Motorsport News Issue 256 - May 7-20, 2003

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Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 incl GST No. 256 May 7-20 2003

Ford 1-2-3 heralds Jitanic title ight

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Will V8 rookie get Bathurst call-up?

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iMtorspon Issue 256

7-20 May 2003

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featnres 28 Five Minutes WithSinon Wills No, notKimi, Kiwi 30 Jack under attack Villeneuve on BAR, Button and what he might do in future 99 Russell Crowe Weddiing Photos Just kidding. Have you have enough too?

race couerage

34 TKe Far East Ambrose, Lowndes, and Ingall shatter Skaifey s hopes of five wins in a row in CoathiangerCounty 44 Reign in Spain A newferrari, right? Mikey at Barcelona, right? A walkover. right? Wrong. Someone forgot to tell Fernando Alonso and Renault 52 Photo Copy Wintertottom^ wins im the Konicas but a lot happened before that 56 Is Tasmania a Naliioei'l Pretty tops Symmons. Brockie was there, too 62 Canberra, capital of Asia Crocker gives Subaru a liittie ligiit at a tough, tough time.

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Will V8 rookie get hH Bathurst FaHUUtW'HtW.WmWm call-up?

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Alex Holden - next week? back!

Barras go 1-2 Ownership solution close as deadline looms

ALEX Zanardi will drive a Champ Car again - next weekend.

The two-time CART champion, who lost both legs in a crash at the Lausitzring in Germany in 2001, vvill drive a specially-prepared race car with hand controls, which will allow him to finish the final 13 laps of the race that he did get to complete.

The car will be fitted with a hand clutch and throttle mechanism that will allow Zanardi to drive the laps around the two-mile superspeedway at speed, making the popular Italian champion the first driver to ever pilot a serious race car by using hand controls.

"I am honoured to serve as the Grand Marshal for the German 500 and look forward to seeing all of the Champ Car fans again," Zanardi said. "It was always nice to be cheered by the crowd and it will be great to hear those cheers even through a symbolic effort such as this."

The Ford-powered Reynard will be painted to match the #66 Mo Nunn Racing car that Zanardi was driving when he suffered his accident. He tested the car last week, prior to the Brands Hatch event, and the hand controls were tested the week before In a private test at Indianapolis Raceway Park with 1991 Indy Lights champion Eric Bachelart at the wheel.

The car will run a road-course wing package on the car so that Zanardi, below, can run comfortably at top speed nearly all the way around the track.

THE long-running saga of Holden ownership of the Holden Racing Team, and TWR's involvement with three V8 Supercar teams,could be resolved in a week.

Kelvin O'Reilly, Chairman of the Touring Car Entrants' Group TEGA, said on the weekend that there had been "considerable progress" made after discussions with Holden over both matters.

"I can't say when something will happen, that is up to them," said O'Reilly."But we have stepped forward."

The discussions came a week after O'Reilly issued a media release that did not paint Holden in a very positive light. TEGA rejected a move by the company to have HRT owned by 'General Motors Australia Ltd', a company owned by Holden.

Following a discussion with Holden's Sales and Marketing Manager Ross McKenzie,in which O'Reilly advised that the proposal would not be acceptable to the

TEGA Board,TEGA issued a statement to the media,saying that "TEGA is not convinced that they (Holden) are acting in a timely fashion suitable to us to rectify the situations in which they have placed themselves".

The Board has placed a deadline of June 1 for the matter to be sorted

by Holden, which now seems imminent.

Holden instigated the matter when the company moved to secure the future of HRT in February, McKenzie meeting the UK receivers of the TWR Group. By buying the team, Holden contravened TEGA's ownership guidelines.

TEGA's Tribunal is also continuing to investigate its concerns that TWR Australia had simultaneous interests in HRT, Kmart Racing and Team Brock.

Should HRT be sold to a new entity, that issue may also be resolved soon.

-PHIL BRANAGAN

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Marshall Can

THE problem that sidelined the Holden Racing Team's Commodore VYs at Eastern Creek last week was,in all likelihood, a side-effect of the cars' new double wishbone front suspension.

Todd Kelly and Mark Skaife both suffered flat tyres and were forced to pit while in contention for good results in the 300km race. Kelly eventually retired while Skaife soldiered on to 19th after making two more stops, caused by a brief rain shower at the track.

Dunlop Racing's Kevin Fitzsimmons said that the likely cause of the cars' split rims was something that he has seen "hundreds of times" before - but only on Falcons, which have run that design of front suspension for years.

"There is very little clearance between the wheel rim and the bottom mount of the front suspension," said Fitzsimmons, who was with Bridgestone Motorsport before Dunlop took the control tyre contract three years ago.

"What happens is that, if the wheel is not seated absolutely spot-on, it moves around. That brings it into contact with the bolt, which just zings through the rim and you have a tyre go down."

HRT engineers had had insufficient time to examine the offending wheels in detail at the track but concurred with Fitzsimmons that his explanation was the most likely. With its different front suspension, the VY requires a different wheel offset to the VX, which uses the long-standing Commodore Macpherson strut front suspension. HRT had never experienced a similar occurrence in testing or in other races, while no other teams running VYs reported any similar incidents.

Skaife was philosophical after the race, in which he gambled on the wet-weather setting in by diving into the pits for wet tyres while the leaders stayed out on slicks. The light rain disappeared after two laps while, 15 kilometres away, it continued to come down ...

- PHIL BRANAGAN motorsport news

NEWS

i Aid for Ford?

-3 at Creek

and the

may get a beost

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Cocko reaches into the wallet MARCOS Ambrose was slapped with a $500 fine for standing on the pit wall and celebrating his pole position at Eastern Creek - but he won't be paying it. AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane, who described the fine as "stupid" and "ridiculous", has offered to step forward and cover the amount, in light of the fact that there were no cars in action when the grievous and blatant act occurred. Immediately Cochrane confirmed his largesse, Russell Ingall requested 'equal time', which Cochrane declined on the basis that he did not have that much money ... n Speaking of stewarding matters, stewards last weekend heard evidence on the matter of the '46' test conducted at Winton Raceway pre-season (see last issue).

No decision had been reached as MNews closed for press but we believe that an outcome is close.

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We wanna have some fun too: Falcon AU drivers like David Besnard may be in line for some parity adjustments.

by PHIL BRAHAGAN FORD'S drought-ending 1-2-3 at Eastern Creek may be th« precursor to a lot more success from the Blue Oval teams - and not just from the teams running 2003-modiel BAs. Ford's unloved AU may be in line for a parity adjustment,in line with the Touring Car Entrants' Group's guidelines for performance adjustments. TEGA has the power to implement changes for one of the four types of car used in the Championship Series- Commodore VX and VY,and Falcon AU and BA - and could,in theory, approve new parts for tlie AU (or any other model)in time for the next roimd of tlie championsliip at Winton in two weeks.

TEGA will look at the results of the opening three rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and tabulate the lap times of diifferent the models to determine whether one or more suffers from a performance deficit. "'We win get the results and times from this weekend and analyse it in accordance with tlie criteria," said TEGA Chairman Kelvin O'Reilly."If that leads us to look at a dhange,we will get moving."

Followhig the PliiUip Island round of the series, TEGA Board member Mark Larkliam tested at Queensland Raceway,rumiing a number of variations fitted to his Orrcon Falcon.

These included a larger front splitter, similar to the one fitted to the Falcon BA. "We monitored the results of tire test and passed them on to tlie - 7 May 2003

technical department," said O'Reilly.

"If we deem that an adjustment is appropriate and warranted, vve will examine the options and decide what needs to be done."

One of the factors that will play into that decision is how quickly, and at what cost, changes may be made.

Ideally, the seven Falcon AUs in the series could aU be fitted with whatever changes needed prior to Winton,and in time to test prior to that race.

In Sydney last Saturday, the fastest Falcon AU in qualifjong was Jason Bargwanna's. The Larkliam Motorsport driver was 13th quickest in the session, with a time 1.2s slower than fastest qualifier, Mark Skaife. In

You can't say there's parity. There hasn't been for as long as we have rr been racing the AU

11

- Glenn Seton the race, the leading AU was the Ford Performance Racing car of David Besnard, who was also 13th,one lap down on winner Marcos Ambrose. He also set the fastest race lap of the AU drivers, a lm34.06s, which was 1.1s slower than the fastest lap of the race set by Ambrose.

One Ford team conducted its own analysis of the results of the two opening rounds at Adelaide and Phillip Island. Its result was tliat, using the same sample that TEGA will, the two Holden models and

Ford's BA were separated by 0.1s, well withm the guidelines of the test. Tlie AU was 0.6s behind which,imder the guidelines of the test, would require intervention from TEGA. Following the Sydney race - and without time to properly conduct a detailed breakdown - the team said that, on the face of it, nothing had happened to change tliat conclusion.

FPR's Glenn Seton, who is racing an l AU until the team's new BAs are complete,is adamant that something needs to be done.

"You can't say there's parity," said Seton. "Tliere hasn't been for as long as we have been racing the AU,based on the results and the figures since 2000. If you look at the measurements used in the assessment, you can only say that the AU is clearly deficient to the other models on the grid.

"I am sure tliat Ford and the BA drivers wouldn't like to see an adjustment made. But V8 Supercar racing in a parity formula. With the AU as it is, who is ever going to want to race one? And,if the bigger teams all step up to BAs, who is ever going to want to race one(an AU)?"

Fellow AU pilot Jason Bargwanna has a similar view; "TEGA's role is to assess the performance of all four cars. If that shows a discrepancy, action needs to be taken."

Even racewinner Ambrose is clear about the need to give the AU a leg-

up; "The mechanical package has not changed (from AU to BA). The difference now is that we have frontend grip and the tyres live."

n Calder under threat? Following AVESCO's court victory over Calder Park last month, in relation to unpaid monies from the last V8 race held at the Melbourne venue, MNews understands that Calder Park Promotions, which promoted the event, has been put into receivership, with an administrator appointed.

Whether Calder Park Promotions has any direct corporate link with track ownership is not known. n When is a sponsor not a sponsor? When they are at the track, it seems. Jason Bright's deal with Sony (Wega televisions) clashes, potentially, with Team Brock's LG backing, so Brightly had his LG logo taped over on Saturday. On Sunday, with some LG guests at the track, off came the race tape. n TEGA conducted more testing of its in-car video monitoring in Sydney. Units used in a Konica Series car and inside Cameron McConville's Lansvale Commodore both proved that clear progress has been made with the record-to-harddrive system. A definitive version of the system may be available in the next two months. n A delegation of officials connected with the Shanghai V8 Supercar event was in Sydney. The group had meetings with a number of officials, including AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane and CEO Wayne Cattach, but there is still no news regarding a date for the inaugural Chinese event next season.

Look for an announcement re same

by June/July.

5

SOME people look at a glass and consider it half-empty but Possum Bourne would always prefer to think of it as half-full.

Like a lot of champion sportsmen, Bourne was a power of 'positivity'. He was never beaten even when things weren't going his way. When he was forced out of a rally, he was looking to the next one.

Winning seven Australian ra championships in a row is testament to that. In the 28 years before Possum won his first Aussie title, the best anyone could do was three in a row and Ross Dunkerton's tally of five titles looked an impossible ask.

To get there. Bourne had to overcome the incredible tragedy of losing his best friend and co-driver Dr Rodger Freeth in a crash during Rally Australia in 1993. It was clearly a loss with which Bourne took a long time to come to grips but he realised that his rally partner would have wanted him to carry on and finish what they saw as unfinished business - the Australian Championship.

His real name was Peter, but he earned his nickname Possum after swerving to avoid a possum - and then rolling his car on the way home from trade school as a young apprentice motor mechanic at Pukekohe, near Auckland. The story hit a chord with his work mates and he was forever dubbed 'Possum'.

He turned the unusual handle into a marketing benefit once he embraced rallying, the sport he had loved since childhood.

VALE

Possum Bourne

1956-2003

His first rally car as a 23-yearold in 1979 was a self-built Mkl Ford Cortina fitted with a Rover V8. It was a beast that Bourne conquered, taking a third, a first and a DNF in his first three events Bourne was Subaru and Subaru was Bourne. Long before Subaru was a cult car Bourne forged a relationship with the Japanese maker, rallying a normally-aspirated four-wheel-drive Leone model in the 1983 Rally of New Zealand as a one-off. A few

Subaru in 1991 and that was when he teamed with Freeth to win the NZ Rally Championship.

In 1992, Possum came to Australia to take on the locals but mechanical failures prevented him from taking the title first time out.

Season 1993 was one of highs and absolute lows.

Bourne and Freeth were invited to join the Prodrive-run 555 World Rally Team and they took the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. Then came thatj,! fateful crash at Rally Australia in his Subaru Australia-backed- , Legacy. Ever since that time.

Bourne's car carried a tribute to Freeth with a 'ROJ' plate on his competition cars.

After a year like that, Bourne decided it was best to climb back on the horse and-cdntinue people had rallied Subaru in the sport that both he/abd before that but Bourne brought Freeth loved so'much. H^^ a will to win and took it to teamed with Tony Sircom&eito win a second Asia PacificMe, another level, winning the Group A class in an era of this time in the new Impr^.

Group B machines. It was that A run of bad results in -1-9.9^6 early devotion to the marque saw Bourne dropped fror^'^the that saw Bourne earn special 555 team but he picked ugfa renewed contract with Subaru respect from the Subaru factory. Soon he was contesting Australia and the first .of seven ^ overseas rounds like the Safari Australian titles would come to;-1 Rally in Africa and Rally Bourne and co-drivers Craig Argentina.

Vincent and Mark Stacey.

Possum was one of the first For the next six years, Bourne battled with Neal Bates in the world to rally the new all wheel-drive turbo Legacy for and Ed Ordynski for the Australian title, always finishing on top.

There would always be a smile, always be a greeting.

Possum was that sort of bloke.

For a driver of Possum's talent and calibre to be claimed by a crash of this sort is unthinkable and only serves to highlight how vulnerable we all are. « Rallying, not just-in New ^ Zealand and Australia but all ^ around the world, will be the f poorer for losing a competitor like Possum. Bourne is survived by his wife Peggy, their two sons Taylor and Spencer and his daughter Jazlin.

S To his family, friends and n many fans, on both sides of the S| Tasman and around the world, ^ we extend our heartfelt ^ sympathies at this terrible loss, i -JON THOMSON molorsRon news

Possum Gone Rally Legend succumbs tn Injuries from accident

POSSUM Bourne lost his fight for life last Tuesday,10 days after his terrible accident in New Zealand.

With no sign of recovery and medical opinion that his condition would not improve. Bourne's family were by his bedside at the Dunedin Hospital when medical staff turned off his life support systems.

The 47-year-old rally legend was involved in a collision while doing an observation run at The Race to the Sky on Good Friday. His Subaru Forester road car struck a 4WD, without the protection he would have had in a rally car. Bourne suffered severe head injuries.

He was immediately moved to Dundein Hospital, where he was

placed in a medically-induced coma but, despite an initial diagnosis that his condition was'serious but stable', he deteriorated last weekend when the level of his life support was reduced. There was a media

competed in the Swedish Rally as well as Rally New Zealand.

Bourne's team won last month's Rally of Canberra, the team showing its support for its ailing boss but, the next day, the news from New Zealand statement the following Monday, was not encouraging and he passed indicating that the family had away. As a mark of respect,several decided to end his medical cars at Eastern Creek's V8 Supercar intervention and that the chances of r.Championship Series round paid tribute to their comrade with his recovery were remote.

Ironically, Bourne's passing came at 'possum'logos on their cars. a time when he was taking on one of Greg Murphy,a close friend, the biggest challenges of his career. summed up the feeling best when he After seven successive Australian said,"Possum was a good mate and a Rally Championship titles, the most great driver. If he had been in his rally recent in a Group N car, the Subaru car, he would have stepped out and ace was embarking on a major assault said,'Gee, that was fairly big'. It's a on selected WRC events. Bourne sad time for everyone in the sport."

The Winterbottom Dilemma Will the Konica Gun force his way Into SBR enduro lineup?

KONICA series V8 rookie Mark Winterbottom could well have driven his way into one of Ford's top seats for this year's Sandown and Bathurst long distance races.

Stone Brothers boss Ross Stone this week admitted that Winterbottom's form had given his team cause to rethink its endurance race plans.

"When we started the year, Mark was under no misapprehension that there would be a drive with the team for the long distance races," Stone told MNews on Momday.

"We've held him back. We didn't want to put any pressure on. However, his performances this far have certainly caused us to think again. He is certainly one of the options."

Winterbottom is a graduate of Ford's KartStars racing programme and is running the Konica series in an SBR-entered Falcon.

400

Fresh from a stunning weekend at Eastern Creek where the team took out both V8 Supercar categories - Stone is keen to finalise his driver choices so that the respective driver(s) can get sufficient miles in a V8 prior to the Sandown 500 in September. His team is expected to make those decisions this week.

In damping down weekend rumours that David Brabham might join the frontline Ford squad for the enduros, Stone re-stated his preference for codrivers with regular V8 mileage: "These cars are so unique now and the margins so close, that you really do have to have drivers who have had serious mileage in them," he said.

While this view may well rule Brabham out, it does potentially open the door for other wellPerformedKomca^il^

ISO plus 250

AVESCO has decided against staging a one-driver 400km race at its championship finale at Eastern Creek in November.

The group is expected to announce soon that the event will instead take on a Clipsal 500 look, with a 150km race on the Saturday followed by a 250km Sunday race.

There appears to have been no regulatory impediment to the concept, but AVESCO will heed medical opinion in splitting the race," CEO Wayne Cattach told MNews I May 2003

drivers, although Stone would not be drawn on specific names.

The differing sponsorship alliances on the two SBR Falcons makes it difficult though not entirely impossible for regular SBR drivers Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall to be paired at the end of the year.

this week,"and given the likelihood of warm to hot weather and therefore high cabin temperatures, we've decided that the risk is too high."

The VIP Pet Food 400 will be the first championship V8 round promoted by AVESCO in its own right, rather than with a track promoter, and there is a suggestion that the fwo-day format may well prove to be a better financial bet.

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

NEWS

www.ww.com.ww WAYNE Wakefield returned to the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Sydney. The Queensland drove a second Morris-built Commodore VY in practice and qualifying, but teething problems forced the team to withdraw the car from the race. The car ran number 24, as it was entered under the Romano Racing franchise for the weekend. More outings for WW may follow, if similar arrangements can be accommodated. n Jamie Miller's Konica Series Commodore is no longer being prepared by Phoenix Motorsport.

Following an amicable split. Miller's ex-Gibson Motorsport VT is now in a capable hands of the Lansvale Smash Repairs team, under the auspices of team manager Wally Storey. n Crowds in Sydney were at record levels, 22,800 Sunday racegoers taking the three-day crowd to 34,300. n Matthew White ran a Ford Falcon AU for the first time in the Konica Series races. White had purchased the car from Briggs Motorsport, for which he drove in the endurance races last season. Expect to see him line up in one of the team's Betta-sponsored BAs later this season. n Speaking of endurance drivers, we hear that there has been discussion at Ford Performance Racing as to who will share the team's three Falcons at Sandown and Bathurst. One of the names that keeps popping up in connection with the blues is that of Owen Kelly, who drove with FPR's Glenn Seton last year at OR and Bathurst until sidelined by an illness. n Absent from last weekend's Konica V8 Supercar round at Eastern Creek was Andrew Jones. A component supply problem forced BJR to withdraw their entry from round three of the series.

"Our sole focus to enter into this years Konica Series was to complement our main game program (with OzEmail Racing) and we all agreed at the start that if it was ever compromised, we would stop immediately," said Team Principal Brad Jones.

"The only way we could guarantee that Andrew would start this weekend would be by using spare components from our two OzEmail Falcons and we are just not prepared to do that.

"Everyone involved is fully aware of our decision and this will definitely not stop Andrew competing at the rest of Konica events this year as long as we are not faced with the same dilemma."

J

Pizzonia survives ANTONIA Pizzonia will stay with Jaguar Racing for the remainder of the year.

Following last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, team members were told that the young Brazilian will stay with the team - despite the unsettling events of the past two weeks.

Jaguar spokesman Nav Sidhu made it clear in a statement to The Guardian in the days after the San Marino Grand Prix that Pizzonia's future was under review.

This was backed up by rumours that Jaguar had approached Alex Wurz and his current employer McLaren,asking whether the Austrian could be released from his contract as the team's third driver.

Ron Dennis said that his team would never get in the way of a driver's career, but then did exactly that as Wurz made it clear that he would like to get out of his commitment to McLaren in order to get back to racing.

Dennis said that the team "made the position extremely clear" to jaguar and said that "it is not negotiable".

The implication in this, although Dennis would not confirm it, was that McLaren wanted a significant financial settlement in order to

release Wurz, who clearly did not have an affordable escape clause in his contract.

Pizzonia's manager Jaime Brito said that he too would want a financial settlement if Pizzonia was to be stood down,as many of the problems encountered by Pizzonia this year have been caused by technical problems with the cars.

As the weekend progressed, the messages coming out of Jaguar became increasingly confused with the team's sporting director John Hogan saying that "nobody is holding a gun to Antonio's head" and the managing director David Pitchforth saying that the whole process had been "a storm in a teacup".

But the team did cause some illfeeling in the media by blaming the press for having stirred up the speculation when in fact the whole story was the result of comments made by team members, many of which were "off the record" and not achially quoted.

By the end of the weekend,it seemed that any chance of a deal with Wurz was off and Pizzonia confirmed on Sunday morning that the team had told him that his place within the team was secure.

-JOE SAWARD

... and he gives I

"THE feeling of getting a win after such a hard start to the British F3 Championship is so good!

It's a huge relief and a big confidence boost considering the downers of the first two weekends. Getting the first win quite early in the season is important. I wanted a top five or a podium last weekend so I wasn't expecting to win as early as we have.

I was a bit surprised with the first race. It's a pretty big thing to win a race in this series, it's seriously competitive and your mind's running at a million miles per hour.

I really drove it like I did in qualifying, which was really smooth and it all felt quite comfortable.

1 had nine consecutive fastest laps and the fastest

One man, one motor F1 TEAMS will be restricted to one engine per car per race weekend next year.

This is the most significant agreement to come from a meeting of teams during last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

A number of the other changes proposed by FIA President Max Mosley last January will however not be going through - most significantly, a proposed ban on traction control. Third cars will however still be allowed, as will car-to-pit telemetry and radios.

The FIA says that launchcontrol and automatic gearboxes will be banned, although it is not clear how a distinction will be made between traction-control and launch-control. It may be that the terminology will change so that the bans will be for programmable gearboxes and automatic starting systems.

The original plans for wtiolesale changes to the rules led to a legal challenge from McLaren and Williams under the

Concorde Agreement’s arbitration procedures. This action is now expected to be quietly dropped by those involved although there may still be more negotiations to come.

Mosley has however still managed to achieve what he wanted with regard to cutting the costs of engines, both for manufacturers and customer teams, and in making the cars race with the same cars as they have used in qualifying, thus getting rid of highly-expensive qualifying engines.

It IS worth noting that the compromise reached over traction-control will only be retained if the engine manufacturers agree to supply the independent teams with engines at "a fully affordable cost having regard to the current business climate”.

These deals, which are to be priced at US$1 Om are believed to include not just engine supply and support but also full electronic systems.

Dav

-AT’

I

I This could open the way for new teams to enter Formula 1 although they may still be scared away by the fact that for new teams there will be no TV money available for the first three years.

The FIA statement also confirmed that teams will be allowed to have only two types of rear wing in 2004 and 2005 and there will be tests to see if a standard rear wing should be introduced in 2006.

The FIA Technical Working

Group wii! also look into both standard brake materiais ar<l standard skid block materials, something which the teams wanted to do last autumn.

The two tyre companies in FI will also be invited to make available "extreme weather tyres' at all remaining races m 2003 but the FIA v/iii also look at coming up with a regulation to cieariy define a single wet weather tyre for 2004.

- JOE SAWARD moiorsport news

'o does it!

UIN the lowdown

lap by half a second, so on the outside it must have looked easy, but 1 can tell you that I was working hard!

Now that I've tasted it, 1 want more. The work only is just starting now. You can have all . the hype in the world but you've still got to do the job and now that we've shown it can be done, everyone's really excited.

Docko is thrilled, everyone here is really happy at ADR. Everyone worked pretty hard and it was the perfect way to repay their hard work.

So many people back home have put faith and funding into me, and now I know that I am capable of beating these guys, which is very nice indeed!

Knockhill is this weekend coming, so we'll take a nice and relaxed approach. Obviously the expectations are a little higher but we just have to keep scoring points."

WILL Davison's mantlepiece now boasts a British F3 Championship winner's trophy after the 20-year-old Victorian took a pole to flag victory in race one at Croft last weekend.

Davison made a good start and was never threatened,stroking the Alan Docking Racing Dallara F303 around the circuit to cross the line 5.0s clear of Rob Austin. Series points leader Alan van der Merwe was third.

Davison was also on the front row of the grid for round six of the title on the same weekend and was again running strongly until he hit a marker cone dragged onto the track during an earlier incident and was forced to retire with suspension damage.

The British Formula 3 Championship continued at Knockhill this weekend. .—

suffon-fmages.com

Rollercoaster, Renault-style

THE Antipodean fraternity had a busy weekend during round two of the Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Championship at Magny Cours two weeks ago.

West Aussie Christian Murchison qualified ninth for the first race, which saw the grid forming up amid a torrential downpour. Murchison was running well in sixth until he founded a turn to find the stranded car of Neel Jani, wliich had ground to a halt with mechanical problems. Not having been able to see the stricken car until the last moment, Murchison's DAMS plowed straight into the back of it, causing sufficient mayhem to bring the race to an early halt. Murchison's car was too severely damaged to see the former Formula Holden

driver make it out for the second race, hut he retained sixth on the lap countback and at least ended the weekend with some points.

Meanwhile, New Zealander Matt Halliday started the weekend with a repeat of his strong performance in the opening round to finish fourth in the red-flagged first race, reporting also that the conditions had reduced visibility to just a few metres.

More points looked there for tire taking in tlie second outing until the Kiwi, below, was shunted from behind while running fourth - and under Safety Car conditions!

The series continues at Enna Pergusa in Italy this coming weekend.

NEWS

Safari, Octagonstylse OCTAGON has released event details for the 2XX)3 Australian Safari. The 1 Sth edition of the event will begin with a spectatar-fnendly prologue at Mount Panorama on August 23 before embarking upon a 4400km course before arrivingback in Bathurst seven days later. Both Auto and Motorcycle divisions, are again being catered for, and the event will serve as the fourth roundof the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championships for bikes. Futll details of the course are currently;' beingifinaiised. n Which Fofmtila Ford National Series driver was seen stashing a photo of pop diva Deltra Goodrem into his race suit for good lack at Eastarni Creek last weekend? n rrident Racing head honcho Rod Wilson returned from a fact finding onissiociito Europe two weeks ago.Wilson attended the inaugural roundof the new one-make M'aserati Trofso series at Barcelona, and then flew'On tothefactory in Italy to discuss plans far the new N-GT-spec Trofeo slated far the Bathurst 24Hour raee, Wilson will return to that partrtrf the world to attend the Silverstone round of the Trofeo series,a support event the British Grand P'nix in dtily - this time as a compedtor. n iNew Sauber test driver Nieil Janiihad: his first taste of Formula 1 machinery at Vairario in Italy a fortnight ago. The Swiss driver conducted straight-tine testing for his native team, and the young up-andcomeris- lookingforward to a serious run ifitthe car inithe near future. n IFotr all youphotographc-V8 freaks 0U.1 there, Konica will be awarding; a monthly prize to a clever camerara:en (orilady-). The 'Konica Moment Best Sbat' competition is to see vvte can capture some-classy shotsifraim thelKonica V8 Saperoar Series this year. There are some greatiprizes on offer, with the overall winner taking home a Konica Digital camera ss well as suiting up for a hot lap ifi-a Scjpercar. So get snapping folks... n ^Panrramatta Westfield Shopping Complex has annouinced a Coproraotioinal agreement with Parramatta Cityflaceway. The deal will see priority access for the raceway tro the'main shopping centre stage,wtivile Westfields wilhieceive expose at PCFi.

I May 2003

n lEddiie Lawson., four-time World 500oc'Motorcycle champion made a ,return to>Gompeiition aboard a Lexus in the'Grsnd-AHi'Cup at Phoenix International Raceway last weekend.

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ten home of

motorsport] 2003 V8 Supercar Championship* May 25 .. .Winton

.Rd4

June 8

Barbagallo

.Rd5

Jun 29

Hidden Valley ..

.Rd6

Jul 20

OLD Raceway ,

.Rd7

Tracy:We ALL use

Aug 17 .. .Oran Park

.Rd8

Sep 14 ...Sandown Oct 12 Bathurst

,Rd«

§

,Rd 10

Oct 26 ... .Surfers Paradise

.Rd 11

?

*r02\T£>>\. .0 ^orofroi^

emhii

2003 Konica V8 Series* July 6

,Rd4

Phillip Island

,Rd5

Aug 3 ....Winton

Championship* .Rd6

May 18 .. .A1-Ring Jun 1 .....Monaco

.Rd7

Jun 15

Montreal

.rd8

Jun 29

Germany

,Rd9

Jul 6 Jul 20

Magny Cours Silverstone

RdIO Rdll

2003 CART Championship* .Rd5

May 11 ...Germany

.Rd6

May 31 ...Milwaukee

2003 IRL Championship* Rd4

May 25 ...Indianapolis .Texas Jun 7

.Rd5

Jun 15 ...Pikes Peak

.Rd6

Jun 28

.Rd7

Richmond

2003 MotoGP Championship* .Rd 3

May 11 ...Spain

.Rd 4

May 25 ,. .France Jun 8 .Italy

.Rd 5

Jun 15 ... .Catalunya

,Rd 6

Jun 28

,Rd 7

Assen ...

2003 Warld Rally Championship*

May 11 .. .Argentina .Greece Jun 8

.Rd5

jun 22 ... .Cyprus .

,Rd7

Juiy 27 ,..Germany

,Rd8

.Rd6

2003 Australian Rally Championship Raliy Queensland

.Rd2

Sydney

.Rd3 ,Rd4

Aug 10 ., .Rally Of S.A 5 Melbourne

.Rd5

2003 Procar Championship .Rd 3

May 30 .. .Wakefield ...

Jun 13

OLD Raceway

r

.Rd 4

1

ten k.

J

home of

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

Series or events telecast on Network Ten are I

m

1W

.Non Champonship

2003 FIA Formula One

Jun 15 Jul 6

CUliP .

,Rd6

Aug 30 .. .Mallala Oct 11 ....Bathurst

t

marked with an asterisk. Check your local auldes for screening details.

Mario'S Megas

MARIO Andretti is unlikely to return to the cockpit after a terrifying crash while practicing for the Indianapolis 500.

The 63-year-old had what was, in all likelihood, the biggest crash of his long career while driving Tony Kanaan's Andretti Green Racing entry in a test session last month. At the request of his son, team co-owner Michael, Andretti was planning to test and qualify the car before it was taken over by Kanaan, who was injured in a crash at Motegi, Japan, last month.

The 1969 500 winner was closely following former 500 champ Kenny Brack when the Swede's car hit the wall, leaving debris on the track.

Andretti ran over some debris and the air lifted the front of his car off the ground at around 340kmh.

Andretti's Dallara-Honda backflipped three times along the top of the spectator fencing

before landing right-side up but travelling backwards. After coming to a rest, the legendary driver stepped out of the wreck and made his own way to the track's medical centre where he was treated for a cut on his chin and bruising on his heel.

He immediately returned to his home in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

"It's probably the most helpless feeling I ever had in my life," he said. "While you're spinning and hitting, you almost feel like you can still steer, still do something with the brakes, get off the brakes.

You're kept busy doing something.

"When you're up in the air, that's it. That's the truest form of being a passenger. And that is not good, because obviously I knew it was going to have to land somewhere, somehow.

And the fact I didn't know which way, I thought that could be a huge headache.

"I'll say it again; I don't

consider it bad luck," he said.

"I've had good times, friends I've had at Indy. OK, fate maybe wasn't totally with me. I think the luck factor that over the years, whatever scrapes I was involved in, meant to me something was working in my favour.

"I have nothing but fond memories of my experiences at Indianapolis, 1 can tell you that."

Andretti Sr had been running competitive laps in the 223mph zone before the freak accident, which happened with minutes left in the day's session. His son's team now faces the prospect of securing another driver for qualifying, despite having secured the services of Robby Gordon for the 500. The former CART and NASCAR driver will drive the entry nominated for Dario Franchitti, who will miss the race after injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident last month.

- PHIL MORRIS

and,for an encore, he go

AMERICA'S greatest road course. Road America, is back on the CART calendar -for two years.

Six weeks after announcing that the classis Wisconsin track was off the agenda, CART has confirmed that the 6,4km circuit has been 'saved' after intervention from racing legend and CART Board member Mario Andretti, right "I was very, very sad when I all of a sudden saw Road America

2

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disappear from the schedule," said ijj Andretti. "And I was not surprised |b at the reaction that I was seeing S and hearing, fans and competitors S alike. I don't think you can ignore d that. I think you should pay a lot of n attention to that.

