10

9

Nick Heidfeld

GER Sauber Petronas

61

1:28:33.715

1 LAP

01.908

203.705

1:25.329

38

11

10

Heinz Harald Frentzen

GER Sauber Petronas

61

1:28:34.809

1 LAP

01.094

203.663

1:24.874

34

12

21

Cristiano Da Matta

BRA

Panasonic Toyota Racing

61

1:29:01.343

1 LAP

26.534

202.651

1:24.705

15

13

7

Jarno Truili

ITA

Mild Seven Renault FI Team

61

1:29:13.272

1 LAP

11.929

202.200

1:25.444

13

14

15

198.491

1:24.733

36

11

2 LAPS: I DNF

1 LAP

15

202.936

1:24.730

27

Juan Pablo Montoya

Antonio Pizzonia ^ Giancarlo Fisichella

BRA jaguar Racing

60

1:29:23.841

ITA

57

1:23:03.822

Jordan Ford

Not ClassiRed 14

Mark Webber

AUS Jaguar Racing

54

1:19:26.442

DNF

201.014

1:24.258

30

12

Ralph Firman

IRL

Jordan Ford

51

1:15:04.924

DNF

200.856

1:25.539

45

19 Jos Verstappen

NED

European Minardi Cosworth

38

0:56:26.591

DNF

199.014

1:26.835

35

18 Justin Wilson

GBR European Minardi Cosworth

23

0:34:26.930

DNF

197.200

1:26.354

23

16 Jacques Villeneuve

CAN

19

0:27:47.702

DNF

201.812

1:24.108

Lucky Strike BAR Honda

Fastest Lap 215,281

'j 1:22.491 on lap 17

] GER I Scuderia Ferrari Matifaoro

I 1 I Michael Schumacher

Drivers' Championship Points: Raikkonen 32, Coulthard 19, M, Schumacher 13, Alonso 17, Barrichello 14, R. Schumacher 13, Fisichella and Montoya 10, Truili 9, Frentzen 7, Button and Villeneuve 3, Heidfeld 1.

Constructors' Championship Points: McLaren/Mercedes 51, Ferrari 32, Renault 26, BMW,Williams 23, Jordan-Cosworth 10, Sauber-Petronas 8, BAR-Honda 6,

Grand Prix of San Marino

FORMULA 1

April 20 2003 Grid Position/Driver

Nat

1

; GER Ferrari

Michael Schumacher

2 Ralf Schumacher i 3

Rubens Barrichello

; COL: Williams

Mark Webber

: AUS: Jaguar

; 6

Kimi Raikkonen

, FIN

8

Fernando Alonso

ESP; Renault

Jenson Button

GBR BAR FRA .Toyota

i 11

Nick Heidfeld

, GER'Sauber

j 12 David Coulthard

GBR McLaren

13 Cristiano Da Matta

BRA Toyota

14 Heinz-Harald Frentzen

GER Sauber

15 Antonio Pizzonia

BRA Jaguar ITA

Renault

17 Giancarlo Fisichella

, ITA

Jordan

18 Justin Wilson

GBR Minardi

{19 Ralph Firman

IRL ; Jordan

120 Jos Verstappen

NED Minardi

I 16

58

Jarno Truili

I

115!

110!

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j 10 Olivier Panis

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BRA Ferrari

Juan Pablo Montoya

i 7 : Jacques Villeneuve

Ml

GER Williams

14

CHAMnOMSMIR

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Car

' 5

WORLD

Positions lap by lap

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19 20 moiorsport news

SAN MARINO FI

Mark wabber's San Manno Diary A

FTER so much early promise, there's no disguising the fact that race day at Imola delivered us a couple of hefty slaps in the face.

More than anything, it's a shame for the guys in our crew, who worked like trojans over the weekend, only to have their hopes dashed early.

FI may look glamorous, but it can be really hard on the guys.

Friday night, after I'd had an engine problem earlier in the day and Antonio also had some dramas, some of the guys simply walked past their bed back at the hotel, had a quick shower and headed back to the track. That's tough.

There's no doubt now that we have a good car with the R4, but it stil l - clearly - needs a lot of engineering work to eliminate the little niggles which are costing us results.

We were three seconds a lap faster at the weekend than Eddie Irvine was in the R3 last year.

That's massive progress - as Michael's engineer, Aussie Chris Dyer pointed out, Schuey was half a second quicker than last year.

I guess I'd rather have a quick car with a few niggles to sort than one that's just slow - but there's no doubt it makes for a bit of a rollercoaster for the team! “riday and Saturday were, overall, good days. I went through the tyre comparison process during our two hours of free practice and went, with little hesitation, for the softer Michelin option.

On a three-stop strategy, it was obviously the way to go and, indeed, far more of the opposition went the three-stop route than we'd guessed.

We experimented with downforce levels - there was 3-4 kph of top speed to be had with less, but in the end, the best outcome came with as much downforce as we could generate.

Friday qualifying, with everyone on low fuel, showed that our turn of speed in Brazil wasn't a one-off. It was a pretty clean lap and fifth, behind the Ferraris and Williamses, pretty okay. Going later in the session meant slightly better track conditions, but it put us in the last, so-called, 'hot five' for Saturday qualifying.

23 April 2003

Green and Gold: Webber gets up to speed during Saturday qualifying, in which he scored fifth on the grid.

Following his run, he was keeping a close eye on the two Williamses and those pesky Ferraris, left ...

► 5u(fon-im.i^c$.ci

"The launch control just wouldn't quite activate quickly enough -1 was still going through the process when the lights went out II

- Webber an his crook start

with the A steering hydrauliccost problem me ai lot of Saturday morning's session and, when I did get out, it was important to 'heat cycle' some of our race tyres - although I did get one late lap as a trial qualifying lap. There were a couple of mistakes, but I'd rather have them then and have a clean run when it matters.

Being in the last five, I knew a low 1:23s would be needed to maintain my fifth spot and, in the end, it was another clean lap. We

avoided the temptation to go overboard and try for the banzai lap and the result was the low 1:23s we needed, PI at the time, and the knowledge that fifth would be our worst grid outcome after the others had run.

M

y race day started to go sour as we sat on the grid waiting for the red lights, The launch system on our car is amazingly complex and as we waited, it just wouldn't quite activate quickly enough - i was

still going through the process when the lights went out...

That hesitation in getting away cost US, big-time. Fifth became 11th and, on a track as difficult to pass on as Imola, it was going to be a long day.

Our strategy was right but. thanks to the slow start, we were stuck behind Panis and Fleidfeld.

The electronic problems multiplied at my first fuel stop (rear tyres only), when the pit lane speed limiter didn't operate initially and I got pinged with a drive through (I know f)ow it feels, Skaifeyl).

Regardless, there was still some possibility of points and, once I leap-frogged the Toyota and Sauber at the next stops, we started to whack in some respectable times.

In the end, we were ninth, catching Jenson Button (but not by enough to get the points finish) when a driveshaft let go.

The mood in the garage was definitely a bit down after all that.

The guys have worked so hard to get us competitive, but there are clearly some reliability issues to overcome before we claim the result that appears tantalisingly close.

As a result we are now heading straight to Mugello to use up at least two of our test day allocation and try and pinpoint any other weaknesses before the circus heads to Barcelona, SO

T

HEY say a true champion makes his own luck and Marcus Gronholm has proven that once more with another ice-cool performance to win the Rally of New Zealand.

The reigning World Champ captured his second consecutive NZ win by a massive margin of ImOSs over team-mate Richard Burns - and not even a rollover could halt his charge to victory.

The Finn led from start to finish. with the only real challenge coming from Estonian Markko Martin in the brilliant new Ford Focus. Martin was closing the gap to Gronholm during Day 2,only to have a cam belt break on the stage after Gronholm's roll.

There is no secret to me winning this rally; I had a good push through the first two legs and that was enough," said Gronholm.

With the gap down below 30 seconds and the Ford getting faster.

Martin clearly believed he had a shot at the Finn but the engine failure halted his chances. Nonetheless, the new Focus proved it has the potential to take it up to the Peugeot.

"While we are very disappointed with Markko's retirement, we go away from here tremendously encouraged with the pace that the new car has shown," said Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson.

"We wanted to close the gap to Peugeot and we've done just that."

Inheriting second - and looking to potentially give Peugeot a podium 60

clean sweep - Harri Rovanpera slid wide on the fifth stage of Day 2. His roll was terminal but Gronholm's was not, after he also slid wide on a righthander and gently dropped tire Peugeot on its side. Some nearby spectators put him back on his wheels at a cost of just 20 seconds and he retained his lead.

With Martin out. Bums settled into second behind his dominant teammate and was never a real threat. despite some fastest stage times.

Bums was severely handicapped by being first car on the road on Day 1, a result of his lead in the world title heading into this roimd. Despite not winning a round so far this year.

Burns's consistency has enabled him to retain the lead in the title heading to Argentina. He had some brake problems during Day 2 but even without these he would have been hard-pressed to challenge Gronholm.

The Peugeot win means that the PSA Group has now captured all four rounds so far in 2003, with sister marque Citroen taking Monte Carlo and Turkey, and Peugeot winning Sweden and New Zealand.

Fetter Solberg had his best result of the year after disasters in Monte Carlo and Turkey but the Norwegian's conservative approach on Day 1 and 2 meant he was too far back to challenge. Combined with a tyre problem on the long stage on Day 2 (when he was chasing down Peugeot's Harri Rovanpera in second) Solberg's luck was again well short of

that of Gronholm.

"I came here wanting to score points. 1 have done that and so 1 must be happy, but this isn't really the way 1 wanted to drive here in New Zealand; I wanted to push and take risks," admitted Solberg.

Solberg's team-mate Tommi Makinen could have been in position for a podium finish but for a fiveminute road penalty for speeding on day two. The wily Firm dropped from fifth to 14th as a result of the speeding infringement and was able to battle

his way back to seventh and three points for his trouble.

Rain on the first day of the threeday,22-stage rally caused some relief and some grief, depending on where you were on the road.

Burns's disadvantage at the head of the pack was minimised by the wet conditions that spread the gravel and the grip levels. For Citroen a problem with windscreen demisting robbed all of its drivers of time as they struggled for dear vision on day one. McRae in particular was badly handicapped by

motorsport news

RALLY NZ

Marcus And those w \i-A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautianen Richard Burns/Robert Reid Better Solberg/Phil Mills Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elana Toni Gardemeister/Paavo Lukander Alister McRae/David Senior Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom OidierAuriol/Denis Giraudet

Rn/Fin GB/GB Nor/GB F/F Rn/Fin GB/GB Rn/Fin F/F

Peugeot 206 WRC Peugeot 206 WRC Subaru Impreza WRC Citroen Xsara X4 Skoda Octavia WRC Mitsubishi Lancer WRC Subaru impreza WRC Skoda Octavia WRC

3h45m21.2 +1m08.7 +2m09.8 +4m15.4 +8m13.8 +9m14,2 +9m50.2 +10m18.6

Drivers' points: Burns 26, Gronholm 20, Loeb 17, C. McRae 17,Sainz 16, Martin 13, Makinen 11,Solberg 9, Duval 8, Gardemeister 7, Panizzi 4, Robert and A. McRae 3, Schwarz and Auriol 1.

Manufacturers’ points: Peugeot 49, Citroen 44, Ford 26, Subaru 22, Skoda 12, Hyundai 3.

Marcus Gronholm will be offered honorary New Zealand citizenship if his dominance of the Shaky Isle's WRC round is any indication.

JON THOMSON reports from the land of the Long White Finn

WRC Round 5 Rally of New Zealand It's not a Ferrari: No, it's red but it wins. Marcus Gronholm dominated in NZ, left.

The Odd Angry Warning Shot: Ford's new Focus looks like sex on wheels and goes like a rocketship.

Expect to see Francois Duval and Markko Martin, below, on a WRC podium soon.

in tlie final test. Sainz got back on the road to crawl to the finish in 12th.

While Martin was Ford's great wliite hope,big tilings were expected of Francois Duval. After his fine podium in Turkey, the Belgian had high ambitions but a hydraulic problem connected witli the new Focus electronic gearshift on Day 1 slowed liim and saw him drop rlown the leader board,eventually taking ninth.

A high-speed roll on the opening stage of the rally ended Armin Schwarz's rally in the newlyrevamped Hyundai. His new team mate Jussi Valimaki also went out on the opening day in a crash,leaving Freddy Loix to fly the flag for the struggling Korean maker. The Belgian was as high as fifth before a crash four stages from home brought a complete faihtre for the team. While the new Hyundai appeared quicker and closer to the mark,there is still a lot of work to do if tliis car is to challenge the frontrunners.

