Motorsport News Issue 263 - August 6-19, 2003

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No. 263

August 6-19 2003

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nmom news

Issue 263

6-19 August 2003

4

Webber, Williams, Wow It just might happen

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05 Not this year No Bathurst 1000 for Peter Brock 6 Go to your room, Ralf! 10 spot penalty for Schuey Two 12 Formula 2, too? Bernie and Max seek an F3000 solution 14 Oh Rouge! Young Murchison crashes and races at Spa 25 Motor Mouth The Ed Just loves Hannibal and Rickard 26 Box Seat Tall stories from Jaguar Racing (and beyond) 82 Talk Converter Ail parcels will be X-rayed, then opened

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race coverage coretecn.com.au

46 Colombian Massacre The only reason Juan Montoya didn t lap the field in Germany was because he didn’t have to. All the news from Hockenheim 54 Here comes AJ, Mk II Andy Jones breaks through for win #1 while Mark Winterbottom seals title #1. Something for everyone at Winton’s Konica race UtTEST’ CHMF SKAK 6O German Location, Alsation Sensation Sebastien Loefc ]J]D]D73]]DJ] takes a thrilling German WRC win for Citroen

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Photos; nages.

Contents; Cass, sultonlmages.com,

A

20 Bikes

62 Rallying

64 Speedway

66 NASCAR

68 Drag Racing

70 Histories

72 National Scene

76 Marketplace 3

Webber to Williams?

It coidd happen!

by JOE SAWARD/STAFF

MARK Webber could find himself at Williams - one of FI's Big Three teams - as early as next year if a strongly rumoured sequence of events takes place over the next few weeks.

Suggestions over recent weeks that Williams and Juan Pablo Montoya are rapidly falling out of love with each other have been followed by equally strong suggestions that JPM is talking to McLaren which,it seems, may in turn be running out of patience with David Coulthard.

Montoya has a year to go on his Williams contract, so in theory the discussions are all about 2005.

However,the pit lane rumour mill is strongly suggesting that the talks are about 2004.

McLaren and Williams are busy denying or refusing to comment on the stories but there is no doubt at aU that talks are taking place and that they are serious, even if many in Formula 1 circles find it hard to see

Montoya fitting in with the McLaren management style.

MNews'sources are suggesting that if a drive does become available at Williams in 2004(or 2005) the first name on the Williams shopping list will be Mark Webber. Jaguar Racing has Webber under contract for the next two years, but the underbudgetted team mightjust settle for cash if he wanted to move elsewhere.

Traditionally McLaren hkes to announce its drivers at the German GP but that did not happen last weekend and the team's option with David Coulthard ran out on Sunday.

MNews understands that this option has been extended for another month

whUe McLaren investigates a deal with Montoya.

From McLaren's point of view, Coulthard's performances in recent months have been such that the team feels it must look at alternatives. DC is still racing very well but he still cannot master the current quahfying format and that means that he has been starting from behind the eight-

suHqn-images.com

ball in a of of races.

The other very relevant aspect is the state of the relationship between Williams and Montoya. It was badly soured after the French Grand Prix when Juan and Williams' Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michaels had a very frank exchange of views over the radio during the race. Last weekend's result may well soothe some troubled waters, but the view

Rydell’s Bathurst gig

NINE years after his V8 sutton^images.com Supercar debut was cancelled, Rickard Rydell is coming Downunder to race a Falcon.

The Swede, who won the 1998 Super Touring Bathurst 1000 with Jim Richards, will race alongside Paul Radisich in one of Briggs Motorsport's Betta Falcons. The team's other BA will be shared by Dean Canto and Matthew White.

"We are delighted to have him," said John Briggs." Like a number of other people, I have been very keen to see Rickard in a V8 Supercar, especially at Bathurst. He and Paul know each other well, and they are the same size. I think that he will be a fantastic candidate.

"In the other car, I think that Dean and Matthew will be a good combination. People overlook the fact that our team has been the second-best performed Ford team, behind Stone Brothers, for the last 18 months."

Rydell, 35, is one of the most accomplished touring car drivers in the world. He won the British Touring Car Championship with the TWR-run Volvo team in 1998, winning five rounds of the series. He took a stunning pole at Bathurst and he and 4

If I see you talking to Ron again I'll optimise my fist-nose closing velocity...[DC/Ron-speak for punch your lights out]. within the team of late has been that Montoya is prone to mistakes and a little too lazy and too reliant on his natural talent.

It is interesting to note that Montoya seems to be a lot fitter now than he was a little while ago,a fact illustrated last weekend at Hockenheim where he emerged from the car as fresh as a daisy, despite the incredible heat.

Williams is currently saying that there is no way it will release Montoya, although this attitude may

Brock fc At last; the former Super Touring star finally gets to drive a V8 at Bathurst.

Richards staged a day-long battle with the Nissan Primera of Steven Richards and Matt Neal to take a narrow win.

He has also won the Macau Grand Prix in Formula 3, and finished second in the 1993 Japanese Formula 3 championship. The following year, he was slated to share a Holden Racing Team Commodore at Sandown and Bathurst with Brad Jones but the impending birth of his first child meant that he cancelled his trip to Melbourne. HRT drafted in a young V8 rookie called Craig Lowndes and, following the race, HRT notified Rydell that he wouldn't be needed for Bathurst either...

PETER Brock will not be racing at Sandown's Betta Electrical 500 and the Bob Jane T Marts Bathurst 1000 this year.

The veteran driver, who has won at both venues a record nine times, was under consideration to drive a Team Brock Commodore in the enduros but will now just be a spectator at the races, keeping an eye on things from pit lane.

"There was talk of it happening, and some buzz around,and discussions continued but it didn't hit the spot," said Brock on Monday.

"It was pretty close. The desire is still there (but) there were a lot of good reasons to do it. But it didn't work.

motorsport news

NEWS

Sandown reborn

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n TTow to impress: Crushing Williams'former test driver has attracted Frank's attention ... simply be part of the negotiating process to get some money for releasing him to McLaren. On the other hand the whole process could be an attempt by Montoya to raise his salary at Williams by threatening to move elsewhere. Montoya is not happy that he is Illf. earning around half the money Ralf Schumacher gets.

However, tliis is not going to last because Schumacher's deal was done at a time when there were none of the

he might be tempted to cancel that deal if, for example, Williams was to offer him a new three-year deal at US$10m a year. If he insists on sticking to the original deal, he could find himself out of work at the end of 2004.

However, after seeing his former, well-respected test driver, Antonio Pizzonia, taken apart by Webber, Sir Frank Williams is reportedly mightily impressed with the Aussie and could well try to talk serious business with Jaguar.

Adding weight to the scenario is the n view that Bemie Ecclestone is

Since i re-signed, i'm here because it^ the right kind of opportunity tor me.

economic problems that exist today.

Williams may well be offering Ralf a longer deal but only if he agrees to accept a lower retainer. His current deal, worth US$18m in 2004, ends next year and it is possible that the team will offer him a new long-term deal if he is willing to accept less money in the short term.

Next year Ralf will earn $18m but

- Mark Webber

For his part, Webber is imequivocal: "FI is constantly full of rumours," he told MNews at the weekend.

"I'm contracted to Jaguar and I made that decision early on. Amd like I've said ever since I re-signed, I'm here because it's the right kind of opportunity for me. There's a lot of work to do to get Jaguar up among the big boys, but that's a challenge that appeals to me."

working behind the scenes to recreate the

FI glory days of the mid-80s, when Senna, Mansell, Prost and Piquet battled each other. Ecclestone wants aU the current young guns in the top teams - and that includes Webber.

Montoya to McLaren; Webber to WiUiams; Coulthard to Jaguar? That's what they're talking about in pit lane.

It could happen. And it might just be earlier than at first seems possible.

Watch this space.

Bathurst? No, says PB

"Am I disappointed? It would be fair to say, yes, I am. It would have been good to get out there and have a bit of a speed around ..."

Brock retired from full-time

Coodabeen? The concept of a Brock Bathurst drive was talked about - but Holden said no.

partnering him in 'his' Monaro at the Bathurst 24 Hour in November.

6 August 2003

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■ Brock may not be doing Bathurst, but Brock might. While Peter will not be racing at the mountain, we hear the name James being thrown around in connection with the remaining Garry Rogers Motorsport seat. The VBBRUte regular may be in line to join Jamie Whincup, while Nathan Pretty slots in alongside Garth Tander.

■ Also from the rumour file, we understand that there could be some Japanese GT-spec Toyota Supras heading our way soon. It seems that the cars, which run in the GT500 class in Japan, could find a slot on the PROCAR Nations Cup grid in 2004 ■ Geoff Full tested Kevin Mundy's Actron Air Falcon at Queensland Raceway last Monday.

The experienced Bathurst campaigner was apparently straight on the pace and is being mooted as Mundy's co-driver for the 1000km race at Bathurst. Mundy will also contest the 25-lap Konica race on Saturday in the same car.

■ John Mclntrye is on the hunt for a V8 Supercar endurance drive.

McIntyre has been talking to a number of Championship Series and Konica Series teams about the possibilty of driving, however the Kiwi has not signed a deal yet...

driving at the end of the 1997 season before returning to the V8 Supercar Championship at Bathurst last year, sharing a TB Commodore VX with Craig Baird.

This season, Brock has raced for Garry Rogers Motorsport's Nations Cup squad, driving a Monaro 427 alongside Nathan Pretty. As yet.

Brock is unsure who will be

"It would be good to get a few old codgers together," he said.

●5 .5

IF you were at Melbourne's Cavalli restaurant yesterday and you saw two blokes who looked like Peter Brock and Allan Moffat hanging out with two other blokes who looked like Paul Radisich and Jason Bright, you should have pestered them for autographs.

The stars of racing's past and present were on hand to launch the new-look Betta Electrical Sandown 500. First contested in 1964, the Sandown event was the traditional lead-up to the Bathurst 1000 until 1998.

Since then the circuit has continued to host V8 Supercar meetings, but only single-driver sprint events.

"There are just so many memories from Sandown," said Brock, who won seven-straight events there in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"I think going back there with a 500km format is going to be something special, especially with it again being the curtain-raiser to Bathurst."

■ Dirk Klynsmilb. graphic manipulatior}; Viv Brumby

■ Network 10s presenter Grant Denyer attended his last Konica meeting as a 'Trackside' man. The VSBRUte driver will leave the station in a couple of weeks to take up a role as weather man on Channel 7's 'Sunrise' program.

5

Ran gets Williams has resolved to appeal the decision.

by JOE SAWARD

RALF Schumacher has been

5for 2005?

V8 Supercar tyre contract could be a battle

work would have to be AS many as five companies undertaken to tailor rubber for may be in the running for the the bigger, heavier Holdens and next V8 Supercar control tyre Fords. contract.

With Dunlop holding the rights The fifth company that may be in the running is Michelin. The to supply both the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the French company has recently appointed Trevor Sheumack as Konica V8 Supercar Series until the end of the 2004 season, a its Australian agent, but a Michelin spokesman said that a number of other suppliers are decision to bid for the contract looking at bidding for the threeor not was "well in the future". year deal.

- PHIL BRAIMAGAN Bridgestone, which held the contract prior to Dunlop getting the nod at the start of last | season, is believed to be P' assessing the requirements of the deal, which will involve a support program, as well as tyre supply.

"It's something that the company will look at closely," said Graeme Brown, Bridgestone's Motorsport man.

Yokohama, which currently supplies control rubber for both Formula 4000 and Formula 3, is also looking at the deal.

"It depends on production capacity and scheduling," said Yokohama's Alan Bradshaw.

"There are conversations to be had with Japan but, generally, there aren't any obstacles that couldn't be overcome."

Pirelli, which has never supplied tyres for the V8 Supercar categories, is also believed to be interested mounting a challenge for the deal, local agent Rod Wilson confirming that one of the company's engineers was in Australia recently to discuss a number of options, including the specifications of the V8 tyre.

Pirelli currently produces racing tyres of similar size to the 17 inch tyres on which V8 Supercars run, but development

1

6

penalised 10 grid spots at the next GP by the FIA Stewards at the German Grand Prix for causing the accident at the start of the race that took out himself, Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Raikkonen.

The three stewards (Nazir Hoosein, Radovan Novak and Waltraud Wunsch)listened to all three drivers and viewed a considerable amount of video footage of the crash. They concluded that Ralf Schumacher's move to the left, in an effort to get a better racing line, was carried out without taking into account the positions of the other cars.

The Stewards' Report said that Schumacher "admitted to paying no attention to the position of the other cars during this manoeuvre". The conclusion was that Barrichello and Raikkonen were both left with

The wording of the penalty is rather different to the only previous occasion that such a penalty has been imposed as the decision says at "the driver's next race" rather than simply at "the next race". This means that whenever Ralf Schumacher next races, he will have to face the penalty.

In Felipe Massa's case last year, the penalty was more vague and Sauber decided to get around the problem by replacing Massa with Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the next race, the United States GP at Indianapolis.

Schumacher will thus go to Budapest with the best he can hope for being 11th on the grid. This means that there is a much reduced

nowhere to go.

The stewards concluded that

chance of Ralf scoring points.

Importantly for the Williams team, this will damage its chances in the Constructors' title, which is currently finely balanced between Williams and Ferrari. With the two

Schumacher should drop 10 grid positions "at the driver's next race".

teams separated by just two points, this could be critical.

«litions JAWIES Courtney has two or three serious options up his sleeve for 2004, according to his manager Alan Gow. Gow,in Melbourne earlier this week on a brief visit, confirmed that options for 2004 include a combined Formula Nippon/GT programme in Japan, USA options(CART or IRL?) and possibly FI testing.

The Japanese program is the most likely, considering James'impressive season to date in Japanese F3.

"FI testing is an option," Gow said,"but with so many teams likely to take on the Friday morning option at Grands Prix next year, testing will be relatively limited, with the regular drivers undertaking a fair bit of it. It's certainly not the attractive option is once was."

In the meantime,the recently-engaged Sydney driver continues to lead the Japanese Formula 3 Championship.

motorsDon news

the Sin Bin

lO grid spot penalty in Hungary for Schumacher

NEWS

Great Dane ALAN Simonsen will make a welcome return to the Nations Cup field when he gets behind the wheel of a Group 2 Mark Coffey Racing Budweiser Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge at Phillip island this weekend.

The Dane raised eyebrows with a succession of strong outings in PHR Ferraris at the Grand Prix and Adelaide earlier this year.

Also making a return to the series is the Group 2 Mustang Cobra RA, which will be steered by Rod Wilson, ■ John Mcliroy will debut the BA Falcon XR6 Turbo in the battle for outright APCC honours at Phillip Island. The car was last driven by Michael Taylor in the Targa Tasmania.

In the same field, but a different class, will be Leanne Ferrier, who has been pencilled in to drive the second factory-backed Class D Daihatsu Sirion alongside the lead car of Rick Bates.

When it comes to the crunch: Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen tangle at the start of the German Grand Prix.

As a result of the clash, Ralf will be starting from Pit - at best- at the Hungaroring.

KRT gets a new AndyCam KMART Racing has confirmed its driving lineup for the endurance races.

As expected, Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly will drive together at Sandown and Bathurst, while the returning Andy Priaulx will be joined for former Ford driver, Cameron McLean, hi 2003,Priaulx has been one of the revelations of the European Series.

The BMW Great Britain driver is currently second in the championship and won the most recent race of the series at Spa in Belgium.

"Our goal has always been to field two competitive cars during the endurance races and having drivers the quality of Cameron and Andy joining Greg and Rick means we can again achieve that," says KRT team manager Rob Crawford McLean,a former V8 Privateers champion,finished eighth at Bathurst last year, sharing his Falcon with Tony Scott He has sat out racing this season following the demise of the Paragon team,and tested briefly for Kmart Racing at the start of the season before the team's ownership problems put a halt to its test program.