V 1 "I asked (CART CEO) Chris f (Pook), 'Chris, do I have your I permission to contact the folks at I Road America and see whether ' there's any grounds for us to be able to just start discussion and try motorsport news

NEWS

d traction control CART star alleges wholesale cheating by manufacturers 1

by PHIL MORRIS CART Championship leader Paul Tracy has publicly admitted what many have suspected from some time - that traction control has long been used in the series, even when it was illegal.

Speaking at a public forum in Milwaukee late last month,the Canadian said that the use of traction control, that was legal in the 2002 season, has been going on for almost a decade.

Responding to a question about tyres, Tracy answered and then, seemingly with further prodding, dropped his bombshell; "Tlie tyres have improved dramatically in the last 10 years.

During that time period, with the manufacturer involved in different companies; whether it be Toyota, Flonda, Ford, Chevy; up until they legalised traction control, since about 1994 everybody - that's why it was legalised; it would all be done under the table and it was unpoliceable.

5

.1'

3 \\

We were not allowed to say (anything)or else you would have your arm cut off hy n your engine supplier -Paul Tracy, above

"There was no way CART could catch the manufacturers doing it, and that's ultimately why they have

legalised traction control- and I think it was probably (the same in)Formula 1. It's not something that you can control. There's only so many(ECU) codes you can get around trying to find it."

After years offinger-pointing between the manufacturers, CART admitted defeat and allowed the use of TC last season. The problem was solved by the implementation of a 'spec' Ford-Cosworth engine this year.

Tracy is well-placed to comment on the matter. When he joined Team Penske m 1993, he worked with Mercedes-Benz engineers before he joined Newman-Haas Racing, which had Ford engines. In his most recent years, he drove for the Honda-backed Team Green.

"Like I said, there were forms of traction control since 1994 when I was with Penske," Tracy continued."Even though people said we didn't have traction control, we actually had it but we were not allowed to say or else you would have your arm cut off by your engine supplier."

Kewell, Viduka, Schumacher?

MICHAEL Schumacher will swap his red racing boots for football studs when he takes part in a charity soccer match on May 14, Raising funds for a Bosnian children's charity, Michael will be joined by Brazilian GP winner Giancarlo Fisichella and Renault drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso. n Brand Motorsport has withdrawn from the Formula 3000 Championship after just one round.

This leaves the series with a mere 18 entrants. Team boss Martin Kendrick says the reason for his team pulling out is due to a dispute with rival team Asfromega, n In other F3000 news, Den Bla Avis have replaced Robbie Kerr with American Philip Giebler. Giebler has experience in many open wheel classes, including Formula Palmer Audi and assorted F3 championships across the world but was a surprise pick for the team. n Brazilian rookie sensation Thiago Medeiros, who currently sits second in the IRL Infiniti Pro Series, set the fastest time in official testing last week at Nashville Superspeedway.

Medeiros was significantly faster than his championship rival, Mark Taylor and hopes he can bridge the 24-point gap. n Vanina Ickx, daughter of former Bathurst champion Jacky, is preparing to enter the classic French Le Man race for the second time.

Vanina, 28, will pilot a Porsche 911 GT3-RS. Jacky won the prestigous 24-hour race six times between 1969 and 1982.

Carrying some weight; Tracy's remarkable comments carry impact because of tbe fact that he raced for almost all of the major manufactures; Mercedes-Benz, Ford and, here with team KOOL Green, Honda.

es and saves Road America to get this thing back on track?'

And Chris says, "You got the green light."

"And then I cailed (Road America general manager) George (Bruggenthies), called several other board members, I wanted to get everybody in the loop. I said, 'Let's start talking. Let's see if we can come to an agreement, something that can be win-win for everyone considering what we're facing, what everyone is facing 7 May 2003

today, the economics of it all and everything, the realistic fact that we've had some drop in attendance there for whatever reason.' And one thing led to another."

As a testament to Andretti's efforts in restoring the race to the program, the 2003 event will be known as the 'Mario Andretti Grand Prix at Road America'.

Having brought CART and the track back together, Mario was

asked whether he couldn't take another shot at bridging the gap between CART and the IRL ...

"I wish I could," Andretti replied.

"I'd do it in a minute, you know, to try to sit down and see if there was any kind of common ground there that could exist between the two series where they both could probably start pulling in the same direction. I think everybody would benefit there, as well.

- PHIL MORRIS

n Australian British Formula 3 hopefuls Will Davison and Will Power have even more to driver for in this year's series. The 'Driver of the Day' award has returned for the 2003 season. The award is given to an entrant who deserves recognition for their driving, but not necessarily a driver who takes home a winner's trophy. Alan van der Merwe was the Driver of the Day in the first round last month. n NASCAR, in conjunction with NASCAR Digital Entertainment and the IMAX Corporation, has begun work on their blockbuster film, which hopes to give fans of Superspeedway a larger-than-life view of the 190mph sport. Although it was announced over a year ago, filming has just started. One of the features of the picture includes a trip through Joe Gibbs Racing's workshop, capturing parts of a workshop that some team bosses would have a fit over! No release date has been announced but we are unsure whether the film will reach Australian shores ...

11

BMW go Panoramic

M3 GTRs tojoin the field for the Bathurst24 Hour?

by MARK GLENDENNING

THE second edition of the Bathurst 24-Hour race may be some months away, but eariy signs already suggest a huge leap in entries competing for outright honours.

Supporting our report in the previous issue of MNews about the possibility of an Audi assault on the Mountain with a pair of TT-R Coupes comes confirmation that Team Abt Sportsline has made inquiries with PROCAR about the event.

No entry has yet been recieved, however. The driving line-up is aiso not yet known, however it is believed that at ieast one candidate lives right on our doorstep.

Shouid the TT-R make it to Austraiia, it may find itseif faced with a private war against a iongtime German rivai, with BMW having aiso expressed an interest in contesting this year's race as a works entrant.

Two BMW M3 GTRs, above right, have been entered for the Nurburgring 24 Hour with a driving line-up spearheaded by Hans-Joachim Stuck, and it is beiieved that a decision over the marque’s participation in Bathurst, which could involve either one or

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both of the Nurburgring cars, will be made after the German event.

Peter Seikel will be back with two Porsche 911 GT3 RS cars, while fellow Porsche-ites Cirtek, below, are said to be keen on as many as three entries. The Porsche numbers could be further bolstered by a two-car entry from Rohan Skea, with Johnny Mowlem said to be among those in line to take the wheel, and Graham Nash, who will run a 911 GTS RS as one of an expected two entries.

Additional international inquiries have also been received from ALMS Porsche team Peterson Motorsport/White Lightning Racing and Kevin

Buckler, who owns the Daytona 24-Hour-winning The Racers Group Porsche team.

Martin Short will make a return visit with the popular Rollcentre Racing Mosler MT900R, and there are plans for a second Rollcentre Mosler to also make the trip provided that the neccessary bucks can be scraped together.

VJ Angelo will also return, this time as one of several competitors entering Carrera Cup Porsches.

Throw a minimum of two Monaros into the mix, and the climb to the top of the Mountain in 2003 suddlenly looks a whole lot longer and harder...

Nation* ANOTHER new machine is set to join the Nations Cup ranks, with Rusty French preparing to take delivery of a new Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.

French expects the car to arrive from the USA shortly, whereupon it will be put through its paces at Calder Park in back-to-back tests against French's Porsche GTS Cup car that he raced at Symmons Plains two weeks ago. The Viper could possibly debut at round five of the PROCAR series at Queensland Raceway in June.

"I'll give them a run, and if the Viper is competitive then I might run that instead of the Carrera Cup car," he said.

The car will most likely compete in Group Two due to the proliibitively high costs of upgrading tlie car to Group One specifications. French estimates that making the necessary changes to areas such as the sump, diff and gearbox would attract a biU in the order of $200,000.

The Competition Coupe,pictured, is based upon the Viper GTS/R race car, and features a coupe-shaped carbon fibre/Kevlar body, and a chassis derived from the 2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10 convertible. Unlike the

N-GT Trofeo underway

MASERATI have started work

on the N-GT spec Trofeo destined to fly the flag for Trident Racing in Group One at the Bathurst 24-Hour race in November.

The N-GT Trofeo will boast a carbon-fibre body, which will be widened to the maximum measurements allowed under NGT regulations. Higher profile rear guards will be added, along vvith wider front and rear suspension, larger rims and a bigger front splitter.

The tyres will be beefed up to 18x11 inches on the front and 18x13 inches on the rear, and the power output vyill be boosted from 413 to over 500 bhp. Dane Alan Simonsen is in the frame to drive the car after strong outings in the Ferrari 360 Challenge at the Grand Prix and Adelaide events, provided the required funding can be drummed up. ' In the meantime, the team has taken delivery of a third Group Two Maserati Trofeo.

- MARK GLENDENNING

12

motorsporl news

NEWS

Cup gets extra bite

SPEAKING of Viper GTS/Rs, French confirmed that he and exNations Cup Viper man Geoff Morgan had approached PROCAR about running one of the Le Mans-

bred machines at the second edition of the Bathurst 24 Hour race in November. The entry, however, has apparently been turned down.

"Geoff and I already had the car waiting over in America and we were going to team up to run it, but we couldn't get the green light from PROCAR," French said.

The 60-year-old says that he still hopes to find a drive elsewhere for the race at Mount Panorama.

The problem is understood to simply be one of eligibility. Group One for the Bathurst 24 Hour race is open to N-GT, British GTO,AH Japan GT(Group 2)and Nations Cup Group One.The GTS/R however is built,as the designation suggests, to the higher GTS specification.

A similar problem is thought to have ruled out the chances of a Ferrari 500 Maranello taking to the Mountain.

- MARK GLENDENNING

Making something out of nothing QUEENSLANDER Rob Nguyen is one of three drivers sharing sixth position in the internationai F3000 Championship after finishing fifth at Barceiona iast weekend.

Nguyen's weekend got off to a rough start when the BCN Motorsport driver qualified on the secondlast row, and took a further turn for the worse when he was hit from behind at the first corner.

But while the incident triggered mayhem behind him, Nguyen’s car was undamaged. Making the most of a bit of good luck and some good driving under the constant pressure from Tony Schmidt and Zsolt Baumgartner, he went on to cross the line and score points for the second time this season.

THE South African motorcycle GP looks set to stay on the MotoGP calender for at least another three years. A letter of intent has been signed by the organising bodies, which should see the popular event confirmed by June this year. n Darren Manning's Champ Car Walker Racing team took on reigning BTCC Champion James Thompson and his Vauxhall team in a pit stop competition in the heart of London's Hyde Park last Wednesday. Used as a promotion for last Monday's CART/BTCC double header, the cars did a couple of slow laps around the famous park. Manning's team won the tyre change war by a good three seconds.

I

GTS/R,the Competition Coupe makes extensive use of production parts in an effort to keep costs down.

Power is delivered from an 8.3 litre VIO capable of producing 520bhp at 5600rpm.

Welkom mat stays out

One of those caught up inthe carnage triggered

by Nguyen's accident, Patrick Friesacher, sustained a suspected broken arm and was being flown home to Austria for further medical examination as MNews went to press.

The race was won by Giorgio Pantano, who led from start to finish, with fellow front row man Bjorn Wirdheim following him home for second. Super Nova’s Enrico Toccadeio made the most of Ricardo Sperafico’s retirement due to a mechanical failure to claim the final spot on the podium.

The withdrawal of the Brands Motorsport outfit ieft just 18 cars to grid up in Spain - the smailest International F3000 field since 1985.

n Lakeside Raceway has been granted permanent heritage listing, becoming the first motorsport circuit in the world to achieve this.

The famous circuit has been under threat for some time now, but the 42-year-old site will now be preserved as a motor racing facility, with the hope of restoring the track into one of the country's premier venues.

Lakeside Motor Racing Enthusiasts has been established to save motor racing at Lakeside Raceway and you can show your support for the famous Queensland circuit by visiting www.lakesideraceway.com n CART has signed public relations firm Speedpool MultimediaService to promote and increase exposure in the German 500, set to run this weekend.

The event attracted a lot of interest and a huge crowd in its debut in 2001, but failed to secure the race last year.

CART hopes the signing of this new deal with the German-based, motorsport specialist group will make the event one of the most popular on the Champ Car calender.

The plans for the forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix are moving on apace with the local government pushing hard to make sure that the track will be finished in plenty of time for the first race which is due next year. It is anticipated that the event will be held at the end of the season, probably as the penultimate race between the Japanese and Bahrain Grands Prix. It seems that there are 5000 people working in the daylight hours and another 5000 working at night. (JS) n The FI teams will meet on Tuesday to discuss the future of traction-control with the FIA. Many of the teams would like to keep the .systems because, they say, if they are banned many millions of dollars will be spent to create similar systems by mechanical means.(JSI

I May 2003

13

It pays

C-

by JOE SAWARD

Briscoe's Euro delight AUSTRALIAN International Ryan Briscoe made a perfect start to the Euro Formula 3 Championship by winning the opening two races of the season at Hockenheitti in Germany.

Briscoe,21,led every lap of each race after qualifying on the front row for both heats.

Dutchman Robert Doombos trailed the Toyota driver home by 1.9s in the first race, but Briscoe blasted his rivals in the second, beating home pole-man Oliver Pla by 13.3s.

The Sydneysider, left and above, was ectatic with his win, yet was surprised with the ease he achieved it.

"This is a fantastic result," said Briscoe from Germany."We had a really good race set-up, but I was certainly not expecting to win by such a big margin in the second race."

Pla beat Briscoe off the line in the second event, but a brave move around the outside into turn two gave the Aussie the lead. He didn't

look back from that point.

Briscoe leads the series by 11 points over Mercedes works driver Markus Winkelhock. Doombos and Pla have nine points a-piece.

Another Aussie,James Manderson, was in amongst the Euro F3 action at Hockenheim.

The Victorian, driving for Swiss Racing Team did not have the pace of his countryman,but made good progess over the weekend,finishing 23rd and 21st in the heats.

"I'm happy to have the first race imder my belt," said Manderson.

"We didn't have high expectations for this round.I really expect to move up the order at Adria."

Within the Euro series is the Nations Cup competition. Thanks to Briscoe's two wins. Team Australia currently leads that championship over Germany.

The next round of the series is next week at the Adria circuit in Italy, where Briscoe's PREMA Powersports team is based.

Back in the hot seat

THERE have been suggestions in Formula 1 circles in recent days that Ferrari may be interested in trying to convince its star driver, Michael Schumacher to accept payment in shares in the Ferrari-Maserati company rather than in hard cash.

There is no evidence to back this up but it makes sense, given the current rumours of a financial squeeze at Ferrari. In June last year the Italian investment bank Mediobanca purchased a 34 percent share in the car company and then sold a variety of shares to other banks to offset the cost. Ferrari’s major problem in recent years has been that much of the profit of the business was used to fund the Formula 1 operations.

When the business was completely controlled by Fiat, this was not a problem but with banks having become involved and the loss of the support of the late Gianni Agnelli, it is believed that there is pressure on Ferrari to make itself more profitable. The easiest way to do that is to cut the costs of the F1 program.

These are secret but are believed to be at least US$200m ($322m AUS)a year. Some of the finance is supplied by the team’s big sponsors Marlboro, Shell and Vodafone with a number of smaller sponsors such as Fiat, Bridgestone, AMD and Olympus also supplying funding. There has been talk for some time of attempts by the team to land a big new sponsorship from Budweiser to JUST days after an earlier deal to compete in the Porsche Supercup fell through, Alex Davison has received an eleventh-hour ticket back into the ultra-competitive series.

Davison, who competes fuU time in the German Carrera Cup for Phoenix Racing, suited up for Walter Lechner Racing for round two of the Supercup championship at Barcelona last weekend, where the category was supporting the Spanish Grand Prix.

"It aU came out of the blue," said an understandably chuffed Davison before the race.

"It's just a one-off deal at the 'moment, but if everything goes moiorsport rbws

NEWS

Bet they call it The Bull Ring’

to own Schu 3 The saga continues (j\Miafone'“

What would you choose? Shares in Ferrari-Maserati, or a mere $30 million (US)a year... help balance the books.

Ferrari also receives considerably more income from the TV rights because of its historical importance in the sport.

This has led to controversy of late because the negotiations between the team and the GPWC appear to include a plan to pay Ferrari US$55m as an

well then there's a possibility to continue."

And as it turned out, things went well. Davison qualified ninth and brought the car home an admirable sixth, one spot ahead of team-mate Walter Lechner Jr. The race was won by a pole-to-flag performance from Pierre Kaffer.

Fingers crossed that this could be the start of something a little more long-term for the Aussie, who one week earlier finished third in the

*●

opening round of the Carrera Cup championship at Hockenheim.

Davison started from fourth on the grid after being held up in the last sector of a flying lap, but wasted little time in making up I May 2003

incentive to be part of the new series pius an additional payment of four percent of all income generated by the sport.

The company is expanding its merchandising operations in an effort to raise more money and profits made from the sale of the new range of Maserati products will also boost the coffers.

positions once the race got underway.

"I didn't get a brilliant start, but Dumas (Romain, who qualified third) got a worse one so I nailed him."

Third soon became second, and soon Davison was challenging for the lead. A slight error while attempting to take the lead relegated Davison back to fourth, where he remained imtil third-placed Herrzler Wolf made a mistake on the penultimate lap, allowing Alex to duck through and secure the final podium spot.

"The aim for the weekend was to get on the podium," Davison explained. "For me, it was important to just be consistent."

- MARK GLENDENNING

THE Williams and McLaren teams are currently taking the FIA to arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland.

This procedure is laid down as the way of solving disputes that arise in connection with the Concorde Agreement, the contract which governs Formula 1 racing. Although the agreement is governed by English law disputes have to be settled under the rules of conciliation and arbitration of the ICC. But this is not the first dispute to be settled at the ICC and in the last few days the two teams have lost a case with Bernie Ecclestone over an agreement which the teams said meant that Ecclestone had to pay them each one percent of the money raised by a private sale of the SLEC company.

They claimed that this was part of an agreement made in 1997 when the new 19982008 Concorde Agreement was being finalised. Other teams had negotiated deals with Ecclestone for percentages if SLEC was floated but only Williams and McLaren insisted on a share of the money if the company was sold was privately.

The team felts that they had documents that covered this eventuality but the ICC apparently did not agree and the claim was rejected as the actual deals involved not SLEC but rather its parent body the Bambino Trust. If the case had been upheld the teams stood to gain US$20.3m ($33m AUS)each, allowing for the interest which would have accrued in the course of the last few years.

We understand that the teams have also be ordered to pay the legal costs of the case which are believed to amount to more than US$1 m.

- JOE SAWARD

THE A1 Ring, which will host the last Austrian Grand Prix in a week from now, has recently been acquired by Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, who has plans for a huge redevelopment scheme. Mateschitz is keen to create a facility which will make money while also providing facilities for the local economy. It is rumoured that he will employ racing consultant Philippe Gurdjian to try to make this happen.

Gurdjian used to be the organiser of the French GP but in recent years has been one of Bernie Ecclestone's fixers and has helped Malaysia and Spain develop their events while also overseeing the reconstruction of the Paul Ricard circuit for Ecclestone. n 1962 FI World Champion Phil Hill went to visit the Minardi factory at Faenza after the San Marino Grand Prix. Hill is attending the Grands Prix this year, looking after his son Derek, who is driving for the Jordan Grand Prix Junior Team in the International Formula 3000 series. But the visit is not related to plans announced last year in the United States that Hill was going to front a Formula 1 team with fellow US FI veteran Dan Gurney. Hill was simply visiting Minardi to chat about Derek's future. n The Union Internationale Motonautique is looking at adopting the HANS system for its Formula 1 Powerboat. The inventor of HANS Dr Robert Hubbert attended a recent meeting of the UIM safety working group in Amsterdam and Ralf Froehiing, UIM President, says that HANS "could be an invaluable device for racing powerboat drivers".

Hubbert will be supplying three HANS devices at the first race of the season in Portimao, Portugal on May 4 and seven-times UIM World Champion Guido Cappellini has agreed to be one of the drivers who will test the device. Froehiing says that if the tests are successful he will ask the UIM to make them compulsory in 2004. n Bernie Ecclestone and his wife Slavics are not as rich as they used to be, according to the latest Sunday Times list of rich British residents. The list is headed as usual by the Duke of Westminster who is estimated to be worth US$7.8bn ($13m AUS). He is followed by packaging mogul Hans Rausig, who is listed as having a fortune of US$7.6bn ($5.7m AUS), while Ecclestone's fortune is done to US$3.8bn ($6,3m AUS) but this has meant he has moved up from fifth to third in the rankings. The highest-paid British racing driver, according to the jists, is Dario Franchitti, who apparently earns more than David Coulthard and Jenson Button. The top British earner for some years has been Eddie Irvine but as he is out of a job he is not on the list this year.

-JOE SAWARD 15

r

GKAND PRIX ^ MR CANADA % / 'l

The race for pole hi

by PHIL MORRIS

f) .nadaJ Hands up if you will race for food: Is- Canada's long-term future in doubt?

Canada loses sponsor THE troubled Canadian flag carrying airline Air Canada has cancelled its sponsorship of the Canadian Grand Prix because it cannot afford to go on backing the event in Montreal.

Air Canada took over the title sponsorship of the race in 1998 after the previous backer Players was banned from backing the race by the country's anti tobacco legislation.

Air Canada stepped in with a five-year deal for the Grand Prix but that comes to an end after this year's event and will not be renewed because Air Canada is cutting back on all of its sponsorship activities because of the adverse conditions in the airline industry following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the recent outbreak of the SARS virus in Asia and Canada.

The Montreal organisers say the loss of the sponsorship in the

future will not affect this year's race, which will go ahead as r—" planned in the middle of June.

It is hoped that a new title sponsor will be found the 2004 event. The favourite to take over the sponsorship is Molson, which used to promote the event in the 1980s. The Molstar Sports and Entertainment company runs the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal CART Champcar races.

STILL in Canada,Toronto's CART World Series round is looking better than it was a week ago after the World Health organisation lifted a travel warning in the city.

The WHO issued the warning because of the number of cases of SARS, the cold-like disease that is causing world concern.

There were worries that crowds would stay away from the June 13 race because of the warnings, - JOE SAWARD/PHIL MORRIS

New Honda Boss 'Great News’ THE announcement that Takeo Fukui is to be the new president of the Honda Motor Company has been greeted with enthusiasm in Formula 1 circles with BAR boss David Richards saying that the appointment is "great news for Honda".

that he will take care of his unfinished business in the sport.

As part of the annoimcement, Honda said that it is aiming for even more impressive sales targets this year than had been planned for with a 7.7 percent hike in sales this year.

This mil mean that the firm will be

At the amiouncement in Japan, the departing president Hiroyuki Yoshino said that his biggest disappointment after five years in the job was that Honda has not been successful in FI. Mr Fukui responded to this by telling Yoshino

building more than three million vehicles for the first time. Honda says that the growtli will come despite the current economic problems and will be largely in Europe and in North America.

-JOE SAWARD

16

By 1:Si

INDYCAR Series points leader Scott Sharp topped the times on shortened opening day of practice for the 87th Indianapolis 500.

Sharp's Delphi Dallara/Toyota ran 228.764mph on a day of high winds and low temperatures. Rain cut short the day's running 90 minutes early.

"A great job from the Delphi guys," Sharp said. "It was a pretty compacted afternoon with the rain. 1 think everybody got some help,some drafting help. Obviously,1 did.

"I think we have a really good car.

We have a strong baseline. I don't know how much we can take from a day like today, but this is certainly a start."

Two-time race wirmer HeUo Castroneves was second on 228.088mph in his Team Penske Dallara/Toyota in his bid to become the first driver ever to win the race three years in a row.Indy 500 rookie Tora Takagi rounded out the top three at 227.884 in Mo Nunn's Panoz G Force/Toyota.

"We know that nothing is going to be easy, nothing is going to fall out of the sky," Castroneves said."We have to keep working."

Rookie Dan Wheldon was fourth on 227.716 in his DaUara/Honda just ahead of team-mate and team co owner, Michael Andretti. The veteran ran 227.461mph in his car.

Gil de Ferran and Scott Dixon each returned to the track for the first time since suffering injuries earlier this season.

De Ferran hit 224.812mph in Team Penske's Panoz G Force/Toyota in his first drive since suffering concussion and minor fracture of the lower back on March 23 at Phoenix.

Dixon's best lap was 224.551mph in the Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota.

Robby Gordon also turned laps as he started the road toward driving in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte, both races on May 25. Gordon ran 220.636mph.

"I got home (Charlotte) from Richmond about 2am and then I woke up at 7am to fly to Indianapolis," Gordon said. "I normally only sleep about five hours a night,so today was no problem."

Sharp-dressed man: Scott Sharp topped the sheets on Day 1.

Do I still fit? Robby Cordon, top, got familiar with open-wheelers again. ,

moiorsDori news

'tara hits 229

I

it by rain at Indianapolis 500

NEWS

It’s Bahraining, it’s pouring A big delegation from the Bahrain Grand Prix was present in Barcelona to see how Formula 1 operates and the information gathered will be put into operation at the track under construction at Sakhir. The circuit authorities are hoping to have the track operating 365 days a year with the major hope being that automobile manufacturers and teams will use the facility for warm weather testing. The circuit will feature six different layouts and a Motor Sports Academy, which is being set up by the Bahrain Motor Federation. The track will have 70,000 grandstand seats and will feature two distinct sections, one in the "oasis" area around the pits and the back of the track on the more desert-like conditions. n Minardi ran only two cars in Friday testing in Barcelona because the team's regular test driver Matteo Bobbi was not up to date with his payments. Bobbi has taken part in a couple of the tests but team boss Paul Stoddart says that he is not willing to provide cars unless drivers agree to pay. Stoddart says he hopes that Bobbi will be back in the car shortly.

Driving Skills 10,Job Security Skills 0: Dan Wheldon topped Michael Andretti on the opening day.

A little bit of Diss PEDRO de la Rosa kept quiet last year when his Jaguar Racing team-mate Eddie Irvine was holding forth on the subject of the Spaniard's abilities as an F1 driver. The two men did not much enjoy their time as team-mates.

Now however Pedro has got his own back. He has become a test driver at McLaren while Irvine has been unable to find a new job in Formula 1, despite the fact that he has apparently offered himself in a testing role with former team Jordan.

"I would just like to wish Eddie all the best in his new job selling houses in Miami," said de la Rosa, "I'm sure he'll be number one at that. I am in FI and he isn't and the only way he can get in the newspapers is by criticising Schumacher, Barrichello, Button or myself. I wish him luck."

Irvine does own several properties with the money he made from FI, and some of those are in Florida.

- JOE SAWARD 7 May 2003

n Eddie Jordan is endorsing the career of a 17-year-old British driver Adam Langley-Khan, who is racing this year in the Renault V6 Eurocup.

Langley-Khan is driving for the DAMS team but has yet to make any major impact on the scene. This is LangleyKhan's first full season in motor racing. n The Orange mobile phone company has cut back on its motor racing sponsorship activities after its unhappy relationship with the nowdefunct Arrows Formula 1 team but this has not stopped the Dutch affiliate Orange Nederland from agreeing a three-year sponsorship deal with the Spyker sports car team.

The team will now be known as Team Orange Spyker and will feature drivers Flans Flugenholz, Norman Simon and Tom Coronel at the forthcoming Le Mans 24 Flours.

Matey, I told ya, Eddie don't work here no more: de la Rosa discusses the latest Eddie Irvine news with the man who replaced him, Mark Webber.

n Toyota is compiling a list of the FI journalists who have covered the most Grands Prix and is planning an informal dinner at Monaco for those who have attended more than 300 Grand Prix. Seven journalists claim to have attended more than 500 event with France's Jabby Crombac the man at the top of the list with 570 races. There are 25 other journalists who claim to have attended more than 300 events, although one or two of the claims may not stand up to closer scrutiny.

-JOE SAWARD II

NEWS

Where’s Jason?

JASON Plato's BTCC return is on the skids it seems. A lack of confirmed sponsors is understood to be behind the delay, meaning that team boss Gary Ayles is running Gavin Pyper on a race-by-race deal. n Independent BTCC racer Rob Collard was fastest at Thruxton recently in testing for the race at the end of May. The ex-works Astra headed the times from Colin Ttirkington's MG. n Spanish manufacturer SEAT revealed its unexpectedly potent new Cupra GT racing prototype at the Barcelona Motor Show this week. The new competition car, a joint development work by SEAT Sport and the SEAT Design Centre, is powered by a mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged, 3-litre V6 engine of Audi origin with an output of over 500bhp, driving through a six-speed sequential-shift gearbox.

The running gear is housed in a tubular shell built around a central structure with intertwining rollover bars. The front sub-chassis is reinforced by the arch formed by the dash beam and windscreen hoop. The reinforced rear lends rigidity to the central section and the tubular structure, with a series of buttresses to distribute the loadings in several directions. The bodywork, with widened wheel arches, a rear aerofoil and a front splitter, is in advanced composites. The new car is equipped with a double wishbone suspension system with Ohiins 'coilover' dampers, and a braking system with 378mm/355mm diameter AP Racing ventilated discs. The final version of the SEAT Cupra GT is expected to race in this year's Spanish GT series and SEAT Sport will commence building cars to customer order later this year.

-ADDISOIM/SPURRIIMG

LighB on,.no-one Dome

WE thought we better run a photo of the Lola-Dome Formula 3 car this issue because we are not sure when (if) the car will be seen again.

The British project has suffered a set-back after Sweeney Racing announced that it wouldn't be taking the car to the next two UK F3 events.

In addition,the Sweeney Racing team has been renamed PI Motorsport, a name operated by team engineer Roly Vincini,leading to speculation over the

financial state of the team. A Lola spokesman said the car should return to the series in late May and a new team is being sought to develop the car.

Team Avanti,run by ex-Benetton man Nigel Clyde, is one outfit under consideration.

That's Adam Carroll driving the car in the UK last month, above. Looks nice but then, so did Lola's last Formula One car...

-DAVID ADDISON

Peugeot does the numbers sutton~im.i)(€s.

PEUGEOT is set to enter the ETCC in 2004.

The French company is expected to launch a team of 307 models into the series next year, after homologation experts from the company visited Magny Cours recently to look at the series rules.

It is unclear who would build the cars, although Danish team backed by KW Brunn is keen to step up to the international series.

There are also suggestions that the 307 may form the basis as the successor to the all-conquering 206 World Rally car. It currently races the 406 Coupe in the French Championship, right - DAVID ADDISON

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Alzen quits on eve of DTM over 'Rubens’ role GERMAN Uwe Alzen quit the Mercedes-Benz DTM squad the day before the opening race of the series at Hockenheim last month.

The 35-year-olc) was to have driven for the HWA team in the series. His seat was filled by Dutchman Christijan Albers, whose place at Team Rosberg was taken by Patrick Huisman.

Despite both Alzen and Mercedes-Benz making the usual polite noises about the split, they admitted that there was a "difference of opinions" on several issues. There have been suggestions that Mercedes-Benz was keen to 'protect' not only lead driver Bernd Schneider but also have Alzen run tailgunner for up-and-coming youngster Marcel Fassler.

"We now have different opinions on the further development of Uwe's targets and ours," said Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.

"Therefore, we jointly agreed to go separate ways. Uwe is one

ADAC of the really fast and talented drivers in touring car racing and we wish him all the best for his further career."

"I thank the AMG and the HWA teams for the last two years in the DTM," Alzen, above, said in a statement. "However, I'd now like to aim for new targets in motor sport."

Alzen joined Mercedes from the rival Opel team in 2001. He finished runner-up in the championship that season, with two wins. Last season, he took one v\'in and finished in sixth place in the final points.

Thommo x 2 JAMES Thompson got his 2003 British Touring Car Championship campaign off to a near-perfect start with two wins in the opening round at Mondello Park in Ireland.

After a downpour prompted a Safety Car in Race 1 (gee, this is sounding familiar) Thompson took over from poleman Yvan Muller to take Race 1. The Frencltman was second from Alan Morrison's Honda, with Warren Hughes(MG Sport) third.

The skies also opened in Race 2,

with Thompson holding out Muller to win from Tom Chilton and Paul O'Neill(Vauxhall Astra) Matt Neal gambled in Race 1, staying out on slicks ahead of the field but he eventually had to pit for wets,leaving him well back. In Race 2, Morrison was the big loser, making his compulsory stop (for slicks) a lap before the rain hit. Behind the two 888 Vauxhalls, teenager Tom Chilton took third in his Honda.

Points: Thompson 33, Muller 27, Morrison 16, Chilton 10, Hughes 9.

Jorg of the Jungle

T1 p

I

l BIMIPUNKT.

I I 3

JORG Muller has dominated the second round of the European Touring Car Championship at Magny Cours.

In front of a crowd of 47,000, the German's BMW 3201 won , both races and Muller now leads the series by 12 points.

Nicola Larini (Alfa 156) was second in both races, while

BMW's Andy Priaulx and Duncan Huisman shared the final podium spots, Huisman the first independent driver to make a podium finish in the series.

Jordi Gene was classified sixth in Race 2, the brother of Williams FI tester Marc Gene giving SEAT points in only its second appearance in the Championship.