With the recently-announced Fabia being the main focus of attention at Skoda at the moment,the Czech maker would have been excused for

the problem while both Sainz and Loeb also lost time.

Witli a big time deficit to make up, McRae overstepped the mark and went off the road on Day 1 to an early retirement. Sainz carried over the speed shown in Turkey, but the demisting problem,plus an off on Day 2 when he was chasing Didier AurioTs Skoda in tire dust,cost liim over 14 minutes. The Spaniard struggled on and was first car on the road on the final day,sweeping the roads and then going off at liigh speed 23 April 2003

not running strongly in the big Octavia in NZ. However a strong performance from Toni Gardermeister, bringing the car home in fifth, was more than the team could have hoped for. Auriol backed this up witli eighth and more points, despite a turbo problem causing him to limp to the finish.

Match fitness is always a key factor for teams and drivers but Ralliart would have taken away some heart from Alister McRae's sixth place in the team's only WRC outing so far this year. Clearly not a match for the other WRC cars, McRae manliandled the Lancer through the stages in an impressive display, while his team-

L mate for the weekend Kristian Sohlberg fell foul of tire law and was out of the event at the end of Day 2.

The fight for Group N production car supremacy was a titanic struggle with Japan's Toshi Aria winning out after some inspired tyre choice on tire long 50km stage on Day 2. Cody Crocker was battling with Arai rmtil tyre problems on the final day dropped him back. With three punctures on the last day, Crocker dragged the car home to finish just 4.4s alread of Marcus Ligato's Lancer.

Possum Bourne's challenge came to an early end witlr a melted piston in his Subaru on Day 1.

The Championship moves across to South America on May 9-11 for the fifth round in Argentina where Burns has done well in the past and is expecting to build in his lead. Tire one person who will be best equipped to halt his ambition is team-mate Gronholm.

While the Citroens aren't far away, it is becoming clear that the Peugeots are looking stronger and are still the cars to beat. The threat for the Frencli teams will come from Ford; once the Focus is fully sorted, it could be more than a match for botlr of its French opponents.

/Of? Thotmpn

My105.com: Not really but Cody Crocker was right on the speed in NZ, taking second in the Bourne-run Subaru.

No-one call him Colin's little Bro: AH McRae returned to the series with a bang, taking sixth in the until-now unloved Mitsubishi.

m 61

Ralliart skips Canberra No works entries for APAC but Ordynski gets Waikden drive

RALLIART Australia has taken a leaf out of its European counterpart's book by withdrawing its entries from rallying to concentrate on sorting out the problems ahead of the next ARC Superseries round.

While the WRC Ralliart team has withdrawn from most rounds this year, Ralliart Australia will only be out for one rally.

In a shock move last week, Ralliart withdrew its two cars from this weekend's Rally of Canberra to fix a fuel feed problem that afflicted its two machines in the opening round in WA. Mitsubishi motorsport boss Kevin Taylor made the announcement:

"We've decided to pull both entries for Canberra to allow the team to properly sort out the problems which affected both Ed (Ordynski) and Spencer(Lowndes) in WA," stated Taylor.

While the Ralliart Evo VIIs won't be running in the ACT,Ordynski will compete in a Les Waikden Lancer Evo VII, teaming up with Juha Kangas to try and give Mitsubishi a shot at manufacturer's points.

Ordynski has driven for Waikden before and is pleased to be rejoining the team for a one-off in the car that Michael Guest used last year.

"This decision proves Mitsubishi is extremely serious about its

involvement in Australian rallying/' said Ordynski.

"It shows Mitsubishi's strong commitment to the sport and long term view of Success and maximises our opportunities in both Driver's and Manufacturer's Championships.

"It's obviously disappointing not to be able to run the Ralliart cars but two good points have come out of this decision. It firstly allows the team maximum time to sort out the cars before the next Super Series Round in Queensland and being able to run in Canberra allows us to aim towards scoring maximum points for Mitsubishi."

-JON THOMSON SUttOtt

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by JON THOMSON

Maybe I better park it: Ed will be putting his works car back in the rack for a run in an LWR Lancer Evo VII.

WRC Silly Season starts DRIVER movements are the current talk of the WRC, with a raft of swaps and changes coming at the end of this season.

Top of the list appears to be the almost certain move

by Richard Burns back to Subaru after two years at Peugeot, where he has progressively taken back seat to Marcus Gronholm.

Flis nickname in the team is 'Rubens' (for obvious reasons) and he reportedly has a big offer from Subaru, which almost certainly will lose Tommi Makinen to retirement at the end of the year.

Better Solberg will most likely stay at Subaru despite overtures from Peugeot.

Gilles Panizzi appears not have been given any hope of

62

sutUin-inhijtvsxc

But why would Peugeot want to drop Gilles Panizzi? After all, he is French, fast and always acts so serious ...

an ongoing contract at Peugeot and is set to move to Mitsubishi Ralliart when it revives its WRC campaign with a revised Lancer in 2004. Alister McRae will most likely stay at the three diamonds, his performance in NZ bolstering his stocks with the team.

Both Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz will see their contracts with Citroen up at the end of the year but they are likely to stay with the French team, which has impressed with two wins this year.

Ford appears to be happy with its youth policy that has saved money - and produced impressive results - so far.

- JON THOMSON

IT is the rumour that just won't go away. The talk of international journalists in Auckland was that a push was being made by manufacturers to pressure for Rally Australia to move to the East Coast.

At the heart of the rumour was a supposed letter which manufacturers had signed, requesting the Australian round be moved to the East Coast for both safety and logistical reasons.

While the manufactures denied the existence of the letter, one insider told MNews that it was definitely a discussion point among the teams prior to a World Rallies Commission meeting earlier this year.

It appears that some teams are saying the closeness of the trees, combined with the fine 'ball bearmg gravel', make the WA forests unsafe for the current crop of World Rally Cars. Francois Delecour's crash last year was apparently one incident cited by the teams.

Along with that, even the most ardent WA lover must realise the fact that, logistically, the East Coast would be easier and cheaper should the date be tied in with the rally of New Zealand in the future.

It is believed that Perth's new agreement with the WRC is on a year-to-year basis but with options clauses and that it is now a whole lot easier for the FIA to switch the event to another location in Australia, motorsport news

● _i

RALLY NElAfS

GB to move?

THE Rally of Great Britain, which is the final round of the 2003 World Rally Championship, may be on the move.

i teams, with conditions in September almost certain to be different from those in November.

If Britain were to lose its hold on

Rally GB has traditionally been the final round of the series in November but due to the likelohood of fog, mud and early darkness, which the Rally has experienced in the past, a September slot could be on the cards in 2004. This represents a major change for the organisers and the

the prestigious final round of the WRC,Australia seems to be a likely alternative. Weather conditions at that time of the year in the west are not a problem and the revamped Rally Australia would definitely benefit from a round of the series that might decide a World Champion.

Vest Making their points

Piston stops the Possum POSSUM Bourne had just taken the lead in the Group N class in Rally NZ when the flat-four engine let go with a melted piston at the end of special stage four. It is the second engine failure for Bourne in almost as many weeks after his ARC campaign got off to a shaky start in WA with similar problems.

Pirelli shoots the Mousse PIRELLI did not have its best rally with a series of mousse failures, particularly in Petter Solberg's Subaru. The anti-deflation material was breaking up inside the tyres and causing bad vibrations in the Imprezas. Pirellis says it could have been a bad batch of mousse.

fordrallyespQrt

Be home by dark: If Rally CB moves, we might get some brighter photos.

Hands up if you want to stay: Or not. The move-WRC-from-WA stories refuse to die, above, with rallying main players, like Andrew Cowan and Dave Richards, below, keeping mum.

'MICHAEL'and 'Rubens' are fighting again.

Marcus Gronholm dislikes the WRC's new-for-2003 points system, but Richard Burns has given his support to the rules.

"If I had a choice between the old scoring system and the new one that goes down to eighth place, I would take the old one every time, because it rewards the winner," Gronholm said.

"I can understand the small teams will like the new idea because it's easier for them to score points, but I think things should be geared towards victory."

Burns, who has yet to win a rally with Peugeot, counters: "It's

not my fault that I'm leading the championship - what can I do about a change in the system?" he said. "Nothing has been changed for my benefit. It's just that I've benefited from the changes.

"The rallies that we've already done wouldn't be any different for me regardless of the points scoring system. I'm still driving the same and putting in the same effort and that's all that matters to me.

"It's still important to be looking to beat people like Marcus, because there are only so many times you can finish second to them and still be leading the World Rally Championship."

Running with the Bulls

TO be caught speeding once could be considered unlucky; to be caught three times in one day must be considered careless.

That is exactly what happened to Citroen's Carlos Sainz.

The Spaniard, who celebrated his 41st birthday on the opening day of the event, was caught speeding on the day before the start of Rally NZ during the event's shakedown twice within 25 minutes. His penalty was a fine of just under $25,000, which tends to make even Victoria's aggressive speed cameras seem almost benign.

Sainz wasn't the only one caught in what was a major blitz by Kiwi 23 April 2003

police on the rally.

Tommi Makinen was caught speeding on the way to the first stage of day two, after claiming he was blocked in at the service park.

Trouble was, it was a Subaru merchandise truck blocking him and he was given a five-minute penalty.

Kristian Sohiberg (making his World Rally Car debut with Ralliart) strung several offences together on Day 2, including 50km/h over in a 50km/h zone, colliding with a spectator and failing to stop for police. At a nearby police station he was fingerprinted, putting him out of late time and out of the rally.

-JON THOMSON

i

Shifting Focus FORD'S new Focus, above, has an ingenious failsafe mechanism for its new electronic shift mechanism.

Should it fail (as it did for both Martin and Duval in NZ) the handbrake lever can be used as a sequential shift lever. It is slower than the electronic shift - but not as slow as being stopped by the side of the road with no way of changing gears.

He’s not the Messiah,...

TOSFII Aral bolted a set of super soft tyres on for the long 55km stage and blew Cody Crocker's time away by over 20 seconds. Flowever the Japanese driver had the Pirelli technicians in a spin. Pirelli had given the Japanese ace the tyres for testing with the explicit instruction that they not be used on a rally. All Group N competitors are meant to use just one tyre compound to keep costs down. The talk now is that tyres will be marked from now on to ensure this isn't repeated.

- JON THOMSON 63

Engine spec change for PCR

PARRAI\/IATTA City Raceway in conjunction with the Sprintcar Association of NSW announced the other week that they will be adopting the 410 cubic inch engine specification rule for next summer.

The change will see the NSW

Sprintcar division in line with other countries including Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and United States.

The local stars are now hunting down the 410 engines, not only to compete against the Americans in Australia's round of the World of Outlaws in January

Hodges unstoppable LAST Saturday night at Brisbane International Speedway, Darrell Hodges racked up his seventh feature race win for the season, and did so with style after an epic race long duel with Darren Jensen.

“We had a top and we had a bottom, it was pretty racey. It’s looking very good for next week.” said a confident Hodges.

Jensen had started off pole position in the Cresta Australia Maxim after winning the Dash race relatively untroubled. After three attempts to start the race, Jensen made the best of it to jump clear of fellow front rower, Clayton Walker. Hodges was quickly past Tony Bridge and Walker to take up second position, but Jensen had quickly built a gap. Once into traffic that lead was whittled down to nothing. Such was the intensity of the duel that developed that

the duo lapped up to the fourthplaced car of Bridge.

Having caught Bridge, the Avenger then comprehensively blew its engine almost directly In front of Jensen and slowed dramatically. Jensen, baulked and blinded by oil could do nothing as Hodges leapt past.

With three laps to go the race was red flagged after Craig Stevenson rolled at turn three.

The final three laps of the race saw Hodges get a good restart and in clear air was able to hold off Jensen.

“It was a real good race,” said Jensen. “I just couldn't see (after Bridge’s blow-up) and that's when Hodges got me. That's racing.”

Walker, lapped just before the restart, finished third ahead of Brock Dean , Rob Kyle , Zach Howell, Steven White and Ben Wright.

-MARK JONES

Close call for Smith MARK Smith was injured in a bone-crunching accident during the feature race of the Victorian 360ci Sprintcar Title at Wangaratta Raceway earlier this month.

Smith rode the rear wheel of Ian Smith’s Foster, which speared Mark into the turn three wall.

The V66 Hussey Performance Schnee driver spent the night in hospital under observation after biting his tongue and injuring his neck in the heavy contact.