For 5 Minutes zvith Andy Priaidx, see page 28 6 August 2003

GP Doctors face investigation

FIVE doctors are under professional misconduct investigation over the Graeme Beveridge fatality during the 2001 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Evidence relating to where the death of the unfortunate track marshal occurred is alleged to have been manipulated. Beveridge was mortally wounded in a freak accident, when he was struck by a detached wheel assembly from Jacques Villeneuve's BAR that found its way through a small access gap in debris fencing.

In his evidence to a Medical Practitioners Board, Dr David Cooper, head of trauma and intensive care at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, disclosed that a surgeon had declared the track worker dead at the trackside medical centre. But he added that he had been advised by the AGP deputy chief medical officer, Paul Bernard, not to record the

death in his notes to the hospital or the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), instead,said Dr Cooper, Beveridge's body was to be transferred under resuscitation to The Alfred, under a protocol between CAMS and the hospital stating that all casualties were to be transferred there, including fatalities prior to certification.

Dr Cooper said there was no medical reason for the victim not to be declared dead at the trackside medical centre, nor for resuscitation to be maintained. Three doctors from The Alfred, Dr Cooper, Dr Christopher Atkin and Dr John Moloney, are being investigated over the incident, along with two who represented CAMS at the event, namely the chief medical officer for the Australian GP,Dr David Visseriga, and Dr Temme.

-QUENTIN SPURRING

■ Multiple kart champ and recent Mirage Cup frontrunner Troy Flunt will make his Formula Ford National Championship at Oran Park next weekend. Flunt, who has previously contested some Victorian state rounds, will drive a Bruin Beasley-run '95 Swift.

■ F4000 to China? There were mixed reactions in the Formula 4000 garages last week as to the future of the beleaguered category. Initial rumours circulating the pits was that all the cars would be sold to a new series in China, where open-wheel racing is extremely popular.

Flowever, this may not be the case. Sources say the cars may go to the Asia-Pacific region for some non championship styles races and there's a chance the cars could go to New Zealand (as soon as late this year) for a similar series.

■ The Spa rounds of the British F3 Championship are set to boast an international line-up with a number of teams from the F3 Euroseries lining up on the grid.

That means that Ryan Briscoe will take on Wilis Power and Davison, and Nico Rosberg will face Nelson Piquet Jr. British F3 bosses wili make the visitors run 76 fueis and Avon tyres as dictated by the regulations, but the interlopers won't be eligible for points.

■ Does the AC de Monaco know something we don't? It is catering for a field of 24 Formula 1 cars with a new permanent pits complex which is now under build in the Principality.

Twelve 'double' garages of 15x10m will be finished in time or the 2004 Grand Prix, each with a first-floor unit that can be used for timing purposes by the teams.

- STAFF/ADDISON/SPURRING 7

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Eddie close to settlement

AS MNews closed for press, Eddie Jordan was awaiting what is expected to be a highly critical judgement from Mr Justice Langley, the man who is to rule on the Jordan team’s legal action against mobile phone giant Vodafone.

Jordan initiated the action, claiming that Vodafone agreed a sponsorship deal with the team worth $150m over five years. As the case developed, however, it became clear that Jordan did not have anything more than circumstantial evidence to back up the case and the Vodafone legal team tore into Jordan witnesses with great effect. It was clear from early on that the team did not have much of a chance of success and it was expected that Jordan would at some point withdraw from the case and settle with Vodafone.

Eddie Jordan issued a press statement late on Friday

afternoon to say that it had withdrawn its claim but this lastminute attempt to bail out was refused by the judge, who said that the team’s attempt to withdraw from the case at the last minute was “stifling the court from publicly announcing its decision" and was "designed to create a serious injustice which this court should not tolerate". The judge then ruled that Jordan could appeal his decision if the team could find a judge willing to listen but said that he was going to deliver his judgement on Monday afternoon.

The exact wording of the judgement is known only to the lawyers involved but clearly it is very damaging, as the team was spending the Hockenheim weekend trying to generate good publicity and make sure that it was understood by the FI media that that the team will not be in

financial trouble even if it has to pay an estimated $4.5m in legal costs.

Fortunately for Jordan, it seems that Vodafone is not intending to seek damages against the team but the judge’s comments may do Jordan a lot more damage in the longer-term.

Jordan will not have forgotten the effect that a High Court judgement had on Formula 1 team owner Tom Walkinshaw a year ago when the Arrows boss attacked Morgan Grenfell in the High Court in an effort to lift a block on the sale of the team to Red Bull. Justice Sir Gavin Lightman delivered a 17-page judgement against Arrows and said described the parties involved in the most critical terms.

A similar judgement against Jordan could do the team very serious long-term damage.

- JOE SAWARD

Staylt THE two big winners from Winton's Konica V8 Supercar Series round, Andrew Jones and Mark Winterbottom,look set to return to the series next year.

Jones scored Brad Jones Racing's first win in either V8 Supercar championship last weekend in his BOC Gases Falcon AU,while Winterbottom sealed Stone Brothers Racing's maiden title with one round still to come.

Both drivers have Level 1

endurance drives with the respective teams but their most likely future option will be to return to the 'feeder' series in 2004.

"I would love to do something with Mark in the championship series," said team boss Ross Stone at Winton last weekend,"but our most likely option is to run him here (in the KV8SS)again. If we could get the funding, and a licence, that would be great but another year is not going to do him any harm."

Winterbottom was picked up by SBR a year ago, after competing in Formula Ford in a Spectrum. Both driver and team manager admit that the success he has enjoyed this year have exceeded their expectations.

but still need enginesfor'04 Belgiui

EDDIE Jordan has plenty of problems at the moment with the outcome of his court case with Vodafone expected but he aiso has to organise an engine deai for next year.

Jordan has been talking to both Ford and Mercedes-Benz but it seems that negotiations have not been very successful to date, because Jordan is looking for the cheapest possible deal and the two car companies are trying to avoid being played off

against one another.

It is worth noting that the Ford Motor Company's racing chief Richard Parry-Jones is insisting that Jordan has a three-year deal with Cosworth. This is important as money raised by the customer engine program is believed to go towards Jaguar Racing’s budget.

We hear that Jordan thinks that there is a way out of the deal but Parry-Jones says that Ford is "not intending to renegotiate it or move away from it.

Ford is also not planning to cut the cost of the engine deal from the current $20m to around half that figure. Mercedes-Benz boss Jurgen Hubbert has promised that it will make “fully affordable” VI Os available for private teams next year, The situation appears to be rather strained at the moment and no indication as yet that Jordan has the budget it needs for engines next year, - JOE SAWARD

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Jordan - Powered by i2??:Engine negotiations are far from settled for Eddie Jordan and his team for '04.

8

motorsport news

NEWS

ig in the Minops

ADR + Lola = ?

REIGNING British F3 Champions ; Alan Docking Racing are working with Lola on its F3 project. Robbie Kerr tested the Lola-Dome chassis at Pembrey recently and was full of praise for it, but is unlikely to race it ' this season. Flowever, a Lola ; spokesman said that they hoped to have the car out for the final races of the season at Brands Flatch. i ' : ; , ; i ; :

Oirk Klynsmith

Keep coming to Konicas: Andrew Jones leads Winterbottom at Winton last weekend. But will the white Falcon of Jones (12) be able to match the pace of Winterbottom (41) in the KV8SS in 20041 Jones, who will share an OzEmail Falcon BA with John Cleland and Sandown and Bathurst, will have a good shot at the title next season, according to team manager (and dad)

Kim Jones.

"We wiU be back next season," he said."Andrew is doing a good job; if anything, he is a little hard on himself. He will move up to the

(Championship)Series in the future but that will take another year, and we have two drivers(Brad Jones and John Bowe)already."

-PHIL BRANAGAN

m back on the bill?

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8 August 2003

THE Belgian Senate met in extraordinary session on July 14 to consider a modification to the anti tobacco law of December 1997 which banned all tobacco sponsorship in Belgium from the middle of 2003. This led to the cancellation of this year's Belgian Grand Prix.

The new proposal, put forward by Senator JeanMarie Happart, was passed on to the Social Affairs Commission of the Senate which met on July 23 and voted through the amendment by nine votes to four, with four abstentions. This means that in the relation to the Grand Prix there will be no tobacco ban until new European legislation comes into effect on July 31 2005. The proposal still has to pass through more bureaucratic procedures before becoming law but Serge Kubla, Economy Minister for Wallonia, says that the race could be back on the FI calendar in 2004.

"Mr Ecclestone told me that he would do everything he can to bring back the Grand Prix to Spa-Francorchamps and even for next year," Kubla told local radio. "Fie assured me that he is 100 percent behind a return of the Grand Prix to Spa. The worst thing that could happen now would be that the GP comes back in 2005, rather than 2004."

n The British government is unlikely to fund the projected redevelopment of the BRDC's Silverstone circuit, according to a Westminster MP, in view of the massive revenue generated by Formula One, and the large chunk of it that goes to Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management company.

Clare Ward MP wrote in 'The : Guardian' newspaper: "I hope the ; government can provide some help in the form of an investment to keep the British Grand Prix, but I would be very concerned if millions were ploughed into a sport where clearly somebody is creaming off a large i profit.

"There is at least one party out of this bunch making a huge amount of money, and therefore can't expect the non-profit-making BRDC to stump up. Nor can they expect, in my view, too much money from the government. n The organisers of the European Grand Prix have confirmed that they will shortly submit an official complaint to the European Court of Justice against the European Union.

This is over the European Commission's decision to introduce a tobacco ban on 1 August 2005, rather than at the end of 2006 as had originally been planned.

It is anticipated that the German government will also be lodging an official complaint. The news was confirmed by Walter Kafitz, the managing director of the Nurburgring GmbFl in Flockenheim. The complaint will also be supported by the organisers at Flockenheim and Zandvoort. n Reigning Eagle West, whose temporary street courses in North America include the Champ Car venues in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, has begun building work on the new circuit for the inaugural Puerto Rico Grand Prix, which will be the 2003 season finale of the USbased Trans-Am Series on 26 October. n The FIA is planning to increase the registration fee payable by World Rally Championship entrants towards Formula 1 levels. A WRC team currently pays US$500,000 for a twocar team, but an FI team has to pay $1m. In addition, the registration fee for WRC event organisers is set to be trebled, from $50,000 to $150,000.

- SPURRING/ADDISON 9

ten home of

[motorsport] 2003 V8 Supercgr Championship* Aug 17 ...Oran Park

.Rd8

Sep 14 ...Sandown

.Rd9

Oct 12 ... .Bathurst .

.Rd 10

Oct 26

Surfers Paradise

.Rd 11

Nov 9

Pukekohe

.Rd12 .Rd13

Nov 30 ...Eastern Creek .

2003 Konica V8 Series* .Rd6

Aug 30 .. .Mallala Oct 11 Bathurst

.Non Cham pionsl^

2003 FIA Formula One Championship* Aug 24 .. .Hungaroring

Rd 13

Sep 14 ...Monza

Rd 14

Sep 28 ...Indianapolis Oct 12 Suzuka

Rd15 Rd 16

2003 CART Championship* .Rd 12 Elkhart Lake

Aug 3

Aug 17 ...Mid-Ohio ...

.Rd 13

Aug 31 ...Denver ....

.Rd14

Sep 7

.Rd 15

Montreal ...

.Rd 16

Sep 28 .. .Miami

2003 IRL Championship* .Rd 11

Aug 10 ...Gateway ..

Aug 17 ...Kansas City

.Rd 12

Aug 24 ...Nazareth ..

.Rd13

Sep 7 ....Chicago ..

Se 21 ..Fontana

.Rd14

Oct 12

.Rd 16

.Rd 15

Texas

2003 MotoGP Championship* .RdIO

Aug 17 .. .Brno Sep 7

,Rd11

Estoril

Sep 20 .. .Rio de Janiero Oct 5 .Motegi

.Rd12 .Rd13

Oct 12

Sepang

.Rd 14

Oct 19

Phillip Island

.Rd15

2003 World Rally Championship* Aug 10 .. .Finland .

.Rd9

Sep 7

,Rd10

Australia

2003 Australian Rally Championship Aug 10 ...Rally Of S.A .Melbourne Oct 5

.Rd4

Nov 16 ...Tasmania

.Rd6

.Rd5

2003 Procar Championship .Rd 6

Aug 8 ....Phillip island

.Rd 7

Sep 19 ...Winton Oct 23 ....Gold Coast .

r

.Rd 8

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'motorsport^

n

McLaren to forget the

McLaren has all but confirmed that the new MP4-18 car will never race.

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

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

"We are pretty close now to saying: 'Take out the 18 and use it as a basis for the 19 next year'," Ron Dennis said at Hockenheim.

The MP4-18 was late arriving this year and has proved to be incredibly fragile and has failed two mandatory aash tests, demanded by the FIA. The car was due to make its first appearance at the Italian GP but there seems to be little point in such a move as the races that follow Monza are both 'flyaway' races. The last thing that any team needs at those events is new and unproven machinery that needs a large number of new parts.

The consensus appears to be to use the MP4-18 as the basis of next year's MP4-19 and use the months ahead to design out some of the problems which have been encountered to date.

-JOE SAWARD

Villeneuve: I ain’t going yet

BRITISH American Racing’s David Richards may have gone on holiday after the British Grand Prix but he ended up sneaking off to Monaco and meeting up with driver Jacques Villeneuve to begin discussions about whether or not Villeneuve will race for BAR again next year.

Richards has confirmed that the meeting did mark the beginning of the negotiations, but said that there is no hurry to get anything done quickly as he has other options open to him for some time to come.

Villeneuve, who is negotiating his own deal now rather than relying on manager Craig Pollock, says that there is "non plan not be to in FI next year.

There are differences over money but it is very clear that Villeneuve is in no position to argue, as there is no way that

BAR is going to pay the US$20m salary he currently enjoys. It is anticipated that if a deal is struck, it will feature a smaller retainer and a big bonus scheme for World Championship points.

It is worth noting that BAT chairman Martin Broughton was a BAR guest at Hockenheim and as soon as qualifying was over he and Richards disappeared from the race track to meet elsewhere. It is believed that the primary topic of conversation was whether or not the team wishes to re-employ Villeneuve. l Jacques has been with the team from the beginning and fits the image that BAT is trying to promote with its Lucky Strike brand. He is still a very competent racing driver and if the issue of money can be sorted out, it may well be that he will stay on with the team.

-JOE SAWARD

ttton-i

/titcKr

1

Set the alarm Cuckoo Clock THE Sauber Petronas Formula 1 team has already decided to take the Friday free testing option at Grands Prix in 2004,limiting itself to 20 single-car private test days during the season.

Team Principal Peter Sauber said: "After our experiences this year, and in view of the fact that there will be tw'o new circuits in next year's calendar, we've decided to do without unUmited testing in 2004."

Sauber is confident that his team has a secure future, even without

manufacturer backing.

"Should we stay in FI as a privateer in the coming five years, 1 don't regard this as a disadvantage," he said.

"Just as they have been in the past, the teams will be as important in the future as the manufacturers. Like Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, 1 don't think that all seven manufacturers currently involved will still be here five years from now."

- QUENTIN SPURRING motorsport news

NEWS

800km starts now BMW,Benz fire up'weekend'engines

THE first Formula 1 engine supplier to have run its prototype 2004 ‘long-life’ engine is WilliamsFI partner BMW Motorsport.

BMW ran its prototype 2004 unit just over a week ago.

Director Mario Theissen said that the new 2003 Sporting Regulations had helped his engine team to design the P84 V10, which will comply with the FIA's 'one-engine-per-weekend' rule when it is introduced next March.

Dr Theissen commented:"In 2003, we are already having to compete in the second qualifying session and the race with a single engine, and that has been excellent experience for the P84. This new factor has exerted a very substantial

Influence. The 2004 regulations effectively double running time from 400km to 800km. This means that each individual part has to be designed to be more stable. That affects the design, the selection of materials, and the manufacturing processes."