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NEWS

Every one a Maserati ITALIAN racecar manufacture Picchio has begun building Daytona Prototypes with 4.2-litre V8 Maserati engines in its factory near Teramo.

The Maserati V8 has not yet been approved for the Rolex Sports Car Senes, but Grand-Am competition director Mark Raffauf has had "an open line of communication" with the Italian sportscar company.

“Maserati have developed the engine to meet our rules," he said.

"Their plan is to ship an engine later this year."

This will be tested at Pro Motor Engineering, which is subcontracted

by Grand-Am to approve the Daytona Prototype engines. The first, BMW powered Picchio DP2 is being raced in the 2003 Rolex series by G&W Moiorsports.

RAIN,Safety Cars and the country's most polular driver taking the win. A longer race with two compulsory pit stops.

No,it was not a television replay of the Phillip Island V8 Supercar round but the opening DTM race of 2003 at Hockenheim did show similarities to the PI event. When the fuss cleared, it was Bernd Schneider and MercedesBenz that ruled the day.

Tlie whole field started the race on sHcks, poleman Schneider leading the way from team-mate Jean Alesi. With the rain getting heavier, the leaders pitted for wets under the Safety Car, though several drivers tried to ride out the storm.

Sclmeider and Alesi continued to lead when the field pitted for slicks later, but the big winner was Laurent Aiello. The Frenchman's Audi was able to get by Alesi but spun soon after and, when he had to make a compulsory stop later, Marcel Fassler's Benz got by into second place, where it stayed until the end of the race.

"This was a perfect start into the season," said Schneider after the race. "I hope that it will continue like this. But the others will hardly give me that pleasure."

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Manager Norbert Haug described Sdmeider's performance as the best he had seen in their 13-year assocation.

Alesi took fourth ahead of Chistijan Albers, the Duth youngster giving Mercedes four of tire top five placings.

The best of tire Opels was Scot Peter Dumbreck in sixth, ahead of Timo Scheider (Opel)and Mattias Ekstrom (Audi).

A fine sight for CAMS: The mules climb the fence to welcome home winner Bernd Schneider, above.

Marcel Fassler and Laurent Aiello, below, put on a fine scrap for the minor placings.

r

n The new Panoz racecar for the GTS division of the American Le Mans Series will be powered by a twin-turbocharged engine based on the stockblock Audi V8, prepared for racing by Elan-owned Cosworth and badged for Panoz. n Specialist UK sportscar maker Caierham Cars has been enraged by a decision by ADAC to decline its Seven as an entry for the 2003 Nurburgring 24 Hours. Last year a race version of the Seven Superlight R400 won its class in the historic Nordschleife event and finished 11th overall from 200 starters, embarrassing more sophisticated German-made opposition. n Former Prost Grand Prix Formula 1 test driver Jonathan Cochet has been signed to race Le Mans Prototypes for Courage Competition in 2003. The former French Formula 3 Champion, who contested the Nissan World Series in 2002, will co-drive David Halliday, the son of French rock star Johnny Halliday, in the French team's C60 and C65 chassis.

- QUENTIN SPURRING

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Lamborghini and Maserati set for FIA GT series

- :

.

EXPECT to see works teams from Lamborghini and Maserati in next year's FIA GT Championship.

Stephane Ratel, the series organiser, has responded to approaches by the two Italian companies by proposing a scheme to allow volume automobile car manufacturers to enter factory teams.

These are currently barred from the series, but Ratel will ask the FLA to allow them under conditions that would release similar cars to

'-'V

privateers. The idea is that the factory teams would be allowed to operate up to two cars provided that four more were released to independent teams.

This is fine with the Italian

■r-

companies. Lamborghini president Werner Mischke said: "It's necessary to build up the image of our company,so we have to do some sports activities as soon as possible."

Lamborghini plans to enter both classes of the championship in 2004 by building racecars based on its Murcielago model for the GT division and on its Gallardi for the N-

This

fop«

GT category.

Meantime Maserati competition director Claudio Berro confirmed that it would compete in the second half of the 2004 series, prior to a full season in 2005. Berro also confirmed that there will be a GT racing version of the Ferrari 575,and Ratel also named Ford-owned Aston Martin as a potential entrant. This news has not thrilled everyone.

"They'll have to race against five old Vipers, because all the other competitors involved will leave the series," said Lister Cars owner Laurence Pearce, who has nevertheless arranged an FIA homologation extension for the Lister Storm into 2004.

Retirement series for FI rejects FORMER Formula 1 drivers Mauricio Gugelmin, Luciano Burti, Raul Boesel, Chico Serra, Ingo Hoffmann and Maurizio Sandro Sala are among the big Brazilian names due to contest the new, $350,000 Brazilian Super Megane series later this year.

Another former Grand Prix driver, Pedro Diniz is behind the one-make 'silhouette' series, which will use spaceframe chassis equipped with 310bhp Renault V6 engines and sixspeed sequential-shift gearboxes.

-QUENTIN SPURRING 22

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Gibernau takes for fallen tea factory 999 had to overcome early leader Regis Laconi (NCR Ducati) and then he held off Gregorio Lavilla's Suzuki, above right, to take a narrow Race 2 win.

"1 passed Regis on the main straight purely because my bike is so fast," admitted Hodgson after the race. "There was no skill in it but I was relieved to get by him."

In the second outing, Lavil la and Suzuki wildcard Atsushi Watanabe had their GSX-R1000 stoked right up, the Spaniard pushing Hodgson all the way to the flag.

"That was the best race of the season for me without doubt," Hodgson said after the race. "If you win a race by a distance

then it just becomes like qualifying. I am a racer and I want to race with other bikes like today, it was fun!"

The races started badly for Troy Corser. The Aussie had his right hand knocked off the bar at the first corner and, unable to brake, tumbled into the kitty litter, taking three other bikes with him. One was Frankie Chili, who took third in Race 2.

The opening race podium was filled by Laconi and James Toseland, who got the better of Ruben Xaus (Ducati) and Lavil la.

Xaus was fourth in Race 2 from Toseland and Hitoyasu Izutsu, having a one-off appearance on a factory Honda RC51.

Points: Hodgson 150, Xaus 106, Lavilla 75, Toseland 67, Laconi 63, etc.

<r‘

'Tears, not fears; Gibernau fought off Rossi, sounded a warning by leading early; be was

motorsport news

BIKE NEWS

Chris takes 10 point iead I

WE will not see the likes of Daijiro Kato in MotoGP racing again - but the spirit of the former world champion was in evidence at the highest level at the South African Grand Prix.

emotional win m-mate Kato

top, to win in South Africa. Bayliss, above, a strong fourth at the finish on his Ducati.

1 May 2003

After taking an emotional pole position, Sete Gibemau scored a cool victory in the race, withstanding a late-race challenge from Valentino Rossi to take the win, which he dedicated to his former team-mate. who died from injuries sustained at Suzuka last month.

"I can't use words to describe this victory but I felt Daijiro with me all the way," said a teary Gibemau.

"I won but it was a victory for everyone in the sport today and I hope this feeling stays with us for the rest of our lives."

Gibemau,30, had to come from behind to run down Rossi,PramacPons star Max Biaggi and early leader Troy Bayliss. The Australian's Ducati looked superb in only his second MotoGP start,leading the first 11 laps on the svelte Italian V4.

"I was thinking:'I shouldn't be out in front just yet, not for another couple of races'," said the Taree racer.

The start of the race was delayed for almost an hour after the Suzuki of Kenny Roberts dropped oil on the formation lap, and then three contenders were eliminated even before the first corner. Colin Edwards lost control of his Aprilia and, after bouncing off John Hopkins's Suzuki, took out team-mate Noriyuki Haga and the Proton of Jeremy McWilliams. None of the riders were hurt.

While Honda and Ducati looked good,Yamaha's pre-season promise appears to be coming undone. Still sore after a crash at Suzuka, Alex

Barros took fifth, 20s behind Gibemau, while Norick Abe,Carlos Checa, Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano filled positions 8-11. Clearly, work needs to be done if they are to challenge the leaders soon.

Hopkins was 13th and Roberts a disgruntled 15th on the troublesome Suzukis, while Andrew Pitt and Garry McCoy with second-last and last on the underdeveloped Kawasakis.

Points: Rossi 45, Gibemau 38, Biaggi 36, Bayliss 24, Barros 19, Hayden 18, etc.

PERFECT is a big word - but Manuel Poggiali is still perfect after taking his second 250cc GP win at . the Welkom track.

The Italian led home the shadowing Randy de Puniet and Franco Battaini in an all-Aprilia podium,Sebastien Porto 12s behind the winner on his Honda.

Ant West scored a strong sixth place on his Team Zoppini Abmzzo

Aprilia.

Points: Poggiali 50, Battaini 27,Porto 26, Aoyama,de Puniet and Rolfo 20, Nieto 19, etc.

CHRIS Vermeuien has taken a 10point championship lead in the World Supersport Championship. The Aussie, below, finished fifth at Sugo.

Katsuaki Fujiwara was chasing wild card and race leader Ryuichi Kiyonari when he crashed on the lap 9, despite the fact that Kiyonari was not eligible for points. Kiyonari then lost the on the final lap while racing Christian Kellner. Stephane Chambon was third from Tekkyu Kayo, while Fujiwara got a single point after remounting.

n The WCM team was unable to compete in South Africa after the FIM Stewards ruled that its Yamahapowered bike was illegal. Earlier, there had been a decision (voted three to one) that the Harris-framed bike be allowed to compete. WCM Director Peter Clifford said of the decision; "The imbalance is quite extraordinary; the damage done to us in not allowing us to compete compared with damage done to no one that I can see had we raced while under appeal." The team is considering its next move, including possible legal action. n If you are in Tokyo on May 18 and would like to pay your respects to Daijiro Kato, Honda will be conducting a memorial to the Japanese hero. His 2001 championship winning Honda NSR250 will be on display, as well as photos and memorabilia. The function will be at Honda Motor Co Ltd. Welcome Plaza (1st floor) and Honda Hall (2nd floor) 2-chome 1-1, Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku Tokyo.

SPANISH teenager Dani Pedrosa won a last-lap battle to take the 125cc race.

Youichi Ui led all but the final lap of the race on his Aprilia but Pedrosa charged on the final lap to hold out Andrea Dovizioso and Steve Jenkner.

Ui was fourth at the flag, while Casey Stoner took 10th place on his Aprilia.

Arnaud Vincent scored KTM's first GP points with 12th place on the Red Bull-sponsored bike.

Points: Pedrosa 33,Jenkner 32, Dovizioso 31, Peragini 25, Ui 23, Giansanti and Cecchinello 21, etc.

n Welkom race winner Sete Gibemau carried Kato's number on his bike, helmet and leathers, but MotoGP riders were not the only ones to show their respects last week. Sugo SBK winner Neil Hodgson also had the Japanese star's #74 on his helmet as a mark of respect.

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OPINION

a5

i

mruled the Werld wrinkles in the potential battle between Bernie ONE of the interesting ‘r Ecclestone's Formula One Administration and the Grand Prix World Championship is almost rhissable. .

It is this; as part of a settlement between the FOA and the FIA .some'tirine back, Bernie, in effect, holds the intellectual copyright to the c.urrerif FT regulations. Should '■.■-i and it is a b/g,'should' - the ,.i,|nanufacturer-backed GPWC gain the rights to racing after the ■ conclusion of the current Concorde Agreement, it will not be able to 'clone' the existing rules governing the build of FI ● cars. . For that reason alone, I am barracking for the GPWC Who, in their right mind, would want to clone the current FI cars? For the last four years, we have seen FI racing at an all-time low, with grids of cars with way too much aerodynamic grip, too little chassis grip, more bells and whistles than an X-Box and all the 'Wow' factor of Effie's latest TV show.

Add to that the fact that the current breed of FI cars have, fer Chrissake, treaded tyres and they are intercontinental, ballistic ugly.

A panel of experts recently voted Ferrari's F2002 the greatest GP car of all time. Yes, Maranello's just-retired red rocket was successful, way fast and reliable to the point of monotony (well, Michael's was) - but please. Give me a lovely Lotus 72 (or a 79, or a 49 for that matter), McLaren's MP4/4, above, a Williams FW07, or a Maserati 250F any day of the 7 May ;?003

week. For me, an F2002 prompts all the emotional response of a remote control garage door opener. Efficient yes, but no 'Oooohh' factor.

Righto, if I think that we need asorules overhaul, what would I do?

First things first; the current engines are irrelevant. While manufacturer involvement in cranking out 850-horsepower

Next: slicks, please. FIA boss Max Mosley backed the current rules with the wish of seeing FI cars behave in the dry like they do in the wet. If you want that Max, install sprinklers, because this has not worked. Seven-year-olds can race on slicks; I think the rest of us are up to it.

While we are on the 'control' bandwagon: control rear wings, please. These damn things are glued down too hard, so let's have

Fop me, an F2002 prompts all the emotional response of a remote control garage door opener.

II

{and more) 3-litre VI Os is at an alltime high, who else cares? When was the last time you bought a VIO-powered road car? (those smart alecs with Vipers and VW's new 4WD diesel on order, hush up). No-one drives them.

Maybe what we need is a V8 with a maximum of 2.5-litres to pull the horses back to a saner 700 or so. While I do understand that the cost of producing brandnew engines is sky-high, the makers are already doing that every year, so with two years' notice, no harm, no foul.

Next; traction control and launch control are abominations on the sport. If anyone can think of a better way to get rid of them, I am happy to listen but, for now, we need a control ECU. Maybe we can adjust them to accommodate different firing orders but, apart from that, build them, seal them, hand them out randomly and let's see some wheelspin.

the same wing on all cars on all tracks, with a lot less downforce (70 percent is a good start) and more drag (to slow the cars down on the straights). It can be done if we lock all the aero gurus in a room until they come up with a solution; they have spent years ruining the sport and now they can do something for the fans for a change.

Next, gears-on-a-stick, if you please. In the last 15 years, FI's development of automatic and semi-automatic gearboxes has been amazing: you can now buy sub-$20 grand roadcars with button-operated transmissions.

Fine. But enough is enough. Let's see Rubens and Juan steer through the Mirabeau one-handed for a change. And; if you want to operate the clutch with your hand, go race motorcycles. In cars, it's a left-foot thing.

W

'hat else? Don't touch the chassis, they work, they are

¥

With Phil Branagan safe and they can even accommodate Justin Wilson. Just give them a wider track.

Cut testing down to 20 days a year, let everyone run (three cars) on Friday mornings and keep the TV images coming from all the cars. Take as many wets as you like to the race (come on guys, how much money did you really save in Brazil?) and ask all the manufacturers to provide a second engine supply if asked.

I feel much better now. Oh, and one more thing; Martin Brundle is doing a grand job, but somebody please give ITV Neil Crompton's phone number . .. t is with great sadness that we include Possum Bourne's obituary in this issue of Motorsport News.

I cannot pretend to have been Possum's best mate but that never stopped me from feeling that he treated me like I was whenever we caught up, whether on the phone or in person. For that characteristic alone, his passing is a great loss.

Add to that his immense contribution to the sport and his extraordinary ability behind the wheel and the gravity of this terrible loss is all the greater. To his family, his friends and many fans, we share your sadness.

Godspeed, Possum.

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^ „ They'are not-J^ftels^'e ^ _ from the team_s PR included . grapefruit'iuice?;^2 thmg/'Jshe saiCaRd from'hen the;word "optimising" and so asked the waitress -tpne j concluded that itwould my mind drifted off into the while ofderingTny breakfast^at be best to leave her to her blue sky above the.track,jr the airport the other day. . own devices. She was clearly .tried to rationalise that if the ' ^Oh norwe don^t have going tq be unpleasant"to'' - grapefruit incident had not upset me,there was no grapefruit juice," she said with. everyone and I had decided reason why a bit of ^ejong of someone'whq had " that come what may I was ^ got up too.early:^ goiqg^^to remain happy and : optimisation should cause any notiet a 4:30-in tffe morning' .destabilisation.

"You'dpn.'TJiaye grapefruit -iuice?"jl.'said, an eyebrow wefl -start affect my mood on the- ~ ^ // Im'ust dash to maximise . on'its wa^o the.heavens^ way to the Spanish'GP.^ -y -'"No," she said. "But we've, ■the potential of my got pink grapefruit juice. /\-n'd so J' jumped on tbe performance," I wanted to say but instead ] gave a cheery -"Oh,d'see,"rreplied."Does .if^Easyjet and for flew off to. wave and wandered down to that not come o'ut of a " Barcelona. The big story was Jaguar where I hoped I might grapefruit?" ' * whether^or not Jaguar Racing hear something a little less was. goingTo dump Mark "It is not the same thing at ethereal.

'Webber's team mate Antonio ail," she snarled, with^ considerably less charm than Pizzonia and replace him vvith ^ "It is in the preview," came . Alexander'Wurz. the MGM lion. the rather waspish reply to a "That's funny,"f said.'" Are '^Irhurrie'djoff to McLaren to . perfectly civilised question, .. "lathe preview?" 1 mulled hot all grapefruit yellow and get the official line. out Joud,.trying to optimise The speech that followed round and called grapefruit?"

26

my feelings towards Jaguar Racing.!was going to remark that previews were only useful for lighting fires but in the modern era when they are in electronic form they are utterly worthless. So, not -. wishing to hurt anyone's feelings I bit my tongue. In the end I was given a copy of this great work of literature and discovered that according to Jaguar Racing the media was to blame for all the speculation about the future of poor old Pizza Man. "Contrary to the wave of media speculation around us on the subject of Antonio's future," said the statement, "he will race this weekend in Barcelona and we will continue to support his development and growth. Both Jaguar

nationa1^^-<d®-faahfo^^^ home '^d|i^|ijintera^‘i^f^e.dQtG]^e^-:hievn(s^^;|^l:on^h''saying r - tnuths. c t ' ;oMiis^evaiQ[^^r^6lah3bi^ -tiiat Pizzoni&had.©ne::fast-- “ ~ And'^et here was tho^entire fT“f| press corps, getting excited ^ j — -j- Vt=»;:>g|ianice5?tfif^wer^w^ . ^Gouttho^one negative thihgi ^^i^ftM^j^oyaht^H^asEteare -.-^^itfia|«Kai#aa'ase^th^r'that Jaguar has at the moment .

'Jtfpaj'ct ne^rjhayesmadfe;ifejii^?^supd^d "waVe'ofpfedia; pdbfic^reliitiSns.*-T^ -^“■^^i':apdfculait|pi5''~wliic!^^e4ea^ ~ ' wasJngw e'dwdjei^lnif?^ ’ ^ - ~,,^ufelyj?lTthought,thereis a ^ - wi^UbJJe ralafions problenti^^I%aft%red-^£^^~;^^'v~gnap5fiiiit.#ilnjt.p -here. And Id iblannif the press ^ ^ Z^padddcR^foJ^^Sy a*L'^S||^Bgc^V'-&Srt'|‘fai!ed hdrril^iy^ struck - ; when yo® yourself are ^ ' way-jiSytn^hetradkfjigipfedliR-Lr^ei^^^ Jaguardiiijfferesponsible for the stories is ●' -,~ if th^onwei!^ibns^!^dli§d^>raiidd!^d|^'V^' inip:ressiwe—- just madness. :.iXMifb .tearn:^l^j;edaj^)ndia^ ^-^r^oyeT^v^itllVldrk Wdb^ - It is njot the first time that . the subject wCTe just a- ''.e^ergin#as amew star.lihe such things have happened in .^figment of mVJmaginatipn.* - tdam:is full .oftsensible people ● , f1 and nor will it be the last.

Were tbeyjelling^rne ilea frodi.down4o-eartb places like -<|.:don't mindi being told . - “^^afi^tffey toia»me'that. . r. VdrRsMre/wh^J gfeet you w» - about-"the optimisation otthe ” ,' iPizz^nia was<gOihgi tp-get one ^a Ifomejy "liow-do?"'i^lfthe * technical package" if it is done \ lalt chance in liarceldhal% nevv.SpaperS Shoufd be full of in a sweet and affable way but t j hadijjfreaily agreedTSot to _ Jfguar's achidfertient and; - .j do object to being preached - -Wilite about it ig^il»|jTe)ipFia^i -»"stgries about- WebbeVthe .

Wby PR'people who are, to decided exactiy^whatlo»3o>?" ^stron^jawed neW%ero, ~ myimind^ the FI equivalent of And had the team press officer ’ eoihing out with^me good" ' -blockers in American football -,

you iknow; the players who run ahead of the stars and knock Over the attackers before they ' have the chance to chaiienge the impoijtant people, they are the cannon4odd'er of the f t armies, they are thrown into the trenches with no information about what is really ihappening.'Few survive for long. Some of those who do surwveseem to end up being "shell-happy" and: got to feel that they are somehow superior beings and they develop a twisted belief that the press is somehow not important to them, nor to their team.

Perhaps when this happens they might be better off selling pink grapefruit juice.

Not that it is the same thing at all ...

27

Five minutes with...

Simon Wills

Last year, he tinove for tour itifferent teams,in 2003,it's the new Team DynamBc, AdeiaiUe amta Commodore VY. After a strong run at Eastern Creek the former Komca champ spoke to PtiiL BRANAGAN MOTORSPORT NEWS: Did the speed you showed last weekend surprise you?

SIMON WILLS: Not really, no.

We were trying to get into the top 10 and that would have put us over the moon but to be as high as we were was a little out of the ordinary!

It's part of the learning experience for the team. It was the first time for the team to be in this position but I have already filed it away in the memory banks for Winton.

MN: Is it hard to do a run-off 'cold', as it were?

SW: It's something you have to get used to. Marcos Ambrose and Mark Skaife are doing it each weekend and you have to learn all the little knick-knacks that go into it.

I was focusing on the next corner, the next corner and I got mixed up in the gearbox and picked sixth instead of fourth. I will not do that next time. You need to have that rhythm.

MN: It's a double-whammy; a brand new car and a brand new team. How hard is that?

SW: There is a bit to learn. There are some relationships: I knew Oscar Fiorinotto from before and he is working very hard to get us to perform better. We work together very well and the other people I have worked with before also fit in well. We have some good knowledge in the team.

We thought we might be up to speed pretty fast, but not this quick!

MN: Apart from your diverse background,in V8 Supercars you have driven for a number of teams.

SW: I have and I have learned a lot. With the team I was with for most of last year, I didn't get any help at all and I was thrown off 28

the deep end. It was all new and I was the number three driver.

This year, I have my own guy, Oscar. That helps a lot; you can knuckle down and get to work. I feel a lot more comfortable. It's just a matter of working away and knowing that you are all working to make the car better.

whether they are from Stone Brothers, Team Kiwi, Imrie, wherever. They are all set-up differently.

MN: How has the move to Adelaide worked out?

SW: I love it. It's a lovely place and we are the 'one team' there.

\\

Mallala is a lot better test track than somewhere like Queensland Raceway, where a lot of people test" - Wills on life in the ‘wilderness’

MN: How similar are the set ups on the cars you and Jason Richards drive?

SW: Very close. We were identical for a while there this weekend but we went into the race with one little change on the rear of one of the cars.

Having said that, our race pace surprised us a little. We knew that the speed in qualifying was there but to come out with a race result like that, we were over the moon.

MN: You have a 'full' VY, with an Aurora engine. Do you have advantages in some places?

SW: It feels strong down low but it's hard to compare cars.

You can knuckle down and do your own thing without anyone else around.

The other thing is the way that the team pulls together in an environment like that. The team goes out on the weekends we are not working and has a good time. We fit in really well. It's like a family.

MN: But the downside is, potentially, testing at a track where there is no race. How does that work out?

SW: I don't see it as a disadvantage at all. We have Mallala and that's a good track. You get to do a lot with braking and traction; the only thing we can't test there is high-speed corners.

I thought that was going to hurt us for Eastern Creek. But it really didn't seem to; the cars were fast right away. There are a lot of ways you can get on top of that and we work at that. Mallala is a lot better test track than somewhere like Queensland Raceway, where a lot of people test.

MN: What do you think has been the biggest challenge so far this year?

SW: Hard to say - there's been a lot of hurdles. One of them is pitstops; here, our fuel stop cost us about 200 metres on the track, which is hard to make up.

We passed Ingall and lost it when we pitted. Lots of teams have somewhere to start but we had to build everything from scratch and that takes time to get right.

A crash puts us behind the 8ball because that has to be fixed at the cost of working on the other car.

MN: Winton next, a test track for a lot of teams. A hard prospect?

SW: No doubt. But it is like Mallala as well. We will work hard and we assume it will be a tough ask - but we may just get under a few people's noses at Winton ... motorsport news

Canadian Clubber

Jacques Villeneuve is facing what is iikely to be his finai season with British American Racing. With a renewed team and a new, fast team-mate in Jenson Button, he has a lot on his plate - but he still found time to talk to ADAM COOPER

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IKE Toyota and Jaguar, BAR has clearly made great strides since last season, but has yet to really come up with the goods.In all three cases, the potential has put a spring in people's steps. Now it's time to get some hard results.

"It's encouraging that we are finally competitive," says Jacques, tucking into a post-quaUfying steak and chips.

"But that's the level of competitiveness that was expected in the first season. It's coming late, but at least it's coming. Right now the car is really, really good. The engine and top end power is very good. We're still lacking in bottom end and the engine is too heavy. These are the points that need to be changed."| The 005 is the first BAR developed S under the start-to-finish supervision s of Geoff Willis and Jacques says that ° the improvement is obvious: "You just have to look at where we are. The car is a lot better, it's very driveable,it's fun to work with. The But surely you need the right boss car was good from the first lap in to motivate the people in the factory and so on? winter, even with the first spec of engine. We seem to improve at the "Results motivate people." same rate as the other teams, which Alas, results are what BAR hasn't didn't happen the previous seasons." achieved yet this year.

The equipment is better, but what "No,but everybody knows that we about the rest of the package? This are a lot more competitive, and time last year Jacques was still getting everybody is upbeat,because of the used to the new management style of winter testing. Even though we didn't David Richards, and coming to terms get the results we wanted in the first few races, a lot of it was dowm to rain with the fact that Craig Pollock was or whatever. There was a lot of luck no longer team boss. Most observers involved. But we felt we were in there agree that the team appears to have found a good direction, but Jacques fighting." says it's not an issue.

Jacques has at least been noticed "What makes a difference is how this year. He has consistently looked good the car is. The management and good in Friday's low-fuel qualifying marketing side, that brings more or sessions, often after problems in less sponsors in, and that's about it. practice have restricted his track time.

For me that's secondary. What is His third place in Australia, after a important for me is that we get a single flying lap in the morning, was good car, and that's Geoff's side, stunning. Villeneuve is well aware that's the technical department." that, in effect, he is racing for his notorsport news

'4

INTERUIEW

future this year. He has to impress.

"I don't have a contract and the championship was many years ago," he says."Even though people see how hard I've worked and all tliat, and how I've stuck up for the team and didn't blast the team, when it's time to sign a contract they decide to forget about that! That devalues you.'

Takuma Sato has been saying that he hopes- or even expects - to be racing for BAR next year. Do the sums,and you soon realise that means there's no room for Jacques.

He's not impressed by the test driver's very public claims.

"I'm amazed that the team allows that to happen. Jenson obviously has another year of contract, and that would mean there's no room for me.

Until it's official, I don't understand how the marketing side can let that happen. It's crazy. No other team would allow that."

7 May 2003

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"What makes a difference is hew geod the car is. The management and marketing side, that brings more or iess sponsors in, and that's about ir - JV, above with former BAR team owner Craig Pollock

But deep down,does he really believe that there will be an opportunity to stay?

"BAR is on the cards. It's not a bad team. The team has always been great, the engineers, mechanics, and now the car seems to be good as well."

Jacques and Jenson Button have been in the headlines a great deal over the past couple of months,but more because of what they've said about each other than what they have achieved on the track. Jacques denies that he was trying to teach Jenson who was number one.

"No,but sometimes you have to protect yourself," he explains."When everybody is inventing stuff and trying to create an image, while at the same time hurting yours for no

continued on page 32 31

continued from page 31 reason, and it's not true, then you have to defend yourself. In French you say you put the clock back on time."

Did he find the war of words amusing,or distracting?

"It's never amusing. It's more stressful than anything and it's a loss of energy. I didn't like it. But it's stopped now. The racing's started and I really just look at the racing now.

"I've been here since the beginning.

I've been working my butt off with the team to get it where it is at now, and I just don't want to be put in a bad position for whatever reason, unless it's because I've done something bad. I don't want to be put m a bad position just because it helps other people, or whatever. That's what I was fighting, that's all.

"The team let it happen,the team pushed it. But there's never one culprit. Everybody's a culprit, and Tm as mucli as culprit as the other guys."

The problem for Jacques is that the dispute with Jenson didn't help his image in the paddock. Other teams might be wary of a man who, rightly or wrongly, has a reputation for indulging in gamesmanship with team mates.

"Tliat's not true. Tl-ie only person 1 had a problem with was Ricardo Zonta - and a little bit with Jenson in winter testing. Ever}'other team-mate I've had, we've always got along perfectly well. There's always been a lot of respect, and there have never been problems. I don't know why people think that.

"People say that I destroyed (Heinz-Harald) Frentzen, but 1 had nothing to do witli it. It was always a close fight, and I ended up in front of him more often than not, and Patrick Head gave him a hard time. It wasn't me that went in there and started being mean with him. But then some stories were invented that I said some mean things at him just as the wrong time. He's said himself that it's not true."

rw z'

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Of the many Jacques anecdotes doing the rounds, perhaps the best one, concerns the time he - allegedly - threw Zonta's lunch into the motorhome bin. One can only imagine the forlorn look on the himgry Brazilian's face...

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him, that was just the situation at the time. A driver has to be strong. It's hard, it's really hard out there, and if you're weak, something is going to smack you."

Nobody doubts Jacques's commitment, and he remains one of

"I don’t want to retire, but if it happens, I won't be puiiing my hair or

- Villeneuve

"No, I didn't throw his limch away!," Jacques insists, claiming that it's a new one on him. "He was there thinking that ever}'one expected him to beat me, and that's what he had to do, and he never worked for the team. It didn't come from me, it came from him. By the end I didn't respect him. I didn't do anything to destroy

only two active World Champions, and that still counts for a lot. The problem is that neither BAR nor anyone else can justify the sort of salary tliat Jacques received from PoUock who, whatever way it's painted, was sitting on both sides of the negotiating table. Villeneuve is well aware that times have changed:

"It depends on whoever offers you what. If nobody offers you anything, then you're not worth much. That's how it works. If there's a pay cut, then there's a pay cut everywhere. It's not just here. If there are many teams that want me, then the salary rises. If tliere's only one team that wants me, then you can't ask for much. That's how it goes."

So are there teams that want Jacques Villeneuve aboard next year?

"It's too early now. We haven't really had a good race yet, so there's no point in talking too much. Just the work ethic talks now, I think."

Inevitably, finding a team that represents a step up from BAR won't be easy. The top four look pretty stable into 2004, and the man most likely to break the deadlock is Giancarlo Fisichella.

"It's always been hard. There are not many teams looking for drivers.

Teams are always full, but in some years you see driver changes anyway, so you never know. A lot of the people that are signed up for another

4

Australia

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moiorspon news

INTERUIEW won't be a good idea for Villeneuve to drive for his unproven PK Racing team, it must be at the back of both men's minds. But it's not,according to Jacques, "It would never be driving for him.

If we do anything together, it's driving for us. It's a little bit different.

But right now Champ Cars is not interesting. It looks like it's getting better compared with last year, but it's not there yet. Unless I see some changes, if CART stays at the level it's at now,I would rather stop," But could he really walk away from the sport? It's a remarkable admission for a man who turned 32 just three weeks ago.

"Why not? Eddie Irvine seems to be having a good time! People have stopped earlier. I don't want to retire, but if it happens, I won't be pulUng my hair off. I'll be OK,it's just a different life, that's all. I'd have a blast. I'm not worried. I achieved what I set out to achieve when I was

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The past and the future: Villeneuve and great rival Michael Schumacher first clashed in 1996, above, Jacques having moved to Williams from CART and Michael to Ferrari from Benetton. The man tipped to unseat Villenueve at BAR is Takuma Sato, left.

five years old. I won the World Championship, and that was my goal since I knew that it existed.

"I'd like to do something like Le Mans- one race a year - because it's something I've never done. It would be with a different attitude, but it's like when we do the 24 hour ski race - it's never just for fun. Once you go on it, it's as if you're going for the Olympics. And that's the way anything I do is."

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year are on options that don't have to be taken."

So how does Jacques think he's now perceived in the paddock? As he says himself, the 1997 title was a long time ago.

"Yeah, but the perception has always been positive enough. I think it's been noticed that I've never given up and I've always driven as hard as I could, and worked as hard as I could.

Mostly in the first years, when an exWorld Champion would just have given the finger to the team and disappeared. I didn't, and I stuck with it, and I worked hard. I think people see that."

7 May 2003

In theory there are likely to be more driver vacancies at the end of 2004.

Jacques could follow Alain Prost's example,and take a year out before returning, but he doesn't see that as an option.

"I'm not in favour of that, because it's hard to come back. You start enjoying things that you didn't enjoy before, you have a new perspective, and once you get out of training, working hard, and all that, it's really hard to get back into."