Mark was released from hospital the following day and it is uncertain whether Smith will complete the season as he had reportedly planned to retire from racing and sell off his equipment in just two meetings time.

- PARIS CHARLES 64

Crunch: Smith’s car looked rather second-hand, as it gets towed away for some minor repairs

next year, but also to race at PCR for the entire season.

There will be a weight advantage given to the existing 372 cars over the 410 but over a three year period, we'll see the local cars identical to those raced in the US. Steven Green, PCR Managing Director said, "The management of international Speedway feel that it is time to change engine and weight specifications to line up with the rest of the world and adopt such for the commencement of next season here at the Parramatta City Raceway."

At a recent board meeting, the Sprintcar Association of NSW unanimously supported the engine spec changes.

"We will run 410 engines at the commencement of next season at Parramatta and there will be a three year phase in period as well regarding overall car weight, which will include driver." said Club President Bob Tunks. "This is an exciting time for the sport and we are looking forward to working with Parramatta City Raceway in what is without the beginning of a new era in sprintcar racing here."

At this stage, only the PCR will be running the bigger 410 engine but word on the Sprintcar stfeet has many of the Sydney drivers keen to invest in the 410 ranks next summer.

- GREG BOSCATO

o

Jenkins gives OZ Midget wi actual mount was torn off the A quality field of midgets, chassis. ‘ unseen in the Garden State for The other big drive was that of' many a year, put on a brilliant Craig Brady. He came from display of side-by-side racing earlier this month. position 16 to finish 5th ahead of a tight bunch which included Brett The prestigious win went to Morris, Steven Graham, Brent Darren Jenkins, who surged to the Jameson, Mark Cooper, Pope, front with just three laps left to run.

Peter Bourke, Peter Ghent and This would be the biggest win of David Crabtree. Ghent and his career.

Crabtree had come through the BThe big surprise was rookie Main, which was won by Troy Michael Pope, starting from pole in Jordan. only his third race in a midget, led Three and a half Kiwi's made up the race till lap 15 when he was elbowed aside and lost his rhythm. . a small portion of a field. Beale Matt Thompson,Shaun Inlsey and Mark Brown took up the point but when his engine went off, allowed Sydney domiciled Mark Cooper went head-to-head with the Jenkins to steal the victory.

Aussies but the Kiwi trio were Former Aussie #1 Adam Clarke ran a calculated race to come trounced in the deciding round of home second with local Mark the Trans Tasman Challenge by 30 points. The Aussie team of Brown, Brown struggling to third. First Clarke and Steven Graham won New Zealander home was Lance every one of the six, two lap sprints Beale,taking a gutsy fourth place, taking two wins a piece. but struggled without the critical - BRETT SWANSON right rear shock absorber after the motorsport news

Showdown(pour)

Fog spoils Easter Trail

by BRETT SWANSON

THE 2003 Easter Sprintcar Trail will be remembered for a number of reasons.

Adam Clarke,above, scored his first ever Sprintcar feature win, yet another race win for Robbie Farr and also the Mount Gambier final being abandoned due to fog. It will also go down as one of the worst ever Easter Trails for its winningest driver. Max Dumesny.

Starting on Friday night at Avalon where the track was fast and hooky all night due to recent heavy rains, Dumesny never looked a threat and as a result of two mediocre performances, qualified 8th in the Bmain. Mighty Max made some forward progress in the B but could manage no better than a fourth placed finish and an early pack up for the team. The following night at Borderline it was like the Max of old when he qualified fifth in the main event and on the final outing for the season he was able to snare a podium position behind Farr.

A big crowd packed in to watch a solid field of cars on Good Friday at Avalon. The Victorian debut of Adam Clarke in Garry Rush's Maxim impressed the regulars with a win first up in the opening heat.

Dumesny finished in eighth place.

Nathan MacDonald,Farr, Tony Moule, Grant Anderson, Stephen Bell, Mike Van Bremen and Matthew Reed scored the other heat wins.

Ashley Scott exited heat five after a tangle at the start line saw lum endfor-end the car down the front straight, tearing the nose almost clean off the car. The front straight claimed another victim in heat six when Rod Matthews wheel-stood out of turn four only to land on David Murcott's rear tyre before flipping.

Reed and Adrian Redpath made the jump to the A-Main after sharing the front row and holding out David Swayn and Dumesny.

Farr had secured pole and looked to be so much quicker than anybody else tliat it was hard to bet against him. He was leading easily when Anderson hiked and rolled on lap four. When the race restarted Farr drove around the restart cone and pulled straight onto the infield with a collapsed bird cage, possibly damaged when he and Bell clashed again,on the opening lap.

Clarke was now leading but Murcott ran him down and used traffic to make the pass. Sadly just three laps later he clipped Tunks and flipped hard into the turn three catch fence severely damaging both it and tine car.

With 12 laps to run Clarke was leading Moule and MacDonald and that's how they finished.

Max Dumesny Motorsport Australian Distributors for

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NSW:02 9679 1990 l Fax 02 9679 1187 VIQ03 9331 6477 l Fax 03 9331 7444 SA-08 8332 0800 l Fax 08 8364 0296 23 April 2003

Dumesny,Rob Rankin,Trevor Green, Clarke, Garry Rooke,Ian Lewis, Karl Enderl and Darryl Downing aU scored heat wins at Borderline Raceway in Mt Gambier on Saturday with Friday's top three finishers all forced to run off in the B-

Main. Garry Rooke won the event from Clarke, Bell and MacDonald before the fog rolled in thick enough to force the abandonment of the feature race.

Green had top qualified for the feature ahead of Farr, Lewis,Redpath, Downing,Enderl,Tony Smith, Dumesny,Reed,Rankin,Tun Hutchins, Ptul Johnson,Tunks,Robin Dawkins, Rooke and Clarke.

At Warmambool,Carl Troffa, Farr, Dumesny,Moule,Clarke, MacDonald, Hutchins and Ross Nicastri took out the preliminaries at Premier Speedway and both Nicastri and John Vogels made it into the feature tlrrough the BMain. MacDonald and Van Bremen both missed the cut.

Farr is a gutsy racer and bounced back from the Avalon

DESPITE frantic efforts to start the feature race at Speedway City in Adelaide earlier this month, the only winner was the weather, above, after a torrential downpour washed away any chance of deciding a winner for the Sprintcar World Showdown.

Many of Australia's big names were on hand for Adelaide's season finale, tncluding Max Dumesny, Garry Brazier, Robbie Farr, Trevor Green and newlycrowned local Champion, Luke Diilion. n While the Parramatta City Raceway summer season finished last month, the rained out final night of the Daihatsu-supported Australian Super Sedan title is to be completed on Saturday night May 3. The qualifying night back in February saw over 60 of the V8 sedans attack the Parramatta track producing some of the best sedan racing seen in years.

After the opening night heats, three drivers emerged at the head of the points tally. Brad Smith, John Leslight and John Pyne all ended night one with 100 points. Following the top three with 92 points is Alan Baker and Ron Pyne while former Australian champ Victorian Peter Logue was running just behind with a superb 85 points. Rounding out the top ten was Jamie McHugh , Michael Nicola, Jarrod Harper and Wayne Brims. The final night should again produce some sensational racing as the nations top sedan racers battle for the Australian crown. n Queenslander Paul Messer was tragically killed at the Australian Compact Speedcar Titles last Saturday night at Gilgandra Speedway. MNews extends its deepest sympathies to Paul's family and friends.

DAVID McNABB/BOSCATO

disappointment to win the final round ahead of Dumesny who was no doubt spurred on by the huge fan base at his former home track. Bell signed off from the Bill Maim outfit with the final podium position ahead of Reed, Rooke and Richard Morgan.

2003 WORLD OF OUTLAWS CHAMPIONSHIP 1-55 RACEWAY APRIL 12 1. Steve Kinser

9. Tim Shaffer

16. Jerrod Hull

2. Craig Dollansky

10. Sammy Swindell

17. Tyler Walker 18. Jason Sides

3. Danny Lasoski 4. Donny Schatz

11. Joey Saldana

19. Jonathan Allard

5. Jeff Shepard 6. Brooke Tatnell

12. Kraig Kinser 13. Jan Howard

20. Jeremy

7.

14. Ricky Logan 15. Brian Paulus

Shane Stewart

8. Daryn Pittman

Campbell

1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2003 STANDINGS Steve Kinser Danny Lasoski..

Craig Dollansky .

Daryn Pittman ..

Mark Kinser Shane Stev/art .

Jeff Shepard Joey Saldana ...

Jason Sides ....

Jac Haudenschild

1535 1521 1485 1430 1375 1365 1348 1345 1341 1313

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Randy Hannagan Donny Schatz ..

Jeremy Campbell Johnny Herrera ..

Brian Brown Sammy Swindell Tim Shaffer ...

Brian Paulus Brooke Tatnell ..

Kraig Kinser...

1298 1107 1091 1086 940 809 760 753 753 741

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by MARTIN D CLARK

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CURRENT Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth could best be described as NASCAR’s steaith’ driver.

Using a low-key approach, he often qualifies poorly but ‘works undercover’ to move up front when it matters in the final segment of a race.

The 31-year-old started his racing career late in life by comparison to many of today's younger drivers on the Winston Cup tour, entering the Late Model Stock Car ranks at age 16 and progressing on to his native Wisconsin Late Model Series, competing against the likes of Dick Trickle, Ted Musgrave and Robby Reiser - a name that would feature heavily in his racing future.

In 1994 and 1995 Kenseth won the series titles, becoming the youngest driver in history to achieve the feat in the ‘cheese head’ state. He also became the youngest driver to win an ARTGO event in 1991, beating a record held by a guy that would later become his mentor, Mark Martin.

Matt advanced from the NASCAR All-Pro ranks to the competitive ASA Series when he got a call from Reiser, another Wisconsin native who had been driving his self-owned Busch Series cars but thought Kenseth could do a better job. Matt’s first Busch race with former on- track rival Reiser was at Nashville in 1997, where he finished 11th. The pairing went on to record seven top tens and two top five results in 21 starts during the year.

In 1998, Matt finished second in series points to Dale Earnhardt Jr, winning three times and posting an amazing 17 top five and 23 top ten results. At Dover that year he was called upon to substitute for Bill Elliott who had recently lost his father. Kenseth finished an amazing sixth in his 66

mm ●1 I first Winston Cup race, going on to finish third in the ‘99 Busch ranks while competing in five Cup races for Roush Racing with his Busch sponsor DeWalt Tools, friend Reiser as crew chief and Martin as team co-owner with Jack Roush.

In 2000, Kenseth made the big jump to full-time Winston Cup competition with Roush and tasted almost immediate success when, in his 18th start, he became the first rookie to win the longest race on the tour, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

Kenseth also achieved the Rookie of the Year title, eclipsing Earnhardt Jr by finishing 14th in points, two spots up on ‘Little E’.

2001 saw a zero in the win column, but four top fives and 13th in points was not to be sniffed at in a sophomore season.

He had to wait until February at Rockingham in 2002 before he scored his first of what would be a record five wins during that year.

But 11 results outside the top 30 mainly due to mechanical failures - dropped him to eighth in the standings.

His Reiser-led crew captured the Pit Crew Competition in 2001 and 2002. Even with different ‘over the wall’ members. Reiser has been able to build a winning team and mistakes are rare. His crew often bust out the fastest pit stops, race after race.

Kenseth has finished in the top 10 in all but one race this year, scoring four top five results in the first nine races and taking career win number seven at Las Vegas in March, where he took the points lead.

His qualifying leaves something to be desired though.

A 24.5 average start puts him in the back of the pack, but the team is capable of making ground up on track and pit road.

Plus, consistency is the name of Kenseth’s game. Going into Martinsville, he was the only driver to complete every lap run thus far in 2003. But although he grew up racing on short tracks, he has not won on a half-miler yet and seems more suited to the cookie cutter tri-ovals.

Kenseth is typically consen/ative when he talks about his position at the top of the points chart. ‘‘It’s an awfully long season and we’re only nine races in.

Being the points leader, you can’t say it doesn't mean anything, because you have a good start. It just really doesn’t mean as much this time of year. You’ve got to have all your ducks in a row for 38 races a year.”

Kenseth hit the nail on the head, and if anyone is capable of keeping those ducks out of the butcher’s shop it’s Kenseth and his Reiser lead crew. The fact that he’s the only one of five Roush drivers not to have blown an engine this year also helps, but friend and rival ‘Little E’ is currently snapping at his heels and would love to see his buddy finish runner-up to him for a title againi - MARTIN D CLARK

JEFF Gordon returned to victory lane at the flat halfmile Martinsville bullring on April 13th.