McLaren supplier MercedesBenz Motorsport fired up its 2004 engine for the first time a few days later.

- QUENTIN SPURRING

Pizzonia: No Testing Deal Jaguar goes for the Tall Guy as Kiesajoins Minardi

As MNews predicted in its last issue, Antonio Pizzonia has been dumped by Jaguar Racing and his place in the team has been taken by Justin Wilson.

Jaguar offered Pizzonia the role of test and reserve driver but the Brazilian turned it down.

"The sudden decision by Jaguar Racing not to let me continue as a full time Formula 1 driver for the team came as a complete shock to me," said Pizzonia.

"I now have to reflect on what has happened and decide which is the best course of action for me to take. However, i fully intend to pursue my career in Formula 1.rr Wilson’s place at Minardi has been taken by Denmark’s Nicolas Kiesa.

The Copenhagen driver began racing in karts before starting single-seater racing in 1998 in the British Formula Ford Championship. He finished third in the series that year and was third in the Formula Ford Festival. He stayed in the series and in 1999 won the title for Haywood Racing but missed out on victory in the Festivai because of

a mechanical problem.

He moved up to British Formula 3 in 2000 with RC Motorsport and won his first victory at Donington Park later that year against the likes of Pizzonia, Takuma Sato and Tomas Scheckter.

After a disappointing start to the 2001 season he switched to the German Formula 3 Championship and then in 2002 moved into Formula 3000. He showed himself to be wild but quick and was picked up this year by Den Bla Avis and won the Monaco GP support race after Bjorn Wirdheim made a ridiculous mistake and pulled up to celebrate before he had crossed the line.

Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart said that the deal "benefits Minardi enormously, as it helps to assure the team’s future in Formula 1". The implication in this remark is that Wilson’s release is probably linked to an engine deal for next year with Jaguar Racing’s sister company Cosworth.

Kiesa is also believed to be bringing substantial financial backing to Minardi.

-JOE SAWARD

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^tton-images.com

6 August 2003

●A'

30 years on IT is 30 years since British Formula 1 driver Roger Williamson was killed in a fiery accident at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

To mark the occasion, Tom Wheatcroft, who was funding Williamson's career at the time, has unveiled a memorial to the 25-yearold Leicester driver, who was in his first year of Formula 1.

Williamson's accident was an important point in the history of Formula 1 because it resulted In pressure for better marshals and better fire-fighting. Williamson was trapped beneath his upturned car and the marshals failed to save him.

Fellow driver David Purley stopped his car and tried single-handedly to save Williamson but he died in the flames. Purley was later awarded a George Medal for his efforts. n Jenson Button's father John recently celebrated his 60th birthday and Jenson wanted to get his old man a special birthday present to mark the event and to say thank you for all the help that his father gave him in the formative years of his racing career.

The BAR driver went out and bought a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette, black with plenty of chrome and a red interior. The delighted Button Sr will soon be cruising the Riviera in his new toy... n The Renault FI team has issued a statement saying that Mike Gascoyne is definitely staying with the team.

The interesting thing about this is that there was no comment from Gascoyne attached, which indicates that Gascoyne is not willing to comment on the issue. Renault cannot force Gascoyne to work if he does not wish to do so and so the process now going on is one of negotiating a severance deal.

This will no doubt be going on between Renault and Toyota and will Involved money. Gascoyne has two years to go on his Renault contract and Renault will want a sum of money to compensate for the loss.

Once a deal is negotiated Gascoyne would have to go on six months leave before being able to start at Toyota.

The most likely reason for Renault's current attitude therefore is to try to delay that move as long as possible so that Mike cannot work on the design of the 2005 car. n Talk in the UK has linked Jackie Stewart and Nigel Mansell in a joint bid to buy Brands Hatch. Stewart has vigorously denied the stories, saying, "I have had no discussions about buying Brands Hatch, and I have no intention of becoming involved in any such discussion." Watch this space, then I - SAWARD/ADDISON 11

F2Bi Them's the Brakes

TEAM Lamborghini Australia and Prancing Horse Racing have been forced to dump the ABS systems from their Group One cars ahead of this weekends Nations Cup round at Phillip Island.

The ruling will peg the cars, currently sitting first and second in the Championship at the hands of Paul Stokell (Lamborghini Diablo GTR) and John Bowe (PHR Ferrari 360 GT), back within the reach of the rival Monaros, Vipers, and Porsches.

But the decision has been greeted with some scepticism by TLA boss Andrew Smith.

"I think that Aaron (Kelly, PROCAR's Technical Manager), has always been open and upfront, and this is clever," he said.

"It's a 'Clayton's adjustment' - it's the parity adjustment you make when you're not making a parity adjustment.

"I can see where PROCAR are coming from.

They only have one parity adjustment for the whole year, and they want the Monaro to be able to win."

According to Smith, the Lamborghini, which is around 300kg heavier than the Ferrari, will feel the worst of the change.

"It won't affect the Ferrari too much, but it will really affect the Lamborghini," he explained.

"We've already tested it down at Phillip Island, and it has made about 0.5s difference."

Smith also said that the team is still deciding whether or not it will campaign at the Bathurst 24 Hour race in November.

"It depends on how the parity politics play out," he said. " If I think that we're being unfairly treated, we won't go. I'll reserve my decision about it until we see how things settle. It's confusing - we run to Lamborghini Trophy regulations, which are eligible for the 24 Hour - and they state that the car must be fitted with ABS. So there's a bit to be sorted out. I'd say we'd probably know by the end of August whether or not we'll be there."

- MARK GLENDENNING

Lamborgwanna?

TEAM Lamborghini may have a secret weapon up its sleeve for the Bathurst 24 Hour Jason Bargwanna.

The 2000 Bathurst winner has been in discussion with Team Lamborghini Australia for some months and a deal between the two appears to be settled.

"We started talking in May this year," Bargwanna said this week. "The 24 Hour race is one I really want to do and I am really confident that the team is going to be one of the contenders for the outright win."

Should Bargwanna join the team for the race, it would give TL an impressive lineup, with Paul Stokell and Anthony Tratt already in the squad.

In the meantime, plans are being made for Bargs to make his Nations Cup debut with the team.

It was going to be at Phillip 12

Island but that might not happen now. I understand that Sam Newman might not be avavilable for the Winton round, so I could be driving his car there.

"Either way, I would love to get into one of the Diablos and see what we can do ..."

THE troubled, and shrinking, Formula 3000 category may be replaced by a new, manufacturerbacked version of Formula 2 in 2005.

In an interview with the German magazine 'Auto Motor und Sport', FIA president Max Mosley and FOM principal Bernie Ecclestone said that they were in discussion with both Toyota and Renault about relaunching the Formula 1 feeder category, with new chassis rules, after the end of next season.

According to the report, the new class will feature a cheaper but more powerful engine than the current 3litre Zytek V8, wliich will be backed by one of the manufacturers already involved in FI. Zytek's existing F3000 supply contract ends at the end of 2004, as does the 'control' chassis contract currently held by Lola Cars International.

Formula 3000 has hit a low point this season, with teams pulling out and grids shrinking to as low as 16 cars. The class has faced increasing competition from a number of similar categories, like the Spanish-based Nissan-backed series. Renault launched its new V6-engined class this season, the category immediately attracting a number of wellcredentialled teams,some of which (like DAMS)were involved in F3000 in its heyday.

Having Toyota or Renault involved in a new F2 class would also allow the FIA to ensure that the makers' efforts were concentrated in a program attached to FI. While Renault's new class has already raced on GP support programs, most visibly at Monaco,Toyota's USA division is plamiing a revamp to the Formula Pacific category, with the aim to take horsepower levels from the current 260-270 to around 475, making it more relevant to the senior classes of FI,IndyCar and CART.

Stokes gets the VW Racing bug

PAUL Stokell will split his time between his regular ride in the Nations Cup Team Lamborghini Australia Diablo GTR and a V8 VW Golf R32 GT Performance machine.

Stokell, who goes into the Phillip Island weekend as the Nations Cup series leader, will join regular driver Stewart McColl in a second

Volkswagon Racing car under the eye of team boss Greg 'Pee Wee' Siddle.

The news comes on the back of the announcement that Volkswagon will unleash 200 of the all-wheeldrive V6 beasties into the Australian market early next year.

-MARK GLENDENNING motorsgort news

?■

NEWS

ack in Vogue No-one's watching: F3000 is in the doldrums and Bernie and Max are waiting for manufacturers to get in and play.

One of those days HAVING won the British Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello wanted to rush home to his family but things did not go according to plan and the flight was called off until Monday morning, leaving Rubens to spend the night in a hotel at Heathrow Airport.

And then to make matters worse, someone collided with his luggage trolley in the terminal and his Silverstone trophy fell off and was broken. n It is reported that NASCAR is asking around US$15m (AUD$23m) a year for a minimum of 10 years for the honour of being the official NASCAR gasoline brand.

The current deal with ConocoPhillips's brand 76' is coming to an end and was worth only around a third of the new asking price, and that was largely as a barter deal for the fuel used in the Winston Cup, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck championship, it is anticipated that one of the US majors will pick up the deal. n The current Formula 3000 championship leader Bjorn Wirdheim is to test for a number of different Formula 1 teams in the months ahead with stories circulating of potential tests with BAR, Jordan and Williams.

The Swedish driver has done very well this year and some of the teams want to see just how good he is. it is also expected that other young drivers will be tested by some of the teams with Vitantonio Liuzzi expected to get another run with Williams.

And this is the ejector seat button: Mister Ingall and Mister Akers get comfy in SBR's Falcon AU, while Rusty looks a bit less so kicking the Sherrin on the Gabba, left...

You Breaka my Cai\ I Kicka your Balls

YES,that goose with the footy is Russell Ingall.

The Enforcer had a look at the other side of sport last week when he swapped roles with Brisbane Lions AFL star, Jason Akermanis. The Brownlow Medal-winning football star had previously had a steer of one of Stone Brothers Racing's Falcons at Queensland Raceway and was thrilled with the ride.

"That was just awesome," said Akermanis as he stepped from the car.

"You watch these guys on TV and think 'that's easy', but nothing could be further from the truth, "The acceleration is just amazing and these guys are just so much more skilful than you could imagine.

"It is hot in the car, but I think I am sweating 6 August 2003

more from the concentration."

Akermanis did a fair job in Mark Winterbottom's Milligans AU, running in the low 1 m20s region and topping 240kmh on the straights.

For his part, the Caltex/Flavoline driver felt a little out of his depth on the football field, "I don't think I would like to take some of the hits these guys do every week," said Ingall after a training session.

"We did some drills with the tackling pad and even though Jason was taking it relatively easy on me, I felt it enough to know I did not want any more."

Ingall also confessed that he had not kicked a football for at least 20 years - which explains why he kicks like a girl ...

n The French government on Monday sold another 8.5 percent of Renault, raising around $1,3bn for the public coffers. The move reduces the government's stake in the car company to around 17 percent although the firm retains around 20percent of the voting rights.

The government remains the biggest shareholder but is in the process of selling off many of the country's holdings in its biggest companies, a policy which has been pursued in recent months by the right wing government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin. n Jon Vannini, a major shareholder in CART Inc, intends to file a lawsuit imminently against the Indianapolis based ChampCar World Series promoter, Vannini, who increased his stake in the NYSE-listed company to 9.9 percent in 2001, was angered by CART'S decision to publish pessimistic financial guidance last week, after which the value of its shares dropped at one point to a new low of $1.52.

- JOE SAWARD 13

On the W IT seems to be the way of things that if one Australian has a good weekend in the British F3 Championship the other will have a tough outing, and that was again the story in the latest round of the series at Rockingham last weekend.

Will Power, right, underlined his potential with a great performance to finish third-fastest in second

Murcho vs Radaillon CHRISTIAN Murchison has escaped from a high-speed crash to record a sixth placing in the most recent round of the Renault V6 Series at Spa in Belgium.

The Perth driver, above, lost the back end of his car at about 220kmh at Radaillon, and backed the car into a wall at almost undiminished speed. He escaped without anything more serious than bruising while his DAMS team rebuilt his car.

After qualifying sixth for the race, held prior to the famed Spa 24 Hour, Murchison dropped back through the field at the start of the race before climbing back to eighth at the chequered flag.

However, two of the cars that finished ahead of him are expected to be disqualified from the race after their cars were found to be fitted with non-standard barge boards after the race.

"It was a big accident," said the Aussie after the race.

"Luckily, because the 24 Hour started on Saturday, we had practice on the Wednesday and the team had time to rebuild the car in time for qualifying. It took me around four laps to build up to taking Eau Rouge flat and after that it was no problem.

"My team-mate was following me through the corner and said later that it got into oversteer at the top of the hill. It went and that was it.

"We were out slightly on the set-up because of a lack of track time, but the car was still pretty good in the race. Eau Rouge is awesome; in fact, the whole track is, and we are in good stead because the next round of the series is there as well."

qualifying,improving hugely on his PIO in the opening session.

Some fireworks among the leaders played into Power's hands in the first race, and he drove on to finish fifth after several frontrunners eliminated themselves. Nelson Piquet Jr took the win from Clivio Piccione and Ronnie Bremer.

Power got his Fortec smartly away from the line in race two to slot into second behind Jamie Green. The Queenslander was passed by Piquet Jr with four laps remaining, and his luck ran out shortly afterwards when he spun while being chased by Alan

\ \

van der Merwe.

Green went on to wm the race, which was punctuated by two appearances by the Safety Car, ahead of Piquet Jr and van der Merwe.

For Will Davison meanwhile, the weekend was all about damage

!

5

VALE: Steve Hislop

BRITISH Superbike star Steve Hislop was : killed in a helicopter accident last week.

I Hislop, 41, was a two-tinne British Champion, and a noted master of racing on road courses. He won 11 isie of Man TTs and, in 1989, became the first rider to crack the 120mph lap on the famed track.

I He even won a TT title on a rotaryengined, British-built Norton in 1992.

In recent times, the racing veteran ! became known as a difficult man with whom to form a partnership. After winning last year’s British title, he parted ways with the MonsterMob Ducati team, and was sacked by the Virgin Yamaha team weeks before he fatal accident.

Hislop had been taking helicopter flying lessons with the aim of becoming a commercial helicopter pilot. He is ' survived by his two sons Aaron and Connor.

14

motorsport news

NEWS

tock Champion!

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a 8

Dave fowler

limitation after the Victorian struggled to get the ADR machine working in qualifying trim and lined up 17th for both races.

Davison turned on the red mist and put in a blinding opening to the first race, passing seven cars in the opening lap before picking his way a couple of rungs further up the ladder and finishing ninth.

"It was the craziest first lap I've had in my whole racing career!" said Davison, left.

"I got a good start and went from 17th to 10th in the first lap. I passed a few down the outside into the first chicane but got hung out a few comers later and lost a few spots. So I just got on with the job and passed them back."

SECOND place at Hockenheim was enough to see Bjorn Wirdheim crowned the 2003 Formula 3000 Champion last weekend.

The Swede, below, was covered by race-winner Richardo Sperafico from start to finish, but while the Colon!

Motorsport car may have won on the day, its thunder was Stolen as the Arden car swept away the crown with two rounds still to run.

While Sperafico, right. converted his pole position to lead the field through the first corner, Wirdheim slotted in behind him after making a good start from grid three (the only time all year that he has not started from the front row), and kept ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The Italian tried to give chase, but instead was eventually hauled in and passed

by Red Bull Junior team-mate Patrick Friesacher, and the top four remained in that order to .the end.

Wirdheim's team-mate Townserid Bell finished fifth

6 August 2003

n The Spa 24 Hours started and finished 11 minutes late, after the green lights failed to come on at the first attempt.