Jacques wiU never be short of other opportunities, however. Champ Car would welcome him back with open arms,and while Pollock says that it

POPltLAR & REHm JUWQR4e^RTifi(S^R£S!

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T was six years in the making but Ford finally got a 1-2-3 in a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Holden led the opening 50 percent of the race meeting but Ford righted the ship after the qualifying session.

Marcos Ambrose stormed to pole position in the Top 10 Shootout and absolutely dominated the race, streaking away from his pursuers at an alarming rate and leaving the rest to do their best.

That best turned out to be two

other Ford drivers. Craig Lowndes leapt from eighth to fourth in the Shootout and ran in the top three all day, getting by Jason Bright in the final laps of the 300km race. Better yet for the Blue Oval, RusseU Ingall coped manfully with a 10th best performance in the Shootout and made spot steadily until he, too, was able to sneak past Bright in the final few kilometres of the race.

Holdens were there, the Commodore VY showing its teetli in qualifying, taking half of the first 12 grid spots. But come the race, the teeth started to grind a little; both Holden Racing Team suffered tyre problems related, it seems, to the new Project Blueprint double wishbone front suspension. Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly were both delayed, Kelly failing to finish and Skaife later rolling the dice - and losing - when rain briefly interrupted the charge.

He eventually finished 19th and salvaged a few points.

Behind Bright came Greg Murphy, who drove weU but was never completely happy with his Kmart Commodore, while Tander was similarly happier with his result and his points haul than he had been with his Repco Valvoline Commodore VY all weekend. Simon Wills was seventh in a weekend that showed

FoptI has made a big investmentin U8Supercan racing and Marces Ambrose, Craig Lowdnes and RussellIngallstarted making repayments with a 1-2-3atEastern Creek.PHR BRANAGAN repents 34

huge promise for tire emerging Team Dynamik, ahead of Steve Richards, Rick Kelly and Paul Morris, who looked good in the Sirromet VY. The Falcon Alls were nowhere,the teams still running them looking forward to a potential parity adjustment to make life bearable until the next platoon of Barras comes online.

Bright still leads the series from the efficient Richards, with Lowndes coming on strong. Holden's reaction to a non-podium was, predictably, molorsport news

V8 SUPERCARS

pretty mute and it is not a feeling that they look forward to experiencing again soon.

Practice and Qualifying AAAAAHHHH, Sydne; Harbour(though it is athe little hard to view from a Parramatta hotel), the Coathanger(though you have to stop to pay the toll).

The Olympic City. Some may assume that title refers to the 2000 Summer Games. If you live in any other place in Australia, you will think that the'Olympic' tag is based on the size of the average mortgage.

A land of glorious, if not immediately obvious, names. Eastern Creek is not East of Sydney; it is in the west. Neither is there an immediately apparent creek near the race circuit - though there is a growing and impressive amount of work going on in the vicinity. The new Western Sydney International Dragway is quickly taking shape maybe thnt facility could lend its name to a suburb, though it may be a little unfortunate (and misleading) to include the word 'drag' in the name of a Sydney suburb.

Still, the sim shines in the place (most of the time) and the punters do like their once-a-year dose of V8 Supercars,showing up in large (and always record) numbers. Just as well because this year, the once-a-year show happens tw'ice.

Mick Fisliburn

So it was, then, that the fight for pole position started. The factors that would decided the contenders came early; on Friday, Bright had an engine sensor fail, costing him virtually the whole session. The lack of track time restricted him through Saturday and he would end up ninth. Not disastrous, but not great either.

Murphy's VX was not behaving itself, giving its driver inconsistent feedback. Matters were not helped by an opening run in qualifying that.

Murf felt, was hampered by a 'bad' set of tyres. On his second set, things were better and he leapt up to third.

But, at the end of the day, it mattered little. In days when 20 or more cars can be covered by a single second, we are quite accustomed to seeing pole races settled by a tenth or, even,a hundredth of a second. In the battle for second, Murf was almost a quarter-second shy of the man in front of him, Ambrose. A huge gap, right?

Wrong. Marcos was almost sixtenths down on Skaife. The defending Champ started his continued on page 36 Stone the Crows: And everyone else. Marcos Ambrose gave best to Mark Skaife in the qualifying session but was not beaded after that. Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall, below, put the icing on the cake with second and third in the race.

continued from page 35 i

POS NO DRIVER 1 1 Mark Skaife 2 4 Marcos Ambrose 3 51 Greg Murphy 4 9 Russell Ingall 5 44 Simon Wills 6 2 Todd Kelly 7 34 Garth Tander 8 6 Craig Lowndes 9 50 Jason Bright 10 888 John Bowe 11 29 Paul Morris 12 45 Jason Richards 13 20 Jason Bargwanna 14 3 Cameron McConville 15 31 Steve Ellery 16 16 PaulWeel 17 11 Steven Richards 18 65 Paul Radisich 19 21 Brad Jones 20 17 Steven Johnson 21 15 Rick Kelly 22 18 Max Wilson 23 5 Glenn Seton 24 00 Greg Ritter 25 10 MarkLarkham 26 8 Paul Dumbrell 27 19 David Besnard 28 021 Craig Baird 29 23 MarkNoske 30 66 Dean Canto 31 7 Rodney Forbes 32 75 Anthony Tratt 33 33 Jamie Whincup 34 24 Wayne Wakefield 35 99 David Thexton

CAR Holden Racing Team Commodore VY Pirtek Stone Brothers Racing Falcon BA K-Mart Racing Commodore VX Caltex Stone Brothers Racing Falcon BA Team Dynamik Commodore VY Holden Racing Team Commoiiore VY RepcoA/alvoline Cummins GRM Commodore VY Ford Performance Racing Falcon BA Betta Team Brock Commodore VX OzEmail Racing Falcon BA Sirromet Commodore VY Team Dynamik Commodore VY Orrcon Racing Falcon AU Lansvale Smash Repairs Commodore VX Super Cheap Auto Falcon BA Betta Team Brock Commodore VX Castrol Perkins Racing Commodore VX Betta Briggs MotorsportFalcon BA OzEmail Racing Falcon BA Shell Helix Dick Johnson Racing Falcon BA K-Mart Racing Team Comnroilore VX Shell Helix Dick Johnson Racing Falcon BA Ford Performance Racing Falcon AU 00 MotorsportFalcon BA Orrcon Racing Falcon AU Castrol Perkins Racing Commodore VX Ford Performance Racing Falcon AU Team Kiwi Racing Commodore VX ICS Team Ford Falcon AU Betta Briggs MotorsportFaJeon BA 00 MotorsportFalcon BA Toll Racing Falcon AU RepcoA/alvoline Cummins GRM Commodore VX Howard & Sons Paul Morris Commodore VY Thexton Motor Racing Falcon AU

TIME lm31.1923s lm31.7778s lm32.0096s lm32.0379s lm32.0963s lm32.0963s lm32.1090s lm32.2189s 1m32.2199s lm32.2677s lm32.2883s 1m32.3744s 1m32.3929s 1m32.4259s lm32.4596s lm32.6223s lm32.6511s lm32.7707s lm32.7866s lm32.8189s lm32.8439s lm32.9583s lm33.0147s 1m33.0661s lm33.1228s 1m33.2472s lm33.2930s 1m33.3648s lm33.5063s lm33.6058s lm33.6770s 1m33.8126s 1 m33.9684s lm34.6006s lm35.6729s

Ton lO Shootout 1 Ambrose 2 Skaife 3 Kelly!

4 Lowndes 5 Murphy

27.0364s 27.1148s 27.0001s 27.2967s 27.3055s

1m05.8477s lm05.9632s lm05.9954s 1m06.1975s lm06.3809s

lm3!5582s 1m3!8212s 1m31.9319s 1m32.1608s 1m32.3262s

6 Bowe 7 Bright 8 Tander 9 Wills 10 Ingall

27.1790s 27.1790s 26.3806s 27.1999s 27.4020s

lm06.3660s 1m06.3660s 1m06.6694s 1m06.5549s 1m06.6916s

1m32.4185s 1m32.4540s 1m32.6361s lm32.7225s lm3Z7282s

V8SCSRound3 Eastern Creek o 5 ■s

campaign for a fifth straight Creek win by being at the sharp end of practice and, when qualifying started, many eyes were watching Skaife to go out and out in a quick lap on his first set of tyres.

If you blinked, you missed it.

Skaife did his out lap, a flier and came in. The job was done in a single lap that took lm31.1923s. Game over.

There were all sorts of advantages to be had; Skaife had a spare, unused set of tyres fresh for the race; he had, effectively, done a practice run of a shoot-out lap; and everyone else had their heads in their hands.

Ambrose was second, content with the knowledge that the run-off may change things. Ingall was not far behind; the other SBR Barra looked jgood and Russell was making the usual noises that he was happy with the consistency of the car. In any event, he was much further up the grid than he had been at Phillip Island.

Then came Simon Wills. The recent changes that have transpired at Team Dynamik may or may not have had an effect on the team but both TD Commodores looked good at the Creek. Wills was convincingly in the top 10 and Jason Richards was not far back, his time good enough for 12th.

He missed the 10 by 0.11s.

"The car's balance is not perfect," Wills mused later,"but tliat isn't the whole story. Last year here, in the CAT car, I had good balance but no grip.

"My last sector is strong; it's stronger than Ambrose's. But Jason (Richards)is faster in the first sector.

We are only in our third race, remember..."

And they were the 'third' team.

The order of the two-car teams on

qualifying results for both cars was, HRT,Stone Brothers, Team Dynamik.

Todd Kelly was sixth, happy but not thrilled with his Commodore VY, while in seven was Garth Tander. The GRM VY was,again, a force, on a track that seemed to suit VYs. One spot back was Lowndes. The Ford Performance Racing BA was the best of breed, the team having admitted that any development of the older AUs has come to a stop, and Lowndes pecked away at finding a good set-up for the race first and qualifying second.

"Not too bad," he said of eighth.

"It was never going to be a car to put us on pole but we are happy to be where we are."

Right behind was Bright, ruing the loss of track time, and Bowe. The black OzEmail car had the better day of the h\'o team cars, Bowe's running the engine that Andy Jones had used in the last Konica V8SS round (hence, forcing the team to park the youngster for the weekend.) Brad Jones lost time in practice when he had a steering rack break on him, leaving him back in 19tli.

Just missing out on the top 10 were some very strong performances. Paul Morris had his best qualifier for the year in 11th, the Sirromet car unlucky to miss the run-off after running inside the 10 in an earlier practice session.

Jason Richards was right behind in the other TD VY while,right behind him,came the winner of the'AU' class -Jason Bargwarma. The Orrcon team had gone testing at Queensland Raceway before the trip south and worked on a number of balance problems left over from Phillip Island and come up with some good solutions; "Much better," reported Bargs.

"Better balance, turning in a lot better and power down. We are heading in the right direction."

Cameron McConville was right behind, the team happy despite missing the run-off on their test track, Paul Radisich was 18th in a car that, visibly, was not going places Paul intended, while the Shells were 20th (Steve Johnson) and 22nd (Max Wilson), the team fairly pleased that their progress was continuing without disasters after a couple of bad seasons.

Getting Dynamiker by the race: Simon Wills showed great speed all weekend, Team Dynamik unlucky not to get both cars in the Shootout. On a team basis, TD was actually the third-best team in qualifying behind SBR and HRT. <

motorsport news

V8 SUPERCARAt the rear, Wayne Wakefield ran in a second (and new) Morris Commodore VY,entered under the Romano Racing Level 2 licence. The car had all kinds of teething problems, related mainly to drive belts on the engine, but WW still managed to get a qualifying lap out of the car between dramas.

Unfortunately, the team could not overcome the problems quickly and the car was withdrawn.

That would have left 33 cars, right.

No,it was 34. David Thexton qualified the TMR Falcon AU but only by the skin of Ms teeth. With the 105 percent qualifying not having zero tolerance, Thexton's run of DNSs would have started to three if Skaife had gone 0.07s quicker. But he didn't, and Thexton had something to do on Sunday for the first time tMs season, o, to the Shootout and it looked, at first, like there was going to be little or nothing to report.

The cars rolled out in about the

? ?

Start of a tough day: Skaife was away slowly, allowing room for Murphy, outside and Lowndes, inside, to find a way past. Ambrose, below, was away like a bullet and stayed there for the rest of the day.

right order, Bowe and Bright leading the way without anything to report, so to speak. Then came Lowndes, with a neat lap that jumped him four places up the grid. Tander was next, with a good rather than great lap, then came Todd Kelly - eventually.

His car stalled at the start of the lap, leaving The Toddler about 20 seconds late heading out. He completed the lap but the transgression would cost Mm,stewards removing him from the session to 10th.

Wills was neat and unobtrusive.

Mgall was anything but, making a meal of the first two corners and setting the slowest time of the session (for ninth). Murphy was smooth, the car still not balanced to Ms liking, but we hadn't seen anything yet.

The 'Big Two' waited. Ambrose had 'leaned' on the car's set-up for the run-off. Skaife did too but, admitted later, didn't go far enough.

Ambrose picked up time on his single lap; Skaife lost time on his.

After his lap had finished, Ambrose's crew told him on the radio he had put the pressure on Skaife, and he had. The big for a five-peat at the Creek would have to start from second spot on the grid.

Ambrose loved it. He stood on the wall and celebrated in front of the grandstand, wMch was received well by all- except the stewards. Mindful, no doubt, of the $10,000 fine HRT attracted when the team did the same thing at the end of the Adelaide 500, they issued a $500 fine to Marcos,an action later described as "stupid" and "ridiculous" by AVESCO Chairman, Tony Cochrane. In fact, so incensed is Cocho by the fine, he vowed to pay it himself.

With the run-off completed,there was no apparent danger to Ambrose

vatf 'if.

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continued on page 38 7 May 2003

37

Race(77 laps)

continued from page 37 for standing on the wall and firing up the crowd,so it does appear that the stewards went a bit far this time. He was giving something to the fans.

Perhaps,soon, even cheering will be a punishable offence. Rather than fine drivers for giving the paying public what they desire, perhaps the stewards should stand on the pitwall and face the fans.

Perhaps not.

to Raceday a lot the daydawned before. It wasdifferent overcast,t cooler and there was the threat of rain was there. Showers were forecast in the afternoon but figuring out when was the $64,000 question.

Apart from the possibility of some precipitation, there was the matter of track temperatures. From 27 ambient/34 track for qualifying, the

number tumbled around 10 degrees which was bound to be good news for some teams and bad news for others.

Ambrose is not a man noted for his starts - or, at least, he wasn't. At one time, neither was Skaife, a trait he appears to have laid to rest but, this time, it reared its ugly head.

Aided by numerous practice starts in his Falcon TS50 manual road car, Ambrose leapt away at the light and Skaife did not. With no-one else in

With Friends like these ...

THERE are rivalries and there are rivalries. Ambrose versus Skaife in qualifying. Kelly versus Kelly. Holden versus TEGA. Add this one: John Bowe and Garth Tander. The two drivers clashed on the opening lap at Eastern Creek but, from there, had wildly differing results. Despite bent steering, Tander salvaged a hatful of points with sixth; Bowe had to serve a stop/go penalty for a jumped start and then had a sticking throttle pitch him off the track on his way to 30th and last.

There were, predictably, differing views of the incident from the drivers; "I got to the B-pillar," said Tander, below. "He turned in. I was right in there and he continued to turn in."

It was while having a post race chat with Bowe, inset with team-mate Brad Jones, that the stewards' decision arrived - a racing incident.

Hence, he was not that happy; "The stewards are so

Mick Fishburn

V,

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—iA inconsistent in their decisions.

This is not the first time Tander has done this to me. And it was on the first lap of a 300 kilometre race.

"Garth is, without doubt, the worst, the silliest driver I have ever raced against."

There is reason to expect that this is not the last of this.

Both drivers have been consistent top-10 performers in qualifying, so the chances of

the Repco/Valvoline VY and the OzEmail Barra getting onto the same piece of track in the next 10 rounds are fairly good.

Both hard men, neither finished with this business.

And, even if they cannot settle things in the Championship Series, they will face each other, in all likelihood, for a whole day and night, in the 24 Hour at Bathurst ...

- PHIL BRAIMAGAN

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the field with the carspeed to challenge the leader, and Skaife corked behind Murphy and the lightning-fast starter Lowndes, Ambrose was as good as across the line.

As long as a variable, like the weather or a dodgy pitstop, did not intervene. The latter was handled with aplomb by the Stone crew though, it should be said, having a 15s lead after 20 laps gives you a fair amount of time to ensure that there is no need for a mad panic. It also gives you the luxury of waiting for the weather; many teams sat and waited on the first stops to see what huey would do, perhaps aware that, around lap 22, it started bucketing down in nearby Parramatta.

It was about then that fate intervened at HRT. First Kelly ran wide and,at once, pitted with a flat tyre. A rim had split and he resumed in 27th, still with a fuel stop to make.

Then,just after Ambrose pitted, the same thing happened to Skaife.

EXACTLY the same thing. In he trooped for tyres, resuming near Kelly. Unless there was a miracle, he was now in salvage mode.

There was a miracle but it was not miraculous enough. Just after a restart (for the Jones Falcon, parked with its second broken steering rack of the weekend)it started to rain.

Skaife, further back in the queue when the leaders crossed the line to started lap 56, quickly consulted with his crew and dived in for wets.

If it kept raining, it looked like a winning gambit.

But, after two laps of drizzle that prompted the leaders to drop the pace by around three seconds,it stopped. Skaife was forced to pit, again,for slicks, this time with a little more pressure after the first set read a little low after his stint. From there, he soldiered on to 19th.

"Sorry, mate," said the crew over the radio.

No need, really. While HRTbashing is sometimes (like now)in vogue, one thing that you cannot take away from the team is that they stay together in thick and thin. Skaife has won races in the past with good calls from his guys; this day, a chance to recover a good result went west with a bad call. But he still backs them 100 percent, as they do to him and, mentally, they have already moved onto the next race.

Ambrose had the option to pit or not and called it right, figuring "around Corporate Hill, I could see the weather better than they (the team)could. The rest is history."

History will record that Ambrose won the race by 26s - almost the same gap he had before the Safety Car came out. Justice, really.

"We have really stepped forward this weekend," said Ambrose. We are understanding the aero (of the BA) now." moiorsRort news

The team reunion; Skaife spent a lot of time surrounded by former team-mates.

He was passed at the start by Lowndes, left, and spent much of the first stint sandwiched between Murphy and Bright, above.

Understatement works well in such circumstances.

And the second part of the 1-2-3?

As stated, Lowndes leapt into second at the start and commenced the pressure on the tail of Murphy. It took 13 laps to find a way past. bringing the stand to its feet when they swapped places at Turn 1, but Bright's crew did a better job in the pits and,in the final sprint, Lowndes had to deal with the Brock VX. The Safety Car put Ambrose out of reach of Bright but Lowndes was just two cars back in the queue and,in clean air, he started to chase. The crowd was on its feet when the CAT Falcon go a better run on the Betta Commodore and slid past, a process aided, Brighty felt, by the fact that the lapped Radisich and Bargw'anna were just ahead on the road but were not moving over. Neither driver reported seeing blue flags and neither thought that they were in the way.

The backmarkers were no help. mused Bright later. "They might not have been a factor with Craig but they were with Russell.

Ingall had steadily made his way fonvard through the race, aided by some slick work in the pits. He initially thought he would run out of laps to catch the Bright/Lowndes

continued on page 41 1 May 2003

39

Dirk Klynmsith

V8SCS Round 2 PlUllln islanil Race - 77 laps

Race lime Fastest lap C/S Pds Driver 09 1 Ambrose 2h07ml4.6385s#lm32,9609s OC 2 Lowndes 2h07m40,5077s 1m33.3217s 2h07m40.6914s lm33.4880s 3 Ingall 2h07m41.1553s lm33.5864s 4 Bright 2h07m45,6506s lm33.5265s 5 Murphy 6 Tander 2h07m46.7875s lm33.8488s 7 Wills 2h07m49.5199s 1m34.1743s 8 Richards, S2h07m51.3300s lm33.4620s 2h07m52,lE64s lm34.3422s 9 Kelly, R 10 Morris 2h07m55.5999s lm34.0925s n Weei 2h08m00.3141s lm34.0605s 12 McConville2h08ml6,9643s lm34.4762s 13 Besnard 76 laps lm34.0698s 76 laps lm34.2310s 14 Bargwanna 15 Radisich 76 laps lm34.1468s 16 Wilson 76 laps lm34.0009s 17 Johnson 76 laps 1m34.5572s 18 Larkham 76 laps lm34.4325s 19 Skaife 76 laps lm33,5075s 20 Dumbrell 76 laps lm34.74Q9s 21 Richards, J 76 laps lm34.4579s 22 Ellery 76 laps lm34.4511s 23 Canto 76 laps lm34,3746s 24 Baird 76 laps lm34.8230s 25 Forbes 75 laps lm34.8478s 26 Seton 75 laps lm34.5616s 27 Noske 75 laps lm35.1335s 28 Ritter 74laps lm34.5119s 29 Thexton 73 laps lm38.7843s 30 Bowe 66 laps lm33.7191s DNFTratt 52 laps lm35.4763s DNFJones 47 laps lm34.3562s 38 laps lm33.7315s DNF Kelly,!

12 laps lm35,2732s DNFWhincup Points: Bright 531, S. Richards 486, Murphy 483, Ingail 459, Lowndes 456, Tander 450, Skaife 435, Weei 429, Ambrose 405, Radisich 384, R. Kelly 375, Wills 345, T. Kelly 336, Morris 315, Seton 300, Johnson 291, Bargwanna 252, Ritter 237, Wilson 234, Larkham, Baird and ' Dumbrell 231, McConville 213, Jones 186, Ellery 156, Besnard and Forbes 144, Canto 138, Whincup 129, Bowe 123, J. Richards 117, Noske 111,Trattl08, Thexton 24.

Points with worst round dropped: Lowndes 378, Bright 360, Skaife 351, Murphy 348, T. Kelly, S. Richards 336 and Tander 336, Ingall 321, Ambrose 309, Weei 297, Wills 289, Radisich 276, R. Kelly 276, Morris and Seton 258, Dumbrell 219, McConville 213, Bargwanna 210, Ritter 207, Johnson and Wilson 204, Jones 180, Baird 177, Larkham 171, Ellery and Besnard 144, Whincup 129, Canto 114, Forbes 106, Bowe 105, J. Richards 102, Tratt 96, Noske 93, Thexton 24. .||||B||H||||||||||||||||||[|||

40

motorsDon news

U8 SUPERCARS

t

\

Always remember: The late and muchmissed Possum Bourne was in the thoughts of many in Sydney, especially Kiwis Simon Wills and Jason Richards, above, and Greg

Murphy, right.

Coming Man: Ingall, left, said at the start of the season he considered his biggest championship rival to be Ambrose.

He may be right...

You gotta know when to fold 'em: Skaife and Seton both gambled on it staying wet but were soon back in the pits for slicks, above.

Hometown Lad: Sydney is hardly the motorsport epicentre of the country but LRT's McConville, below, motored on for 12th.

m

battle but, while that was at its zenith, the Caltex BA gained two seconds on one lap and The Enforcer got a sniff.

And it came off. He slotted past into third and we started reaching for the record books. The last Ford 1-2-3 was at the same track,six years back.

Ford President Geoff PoKtes wore a smile as wide as the main straight. So did a lot of people.

"This game is hard," said Ingall, not getting carried away."There are a lot of good teams on the other side of the fence. You can't sit back and say, 'It's quick enough'. It doesn't work like that."

Bright was fourth, ruing the gap he gave up to the Safety Car. while Murphy was fifth, more points after a tough afternoon.

"It was a bit of a handful," he reported. "Tliere is a general lack of everytiling.

"The ongoing drama (Holden's ownership issues)is effecting everything. We don't know what we are doing at tlie moment;I imagine HRT hasn't done as much testing as they might have,either."

But there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel (see news pages).

Tander was sixth (see breakout) from Wills, the Dynamik team backing up their qualifying promise with a solid performance.

"We are getting there," grinned the Kiwi."Third race out but we are already wanting more. We know how

much work it is going to take to keep moving forward but it does not worry us."

Steve Richards consolidated second in the championship points with eighth, his second set of tyres much better than his first.

"I got held up early in the race and was never close enough to challenge for the front," he said."But thank god for the Safety Car. It closed us up and gave us a chance to get somewhere."

Rick Kelly was ninth after another strong drive but his Kmart VX is obviously suffering the same malaise as Murf's, while Morris was pleased witli 10th after a consistent weekend.

The team's shategy was to make his pit window for fuel as long as possible and save their second,better set of tyres for as late in the race as possible to mount a late charge, but The Rickler was too far ahead and made no mistakes.

"We are digging ourselves out of the hole we created," The Dude said.

"This thing is working half alright and it is reliable. We still haven't done any testing but we do have a goal now."

Of the rest, the Helixes were solid, Wilson delayed early after some contact with the David Besnard AU, while Jolmson rued a loss of track position early but was otherwise reasonably happy with his race pace.

Canto dropped spots after a clash with Rodney Forbes coming onto the

main straight, while Seton was in the Skaife camp with a gamble for wets when it rained. If the skies had stayed open,it may well have been a Skaife-Seton 1-2, which takes one back a long time ...

Likewise, Mark Noske gambled on wets, having nothing to lose in an ICS Falcon that was eating its rears all weekend, while Greg Ritter described his car as a "pig" until the 00 Motorsport crew gave his dampers a massage at his first stop.

"One click made the car two seconds faster," he mused."Hard to believe,isn't it?"

And ... Thexton finished. The crew celebrated afterwards and the driver was happy, more so than some of the other drivers during the race, according to what was said on the radios. Four laps down in 77 is outside 105 percent but, as the Chinese proverb says, the longest jouriiey starts witli a single step.

Long way to go,lads.

So - Ford 1-2-3, at what used to be 'Skaife Creek'. Not a bad way to end a streak. Two round wins in a row for the Barra, Bright and Richards lead the series in their VXs and a potential parity adjustment may put the AU drivers back in the hunt. HRT is coming from behind - not a familiar situation. Ownersliip issues may soon be sorted. Lots going on.

Hey ... this is actually starting to feel like a two-make series again.

It's about time.

41

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Congratulations

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CLOSES IN but rampant Alonso nearly spoilt the party, as JOESAWARD reports from Catalunya

f McLaren boss Ron Dennis had dreamed up the most disastrous scenario for the team's World Championship ambitions he would have come up with the story of the Spanish Grand Prix.

It was clear from the start of the meeting that the new Ferrari F2003 GA is an impressive car and so it proved to be in the race. Michael won without too much drama although local hero Fernando Alonso made him work all the way for his living.

World Championship rival Kimi Raikkonen had an awful weekend.

He messed up in qualifying and so started at the back of the grid.

And then his day ended before it had really started. As the field accelerated away poor Antonio Pizzonia was left sitting on the grid (again) in his Jaguar. Justin Wilson jinked around the Brazilian but Raikkonen was unsighted and had nowhere to go. His race ended there and then.

"I got off the line quickly," he said, "but suddenly there was nowhere to go but into the back of the stationary

Pizzonia. It is a real shame but one of those things which can happen when you start from the back."

But there was much more first lap fun and games to come.

Down at the first corner Michael and Rubens very nearly collided.

Rubens had arrived faster but on the outside. Michael got onto the dust on the inside and slid out slightly while Rubens had braked very late, came in and caught Michael a bit by surprise.

He was edged outwards on to the dirt on the outside.

"We just avoided each other," said Michael."That's racing."

Alonso had made a better start than both Ferraris but could not find a way past them in the run down to the corner. And so he sat behind them and hoped that they would take each other off.

Behind them Alonso's Renault team-mate Jarno Trulli caused mayhem as he punted David Coulthard's McLaren off into the sand trap.

"Jarno simply ran into the back of me," David said.

Trulli saw the accident differently: "I saw Coulthard's car cutting right through from the outside," he said.

The Renault driver was out on the spot wMle DC headed for the pits after a run across the gravel, which had damaged the floor of the car. He rejoined with fresh rubber at the back of the Safety Car queue.

There was still the opportunity to get some points and David was moving swiftly up through the field when he came to blows with Jenson Button on lap 18. It was,it must be said, an optimistic move from Jenson and one for which DC could not be blamed but the effect was the same no matter where the blame might lie.

McLaren would score no points.

A bad day.

Tire incident at the first corner also knocked a big hole in Mark Webber's ambitions as he had to take to the gravel to avoid Coulthard. He did not stop for repairs but was down at the back anyway,behind a number of slower cars and with an uncomfortable seat full of gravel.

There was a lot of radio traffic in Relief: for Toyota and Jaguar, with both earning their first points for 2003 - Da Matta, left, driving a strong race for the Colognebased squad and putting the crush on Half Schumnacher late in the race for fifth

the moments after the shunt as drivers and pits discussed whether or not strategies should be changed.

Sauber called in Frentzen immediately and his tank was topped up, Heinz's strategy switching from three stops to two. Jordan did the same for Firman and at Williams there was a lengthy debate on the subject.

For five laps the cars toured around behind the Safety Car while the mess was being cleaned up.

Sauber also decided to bring in Heidfeld and so both the Saubers were at the back of the peleton.

And then they were off again.

Michael Schumacher judged the restart brilliantly and was well clear of Barrichello by the time they got down to the first corner. For the next few laps the two ran closely together and then Rubens began to fall back.

"My car was brilliant for the first five laps but I could not keep the pace going through the stint," Rubens explained. The problem was one of tyres. He fell back to fight with Alonso.

Michael too was struggling.

"We had expected a very tough fight after seeing the Renault lap times on the first tw'o days," Michael said. "That was how it turned out to be. My tyres performed well at the beginning of each stint but towards the end their performance dropped off a bit."

Ferrari's technical director summed it up best; "We had a very tough race," he said. "This is a track where last year we had a significant tyre advantage and I think we have some work to do moiorsport news

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***‘0 —

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thirds of the race.

Things changed as the race went on because as tlie track picked up more rubber Schumacher found that his tyres became more consistent.

Even so, he was not sure that he would have been able to beat Alonso with the old F2002.

It was a straight fight between the Ferraris and Alonso's Renault. The teams had chosen the same basic strategy: four fairly evenly-matched stints. At the end of the first stint, Michael was about four seconds ahead of Alonso but the Renault driver stopped two laps before the World Champion and won a few vital seconds. More importantly, it enabled him to get ahead of Barrichello.

In the second stint Michael edged away using traffic to his advantage when they started going through the backmarkers. Alonso dropped two seconds.

1 May 2003

It was to some extent a surprise to see the Renault so competitive and one has to wonder if perhaps the team will be in a position to win races this year if the conditions fall in their favour and Michelin deliver the goods. The tyre war is such tliat the story is changing from race to race and so one cannot reallly predict what will happen. But if Renault get a chance, a win could be possible.

Michael was happy to score his 66th race win and Alonso was ecstatic with his first second place.

Barrichello was 12 seconds behind Alonso at the finish and was happy as wen.

A minute behind the wirmer - or around a second a lap - was the first Williams-BMW. This was driven by Juan Pablo Montoya who had done a very good job to ease his way through the race, keeping his tyres intact and not making any mistakes.

He was sixth at the end of the first lap and while the Safety Car was out the team decided to change the strategy.

In the end the decision taken was to run a long middle stint and try for a two-stop race.

Montoya aggressively pushed past Button for fifth place as soon as the Safety Car pulled off. At the first stops nothing changed - Ralf Schumacher ran fourth and Montoya fifth. Towards the end of the long middle stint both Williams drivers began to fade as their tyres wore down.

Ralf was quickly dealt with by his brother who emerged belrind him after the Ferrari's second stop. Ralf then came under pressure from Alonso and Fernando was soon ahead.

Caught out wide as the Renault went through, Ralf went off and bounced into a gravel trap. The bodywork and floor were damaged and he headed for the pits. From then on he was plagued by oversteer and that meant that his tyres suffered.

Soon after the stops, Montoya blew past him and pulled quickly away while Ralf fell back into the grasp of Cristiano da Matta's Toyota. In the closing laps the Toyota man tried everything to find a way past the Williams, but Rail's defence was stout.

For Montoya the final laps were lonely ones, but he ended die day in a positive frame of mind.

continued on page 48 45

Qualifying

Hey Mick, gotta

ow quick would the new ^ Ferrari be in its first real comparative test? Would Antonio Pizzonia do enough to keep his job? These were the main issues at a track which is very familiar to all the FI teams.

Most test here prodigiously, so there were unlikely to be too many surprises - or were there?

The answer to the first question, for some 10 minutes at least during Friday qualifying, was very.

Running after the McLarens, the two Ferraris were a huge three-quarters of a second faster than the silver cars - this could be a walk-over!

Fortunately, the gap was due more to problems at McLaren.

The team blamed running first on a "dirty track" for its eventual eighth and ninth places, but at a track where they test so often, there had to be more to it.

And Williams? Well, they were in even more distress. Neither

qua «i Ubata

And so to Saturday, with race driver was happy with the balance of his car and Ralf fuel loadings to complicate matters.