He finished 23rd and 36th at the track last year, but led the most laps and became the ninth different winner from the first nine events this year.

But the win didn't come easily.

Jeff lead the first 120 laps from pole position before handing the lead over to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart. Gordon then led 56 more tours at the midway pdint, but he didn't take the top spot again until 14 laps from the chequers.

Bobby Labonte took the lead for the first time with a two tyre stop with 62 of 500 laps remaining, and headed a fastfought battle within the top 10 in what to that point had been anything but an exciting race.

The pair diced hard during the remaining laps, Gordon on four fresh tyres eventually giving Labonte a nudge to muscle into the lead that he would not relinquish.

"I race guys the way they race me, and Bobby raced me clean," commented Gordon.

"I knew it was going to be difficult without getting under him and bumping him. We touched a little and he slid up the track. He crowded me pretty good and that gave me the sign that it was OK to lean on him a little."

Tryson fined

I PAT Tryson, crew chief for Ricky Rudd, has been fined USS10,000 for improperly attached weight on the Wood Bros Ford.

NASCAR confiscated a piece of lead weighing 35 pounds after it fell off the car prior to taking the green flag at Talladega.

- MARTIN D CLARK motorspori news

NASCAR

Ditlon makes nine

It was Gordon's first win since Kansas in September of last year.

"We held off Jeff as long as we could," said Labonte, "I knew those two tyres were going to be giving up. We rubbed a little bit, but it was good clean fun. We respect each other."

After Gordon passed Bobby, a caution came out for the spinning Terry Labonte with 11 laps to run, which resulted in a single file restart and Gordon bolting into the sunset while all hell broke loose behind him.

'Little E' was third on a restart with 50 laps to run with a shot at the win, but Ricky Craven's PPl crew had fitted the left side tyres on the right side of their Pontiac and vice-versa. His illhandling car bottled Earnhardt in traffic, but Jr. forged back through traffic to finish third.

Obstacle course: Cordon sidesteps the spinning Busch en route to victory "It was pretty good racing from where I was sitting. There was some bumping and carrying on, but I feel we're in good shape for the championship, we're setting ourselves up for it," commented Earnhardt on his runner-up slot in points.

He is now just 51 markers behind Matt Kenseth, who had a horrible race finishing 22nd, while Gordon moved up two slots to third.

Jeff Burton, after an on-track war with Jimmie Johnson, took advantage of a last-lap tussle between Stewart and Elliott Sadler to finish fourth, Sadler ramming Stewart up the track to take fifth as the yellow flag uncoiled with three laps to run for a spinning Kurt Busch. The

race ended under caution.

"Stewart was trying to biock Jeff Burton and I," said Sadler.

"He left the inside lane open, so 1 stuck it in there. I did whatever I had to do to win. Tony would have done the same thing."

The contact to Stewart was enough to blow his left rear tyre and he limped home under caution and commotion at the finish line.

Final result; J Gordon (Chevy), B Labonte (Chevy), Earnhardt Jr., (Chevy), J Burton (Ford), Sadler (Ford), Stewart (Chevy), Marlin (Dodge), R Wallace (Dodge), Johnson (Chevy), Schrader (Dodge), Point standings; Kenseth 1330, Earnhardt Jr. 1279, J Gordon 1191, Johnson 1151, Busch 1125, Harvick 1097, Stewart 1092, Waltrip 1088, Craven 1082, Sadler 1055.

Jarrett dumps the Parrott Crew chief shake-up at Robert Yates Racing

IN a big shake-up at Robert Yates Racing, Brad Parrott was fired from his position as crew chief for Dale Jarrett on April 8th. He reported for duty at Roush Racing two days later as car chief for Jeff Burton, working alongside crew chief Paul Andrews.

Parrott, right, had previously worked at Roush in 2002 before breaking his tenure with Yates as crew chief for Jeff Burton's Busch Series entry, winning five events last year.

He rejoined Yates over the winter.

His brother Todd was given a paid leave of absence from Yates and told to look for another job at the same time his younger brother was fired.

Todd was previously Jarrett's crew chief, but moved to the competition director position when his bother re joined the operation.

23 April 2003

"I'm looking for someone that has more of the answers than coming to me after we get tlirough qualifying and saying,'what do you want me to put in the car for race day?"'said Jarrett.

"My answer was,and it wasn't meant to be a smart aleck answer, but at the top of my contract it says'driver'."

Garth Finley and Richard Buck are assuming interim crew chief duties for Jarrett. Both are former Penske employees, although Buck worked for Petty Enterprises during part of 2002. Jarrett won the 1999 Winston Cup title plus a total of 27 races with Todd Parrott as crew chief from 1996 to the last race won at Rockingham in February, but since then the veteran has only lead ten laps and dropped from 2nd to 13th in the standings.

- MARTIN D CLARK

Foyt takes a break LARRY Foyt did not enter the Martinsville race, the team deciding to take a break and re-group for two weeks with the series off over the Easter weekend.

Foyt failed to qualify the Dodge owned by his father for the Daytona, Bristol and Talladega events, and has an average 35th finishing position in the five races he qualified for.

A.J. has since been outspoken about NASCAR while in Motegi for the IRL event, criticizing NASCAR's yellow line call on Earnhardt Jr. at Talladega, and calling them 'crooked', saying people are afraid to speak out against them.

I've contended all along that NASCAR can be likened to the mafia, but with talk like that, Mr. Foyt will not pee his son in Victory Lane, at least not in a NASCAR-sanctioned event! n Jeff Gordon broke a streak of 20 races without a pole by taking the top spot from Dale Earnhardt Jr at Martinsville with a 94.307 mph lap.

Larry Foyt's withdrawal from the race meant all 43 entries made the event with Dale Jarrett, Todd Bodine, Robby Gordon, Bobby Labonte, John Andretti, Derrike Cope and truck racer Dennis Setzer finding themselves at the rear of the grid using provisional slots. Setzer qualified Hermie Sadler's Pontiac as Sadler competed in the Nashville Busch race, returning for the Martinsville race. n Tony Furr has replaced Dennis Conner as crew chief at Haas CNC Racing for rookie driver Jack Sprauge. Conner had been with Sprauge for around eight years, during which Sprauge came up through the ranks of the Truck Series (where he won three championships), and last year the Busch Series, where the pairing won a race at Nashville and finished fifth in series points. No word yet on where Conner will end up. n Kyle Busch, the younger brother of Roush driver Kurt Busch, won the ARCA race at Nashville Speedway on April 11th. Busch is scheduled to drive a mix of Busch and ARCA events for Hendrick Motorsports, which he signed a contract with earlier. Busch turns 18 on May 3rd and will not be eligible to enter a NASCAR-sanctioned event until that point. n NASCAR is requiring all front axles to be fitted with a second Vectran (rope) tether on tracks of 1.25 miles and longer, following the front wheel that was knocked off Ryan Newman's Penske Dodge and sent flying outsdide the track at Talladega.

- MARTIN D CLARK 61

Kalitta hits warp speed

by DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

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DOUG Kalitta captured his 12th career win and first NHRA victory of the 2003 season at the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park two weeks ago.

Kalitta, right, powered his Mac Tools dragster to a pass of 4.58s at 323 mph to take the win over Cory McClenathan's NY Yankees/ Berryman dragster, which lost traction at mid-track and slowed to a 6.83s at 123 mph.

Kalitta kept his top qualifying streak for 2003 intact as he lowqualified for the fiftli time this season, equaling the record set by Gary Beck in 1983, who also began the year with five consecutive No,1 qualifying berths.

Kalitta piloted the Mac Tools dragster to a pass of 4.486s at 333.91mph, the fastest run in NHRA history.

Kalitta opened eliminations with a 4.67/308 win over Scott Weis, then used a pair of 4.65 passes at 314 and 315mph to trailer Melanie Troxel and Brandon Bernstein, who smoked his tyres. With the win, Kalitta moved into third place in the POWERade point standings and trails points leader Larry Dixon by 69 points, who was tossed in the second round by Doug Herbert.

McClenathan qualified 10th at 4.61/316 and slowed every round as the hot Texas racetrack became tricky to maneuver. He scored a 4.67/308 win over Tony Schumacher in the opening frame,then defeated Clay MiUican and Doug Herbert with 4.73/292 and 4.84/233 passes to move into his 44th career final round.

Tony Pedregon thimdered to his third win of 2003 and put his Castrol Syntec Mustang back into the points lead with a final round victory over Del Worsham. Pedregon cut a slightly better reaction time and the pair swapped leads no fewer than four times before Pedregon finally took the lead for good at 1000 feet to take a thrilling 4.96/313 to 4.96/302 win.

Pedregon, who won for the second consecutive week, opened eliminations with a 4.93/309 to defeat Tim Wilkerson. In the second frame, he slowed to a 5.26/296 to stop a tractionless John Force and in the semis, used a 5.01/304 to knock off Whit Bazemore.

This was Pedregon's 22nd career victory, moving him into a tie for fourth place on the all-time Funny Car list with his brother Cruz.

Worsham's second final-round appearance of the year came after a consistant and impressive string of 68

low 4.9-second victories over Scotty Cannon, Dean Skuza,and Gary Densham.

Twelve-time champion Force did manage to put himself back into the top 10 of the POWERade points standings with his quarterfinal showing. He is now in ninth place.

257 points out of the lead.

Kurt Johnson, who set a new NHRA national Pro Stock speed record at 205.57mph in qualifying. drove to his second win of 2003 and 25th of his career when he edged Scott Geoffrion in the final round.

Both drivers had nearly identical reaction times, but Johnson had the horsepower in his AC Delco Chevy Cavalier to clock a pass of 6.78/204 and squeeze"but the win over Geoffrion's Nitro Fish Ford Escort ZX2, which recorded a run of 6.79/204.

It marked the first time that a Ford had advanced to the Pro Stock final since May 1995.

Johnson posted a 6.726 to qualify second,and recorded laps of 6.79, 6.79, and 6.78 (all at 204mph)to defeat Terry Adams,Ron Krisher and Jim Yates.

Advancing into his third consecutive Pro Stock final, the win enabled Johnson to vault into the POWERade points lead for just the third time in his career. The last time he briefly led the points was after the Wintemationals in 2001.

Geoffrion, who has been impressive since debuting the new Ford, moved into his first final round since the 2000 Memphis event. He took out Mark Pawuk with a huge .035 to .106-second holeshot, edged out number one qualifier Warren Johnson by two-ten-thousandths of a

PERFORMANCE

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second after another holeshot, and powered past Mike Edwards in the semis.

Warren Johnson,above, led the quickest Pro Stock field in NHRA history. He set a new NHRA elapsed time national record on Friday evening when he drove his GM Performance Parts Pontiac Grand Am to a run of 6.720/204.66. It marks the 128th time that Johnson has earned the No. 1 qualifying award.

Mitch Stott defeated his brother, Quain,in the final round of the season's second round of the AMS Staff leasing Pro Mod Challenge, Mitch left first with a .063-second reaction time to Quain's .084-second start and held on to take the win in his Radiac Abrasives '63 Corvette with a 6,21/230, barely ahead of Quain's quicker 6.20/231 in the LeeBoy Paving Equipment Chevy.

Stott had defeated Mike Ashley's '41 Willys and Texan Frankie Taylor's Corvette to advance into the final round.

During qualifying, Fred Hahn recorded the quickest pass in the series history when he drove Jim

Oddy's Summit Corvette to a superb 6.07 second pass at 230 mph. The field was dominated by blown cars, with the only carburator and nitrousaspirated entry making the field being Shannon Jenkins, who held the bump at 6.22/225 in his Death Dealer '68 Camaro.

Angelle Savoie remains undefeated in 2003. The three-time consecutive NHRA Pro Stock Bike Champion rode to her 30th career victory and second of the season by knocking off rival Craig Treble in the final round. Savoie blasted her Team 23 Suzuki to a run of 7.13/188 to hold off Treble's Mateo Tools Suzuki and its pass of 7.14/188.

The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the third annual Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals, April 25-27 at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennesee.

Points: Top Fuel: Dixon 459, Bernstein 419, Kalitta 390, McClenathan 300, Herbert 267.

Funny Car: T. Pedregon 464, Densham 401, Bazemore 38, Worsham 329, Capps 320. Pro Stock: K.Johnson 437, Anderson 419, W. Johnson 360. Pro Stock Bike: Savoie 231, Scali 154,Treble 153.

moiorsport news

DRAG RAGING

Cowin return postponed ANDREW Cowin’s seat in the Carrier Boyz NHRA Top Fuel car will be temporarily filled by Don Lampus while the young Australian continues to recover from injuries sustained in a fall last month.