Technical failure was given as the official reason, but it is understood that some bumbling official pressed the wrong button! n Porsche's success in this year's 24 hour races continued at Spa. Having won the Daytona classic with Kevin Buckler's team, a 911 GT3-RS won the Spa race thanks to bad weather and the inspired driving of Stephane Ortelli/Marc Lieb/Romain Dumas. What price a Porsche to win Bathurst, then? n Indy Racing League VP of operations Brian Barnhart has requested both the current chassis suppliers, Panoz G Force and Dallara Automobili, to design aerodynamic update kits enabling their current IndyCar Series oval racecars to be raced on road circuits, perhaps as early as 2005.

"Brian is having conversations with the chassis manufacturers so we can provide for a smooth and methodical transition of these cars to eventually road-race," said IRL president and CEO Tony George.

n Aston Martin, the British sportscar manufacturer, is seeking a specialist partner to help to build, develop and part-fund its return to international sportscar racing with its ongoing GT project, which is to be based on the latest V8 powered Vantage.

The Ford owned company has been in discussions with UK specialists Prodrive and Ray Mailock Ltd and French company ORECA about the project.

The car is being designed by a team led by former Spice and McLaren engineer Graeme Humphrys.

back of the pack came flying past," rued Davison.

"I was chasing hard after that and just hit the right kerb at the first chicane, which is a fast, 130mph (190 km/h)corner and landed really, really, hard. I took off and all I could see was sky! It landed with a massive crunch and ripped the wing off and that was that.

Davison now has his sights set on the blue-riband Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort this weekend, while the British F3 series will resume at Thruxton on August 16.

BATHURST 24 Hour favourite Martin Short had a trying time in the annual Spa 24 enduro when his Mosler had an engine let go...on the first lap of the race!

n Cheever Racing have tested the new Generation IV Chevrolet Indy V8 engine that powered Sam Hornish Jr. to second place at Michigan a fortnight ago. Cheever driver Buddy Rice will use the engine in this weekends race at Gateway.

Race 2saw another good start, with Davison moving up to 11th, but problems struck as he prepared for a restart after a Safety Car period.

"Stefano Fabi's gearbox stopped just as we were heading back to the startline for a restart and you can't pass under yellow flags, so we were stuck behind him and cars from the

"Up until the Safety Car it was going really well. We could have been in the top 10 again but that's what happens when you start deep in the pack. The ongoing lack of pace in qualifying sets weekends up to work out like this."

ahead of Tony Schmidt (Astromega), while Wirdheim's main title threat, Giorgio Pantano, found himself stuck back in seventh after falling foul of some early-race scrapping.

Last week, Wirdheim had a seat-fitting with the Jordan FI outfit ahead of a test with the team early next month.

B

A Short race

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^4X

n Renault intends to contest the 2004 European Touring Car Championship, having filed homologation papers with the FIA for its Mbgane.

The homologation specification is based on the car being raced by Kurt Thiim in the 2003 Danish national series.

- ADDISON/SPURRING 15

Hie Empire StrikesMonaro Back an and Davison flies until cut down by mechanical problems

A WEEK after having its colours lowered in California, Audi struck back in Canada,Frank Biela and Marco Werner,right, leading from the green flag to the chequer at the fourth round of the ALMS at TroisRivieres, Quebec.

Champion Racing ADT came home in second, 55.503 seconds behind the race winners. Johnny Herbert and JJ Lehto had a few moments on track including one light wall brush in the early going in their Audi R8. The team made a decision to do one stop for fuel only prior to the first fuU-course yellow, but it cost them.

Third overall and third in the IMP 900 class was the JML Team Panoz of David Saelens/OUver Beretta, five laps behind the Audis. The team calculated

LA Raider?

A MONARO in America?

According to reports in Aiitosport, General Motors' Pontiac division is considering a Sportscar program for the Australian-built Pontiac GTO better known as the Holden Monaro here.

The maker is said to be evaluating running the car in either the GT class of the American Le Mans Series or a Prodrive Ferraris ran into trouble

Normal service has now resumed:

during the event.

Alex Job Racing's Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr took the GT class

A week after being clobbered at Sears Point, tbe Audi R8s were back in their normal habitat - the

win in their Porsche after staying out of trouble throughout the race.

Meanwhile,Alex Davison got off to a flying start in the GT class by qualifying the PK Sport Porsche 911 GT3 RS third in class,just 0.5s shy of the works cars. Sadly, overheating problems during the race prevented him from capitalising upon it.

the pit stops to perfection and both drivers kept their on-track time clean.

Oliver Gavin and Kelly Collins were the GTS winners and fourth overall, followed by the Corvette Racing sister car of Ron Fellows and Johrmy O'Connell. The two Corvettes traded the class lead during the race once the two

V T-

5;

7m Specialist BA and AU Falcon Body Shell Construction, Component Fabrication, Engine Building and Engineering Services.

top step of the podium - at Trois Rivieres in Canada.

new GT category in the GrandAni Cup,in which competition is due to start in 2005.

Sounds like a case of taking one Aussie car, adding Garth and kicking some serious American booty...

EMM Gee! Dyson takes first win at Sears Point

HISTORY was made at Sonoma two weeks ago when the Dyson Racing Team scored its, and MG's first win in the American Le Mans Series.

James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger flat-out beat the usually-dominant Audi R8s, their 2-litre Lola EX257-MG becoming the first LMP 675 class car to score an outright ALMS win.

Frank Biela and Marco Werner finished second overall (and first in the LMP 900 class) in Team Joest's Audi while Johnny Flerbert and JJ Lehto took third. Flerbert's ADT Champion Racing Audi passed the Dallara-MG of Bill Auberlen and Didier Theys on the final lap. Olivier Beretta and Gunnar Jeannette finished fifth in the JML Team Panoz.

"I'm sure it was exciting,"

said Leitzinger. "I think this win is a very good thing for Sportscar racing. This class was formed to give the privateer teams like Dyson a way to take on the big factory teams. We've just proven the vision for the sport. For a team like Dyson to be able to put up a fight is good for the sport overall."

In the GTS class, it was a 1-2 for the factory Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs, Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell heading Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins. ON debut in the GTS class, Aussie David Brabham and Jan Magnussen finished third.

Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr won the GT class in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GTS RS. The similar car of Alex Davison/ Robin Liddell was classified 29th after striking problems during the race.

We are extensively equipped to construct bodyshells and manufacture components to Project Blueprint specifications.

Ail work is done in accordance with the demanding standards adopted by 00 Motorsport using validated jigs and templates to ensure accuracy.

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Racecar Preparation and Management Systems 1/13 Kitchen Road Dandenong VIC 3175 Contact Alan HeaphyTel 03 9791 9899 Fax 03 9791 9533 Email etech@00motorsport.com 16

motorsport news

Collect the three parts of Rusty’s jig-saw puzzle from this and the next two issues of MNews, put them in an envelope, along with your name, address and contact details and get it to us by the closing date, if your entry is the one drawn,then you and a friend will win our exclusive prize: Air travel for two to the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 from your nearest Australian capital city; ■i Two nights accommodation; ■ Grandstand seats for Saturday and Sunday; ■ Caltex Havoline racewear

AND TO CAP IT ALL OFF

■ A guided tour of the Stone Brothers Racing garage with the Enforcer himself!

HOW TO EMTER

t. Collect the three parts which make up the picture puzzle of The Enforcer (first piece is on the right of this page). The second and third pieces will appear in the August 20 and September 3 issues of MNews.

(Only original pieces, cut from MNews may be used - no photocopies).

2. Put all three pieces in an envelope, along with your name, address and contact details, and get it to us by the closing date, Thursday 11 September 2003.

3. You may enter as many times as you like, using a separate envelope and original jig-saw pieces for each entry.

CALTEX

Havoline DOQQfi

M 0

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CONDITIONS OF ENTRY 1. The promoter is Australasian Motorsporl Nev/s. PO Box 7072. Gardenvaie. VIC 3186 (Promoter) Information on how to enter and the prizes form part of these Conditions of Entry. Entry mio this promotion is deemed to be acceptance of these Conditions ot Entry. 2. Entry is open to residents of Australia and Nev; Zealand. Employees and immediate families ol me Promoter and Caltex Australia are ineligible to enter. Entrants must collect all three pieces of the Enforcer JigSaw (avaitabic in issues of Australasian Molorsporl News published between 6/8/03 and 3/9/03). and send completed entries to Join the Enforcer at Bathurst Competition. PO Box 7072.

OI L

S

Gardenvaie. VIC 3186. Multiple entries are accepted. Jig-saw pieces MUST be originals. The Promoter accepts no responsibility tor late, lost or misdirected mail. The Promoter reserves the right 10 verity the validity of entries. 3. The promotion commences on 6/8.'03 and closes at 5pm EST on 11.’9/03. The promotion will be drawn on ^Z'9m at 357 Nepean Highway. Brighton East. Vicloria.

The svinner will be contacted by phone and/or mail and their name published in Molorsport News on 17./9/03 The judges' decision is final and no correspondence wilt be cnlered into. 4. The winning entry wilt wii a trip for 2 people to Bathurst including return economy air travel from the winner's nearest Australian capital

Send completed entries to us on or before Thursday 11 September 2003 to: Join The Enforcer at Bathurst Competition, PO Box 7072, Gardenvaie ViC 3186 city to Bathurst. 2 weekend grandstand tickets to the 2003 Bob Jane Tmarts 1000. tv/o nights Iwin-sliare accommodation. Caltex Havoline merchandise and a personally guided tour of the SBR pit garage v/ilh Russell Ingall. The garage tour must be taken on the Saturday at a lime determined by the SBR team The prize is subject to booking and llight availability and flights cannot be changed once tickets have been arranged. 5. Spending money, meals, taxes insurance, transport to and from departure point, iranslors and all other costs incurred as a result of taking the prize The prize is noi transferable or are the responsibility ol the v exchangeahlc and cannot be taken as cash 6. The prize winner

and their companion agree to comply with the Conditions of Entry to the Event. The prize winner acknmvledges that motor racing and any related activities are dangerous and accidents can hapi and that participation in any prize has a degree of danger, 7. All ntries become the property of the Promoter However. details concerning entrants will not be made available to any organisation or database. 8. If winner is under the age ol 18 years the prize wilf be awarded to a member ol the winner's immediate family (as nominated by the winner) provided such person is 18 years ol age or over and complies with all ol the above conditions.

yoong tests

Alex Yoong got his first taste of BMW power at Queensland Raceway recently.

The former Minardi Formula One and CART driver tested the car he will share with Luke Searle, Geoff Full and Alan Gurr in the Bathurst 24-hour on November 22-23.

"It was good/'said the 27-yearold Malaysian."I haven't been in a car since my last Champ Car race so it was good to get in one again."

Yoong visited Bathurst earlier in

Uirk Klynsnutl

the week to have a sneak-peek at the circuit, and realises tlrat Mt Panorama will be a different beast compared to QR. "It will be my first 24 hour race and Batliurst is one of the greatest circuits in the world so I'm really looking forward to it."

- GRANT ROWLEY

Vauxhall for Superearsl Priaulx's costly Spa mistake Will GM join the rebel series?

THE new-for-2004 British SCV8 series may its third manufacturer - Vauxhall.

The UK arm of GM announced last week that it was, in principal, backing the new series, which will feature V8-engined, rear-wheeldrive cars what resemble road-going sedans.

But a spokesman for TOCA, which runs the British Touring Car Championship, has said that the manufacturer will remain it its series.

Any move to the SCV8 was not expected to immediately impact on Vauxhall’s BTCC program, which is run by Triple 8 Engineering for defending Champion James Thompson and Yvan Muller.

Should Vauxhalls be fielded in the new series, it will join Peugeot and Jaguar, above, on the starting grid.

"The SCV8 Championship is a new opportunity for automotive brands to be showcased in the motorsport environment," said Vauxhall Motorsport's Stuart Harris, "and I am sure it will attract a strong fan base, offer great television viewing and, of course, plenty of fast and furious racing. In principle, we would like to have Vauxhall cars competing in the series and I hope that Vauxhall will be represented with the Vectra on the track in 2004."

Senes co-founder Andy Rouse said that the comments were a great boost for the series; "We're very excited by the high level of interest that is being shown by the automotive manufacturers and today's news puts us ahead of our targets at this time. The Championship offers marques such as Vauxhall an opportunity to promote their popular mid-size saloon model, which is currently not out on track."

nA

dropped out of contention. He recovered to finish sixth.

Priaulx fought back from his Race 1 embarrassment to win the second

race, scoring his second win in 2003 and also giving his RBM team a well-deserved home town win.

Series leader Tarquini was sitting comfortably in fourth place until his front right tyre suffered a puncture with orJylOO metres of the race remaining. The tyre failure dropped him out of the points.

Nicola Larini came home second ahead of the inseparable Muller's.

The next round of the ETCC is in Sweden on September 7.

Points: Tarquini 64,J.MuIler 62, D.Muller 58, Priaulx/Larini/Cociago 57.

lesi continues Mercedes massacre

JEAN Alesi maintained Mercedes-Benz's mighty reign in the DTM after scoring his second career win at Donington Park,the scene of his first DTM win.

Alesi got the jump on his team-mate and pole sitter Bernd Schneider and held off the German's best efforts to

lead every lap of the race, giving Mercedes six wins from six starts this year.

"It's fantastic to win here again," Alesi said. "During the race it was actually better when Bernd was right behind. That way I knew he was having to work his tyres harder..."

Schneider's second placing elevated him to eries leader, ^ jumping

●'■'tTrrvrno

18

GABRIELE Tarquini and Andy Priaulx shared the wins at rounds 11 and 12 of the European Touring car Championship at SpaFrancorchamps recently.

Tarquini narrowly grabbed the Race 1 win, his fourth of the season from Muller boys Dirk and Jorg.

BMW driver Andy Priaulx,above, scored pole for Race 1 but left his hand brake on at the start and

ahead of Christijan Albers.

Mattias Ekstrom climbed into the final podium position, his Audi enjoying a faultless race.

A first corner incident ended the chances of Martin Tomczyk, while Laurent Aiello, Christian Abt and Alain Menu were all non-finishes after an on-track clash.

Mercedes pair Marcel Fassler and Albers finished fourth and fifth, while Peter Dumbreck was the best-placed Opel, trotting home sixth. ' Alesi celebrated his win with

^ a few crowd-pleasing donuts on the main =: straight at the completion of the race.

V'h'IT \»buupunkt\ ^ Points: Schneider 43, Albers W 40, Fassler 34, Dumbreck 26, b Alesi 25.

sutton-anjg^xom

Donington Dude: Alesi moved to fifth in the DTM points with his UK victory. motorsport news

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'L 0.1 IT was hot at the Sachsenring for the German MotoGP - but Sete Gibemau was hotter.

In front of 92,000 spectators, the Spaniard staged a breathtaking battle with fellow Honda rider Valentino Rossi that was only decided when the Italian went wide on the final corner of the race.

Rossi had led by almost three seconds after four laps but then eased off to follow the Telefonica MoviStar ace. Rossi swept back into the lead on the final lap, only to falter with the flag in sight.

"That was a hard race, both mentally and physically and I had no plan for the last lap because when it doesn't work you are in trouble," said Gibernau.

"1 used some dirt track experience to pass Valentino as we both did wheelies out of the final comer."

"When Max (Biaggi) was coming, I knew he had the pace of the front guys and we had a good battle for a couple laps but then he crashed, he was pushing really hard, and I just decided I could bring it home in third. I was losing grip and having some big slides and if I had another choice now I would go for a slightly harder rear tyre."

Biaggi, who pipped Jeremy McWilliams's two-stroke Proton KR3 for pole by 0.001s, was 10th on the opening lap but crashed while battling with Bayliss on lap 13.

Garry McCoy lost out in a battle for the final championship point, the Aussie pipped by Kenny Roberts (Suzuki).