Schumacher was 11 th, threeOf the early runners, Heinztenths ahead of his qualifying Harald Frentzen put together a specialist team-mate Juan Pablo tight lap. In fact, it would turn Montoya. out to be a lot better than it No, the challenge was coming seemed. Barcelona is known for from other quarters. Jarno Trulli its sudden changes of pace as put in a superb lap ("the car was the day heats up and, going perfect," he would say later) to early, the German probably had split the Ferraris, while homeamong the best conditions. It boy Alonso was 10th, a little would reward him with grid 10. frustrated with his lap. The Toyotas were fourth (da Matta) ^ Pizzopia was, well, quite slow - beaten by Firman's Jordan. If and sixth (Panis), delighted to Jaguar wasn't on a heavy-ish have at last lived up to the pre fuel strategy, this was not good season promise. Button fifth for news for the Brazilian. Firman BAR and Webber seventh for was actually quicker than team Jaguar. leader Fisichella, but more by Changing of the guard? A bit circumstance. The team got into early to be that definite, but hey, quite a mess on Saturday this was after all low-fuel, single morning, switching engines lap qualifying. These guys do backwards and forwards seem to have the speed ... between his race car and the TAnd Pizzonia? Well, no real car. In the panic, he went out to signs of a renaissance - some seven-tenths slower than his qualify with an absolute tankful of fuel. The time was slow ... team-mate.

When he did run, Webber was the regular seven-tenths quicker than Pizzonia. It looked to be a clean lap, but he dropped down the pecking order to what would be 12th.

This might have suggested that the green cars were on this occasion carrying more fuel than most. In fact, the Jags weren't carrying that much fuel. While concentrating hard on race set ups, the team simply hadn't run on fresh rubber late in the morning, as many do, and on this occasion not got the best out of the green rubber over a single lap.

The Williamses moved up a few spots aided by (a) Webber's move downward;(b) Raikkonen overdoing it (again) and aborting his lap; (c) Coulthard having to jump into the T-car at the last minute (the race car developed an engine problem); and (d) Da Matta somewhat blowing his lap as well, to drop eight-tenths to

st<il(n«nl» la «aiD«

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motorsport news

FORMULA -I

new motor? team-mate Panis, whose impressive effort would retain grid six, alongside Button.

Ralf retained his three-tenths margin over Montoya, which is about the only thing he was happy about.

Alonso, at home, put in a strong lap - surprise, surprise.

Just how much fuel he had on board would be the defining factor, but it was nevertheless a very good lap and a strong pointer to Sunday ... just ask Michael.

Renault had opted for the softer Michelin and all the signs were that its superb chassis and aero would allow the softer rubber to live, especially in threestop trim.

The Ferraris? The fastest car in a straight line before Rubens appeared was Panis (315kph on the start/finish straight). When Rubens hit 324kph before braking for turn one, people sighed and shook their heads.

a.

IL

This was going to be a massacre. But in the end it wasn’t quite so.

While the red cars were certainly the quickest on that first sector, the star of sectors two and three was the Renault.

Conventional wisdom continues to suggest ah excellent chassis, held back a little by an engine which, while punchy, lacks that top end grunt to challenge several other power units.

Rubens was half a second up on Alonso after sector one, but by the end of the lap it was down to just a couple of tenths.

Trulli was actually slower (by four-tenths) than his team-mate (possibly carrying more fuel) and thus it was left to the World Champion to take pole away from BarricheUo-which he did by a quarter of a second.

Pit lane chat suggested a three-stop strategy for most-

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7 May 2003

Home boy; Alonso had the crowd support, right, and turned it on - but with how much fuel- to grab grid three, above.

Meet the folks; Michael, Rubens and the on-track Ferrari team pose, left, with their new toys

although Jaguar and possibly McLaren were rumoured to have set up for a two-stopper.

And of course, Raikkonen now had options to consider - having aborted his lap, the team could still revise its strategy.

The other issue, though, would be tyres. Not so much pace, but likely degradation.

Most teams had at least one driver on long runs on Saturday morning in an attempt to measure tyre drop-off.

From afar the results looked variable for many - Sunday would reveal just who had done their homework best.

With he current championship leader starting at the back as well, Sunday looked likely to be a surprisingly interesting day even if most agreed that the new Ferrari looked headed for a debut victory, reliability questions over the F2003GA aside.

Grand Prix of

Spain May 3 2003 1 M Schumacher(D) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:17.762 2 R BarricheUo(BRA) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:18.020 +0.250 8 F Alonso (E) Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:18.223 +0.471 7 JTrulll (l) Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:18.615 +0.853 17 J Button (GB) Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:18.704 +0.942 200 Panis(F) Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:18.811 + 1.049 4 R Schumacher(D) BMWWilliamsFI Team 1:19.006 + 1.244 5 D Coulthard (GB) West McLaren Mercedes 1:119.128 +1.366 3 J P Montoya(CO) BMW WilllamsFI Team 1:19.377 +1.615 lOHH Frentzen (D) Sauber Petronas 1:19.427 +1.665 16 J Vllleneuve (CAN; Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:19.563 +1.801 14 M Webber (AUS: Jaguar Racing 1:19.615 +1.853 21 C Da Matta (BRA) Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:19.623 +1.861 9NHeldfetd (D) Sauber Petronas 1:19.646 +1.884 l2RRrman (tRL) Jordan Ford 1:20.215 +2,453 ISAPlzzonia(BRA) Jaguar Racing 1:20.308 + 2.546 11 G FIsichella (i) Jordan Ford 1:20.976 +3.214 iSJWtIson (GB) Minardi Cosworth 1:22.104 + 4.342 19 J Verstappen (NL) Minardi Cosworth 1:22.237 +4.475 6KRaikkdnen (FIN) West McLaren Mercedes No time

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Quel moi?: Fisi, left, doesn't reck on it was his fault.

It didn't get any better for DC, who was clouted by Button, above, and could only scratch his head as his wrecked McLaren was carted away ...

cxtm

Rcd^one Motorsport

continued from page 45 "We had balanced the car in a different way than usual," he said. "It was more difficult to drive. Towards the end of the race when there was more grip on the track the tyres worked much better and the car felt pretty good. It was good fun."

Ralf's troubled final laps were made all the more difficult by damage he had Inflicted on the cooling system, which meant that the BMW was overheating. But it held together.

Da Matta was delighted to have finally been able to show his potential, even if he could not pass Schumacher.

"It is one of the first clean races we have had this season," he said."And it feels good to score points for the first time. We really deserved fifth place today but I just couldn't get past Ralf. My brake pedal was going a bit soft from about half distance so I just couldn't push hard enough."

Da Matta's team-mate Olivier Panis lost a lot of time In tire second comer kerfuffle and so was down at the back of the field. He was on a two-stop strategy and by the middle of the race had dragged himself back up to sixth place. He was en route to some solid points when his gearbox failed, leaving the perennially disappointed Frenchman disappointed again.

Mark Webber came home seventh to score his first poiitts this year 48

which was a good effort considering that he too was at the back of the field at the end of the first lap after his off avoiding the Trulli-Coulthard affair.

The team went for a two-stop strategy with a short early stint and then a big long haul in the middle of the race. This took him up to eighth place and he held on to that position at his second stop. It was a relatively lonely afternoon but the car was reliable and Mark finally brought home some points for Jaguar.

"Michelin did an excellent job," he said."And while we would have liked to have done a better job in qualifying we are certainly heading the right direction."

Poor Antonio Pizzonia was at the eye of a storm all weekend and had another completely miserable Sunday. His launch control system failed again at the start. No-one seems to know why. As he sat there on the grid (cursing no doubt) Raikkonen went into the back of him.

The Jaguar team camiot blame him for that. Antonio had done nothing wrong...

Two laps down at the end but still in the points was Ralph Firman in his Jordan. He had done a very creditable job after his early pit stop.

He drove strongly all afternoon and even overtook Fisichella at one point when Giancarlo was nice enough to get out of the way for the leaders.

Ralph was delayed by about seven seconds at his second stop by a wheel nut propblem but it did not make

much difference because he was a long way behind Webber.

Fisichella was on a two-stop strategy and was up to seventh in the middle of the race but his refueling machine failed and then when the team switched to the other rig too much fuel was pumped into the car.

Then a barge board broke and so Fisichella struggled at the tail of the field until his misery was ended with an engine failure.

Towards the end of the race Firman came under pressure from Button but that assault faded in the final laps as Jenson began losing gears. It had been an eventful afternoon for the Englishman.

He had been fifth in the early laps but as soon as the Safety Car pulled off Montoya dived ahead of him.

Jenson stopped early and was working his way back up the order when he and David Coulthard arrived together at the first corner.

"1 got alongside him on the inside and he just turned in," said Jenson.

The impact put Coulthard out and left Jenson with a damaged front wing and a punctured front left tyre.

This took time to fix and by the time it was all sorted out Button was down in last place. He drove strongly after that to finish ninth.

It was still rather a better day than Jacques Villeneuve had. He had started the race on a two-stop strategy and was running seventh when a small fire in the back of the car caused the engine to switch itself off, leaving him frustrated and the

Honda engineers with some headscratching to be done.

Behind Jenson on the road was Nick Heidfeld in the only Sauber to make it home. The decision to change strategy at the start put the two Swiss cars to the back of the field early on but they moved up to eighth and ninth as people fell by the wayside or pitted. Frentzen's race ended soon after his first stop when the front suspension broke as he went over a kerb. Heidfeld's hope of a point were spoiiled after his second stop when he was running ninth and was given a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

Nick was not happy about it.

"There were no blue flags!" he said."The team told me that Da Matta was a lap ahead so 1 moved over but on the next lap 1 got a drivethrough penalty."

This dropped him back to 10th where he ended the afternoon.

Down at the back as usual were the two Minardis. They were at least reliable. On the first lap Wilson had done an amazing job to miss Pizzonia and then get through the carnage to run in ninth place (from 18th on the grid). He was running a light fuel load and pitted on lap 16 and as a string of cars were by then queued behind him he dropped to the back of the field. He drove strongly all afternoon and eventually came home in 11th.

Verstappen opted for a three-stop strategy, which was not the thing to do and so came home 12th. moiorsport news

FORMULA 1

TECHNICAL

New Ferrari - and Renault's new front suspension “The Circuit de Catalunya is a very demanding, matching one of the longest straights of the championship with a very twisty section. In fact it is not easy to find the right compromise between the two sections of the circuit.

The long-awaited debut was of course the Ferrari F2003 GA. The first chance to see the car in its definitive shape was the opportunity to catch many details not visible so far. There are many, many changes, but here we look at a handful of the interesting initial detail changes in comparison to the launch version - additional sidepod air vents and double barge boards.

The first change is related to the fact that the extreme aerodynamic configuration of the cars meant a narrow design of the sidepods, reducing the radiator surface area.

The first testing sessions resulted in cooling problems, that were solved by changing the cooling system - there is now a single, bigger water radiator on the left side of the car and a bigger single oil radiator on the right. Originally, the oil radiator was smaller and placed in a single radiator pack together with a portion of the water radiator.

The second big change is related to the bargeboards that now are double, in a similar fashion to McLaren. The air flow coming from the front wing is managed in a way that better diverts the turbulence created by the front wheels and at the same time increases the quantity of air directed to the sidepods entries to provide more efficient cooling.

The two barge boards are parallel to each other while on the McLaren one is in front of the other.

One interesting change not readily visible is related to an additional cooling drum placed on the outer side of the disk. So, two years after the introduction by Ferrari of the inside drums at the 2001 Australian GP, it now introduces this interesting change that will very likely become a fashion for other cars.

Renault sported a completely new front suspension. This one features completely new upper and lower wishbones, push rod link and upright.

The steering link (1) now is separated by the upper wishbone and it is no longer covered by a carbon fibre cover, but it is shaped itself as a half wing profile, completed by the foremost arm of the upper wishbone.

The pick-up point of the push rod link (2) is no longer placed on the extremity of the lower wishbone, but is connected to the upright.

This is an important feature because it is at the basis of the suspension project developed by Michelin for its Camber Angle Recovery system.

This system should make the Michelin tyres work more efficiently and improve tyre wear.

- PAULO FILISETTI

7 May 2003

49

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2003 FIA Formula One World Championship

FORMUIAI

WORLD

2003 Spanish Grand Prix - Overall Race Classification after 65 laps - 307.324 kms - Provisional

Laps

Time

1

Michael Schumacher

GER

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

65

1:33:46.933

8

Fernando Alonso

ESP

Mild Seven Renault FI Team

65

1:33:52.649

05.716

2

Rubens Barrichello

BRA

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

65

1:34:04.934

18.001

3

Juan Pablo Montoya

COL

BMW WilllamsFi Team

65

1:34:48.955

62.022

No.

GRAN P RLBOP PAfiA

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Entrant

Nat

Driver

Kph

Best

Lap

196.619

1:20.307

51

196.420

1:20.476

42

12.285

195.992

1:20.147

52

44.021

194.476

1:21.448

21

Gap

5

4

Ralf Schumacher

GER

BMW WilllamsFi Team

64

1:33:55.791

1 LAP

1 LAP

193.289

1:20.798

6

21

Cristiano Da Matta

BRA

Panasonic Toyota Racing

64

1:33:56.150

1 LAP

00.359

193.277

1:20.935

22

7

14

Mark Webber

AUS

Jaguar Racing

64

1:34:02.928

1 LAP

06.778

193.044

1:21.967

20

8

12

Ralph Firman

IRL

Jordan Ford

63

1:33:57.593

2 UPS

1 UP

190.207

1:22.719

29

9

17

Jenson Button

GBR

Lucky Str;ke BAR Honda

63

1:34:09.907

2 UPS

12.314

189.792

1:21.300

7

10

9

Nick Heidfeld

GER

Sauber Petronas

63

1:34:10.822

2 UPS

00.915

189.761 i 1:22.568

34

11

18 Justin Wilson

GBR

European Minardi Cosworth

63

1:34:57.072

2 UPS

46.250

188.221

1:23.222

7

12

19 Jos Verstappen

NED

62 1:34:36.773 European Minardi Cosworth Not Classified

3 UPS

1 UP

185.894

1:22.942

16 17

11

Giancarlo Rsichelia

20 Olivier Panis

ITA

Jordan Ford

43

1:06:06.042

DNF

184.503

1:22.900

FRA

Panasonic Toyota Racing

41

1:01:24.480

DNF

189.360

1:20.803

14

38

0:58:27.995

DNF

184.324

1:21.791

32

10

Heinz Harald Frentzen

GER

Sauber Petronas

5

David Coulthard

GBR

West McLaren Mercedes

17

0:28:03.993

DNF

171.629

1:22.577

10

16 Jacques Villeneuve 7 Jarno Tnjlli

CAN ; Lucky Strike BAR Honda

12

0:21:34.454

DNF

157.504

1:22.175

9

ITA

Mild Seven Renault FI Team

0

DNF

15

Antonio Pizzonia

BRA

Jaguar Racing

0

DNF

6

Kimi R^lkkdnen

FIN

West McLaren Mercedes

0

DNF

Fastest Lap

Championship Points Drivers; Raikkonen32; Schumacher 28; Alonso 25; Barrichello 20; Coulthard 19; R Schumacher 17; Montoya 15; Fisichella 10; Trulli 9; Frentzen 7; Villeneuve, Button, Da Matta 3; Webber 2; Heidfeld, Firman 1 Constructors: McLarenMercedes 51; Ferrari 48; Renault 34; Williams-BMW32; Jordan-Ford 11; SauberPetronas 8; BAR-Honda 6; Toyota 3; Jaguar-Cosworth 2.

CHAMPAGNE

Grand Prix of May 4 2003 Grid Position/Driver

Nat Car

1 'Michael Schumacher

IGER ;Ferrari

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2 Rubens Barrichello

;BRA Ferrari

3 iFernando Alonso

iESP Renault

4 Jarno Trulli

ITA Renault

5 .'Jenson Button

;gbr !bar

6 lOlivier Panis

I FRA jToyota

7 Ralf Schumacher

:GER Williams

8 !David Coulthard

!GBR ;McLaren

ICAN iBAR

|GER jSauber

15 [Ralph Firman

IRL Jordan ..

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16 jAntonio Pizzonia

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20 Kimi Raikkonen

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19|Jos Verstappen

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Accident ® Mechanical failure

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molorsport news

MARK WEBBER’S DIARY Barcelona A

few things didn’t quite go to, plan, but the really good thing about the Spanish Grand Prix was finishing - in the points.

Despite the pace we have shown over the last few Grands Prix, there has been nothing to show for it and I guess the pressure has been building up on the whole team to get something on the board.

It was the race that we needed. Following on from three days of testing at Mugello since Imoila, that was our whole 'modus operand!' this weekend and so from that perspective I'm happy with the outcome.

Both (Pizzonia) and 1 had Antonio concentrated on race set-up and doing long runs to evaluate tyre degradation on both Friday and Saturday.

I think we did more laps than anyone else, but it did cost us a row or two in qualifying.

Normally, we would give more

thought to new tyre performance and thus go into the qualifying sessions with a better idea of how the car would perform, but this time race set up was absolutely paramount.

Friday morning's long session allowed us to do our tyre comparison comprehensively and we opted for the harder of the two Michelin options. It was good In terms of tyre degradation - especially as we were giving some thought to two-stopping. Not in the conventional sense, but breaking the race into short, long and then short stints.

The option of carrying more fuel in qualifying really hurts you, so there was no real concept of doing that.

We did more tyre work on Saturday, mainly to confirm to ourselves how the rear tyres would go over a distance. It reconfirmed our plan, so we went into qualifying and the race with a firm strategy.

. tfrt/zone Motorsport

Qualifying Saturday suffered on more through this work than anything else - I didn't run new rubber until the qualifying warm-up and dropped from seventh on Friday to 12th on Saturday. Some observers thought we were running heavy.

To be honest, we weren't we simply hadn't got a good new tyre balance in the car and the track temperatuire changes caught us out a bit.

“The start of Sunday's race was nearly a complete disaster.

While Antonio was getting run into from behind after his launchcontrol failed again, all hell was breaking loose at turn one.

I'd had a run down the inside of Frentzen as we all piled In and he had Villeneuve outside of him.

As the Trulli/Coulthard incident started to happen, Frentzen pulled right and almost stopped. I had no choice I had to go off and through the gravel myself.

My immediate thoughts were "oh no - all this effort for a good race package and it could be over at turn one!"

However, I did manage to drive on through and out the other side - albeit now right at the back and with a pile of gravel in my seat.

Pressing on; DC tries to follow me past Verstappen as we both come back from lap one dramas

That can be very, very uncomfortable ...

Anyway, as they say, we pressed on from there. The car was really good and, once I got clear of a couple of slower cars, we put In some reasonable times.

Both stops, laps 18 and 42, went to plan and as the race wound out we were taking chunks out of Half and Cristiano's gap - down from 20 seconds to six at the end despite fundamentally nursing the car.

The guys really needed the finish, so for that last stint I started short-changing and doing all those little things to make it easier on the hardware.

So we've our back got andthat can monkey now getoff back to maintaining the progress the team is making.

The atmosphere is great. You can feel it.Last year, when there were problems, they were swept under the carpet.

Now, the boys are motivated and whatever problems there are get addressed directly and positively.

The other news is that, despite a difficult couple of weeks, Antonio is confirmed as my team-mate for the rest of the year.

I'm pleased for him. People forget that he is quick. He'll come right - it just needs time.

We both now head for Paul Ricard where the team is planning to run three more days this week (I haven't been there since the sports car days should be interesting).

SI

Konica VS Supercar Series — Eastern Creek

Mark hits the triple SBR young gun Mark WInterbottom snagged his third Konica round win at Eastern Creek iast weekend, but he had to work hard for it MARK GLENDENNING reports

M

ARK Winterbottom is three from three after completing a hat-trick of round wins in the Konica V8 Supercar Championship at Eastern Creek last weekend.

While Winterbottom was the pace setter throughout the weekend, things did not fall completely his way.

In fact, whether it was due to bad luck, lack of reliability, or just plain, old-fashioned mistakes, nobody really managed to hold the upper hand throughout the entire weekend - a fact borne out by the fact that each of the three races produced a different winner.

Another heroic performance from Owen Kelly in the VT Commodore was rewarded with the win in Race 1.

While he was unable to follow it up over the remainder of the weekend,fourth outright was a more than respectable performance in a car that faces an uphill battle to stay in touch with its newer rivals.

Meanwhile, Matthew White's switch from Holden to Ford payed immediate dividends with a win in the feature race on Sunday and third

outright, while second outright went to Luke Youlden, who produced an extremely consistent performance despite a couple of setbacks.

In true Konica style, this was one of those race meetings with a little bit of everything ...

Qualifying The early ofinthe threw uppart little theweekend way of surprises.

Underscoring the widely-held suspicion that the days of a privatelyprepared and run car being capable of mixing it up at the top of the Konica pile are numbered, the serious end of the grid was dominated by cars supported by teams from the main show - but with a few notable exceptions.

But pole position was not one of them. Having topped the sheets in tire opening practise sessions, Winterbottom thumped out a lm33.2799s on his second lap and from there on it was up to everybody else to do something about it.

It took some doing, but finally.

Kelly was able to wring something extra out of his antique VT Commodore to secure the other spot on the front row with a lap just under 0.4s shy of Winterbottom's time, edging out the Super Cheap Falcon AU of Youlden.

White, resplendent in his new Gulf Western colours(and, more significantly, a Falcon AU after having spent several seasons driving a Commodore)was fourth ahead of the DJR Falcon of Tony Ricciardello and the lead Young Lions Commodore of Dale Brede.

Kevin Mundy was showing few illeffects from the theft of his racing kit a week before the race, putting the Actron Air AU a respectable seventh on the grid ahead of Peter Gazzard, with Mark Porter and Todd Wanless rounding out the top 10.

Race 1(12 laps) Wiiile this was perhaps one of the most exciting racesnot we've ever seen the Konica series produce, things did get off to an interesting note when for tlie first time this season, Winterbottom put a foot wrong.

"I got a good jump but then smoked the tyres a bit and it ended up bogging down," said the now-Queenslandbased driver. The consequent delay relegated him to third.

Things were going even worse a couple of spots further back. White had been wrestling a slipping clutch throughout the weekend, and elected to try a different start procedure for the race in an effort to circumvent the problem. Instead, he stalled. By the time he had got tire Falcon moving, he was 10th.

"I think I'll be going back to my usual way of starting for the next race," he rued.

All of this worked out well for Kelly however, who slotted into the lead virtually unchallenged at the start with Youlden leading the chase.

Youlden and Winterbottom both had a significant speed advantage over Kelly, but they also had each other to worry about.

And this proved to be their undoing. Youlden was always able to keep Owen just about within striking distance, but unrelenting pressure from Winterbottom prevented him from being able to make the most of it.

\Ursltjll( |

Change of colours: White's first outing in the Gulf Western Falcon paid dividends, left.

motorsport news

V8 SUPERCARS

Chasin'time: Youlden and Winterbottom try to figure out

PRHjH

exactly who is the last of the life brakers, above.

But compared to the middle of the pack, they had it easy - as this heated exchange between Mundy, Bastian, Fernandez and Jones demonstrates, right.

fofin Morrif/Mpi\ j ,

Kelly went on to take the chequer 1.5s clear of his rivals for a win made all the more deserved after

roughly equal doses of overtaking, excitement, and repair bills, and tills one delivered in full.

Fernandez. Three laps later, all four were nose-to-tail.

Winterbottom snuck inside

mechanical problems ended a great drive in Adelaide a few weeks ago.

"We're really struggling with the rear tyres," said Kelly.

"We were just lucky that Youlden and Winterbottom spent the race scrapping with each other. That let us get away."

Youlden successfully resisted the best efforts of his pursuer to secure second,leaving Winterbottom to settle for third with a lm34.6317s

Tim Gordon started from pole with Shane Beikoff sitting alongside, but the race lasted all of one comer before

Youlden at turn one to move up to third, and immediately had to defend himself from a big counter-attack from the displaced Super Cheap car a couple of corners later.

A straight drag race against Fernandez moved Winterbottom to

fastest lap as consolation prize.

A couple of seconds behind the lead three, another good scrap for fourth had developed between Ricciardello and Brede. The Yoimg Lions car stayed in Ricciardello's shadow for much of the race, but tlie Sports Sedan Champ never capihilated.

Meanwhile, the race had come to an early end for his team-mate, V8 Supercar debutante Tony D'Alberto, who was forced to retire on lap one with clutch problems. It was a tough initiation for the Victorian high school student, whose track time had been limited earlier in the weekend by control arm problems.

"The car feels pretty good," he said. "It's just a matter of getting some miles."

With another two races stUl to come during the weekend, D'Alberto would have plenty of opportunity for that.

Race 2(16 laps) The reverse format usually be grid relied upon can for 7 May 2003

all hell broke loose. A tap from beliind sent Gordon spinning across the track, triggering a pile-up that put several cars out on the spot, and sent another few spinning off the track and rejoining further down the field.

Tlie Safety Car came out to keep things under control while the mess was cleaned up,but by tlie time the field formed behind the Audi,Gordon, Richard Mork,Brett Peters, Terry Wyhoon and Clyde Lawrence were already on tlieir way to the showers.

Leading the procession during the mop-up was Mark Porter ahead of Jose Fernandez, Beikoff and Mundy.

The four laps spent trimdling around in formation were tacked on to extend the scheduled distance to 16 laps, but for Grant Elliott, most of it would be spent watching from the sidelines. Just after the restart on lap six, the Sydney Star Commodore VS came together with Youlden and wound up clouting the wall sideways.

It was a heavy hit, and did enough damage to put Elliott out of action for the remainder of the weekend.

Porter was still leading, but the real interest lay in how quickly the faster guys were getting tlirough the traffic. Some were doing better than others, but Youlden and Winterbottom were doing best of all.

By lap 10, the pair were sitting third and fourth respectively, and closing on the lead battle between Porter and

second on the penultimate lap, and set the stage for a last-gasp showdown with Porter that was decided on the

Marffull

j

"I gave him a big gap in the last part of the lap so I could get on the gas earlier than him out of the last corner," said Winterbottom.

It worked. Winterbottom pulled alongside Porter as the pair exited the comer, had a momentary scare when Porter moved across slightly to cover himself, but then pushed on to take the win by a scant 0.01s. Or,in real terms, about the length of the car's bonnet.

final charge to the finish.

continued on page 54

fQualifying^ POS DRIUER 1 Mark Winterbottom 2 Owen Kelly 3 Luke Youlden 4 Matthew White 5 Tony Ricciardello 6 Dale Brede 7 Kevin Mundy Peter Gazzard Mark Porter 9 10 Todd Wanless 11 Craig Bastian 12 Jose Fernandez 13 Terry Wyhoon 14 Brett Peters 15 Grant Eiliott 16 Jamie Miller 17 David Russell Robert Jones 18 19 Mark Howard 20 Tony D'Alberto 21 Peter Best 22 Richard Mork 23 Matthew Hunt 24 Shane Beikoff 25 Clyde Lawrence

GAR Mulligans Falcon AU Smiths Commodore VT Super Cheap Falcon AU VIP Commodore VX DJR Falcon AU HYL Commodore VX Actron Air Falcon AU 3M/Scotts Falcon AU Hydraulink Commodore VX Metal Corp Falcon AU Abacus Falcon AU Fernandez Racing Falcon Au Kitome Falcon AU Greenfield Falcon AU Sydney Star Commodore VS Pedders Commodore VX Chance of a Lifetime AU Spies Hecker Commdore VX Howard Group Falcon AU HYL Commodore VX Allied Commodore VS V8 Racing Commodore VS National Commodore VS Dieseltech Springwood VS Karingal Commodore VS

Rounds

TIME lm33.2799s lm33.6648s lm34.1311s lm34.5548s lm34.6745s lm34.8575s lm35.0708s lm35.3106s lm35.3815s lm35.4855s lm35.9695s lm36.0634s lm36.2704s lm36.4081s 1m36.6697s lm36.7415s 1m36.7853s 1m37.3935s lm37.4307s 1m37.7069s lm37.8686s lm38.0325s lm39.2312s lm39.4643s 1m39.6533s

Eastern Greeic 53

Konica US Supercar Series — Eastern Creek

^ Konica V8s Rd 3

^Eastern Greek Race 1 (12 laps) POS DRIVIR

RRCETIME/UPS

ERSnST

19m15.3108s 1m35.2596s 1 Kelly 2 Voulden 19ml6.8793s 1m35,l972s 3 Winterbottom 19ml7.0621s *lm34,6317s 4 Ricclardello 19m20.2590s lm35.5380s 19m20.4313s lm35.6455s 5 Brede 6 White 19m26.5402s lm35.4284s 7 Gazzard 19m34.8420s lm36.6148s 8 Peters 19m36.3668s 1m36.6125s 9 Bastlan 19m38.4887s lm36.3505s 10 Wanless 19m40.4869s lm36.6475s 19m40,9346s lm36.9330s 11 Elliott 12 Russell 19m42.1569s lm36.9703s 13 Porter 19m44.1484s lm36.8897s 14 Miller 19m47.4215s lm37.3394s 19m48.4288s lm36.6603s 15 Mundy 16 Fernandez 19m49.0078s lm35.7957s 19m51.3220s lm36.9964s 17 Wyhoon 18 Mork 20m07.6034s lm38.2596s 19 Hunt 20m07.9447s lm38.8628s 20 Lawrence 20m26.5180s lm39.6162s 20m27.9337s 1m39.5616s 21 BeikoR 22 Gordon 20m53,4761s 1m40,8114s DNF Best 7 laps lm38.9054s DNF Jones 4 laps 1m39.0763s DNF Howard l lap lm54.1381s DNF D'Alberto No laps Race 2 (16 lapsi 1 Winterbottom 31 m47.1049s *1m34.8597s 31m47.1164s 1m36.4594s 2 Porter 3 Fernandez 31ra47.7180s 1m36.2500s 4 Youlden 31m48.3157s 1m35.5814s 31m49.9962s 1m36.2794s 5 Bastlan 31m52.5204s 1m36.3705s 6 Mundy 31m52.8489s 1m35.6260s 7 White 8 Wanless 31m56.1625s 1m36.0107s 31m59.0257s 1m36.0779s 9 Gazzard 10 Ricciardello 32m00.3423s 1m35.8929s 32m02.3093s 1m36.7136s 11 Russell 12 Miller 32m11.6919s 1m37.4934s 32m11.9420s 1m35.7575s 13 Brede 32m15.9102s 1m37:3999s 14 D'Alberto 32m18.5345s 1m36.9795s 15 Kelly 32m25.8666s 1m38.0450s 16 Howard 32m30.8218s lm38.1763s 17 Jones 32m37.7301s 1m39.2919s 18 Beikoff 19 Hunt 14 laps 1m39.1934s DNF Elliott 5 laps 1m55.9507s DNF Best Slaps 2m11.3077s DNF Mork No laps DNF Gordon No laps DNF Peters No laps DNF Wyhoon No laps DNF Lawrence No laps Race 3(22 laps) 1 White 35m10.1607s 1m35.0183s 2 Winterbottom 35m11.4116s*1m34.4512s 35m18.9785s 1m34.9692s 3 Kelly 35m33.6374s 1m35.1436s 4 Brede 35m41.1281s 1m35.8760s 5 Gazzard 35m44.6784s 1m36.0511s 6 Mundy 35m50.0324s 1m35.3574s 7 Youlden 8 Fernandez 35m55.2064s 1m36.6338s 35m56.8704s 1m36.6400s 9 Russell 10 Bastlan 35m59.9416s 1m36.6570s 36m02.1665s 1m36.0367s 11 Peters 36m10.8338s 1m37.0261s 12 Wyhoon 13 Jones 36m19.8626s 1m37.6837s 14 Miller 36m20.3703s 1m37.0164s 15 D'Alberto 36m27.0970s 1m37.7903s 16 Howard 21 laps 1m37.6839s 17 Gordon 20 laps 1m39.3783s 18 Beikotf 20 laps 1m38.5450s 19 Best 20 laps 1m40.0709s DNF Ricciardello 18 laps 1m34.8182s DNF Porter 13 laps 1m36.2336s DNF Hunt maps 1m39.7955s DNF Wanless 7 laps 1m36.4695s DNF Mork 2 laps 1m38.9464s

continued from page 53

"We have a really good set-up, tyre-wise," said Winterbottom, who had made the race a little extra hard for himself when he dropped a couple of spots due to an excursion off tide track at around half-distance.

"1 think that had a lot to do with it.

Our car was so good on used tyres, and that helped us when everybody else started to struggle."

Porter, who had been one of several drivers struggling to find rear grip throughout the weekend, admitted that there was not much he could have done about Winterbottom at the end. Fernandez held on to finish third ahead of Youlden.

Further back, there were a number of tales of woe. One such story belonged to White, who was seventh after having been on the receiving end of a few taps during the race that punted him back through the field.

"If you're going to pass someone, do it cleanly," said a frustrated White later. "If you look at the car, there's not a single dent on the front."

Also in the wars was Brede, who got caught up in the lap one mayhem and then made a couple of trips through the grass in his efforts to recover.

"It was just one of those terrible races," mourned the 2002 series runner-up, who was nevertheless encouraged by his car's fundamental race pace after having struggled to get it handling to his liking early in the weekend.

He still came out of it better than Kelly, who spent several laps battling

It's how you use it: Kelly, above, struggled to find grip at the Creek, but still — took home a win and a swag of points.