The team had originally been hopeful of seeing Cowin return to the dfriver’s seat for their home race, the Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals, at Bristol next weekend. But the plan was put on hold last week after X-rays revealed that Cowin had sustained a dislocated shoulder in the accident.

“Our position is clear. Andrew Cowin is just 23 years old and we know he has a long career ahead of him - hopefully with this team - so why jeopardise that by rushing him back into the cockpit?’’ said Carrier Boyz spokesman Brian Olson.

“The extent of the injuries to his body, specifically his right shoulder, is more severe then we originally thought and I don’t believe he could be safely belted in the car right now.

We've all been so focused on his head injuries.

“We want to be perfectly clear - this is Andrew’s ride. Don Lampus has gracefully agreed to fill in for however long it takes for Andrew to recover."

The team has suggested the NHRA Super Nationals at Englishtown, New Jersey in midMay as a possible target for Cowin’s return to the cockpit.

- MARK GLENDENNING

Virgil pinged

Veteran team owner fined and suspended VIRGIL Hartman,team owner for the Top Fuel entries driven by Rhonda HartmanSmith and John Smith, has been fined and suspended by the NHRA for an incident which occured on April 5, during the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The incident involved securing a hardcardcredentialed photographer, apparently contracted to Hartman Motorsports for photography services, to the wing of a team-owned Top Fuel Dragster for a photo during warm-up procedures in the teams pit area.

Hartman has been ordered by the NHRA to pay a monetary fine of US$5,000(A$8300)to the NHRA, and is prohibited to attend or otherwise participate in the MAC Tools Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee and the Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Georgia.

23 April 2003

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The start of something big?

ANDRA-sanctioned drag racing made a small but significant first step toward a return to championship racing in Victoria with a recent Test & Tune at Heathcote recently.

The event, wliich was sanctioned

by ANDRA thorugh the organisation's Victorian/Tasmanian Division, reportedly went off without a hitch.

Division Director David Baker was pleased with the outcome and the support from ANDRA racers and officials.

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In addition, the drag racing veteran will be placed on NHRA probation for one year.

Hartman has begun procedures to appeal the recent NHRA action regarding violation of the Participant Conduct policy stated in the 2003 NHRA Rulebook.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

"It's been far too long since there has been sanctioned quarter-mile racing in Victoria and today was the first step towards more regular opportunities here," he said.

"With the involvement of people from local and neighbouring ANDRA Divisions and help from members of our Divisional Council, the day was a complete success.

"We hope that the Division will be able to stage a competition event not to far down the road."

Neither Victoria nor South Australia have not hosted an ANDRA-sanctioned meeting since the much-publicised split between the organisation and Bob Jane, who owns Calder and AIR, in 2001.

Pro Stock Vtwins?

ANDRA is considering expansion of current Pro Stock Motorcycle regulations to accommodate bikes using V-twin engines from October 2004.

Australian regulations covering in line four cylinder engines in the class vary from those in the US, where Harley Davidson-powered bikes are becoming competitive. At its meeting two weeks ago, the National Control Council agreed that the change would be positive to the class, but needed to ensure that parity issues were fully addressed.

It was expected that a formal draft of the amended regulations would be completed by August 2003, and implemented from October 2004. n Australian veteran tuner Garry 'Skippy' Kennedy has been hired by Del and Chuck Worsham to lead the team's new third NHRA Funny Car entry.

The Artisan Home Entertainment Funny Car, driven by Arnie Karp, will take to the track for the first time next week, when Karp and crew began licensing procedures following the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Kennedy returns to Worsham Racing after having been the crew chief for the team's brief third car effort in 2002, when Cory Lee was drove the car for three races. n Top Fuel racer Clay Millican has secured 104-r Octane Boost as new primary sponsor as he competes on the NHRA tour. The Houston event marked the first of nine NHRA races in which Millican will drive the 104-r Octane Boost car.

Longtime Millican sponsor Werner Enterprises will continue its support of the team as the primary sponsor of Millican's IHRA racing endeavors and will partner with 104-h Octane Boost as a major associate when Millican competes on the NHRA tour. n Allen Johnson debuted his new Hemi-powered Dodge Stratus RfT Pro Stock machine in Houston.

Johnson joins Mopar factory drivers Larry Morgan and Gene Wilson with the new-style Dodge, while teammate Darrell Alderman remains in his current Dodge Neon R/T. Johnson put the new Rick Jones piece into the record-quick show tenth with a 6.75/204 pass, but was defeated in the opening round by Ron Krisher. n IHRA's tech department has raised the maximum cubic inch limit for all nitrous cars. Initially, following the Rockingham event, the IHRA raised the number to 730, which was snubbed by many of the nitrous racers.The IHRA raised the amount by another 10 and settled on 740 cubic inches.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI/STAFF 69

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HEN Assistant Editor Mark Glendenning asked me to write this story about Jim Clark,I was reminded of the old joke about the young bull and the old bull walking down the road when they see a bunch of beautiful cows in a field.

Enthusiastically the young bull says,"Hey, lets run down there and rape one of those cows !" The wise old bull said,"No,let's zualk dowm and rape two!

Picture the scene. Jim Clark's 300year-old farmhouse in the spring of 1964.1 was in the midst of writing his autobiography with him and 1 arrived with Scotland's young bull of motor racing at the time, Jackie Stewart. Jackie had just started racing and was driving two different cars for Ecurie Ecosse.

Jim also had a visitor that day, rally driver Paddy Hopkirk who didn't know who this young Scot was that had come with me. By the time we had had a meal and retired to the

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lounge,everyone knew everyone.

Jackie and I sat on the couch and Jim and Paddy collapsed into armchairs, Paddy engrossed in the current copy of Playboy.

Jackie was like a Mexican jumping bean and w'hilst Jim sat there looking down and chewing his fingernails, young Stewart suddenly said,"Jim, at Snetterton last week I was driving the Ecosse Cooper Monaco and Tojeiro Buick Coupe. In practice I jumped from one to the other.

Coming into the Esses I hit the accelerator instead of the brake".

Without looking up Clark said.

You went off the road,did you?"

Shocked,Stewart replied with arm gestures. "No, no, I took full opposite lock one way and then the other and caught it."

At this, Clark, still looking down. took another bite at a fingernail and said, "Wliat were you braking for ?

There was silence, then Jackig said.

What do you mean ?

At this Clark slowly lifted his head

and looked Jackie straight in tte eyes and said "Listen, if you had beem going at racing speeds and madte a stupid mistake like that you liacB to go off the road, so what were jroju braking for ?" To his credit,Jadcie paused for a moment and them said, "Christ, you're right, what re® I braking for?"

This story illustrates two points about Jim Clark. He had one of -the best analytical minds I have ever met in motor racing,and he tended To take no prisoners and alwaysspoke his mind.

A few years later, Clark,fed inp at some of the inaccurate reporting at Grand Prbt meetings, took it ifxon himself to go to the press room after the race and tell the journalists exactly what happened - much to Cofim Qiapman's chagrin. So, in a semse.

Clark started the modem trend of post-race press conferences, because he really disliked the newspaper s press and the fiidlTR?y did not seem to be professional anc^ant to find

out what really happened.

I first met Jim Clark in 1955 when I was sports editor of a Scottish magazine called Motor World. It was a cold morning at a disused airfield outside Edinburgh and there was snow on the ground. It was a driving test meeting, and Clark was running his homely Sunbeam Talbot Mk IH his father would not permit him to have a Sportscar, and the Sunbeam^, was about as sporty as he was rj allowed I navigated for him on the MG Car Club Moorfoot rally in,1,9|6 with that Sunbeam,arid on the roa he handled it like a go-kart.

He started to race modestly‘^itliihis friend Ian Scott Whtson'sstlkW saloon and then Ian's Pofs?fie^0O Super. Witli the Porsche he vyas ●' superb, and won his first racing trophy with it at Charterhall circuit.

Scott Watson and a group of'Otlier Boeder farmers then decided to?

- refonri the Border Reivers racing team and bought a D-Type Jaguar X once raced by Henry Taylor. "f

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HISTORICS

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This month marks the 35th anniversary ofJim dark's fatai accident in a Formuia 2race at Hockenheim. GRAHAM GAULD, who helped the Scot write his autobiography, looks back at the man and his legacy

Now Clark really shone. In his very first race witli the car, at an obscure track called Full Sutton, he became the first British racing driver to lap a British race circuit at more than 100 mph in a sportscar!

At tlie end of 1958, however,Scott Watson decided he wanted to buy one of those new Lotus Elites that Colin Chapman had designed. He and Clark were invited to Brands Hatch where Chapman was having a day of testing so Clark could try the car out. Graham Hill was also there. ploughing round with the brand new Lotus Formula 2 car.

Qark was quick in the Elite and Chapman suggested he try the Formula 2 car. Again Chapman was impressed, and Watson put his foot in it by saying,"... and particularly as he has never driven at Brands Hatch before today!

At this Chapman paled,and called Clark in immediately. Afew laps later

continuedm page 72

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T-} iji/j] -m-i

continued from page 71 Graham Hill had a wheel fly off the Formula 2 car: Clark remembered that.

When, in 1960, he signed up to race for Chapman he reminded him of Hill losing a wheel,and remarked that he would drive the cars as fast as possible but if he ever felt there was anytliing was wrong he would slow down. Naturally, tliis didn't ever happen, but he was making the point to Chapman that he expected his racing car to he properly put together.

To some people, Jim Clark was the greatest driver we have ever seen, partly because of his Grand Prix performances, but more because of his flexibility and sheer personal enthusiasm for driving race cars.

During his Grand Prix career he also managed to finish third at Le Mans in an Aston Martin DBRl,win Indianapolis, and take part in the 1966 RAC Rally in a Lotus Cortina.

On that latter event, when the Scandinavians were at their height, they laughed at this publicity stunt

by Ford to have Clark run in a European Championship rally.

They stopped laughing when,at one stage, Clark was in sixth place.

He modestly remarked to me on the event that his co-driver Brian Melia, probably would have been quicker than him in the opening stages. He was now getting used to the loose forest stages but was caught out by a rock that took away the front suspension of his car in Scotland.

Undaunted, the car was repaired and he continued, only to retire in Yorkshire - after which he then helped the Ford mechanics, a gesture which went down particularly well.

1 cannot, somehow,see Michael Schumacher doing that today.

Clark's sheer enthusiasm for driving race cars was best distilled in a comment he once passed to me.

"You know,one of the great things about being world champion is that if you walk down a paddock and see an interesting car, people will let you have a drive in it."

The best illustration of this came at the French Grand Prix at Rouen when, one year, they had a race for historic cars. Clark was fascinated by the pre-war ERA raced by the Honourable Patrick Lindsay another Scot.

This was a solidly'-sprung supercharged racing car with a pre selector gearbox and a pig to drive, but when Lindsay offered Clark the chance to have a go, the Clerk of the Course allowed him out on the track.

Patrick - who had been racing the ERA for years and was probably the leading ERA driver in historic events - remarked afterw'ards:"You know, after five laps Jim had equalled my times and had never driven a difficult car like that before."

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Beyond the Borders: Clark steers the Lotus 33 to victory in the 1965 French CP at Clermont-Ferrand, above.

Signs of a different time: L-R, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill and Clark race side-by-side in Mini Coopers at Silverstone in 1960, right.

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Chemistry: Chapman and Clark, below right, had a driver/team boss relationship unlike any other seen in FI before or since.

Away from a racing car, however.

Jim could be an indecisive frustration and had difficulty making up his mind. Indeed, he lost his fiancee.

Sally Stokes, to someone else because he could not bring himself to decide to marry her.

Mind you,he had said he did not want to marry whilst he was still racing, but many racing drivers say things like that and don't mean it.

Clark was also a very private person who believed in trust. For example, when he asked me to write his autobiography with him I originally turned it down suggesting another journalist who attended all the grand prix races with him.

He arched his eyebrows and said, "...yes, but 1 don't trust him," He also found it difficult coping with American fans. Once,a fan at Indianapolis grabbed his hand and shook it, saying,"Jim, I'm pleased to know you." Clark looked at him and replied "But you don't know me !""

He was killed on 7 April 1968 in an accident at Hockenheim with a Lotus Formula 2 car when his car spun off at high speed and hit a tree. In a private investigation afterwards, the signs w’ere he had suffered a puncture.

We did not know as much about the dynamics of a wide deflating tyre on ISOmph corners.

He didn't need to be there but he

promised Colin Chapman he would do the Formula 2championship alongside the Grand Prix championship.