Points: Rossi 187, Gibemau 158, Biaggi 130,Capirossi 97, Bayliss 80, Ukawa 66, Checa 65, Nakano 63.

1

L

ROBERTO Rolfo took his first career 250 GP win in Germany.

The Italian held out the fast finishing Fonsi Nieto to close the gap to series leader Manuel Poggiali to just seven points. Poggiali crashed in the race before recovering to finish eighth. Frenchman Randy de Puniet was third from Sebastian Porto, who started from pole position.

Australian Anthony West's string of podium finishes ended when he finished sixth just ahead of Toni Elias who switched to his spare bike on the warm-up lap.

Points: Poggiali 129, Nieto 126, Rolfo 122, Elias 106,de Puniet 105, West 104, Battaini 98, Porto 87.

The 17-year-old became the yoimgest-ever Australian rider to finish on the podium in a world championship GP in any class when he took second behind Stefano Pemgini, who took his second race of the season. Stoner led for 14 laps before Perugini who swept back to the lead with three laps to go.

The Aussie said he was happy with the result but was "a little annoyed" to have made a mistake on the final lap.

Points: Pedrosa 137,Perugini 117, Cecchinello 105, Dovizioso 102,Jenkner 98, de Angelia 92, Nieto 99, Barbera 67.

CASEY Stoner went within a lap of taking his first GP win in the 125 race.

"I made a big mistake," admitted Rossi. "1 pass Sete OK on the final lap but don't understand why 1 went so tight into the final corner because it's difficult to pass there. I lose the front and had to wait to get on the throttle."

&

Troy Bayliss was a brilliant third, he and fourth-placed Loris Capirossi confirming that the Ducati is more than a straightline weapon. Capirossi, who had a major fall in the warmup, passed the impressive Nicky Hayden (Honda)on the last lap.

"This is my second podium for the season and Tm happy with that," Bayliss said.

'

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BIKE NEWS

Sharing the Ducati Spoils SHAKEY he may be by name but Shane'Shakey' Byne is certainly not by nature.

The British wildcard rider, centre, aboard the MonsterMob Ducati 996 owned by a Cumbrian chicken breeder with the unlikely name of Paul Bird, was too good for all the SBK regulars, taking -two wins at Brands Hatch.

Second and fifth placings for series leader Neil Hodgson have all but confirmed that he will seal the title at the next round of the championship at Assen. It could be a double celebration the 29year-old; his wife Helen is due to deliver their first child that day.

Superpole winner John Reynolds took his Suzuki GSXR1000 to second in Race 2, while Chris Walker and James Toseland completed England's great day at home when they both scored podium positions.

6 August 2003

Ruben Xaus, the only man who looks capable of stealing Hodgson's title, started strongly in Race 1 before his works 999 started blowing smoke on lap 13.

Reynolds led away, only for Byne to blast past to win from the series leader. The second race was much close, Reynolds falling half a second short of the win.

Hodgson was an unhappy fifth.

"I'm very unhappy not to have won here at Brands," Hodgson said. "1 can't be pleased with this. I was happy to finish second in the first race, but to come where I did in the second race was appalling. If I can't win the championship at Assen there's something seriously wrong.

"But taking nothing away from Shane, he was fantastic. He's definitely ready for the world championship and 1 hope he'll be

there next year."

The day was a disaster for the Foggy-Petronas team. Troy Corser retired from the first race after only three laps with a broken spark plug and James Haydon finished 17th. Both bikes retired from the second race.

Steve Martin struggled to 14th in the first race and a DNF in Race 2.

Points: Hodgson 386, Xaus 246, Toseland 227, Laconi 209, Lavilla 185, Walker 172, Chili 159, Martin 97.

CHRIS Vermeulen has one

hand on the Supersport title, despite taking only sixth at Brands Hatch.

The Aussie was still four places better off than series rival Katsuaki Fujiwara, who fell to third in the points behind second-placed Jurgen van der Goorbergh. Stephane Chambon win the race on his Suzuki from the Dutchman and the Hondas of Sebastian Charpentier and Karl Muggeridge.

Points: Vermeulen 141, vd Goorbergh 104, Fujiwara 103, Chambon 100, Kellner 78, Corradi 63, Muggeridge 59, Foret 54.

21

Barron by a Breath ... and Dixon snatches series lead off luckless Kanaan

SUPER substitute Alex Barron won the fastest race in the Indy Racing League history, edging out Sam Hornish Jr by 0.0121s at the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan a fortnight ago.

Barron, who replaced the injured Felipe Giaffone at Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing at the last round in Nashville, took the lead with only one turn to go. The American passed his countrymen Hornish around the outside, scoring a nail-biting victory.

"The car was running really strong all race," claimed Barron.

Barron's race though shouldn't have been as strong.

On lap 162, Barron and Tomas Scheckter clashed on the exit of turn four. Barron lost a ton of time executing a quarter spin, while Scheckter carried on unharmed, Barron avoided any contact with the wall but dropped to sixth place. The rest is history.

"We had a little bit of a hiccup with the spin," he said, "Part of that is luck when you are going that fast and you spin around.

You just guide it the best way you can, and you are just fortunate if it goes back straight."

Hornish took the runner-up trophy, while poleman Scheckter rounded out the top three.

Seven cars had a shot at the win during the last 30 laps. The freight train included Barron, Hornish, Scheckter, Scott Sharp, new series leader Scott Dixon, Tora Takagi and Gil de Ferran.

Hornish debuted the new Chevrolet powerplant at Michigan and was happy with his new mounts performance.

"It was a great race," said Hornish, “I had a lot of fun out there today. It's good to be back and running toward the front of the pack on these big tracks."

One man leaving Michigan with extra homework to do is

Tony Kanaan. The Andretti Green driver pulled out of the race at the three-quarter mark with a dead engine and lost the championship lead for the first time since assuming control in round two.

Sharp finished fourth in his Toyota-powered Dallara, followed by Dixon, Takagi, de Ferran and Roger Yasukawa.

The IRL resumes hostilities at Gateway International Raceway this weekend for round 11 of the 16 round series.

Points: Dixon 318, Kanaan 317, de Ferran 318, Helio Castroneves 295, Kenny Brack 257.

You can't get much closer: Alex Barron (21), leads Sam Hornish Jr (4) and South African Tomas Scheckter (10) during the final stages of a classic IRL race. Kannan, top right, finished the Michigan race on the sideline.

EARL’S

Just' CONTROVERSY reigned at the 11th round of the CART Champ Car World Series in Vancouver, Canada, two weeks ago.

Local Paul Tracy scored his fifth win for the year, the second in his home country. He beat home Newman-Hass team-mates Bruno Junqueira and Sebastian Bourdais in a drama-packed race weekend.

During Friday qualifying, Tracy allegedly baulked some of his rivals during the session. The officials found the Canadian guilty and wiped his times off the scoreboard.

But just to make sure his rivals didn’t think that they had found a weakness in Tracy, he let his driving do the talking and blitzed the field in Saturday qualifying.

Second placed qualifyer Junqeuira jumped the start at the beginning of the race and was forced to move over and let Tracy through. That was the closest anyone got to PT. ‘‘Now we've done the Canadian double,” said Tracy. “The team was great, car was great, tyres were great and the engine was great. It made it easy for me.”

Junqeuira was most upset with the penalty.

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molorsporl news

IRL / CART

Shades of Surfers'02 iizons

1Secur#

fracy “I accelerated at the cone like you are supposed to and they threw the green flag," he said. “At other races when someone jumped, they threw the yellow flag.”

Bourdais was another to experience an up and down race, delayed when he ran into Mario Dominguez’s stalled car whilst under caution. Bourdais also had a stouch with Roberto Moreno and Oriol Servia, but recovered to finish third.

“It was a great race, with some pretty intense action,” he said.

The Dale Coyne entries of Geoff Boss and Gualter Salles both did not make the start after they crashed on the pace lap!

During the event, Alex Tagliani clashed with Tiego Monteiro who was three laps off the leaders after an earlier incident. Patrick Carpentier also had a shunt with the lapped car of Dominguez.

- PHIL MORRIS

‘”'5=

r

.

3

You can't beat a home-cooked meal: Paul Tracy claimed the Canadian double at Vancouver, top. Sebastian Bourdais, above, finished an eventful third.

6 August 2003

K

41

> i

t ^

■'3

. 4. „ j ■/

^

by PHIL MORRIS DESPITE torrential rain, which almost forced officials to call off the race, Bruno Junqueira won a wet and wild round of the Champ Cars at Road America last weekend.

sunot\-images.com,

Could this be the next CART World Series champion? Bruno Junqueira overcame torrential rain, a fast-finishing team-mate and even more torrential rain to win the Mario Andretti Grand Prix at Road America. It was Junqueira's maiden win for 2003, and gives the Brazilian the series lead.

caM

The race finally started on the third attempt, and Junqueira didn't put a foot wrong, leading each lap of the race and taking the series lead off Paul Tracy who ended the event early, embedded in a tyre wail. It was only Tracy's second retirement for the year.

Frenchmen Sebastian Bourdais was in a position to threaten team-mate and pole-sitter Jrmquiera during the closing stages of the race, but decided to sit behind him in the difficult conditions. The rookie now sits in fourth place in the series, his highest in 2003.

It's been a difficult year for Alex Tagliani, and dramas on Friday looked like his disappointing season was going to continue. But a fighting third place at Road America gave himself and his RockefSports Team some confidence heading into the final seven rounds of the CART series.

Max Papis gave PK Racing its best result for the year with fourth place, followed by Player's/Forsythe's Patrick Carpentier.

Carpentier actually moved into fifth place on the last lap after passing Darren Manning, who looked to have fourth place sewn up.

The Brit lost third gear with two laps to go and had to surrender his excellent position.

Points; Junqueira 164, Tracy 161, Jourdain Jr 125, Bourdais 116, Carpentier 98, Servia 76, Fernandez 71.

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OPINION

and the A-Team I

love it when a plan comes together. So said Lieutenant John 'Hannibal' Smith in the old American television series.

The A-team.

The A-Team does not exist any more. Neither does Hannibal, or even George Peppard, the actor who played him (he passed away nine years ago). The rest of the crazies in that show are, most likely, somewhere in the US of A, lurching around the place, attending conventions of A-Team fans, selling autographed photos and eking out a meagre existence based on how good they used to be.

Often, I cannot help but wonder if racing drivers do the same thing. What happens when you have this overwhelming desire to race cars, fast, but not the continuity of opportunity to make it happen on a long-term basis?

What do you do? was thinking about this last week when an email arrived on my computer. It referred to an international racing driver whose career had not quite worked out in the manner he may have expected.

It would probably be considered poor form to name him but, if I was less discreet, 6 ABBUSt 2003

you would recognise the name at once. A good driver, yes, but not a great one. Now he is making a living racing in a northern hemisphere country but not in the manner he, obviously, expected when he was a bright eyed, bushy-tailed youngster.

But V8 Supercar racing is shown on the telly in many parts of the world, even if you need to have a loud alarm clock or a reliable VCR in some countries to keep up with what is going on. Mr X had, obviously, cast an eye on what was going on in the Land of Howard, seen the

V8 Supercar seat. Some of them have prior form in all manner of racing; Sportscars, CART and even (dare I whisper its name) Formula One. All of them are, trust, sincere in their desire to race a V8 Supercar but, on the whole. They Just Don't Get It. "I don't want much money," is a popular catchcry. Thereafter, sums are detailed that relate to a minor six-figure sum. Plus expenses. Next, one needs to explain that, while such sums may appear modest in New York, Tokyo or London, they represent a whole lot of

The idea that Rydell will bring the same silky skills to Briggs Motorsport at Sandown,and particularly Mount rr Panorama,is a prospect to savour

11

bulging crowds and the full grids and thought that here was an opportunity to go south, make some money and give the colonials a butt-kicking at the same time.

He would not be the first.

Because my byline sometimes appears in foreign publications, I get the odd contact from guys like him, asking for some introductions so they can grab a

kangadollars here. How do you explain, nicely, that yes, you may be a living legend in your own backyard but that you are over pricing yourself here?

T

he other matter is; they know little or nothing about how good our drivers are at this end of the world.

Last year, the British weekly Autosport ranked the world's

Motor Mouth

with Phil Branagan

best touring car drivers and there were two Aussies on the list - Mark Skaife and Marcos Ambrose. Winning the title in dominant fashion, and Bathurst in extremely clever fashion, obviously got Skaifey the nod while there was obviously recognition for the fact that Ambrose had done a great job in what was not the best car on the grid. Not until Sandown, anyway ...

That is why it is good news that Rickard Rydell is heading south for Sandown and Bathurst.

The former BTCC winner is not noted for making a lot of noise about himself, a national characteristic that Swedes tend to possess. Having seen him race Volvos at Bathurst, the idea that Rydell will bring the same silky skills to Briggs Motorsport at Sandown, and particularly Mount Panorama, is a prospect to savour.

So, Rick gets a tick. The rest of you superstars. I'll get back to you soon. I promise.

25

The Hying Gipaffe li T HERE was something rather exciting about Justin Wilson's clandestine visit to the Jaguar factory in Milton Keynes recently.

It was the middle of the night and Wilson (one would like to think that he was in a dark raincoat with the collar turned up) snuck into the factory to see if he could fit his lanky frame Into the Jaguar chassis. Justin, who has been nicknamed The Flying Giraffe' in the press office, found that all was well.

"I did not know why I was doing it," he said. "I didn't know whether it was for this year, next year or just curiousity, but obviously I agreed to go and sit in the car."

From then on the Jaguar people had a plan. Antonio Pizzonia, 'Pizza Man' as he is

known, had failed to deliver enough to keep the Jaguar management happy and they wanted him out. Wilson was their choice as a replacement.

It was a tough call for Pizzonia but such is the way of Formula 1.

You deliver or you feel a hand on the collar or a boot up the behind.

On Friday at Hockenheim Wilson looked like a good choice. Fie was seventh fastest in first qualifying and he left pare ferme at the end of the session smiling broadly. Fie seemed to be enjoying the media coverage that comes with success in Formula 1.

"Flow's it going?" I asked, falling into step with him.

"Well, I'm really disappointed," he said, his face suddenly rather serious.

"What?" I said, more surprised than anything.

And then he laughed. "Just kidding," he said. "I'm over the moon I" Justin Wilson kidding? What is going on? We'll have Ron Dennis speaking in plain English nextl Up to now Justin has been shy and rather retiring. That has been seen by some as an indication that the Yorkshireman is not a very exciting character.

But in his new green racing suit, Justin seemed a little more confident and relaxed than he was in the black suit days at Minardi. Fie is no longer the new kid on the block. Fie is on the way up and he's ready to joke a bit.

Formula 1 is all about a life of continuous challenges and Wilson must now prepare himself for the next one: a battle for supremacy with Mark Webber.

Webber starts ahead because he is the man around whom Jaguar Racing has revolved this year. Wilson needs to put down

a marker and show the team that he is a match for Webber.

That is not going to be easy.

The last time the two men went head-to-head was in Formula 3000 where Wilson was with Coca Cola Nordic and Webber was with Super Nova Racing.

As the season progressed the two men became the title contenders and in the end Wilson won, but it was Webber who moved onward and upward into Formula 1, while The Flying Giraffe went off to stew in Formula Nissan in Spain.

In Grand Prix racing there are some who feel that Webber has had a relatively easy ride, coming up against Alex Yoong last year at Minardi and this year having no real fight from Pizzonia. Wilson has had to do more to prove himself and do well alongside Jos Verstappen, a man who is a decent yardstick for new young talent.

FORMULA ONE

mds at Jaguar ow Wilson and Webber are team-mates, but as everyone in FI knows your team-mate is your own worst enemy, because he is the man by which you will be judged, the man who must be beaten at all costs.