White and Ricciardello before war wounds to the Commodore put him out of contention. Owen's car limped home before finally grinding to a halt on the slowing-down lap.

"The steering rod broke after Ricciardello hit me-for the second

Over the next couple of laps, Winterbottom was able to whittle the deficit down to virtually nothing. But Eastern Creek is not a circuit known

time," said an exasperated Kelly.

"The thing wouldn't turn right, and after that it kept getting worse."

for passing opportunities, and when a late charge was hosed down by a poor run through lapped traffic, Winterbottom had to resign himself to being stuck in White's wheel tracks to the end.

Race 3(22 laps)

"If anyone was a betting man, they certainly wouldn't have backed me after race one, when I stalled it!"

\/oulden W'okeup onSuncfay faced with the prospect of yet another drive through from the back of the field after a stewards enquiry the previous evening saw the Super Cheap driver docked 50 points and relegated to the back of the back due to the race two incident with Elliott.

His misfortune played into the hands of White,who found himself lining up on the front row alongside polesitter Winterbottom. And when Winterbottom again made a rough start. White made the most of it to slot into the lead ahead of Ricciardello, with Winterbottom again relegated to third. A great start from Kelly bumped him up from seventh to fourth, and the lead quartet gradually quickly began to pull away from a trailing group led

by Porter.

Squabbling between second and fourth allowed White to build a small gap that grew to just over 1.1s before Winterbottom was able to get past Ricciardello on the sixth lap and begin the chase.

White grinned.

"It(the start) really was a critical moment of the race. Our cars are prett}' even - they've both got good power,and 1 would have struggled to get past Mark,just as he struggled to get past me. It was just a race of no mistakes, and just hang on and do the best you can."

"At the start, I cost myself the race," admitted Winterbottom.

"It's definitely something we've got to work on. The speed of the car was there but we just couldn't bring it off the line."

Third place went to Kelly, who drove superbly to wring every last tenth out of the VT to get within 1.7s of the lead pair before his rears finally cried enough. Brede finished fourth after a lonely race, and was followed home by the ever-consistent Gazzard and Mundy.

After a slog through the field up to eighth, Youlden had to do a chunk of it all over again when he spun and dropping to 13th. A determined recovery eventually saw him come home in seventh.

Ricciardello looked on target for a few more points until the DJR machine suffered terminal mechanical problems and coasted to a halt with three laps remaining.

While Winterbottom still retains a

Points; Winterbottom 560, White 506, Kelly 464, Porter 456, Brede 432, Mundy 432, Gazzard 414, Peters 398, Fernandez 380, Ricclardello 378, Youlden 368, Wanless 340.

healthy lead in the championship, the Konica V8 Supercar series looks like it is getting tighter with each race.

The fireworks will resume at PhiUip Island in July.

Fancy meeting you here: Peter Best and Dale Brede explore Oirk KIvnsmith

54

the scenery. motorsport news

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ITH three winners from three races, the return of Peter Brock and a huge crowd on hand to see it all happen. there was plenty to soak up from round two of the Donut King Australian Nations Cup Championship at Symmons Plains two weeks ago.

A record crowd of 12,800 Tasmanians turned out on race day to witness Peter Brock's return to fulltime racing, but the day belonged marginally - to Nathan Pretty. A first. second, and third behind the wheel of the Bathurst 24 Hour-wmning Monaro gave Pretty his first NC round win,edging out fellow race winners John Bowe and Paul Stokell.

"Consistency was the plan, really," said Pretty.

"That's the plan for the whole year, just keep it consistent, keep at the pointy end of the field and just gather the points up."

Only 11 cars made the trip across Bass Straight, but what the field lacked in size it made up in the spectacle.

Stokell kicked proceedings off by topping the timesheets in qualifying, the numbing power of the big Lamborghini Diablo enough to just squeeze Bowe's PHR Ferrari 360GT onto the outside of the front row.

Pretty and Crick lined up behind them,relegating Brock to fifth in the debut outing of the second GRM-built seven-litre Monaro. It was a close thing though, with just 0.7s splitting the lead five, all of whom broke the beams imder last year's lap record.

Bowe was quickest away at the start of race one and swung around the outside of Stokell at the first corner to assume the lead.

For the Ferrari, the rest of the race was a formality and Bowe cruised 56

around unchallenged to take the flag, resetting his own lap record in the process with a 54.8183s on lap two.

It was a vastly different story for Stokell however, whose pursuit of Bowe came to an end on the second lap when the gearstick snapped.

Stokell managed to force the Diablo into third gear,left it there, and soldiered on for the remaiiung 19 laps to fuiish a remarkable seventh.

The hobbling of the Lamborghini made life considerably easier for the other contenders. After an early challenge from Brock, Pretty spent the opening half of the race building a gap to his team-mate, who was being kept busy by Crick's Viper.

Pretty's hard work was briefly undone when a bad run through lapped traffic allowed Brock and Crick to close in, but he recovered and went on to finish second,0.7s clear of Brock.

Bowe's Ferrari was fattened up with 68kg of success ballast for the second outing courtesy of the Race 1 win,but the OzEmail Racing V8 Supercar driver still managed to lead the field away at the start. It did not last long however -Pretty nipped past at the sweeper on the first lap, and as gear selection problems began to hamper the Italian machine. Brock and Crick followed suit a lap later.

Stokell, meanwhile,had also made his way back through the field to latch on to the lead four, and went one better when he got past the ailing Bowe.

But all the action was just a little further down the road, where Brock and Crick were having a battle royal over second place.

After banging doors for a few laps, tlie Viper finally seemed to have the Monaro on the ropes as the pair flew toward the final comer, but Brock managed to box Crick out behind a

IlCHlliKO^I cERHimfetTb ireCu

a;-Hell bent: Pretty, above, kept the yellow Monaro out of trouble and on the black stuff to take the overall win, while Stokell, above right, had to fight back from gearbox problems in race one. lapped car and retained second. He went on to cross the line 0.7s behind Pretty, sealing the first of what could prove to be a decent haul of Monaro 1-2 finishes.

The for thetables 42-lapwere final,turned when slightly both Bowe and Stokell had their success ballast removed due to their finishing off the podium. And it was just as well for the Ferrari, which stalled just prior to the formation lap and left Bowe facing the prospect of starting from the rear of the field.

There were no such dramas for the Monaros though, which cantered away at the start and left Stokell and Crick to take up the chase. This they did, and with the benefit of four fresh tyres that the team had kept in

reserve, Stokell had worked his way into the lead by lap nine. With a clear track ahead,Stokell stomped on the loud pedal and set about trying to protect his advantage.

Meanwhile, Bowe was making good progress through the field. The Ferrari had worked its way up to fifth by quarter-distance, and then moved up to fourth by slipping past Crick at the hairpin on lap 26.

One lap later Bowe was third after diving inside Brock at turn one, a move that proved especially costly for the nine-time Bathurst winner when Crick was able to foUow JB through and relegate the red Monaro to fifth.

Next in Bowe's sights was Pretty, who managed to keep the Ferrari at bay for four laps before finally 'succumbing at the hairpin. motorsport news

f^irk Khusmith

Hometown hero: Along with Stokell and Crick, Bowe, above, was flying the flag for the Tasmanians, and gave the parochial crowd something to cheer about with a race win and an extended championship lead.

?clanofli

sBrow That only left Stokell, whose lead looked under threat for a while as the Ferrari reeled off a succession of quick laps in an effort to catch the Diablo. But the Lamborghini had plenty in reserve and responded, doing just enough to keep a comfortable gap back to Bowe and took the flag by 1.5s.

Further back came Pretty, who capped off a good weekend by taking the bottom step of the podium after being pushed hard in the closing stages by Crick.

Brock was fifth, and while the late completion of the car had prevented the team from getting the new Monaro completely up to speed, he was happy with its first outing.

"I must say,I was really enjoying it," he grinned."I was watching this Viper trying to strike me,you know, it's up there going ..."(makes dodgy viper-Uke movements with hands) "...trying to nail me.

7 May 2003

"I think one the great things about this category is the variation in performance between the makes of cars. Some cars are fast under brakes into comers,some are a bit slack up the straights,but by gee, at the end of the day the lap times are pretty similar."

Rusty French came out on top in Group Two in the Carrera Cup Porsche 911 GTS. French spent a good part of the weekend locked in battle with the Group One Lamborglrini of Sam Newman and eventually took tire honours over fellow Porsche driver James Koundouris and the Maserati Trofeo of Gary Yoimg.

Bowe will go into round tliree at Wakefield Park next month having slightly extended his lead in the points chase over second-placed Stokell, but with a lot of racing still to come,there is everything left to play for ...

Looking promising: Holden's newest rookie, above and below, is apparently one worth keeping an eye on in the future, particularly after a good debut outing in the not-quite-sorted second Monaro.

Points; Bowe 137, Stokell 126, Pretty 98, Crick 86, Newman 60, Brock 47.

57

Protecnicolour dreamcoat ♦

by MARK GLENDENNING WAYNE Boatwright was in commanding form in the second round of the Strathfield Australian GT Performance Championship at Symmons Plains,steering the Protecnica Subaru WRC STi to a hattrick in the three races.

Boatwright led every lap of all three races in a performance made all the more remarkable by the fact that the WRX was suffering tyre problems throughout the weekend.

Keeping the Protecnica flag flying high was Boatwright's team-mate Justin Hemmes,whose car looked in remarkably good shape after sustaining severe damage in a shunt at Adelaide a few weeks ago.

Hemmes, who only made his first racing start late last year,improved progressively throughout the weekend and notched up a sixth and fourth in the first two outings despite suffering a broken synchro on third gear early on. He saved the best for last though, following Boatwright home for a Protecnica 1-2 in the last race.

As strong as the Subarus appeared, they faced some stiff opposition. Peter Floyd was an early challenger, taking his Commodore to second place in the opening two races before fading and pulling out with mechanical problems in the final outing.

The super-quick Mazda RX-7 Series 8 of Bob Pearson also offered a threat to the top order for most of the weekend,scoring a best result of third in race one after a tight battle with the Holden.

Loadsman vs the Beetle

Graham Alexander put up the most consistent challenge though,steering his Lancer EVO VII to a fourth and two thirds - enough to move the Geelong driver up to equal third in the standings alongside Pearson.

Points; Class A: Loadsman 106.

Class B: GrocI 86. Class D: Russell, 93.

Points; Boatwright 131, King 100, Alexander/Pearson 71, Morcom 60, Floyd 59.

t

KACKNG BKAKE

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58

SCOTT Loadsman’s VX Commodore remains the man to beat in the Australian Production Car Championship after the NSW driver took pole, a win, and a second place at Symmons Plains.

Loadsman’s VX Commodore took victory in the first 13-lap handicap race to finish well clear of Steve GrocI in the Class B Volkswagen Beetle RSi, which in turn beat out the Class A Honda S2000 of Bill Fulton.

But the little Beetle had the last laugh in race two, keeping Loadsman out of reach to take the win by 1 .Os. David Ratcliff finished third in the Class B Celica SX. The wins were shared in the Class D, with Dave Mertens coming up trumps in the Holden JS Vectra V6 in race one, and David Russell taking out race tw'O in his Proton Satria GTi. - MARK GLENDENNING

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motorspon news

BTP/FOBIVIUI.A 3

Red mist JAMES Cressey extended his lead in the 2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship after an eventful weekend at Symmons Plains two weeks ago.

The 19-year-old, above, was the pace-setter right from the start, putting the Starion Spiess-Opel Dallara 301 on pole for both races.

After survhong a challenge from Michael Caruso going into turn one in the first race, the Kiwi scampered off into the distance.

He looked on target for a comfortable win until John Boothman and Bill Maddocks both spim at tire last corner and brought out the Safet}' Car with four laps to go.

All at once, Cressey's lead shrunk to almost nothing, but tlrere were a couple of lapped cars in betw'een he and second-placed Barton Mawer, wlrich in the end proved enough to secure the win when the race restarted with just one lap remaining.

A fastest lap of 52.3914s,2.0s under the old lap record, was the icing on the cake for the Auckland driver.

Behind liim, Mawer was driving the wheels off his older 396 Dallara Spiess Opel. Disappointed with his P5 spot on the grid, Mawer was going like a rocket down the back straight, passing Christian Jones (Toll Ipec Dallara 301 Mugen Honda)to take

fourth on the opening lap. He then „ nailed Alan Gurr's PSC Alfa-powered 301 at tlie same spot to take third, and pulled the same trick on Caruso's 301 Fiat Nova Motor a couple of laps later to move up to second.

An irregularity in the starting procedure put both Cressey and Mawer on the back foot in Race 2, when both took offfrom the front row - and left the rest of the field stUl sitting on the grid behind them. Both were served with drive-through penalties.

"1 didn't know what happened," said Mawer, who had gotten a jump on Cressey and taken the lead.

"1 was coming out of the first corner and looked in tire mirrors and there was nobody behind us. I drought,'dre whole field's had an accident' ... and then the black flag came out."

Cressey served his penalty immediately and rejoined 12th, whereupon he embarked upon an incredible drive that eventually saw him work his way up to finish third.

Mawer recovered to sixth.

"I think 1 had a bit of the red mist," said the Kiwi later.

The second race also started badly for BRM rookie Karl Reindler, who went out with a driveshaft failure on the formation lap after a good recovery from a bad start in race one.

Up at the front, Gurr and Caruso

OLD

SA

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were in dispute for the lead. Gurr gained the top spot with a big move at the end of tire back straight on lap eight, only to have it all go out of the window when the car's electrical system cut out two laps later.

Gurr's exit allowed Caruso,above, to push on and take the win,creating a happy ending to a day that almost saw he and Jones receive 30s penalties for a red light infringement prior to race one.

Second in race two was 2001

struggling to get the car handling properly during the early stages of the weekend.

Tlie dice with Hackett took a further toll when Jones found his helmet so thickly covered with oil spraying from the Sodemo-powered car that he was virtually unable to see in the closing stages.

In Group Two,Chris Coombs went from first to last before the first race

champ Peter Hackett, making his . return to the series in Aircon

problem and had to start from pitlane. David Borg took the win in, while Coombs bounced back to win race two.

- MARK GLENDENNING

Racing's new 301 Sodemo Renault.

He was pleased with a podium result after the team arrived not having had a chance to shake the car down.

Hackett spent much of the race in battle with Jones, who had been

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even started when his pole-sitting Dallara 396 suffered an electrical

Points: Cressey 68, Caruso 52, Mawer 46,Jones 42, Gurr 33,Fitzgeraid 23, Hackett 21.

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Monster’s mountain The pre YOUNG guns Marcus Marshall and Tim Leahey gave unbeaten series leader Jim Richards food for thought in the second round of the Carrera Cup at Eastern Creek last weekend.

by EOIN YOUNG THE Monster beat the mountain again when Nobuhiro (aka 'Monster')Tajima stormed the awesome 15km gravel hillclimb in his 850hp twin-turbo Suzuki masquerading as a Vrtara and comfortably headed the best climb time set by ex-pat Kiwi Californian, Rod Millen in his huge off-road racing Toyota 'ute'.

Tajima's record-setting time was 8m10.02s.

Top Aussie was Steve Riley with his twin-engined 4WD Suzuki special that looked like a caged kart. Chris Stone did the build, tailoring the car specifically to the tough Cardrona hill. Hefty chains take the drive to front and rear wheels.

Riley made the podium in third place with a time 36.30s slower than the Monster.

Fellow Aussie Brett Hayward was fourth in a similar (but single-engined) special.

Ross Dunkerton coped manfully in his role as works driver with Australasian truck racing champ, Inky Tulloch, in a pair of Chinese Dong Feng trucks entered by the factory, for the first time competing internationally.

A Chinese television crew accompanied the team and there wa.3 corporate delight when they finished 1-2 in the under 9-litre class. The fact that they were only entries in the class and were, er, very slow would be lost when the TV footage made it to Chinese screens.

Dong Feng is the world's third largest truck maker, so we may chonie only briefly. Remember

60

Despite not being able to beat their more experienced rival, the pair were right in the thick of the action all weekend.

=

Fast and slow: Monster, above and right, was, well,just Monster, while the factory Don Feng team. below, operated at a slightly different level...

Marshall in particular was impressive,scoring pole position and becoming the first person in any Carrera Cup session to be on top of Richards.

In the three races, the 25-year-old X.

S’

r

"// the first Honda motorcycles in the Isle of Man TT? Both drivers cracked up trying to describe the Chinese puzzle of the gearshift pattern which seemed to have gears where they were least expected.

Dunkerton said he had come to accept the marshal’s waved white flag as signalling a slow vehicle approaching.

Awesome is not a word used lightly when describing the 15kilometre gravel hill that rises up out of the Cardrona valley between Queenstown and Wanaka from 1500 to 5000ft.

It is twinned with the historic Pikes Peak hillclimb in the States, and both Tajima and., , Millen are stars with their Suzuki

and Toyota specials there too.

Millen compared both hills: "This New Zealand hill is shorter than Pikes Peak but it's more complex and more difficult to commit to memory because many of the corners are so similar.

"I could draw you a map of every corner on Pikes Peak but I couldn't with this hill. I can remember sequences of corners but towards the top it gets more complicated. If the cloud comes down you can still see the road, but I disorients you as to which sequence you're on.

VA

Pepfe TONY Pugliese continued his winning ways in the Ford Racing Formula Ford Championship at Eastern Creek last weekend.

Pugliese, 25, was in perfect touch in Sydney, taking pole position and the two race wins.

He is unbeaten in the championship after two rounds.

motorsport news

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C/CUP

F/FORD

issure mounts took three second places, advancing to second in the inaugaral championship.

But the Queenslander says there is still more impro\'ement to come from his VIP Petfoods Porsrche.

"My tyres were really going off," said Marshall after the first race.

"However,it was really good to sit behmd Jim and watch his lines."

Marshall actually led Richards for the opening nine laps of the first race, right, but the seven-times Bathurst Champ soon readdressed that situation.

"I was faster in places where 1

couldn't make a move." said the series leader, "if 1 timed it right I could do it, and 1 did."

Jim went on to win all three races, but it wasn't as easy as it reads.

Tim Leahey put the pressure on, taking third overall in the Greg Murphy Racing machine. The 26year-old moves to fifth in the series after a disasterous first round. He now has greater confidence in his Porsche.

"We've learnt a hell of a lot about the car," said Leahey."And to come away with no damage is far better than whaW happened to us at Phillip Island."

Leahey kept his car straight and out of trouble, which is more than what other Carrera Cup competitiors could say.

Rodney Jane, after qualifying an excellent eighth, very nearly rolled his Bob Jane T-Marts car, left, in the second race. His Porsche ran wide on the dirty side of the track at the fast first him, hit a lip at the end of the sand trap and launched in spectaular style. It was a performance that any precision driver would be proud of...

Team mates Matt Coleman and James Dutton had mixed weekends.

Coleman was hampered by a stomach bug but was able to score

two top five places in the opening two races. Dutton on the other hand made steady progress,finishing a career-best sixth in race three.

Kevin Bell enjoyed another solid weekend. The Kiwi made a bUnding start from the third row in race three to take second place, only to succumb to the speed of Marshall, Leahey and Peter Fitzgerald by lap six.

Fitzgerald wasn't quite able to match his Phillip Island pace, but remained consistent throughout, picking up three top five finishes.

-GRANT ROWLEY Points: Richards 360, Marshall 306, Fitzgerald 288, Bell 192, Leahey 189, Pederson 147, Coleman 129

t Pugliese The category, though, had a difficult weekend. Race two did not start until after 5pm on Sunday, forcing the stewards to flag the heat after seven laps due to bad light.

But Pugliese, below, was not fazed by the drama and holds a handy margin in the championship chase.

^ 1

fotw Morris/Mpix 7 May 2003

"The Valvoline/Cummins/Repco team is working really well." said Pugliese. "They have done a good job, but we still have some improvements to make."

This may not be a good sign for his rivals.

Brett Francis was the best of the rest, scoring two well-deserved second places. The Queenslander pressured Pugliese in the closing laps of the second race, failing by only half a car length in fading light.

Glen Hastings put his championship chase back on track with a hard-earned third overail in his Van Diemen RF01.

Hastings quaiified on the front row with his Sonic Motorsports team mate and actually jumped him at the start of race one. But the Victorian was quickly passed

by Pugliese at turn two. Francis aiso made short work of Hastings, getting by on lap four after he used the tow down the front straight to sling-shot by.

Lights out: This was the best the light got in the final race at EC, the FFords drivers faced with unsuitable conditions.

Team Dynamik hotshot Neil McFayden continued to impress in his Tankworld Van Diemen RF94. The local Sydney boy picked up a fourth and fifth, maintaining his top three position in the series.

McFayden was involved in an epic battle with Hastings and Ian Dyk in race two. Despite only one passing move occuring between the trio, the racing was close but clean. Dyk, a local school kid, was impressive all weekend on his home soil, grabbing fifth in race one but falling to eighth in the second.

Tim Macrow made gains during each session at Eastern Creek.

His weekend finishing with a creditable fourth place thanks to a great start in the poor visability.

Spectrum steerer Justin Cotter also made steady gains and remains right in the thick of the championship battle.

The Formula Ford circus resumes hostilities at Victoria’s rural Winton circuit in fortnight’s time.

- GRANT ROWLEY

Points; Pugliese 61, Francis 42, McFayden 39, Hastings 36, Macrow 32, Cotter 28, Dyk 14, Trimble 8, Preston/Reynolds 6.

61

A Toast to Absent Cody Crocker and Greg Foletta gave Subaru an inspirational win in the Rally of Canberra as the locals thrashed the Asia-Pacific regulars. JON THOMSON reports !

THE opening round of the Asia Pacific Rally title in Canberra was run and won with a dark and sombre feel and,despite Cody Crocker's fine victory, thoughts were focussed elsewhere.

Possum Bourne's New Zealand accident a week before the Canberra rally and his then-continuing battle in Dunedin Hospital was the talk of the rally which itself was conducted in the stark moonscape of the fire devastated forests of the national capital.

The blackened trees and stumps and the wide open spaces left in the wake of the bushfire inferno gave the rally a black feel, not helped by Bourne's fight for life.

A small field and similarly small spectator numbers did nothing to lift the mood.

Crocker's victory however should not be overshadowed. With Crocker and team-mate Dean Herridge's Impreza both bearing signs on the rear quarter proclaiming that they were'Doing it for Possum'the blue team had a strong focus despite their woes. It was a masterful drive, with the Subaru pilot pacing himself against the opening leg charge of tearaway Finn Juha Kangas.

Kangas took fastest time on every forestry stage during the opening leg to give Mitsubishi something to cheer about at the end of Day 1.

Admittedly, the red Les Walkden-run Evo Vn had the advantage of running down the order on Day 1, leaving the road sweeping to Crocker. However Kangas signalled he is clearly going to be a force in this year's ARC,despite the fact that his rally ended mid-way through Day 2 when he rolled the Lancer and retired.

From that point on, Crocker was in the box seat, commanding the running and moving up from his overnight second placing to take the lead, a position he would not relinquish to the finish.

"It's been a very difficult week for me and the entire team," said Crocker."I tried to play it down during the week but to have claimed victory means a lot to me and I really wanted to be able to give something to Possum and his family."

Behind Crocker, Scott Pedder was the man to watch as he pushed his factory-assisted Evo VI Lancer into a position to challenge the leading 62

Subaru. With just a handful of seconds separating the pair,Pedder struck problems on Saturday afternoon, with the Lancer suffering a lack of turbo boost and an increasing thirst for water.

Behind the leading pair. Dean Herridge was a solid third set to pick up the pieces should either Crocker or Pedder falter.

The expected full-on attack from Simon Evans came to nought with the Hella Subaru out on the first stage on Friday morning with a gearbox failure.

"I think Simon was going to be a huge threat and he always will be this year," said Crocker's co-driver, Greg Foletta.."The result at the end of the first stage was a huge surprise to us. It did take a lot of pressure off us."

The withdrawal of the RaUiart Mitsubishi team in the weeks leading up to Canberra saw Ed Ordynski back with his old team at Les Walkden. Ed was quick to point out that the ex-Michael Guest Lancer was

maximum APRC points as the first of the Asia Pacific challengers ahead of Argyle and Nutuhara with Australian Chris Atkinson taking fourth.

In his debut at the wheel of his works Super 1600 Atkinson posted a fine 10th outright and third in APRC in his first competitive steer in a front-drive car. The young Queenslander, who impressed last year in his privateer Lancer, beat home his experienced Austrian team mate Niki Schelle, who retired after losing a wheel on day two.

"We were just cruising along.

We've had no problems at all and just had a bit of fun," said Chris Atkinson.

The Kiwi challenge melted early, with Andrew Hawkeswood Subaru Group A car out with a blown engine on Day 2 and Argyle battling a number of problems in what was a fairly lack lustre performance.

Among the privateeer Australians, 24-year-old Craig Neale had a rally-long battle with Toyota Team test driver Ben Barker, with Neale's Evo V Lancer overcoming a brush with a bank on the final day and a meeting with some local wildlife to take eighth outright.

In his older Lancer Evo III Barker fought hard throughout the rally with Neale but a broken driveshaft on the final day lost him over a minute and secured his ninth outright.

not as powerful as the RaUiart car but that he felt comfortable in it.

Ordynski was clearly going for the consistency theme rather than chasing an outright win,as Kangas had been. The approach gave Ordynski a fourth outright The Asia Pacific contingent was less than impressive, both in numbers and in performance. Nico Caldarola in his Evo VII Lancer led the field on the road on Day 1 but was weU off the pace,struggUng to stay with the leading Aussie competitors.

Caldarola retired on Day 1 when he broke the radiator on a jump.

The two Indian-backed MRF Tyres Lancer EVO VIIs driven by European Champ Armin Kremer and former Austrian snowboard champ David Dopplereiter also took a conservative approach. Kremer rewarded his new backers with a fifth place captured in a frantic three-way fight on the last day. The German beat Kiwi Lancer Group A driver Geoff Argyle by just 0.7s, with Japan's Fumio Nutahara in a Group N Lancer Evo VII another 8.1s back in seventh.

Mark Pedder was looking set for a top 10 finish after a number of problems but lost grip on a slippery stage in Kowen on Sunday and went off the road and out of the raUy, hitting a tree with little damage.

Kremer's performance gave him KilOfspiri nev.s

/

Friends As Crocker drove over the finish

ramp,the joy of victory was tempered with a sombre mood. The emotion on Crocker's face was clear.

The team had done it for Possum putting both remaining team cars on the podium but the feeling was as bleak and grey as the skies over Canberra.

Possum's tragic departure Prom rallying means things will never be the same again in the sport in the Southern Hemisphere and in

particular in Australia, and it showed on the faces of the Subaru team.

Subaru has taken a strong lead in the manufacturers title and will no doiubt focus all its efforts in on wirtning the championship for Possum.

The ARC Championship moves on now to Queensland with a long six week break to the next round of the Super Series on June 14 while the APRC has a 10 week break to the Rally of Rotorua in mid-July. t

r

*

I A.,r

%

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/

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Neil Blackboum

Neil Blackboum

Code Blue: Cody Crocker, main pic, was the class of the field in Canberra but the Subaru team took little joy in their win, inset.

.

Kangas and Rabbetts: Juha Kangas, top, starred early, flying until he rolled bis Lancer.

'.

Coming Man: The Mitsubishi of Scott Redder took a strong second, above.

air

m

1 Crocker-Foletta 2h50m52.0s Subaru Impreza 2 Petider-Humni 2h51m26.2s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 3 Herridge-MacNeall 2h52hl7.Qs Subaru Impreza 4 Ordynski-Stewart 2h53m58.5s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 5 Kremer-Berssen 2h53m56.7s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 6 Argyle-Smith 2h53m57.4s Mitsubishi Lancer EvoVI.5 7 Nutahara-Hayashi 2h54m05.5s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 8 Neale-Neale 2h55mll.8s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V 9 Barker-Drake 2h58m06.8s Mitsubishi Lancer III 10 Atkinson-Atkinson 3m03m36.7s Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 Australian Rally Championship Manufacturers' Points; Subaru 136, Mitsubishi 100, Toyota 40.

a; ■s,

7

2003

Subaru Rally of Canberra Outright Results

<1

63

Burns:BeB on Blue?

Former champ refuses to rule out staying at Peugeot^

WORLD Championship leader Richard Bums has moved to quash the ongoing stories of a possible departure from Peugeot and a return to his old team, Subaru.

The 2001 world champion dismissed suggestions that he is ready to leave Peugeot and return to Subaru. However the Briton's protests amounted to a 'say nothing' statement that left more questions than answers.

"I have no contract beyond December 2003. I'll be talking and discussing my future with whoever's interested in it," said Burns.

"Until I know all the options, it's difficult to say. I would stick by what I've said about engineering, that it does make it more attractive staying here."

The British driver, right, has apparently felt more confident since Belgian Christian Deltombe became his engineer for the Rally of Turkey, but has yet to win a rally for Peugeot.

Meantime, the man Burns is seemingly set to replace at Peugeot, Tommi Makinen, has hinted he may continue on at Subaru next year.

Makinen says if he continues to have a good feeling with his team and especially with team-mate Fetter Solberg - he could be tempted to stay on in 2004.

Asked when will he start thinking about his plans for next season, Makinen replied: "I've been thinking about it quite a lot already. I am definitely going to decide very soon.

"But still it doesn't appear to be

impossible for me to continue. particularly because I have a good feeling with Fetter and a good feeling in the team. If the good feeling carries on as it is at the moment and I'm stUl enjoying it...‘ -JON THOMSON Markked Man: Martin is looking for a podium in the new Ford Focus.

Markko calls for calm

Dude, where's my dash? Fterridge and Macneall went dashless for a stage.

Dean's Dashing Figures

BATTLING through a stage in the Rally of Canberra, Subaru team driver Dean Herridge found an unusual item dropped into his lap.

The dashboard came away from the firewall and landed in the WA driver's lap - but totally unfazed, Herridge carried on and 64

took fastest time on the stage.

In a weekend of grief for the Subaru outfit, the incident relieved some of the obvious tension, with crew members throwing things into Deano's lap as he left the next service in a bid to help him to more stage wins.

-JON THOMSON

FORD driver Markko Martin, right, is attempting to hose down expectations of a possible win for the Estonian in the new Focus in the Rally of Argentina after his sensational showing against the Peugeots in New Zealand.

Martin was second in NZ,above, up until engine failure near the end of Day 2 and had been quickest on three stages running.

"I think the approach and the expectations should be similar to New Zealand," said the Estonian.

"If we find a good set-up again, we should be able to do a podium. I am not expert: last year we managed some second fastest times with repeated stages, so I don't know. I really can't remember Argentina from last year."

The Focus is said to have run well on a recent test on rough roads in Portugal, near Ponte de Lima,but bad weather made it hard to assess 'its performance.

-JON THOMSON

molorspon news

RALLY NEVUS

Dale sets Sail for Hyundai WRC program HYUNDAI has bucked the trend of signing young Scandinavian drivers by signing Brit Justin Dale to its WRC squad.

Dale, 31, is to drive a Hyundai Accent WRC on six rounds of the 2003 World

Will there be 'Ben Bates'? Neal Bates is planning a third Corolla Prototype but only after a solid testing program.

Toyota Tnplets?

by JON THOMSON NEAL Bates was a bystander for the Rally of Canberra. After sitting on the sidelines in 2002, the Toyota driver found himself fielding the same question over and over at his hometown event this year.

"You must be annoyed at not being able to run tlie Corolla here?" was the question, but Bates was not too disappointed at having to miss the three-day International.

"We need every minute we can get to find some more speed so missing Canberra was an absolute Godsend," said Bates.

According to Bates, the team is using the extended 10 week break between the opening round in WA and the next Super Series rally in Queensland in mid-June to get more speed from the prototype Corollas.

"We are seeking an allowance for a higher compression ratio to get some more power out of the car, and we are working on the diffs to get better traction and drive out of corners," said Bates.

"The last thing we need at the moment is a rally, no matter how close to home. We need development time and we are using every minute of the layoff to get closer to the opposition."

In Canberra,Bates closely monitored the progress of his yoimg protege and test driver Ben Barker and was again impressed by the Bega youngster's progress.

"He put in another great performance to grab ninth in an old car and we are looking to try and give him a run in the final round of the ARC in Tassie later tliis year.

"If we get through the remaining rounds of the ARC without any major repair bills, we hopefully will have enough budget to build a third car for Ben to drive in Tassie.

"It is a long way from certain but that is the plan we have and I think it would be good for Ben and the team."

Accentuating the Grunt

HYUNDAI'S rally team boss David Whitehead believes that the latest Accent WRC's engine will come into its own on forthcoming rounds of the World Championship.

In New Zealand, the team's Belgian driver Freddy Loix had suggested that the Accent WRC 3.5 gave no more power than last year's car, but Whitehead insisted that there was an overall increase and that New Zealand’s unusually fast stages hadn't played to its strengths.

"As it is very punchy in the mid-range, that gives the impression that it falls off at the top end," Whitehead said. "(In) Argentina, Cyprus and Greece, the mid range will have more benefit."

"There is a quantifiable improvement in performance in the mid-range, but you've got to be in that part of the power band to feel the benefit."

-JON THOMSON I May 2003

(

i Say 'Hi'to horsepower: Hyundai's Accent WRC is on a path to more suitable events, according to team boss David Whitehead.