Typically, Clark was happy to be racing; tragically, that race deprived us of one of the truly outstanding racing drivers of the 20th century.

POSTSCRIPT ]IM Clark's performance in Grand Prix racing is ancient history to most people - the stone-age to a presentday enthusiast watching the Ferraris, McLarens and Williams's racing.

However,even today, he would have shone because be used his head and not his heart.

There is an statistician in Paris. Clyde Berryman, who compiles the most complicated set ofparameters to judge the best grand prix driver aver tine years.

He takes in not only race wins but

pole positions, and even nfnetor which balnnccs out whether nmj pnrticuiar air was truly superior to others in nny pnrticulnr year;and still, today,]ini Clark is at the top of the list.

Consider this. Clark took part in just 71 grand prix races between J 960 and 1968 and won 25 ofthem, had 33 pole positions and 28fastest laps.

Nigel Mansell competed in 78 grand prix races before he even won hisfirst, and the legendary Ayrton Senna won just 10 grand prix races in hisfirst 72 starts!

Michael Schumacher? It took him 94 starts to record hisfirst 25 wins.

Today's purists might well argue that there are many more Grand Prix races per season today than there were in Clark's day,so what difference does that make?

Thefacts are plain. Jim Clark was outstanding as a racing driver, even when compared with the greats of his day like Stirling Moss, lack Brabham, John Surtees, jackie Stewart and Graham Hill. matirspori news

HISTORICS

Where wings and wheels meet

by BRIAN REED

SOME of the greatest names in automobiles and aviation took centre stage at Moorabbin Airport on Sunday April 13 at the Australian National Aviation Museum's'Wings and Wheels'Show.

This year's event featured two famous British marques, Bristol and Armstrong Siddley, which played important roles in botli car and aircraft industries, and a number of displays showed the historic relationship between the two.

Armstrong Siddley provided engines for such famous aircraft as the Avro Anson and the Airspeed Oxford, as well as for a number of pre-war airliners. In turn, various models of Armstrong Siddley cars were named after well-known aircraft, although their success in competition was hmited.

Bristol, however, made major contributions in motorsport and the company supplied engines to specialist constructors including Frazer Nash,Cooper, Lister and AC. Bristols also competed with moderate success in major rallies and endurance races such as the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio and Le Mans, and scored a class win in the 1953 Reims 12-Hour race.

Four Bristols and five Armstrong Siddleys were star attractions at Moorabbin.

Other special exhibits which showed the connection between motoring and aviation included David Jones's fabulous 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost that won the Pebble Beach Concours in the USA with the museum's Rolls Royce Merlin engine nearby, and Tony Osborne's rare 1920s Delagepowered by a World War I-era

All class: The rather nice Ricciardi Sports Car with a 1960s Mirage jet in the background, above, and the exJack Brabham 1964 Indy car, right.

Hispano Suiza engine.

A replica Bugatti Type 35B belonging to Phil Schudmak and Nereo Dizane's beautifully restored Brabham BT15, otherwise known as the Zinc-Urschel Trackburner,also created plenty of interest. This Offenhauser-powered racer was driven by Sir Jack in the 1964 Indianapolis 500.

Italian classics included Ferrari and the latest Maserati, but it was graphically demonstrated that new is not necessarily better. Geoff Norwell had far less trouble manually erecting the hood of his 50-year old rakish

two-litre Riley drophead than the electrically operated system on the latest Maserati convertible when the heavens opened!

Apart from the weather, the Moorabbin event clashed with another airshow at Sale and the V8 Supercars at Phillip Island. Not

surprising then that the 2003'Wings and Wheels'- the main fundraiser for the Australian National Aviation Museum - took a bit of a nose dive this year.

However, plans are already underway to make next year's show bigger and better.

Targa time again

THE weather might be cooling off in Tassie, but things are certainly warming up for the running of the 2003 Targa Tasmania from May 13-18.

Fresh from his winning double in last year’s Classic Competition and then in the Classic Adelaide Rally, Melbourne's Rex Broadbent has moved up a cog into the Modern Competition, driving a former Porsche Cup 911 GTS. His absence from the Classic Competition will open up the way for other frontrunners including Peter O’Keefe in his fearsome black Torana SLR5000 and Graham Copeland in his very competitive Datsun H510 1800.

23 April 2003

In the Touring Classic Competition, three-time winner Phillip Nichols is back with his aliconquering 1958 Austin Healey

Sprite.

A new initiative this year will be a specially-designed Targa flag which will be presented as a special keepsake to the crew of the car chosen as the event’s flag car. Watch this space to find out who that will be.

Targa Tasmania will run over 2000km, and 500 of those kilometres comprise 44 special stages over some of the best and most challenging rally country in the world.

- BRIAN REED

Targa Tasmania: Back in 2003, and looking to be better than ever.

73

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MUCH was happening in the Sport Sedan paddock two weeks ago at Phillip Island.

Not only was it the second round of the Australian Sport Sedan Championship, the event was also the opening round of the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Two races were scheduled, but heavy rain forced the cancellation of the second race.

Kiwi driver John McIntyre scored a sensational debut win in the wild series.

McIntyre, above, who had relatively no experience in his Corvette and had never raced around the circuit before, avoided the opening lap mayhem to record his first win on Aussie soil.

“We qualified fourth which was a reflection on our lack of experience," said the Kiwi after his race win. “But I'm rapt to get my first win at such a daunting place."

Pole-sitter Kayne Scott was

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quick in qualifying, but made a poor start. Nevertheless, the other Kiwi stormed back to hook onto the tail of McIntyre, until a late off while close behind his countrymen dropped him 10s down the road. Scott would eventually finish second.

Darren Hossack, driving his black Saab/Chev, took third place in the race, but claimed maximum points for the Australian Sports Sedan Series.

After a disastrous first round at Wakefield Park, Hossack was glad to get some points on the board. But the former V8 driver’s

race was not without its dramas.

The passenger door flew off spectacularly halfway down Gardner Straight, below left.

Tony Riccardello finished fourth outright, scoring valuable points in the Sport Sedan series. The result could have been much better for Dick Johnson’s Konica driver though, had fourth gear not broken on lap three.

“Very disappointing actually, it just seems to be one thing after another," claimed a shattered Riccardello, below right.

Australian Sport Sedan Championship leader and

birthday boy Kerry Baily had an uncharacteristically quiet meeting, finishing fifth.

Dean Randle crossed the line in sixth and still trails Baily in the series chase.

Bernie Gillon, another of the .

New Zealand invaders, qualified on the outside of the front-row and made a lightning start in his Ford Mustang, but over-cooked the run through Southern Loop and spun, bringing out the safety car. What made matters worse was that Gillon cracked a header pipe on returning to the track.

- GRANT ROWLEY

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Jamie's Island JAMIE Cartwright, above, snared victory in the second round of the Kuhmo MGF Trophy at Phillip island a fortnight ago.

Robert D’Ercole won Saturday's race but could only

manage seventh in the second event.

Cartwright took victory in Sunday’s race, from Adam Bressington, Chris Thomas and Yanis Derums.

- GRANT ROWLEY

Mount Cotton reopens BRISBANE'S Mount Cotton hiilclimb circuit reopened on April 6 after extensive redevelopment.

The construction of a new, safer and fully paved return road as well as a pit ramp to the startline have been completed.

Big crowds attended two meetings held over the last couple of weekends, hosted by the MG Car Club of Queensland and the Historic Racing Car Club. The new facilities received praise from competitors and spectators alike.

-MARK JONES

Record THE annual Drivetime TV Challenge hit the bitumen at Barbagallo Raceway on the 6th of April, with some of the tightest racing seen yet.

Lap records took a bit of a pounding, with Aaron Caratti's Evo VI setting a record time of 63.7341s for the 4WD Street Car class. What made this all the more remarkable was that Aaron did this in lap two of Iris first race for the day!

Mathew Lloyd also joined the record-breaking party early with a time of 65.2229s in his Bowin Designs P672. This broke the record he set for

the Historic Racing and Sports Racing Cars last July.

The Street Cars group saw the tail of Caratd's Mitsubishi for most of the day, witlr Aaron taking out Races one and two. Kevin Ledger went some way to addressing the imbalance by taking first in race three witlr Sean FerraU's Integra finding the dirt at the final comer on the final lap.

Saloon Car pilot Malcolm Niall had a blinder of a day, making first place his own. That wasn't enough for Malcolm as he also pegged the fastest lap times for the class in all three events. Malcolm seems to have got the

Golden Power THE Golden City Power series got off to a solid start at Bendigo on April 1213, with the series attracting a healthy 175 drivers.

Richard Lyon took a comfortable victory in Rotax Heavy while local expert Craig Arnett beat Geoff Wyhoon in Clubman Heavy. Mark Wicks and Michael Bantick took the wins in Rotax Light and Sportsman Light points respectively. Lucas Boucher pipped Jamie Schena in Junior National Light before Schena took victory in Junior National Heavy.

Other winners were George Hoffman (Senior National), Brenton Mountjoy (Midgets), Leigh Nicolaou (Rookies), Brad Stratton (Sportsman Heavy), James Spengler (Clubman Light), Rodney Cumming (Over 40s) and Joel Norris (Junior Sportsman). n Hot on the heels of releasing its RK100, PRD have unveiled its 125cc challenger, the Fireball 125. The Fireball is another water cooled, electric start engine along the same lines as lAME's Leopard, but fitted with a 30mm Walbro carburettor. Having already conducted on-track testing, production versions are expected later in the year. n The CIK classes are not all on the Dunlop tyre as reported last issue.

Dunlop do hold the contract to supply the Formula A and Junior ICA fields and also sponsor the series, however Bridgestone is the tyre designated for Intercontinental C and Vega supply Intercontinental A. The journo responsible is said to be in good spirits at the local intensive-care unit.

Fast men: Caratti, above, broke the the Street Car class lap record at Barbagallo, while the Fiore boys finished 1-2-3 in two of the three Formula Ford races. Below left shows Dean leading.

EA Falcon running quite smoothly as winner Tony James's archrival Peter the times wefe'within 1.5 seconds of Brown forced out with mechanical each other. problems. Howard Crump was given The Formula Fords had a varied a one minute penalty in race two but historic day. Dean Fiore won all three events; and lead his brothers, Paul and Todd home for not one but two 1-2-3 finishes! Whilst the Fiore's showed a clean pair of heels,it was further back in the pack that saw some cut-tlrroat racing. Mark McNally and Steve Baxter having a how-de-do battle. This resulted in McNally withdrawing from race two.

The HQ's provided plenty of thrills in their State Championship round, with Nathan Callaghan's altercation with close points rival David Turner in Race 3 seeing Nathan at 90 degrees to the track. Race 3 also saw round

after giving a love tap to Peter Brown's vehicle. Not a good outing for the normally consistent and persistent Brown.

A large field in the Sports Cars, Sports Sedans and Historic Tourers had Simon Emmerling heading the field in his first outing for the year.

Simon's 5-litre BMW 635i had a slow start in one event only to be at the head of the field by the completion of the lap. Pip had a good day, scoring two seconds and a third.

Ron Moller in his yellow XU-1 Torana took first-place in all three Historic class events.

State Championship leader Cameron Edwards added to his sizeable points total in the Formula Vee series with a clean sweep of the three events. Cameron was another driver that felt just getting three wins wasn't enough; he claimed fastest lap dmes in two of the three as well.

-DAVE CONOLE

n Paul Laskazeski has finally been awarded second place in the 2001 Junior Piston Port championship. Run as part of the APS Pro-Nats, the dispute must have been the longest race result saga in Australian karting historyl There were questions over the eligibility of Laskazeski's ARC Piston Poft engine due to an omission from the AKA rule book, and while he was originally scrubbed from the results, it now transpires that the engine was in fact fully legal for competition. n The World Biland Challenge is on again in 2003 and the results of the NSW-based Sparco Biland 250 Challenge will determine which Australian drivers will be heading off to the World Final. There will be a Light and Heavy division in the seven round series, with first and second placings in each division winning World Final drives. The opening round kicks off at Lithgow this weekend. n Queensland's Trevor Beetham won the Australian Speedway Ttle at Laang, n Victoria last month. In fact, all three titles : went interstate, Beetham taking out the Outlaw class, Tasmania's Dion Wylie winning Clubman and NSW's Daniel Baker picking up the Junior trophy.

-MARK WICKS

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FRASER CLUBMAN ROAD & RACE

www.myl05.com/78783

Arguably the most developed road registered clubman in Australia.

Stunning handling & performance.