Webber's reputation and value has risen dramatically in FI this year and his name is now being mentioned as a candidate for a top drive in 2005 (and even perhaps in 2004). Webber must now show that he can handle Wilson as he handled Yoong and Pizzonia.

If Wilson begins to beat him, Mark will suddenly be the man who is struggling. That is the way of the sport. It is competition in its purest form: man against man

with the team bosses and the media sitting in the grandstands ready to show the thumbs up or the thumbs down.

It is a world of shifting sands.

In recent years the British FI reporters have had David Coulthard to thank as their meal ticket, but now that David is having hard times, they are turning on him.

As Wilson went across the finish line at the end of his flying lap on Friday the men from Fleet Street cheered.

"David who?" said one as he attacked his computer with gusto.

Webber is a tough customer but Wilson is no marshmallow.

They hew them from solid granite up in Yorkshire and

neither man rode through the junior formulae with ease as did Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso or Antonio Pizzonia.

This means that Wilson and Webber have become fighters and that is why the competition between them is going to be so interesting in the months ahead.

For sheer force of character one would still look to Webber, but with a less tenuous grip in FI, Wilson is likely to blossom and gain in confidence. With a Jaguar you can do things that one can only dream of doing in a Minardi.

The interestingwas thing in there Hockenheim that continue to be rumours that Coulthard is going to get dropped by McLaren. He has an option with the team but this does not appear to have been taken up and there are clearly talks going on between McLaren and Juan Pablo Montoya ...

Monty and the team had a very frank exchange of views over the radio at the recent French Grand Prix ands it seems that the language was decidedly fruity in both directions.

Welcome aboard,'mate': One-time F3000 rival Wilson is now Webber's fourth team-mate in underW months. Can he last?

The Box Seat With Joe Saward And the scars of.that argument remain. What will Williams do if Montoya does head off to McLaren?

Obviously re-signing Half Schumacher on a new long-term contract would be a sensible move, but there are many in FI who feel that when Frank Williams picks up the phone the call he is most likely to make is one to a Mr Webber...

In the light of that, Webber needs to make sure, more than ever, that he keeps Wilson in his place.

Five minutes with.

Andy Priaulx

The BMW factory Uriver is coming hack to Australia lor his seconU crack at the entiuros with Kmart Racing. He took Ume outfrom his FTCC commitments to speak to PHIL BRANAGAN MOTORSPORT NEWS: You are heading back to Australia to drive a 'real' car.

ANDY PRIAULX: 1 sure am. I wouldn't miss that for the world.

After last year, I really wanted to stay with the Kmart Racing Team and (team manager) Rob Crawford. It's always nice to go back to a team that you know, and I am sure that things will go better the second time around.

MN: If you are starting this campaign with more experience that last year's, does that mean that your expectations are higher as well?

AP: I think so, but that does not mean that my expectations will match other people's. All you can do is the best job you can and, hopefully, the results will be better than they have been before.

When I started this year's program with BMW, we were looking at it being a two to three year program before the results started to come.

There was a lot to learn; new car, new circuits and the competition was running at a very high level. But the season has gone very well; we have had some good results and I am second in the championship.

You put aside your expectations and do your best job.

We will be racing in some long races in Australia. There will be a lot going on, so we will have to wait and see.

MN: You will be racing at Sandown for the first time. Do you know anything about the track?

AP: Not really. I will do a recce on the place when I get there.

During this season, I have had to learn a lot of new circuits, so I should be able to get into it after four or five laps.

28

At all the circuits I have been going to for the first time, I have not had that many problems.

I have been following the championship pretty closely, so I know what to expect on that front. I will do my usual research before I get there and try to learn fast.

MN: You are driving for Holden again but one of your good mates, Marcos Ambrose, is the star of the series for Ford now. What do you think of that?

AP: Isn't he going well? I am really proud of Marcos.

He is a great driver. He did his education here in Europe and had a pretty tough time, like a lot of drivers do here.

He is one of the class acts and I wish him all the best for the championship.

MN: Tell us about the ETCC. We don't see much of it here in Australia. Is it a healthy series?

AP: It really is. The level is extremely high. You have the likes of Nicola Larini and Gabriele Tarquini - there are quite a few ex-Formula One drivers in there.

Having Alfa and BMW run factory teams makes it a

prestigious series and we race on the major European circuits.

Competing in the series has taken me from being a British driver who races internationally on occasion to being an international driver now.

"I have been fortunate to drive on some of the world's greatest circuits, and Bathurst is at the top of the list" MN: One thing you will have to come to grips with in the Commodore, Andy, is where the handbrake is...

AP: Heyl You ... next subject, please? It was funny, but not at the time.

Spa has a downhill start, and the BMW doesn't have a handbrake, as such. It's a little bit like turning on a tap, on the brake. It's either on or off. :So, I turned it off but it was still partially on. When the race started, my brakes were binding.

While I was sorting it out, the field took off and I went backwards to 12th, but I recovered to sixth and

won the next race. So I redeemed myself.

MN: A Super Touring-spec BMW must be a good thing to have through Eau Rouge.

AP: It's mega. 1 was the only driver taking it flat through Eau Rouge. That's amazing, if you have seen the circuit before ...

When we went there in Formula 3, it was easily flat, but a saloon car is a lot different. It was flat but nowhere near easy.

But I had a good set-up and the car suited the track. It's a lovely circuit. Spa. It has the same redeeming features that Bathurst has got and you are just so proud to be driving there.

Bathurst is like having two of the best circuits in the world; like Macau on the top section and like Spa on the bottom section.

1 have been fortunate to drive on some of the world's greatest circuits, and Bathurst is at the top of the list.

MN:So your life is driving some great racecars on great circuits - and you get paid for doing this.

AP: I knowl It's a hard life if you don't weaken. I am having a great time. Don't tell anyone! molorspoit news

6 August 2003

29

Five minutes with

Jonathon Palmer

The former BramIPra driver is now weiFhnown as the manager of Mark Webher's new team-mate Justin Wiison. Palmer told ADAM COOPBI how he fitted Wilson -literally-into Jaguar Racing MOTORSPORT NEWS: What's the verdict on Justin's first race at Jaguar?

JONATHON PALMER: As with a lot of drivers it was disappointing because of the first corner incident. It was a great shame that he didn't get a race mileage in, because that would have been really helpful for his first race.

I think he was a bit of a victim of the chaos and he was unlucky to get snagged by Ralph Firman.

MN: But overall it's been a positive start?

JP: I think overall it was a positive start, largely because of the way he settled in on Friday.

And he was very comfortable in the car, which is important obviously, and very comfortable with the team.

On Friday he demonstrated that he's going to be on the pace of the car, and I'm looking forward as Justin is to Hungary.

MN: How quickly did the deal happen?

JP: I'd been talking to Jaguar amongst other teams more or less since Imola, as soon as we got a couple of Grands Prix under our belt and it looked like Justin was making a pretty good job of it and had a future in FI. Jaguar have done a super job this year in revamping the team, and they have some very good management and they run very efficiently. I really admire the systems that they've got. So it was a big target. It was then very exciting when there was a tentative approach from Jaguar a week or so before the British GP. They said there may be a possibility of something happening sooner rather than later.

MN: So what happened in the week before Silverstone?

JP: In the week leading up to 30

I' s 8 3

Silverstone things got a bit more serious. The first thing that really happened was a quick sit in the car, and that inevitably had to be done at a very quiet time.

Clearly there was no point in having any conversations about

\\

Clearly there was no point In having any conversations about him driving tor the team it he wasn't going to tit"

him driving for the team if he wasn't going to fit. That was an issue. It was done at midnight, with only a couple of guys there.

MN:So you were quite relieved when he did fit?

JP: 1 was, and we were pleased to find that he fitted in without too much difficulty. He's not rattling around in it, but he's more comfortable straight away in the Jaguar than he was in the Minardi. Within half an hour we were able to ascertain that that wasn't a problem.

MN: Was there any risk

involved considering there is so much more pressure to perform now?

JP: I think there was a degree of risk. Obviously Mark is very quick indeed, and his feet are well and truly under the table.

It's not the most comfortable situation coming into a team when another person's been displaced - it's not like coming in over the winter. There's a bit more pressure to justify what is going to be a less than ideal situation.

At Minardi, you know that ' you're going to be last or second to last, unless somebody makes a mistake. Now three or four tenths makes a big difference on your grid position.

MN: And nothing is guaranteed for next year?

JP: Nothing is guaranteed at all next year, but they do have a multi-year option. There is a structure in place, and Jaguar effectively have the option on him for a number of years, and Justin and I would both be thrilled if he was able to continue with the team.

Next year is going to be down to a combination of driver performance and commercial issues.

MN: Has this justified your gamble in going to Minardi and raising the money?

JP; It certainly has. A number of people were saying that given the choice of running with Minardi or a top CART team, the logical thing to do has got to be to go with a top team in CART. At the last minute we said,'No we can't do that, we've got to go FI, that's where we want to be.'

But to commit the budget to the team, when we were not quite sure where it was going to come from, was a big gulp, but one that we were going to do.

So it was a big risk, but on the other hand getting into FI is a big thing for any driver, and most drivers will get in on a basis that has risks associated with it. It's rare to find a safe, comfortable route into FI, It was one of those things where you did have to an extent have blind faith, and give it your all and see what you can make of it.

Conceiving Justin Wilson pic was the next step, and the other big unknown was how would it go? But Justin's early performances in Malaysia and Melbourne excited people's appetites, and they thought he's somebody we believe in. moiorspon news

6 August 2003

Garry Rogers, V8 Supercar and Nations Cup team owner and TEGA Board member, is aiways up-front Last week he publiciy criticised his team after an ordinary performance. This week he spoke to CHRIS LAMBDEN

{ MOTORSPORT NEWS: You've been quite publicly critical of your own team (on its website) as a result of its performance at the Big Pond 300. That degree of selfcriticism is a bit rare ...

GARRY ROGERS: That was probably our worst performance in a long time and ... breaking an axle wasn't good. We may have lacked a little speed in the past, but our mechanical package has been strong enough. People do break axles, but 1 just think it was poor preparation - in fact I think it was pathetic preparation, to be honest.

MN: How do you get things back on the rails?

GR: I don't think things are off the rails ...

MN: Well how do you bounce back from a downer like this ?

GR: If you look at Darwin, our car was good there. We've tested and made some progress, but what has appeared to happen is that we've made progress in testing but moved backwards in terms of our last race result.

What we need to do is learn some things from the testing, but relate more to what happens at the races - 1 think we have arrived at the circuit with a set up that may have worked where we were testing, but not necessarily where we were racing. I think we have to change our attitude, in relation to the set-up we arrive at a circuit with.

We've spoken about that among ourselves at work and I think that we can certainly head in the right direction in that way.

MN: You have your second VY about four weeks away. Some of the other Holden teams have been quite cautious about bringing in their VYs do you think that having two out there will speed up the process of really coming to grips with it?

GR: I personally don't, but people within my team do.

I think that Garth is capable of getting the best out of his own knowledge and out of the car.

Jamie, clearly, can drive very well, but I think that in terms of input to set-up of the car he can help, but not perhaps as much

HOLOEW jl.

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32

motorspon news

INTERVIEW

on his Mind as if we had someone who's been driving these cars for a number of years.

Garth, on his own, will be able to do it quite capably.

MN: What have been the problems,for some,in converting to VY? Some seem to have managed the change quite well; others are striking unforseen problems.

GR: I can't understand that, to be quite honest. You'd have to say that the people who've done a very good job of it are the ones in South Australia (Ed; Team Dynamik). We've gone okay, but I think some of the other teams have approached it in a more relaxed style, for financial reasons.

Our attitude was that we are going to have to do it anyway, so why not get on with it.

MN: You wouldn't have thought the change would be quite so difficult, yet Steven Richards has had a problem or two with IP's car and Mark Skaife has nominated to stick with the VX-based car for a while yet.

GR: I hadn't really thought that about Larry's car. I was at Winton when they first tested it and that car was pretty impressive! But it doesn't seem to have made a lot of progress since then, which surprises me as, with the resources we all have these days, we should be able to adjust to these things quickly.

Theoretically, the VY should be a better car than the old one, but it hasn't proved to be ... yet.

MN: There are two elements to the changeover,the front

time, which we are. We are in the racing business to be there for the long haul.

There may have been a short term financial penalty, but we're in it for the long haul and I guess we figured it was best to go the whole hog and learn from that.

At the end of it, you may well come out of it better than if you go at it in dribs and drabs.

But I could be proven to be wrong!

MN: While it's still very close at the front,there has been a clear turnaround. Are you

What has appeared to happen is that we've made progress in testing hut moved backwards in terms of our last race result"

II

-Rogers in the team’s 2003season so far end/chassis and the new engine, and you were one of the few who chose to make both changes at once. A good decision?

GR: I think it was the best decision if you were going to be in this business for a period of

surprised at how decisive that turnaround has been - with SBR/Ford racking up wins, while most of the Holden teams have,say, lost some of their consistency?

GR: You'd have to say that the Stone Brothers were always the pick of the Ford contingent.

Clearly they've got their house in order in areas like ... pit stops.

Go back 12 months, a lot of what let the Stones down ■wasn't mechanical ability. It was just their pit stop activity.

Their car was always quick and their driver could always drive it quickly.

And to bring in Ingall can only be a plus as well.

As far as HRT goes, you'd have to say that the disruption that's been going on about team ownership must affect people's ability to get the job done. It's just an interruption and, while we'd all say it doesn't affect us, it does.

They still have cars that are quick enough, but there have been mechanical issues, which is unlike them. As it is with us.

MN: Looking ahead to the long distance races, you've got Garth, Jamie and Nathan (Pretty) there - any fourth driver yet?

GR: I've spoken to several

6 August 2003

people, but haven't made a decision as yet. I'm in no real hurry to do that. I have some ideas, but haven't even decided who will pair up with who, either.

MN: While Holden clearly had to step in to protect its race teams' interests when TWR went down, would you agree that the ownership saga really has been quite badly handled and gone on far too long?

GR: Yes, I would say that, but when you are close to it, you understand both the commercial and sporting reasons as to why it has dragged on. I can understand Holden's protective attitude to their investment in motor racing. They've invested a lot.

But I can also understand and subscribe to the fact that TEGA is for all the entrants that are in the category. Therefore, while the decisions that are taken need to make sure that Holden's investment is well catered for, other people's interests need to be looked after as well.

MN: As it comes to its conclusion, with a team owner now being penalised $300,000 for not turning up with his cars, which were there anyway under someone else's franchise, would you agree that the public could be forgiven for thinking that the whole thing has gone ... crazy?

GR: I can! Certainly, if you view the incident in isolation, it is crazy. But what you must understand is that there are contractual issues between AVESCO and the circuits to present a certain number of cars at each meeting. Because of that, when people join TEGA they have to commit to doing certain things.

While I agree it's a hell of a lot of money, regardless of who's paying it, if we want our category to be recognised as one which makes commitments and sticks to them, we have to have some form of substantial penalty for people that don't continued on page 34 33

continued from page 33 abide by the rule book. You can't have people, for whatever reason, not showing up.

I'm not saying that what we've got today is better. I'm a bit old-fashioned: I enjoy the barbecue and a can of beer after the race and to be able to be civilised ... but really, we now have a lot of commercial interests at stake, a lot of people investing in our business. I think it's important that we recognise that they've been prepared to do so and therefore we must be prepared to have a business plan that enables those peoples' best interests to be served.

MN: In this case, though, no cars were missing from the race. The Kmart cars, which previously competed under John Faulkner's franchise, raced under other franchises.

GR: Yes, but the rules, as the rules were written, weren't adhered to. Look, I'm not a great one for lots of rules and rule books, it's not in my make-up, but once you've got the rules and agree to abide by them, I don't think we should pick and choose when we wish to abide by them any more.

Bob Forbes was keen to finalise the sale of his franchises, but had to maintain presenting cars to race until the issue was finalised.