Rally Championship.

Justin and long-term co driver Andrew Bargery, will kickstart their campaign with Cyprus Rally in June followed by Rallye Deutschland (July), Australia (September), Rallye Sanremo and Rallye Catalunya (October) and finish with Wales Rally GB (November).

While the 2002 British Super 1600 Champion has contested the Rally of Great Britain before, he has limited experience on the southern European events through working as a gravel crew but Deutschland and Australia will be an all-new experience.

"This is obviously going to be a big learning curve for me but my aim this year is to get miles and experience of the six events," commented Dale.

"I am also planning on doing the recce for as many rallies as I can that we're not competing in to start familiarising myself with those roads too."

Dale and Bargery will have a shakedown test later this month in preparation for his first real test in the world rally machine, when the British duo contest the South Swedish Rally, a round of the FIA European Championship.

"1 like the feel of the Accent and it has good power, but I have not yet played with the suspension or differential settings so the Swedish rally will be a good test for me. And I'm looking forward to working with MSD -from the people I have met so far they seem a good bunch of technicians."

BS

Ram and records fall Taking b

by KEN FERGUSON AIM-ALL Castrol final round showdown betw.een father and son Victor and Ben Bray did not eventuate at the April 25-26 Tin Top Titles, as the rain washed out the entire day of eliminations two weeks ago.

The event has been postponed and is scheduled to be run at the May 17 Pro-Am 'event. Unfortunately for the ; Bray camp, only one has a , chance to make it to the final, as they will confront each other in the’very first round of eliminations on May 17. '.Friday qualifying almost resulted in the quickest field eyer'inthe class, with the i^dRception of number eight ;.-qualifier, Peter Kapiris in his vKapiris Brothers '53 Studebaker, Ji^ho was well off his usual pace ; and recorded a best of 6.68s/221mph.

Maurice Fabietti was the seventh fastest in his Monaro, and was the only other driver ibutside the 6.2s zone, with a ^.47/217.

The top three spots were all ^?^1I s passes and were also all f'^fudebakers, the quickest being 4he Jack Daniels entry of Brett € Stevens (6.14/232), just edging ■●'but Robin Judd in his -Moonshine Bandit' (6.15/236), ■ and Gary Phillips, above right, in his Lucas Oils Products car with a 6.18/229.

Bray Snr and Jnr were next quickest with a 6.20 and 6.21 respectively, and Andrew

Searle's Acme Fibreglass Ford Customline in sixth with a 6.27/218. Non-qualifiers included Rob Broadbent in his Saintypowered Statesman, and Kym Petterwood in his Corvette.

The Pro Stock class only received seven entries, with Jon Andriopoulos taking the top spot in Matthew Sawyer's Dodge Daytona with a 7.43/182, ahead of Peter Ridgeway's 7.46/183.

Jason Grima was in seventh position in his immaculate Ford Probe with a 7.68/177.

The talk of the event was the quickest ever, and first seven second pass in the B/Gas class,

by Nick Xerakias in his Ford Probe, below, going an incredible 0.571 sec under the index on his very first qualifier.

An easy 7.87/174 mph topped the qualifying list, followed very closely by Bruno Cavallo, in his Pontiac, who also decided to give the B/Gas index a good flogging, recording a 7.90/172.

Eight other competitors in the sixteen car Supercomp field went under their respective

indexes, which should see some hard fought, close battles at the re-run on May 17th.

Supercharged Outlaws saw eighteen entries, with the top spot going to Debbie Reed in her small block Chev powered dragster(6.32/216).

Five other competitors qualified in the six second zone, with Dean McClennan going 6.43 in his Funny Car, Les Winter in his '55 Chev(6.59/216), Debbie O'Rourke in her Monaro(6.78/197), Matthew Gilmour in his dragster(6.81/203), and Allan Sarkis in the country's only six second Centura, going 6.90/192.

The Rocket Industries team returned to Willowbank with John Cowin back in the hot seat following his fiery crash at the Nationals. John's first pass saw him shut off very early after suffering violent tyre shake just off the start line, and he then recorded a 5.85/121, shutting off just after half track. Flis half track speed was 233 mph. oard

MarshaU Cass :

REIGNING Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon regained the points lead that he lost to Brandon Bernstein just one week ago with a final round victory over Darrell Russell in the 23rd annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta last weekend.

The Miller Lite ace carded a final round 4.56/323 to best Russell, who lost traction as soon as he stepped on the throttle. Earlier, Dixon took rotmd victories of 4.65/310,4.56/327, and 4.57/322 over brothers, Mike and John Smith, and Clay Millican.

Russell, in his first final round of the season, took his Bilstein Engine Flush dragster to round victories over Doug Herbert,Tony Schumacher,and David Baca.

Tony Pedregon continues his

Just like

TOP Fuel rookie Brandon Bernstein, racked up his third victory of the season at the Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway two weeks ago.

In the Top Fuel final round, Bernstein used his best pass of the day at 4.62/320 to stop Doug Herbert, who pedalled once and trailed with a 4.88/282 in his Snap-On Tools dragster.

Del Worsham, right, claimed his first Funny Car victory of the season by defeating defending event winner Whit Bazemore.

Worsham powered to a 4.92/310 in his Checker Schuck's Kragen Pontiac Firebird, while Bazemore's Mateo Tools Dodge Stratus R/T lost traction at the start and coasted to the finish at 6.50/194.

Kurt Johnson claimed his third Pro Stock victory of the season by defeating Mike Edwards. , In his fourth final round of the season, Johnson recorded a

motorsport news

DRAG RACING

ack What dominance of Funny Car. In the final round,Pedregon's Castrol Syntec Mustang drove away from finalround opponent Johnny Gray, taking the win light, 4.87/318 to 5.00/304.

Warren Johnson, who has probably made more runs at Atlanta Dragway than any racer on the grounds, pushed his record number of victories to 90 on Sunday with a holeshot win over former crew chief Greg Anderson.

Johnson left faster than his former employee and held on to take a 6.85/201 to 6.83/202 victory Geno Scab's win in Pro Stock Motorcycle moved him into the points lead for the first time in his career, taking over the points lead from three-time Champion Angelle Savoie with a final round win over

Savoie s teammate,Antron Brown, In the final round Brown pushed the Christmas Tree, which resulted in a double-red-light start that disqualified Brown first.

At the other end. Scab showed he deserved the win, posting a 7.19/186.82 to 7.24/172 victory.

Andrew Hines recorded the quickest pass ever for a Pro Stock Harley when he sped to a 7.17/183 pass in the opening round. For the first time in history, two Harley Davidsons qualified and advanced into the second round.

In Top Alcohol Dragster, Marty Thacker used a final round 5.45/262 to stop defending series champion.

Art Gallant, who just trailed at 5.45/248 in his nitro burner.

Frank Manzo set a new Alcohol

David Ostaszcwski

Funny Car mph record of 260.56 enroute to a final round 5.61/257 win over finalist Bob Newberry, who shook the tyres and slowed.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

03\id

Dixon goes crunch

DEFENDING NHRA Top Fuel Champion Larry Dixon walked away from a crash in the Miller Lite dragster during the fourth round of qualifying at Bristoi two weeks ago.

As Dixon, above, crossed the finish line, the right rear tyre failed, with a piece striking and collapsing the wing struts. The car slammed hard into the right-side guard-wall, where the entire rear end broke from the chassis.

The car then skidded across both lanes trailing a shower of sparks before striking the left guard wall. The car came to a rest, where Dixon abruptly exited the wreckage unscathed.

The Miller Lite team was forced to ready a brand-new spare chassis, working late into the morning. In round one, the completely untested piece went 4.60/321 in a win over Don Lampus, but Dixon was eliminated in the following round when he lost traction against Jim Head.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Welcome to the Jungle

Dad used to do f . 5T / :t-,

u David Ostaszcwski

winning 6.89 seconds pass at 200 mph in his AC Delco Chevy Cavalier to edge Edwards at the finish, who posted a 6.92 at 199 in his Young Life Cavalier.

Fred Hahn scored his first AMS Pro Mod Challenge victory of the 2003 season, driving Jim Oddy's Summit Racing '02 Corvette to a 6.23/226 after opponent Mitch Stott lost I May 2003

traction and crossed the centerline in his Radiac Abrasives '63 Corvette.

Doug Vancil powered the Vance & Hines Harley to a final-round 6.70/209 to take the opening round of the Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley exhibition when finalround opponent Mark Cox had an engine fail in his Bojangles Harley.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

BOB Gilbertson will wheel two different tribute cars honoring the late 'Jungle' Jim Liberman, one of the sport's legendary Funny Car aces.

Gilbertson has teamed up with Liberman's brother Bob and son Randy as well as Nick Boninfante of Boninfante Performance Clutch Parts in the project.

Gilbertson's 2003 Chevrolet Camaro will be painted up in the colors of Liberman's 1976 blue Monza, above, at one of the tracks where Liberman made his name: Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, the next stop on the tour.

A second tribute to 'Jungle Jim' will have Gilbertson running a replica of the 1975 red Monza that Liberman drove to win the 1975 NHRA Summernationals.

Gilbertson will unveil that special car in September at the 19th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pennsylvania.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI 61

Front Row r~p

u

KURT Busch became the first two-time victor of 2004 with a win at the California Speedway Fontana on April 27.

Pole winner Steve Park went into the race with great expectations, but those ended on lap one when he collided with Ryan Newman on the backstretch.

Bill Elliott headed the first dozen laps before relinquishing the lead to Tony Stewart, who dominated the first half of the race before handing it over to McMurray at the halfway point.

But Stewart wasn't around to see the finish, breaking a conrod after heading 100 of the 250 circuits.

Some great racing took place on the wide turns, but the best was saved to last with Busch diving under McMurray and Rusty Wallace for the lead with 12 laps remaining, above.

Dale Jarrett took the hardest lick of the race, his Ford erupting in flames after heavy rear contact when he spun unaided on lap 231, collecting eight other mid-pack cars.

Wallace fought Labonte hard to finish the closest of thirds,

extending his winless streak to 72. His last win came at this track two years ago.

"Bobby beat us by about six inches coming to the line."

Wallance said.

“I‘m not disappointed. The hotrod ran super and pit stops were fantastic. It'll come. I’m just getting damn tired of waiting.”

Wallace ran out of fuel on lap 90. but a two-tyre stop late in the going go him back into contention.

Busch finished 2.3s ahead of the duelling Labonte and Wallace, while the race for fourth ended in drama. Coming off turn four on the penultimate lap Jimmy Johnson kissed the wall, airing a race-record eighth caution. Johnson and the duelling Mark Martin clanged hard to finish 16th and 17th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr overcame an engine change on race morning that saw him starting at the rear and then a miscue on pit road that cost him a lap to finish sixth, gaining points on Matt Kenseth who finished ninth and Jeff Gordon who was 11th.

- MARTIN D CLARK

I Nadeau hosp 1—^

1^

is JERRY Nadeau is hospitalised in critical, but stable condition with head, rib and lung injuries 5after a hard practice accident at Richmond Speedway on May 2.

The rear end of Nadeau's MB2owned, Army-sponsored Pontiac broke loose as he entered the 14 degree turn one banking.

The car spun 180 degrees and impacted the wall on the driver's side of the car. Rescue personnel peeled the roof of the car back and Nadeau, left, emerged seemingly unconscious and was placed on a backboard with a neck brace.

Nadeau, 32, a native of Connecticut, came up through the Karting and Formula Ford

Park: wolves still at the door

AMID rumours of his demise from Dale Earnhardt Inc., Steve Park silenced his critics for all of two days when he won the pole for the Fontana race.

"We're fixing to start winning races," he remarked after the feat.

"All the hogwash I have to read that the press puts out there, I have broad shoulders and I race to win. This isn't a Cinderella story, this isn't you won a pole and everything's going to be fine from here on out. This is the first step."

Unfortunately for Park the first step wasn't even a stride, dropping from pole to fifth before turn one in the race then 68

blatantly driving Ryan Newman into the wall on the backstretch and wiping them both out.

The problem appears to be Park's lack continual lack of peripheral vision, as he has collided many times on track and pit road with cars alongside him this year. It is something that seems to have troubled him since his life-threatening crash in 2001.

So for the moment at least, there will be doubters and rumours about his replacement.

Exiting Fontana, Park was 30th in points, compared to his DEI stablemates Little E second and Michael Waltrip sixth - MARTIN D CLARK

=■

|l

/r.

O'

fill.

Under fire: Park is well behind team-mate Earnardt Jr and could soon be out of a job. motorsgort news

NASCAR

Joe does the job V-

>3.

'I

I JOE Nemechek overcame adversity

I to win a rain-shortened race at I Richmond on Saturday night, i It was Nemechek's third career victory but first with Hendrick Motorsports - although it brought Hendrick a victory in the 600th race the organisation has entered.

"The car was unbelievable, we never really changed anything," said Nemechek.

"We could go high,low, anywhere I wanted to go. It didn't matter what we did to the car, it was goirig to go to the front."

Bobby Labonte finished a strong second. His third runner-up slot in as many races has vaulted him to fifth in points, with Earnhardt Jr third, slicing further into Matt Kenseth's points lead.

Nemechek showed early he had a strong Monte Carlo, heading the first lap from his outside front row starting slot. He gave it up to his ranks in the US and Europe. stablemate and pole-sitter Terry Labonte and Ryan Newman before Entering Richmond he was 34th he showed dominance mid-way in points, his best result this year through the race. coming at Texas in April where he finished fourth.

A miscue on lap 224 of 400 would have cost him the race.

In his last race at Fontana he finished 14th. Aside from a "I wanted to kill him halfway through the race," Nemechek said of Winston Open non-points win, his crew chief Peter Sospenzo, who gave one victory came in 2000 in Atlanta the call to pit once Joe had passed the with Flendrick Motorsports, entrance to pit road. They pitted later Nadeau was using one of the in the caution, but restarted 25th, newer aluminium wrap around seats and the mandated head later gambled on a two -yre stop and grabbed the lead from Robby Gordon and neck restraint. Early reports for the final time on lap 330,holding speculate the seat split in one on through a spate of late race area. Later reports were cautions and rain that evenhially encouraging, with Nadeau stopped play seven laps early. conscious and able to squeeze For once Robby finished in front of the hands of family members.

Jeff Gordon,and what a fight he put - MARTIN D CLARK up after being almost four laps in arrears thanks to an early flat tyre.

talised

Robbie’s double duty

He fought back to lead his firstever short track race on lap 300, ending his night fourth.

Kevin Harvick finished sixth, with Gordon fourth. Richard Childress Racing could have had all three of its cars in the top ten had Harvick not spun out Jeff Green on lap 270.

Bad luck again plagued Ryan Newman,a differential giving up while he lead on lap 98. Rookie Jamie McMurray looked headed to his second top ten in as many weeks, but his Ganassi Dodge engine developed a misfire with 60 laps to run and he ended his night 22nd.

For the second race in succession Steve Park instigated the first caution, this time on lap 44 when he spun and hit the waU entering turn one.

"We blew a left rear tyre," said Park, although there was no visible sign of a of a flat.

Points standings; Kenseth 1619, Earnhardt Jr,1599, Busch 1452 J Gordon 1441, B Labonte 1376,Johnson 1372, Waltrip 1361, Harvick 1328,

R Wallace 1274, Marlin 1259.

Charlotte, Indy back-to-back

ROBBY Gordon will do double duty on May 25th, running the Indy 500 and Charlotte Coca-Cola 600 on the same day for the fifth time in his career.

Gordon will replace the injured Dario Franchitti at Andretti-Green Racing a ride recently rumoured to be Tony Stewart’s.

“I laughed a little bit when I read that," quipped Gordon. "I thought that was my deal."

In 2002 he finished eighth at Indy and 16th in Charlotte. It will be Bobby’s ninth Indy 500.

- MARTIN D CLARK I May 2003

A Sign of things to come?

ALTHOUGH NASCAR is keeping mum on the corporations it is in negotiations with, business publication Bloomberg News is specuiating that McDonalds is in the running to replace Winston as the title sponsors of its premier Stock Car series.

So far, the fast food chain has not denied that it is interested. Other corporations also mentioned in passing include Coca-Cola and UPS. - MARTIN D CLARK

Jerry on top JERRY Nadeau was fastest among 13 teams testing at Charlotte recently for the upcoming The Winston and Coca-Cola 600 events.

Nadeau topped the charts unofficially at 181,757mph followed

by Jimmie Johnson, Mike Skinner, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Two incidents occurred in the garage area during the two days of practice. Spent fuel erupting from a side exhaust pipe set fire to a plastic fuel container in Todd Bodine's BelCar Racing stall. A crew member kicked the can outside and it was extinguished without further drama.

Meanwhile, Jeff Green's RCR Chev came together with a track worker's personal car, damaging Green's right front fender. n The series takes this weekend off for Mothers Day, returning on the 17th for the annual running of the non-points All-Winners race and one of, if not the most exciting events on the calendar: The Winston.

The race is run under the lights in three segments of 40, 30 and 20 laps, with a cool three million US bucks up for grabs and a whopping US$1 M to the winner. The top 20 finishers of the first segment advance to race two, while only 14 cars from the second event advance to the final ten lapper of which part of the grid will be inverted by fan vote.

"Winning The Winston as a rookie was a pretty remarkable night," commented Dale Earnhardt Jr. of his 2000 win.

"Dad was there and everything.

The Winston is fun because there are no points, no pressure and you can crash out or do whatever it takes to win. You don't sacrifice a bunch of points or anything if you don't finish well, so you can really take all the risks." n After much criticism last year over the track surface and subsequent wrecks. New Hampshire Speedway has been totally re-paved in readiness for the first of two Winston Cup events during 2003 scheduled for July 20, n Casey Atwood is giving Ray Evernham's research and development team Dodge a one race appearance at Pocono on June 8, Atwood will drive the number 91 he last piloted at Homestead-Miami last year. Sammy Johns will again crew chief the Intrepid, n Terry Labonte won his first pole since April 2000 at Texas with a 126.511 mph lap at Martinsville, Hendrick team-mate Joe Nemechek sat alongside, with other Hendrick team cars Jeff Gordon sixth and Jimmie Johnson 10th.

- MARTIN D CLARK 69

Brady joins PCR tribe FORMER Australian speedcar champ Craig Brady is set to join the thundering sprintcar ranks at the Parramatta City Raceway next summer.

After racing a speedcar for I many years, Brady, right, will line up in the 410 engine Eagle or Maxim chassis machine supplied by Barry Lewis. Lewis, who first gave stars like Skip 'Jackson, Pete Murphy, Bob Jackson their start in sprintcar racing, will be back next summer with Brady racing his : new sprintcar. The new 410 engine will be one of Steve Kinser's powerplants from this season, so it will not be lacking

VICTORIAN ^rintcar hot shoe Gairy Chippindall used every ounce of his racing experience on ANZAC Day to take a thrilling last lap victory in round four of the W&G Mower ; Services Formula Sprintcar Series at Mildura's Timmis Speedway.

Chippindall. above, went into the feature race as highest points scorer after taking a second and two third placing's from his heat races. Alongside Chippindall was South Australian young gun Craig Vanderstelt. who was also a consistent finisher in the heat races with a second and two fourths.

Chippindall jumped to an earfy lead at the drop of the green, and was quickly set after by Vanderstelt, Nicholls, Evans and the rest of the hounding pack.

Young gun Vanderstelt pressured Chippindall for several laps until finding a way past and taking the lead of the high-speed freight train, but Chippindall fought back and caught Vanderstelt in lapped traffic to regain the lead. In a thrilling close-quarters tussle, the tv.-o combatants exchanged the lead three or four times before Chippindall settled out in front.

V/ith just a handful of laps remaining, all hell broke loose on the racetrack. First. Wayne Nicholls(who was running second in the series on points) blew a rear tyre. Then points leader Tony Moule(who had qualified 16th for the feature and had progressively worked his way forward and was running inside the top 10) ran over some debris from the Nicholls car.

70

which in turn tore the oil filter from the Chevrolet powerplant, igniting the Foster into a fireball. Moule battled on for an entire lap and crossed the finish line in a blaze of flames, believing he had held on to finish the race and had consolidated his points leaf.

As this was taking place, the likeable South Aussie Owen Pitt smacked the turn three wall and rolled his Mortands Tyre and Machinery J&J. The red lights were then quickly brought on as the fire crew rushed to extinguish the flaming inferno of the Moule A26 Foster. Moule emerged from the car a shattered man after learning that there were still four laps to run, and that the car would not be restarted.

Nicholls was able to change his shredded rubber and restarted at the back of the field.

Chippindall lead the field away at the green with Vanderstelt hot on his tail. The crowd rose as one as Vanderstelt worked his way past Chippindall and take control of the race. Vanderstelt looked comfortable out in front until the last lap, where he made the smallest mistake going into turn three. Chippindall took the lead and went on to take the race honours after 25 laps of actionpacked racing. Local driver Col Beasley managed to hold out Chris Evans for third and proved to be a very popular placegetter after receiving big cheers from the parochial hometown crowd.

Brett Milbum was next in fifth from Bob Forbes. Wayne Nicholls and Ron Donaldson.

- PARIS CHARLES

in the horsepower department.

Brady is unsure whether he will continue racing the speedcar next summer, with his ' main focus being on racing the ' Australia Wide Towing Tunks Speed Shop Sprintcar at Parramatta.

- GREG BOSCATO

Brazier is QLDs man

GARRY Brazier took an all-theway win in the Queensland Sprintcar Championships at Toowoomba's Charleton Speedway.

Second place went to Cameron Gessner in his final hometown

appearance of the Gessner Racing Team with Darrell Hodges third.

Brazier was ecstatic with the win and finally completed a boyhood dream.

"We finally got the whole set. It's good to get this one behind me.I've got three seconds and my Dad has won it. That was a goal, I wanted to win everything he won,and to join the elite top guys," said Brazier.

After the pole shuffle Brazier (Metalcorp / Castrol Maxim)and Andrew Scheuerle (Lucas Oils Maxim)formed the front row, but Scheuerle got pole position after Brazier, as points leader, chose to start on position two on an already dry slick track. Behind were Hodges(Valvoline Cool), Gessner (Gessner Racing Viper), Darren

Jensen (Cresta Australia Maxim) and Ricky Mitchell(Premier Performance Stealth).

A nasty roll over in turn three involving the cars of Jason Bottin and Rob Kyle saw the race stopped. Both drivers were uninjured. Brazier was lapping cars within five laps of the re-start, while Scheuerle, Gessner, Hodges, Jensen and Mitchell spread themselves out in pursuit. Just at mid-distance, Gessner caught Scheuerle and passed him when Schueurle was baulked behind lapped traffic.

Up front. Brazier was untroubled to claim his first Queensland title from Gessner and Hodges.

Scheuerle faded to fifth behind Jensen. Mitchell was next with Martin Lawes climbing to seventh in the Sydney rookie's first run away from Parramatta. Dean,Drew Gessner and Walker completed the top ten with White, Dougherty and Cavell all making the finish.

-MARK JONES

Wheely good; Brazier dominated in Toowoomba, bringing home bis maiden QLD title -

motorsport news

SPEEDWAY

Leisk does a ram dance AFTER a month of anticipation,Jeff Leisk has finally taken out the West Australian Sprintcar State Title at Kwinana a fortnight ago.

The Kendrick Team driver had to wait a full month for the final due to rain shortening the meeting on the 29th of March and the following meeting also being cancelled prior to commencement.

Leisk, right, drove magnificently on the rain effected track to take out WA's top honour.

"It was always going to be a hard race and it was a definite advantage to start up the front but we earned the right to be there" Leisk said.

It's great to have been able to win this title for Geoff and aU the team."

After qualifying well in the heats, Leisk earned enough points to start at the pointy end for the final with the Geraldton jet Mark Wells making one of his few appearances this season starting on the outside. From three was Ryan Farrell and in four was Jamie Maiolo.

From the onset, Leisk jumped out to the lead. On lap two, Maiolo bounced off the concrete wall, damaging the car too badly to continue. Ken Satori had moved his way into third place and was making

his presence felt when the track appeared to catch him out. His car slid up into the pits bend fence and rolled onto its side, ending his chances. On the restart, Leisk once again pulled out to a good lead but it was the late race charge of Pino Priolo that was the main attraction.

Priolo slipped past Wells in the dying stages for second place.

Leisk crossed the chequered well ahead of Priolo and Wells who hung

field to clinch the win. A controversial incident midway through the race saw front runner and local hero Jamie Oldfield get spun around after being tagged by Dean McAllan.

Oldfield was put back at the front of the pack while McAllan was sidelined due to a bent rear end.

It was several laps later that Glazebrook took control and continued on for a very good win.

Second over the line was Jim Flemming after overtaking Oldfield in the dying stages of the race due to Oldfield’s worn out tyres. Oldfield finished third.

- DARREN SUTTON

Max Dumesny Motorsport Australian Distributors for

^ ^ RACING TIRE For more Information on Hoosier Drag and SpeedwayTyres calk

NSW: 02 9679 1990 ● Fax 02 9679 1187 VIQ 03 9331 6477 ● Fax 03 9331 7444 SA 08 8332 0800 ● Fax 08 8364 0296 7 May 2003

IT took over two months to complete but Victorian speedster Mick Nicola last Saturday night took out back-to-back title victories in the Australian Super Sedan Title held at the Parramatta City Raceway.

Nicola came on strong in the latter part of the 35-lap Championship final, scoring a good victory over New South Wales star John Leslight.

Fellow NSW racer Wayne Brimms came home in third.

The opening night of qualifying heats were held in February, but rain forced night two, the final round of heats and the finals to be postponed to last Saturday night. Leading the prestigious Sedan Championship on 100 points were a trio of drivers Brad Smith, John Leslight and John Pyne while Nicola was back in ninth position with 82 points.

The night was full of sensational racing but the brilliant door to door action did produce some spectacular crashes. Newcastle's John FVne's sedan excuted a series of wild flips down the main straight. Badly shaken, Pyne was later taken off to Westmead Hospital awake and alert, but remained overnight for precautionary observation.

Brad Smith, who had been the sensation of the 2003 Title scored pole for the championship decider and built up a good break over Leslight, while Des Korn was running third.

Unfortunately engine troubles stopped Smith's assault, giving the lead to Leslight. But in the closing part of the event Nicola's Pontiac came on strong and forged into the lead, relegating Leslight into second with Brimms third.

The race became the survival of the fittest. Only six of the original twenty cars greeting the chequer.

Following home the top three was Jarrod Harper (TAS), Bernard Roberts (NSW) with Tony Barklimore (NSW) the final finisher.

Nicola's title win gave the Victorian his third national crown. He joins Ron FVne as the only winners of back-toback Australian Championship victories.

The speedcars joined the V8 Super Sedans on the Parramatta program with Sydney ace Brett Morris taking out a sensational victory over Craig Brady with Mark Cooper third.

-GREG BOSCATO

liison Sailor

■n The newly revamped Ellenbrook Speedway played host to the West Australian Speedcar Association two weeks ago with a huge crowd on hand to witness one of the ail time great meetings. The 50 years of Speedcar Glory. A celebration of 50 years of Speedcars in Western Australa.

With 18 Speedcars turning out for the prestigious meeting and a large group of former state and national champions to witness the show, it was one of WA’s top stars Scott Glazebrook took out top honours in the 25 lap-final after coming from the rear of the

Nicola (finally) wins

on for third and the improving Wayne Armstrong finished a well deserved fourth. Only eight cars finished the 25-lap event and Ryan .

Farrell, who has been outstanding this season at the Motorplex, had his hopes dashed in the final due to mechanical problems. Other notables not to finish were Luch Monte in the Monte Motorsports entry and Darrell Clayden in the Auto One mount.

-DARREN SUTTON

Double tragedy at Perris Speedway A TRAGIC accident claimed the lives of two spectators at Perris Auto Speedway, California a fortnight ago.

Paul and Helen Bagley were killed when Jack DeArmond Jnr's car made contact with another car, flipping high in the air, clearing the infield safety fence before hitting the Bagleys.

Paul, aged 74 died at the scene, his wife Helen aged 72 died later in hospital.

DeArmond Jnr. was also taken to hospital with suspected back and neck injuries.

MNews would like to extended it heart-felt sympathies to the Bagley's family and friends -JULIE PEARCE

2003 WORLD OF OUTLAWS CHAMPIONSHIP THE RACEWAY APRIL 22

15. Kim Mock

1. Joey Saldana

8. Danny Lasoski

2. Shane Stewart

9. Donny Schatz

16. Greg Wilson

3. Craig Dollansky

10. Jason Sides

17. Travis Whitney

4. Jac Haudenschild

11. Steve Kinser

18. Joe Roe

5. Daryn Pittman

12. Mark Kinser

19. Jonathan Allard

6. Jeff Shepard

13. Randy Hannagan

20. Brian Kristan

7. Brian Pauius

14. Kelly Kinser

1

2003 STANDINGS

1 Danny Lasoski ..

2 Steve Kinser 3 Craig Dollansky .

4 Daryn Pittman ..

5 Joey Saldana . . .

6 Mark Kinser .. .

7 Jason Sides 8 Jac Haudenschild 9 Randy Hannagan 10 Jeff Shepard . ..

2522 2453 2367 2274 2261 2259 2144 .2119 2077 2054

11 Donny Schatz ..

12 Shane Stewart. .

13 Brian Pauius 14 Tim Shaffer 16 Jeremy Campbell.

16 Johnny Herrera . , 17 KraigKinser. . . .

18 Brooke Tatnell .. .

19 Sammy Swindell 20 Brian Brown . . .

2008 1906 1550 1538 1435 1391 1265 1248 1218 1217

71

natimal

scene

FORMULA Ford refugee Daniel Elliott took his first ever Formula A victory with a dominant performance at the second round of the Dunlop Championship. Nick Lowe won a thrilling ICA final to ensure a Birel grandslam of the event as Adelaide's Bolivar Raceway hosted Australia's premier series for the sixth year running.

Elliott returned to the national

series aboard a Pieper Motorsport Birel. The Western Australian rocketed away at the green light and the early pressure from Queensland's Barclay Holden was the most he would experience for the massive 39 lap (30 kilometre) final.

After challenging Elliott, Holden then fell back through the field as Sydney drivers Andrew Tomlinson and Jason Hryniuk tried their best to challenge Elliott but could not bridge the gap. Hryniuk's challenge turned to defending his podium spot when his brakes began to fade. Beliind the leading trio, Holden, Matthew Wall and Jason Bums raced wheel to wheel for fourth place.

Bums,debuting the TonyKart manufactured Redspeed chassis was particularly impressive after coming from the back of the grid to challenge.

Out front, Elliott was simply awesome, winning by a comfortable three second margin and punching the air as he took the chequered flag.

After taking the pre-final win on the last comer, Queensland's William Yarwood followed through to win the 125cc Intercontinental C gearbox class. Yarwood and Adelaide's Tyson Pearce messed the standing start at the green light as ex-pat Northern Territory driver Blake Varney made a dynamite start to lead tlie field on the opening lap.

ICC karts accelerate from 0lOOkmh in imder three seconds and Varney read the start brilliantly.

However, Yarwood,Pearce and Justin Ruggier got past Varney and began a race of their own.

Yarwood pulled out a lead as

Comeback Kid! Daniel Elliott Takes maiden FA Win

Pearce made the move for second under the Omega corporate grandstand but was unable to catch the Arrow of Yarwood. Pearce made it an Australian kart one-two, Ruggier third, another ex-FA driver Joshua PonteUo in fourth ahead of round one winner Matthew Soft and romid one polesitter Ashley Slavkovic.

Nick Lowe was out to-win the super competitive Intercontinental A class and with an intelligent strategy, he made sure that Birel would win the two senior lOOcc classes. He sat in third behind local Troy Woodger -

r

Winners: Nick Lowe, above, and Daniel Elliot, top, were on the ball at Adelaide's Bolivar Raceway last weekend.

72

Brant Bowle»

IRN CIK CHAMPIONSHIPS 2003 who starred throughout the heats and New Zealand's Mitch Cunningham. Lowe saw fourth placed Matthew Muller catching. With that, he moved into the lead which he would never lose.

After a woeful pre-final Melbourne roimd winner Glenn Powles was charging from grid 14 and was soon with the leaders. He moved into second and set tlie fastest lap of the race on lap 32 and then started to catch Lowe.

With a lap to go Powles was just two kart lengths behind but Lowe held on to take a fabulous win,Powles second with Woodger a deserving third. An ICA podium again eluded Townsville's Matthew Muller as he took his tliird career fourth place, ahead of John Martin, Shane Price, an impressive Tim Ball and fellow Queensland Azzurro pilot James Mann.

TopKart's Kristian Lindbom was in superb form in JICA and looked determined to win from the start of practice on Friday morning.

Round one winner Paul Laskazeski simply did not have the speed to stay with Lindbom and would finish second ahead of an excellent six way fight for third. Making his JICA debut.

Josh Tynan took an amazing third place ahead of Deepal Kandola,Ashley Walsh, Blake Simpson and Mason Merritt who held down third for much of tine race before being shuffled back at race end. However Lindbom was all class, winning against what was a very impressive field of Australia's best young kart racers.

The second round of this Dunlopsupported international racing series will be held at Toowoomba in Queensland on June 22.