Fresh latest spec. Yager 4 AGE 20V Engine. Motec, Koni Dampers, Quaife LSD, Fully Re-Built Close Ratio Gearbox, Wiliwood Ventilated Disks & Magnesium Four Spot Calipers. 3 Sets of Mini Lites (slicks, wets & road). 2b Log Book. Connelly Leather. Spares to many to list. $45,000. Phone Colin on 0412 351 365 / (07)5444 5354.

HOOPER 1300 SUPERSPORTS

www.myl O5.com/19027

2002 OLD S/CAR CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER!

Multiple National and State Title winner.

Ultra reliable - lasts 50 starts gave 41 poles, 33 firsts, 12 seconds. Brilliant chassis & aero package - Expertly engineered with a generous budget.

Just updated to 2C Supersports.

Currently fitted with mild 1300 Suzuki or will easily accept 1600 4AGE Konis, Brembos, Pi Logger,gear ratios & diffs, spare wheels. Technical support for purchaser, $59,000 buys a very complete package inc.trailer, at a fraction of its development costs. John 0412 699 986 /(07)5445 2694.

DODGE VIPER 97 Super GT

n Penske 3 way shocks. Competition fuei H cell. Brembo brakes - 4 pot 13in Rears, n 8 pot 14in Fronts. Competition power llrH steering-separate reservoir & cooler. #* rtxV' C Fluid iine water systems-Heat H exchanger. U.SXNC dry sump system" 5 stage-4 scavenge. Engine has been vwvw.nnyl05.com/68561 lowered 3in and moved back 2.5in.

Holinger 6 speed sequential. Tilton $150,000 NZD. Race Ready Bargain, clutch 3 plate magnesium. Tilton Call Kenneth. Day: 09 274 8646 NZ or bellhousing magnesium. Magnesium 0011 64 9 274 8646 from AUS. flywheel. Diff 3:54-4 stage Posi-drive Evening: 025 408 456 NZ system US competition. Motec dash 0011 64 25 408 456 from AUS with launch control on 1st, 12 separate systems. This cost over $360,000.

Honda Prelude Sports Sedan, Australia's Fastest 2Lt Sports Sedan, Full Space Frame Construction - 770Kg, Nissan SR20 Super Touring Engine, Hilux Rear LSD, Wiliwood Brakes, Motec, All Lap Records At Willowbank and Morgan Park, Willowbank National CCT 1-15-2, Spares Include Engine, G/Box's, Diffs, Mouids. $40,000 Includes Trailer PH: David 0408 720 560. $35,000 may except trade ONO. David Waldon 0408 720 560 / 0408 720 560. 259 www.my105.com/40279

Sedans/Sports Cars ALFA ROMEO 1750 GTV, Re-built motor.

Tilton clutch, c/r gears. 4.56 LSD. Highly developed suspension with Bilsteins. Group Sb logbook . Spares: light weight panels, 4,1 LSD axle, three sets wheels with A032RS. Springs, roll bars for either track or road. Registered VJW 423. Ready to race.

Histories Sb or Nc, Targa or Alfa events. .

Doug Matley 0409 981 270. 256 www.myl05.eom/92750

Mkll Ford Escort coupe. Full cage, 5 speed sierra box, 4 wheel disc brakes, pedal box, quick rack, LSD, twin 45's, big valve head, Koni adjustables all round, near new Yokohama Advan tyres, heaps of spares, road registerable. $5900 ONO. John 0414 015 619. 256 www.my105.com/99208

23 April 2003

NISSAN PULSAR SSS, NISSAN PULSAR SSS 1991 EX Garry Rogers Motorsport Car Cams Log Book Full Alloy Rollcage SR20 Engine 5Speed Viscos Diff Autronic Engine Management Fully Adj Suspension 12 Mth Reg RWC 19.000 Kim Heaps of Spares inc Engine 5 SPEED Diff Drive Shafts 8 Wheels & Race Tyres etc for info $13,000 ONO. Alan 0409 413 949 /(03)5145 1350.

256 www.myl05.eom/40286

GROUP NC LJ TORANA, one of aussie's fastest NcTorana's red log book, LJ Torana, fresh high H/P engine, Koni shocks, alloy radiator, knig springs, reliable, too much to list, lap record, race winner, immaculate throughout, heaps of spares, for more information please call $26,500 ONO. Adam 0438 541 972. 255 www.my105.com/30812

Datsun 1000 Coupe Sports Sedan, Under 2 litre Sports Sedan. JTS propped A15, twin 45mm Webbers, extractors, space frame fibreglass panels, multi link rear suspension, koni shocks front and rear, adj brake bias close ratio overdriven 5 speed, vehicle has recently tuned and is ready to race nothing to spend, spares, log book, much much more. $8,500. Dale 0402 318 515 / (03) 9370 1 265.256www.my105.com/883E2

Commodore V8 Supercar VS, Perkins built car, Perkins Chev, excellent condition turn-key, ready to race. $52,000. Lawson 0417 778 188. 266www.my105.com/3351

944 CHALLENGE CAR, Current spec. car,Engine rebuilt by Rod Smith Racing for this season,Latest spec head.Coiiover Bilstiens, Chromemoly front wishbones, latest RSR rear suspension. Car on minimum weight. Qualified in top 10 for races entered into this season, has done 1.55 with passenger at Phillip Island, Includes spare set of tyres. $19800. Andrew 0428743956. 256www.my105.com/92185 Ford Escort Mark 1, Full spare frame, fresh 13B PP, fresh Needham straight cut box, AP Brakes, wets, space rims, weighs approx 700kg, proven performer and reliability. URGENT URGENT SALE, $17,000 URGENT SALE. Matt (02) 6684 0409 or 0414 611 687 257 www.myl05.com/377

Datsun 1200 Coupe EFI Turbo, Car has just undergone a major refurbishment. Low km Microtech injected and T25 turbocharged A14, 5 speed. Commodore LSD, Stanza struts,4 wheel discs,15" alloys,A032's. Straight shell. Has new Intercooler and watersray, new fuel pumps, oil cooler 2.5“ exhaust. Autometer gauges, list goes on. This car is a great all-rounder. $6500 Neg. Nathan 0413 264 427, 258 www.myl05.com/75127

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Open Wheelers

Datsun Stanza Coupe 1979, 2 litre motor, twin 45 Webers, extractors, 14 inch wheels and good tyres, ideal club car, excellent condition. $3,500. Craig (03)9763 1920. 256 www.myl05.com/29752

Porsche RSR, Front runner in previous Porsche Cups. 3.5 litre 330 hp engine by Motion Automotive, features direct ignition and Motec engine management for loads of smooth torque. Easy handling racetrack fine tuning, care of fully rose - jointed adjustable suspension, Konis or Bilsteins, and centrelocking rims. Rapid value $49,900. Tom 0419 868 911 /0419 868 911.255

Holden V8 BRute For Sale, Garry Holt is selling his Holden V8 BRute. New engine, many new parts and many spares. Genuine enquiries please call or email garry@easlerncreekkarts.com.au. Garry 0413 879 879. 255WWW.my105.com/49056 KONICA V8 SUPERCARI, HRT Craig Lowndes V8 Supercar. Perkins Holden just Fully Rebuilt - New Perkins Heads - Harrop Diff - AP Running Gear, Fully Rebuilt 'Six' Speed Hollinger, Autronic Engine Management Spare Doors, Wheels, Spoilers ETC. (Successful V8 Ride Business Available with car). $69 995 ONO. Greg 03 9217 8933. 255 www.myl05.com/54588

www.myl05.com/57928 Porsche 934 (Replica), Road, rally, race, QLD Rego, 3.3L 400HP, extensive carbon and glass, fresh motor $15 000, spares and trailer. $78,000. 0418 715 250. 256 www.myl05.com/58762 HQ winning car, brand new thunderdome car can supply circuit spec parts with new engine only raced once selling due to new interests. $3,800. Daniel (03) 5174 5666.

256 www.my105.com/81436

Datsun 1000, Datsun 1000 sports sedan injected CA18 engine 5 speed sunny hydraulic gearbox H165 diff 5 link rear suspension 10” brakes record holder King Edward Park and Ringwood hillciimbs. Very reliable and competitive club level car. $6500. Also avaiable at extra cost .Trailer and almost enough parts to build another car. Darrell Peattie 0410 263 380 / (02) 4946 931 0. 257www.my105.com/28024

Carrera Cup Car for Lease, Want to compete in the Carrera Cup Series in 2003.

RT Racing has one 2003 spec GT3 car available for full season lease packages.

This car is the only one available for lease currently and is as new to challenge the series. Be there for round one Philip Island in April. Richard 040 8 911 541.255 www.myl05.com/91355

Honda Civic Rally car 8i Trailer, 1976 model, 1238CC. Civic RS components including: Twin Keihin Carburettors, exhaust manifold, cam, pistons. Vented discs, 36mm Bilsteins. Steel cage, harnesses, seats, hydraulic handbrake plus brake bias valve, tripmeter. log book. 9 mags & 4 new tyres.

Trailer has electric brakes, new axles, lights, guards, wiring etc $6,500, will separate.

Philip 0414 958 898. 255 www.myl05.com/85988

♦ 1

I 1983 Reynard Formula Ford (ex-Tomas Mezera), 1985 AFF Championship winning car driven by Tomas Mezera. CAMS COD & Group R Log Book. Bare chassis rebuild just completed and comes with huge range of spares and lightweight custom trailer.

This car can only be described as immaculate and is sorted ready to race and win. Rod Kennedy 0428 290 010 /(02)4731 1649. 256www.my105.com/28124

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Formula Vee (Spectre), A well developed & maintained car with reasonable horse power, near new tyres, new battery. Alt 1200 components, red in colour. Trailer included with registration $7,000 NEG. Ray 0425 305 887. 256www.my105.com/6677

Tekno Autosports - Porsche Cup Car, As raced by Jonathon Webb in 2002 Australian Porsche Cup. Runner up and Rookie of the Year. Resprayed ready for 2003. Complete with Lister air jacks, dry break fuel system, 16 BBS wheels, new wets and numerous spares. All road equipment including wheels/tyres and interior trim. Full, Penske/Eibach race suspension. Motec ECU and fully optioned Motec dash All data available. $185,000 ONO. Steve 61 2 9899 9503 254www.my105.com/74603

Commodore Car, Ex Alan Walls, Tower Racing, absolutely one of the best, big horse power, roller gearbox, best of everything. $30,000. (03) 5762 5541 255 www.myl05.com/21285

Tekno Autosports - Carrera Cup Porsche, factory built . Purchased January 2002 backup car for National Series. Raced 3times only. Round win at Oran Park (New lap Record), Pole position, race win at Barbagallo.(Approx 8hrs run time). Never Crashed. Sensational looking car in original Motorsport trim. Eligible for Marque Sports Cars, PRA Series and Nations Cup. 254 $200,000. Steve 61 2 989 99503. www.myl05.com/87971

Porsche GT3, Bond cage, Lister air jacks, Motec ECU, Motec dash, G-sensor, Beacon etc, fully freshened, very quick GT3, ready to race, 2 sets wheels. $205,000. 0417 620 980 255 www.my105.com/28147

Formula Vee Spectre, very competitive car, regular top three finisher in QLD Championship, includes trailer, some spares and set up assistance. $11,500. Russell 0412 532 249. 255www.my105.com/43307 Welsor Waggot Sports 1300 Clubman, built 1972 by Colin WEar, rebuilt from front to back including new paint, features 3K Corolla engine with new big valve head, Modena straight cut close ratio gearbox, new clutch, rebuilt diff and new front shocks, 2 sots of 3 piece wheels Iset of Avon A 40/50 hillclimb tyres, new aluminium guards, battery, etc. $17,500 priced to sell. Andrew (03) 5443 0810. 255WWW.my105.com/7355 2 X Factory Backed Mygale SJ 97 Formula Fords, Mygale Australia offers for sale two (2) fully rebuilt factory SJ 97 Formula Fords. Ritta Race Engines with full setup assitance front running championship cars - PI Systems available. $27995 ea ONO. Greg 03 9217 8933.

255 www.my105.com/46317

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CLASSIFIEDS

Echidna Clubman Sports 1300, 1984 model, one owner since 1989, very reliable with fresh motor, fiowbenched worked head with stainless valves, well suited to hillclimbs or circuit work with very respectable times all around, comes with many spares and semi enclosed trailer (unreg). $12,000 will consider offers. Trevor (02)4261 1060 / (02) 4261 1060.255www.my105.com/55182

Elfin 600E F2, historic group Q log book, 1600 twin cam, Hewland Mk9, chassis number 7126, $38000 Neg. Ivan Clencie 03 97616622 / 03 9762 1732. 255 www.myl05.eom/62509

1985 AF2 Kaditcha, Curently flat bottom AF2 but also eligable Group R hlstloric (all ground effects bits available) Avery quick car in either category. Complete and total rebuild tip to toe over 5 years - virtually a new car.