The problem in this case is that all the transfers just weren't coordinated properly.

MN: Since the introduction of a voting chairman on the TEGA Board, getting rid of the old Ford:Holden 50:50 split, has it made substantial progress?

GR: I think it has, but I also think the Board has had to spend far too much time on non-sporting issues. The Team's Agreement, with all the interjections and people who thought it could be done better, took up far too much time.

Now, today, the Morris scenario, which is in the public arena (Ed: Terry Morris is suing TEGA because it won't upgrade his franchise to Level 1) is taking up all the time of people on the Board.

In answer to your question, yes, progress is being made, but it could be a lot more if there wasn't this in-fighting.

But, clearly, it's the fact that the business is now so big that creates the in-fighting!

The time would be better 34

spent on rule changes and cost saving issues.

IVIN: The Board recently went public with its aim to cut costs by 30-40 percent - is that an ambitious target?

GR: My views are very clear and haven't changed. I believe it is an achievable target both in building costs and running costs, but all teams are going to have to accept that there are going to be some issues that they won't like that affect them as individual teams rather than the group. And unless teams.

It's going to be very difficult to implement these changes, because it may be that we get member disruptions once some of these proposals are put forward. But I just hope that everyone realises that we can't continue to support our businesses financially the way they are at the moment, with the income stream as it is.

Anyone who says their business isn't costing them a hell of a lot more to run today than it was two years ago is certainly not telling the truth.

We have to succeed in limiting

MIM; Between running your race/* team and your role on the TEGA Board, have the other interests in your life suffered?

GR: I haven't had that much time for anything else for about three years! The fact that we decided to run the Monaros has introduced another level of race meeting that we have to go to and test days that we have to go to, and preparation time.

To be quite frank, we're coping quite well. I am very fortunate to have the staff I've got, because we have some

the cost and the technical level of these cars, otherwise there will only be a limited number of people who will continue to be able to be there.

And we also have to look at the technical changes, along with the race formats, from a perspective of making the racing more exciting. These days it takes a Pace Car or something to often spark things up. That apart, the racing can be quite unexciting. We have to look at the race formats.

great people. But as I said at the start, we might just have got a bit complacent with certain preparation methods.

My only real other interests are my horses (I dori't have too much time for them these days) and my motor vehicle business.

I'm fortunate it's on the same property as the race team is, but more so that my son Barry looks after that. I have very, very little to do with it. He's basically taken over as dealer principal.

The fact that we decided to run the Monaros has introduced another level of race meeting that we have to go to and test days that we have to go to, and preparation timen

11'

- Rogers, in ‘Monaro Mode’ particularly the successful ones (and I include, our team in that statement), are prepared to forfeit some of the benefits that having a reasonable budget allows you to have, it won't occur.

I'm concerned that there Is and always has been resistance from within. The minute you put forward issues that are fairly decisive, but where some people see them as something they have been able to use while others haven't been able to, everyone claws on to their piece of real estate.

molorsport news

No Boundaries

No other Australian rivalry runs as deep or fierce as the annual mountain showdown between Ford and Holden. And nothing equals the atmosphere of being there at Bathurst to witness the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000, October 9-12.

Catch all your favourite V8 Supercar heroes over four days of non-stop action and partying. See the ultimate showdown at this year’s Bob Jane T-Marts 1000.

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Weathering all Introducing Mark Winterbottom - The 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Champion. But what now for the promising 22year-old? GRANT ROWLEY spoke to the 'Man of the Moment' IWIOTORSPORT NEWS: What does it feel like to be the 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Champion?

MARK WINTERBOTTOM; It's unreal. With an eventful weekend like we had at Winton, to wrap it up here, it's really unreal.

It's definitely the best result we could ask for.

Now we can head to Mallala and have some fun. I'd like to thank the Stone Brothers team, Milligans and Bosch who have followed me

from Formula Ford. It's great to give these guys a result.

MN: You've been the revelation of the 2003 Konica season. How has it felt from the hot seat?

MW; Pretty good, we've definitely exceeded all expectations. It's unreal actually.

I thought maybe I'd win one race and improve throughout the year but we've exceeded our expectations by a mile.

MN: What results were you expecting before the start of the year?

MW: We weren't really sure because we only did one test before Wakefield Park. I didn't know what to expect.

If we snuck into the top five we'd be doing a good job but in the first practice session we were fourth straight away, so we thought, geez, if we work on this and work on that we'll see where we end up ...

MN: You've obviously settled into the Stone Brothers team fairly quickly?

MW: Yeah, really good. It was hard at first because my whole lifestyle changed (moving from NSW to Qldl’but I've settled in and easily become used to the Queensland weather!

And because I work here as well, I get to know the guys and get a work relationship as well as a friendship, so it works out pretty good.

Chris Carter

"i was sailed ip liy SBR after osdy one Rn^uia Foril evHit l Kdr I even ft;mk ihey'd seen nw race! r»

- Winterbottom MN:So you're at the workshop five days a week?

MW: Yeah, whenever the guys are here. Normally I do pick-ups and deliveries and sometimes work on the car. It just depends on what's going on. There's no real set job, I just do whatever they ask me to do.

MN:You've been taken under the wing of Ford. First KartStars,then Formula Ford and now you are with their crack team. This doesn't happen to everybody. Why you?

MW: You've go to be in the right place at the right time. think.

Because the KartStars is sponsored by Ford, that really helped, especially with my focus.

I got a good connection going with Ford and it went from there.

MN: You're working with two of the best current drivers (Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall). How have they helped your learning curve?

MW: I've had a lot more to do with Marcos. He's been really good. It's really the reason we've done better than what we thought.

Marcos came to round one and after I got the pole on

Saturday, it rained on Sunday morning. I thought, 'ohh shit.

I've got to learn again and try to drive in the rain'. I asked Marcos what should do and he said 'just do this, this, this and this' and I just went out there and I did it. Instead of going out there and wasting a session fiddling around, after lap two we were on the pace. It's experience you can't pay for.

MN: Bathurst. Will you be competing in the 30 lap Konica race there?

MW: Yeah, I'll definitely do that. but the team haven't announced yet what's going on with the 1000km race but I'm confident get a run. I'm not really sure what's happenning though. It's a hard situation because I haven't been given the nod yet so I'm just doing my own thing.

MN: Have you driven a BA yet?

MW: I had a run in Russell's car at Ipswich the other day. That was my first drive.

The car itself is really good. had my knees against the steering wheel because I was in Inqall's car so that was a bit scary.

Dirk Klynsmilh

Smiles all round: The Stone Brothers Racing team have had a incredible year, both in the main game and the Konica seies. Ross Stone, far right, has been impressed with his young Konica Champion. /tESasl ZU3

MN: If you do start the 1000km race at Bathurst, what would your goal be?

MN: Try and get rookie of the race. It's hard to say but after a couple more test days in the car, I think I'll feel more confident in the BA. Anything can happen up there, that's the thing.

If we could get on the podium that would be unreal but you've just got to stay on the lead lap and that's a lot of it at Bathurst. It's sort of a lottery and it's hard to know continued on page 38

continued from page 37 what to expect. lUIIN': What does the future hold for Mark Wlnterbottom?

MW: Whatever Ross gives me guess!

I've signed up with them for five years and that started last year so I've still got a while here.

Hopefully we can get something happening for next year in the main series.

But really, after Konica finishes it's out of my hands. I can only hope that I'll be in the main Supercar series.

MIM: Has three SBR cars in the main series been discussed with yourself?

MW: Not with me. I don't get involved in any of that. I just wait to be told, I guess. I suppose they don't want to put any extra pressure on me. I'm not sure what will happen.

MN: Have you been approached by another teams for your services?

MW: Umm, not personally. I'm not sure if anyone has spoken to the team or not but it doesn't really matter. I'm very happy

Familiar position: Winterbottom is used to being out front in the Konica series this year. Above, he leads the pack at Phillip Island. One wonders if he could do the same in the 'Major League'? where I am.

really interested in Formula 1.

MN: Do you or did you have any overseas ambitions?

MW: I've always wanted to stay in Australia and race.

The V8 series is so competitive, that's why it's such a success. As a kid, I was never

MN: How did your motor racing career begin?

MW: I started racing motorbikes when I was nine.

We won a Peewee 50 in a shopping centre raffle. I was a bit of an Evil Knevel on the bike, I really wasn't the best at that. I used to play soccer a lot as well and because I kept falling off the bike I thought that soccer would be the go. From there, I quit soccer and started karting when I was 12.

just used .to.race. I thought if ;l*,».f<K<put everything into it I could get there one day. Unfortunately it all turned to shit...

I then got approached by someone to run an EL in the Konica series but that fell over as well.

I thought nothing was ever going to happen but I kept pushing and never gave up because it's something I've always wanted to do. You think ' you're going to make it, then you >l get let down and it's quite a hard thing to deal with.

I've always wanted to stay in Austrana. As a kid, I vnas Kvep Fosay ititEr-ested in Forauda On*? ft

- Winterbottom on his desire to stay in his homeiand

MN: You were a fairly late starter then, compared to some of the other drivers in the field?

MW: A lot of the guys started when they were seven. I think we missed out on the younger years of racing but a large number of they start early. It's probably not a thing to start a little ; bad people tend to burn out later. when 'I

Should the 'Tassie Devil'and the 'Enforcer'be watching their back? With the speed 'Muttley'has shown in 2003, we may well find out in 2004 ...

MN: When did you realise you could make a career out of motor racing?

MW: In 1997, I signed a deal with Garry Dumbrell's Wynns karting team. He always said 'we are going to this and going to do that' and I thought I was pretty close. Up until then I had no connections with anyone and

When Ford come to the KartStars, it seemed the best way to go. After winning that and securing the Formula Ford drive, I was signed by SBR after only one Formula Ford event. I didn't even think they'd seen me race!

It's quite hard to be picked up without any money so I've been pretty lucky, really.

MN:So, despite your seemingly 'cruisy' run through the ranks, it's been a bit of a roller coaster?

MW: Oh yeah. You put what money you have into karting, which is pretty expensive at the top level and Formula Ford's the same. It was good to be picked up when you do it yourself.

It makes it all worthwhile when your efforts pay off.

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Cutting the Cost of

The TEGA Board is seeking to cut the cost of V8 Supercar racing hy as much as 40 percent. How wili it happen? is it just a dream? PHiL BRANAGAN counts the cost cost $300,000 each. That is what motor manufacturers (do when we go racing; we spend money."

In V8 Supercars, there is a big push to reduce costs. Recently,00 Motorsport withdrew from the series, selling its Level 1 licences to Kmart Racing's owners John and Margaret Kelly. A number of other teams are feeling financial pressure to continue competition at the current level.

This existing financial strain comes at a time when both Ford and Holden both have new cars for 2003. At the most recent round of the

T is one of the Rules of Thumb of motorsport that nothing costs more than cheap racing.

No matter where you look in the sport, there appears to be widespread attempts at cutting the cost of going racing, hr Formula One,the one weekend/one engine rule will be in force in 2004 and, last week,BMW fired up its new VIO on the dyno for the first time in Munich. The P84 is the company's maiden attempt at buUding a current engme with a lifespan of 800km.

In World Superbikes, the manufacturers and tire promoters are currently in dispute about the future regulations of the category. Neither group wants to see the continuation of seeing $300,000 racing motorcycles that are based on $20,000 road motorcycles but, as yet, there is little agreement about how to go about it.

Look at CART. The series is not what it used to be but the cost of

championship at Queensland Raceway, 21 of the 33 cars on the grid were either new model cars, or cars updated to new specification. And the process is onging, with another three '03 cars slated to debut at Oran Park next week.

racing in 2003 is much lower than it was even 12 months ago, thanks in part to tlie category's one-engine policy. The high cost of competing has largely been transferred to the rival IndyCar series, which has, in the last year, seen the arrival of Toyota and Honda and a mid-season change in engine specification from Chevrolet.

"There's no easy way around that," said Honda's Robert Clarke last year."Even if we raced cars with Formula 3 engines, they would still

The Touring Car Entrant's Group (TEGA)recently announced a policy to instigate cost-cutting measures into the 10-year-old category, board Chairman Kelvin O'Reilly stating that they would seek a reduction in costs of between 30 and 40 percent.

Is it achievable? Is it realistic? Or is it just wishful thinking?

arcliitecture under which the category has operated since 1993 has remained, largely, unchanged, with good reason; it works.

The strength of the class two-fold; first, is that it is largely impossible to gain an advantage by spending twice as much money on your car as the next guy spends on his. The regulations mean that, even if you had the money and the will to throw it around,spending the biggest pile of cash is no guarantee of success.

The second strengtlr is that, in effect, there has been little or no need to build or buy a new car every season. Unlike comparable touring car categories, like the German Touring Car Championship (DTM), last year's car is stiU capable of doing the job - maybe,even, the year before that's. As an example, die Commodore VY currently raced by Mark Skaife is the very same car in which he won Bathurst in 2001 and 2002, save for its update to VY spec during the summer. Even the Holden Racing Team,one of the best-funded operations in pitlane, does not arm its drivers with new cars each season because the team's brains trust simply does not recognise the heed to do so.

First things first; even in itsmuch current state, V8 Supercar is very a cheap motor racing category. By world standards, the costs associated with going racing in the Championship Series offer excellent value for money. The technical

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As an example; two years ago the British magazine Autosport tracktested a Group N version of Alfa Romeo's 147 sedan. The car was impressive, if hardly a threat to Marcos's Barra, but the story quoted a price that was 50 percent higher than what you would pay for a brand-new, turnkey 2003 V8 Supercar.

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been an outspoken advocate of reducing costs to competitors and, long ago, mastered the art of stretching a dollar as far as it would

goDuring his career, Perkins spent his money sensibly, even if the way he did it was not always conventional.

Within the business. LP has been quite notorious for the ways he formd to maximise the value he

S the new-for-2004 SCV8 series in the

people. To put that in context, 16 million more people live in one state of the USA,California, than live on

^ UK,with V8 engines and RWD,is starting to look like a threat to the traditional series. And even those

the whole of our entire country.

new cars will cost heaps more to build and race than a Commodore or a Falcon.

So, with all those limitations, howfactors do youand cut the costs of V8 Supercar racing?

One of the main proponents of saving money is Larry Perkins. The now retired-from-fuU-time racing driver and team owner has for years

The two big 'buts' to all that are that V8 Supercars have to be built and raced in Australian dollars, and that those bucks have to be found in a market of less than 20 million

varying powers driver weights to choose from. * Other more powerful classes available for experienced racers.

6 August 2003

competition is so much closer now.

"You save money two ways; you don't waste the money you have and you keep your expenses low.

"Car costs relate directly to the stabihty of the regulations. You do

ir/ii

You're invited to be part of Australia's fastest growing motor sport Why not see what it's all about for yourself? Attend a race meeting at your local club and talk to the drivers and crew. There are classes to suit almost everyone from 7 years to 77 +.

Midgets 7-11 years Rookies 10-12years Juniors* 12-16 years in TWO weight divisions Seniors* Over 10 classes of

received for his outlay, hke his habit of buy racing shoes in the combination of three rights/one left. because accelerating and braking wears out a right shoe faster than just using the clutch with your left...

"Costs have been rising clearly compared to what they were five years ago," says Perkins."Most of that is related to the fact that the

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that are introduced are clearly thought out. We now have a situation where,because we need to do pitstops in many of the races where we didn't previously, we now have $5000 rattle guns. We can't go back now,but with a little forethought, we could have kept using $400 rattle guns.

O'Reilly points to the need to reduce not just the costs associated with the cars themselves, but the cost to the teams to compete in the events.

"You have to do both," he says.

"You have to have a multi-pronged attack on it. It's like the boy trying to plug the dyke; if you look at just plugging one hole, the money will flow to another point."