- IAN SALVESTRIN motorsport news

KARTING

Aussies OK

iL iPJ ■j W

by MARK WICKS JASON Hryniuk has won the Clubman Light Australian Championship for the second time and in doing so becomes the first driver to ever successfully defend the title.

Hryniuk won a thrilling final at Willowbank on Easter Sunday, racing Scott Auld side-by-side to the line to retain the Number 1 plate by just 0.07sl Fresh from wirming Formula A at the opening round of CIK, Hryniuk (CRG) qualified fastest before taking a back seat in the heats.

"We were still running in engines on Hiursday, so I was still testing exhausts and gearing in the heats," he said. "1 just cruised around."

James Sera (Monaco) was the pace setter, winning both heats and proving fast all weekend before taking second to Hryniuk in tlie pre final. The final was a close race, Hryniuk leading much of the time and inheriting a small break when a number of his pursuers were delayed after they collided.

In the closing laps Scott Auld sprung from the pack and tlrreatened Hryniuk, ranging alongside in the run to the flag.

"1 blocked my butt off in the last two corners" Hryniuk confessed, just pipping Auld ahead of Jace Lindstrom (Arrow) with Sera fourth.

David Sera was the only other driver to retain his No.l plates, wirming Junior National Light.

Qualifying two tenths clear of the field. Sera won tire opening heat before NSW's Thomas Phillips showed his hand wiiming heat two and the pre-final. However, Sera regained the advantage in the final leading home Bradley Cady and Joshua Scott with Phillips several seconds adrift in fourth.

Defending Formula 100 Champion, Michael Patrizi, had the pace in a quality field of 26, 7 May 2003

Barclay Holden, top, took out Formula 100. The ever impressive Jason Hryniuk became the first driver to ever defend a National Karting title. qualifying 0.2s faster than fellow Birel/TM driver Nick Lowe. Patrizi and Jason Hryniuk (CRG) split the heat wins before Barclay Holden (TrulU/Parilla) won the pre-final.

Patrizi looked to have the final in control with a small gap to Holden, ■ however a monster move by Holden on the last lap allowed him to snatch victory from the West Australian who held on for second ahead of Lowe.

Queenslander Ashley Walsh won the two 'performance' junior classes.

Junior Piston Port and Junior Clubman. No driver showed signs of domination in JC until the final, Walsh (Tony Kart) and David Sera (Arrow) wirming the heats and fastest qualifier James Love (Arrow) the pre-final before Walsh won the championship from Love and Ben McCasliney. Despite Kristian Lindbom (Top Kart) qualifying fastest, JPP was a little more straight forward, Walsh wirming every race ahead of Lindbom with Blake Simpson (Monaco) taking tliird.

William Yarw'ood (Arrow) was unable to use Iris home turf advantage to lift a third straight Clubman Heavy championship.

Fellow local Paul Bryan (Arrow) almost provided the upset of the meeting with some blistering kart speed, leading multiple champion Troy Hunt (Top Kart) in the final before Hunt poimced on the last lap to make a perfect record of wins for the weekend. Remo Lucian!

(Monaco) was third ahead of Yarwood.

Rick Pringle proved that fast qualifying rims in the family (brother Jason poled Clubman Heavy) but was unable to convert the speed into a win in Junior National Heavy. That role belonged to Tim Blanchard (Arrow) who picked up his first National title after coining ah-so close last year. Thomas Phillips and Jordie Lindstrom filled the podium.

WA's Brad Fitch won Formula Australia Heavy after Ben Savage and William Yarwood collided on the last lap. Savage (All Kart) qualified fastest before Yarwood (Arrow) won all the preliminary races. While Yarwood finished the day parked in the catch trap. Savage held on for second ahead of Ben Hardinge.

Formula Australia Light was hotly contested, Mathew Wall and Troy Woolston splitting the heats before Wall took the pre-final and final, a collision in the last lap opening a gap back to Anthony Contarino and Max Wright.

Brett Hobson (CRG) raced to a dominant win in Clubman Super Heavy, well clear of nearest challenger and fastest qualifier Scott Simpson (Energy). Dubbo's Phillip King (Arrow) beat John Grotlier and Nick Lowe to the Senior National Light title while Jason Pringle (Arrow) took Senior National Heavy, winning every race with Norm Trost and Paul Vuichoud taking the minors.

FRENCHMAN Manuel Renaudie has taken another win for PCR, clinching the third round of the Italian Open Masters Championship at Jesolo on April 27.

Renaudie (PCR/PCRA/ega) took a narrow win ahead of Michael Ammermuller (Tony KartAfortex/Bridgestone) and Teemu Nyman (Gillard/ParillaA/ega) and now leads the series. Tony Kart drivers hold second and third in the points despite a disastrous meeting for the Green Brigade, Ammermuller and Sauro Cesetti (fifth) the only factory drivers to finish, Carlo van Dam, Cyndie Alleman, Randy Bakker and Davide Fore all not classified. The meeting provided the Aussie Biesse/Fox drivers with their best round yet, both making the final.

Ben Horstman took an excellent ninth while Josh Hunt carded 19th.

New Zealand's Wade Cunningham (CRG/Maxter) made the final but DNF'd. Horstman and Hunt qualified 12th and 19th in their respective group but neither finished the first heat. Horstman recovered with an excellent fourth behind a fleet of Tony Karts in heat two to transfer to the final, but Hunt's 13th wasn't enough and he had to run the repecharge, charging from 10th to third to make the cut. Horstman now sits 16th in the championship.

The combination of CRG/MaxterA/ega took wins in Intercontinental A (Nicola Bocchi) and Junior ICA (Henki Waldschmidt) while Francesco Laudato (Birel/TMAfega) won Intercontinental C. ■ Kiel Johnston and Greg Martin lead the respective Light and Heavy divisions of the NSW Biland series after taking wins at Lithgow recently.

Johnston beat Darren Foley, who had won the opening two heats, while Gary Brown placed second in Heavy.

Round two is at Newcastle on June 1.

■ French drivers have taken the lead of the European Superkart Championship which began at Brno in the Czech Republic on April 27.

Damien Payart (PVP/FPE) dominated proceedings in the twin cylinder Division One, qualifying fastest and winning both finals. Francois Vinuales (Nissag/Rotax) and Britain's Martin Hines (Zip/Rotax) each took a second placing while Andrew Agnew (Anderson/Honda) wrapped up both races in Division Two. ■ A recent introduction to the European karting scene. Intrepid karts are now available in Australia. Imported

by IKD in Sydney, the Intrepid frame is manufactured by the Italian SKM company and comes in three different 32mm chassis configurations named Suzuka, Explorer and Silverstone. All three are CIK homologated and come with 50mm axles.

-MARK WICKS 73

May Day in QLD Oxley oust

THE third round of the Queensland championships was held on the May 3/4 long weekend.

The largest field was Improved Production, where the Datsun 1200 turbo of Steve Draheim won the points race from Danielle Argiro (VL Commodore) and Mark Thomas(RX7). An earlier scratch race was marred by a four-car pile up on the back straight.

Racing Cars saw the F4000 of Derek Pingel win from Gary Sturdy’s F3 with Chris Gilmore top of the FFords. Chris Donnelly won the Sports Sedans

from Chris Fing and Colin Smith, while Sean English rolled his Escort-Rotary in the turn 1 sand trap. Sports Cars saw John Campbell (Hooper) defeat Grant Watson (Mulsanne) and Steven Morcombe (Westfield).

Ash Lowe stepped into the Hooper for the final race and won from the back of the grid.

The HQs was won by Brett Cooper, Carlo Chermaz was too quick in Superkarts, Tristan Hughes was top point scorer in Formula Vee and Kandice Walker was unstoppable in the Geminis.

- MARK JONES

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The men that couldn’t catch Oxley: Bressington, above, and Cartwright, below, couldn’t pass the Bushley MG of Chris Oxley.

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NETWORK Ten ‘man on the spot’ Grant Denyer was a man with a plan in the V8 BRute races at Symmons Plains two weeks ago, steering the VIP Pet Foods Falcon AU XR8 ute to a victory and two second places and earning himself the round

Deliveries Holden to victory in the reverse grid race, and then backing it up with the same result in the last outing. Gary Macdonald was third in race two in the Kanga Loaders Holden, while reigning Champion Warren Luff steered the Coopers Falcon V7in.

AU to third in the final race - the For most of the weekend only Ford other than Denyer to though, Denyer was flying the find the podium.

Ford flag alone. David Griffin The weekend produced more took second place in race one in than its share of controversy, the Pedigree Holden ahead of starting with Gary Baxter the VX of Glen Barnes. originally taking the race one win South Australia’s Charlie in his SAGE Automation Holden Kovacs dominated the final two before being disqualified due to outings, taking the RED Express front suspension problems.

Similar sanctions were DirkKlynsmilK later imposed upon Stephen Robinson and Gary MacDonald, who were excluded from second and ^ fourth respectively for similar problems with their rear suspension.

-MARKGLENDENNING ^

Points; Kovacs 93, Baxter 75, Denyer 71.5, Griffin 56.5, Luff 56.

Ebn sistantly consistent: Denyer was In good touch at Symmons ins, lop. While Kovacs, above, remains the title leader

74

\; At \on

-» r=>OVVE^

Leemhius a Mirage

THE Mirage Cup contenders resumed hostilites at Symmons Plains two weeks ago, and despite a small field the category managed to produce some good racing.

Grant Park topped the times in qualifying, but come race time he had to step aside to allow Peter Leemhius, below, up onto the top step of the podium. It was the beginning of a good day for Leemhius, who went on to take the win in race three as well as third in

the second outing.

Park took second in race one and then went one better in the reverse grid race, while Adam Beechy also made the ’double podium’ ranks with second place In each of the last two races. Rounding things out were Yanis Derums and Richard Gartner, who finished third in races one and three respectively.

The Mirage Cup Championship continues at Wakefield Park next month.

-MARKGLENDENNING

NATIONAL SCENE

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THE Kumho MGF Trophy returned to Eastern Creek for round two of their national series.

Chris Oxley made the Sydney track his own, winning both encounters on Sunday.

In the first race, Phillip Island winner Jamie Cartwright pushed Oxley all the way, only to miss the win by a mere 0.1s. Race two saw the Whiskas MG of Adam Bressington go oh-soclose to snatching the win, ' from Oxley, with Cartwright, Robert D'Ercole, Chris Thomas and Yanis Derums all

involved in a mighty dice to the flag.

- GRANT ROWLEY A SPECTACULAR crash at the end of the front straight during race two in Formula Fords cost John Pettit a win in round two of the New South Wales State Championships at Wakefield Park on Easter Sunday.

Pettit hounded the Van Diemen RF92 of Laurence Burford for nine

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Micro Machines up the Creek

PINT-SIZED 'Supercars' action hit Eastern Creek last weekend for the second round of their series.

The cars reveled in tire open spaces of Eastern Creek, at times, spread five-wide across the main straight.

And the racing wasn't bad either. Four different winners from four races made the chance of picking the victor a mighty hard task.

Tim Monte,David Burch,Paul Kamal and James Ward, aU of whom drive AU Falcon replicas, tasted victory in front of a large Sydney crowd.

Sunday's first race was a full-field reverse grid, which caused carnage a-plenty.

VIP Petfoods driver Klark Quinn,above with Monte, son of Carerra Cup driver Tony, won Saturday's second race, but was later given a 60s penalty for jumping the start.

Other strong performers amongst the 32-car grid were James Harrington,Steve Coulter in the Pirtek Falcon and Mike Russell, who was the best of the FJ Holdens.

- GRANT ROWLEY

Wakefield wonders

laps. At times, it was as if Pettit's RF93 was stuck to the gearbox of Burford's machine. At others, Pettit would feign a passing move.

"I was trying to set him up for the final stages. I knew my car was getting better and his was going to go off," Pettit said.

But the red flag incident between Bruce McCabe and Greg Muddles meant the race was declared at the end of eight laps.

Pettit had sized up Burford at every possible passing point around the circuit and it seemed it was only a matter of time before he would snatch the lead.

But it was not to be and Pettit had to settle for second."That's motor racing," the 20-year-old lamented.

Glen Taylor continued to dominate the Sports Sedan series in a car old enough to vote.

"The car is 18-years-old but it's very reliable. It was built as a Torana for Greg Crick and converted to a Commodore for Ian Luff."

He monstered the 6-litre Chev powered Commodore around the tight layout, employing a simple philosophy.

"Get it off the line in front and stay there.'

The predicted battle with Derek Bailey in his Nissan 300ZX didn't materialise. Despite being able run at similar lap times for most of the weekend,several off circuit excursions

by Bailey allowed Taylor to maintain 7 May 2003

Close as this: Burford and Pettit, above, put on a super FFord display. Meanwhile Taylor, below, continued his class domination. his rmblemished record in the scries.'—' cakewalk for Bill Pye in his Porsche GT3 Cup. Uie GT3 was the class of In combined touring cars, Barry Sternbeck(EA Falcon)and Eric the field despite Pye not being happy Barnes(VN Commodore) went at it with the set-up.

"The suspension is so harsh it just in the early laps of the third race. chews through the tyres."

"If we'd kept that up we'd have The final race of the day had a heap of cars behind us,so I decided to let him go," Barnes said.

Both cars returned to the pits with r. . tyre rubber along the side, bearing testament to the ferocity of the foray during the early laps.

Jason Cutts continued his fine form to extend his lead in Formula Vee. "This weekend was some of the toughest racing I've ever done," claimed Cutts.

Michael Kinsella set a new lap record in the second race, but Cutts walked away with maximum points to extend his lead in the series.

Production Sports proved a

produced a thriller when Steve Brown put in the drive of the day when he worked his way up from midfield to hit the lead on the second last lap of the clubman challenge.

-MARTIN VAN REE 9

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15

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Sedans/Sports Cars DATSUN 120Y, 2 dr with boot. Fully adjVrose jointed SUSP, adj bars fr & rear, 5 link rear end, big brakes, SR20, 124kw @ wheels, morris cams, vernier cam wheels, forged pist, tur rods, haltec injection, slide throttle, alum fly wheel, Dat/Holl gear box. Rebuilt motor & gearbox. 1:52 at PI on old R-rated tyres. $12,500 ONO. Alan 0408 581 689 / 03 9763 2960. 257 www.my105.com/87776

Commodore Cup Race Car, new engine, gearbox and front rotor's, professionally built, ready to race. $23,000, Cameron 0418 31 8 866. 267www.my105.com/75696

Production Sports Porsche 911/964, 3.6 litre 964 Engine Fully Blue printed / Balanced with Kevlar race Clutch / lightweight Flywheel / 5 Speed 915 close ratio gear box/ New s/s exhaust system / 300 BHP / Motronio Eng Mgt. with UNICHIP Module, 930 Turbo Brakes / Coil Over / Bilstein Shocks, Ready to race and road registered (Eastern Creek -1:44,49 - 2002).

Extremely reliable. Sale b/c of upgrade, $65000. William (02) 9144 6747. 257 www.myl O5.com/16680

L_.. .

MGB, Excellent condition, chrome wires, new English Imported soft top, registered until 5/2/04 A very good car. $15200 Neg. Ben 0417 220 285 / 02 4572 1471. 257 www.myl05.com/44437 PORSCHE GT3, Perfectly maintained.

Mechanically perfect. Many spares available. . $178,000 must sell. 0418 507 403. 257www.my105.com/53327

7 May 2003

Mazda Rx3 Sports Sedan, Mazda Rx3 SportsSedan, has done minimum racing, is in verygood condition.has potential 2B fast car with some work,13B PP and exhaust by T.A.S performance, 5Speed Supra box, SolidCentre 4PaddleClutch, 4.41 lockedDiff, Full Fibreglass lift-off Front, NewV8 supercar style frontspoiler,setof Wet tyres,will sell less engine/box. $15,000, $7000 less- eng/box Neg. Simon 0409 875 381. 257www.my105.com/52973

Datsun 240Z, 1973 Datsun 240Z. Total rebuild, 2000, Front running Group S car-Sc Log book. 2400CC, fully developed engine, Tilton twin disc clutch, Nismo limited slip diff with 4.375:1 ratio, high flow oil pump, Nismo extractors, virtually new HitachiSU carbies etc etc. Ready to race. Spares to allow road registration again. . $17,500 ONO, Peter Lang 0412 283 292 / (02) 9975 1590, 257 www.myl05.com/94549

HOOPER 1300 SUPERSPORTS, 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. $59,000 complete package. John Campbell 0412 699 986 / (07) 5445 2694. 257 www.myl O5.com/19027

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 orAlfa events. .

Doug Matiey 0409 981 270. 257 www.myl05.com/92750

Honda Prelude Sports Sedan, Australia's Fastest 2Lt Sports Sedan, Full Space Frame Construction - 770Kg, Nissan SR20 Super Touring Engine, Hilux Rear LSD, Willwood Brakes, Motec, All Lap Records At Wlllowbank and Morgan Park, Willowbank National CCT 1-15-2, Spares Include Engine, G/Box's, Diffs, Moulds. $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

BMW 2002 1973, set up for club sprint/classic rally use with dual Weber 40 DCOE carbs, gas flowed cylinder head, Koni shocks, elec fan, Superlite wheels, sports s/wheel etc. Very good performance, handling, appearance and interior. Some spares inci another set of alloy wheels. VIC reg NXW676. $9,900 ONO. Richard (03) 9822 5034. 257www.my105.com/50511

79

Open Wheelers

m

<i

Datsun 1000, Datsun 1000 sports sedan injected CA18 engine 5 speed sunny hydrauiic gearbox HI65 diff 5 iink rear suspension 10" brakes record hoider King Edward Park and Ringwood hiiiciimbs. Very reiiabie and competitive ciub levei car. $6500. Aiso avaiabie at extra cost .Traiier and aimost enough parts to build another car. Darrell Peattie 0410 263 380 / 02 49469310. 257www.my105.com/28024

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4 Rare Australian Sports Car, One owner, original Factory car driven by Paul Halstead M.D. Up-graded under the guidance of Barry Lock [Giocattolo Designer]. Engine 355ci, Motec M8, Harrop Crank, Perkins sump,over 500hp. Brakes-Alcon 4 spot with Bias bar. Susp.-A arm F&R, coil over, Adj. Shocks. Willans full-harness belts. $65,000 OBO. Brian 0438 552 688 /(07) 5526 8888 257 www.myl05.com/81436

Dallara F3 1995 - 6, Stack datalog dash, 3 sets of wheels, spares. Fiat Novamotor (fresh), current levei two leading car Aust F3, Roller $30,000. $55,000 complete.

Graeme (03) 5881 4411.

257 www.myl05.com/44634

Datsun 1000 Coupe Sports Sedan, Under 2 litre Sports Sedan. JTS prepped 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 1265. 256www.my105.com/88382

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Torana, Fresh motor, webbers, reco gear box, various diff ratio's, 8 point cage, big brakes, mounted wets, indate harness, log book heaps of spares, registered trailer. . $6,850 Neg. darren 0417 665 238 / (02)4272 1164. 257www.my105.com/54450 Commodore rolling chassis. Car comes with NEW OMP seat. Fuel tank. Hydraulic clutch kit and gauges. Spare panels, lights, exhaust system and various other parts. Car would also be suitable for improved production, MUST SELL. $3500 Neg. Colin 0417 655 223 / 08 8671 2775. 257 www.myl O5.com/12996

rj

1 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, reiiabie, 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. 257www.my105.com/30812 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. 257 www.myl05.com/81436

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 ail round, near new Yokohama Advan tyres, heaps of spares, road registerable. $5900 ONO. John 0414 015 619. 256www.my105.com/99208 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

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@easterncreekkarts.com.au. Garry 0413 879 879. 255www.my105.com/49056

Commodore V8 Supercar VS, Perkins built car, Perkins Chev, excellent condition turn-key, ready to race. $52,000. Lawson 0417 778 188. 256www.my105.com/3351

944 CHALLENGE CAR, Current spec. car.Engine rebuilt by Rod Smith Racing for this season,Latest spec head.Coilover Bilstiens, Chromemoiy 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

D«W online classifieds Categorv: □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers □ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers

□ Speedway

□ Wanted □ Photographs

□ Drag □ Other

Formula Ford Historic Bowin P6F, car is well maintained, Ritter engine, spare ratios, log book and COD. Always a fop performer, and in excellent condition. $25,000 ONO. Vince 0418 509 145. 257 www.myl05.eom/54032

□ Jobs

Description: Please keep ads to no more than 50 words, plus up to 6 photos if desired.

FRASER CLUBMAN ROAD & RACE, Arguably the most developed road registered clubman in Australia. Stunning handling & performance. Fresh latest spec.

Yager 4AGE 20V Engine. Motec, Koni Dampers, Quaife LSD, Fully Re-Built Close Ratio Gearbox, Willwood Ventilated Disks & Magnesium Four Spot Calipers. 3 Sets of Mini Lites ( slicks, wets & road). 2b LogBook. Connelly Leather. Many spares. $45,000. Colin 0412 351 365. 257 www.myl05.com/78783 1

r-

r

Formula Vee (Spectre), A well developed & maintained car with reasonable horse power, near new tyres, new battery. All 1200 components, red in colour. Trailer included with registration $7,000 NEG. Ray 0425 305 887. 25Bwww.my105.com/6677

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moiorsDon oews

CLASSIFIEDS Coach Transporter, 38ft midmount, 250hp Turbo Volvo, 4 speed pre-select auto box, air brakes, exhaust brakes, tubless tyres, drop down back door, tow bar. Reluctant Sale. $18 000 ONO. Colin 0429 310 523.

257 www.my105.com/83954 Echidna Clubman Sports 1300, 1984 model, one owner since 1989, very reliable with fresh motor, flowbenched 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 1060.2S5WWW.my105.com/55182

Speedcar 3, 2003 model brand new Jan 2003, everything was brand new, best money can buy, can separate. $25,000 for roller or $35,000 for Brayton Gearte Ford engine has just had total rebuild from new piston's to valve springs, priced to sell almost half price drivert by Todd Wanles.

Other car and parts available. Ross K 0408 636 300 /(07)5546 8732, 257 www.myl05.com/93288

Engines

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 eligabie Group R hlstioric (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 Hatward 0410 573684 / 02 9787 9735. 254www.my105.com/31134

Speedway

MProduction sedan VK Commodore, Moe engines 202, Tilton clutch, Redline cage, adjustable suspension. Auto meter gauges, includes spares. Ex Aus 1-2 (2001-2002). $9500.00 ono Ph John 0412 687 563 or 03 5134 4812. $9,500.00 ONO.257 www.myl05.com/81149 XF Street Stock, Good reliable car engine is very strong and hasnt done a lot of work.Pannels average nick.Comes with alloy seat , belts and spares including diffs , pannels , near new tyers , rims , suit and more.Roil cage slightly bent in on passenger side.Cheap price for a very competetive car. $2,500 Or Best Offer.

Michael (03)5251 3133. 257 www.myl05.eom/23071 Formula 500, kenser chassis.rotax 494 new pistons, rods, mains, keihen carby's, bewley 2 speed box,aluminium splined back axle,wilwood brakes,digitron plus lots of spares $11,000.0418 334 442/ (02)4821 5116. 257www.my105.com/54935 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 4224.257 www.my105.com/27794 Pontiac 2001, super sedan ;john pyne chassis,all the best eqipment,14# chev .700hp,very well enginerd ,wili sell as roller or trade. 40,000 ONO. warren 0412487771.

257 www.myl 05.com/80052

7 May 2003

SPRINTCAR MOTOR, 366 ci steel block, billet crank, Brodix heads, Wiseco pistons, Corrillo rods, Hilborn injection, strong motor.

Changing class. $12,000 Ph. 0419 789 739 256 www.my105.com/6482

t-

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.my105.com/79637

Parts

1

Assorted Race Parts, SUPER T10 alloy case with complete with bellhousing, lightened flywheel,clutch & shifter $2,500,00 TILTON 7" triple clutch plate as new 26 spline $ 900.00 V8 SUPERCAR hydraulic clutch bellhousing complete to suit holden or chev $1,200.00 HILBOURN mechanical fuel injection $1,000.00 ROLL CAGE alloy to suit Commodore VN to VS $600.00 Mustang 64 model brakes caliphers in good condition $600.00, Brian 0416 157 650. 257 www.myl05.com/92355 Cosworth 16 Value Head, Fully rebuilt, custom valves, dual springs, titanium retainers, ported, with cams, adjustable Cam gears and Cam cover off n/a engine.

Urgent sale. $3,000 no offers. Grant 0410681526. 257www.my105.com/95627 MOTEC DASH, Full Motec dash, 2 MB log memory, 50 Inputs/Outputs, Pro-Logging, Lambda Upgrade, All sensors inci Diff/Gears. . Dean 0418 507 403. 257 www.myl05.com/92948 Alloy V8 / Assorted Race Parts, Quality parts incl Leyland block with full mains girdle, straps & studs. Bore torque plate.

Manley rods, custom pistons, full race head kit & gaskets, external oil feed timing cover, steel flywheel. ALL NEW. Any qty of standard parts incl compi engines. Sparco EV02 seat, pyrometer, electronic level, assorted plumbing & hardware, racewear.

Mick 0401-045719 / 02-6231-2964. 257 www.my105.com/72498 Super T10 gearbox / Holden 308, Comes with bellhousing to suit Holden V8, Group A style clutch and shifter. MUST SELL. Holden 308 with Harrop 355 stroker crank.

All new brand name parts used. Top HP engine still needs to be run in $6500neg.

MUST SELL. $3000 Neg. Colin 0417 655 2775.

257 8671 223/08 www.myl05.eom/3073

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.my105.com/47675

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

Collectable/Memorabilia Blante 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.my105.com/92629

Driver/Crew Apparel

s

€

l

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 oar 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.myl05.eom/54590

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■3

Enclosed Trailer, Fully Enclosed Car Trailer. Popular with Formula Ford guys, but used for an Improved Production Mazda Rx-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

Transporters/Trailers

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. Matthe 257 www.myl05.com/5831

ISiUSPiffiTS

HINO FF177 Truck, Takes two formula holdens / fords / 3's. Can be modified to take 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.my10S.com/3232

Racing Suits/ Helmets, 2 Full suits RPM Racegear.Nomex Three, Blue & White size M Racesuits,gloves M,shoes size S.Bell 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 1 will sell separately, $975 each set ONO.Tony 07 55321400 / 07 55773077, 254 www.my105.oom/22200

Wanted Historic FF for restoration. Wanted, pre 1984 Formula Ford in any condition for restoration. Also wanted, FF engine and Hewland Mk 8 or 9 gearbox and ratios. Ian 02 9477 1 347. 257www.my105.com/45542 Improved Production Car Wanted, Roller or unftnished project, Toyota Corrolla or Sprinter pre 1986. Jeff 0418 277 902. 256 www.myl O5.com/18049

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CONTRIBUTDRS FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, Gary Watkins, David Addison US: Phil Morris, Martin D. Clark Speedway: Brett Swanson, Julie Pearce, Geoff Rounds, Wade Aunger, Tony Millard (UK), Greg Boscato Rally: Jon Thomson Histories: Brian Reed Drag Racing: Greg Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Nick Nicholas, Steven White, Ken Ferguson National: Mark Wicks, Sean Henshelwood, Mark Jones, Dave Conole, Chris Jordan Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Burnett, AF1 Images, Neil Hammond, Slipstream Photographic, Phil Williams, Allsport, John Morris/Mpix, Frank Midgley, Peter Bury, Mike Patrick (UK), Chris Carter, James Smith, Paris Charles, Bob Potts Motorsport News is published by Australasian Motorsport News - ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Printed by: Offset Alpine Printing Pty Ltd, Lidcombe, NSW. Distributed by: NDD Ltd Material published by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Australasian Motorsport News does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

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in

82

Sad Times

More on Ten ...

What a tragedy it is to lose such characters as Possum Bourne and Barry Sheene within a few months.

C'mon Ch.lO, you may have the mouths but you don't run the show!

With the death also of Daijaro Kato,it has been an extremely sad time for motorsport.

I'm not sure if Possum and Baz knew each other well, but I am sure they are together somewhere now,no doubt sharing a beer and a few laughs.

Their smiles and great personalities will live on in the hearts of all motorsport fans.

Tlianks for the memories guys.

Sarah Kapim shortarsesez@liotmail.com

Repeating History?

History tells us that Australian touring car regulations go through an evolution every decade or so, as shown by the changes in '65, 73,'85 and '93.

With the entire Supercar field now professionalised and an ongoing pattern of HRO dominance established, the competition may be at its peak,in danger of becoming repetitive and stagnant.

While many describe the V8 formula as narrowing the sport's future, the public's acceptance of its quasi-sport sedan regulations, with US engines,fabricated suspensions and modified floorpans, means it's not hard to imagine a MagnaChrysler V8 or a Camry-Lexus V8 joining the grid. Expanding to Asia and the Middle East will further motivate Australia's Japanese manufacturers to break into the sport, using their considerable commercial muscle - and when money talks, AVESCO listens. A new and more interesting era for Supercars may not be far away.

Brian Stewart Narraweena NSW ED:A solid argument- savefor thefact that Lexus does not make a 5-litre pushrod V8, which is what V8 Supercar regulations mandate. 1 think that the rules are gonna be with usfor a while.

Six into One Like most problems, the HRT six car problem can be solved simply.

They should be allocated only one pit boom like every other team - e.g.

FPR have to use one pit boom for their three cars risking queuing or pitting on different laps but HRT get three pit booms for their six cars. If HRT had to use only one pit boom I reckon we would be seeing at least 3 cars in different colours pretty quickly.

Brian Gibson Port Kembla

And there’s more...

I am a die-hard Ford fan and would like to applaud Ford for its handling

How many times did we have to hear the commentators talk

converter Send us your thoughts: mail: P,0 Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au of the Holden teams' ownership issue.Ford are just letting TEGA deal with the issue but, God knows. Ford could have a field day with this as it was supposed to be resolved by Adelaide.

Why not let Holden take as long as they like but if the deal is not done by June 1, let them race for no points.

This would certainly motivate them to finish it(the sale of the teams that is).

It also amazes me that one team owner who shall remain nameless, but is a stickler for the rules, is so quiet when there is such a blatant rule breach in this ownership issue with Holden. I am sure that if it was a Ford problem, every Holden team owner, Holden and all the cronies would be screaming for justice.

Once again,congratulations Ford!

Peter Britnell pbritnell@airinter.com.au

The People v Ten Motorsport News appears reluctant to publish any letters knocking the Network 10 telecasts of V8 Supercars, unlike Auto Action.

How are we going to get feedback from fans to the broadcasters (they do not have a contact email) if this occurs? Every race fan I have spoken to is sick of all the techno cleverness they keep coming up with. We just want to watch motor racing, not every pitstop, not helmets, not wheel arches, team owners,feet, stewards or commentators.

Ever heard of split screens?

Can we at least have these letters forwarded to Ten? Richard Ryan deeks6@optusnet.com.au ED:For the record; MNeivs does omit letters on the basis ofsubject. The last readers' letter we ran criticising 10 ivas March 12. We also ran some pro-10 mall that issue. One of us seems confused.

MNeius is rend by the boys and girls at Ten, so 1 am sure your 'views’zuill be noted.

about the hard luck story of Todd Kelly's relegation to PIO after he was late exiting the pits for the Top 10 shootout.

If you break a rule then you should be penalised. As to its severity, well aren't we trying to stop the Stewards from pulling a "rabbit from the hat?"

It seems perfectly logical to me that if you infringe on the rules during a Top 10 Shootout, then you should find yourself at the back of that particular session.

Mr Crompton, where do you suggest the Stewards slot Todd 3rci, 6th,8th? It's an infringement that you can't give a time penalty for, so 10th on the grid is an obvious solution.

Also would love to see more racing. At one stage near the end of the race we lost 5 laps in a commercial break,saw another 3 laps, then another break! Doesn't make sense to me.

With regards to FI; notliing's changed. Races are stiU shown late (11pm for Spain), but now instead of getting straight into the race, we have to sit through 15 minutess of dribble and highlights of previous races before seeing part of the warm up lap.

Would much prefer to see the fuU warm up lap and hear the latest news from the commentators who are at the track!

WeU done Marcos- great to see the Fords 1,2,3 ... a great day. Even made better by the HRT failure.

Mick Davis michjd_909@hotmail.com

Wheeley wrong I was absoulutely appalled when I read that Terry Morris issued a alegal demand for in excess of $100,000 to Paul Dumbrell for the repair of his V8 Supercar.

Everybody knows that when you go into motor racing you run the risk of having a praiTg or getting involved in someone elses accident.

If this thing is allowed to stand, then I urge every motorsport enthusiast in Australia to write to Terry Morris, advising him that they will never buy another bottle of Sirromet Wine.

Then Paul Dumbrell can sue Morris for $200,000 for the pain and suffering he got from receiving the demaiTd. And tlien you can go to tire extreme and allow Paul Romano to sue the whole V8 field for $1,000,000 for the pain and suffering he feels every time he gets lapped ...

Alan Wheeley Ashgrove, Queensland

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Ladies Wilson ' Baseball T-Shirt

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Why do champion motorsport drivers choose Yokohama tyres?

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Available from Yokohama key dealer 131 509 Bob Jane T-Mart 13 26 25

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