Judd Golf, FT200, mounted wets, ratios and spares. Very well presented. Offers considered. Richard Harward 0410 573684 / 02 9787 9735. 254 www.my105.com/31134

Speedway Modified Production Sedan, Justin Drew offers for sale race winning #7 Commodore, Series 2 Smith engine, triple plate, 5 speed, 9 inch diff floater, heaps of spares. Get yourself a winning car. 0412 599 103 / (03) 5241 4224. 257www.my105.com/27794 Pontiac 2001, super sedan, john pyne chassis,all the best eqipment,14# chev.

700hp, very well engineerd .will sell as roller or trade. $40,000 ONO. Warren 0412 487 771. 257 www.myl05.com/80052

2002 AU Super Sedan, Raced only 2 meetings, sell complete or separate, built by John Brown from Newcastle, car runs a 363 Cleveland engine, roller cam, roller rockets strocked crank, four V altered heads, dry sump, motor barnes oil pump, too many extras to list, $8,500 spent on refreshing engine chassis, aluminium wheels tyres, many more spares. 0419 989 010 / (02) 4730 3440. 255www.my105.com/4465

Engines SPRINTCAR MOTOR, 366 cl steel block, billet crank, Brodix heads, Wiseco pistons, Corrillo rods, Hilborn injection, strong motor.

Changing class. $12,000 Ph. 0419 789 739 256 www.myl05.com/6482

Transporter, Mitsubishi FK417, 1993 model, turbo, 28ft pan, flat/kitchenette, tail gate loader,240 lighting & air cond,tyre rack, workbench, many toolboxes, wing hangers, new tyres, insulated roof and walls, no expense spared, absolutely immaculate condition ’-MUST SELL* CALL NOWII! 0417 065 066. $40,000 ono Neg. 256 www.myl05.com/5831

355CI Small Block Chev Drag Engine Motor, comes with Carb, 850 Meth BoLaws, Bo-Lawsbelt-Drive, Fuel Pump, Stefs Hi-Torque Starter, MSD Dist. $10,000.

Glenno(07)3216 5558 or 0419 787 031.

254 www.myl05.com/33006

Parts Weber Carburretors, 4 x 48mill, IDA, in good condition off Commodore sports sedan, includes Chev manifold and leackages. $3,500 ONO. Greg 0417 580 760.256www.my105.com/63990 Pit/Driver and Race Car Parts, Alloy 6 pump USA made jack still in box $1100, vertex mag ext coil, leads and cap $1000, parker pump helmet cooler $300, Sweet p/steer pump with billet pulley $375, used alloy pro shocks $130 ea, KSE alloy p/steer box $1200, used coil kits $65ea. Bradley (03) 6424 4544 / 0409 092 040. 256 www.myl05.eom/84305 Doug Nash / Gearbox, Doug Nash Gearbox 5 spd suit Chev 350 Bell housing, button clutch and shifter, $2700 Neg. Cliff 041 2926973. 255www.my105.com/9154 MOTEC DASH LOGGER, MOTEC DASH LOGGER with loom, some sensors, 2MB memory,beacon,as new $6,000 Richard 0412 320 940. $6,000.00. Richard 0412 320 940. 254www.my105.com/41315 Gefrag 5 speed, Getrag 5 speed close ratio gear sets. Straight cut, dog type, new 0417979226.254www.my105.com/74317 Clutch operated T400, Clutch operated Turbo 400 transmission. Professionally built, currently...street set up. ie: park mechanism. Comes with 360 degree scattershield to suit chev and Hurst lightening rods. Ideal 1/4 mile transmission. $1800. Tony 0418 146 590 254 www.myl05.com/26489

Tandem Trailer with Storage, Banana back. Enclosed front. Tyre rack plus Isqm lockable storage. New tyres, Electric Winch, reconditioned brakes, new master cylinder.

Used for rally car but will fit upto large sedan easily. Fresh paint ready for your signage. Easy to load, good access to car underbody. Strong, stable and tows very well. $3000 Best Offer. John 0418 404 945.

256 www.my105.com/54590 Coach Transporter, 38ft midmount, 250HP turbo Volvo, 4 speed pre-selected gear box, air brakes, exhaust brakes, tubless tyres, tyre racks, alloy tailgate. Pontoon lounge carpeted, fridge. $22,000 ONO. 0419 989 010 255www.my105.com/14138

1996 Chev Silverado Extra Cab, Voitex motor. Captains chairs, lowered, American Racing Wheels, tabliner, perfect tow car, immaculate condition. Ian 0408 103 815.

254 www.myl05.com/7189

Light-weight Car Trailer, Custom designed, light-weight car trailer. Tandem drop axles, beaver tail and flush stowing ramps. New (used once). Would suit all cars up to 1300kg sedan. $3000 Neg. Marcus 0411 137 230.254www.my105.com/15883

Collectable/Memorabilia Biante Models - All Signed, 1 x Johnson XE Palmer Tube, 1 x Moffat Cobra Coupe 1977, 1 X Moffat Coupe 1978. 0415 178 696 254 www.myl05.com/92629

Driver/Crew Apparel Racing Suits/ Helmets, 2 Full suits RPM Racegear.Nomex Three, Blue & White size M Racesuits,gloves M,shoes size 8.Beil Helmet SR-PRO Size 7 1/4 or 58,with carry bags.These suits and helmets were used in 2 Targas and are very clean and well looked after, $975 each set,as I will sell seperately. $975 each set ONO.Tony 07 55321400 / 07 55773077,254 www.myl05.com/22200

Wanted

Enclosed Trailer, Fully Enclosed Car Trailer. Popular with Formula Ford guys, but used for an Improved Production Mazda Ftx-7. $10,500 replacement cost must sell at this price. 3 Months NSW Rego. Call for more Details. $6800,00 Neg, Pete Harmston 0415 821175 / 0415 821175. 255 www.myl05.com/57837

Improved Production Car Wanted, Roller or unfinished project, Toyota Corrolla or Sprinter pre 1986. Jeff 0418 277 902. 256 www.myl O5.com/18049 Wanted, chevy Nova or chevyll parts from 1962 to 1967. Mainly require 63 sedan body panels & any parts for 67 sedans or coupes.Anything considered please phone or email , tippo@fastrac.net.au. Bob 0412 810 815.253www.my105.eom/29009

Transporters/Trailers

Productlaunch Race Winning Super Sedan, Ron Pyne, three time Australian Super Sedan champion offers for sale his 2003 race winning Rick Slatter built 4-Bar Super Sedan, A reluctant sale of a brand new, race winning car. $50,000. Ron 0438607615. 255 www.my105.com/71163 . 41

Ford F350 1981 car transporter, 4 Speed.

Angled tray end for easy loading (see picture). Dual fuel. Recently painted, electric winch. Suit race cars etc. Call Bill - 0414 753 095. $11,000 ONO. 0414 753 095. 256 www.myl05.com/79637

HINO FF177 Truck, Takes two formula holdens / fords / 3's. Can be modified to taka more cars, 12,000 lb tail lifter. Belly lockers. Heaps of storage space. New 2pak white paint. Air conditioning. New tyres.

Exellent condition. $35,000. Glen Hastings 0413 322 198. 255www.my105.com/3232

esuiiMHTS ; Super sedan complete. Firebird super sedan complete oar ready to race, Good strong engine appox 580hp, wide five alloy wheels heaps of spares inc 2 complete wide five diffe, spare new chassis, spare complete front end steering etc, everthing i have for this car will go, call for more info, genuine enquiries only. $28,000 ONO.255Www.my105.com/28630

23 April 2003

Single Axle Car Trailer with Tyre Rack,*" Single Axle Open Trailer *" Black Painted Frame with Tyre Rack *” Alloy Wheels plus New Tyres ”* Will Suit Open Wheel Race Car ”* Registered to Feb 2004 *". $1100 ONO. GRAEME 0412-141-315. 256 www.myl05.com/40015

38ft Semi-Trailer, Can carry two sedan type race cars. Heaps of storage space Some benches and cabinets. $25,000.

Glenno (07) 3216 5558 or 0419 787 031.

254 www.myl05.com/47675

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01

OPINION

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1 year $143

2 years $275

Network Ten also did a great job at telecasting the race. Bill Woods was impressive and informative and Neil Crompton was as professional as ever. Good to see their continued support of the world's best sport.

Etimii Buirett via email

published.

Tlris is a classic example of some Australian's penchant for tearing down the 'tail poppy'because they can.

Maybe our anonymous whinger would like Lleyton Hewitt to throw the odd tennis match, or maybe suggest to his/her footy team that they leave out their best players because they are always winning - although it is more than likely that '1 want a different winner' and a real winner is an oxymoron.

Give us a break. Go play cricket- that way you can hope for a draw.

Barry Drayton brightside@dodo.com.au

Bright v Ambrose Here we go again. So maybe I'm stoopid, but this is what it looked like on the teev: Bright on wets, Ambrose on slicks, it is raining. Bright hits Ambrose,first point of contact is Ambrose's rear wheel (behind the A,B,C,D and E pillar according to CAMS Manual).

Bright continues to push up beside Falcon, eventually spinning him (keeps boot in).

Bright claims he could not control the car, despite the fact he would have had superior grip (still keeps boot in). Ambrose was able to keep his car reasonably straight despite the fact he was on slicks, until he was eventually spun.

Bright gets off without penalty (surprise!) Bright leads championship.

Jump back a few weeks to the Ingall/Murphy incident at Adelaide...

Anyway that's my whinge for the day.

Graeme McArthur gmcarthur2@optusnet.com.au

Wanted: Mark Webber

converter Send us your thoughts: mail: PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au

Get well Possum 1 would like to offer Possum Bourne my best wishes for a rapid recovery after his Queenstown accident. 1 hope to see him back out in front on the stages before too long.

You can't let the Queenstown Hill, Rally NZ,or all those pesky Aussie drivers beat you, Poss!!!

Get well soon.

5 M.McLeod Tauranga, Neiu Zealand

Murph is my bro

Get the picture?

Hi guys. Great mag, plenty of info but not enough girls!

I can not believe Skaife was not

I'd like to commend you guys on acquiring an FI "Technical Editor".

I hope the drawings in your last issue aren't the last. One of the interesting things about FI is the little tweaks that the teams come up with from race to race.

The first appearance of the new McLaren and Ferrari will also be of

penalised for his touch-up witli Greg Murphy. It is quite unbelievable.

Clearly he gained a position from turning him around,so why no drive-through? Murphy has had a bad start to the year, but he is lucky he is a great driver with the ability to finish inside the top three, even after those dramas. Imagine where he would have finished if'God'(aka Skaife) had not done that to him.

Good on ya Murf- keep making us Kiwis proud.

Mitchell MacRea Auckland, NZ

Impressive?

What a race the San Marino GP turned out to be. Passing, pitstops, emotion. It was good to watch.

It's too bad that Webber didn't do any good in the end,but that Jag is suddenly mighty impressive. Fifth on the grid is too good to be true.

The other team that impressed me was McLaren. They have what it takes this year,but only if they can hold out those Ferraris.

great interest.

As a spectator, I would have to say that the new qualifying rules have certainly added to the spectacle.

Clearly, you can still see who is fastest from the Friday session, when they have low fuel, while Saturday becomes a bit of a guessing game to see who is carrying extra fuel -as McLaren did at Imola.

Keep up the great work and Go Webber. You're doing as brilliant job.

Steven McMahon Boronia, VIC'

Wet, wet, wet

{

To all those who make the VS calendar - when was the last time it didn't rain at Phillip Island? How about a change - please?

Steve Teesdale Dandenong, VIC T-rci-j-i.

just a quick note. You guys give Mark Webber alot of coverage in your magazine, which I think is fantastic.

But how can I get in contact w'ith him? I'd like to send him an email to let him know that I think he is doing a great job and wish him all the best for the future.

Vince Matich Katoflinbn, NSW A$195 A$250

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Post your cheque/money order to the address above, fax your credit card details (Bankcard, VISA, Mastercard, or Amex)to 03 9596 5030 or email to mnews@mnews.com.au

82

What a sook!

So he wants a different winner (MN #254). What a whining sook and with not even the courage to have liis name or email address

Ed: Check out www.markwebber.com It will give you all the latest on our Aussie hero - you can 1 become part of his Supporters

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