Perkins agrees; "We have now had the introduction of teams having to leave on Tuesdays to make it to race meetings, because of a lack of

Contact your state's karting office for details I

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not save money by changing regulations at short notice.

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41

I

continued from page 41 regulation. Why not have a two-day race meeting? People have to travel, they need to be housed and fed. That costs a lot of money."

One question affecting the future duration of race meetings is that of testing. At the moment,a team is allocated eight days for testing through the course of the season. But what if teams were allowed a longish test session on the track on which they race on Friday? That idea was introduced in Formula One this season, primarily to aid the financial minnows,like Minardi and Jordan.

But the two well-funded teams that took advantage of the 'Heathrow' option,Renault and Jaguar, have been the revelations of the season.

"There is some debate about what constitutes 'sufficient' test time," says O'Reilly. "It could even be that a team can test for two days to sort out their new cars, two days prior to the endurance races to give their co drivers some time and conduct the rest of the testing on Fridays. Either option can be good or bad, depending on your viewpoint."

And,is testing ad infinitum really desirable? Jason Bright continues to lead the championship on uncorrected points, despite Team Brock being unable to test this season because of a lack of testing log.

Some the solution to the high say costthat of racing is to introduce control components.

There are already a wide range of components that are standardised in the category, like Dunlop's control tyre and MoTeC's control Engine Management System (ECU). But both of those components have implications that go beyond cost; "The introduction of the MoTeC control ECU has done nothing but add cost," says Perkins, whose cars ran on the Autronic ECU until the MoTeC was made mandatory.

"There are no market forces in play any more. But the decision was not

numbers for a fraction of the cost."

On the matter of engines there are, again, alternative views. At the moments,a number of established Holden teams face the prospect of 'retiring' their 18-degree Chevrolet 'Bow Tie' engines and investing in an inventory of the new Holden Motorsport units, which have been introduced this year.

"The Holden group of teams have borne a lot of cost," says Perkins."I am looking a 10 engines that I can no longer run in car #11 and, when we go to a second new car, there will be more in that lot.

"But there was no choice. The old Hit Ctl+Alt+Del: Greg Murphy and Kmart Racing's Erik Pender get busy on one of the team's iaptop computers after a practice session. made for reasons of cost - we were it is the unit best-suited to the trying to stop traction control." regulations, which state the all cars "(Common suppliers) make you must have an H-pattern gearbox with spend money, not save money,because no more than six gears.

"Gearbox costs have been of market forces. A good example is wheels. The rules have been in place relatively low for a long time because for 11 years; the rules, like the of the stabUity of the regulations," minimum weight rule, are frozen. The says Perkins."But the Holinger 'box end result is that wheels are cheaper is not mandatory; it is universally today than they have ever been. used,but other suppliers can supply "But brakes are dearer now than teams with gears, dog rings and so they were a few years ago." on. You control the product by Braking systems are still 'open', controlling the specification." despite the fact that the specification "You have to take a number of for the brakes is limited in terms of freedoms away to limit the way the disc size, pad area and calhper teams spend their money," says specification. Some teams are calling O'Reilly. for the introduction of control items, "There is the matter of the build pointing to the potential cost savings costs of cars. On a new car,I believe provided by economies of scale, while that a number of teams now consider others points to the fact that a 'free that the front guards are 'throw market'in these areas is desirable to away'items, at a cost of $1200-$1500 promoted competition and,hence, per car per race. If that is applied maintain costs at a lower level. across the board,in 14 events, the On matters like this, there is cost is around $600,000. unlikely to be a level of unanimity, no "One solution to that may be to matter which way the decision goes. look at a single supplier, to provide So; control by decree or control by either carbon/kevlar guards(which regulation? Every car on the grid are expensive but much more uses Dunlop tyres, a MoTeC ECU durable) or a plastic guard,like and a Holinger gearbox, but while Nissan has on its X-Trail. There is a the rules state you must use that rubber and ECU,the latter is not a factor of tooling costs to be considered but it could be possible to control unit. Teams use Holinger's produce what you need in large H6 gearbox because they believe that

engine was not going to be around in two years' time but we need to maintain a level playing field."

Perkins is well familiar with the situation; while most of the front-line Holden V8 Supercar teams started their programs with the Chev unit 10 years ago,LP had experience with, and a decent stock of, Holden engines, which he ran until 1995

"If we had aimed at a 10 op 15 percent reduction in costs, nothing would he achieved ri

-TEGA’s Kelvin O’Reilly before updating to the new units.

With engines costing in the region of $80,000, and most teams have two to three engines per car, that a lot of money to have invested.

The BTCC addressed the runaway cost of engines three years ago by mandating that only so many engines may be used throughout the season.

Any team exceeding the limit is now docked championship points for breaching the rule.

Engine limits are necessary. In the early 1990s,DTM teams got to the ridiculous point of developing qualifying engines with a lifespan of 10 minutes and engineering their cars

Wants does a V8 Supercar program cost?

Flow long is your piece of string?

It is hard, and getting harder, to track the costs of running a Commodore or a Falcon in the V8 Supen :ar Champion:shiiP Series.

While the teams' budgets are everexpanding (well, most of them), the players are becoming more and more shy about revealing their numbers.

Flowever ... there are always people who are willing to talk in general terms, off the record, so here goes

You can buy a V8 Supercar for around $150,000. That will get you well-loved Commodore VJ/VX or a Falcon AU. Both will get you onto the grid for a Konica V8 Series race and you will not get blown away by newer cars (the VY and the BA are not eligible for the KV8SS until 2005) - you will just get blown away by better VXs and AUs. To play in the main game, think bigger. Depending on how you price your labour, a new weapon will set you back $320,000 and up. You will need two more engines in the truck, running you about $80,000 each.

Similar, spare gearboxes, diffs.

i suspension, brakes ...

The good news is that this stuff lasts a while. An engine will go around 2000km before a needing a top end rebuild: other components can last a long time. HRT has cranks in some of its engines that saw the light of day in 1998.

What else? You'd better like laptop computers, because you will need about three of them, at around $3000 each. Five sets of wheels can range anything from $20,000 to double that. Count on spending up to $20K on lightweight rattle guns, left, and at least $2000 per meeting servicing them. Teams routinely run motorsport news

so that engine swaps could be performed in a similar time. That has never happened here; nor,in the current environment, is it likely.

But Uke mostthe sports, and many businesses, major cost of going V8 Supercar racing is not engines, chassis, gearboxes or brakes.

It's people.

"I now take 25 people to a race meeting," says Perkins."I never used to take anything like that, but I need to now because of how competitive the racing is."

So, with the exception of a 'home' race, and of one truck driver, all those people have to be flown to the races, accommodated,fed, uniformed (with fireproof clothing and helmets for the pitstop crews, remember) and then returned to their homes when aU the noise stops. And they have to be paid salaries, superannuation commitments need to be taken care of, workplaces have to be maintained and insured and a hundred other things, all of which cost money, have to be done.

It's a big ask, one which is faced by lots of teams on other sporting arenas. The AFL has a salary cap of around $5.9 million for each club's senior list; the National Basketball League has a cap of about $700,000.

So, why not a salary cap in V8 Supercar racing?

It's a difficult concept. For starters, sports Uke footy and basketball have a set number of players in action at the same time -18 loons galloping around a paddock chasing a Sherrin, and five (tall) blokes shootin' hoops.

In a two-car V8 Supercar squad,two guys steer the racers and six or eight are involved in pitstops but, beyond that, there are no set numbers.

But... how do you take into account the value of a race engineer of the caUbre of SBR's Campbell Little? What value can you apply to the tw'o decades in Formula One that Castrol/Perkins's Jim Vale has on his CV? Or the design expertise of Briggs engineer Ralph Bellamy? The

strategic experience of HRT's Jeff Grech?

No two-race teams are alike. SBR and Kmart Racing are both owned by families but,fundamentally, it is probably unreasonable to expect that Mr and Mrs Kelly have the same expertise in running a race team as brothers Ross and Jim Stone.

Likewise, Skaife owns and drives for his team, and at the other end of the grid,so does David Thexton.

Also on the matter of a salary cap, Lansvale Racing operates from Sydney, the only Aussie city in the recent list of the world's most expensive places in which to live.

How is cost of living taken into account? You could sell a twobedroom des res in Woolloomooloo, take the money and buy a mansion in Unley Park, not far from Team Dynamik's base - or buy half of Albury, if you wanted to ...

The Sydney Swans are allowed a premium on its salary cap because its players have to spend more to live in Coathanger County. Likewise, Brisbane's Lions get paid a little more than Maguire's Magpies because of the fact they have to up and move to the heartland of the two rugby codes.

That probably wouldn't happen in V8 Supercars, flie likely scenario would be a limit on the number of team members attending the actual events. If Team Thump can raise the money to buy the equipment to build all its gear in-house, and hire the staff to do it, that's one thing. Taking all 45 people to Hidden Valley is another.

Is a salary cap viable? That is what the TEGA Board will investigate, and decide upon.

"If we had aimed at a 10 or 15 percent reduction in costs, nothing would be achieved," admits O'Reilly.

"We have to set a high mark to aspire to; if we reach it, great. If we get to 20, or 25(percent), that will benefit the teams.

"But we need to make sure that the class is sustainable,for all the competitors. That is what we are trying to achieve."

a Millionaire? their guns at double the recommended air pressure and they need servicing to keep working.

Then you need to get everything around the country. The rule of thumb is, generally, that a pantech costs the same as a racecar, so budget $150K for a used one and $300K for a newey. Then there are a myriad of other items, like uniforms, radios, pit boards, air bottles and a boom, fuel rig(s), those dinky little pit displays that hold posters, wallpaper, felt pens for autographs, PR, Gatorade, expensive gifts for the media ...

8 August 2003

Then there are other expenses.

You have to be a member of TEGA to play in the game and, while all those numbers are extremely confidential, a good stab is that a team with two Level 1 licences would have to find around $20K per car at the start of the season.

Sounds a lot, until you factor in that this season, TEGA will hand out about 50 percent more than that for each round of the series, and there are 13 of those.

If you just did the sums and counted a million dollars, you are right. And that is for one car, doing it on the cheap ...

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Having just graduated from University in a three year course of Communications and Public Relations, I am about to go to London for London Fashion Week and am hoping to land a job while I am there and stay indefinitely.

I was born in Malaysia and then went to Washington DC but that is the only travel I have done overseas so far.

Last year I travelled Australia wide with the V8 Series workingfor Orrcon and have also worked for the Konica Series. I love V8 Radng and really enjoyed my time travelling the rounds. My favourite drivers are Mark Larkham and John Bo we.

Photographic modelling is myfavourite type of modelling.

I have featured in a Jim Beam new product launch last year and also hosted a couple of the Planet X Extreme TV shows as well.

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To keep fit I go to the gym almost every day and also do polites and yoga and enjoy running.

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Motorsport has not always enjoyed a cruisy relationship with the green movement, but rolled up at Le Mans with a car powered by wholly-renewable fuel, a change could be oi MARK GLENDENNING looks at the latest step toward eco-friendly racing

I

T'S clean, it's renewable,it smells nice, and if it wasn't for a pesky additive, you could add some ice and cola and have one hell of a party.

Oh,and it also powered an LMP900 around Le Mans this year.

The substance in question is bio ethanol, the racing outfit is Team Nasamax,and the project could quite possibly be the first step toward an immense change in the way we go racing.

The Cosworth-powered Nasamax Reynard, which debuted at the Sebring 12-Hour race ahead of its Le Mans campaign, marked a first-ever for the 24 Hour classic in that it ran

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44

on a completely renewable fuel source. In this particular case it was bio-ethanol, so named to emphasise the fact that it is derived from vegetable matter rather than petroleum products.

The driving concept was fairly simple. Fossil fuels (i.e. coal, oil and natural gas)rule the world at the moment,as they have since the industrial revolution, but there are serious question marks over their long term viability. For starters, they have a significant environmental cost, besides which they are non-renewable and availability wiH gradually diminish.

The rei issue, then,is: what will step up to the plate in their place?

Various alternatives are kicking aroimd,some of which already have racing applications -CART and the LRL,for example,use methanol.

Ethanol's profile has been gradually increasing in recent years, primarily as an additive to pump petrol in Europe, the US,and Australia, however it has also been powering cars in places like Brazil for several years.

On this basis, a group of individuals and organisations with links to both racing and renewable fuels saw the need to highlight the possibilities of bio-ethanol.

The racing enviroiunent has long been seen as the ultimate proving ground for new technologies,so according to John McNeil,Team Nasamax's Technical and Renewables Consultant, an eco-friendly Le Mans car was a logical step.

"We'd thought about a renewablefuel Le Mans car for some time," he explained.

"We just decided 2003 was the best time to put it together. So I had a few friends over the years from the racing side, notably Tony King, who's a pretty wealthy guy in Hong Kong.

He gave us a kick-start to get it going, and we also had the technology partners on the lab side that could help us in what we were trying to do wilh things that we'd developed over the years.

"We just brought the whole lot together as quickly as we could because we thought the timing was right, and we wanted to be the first to do it.

"1 think the environmental issues are now in focus. If you wanted to catch the public's imagination, and that of the regulators in motorsport, it's the right time to bring them together.

"It had to be deliverable. In other words,it had to work - you didn't want to be running around at the back in a weird-shaped thing that was very slow. So we thought we'd choose the bio-ethanol route because that's the one we can deliver within a certain envelope, with some kind of guarantee."

McNeil, a physicist who heads a British laboratory that specialises in

renewable fuel research, also has many years of racing experience under his belt, and was one of the driving forces behind the project.

Michael Phillips is Nasamax's Team Manager, with Brian Ireland assuming the responsibilities of Chief Engineer.

The team developed the race car in partnership with 02Empower Corporation, which supplied know how relating to fuel specification and application technology, and ASTEK, which supplied the Nitrogen Blanketing System (a safety feature that produced oxygen-depleted air inside the fuel tank to reduce the chances of fuel igniting).

The team also employed assistance from Cosworth, which supplied a new engine variant designated the XDE and provided engineering support in what would be their first 'official' attempt at Le Mans in several years.

Nasamax received a special dispensation from the ACO that allowed them to run their own fuel at Le Mans,however it was stiU purchased through official fuel suppliers Elf.

"What we're saying is, you don't have to be wierd to be green" -John McNeil, Team Nasamax Technical Consultant The main drawback with ethanol is that it only has about 60 percent of the calorific value of gasohne. In other words, to create a certain amount of power, you need to burn considerably more ethanol than you would gasoline. Ethanol does burn slightly more efficiently but this doesn't come close to making up the shortfall, and the implications from a racing perspective are fairly obvious.

McNeil believes that the answer lies in reworking the rules regarding fuel loads so that they are defined in terms of the amount of energy that a car carries, rather than a volume of fuel. But does he think that those changes will be hard to get through?

motorsport news

after Team Nasamax 1 the cards.

In action: Stirling puts the Nasamax Reynard Cosworth through its paces at Mulsanne, right.

Engine room: Cosworth provided the go-fast bits in the form of their XDE powerplant, below right. The Nitrogen Blanketing System (NBS) is just visible at the top of the engine bay.

"I don't think so. It was a good year to do it from the point of view of the organisers, because they needed to see something that tlrey could understand,and sit down and thereafter calculate back,from the performance that was delivered, on what can be given," he said.

"For any alternative fuel, or any alternative motor source coming into motor racing, equivalence has to be granted. It's a complex subject. I've people at quite high engineering levels in the UK saying that the car's fuel consumption is very poor. You know,'how can it be green if it uses tw'ice the amoimt of fuel?' They just do not understand the concepts behind it, or how it works.

"So it's good to get that out in the open and now the organisers fully understand that. Energy equivalence will be the way forward for all of these classes, I believe."

While motorsport is a traditional breeding ground for automotive innovation, it's fair to say that it is a world that one rarely associates with the environmental movement.

According to McNeil, that is something that needs to change.

"Well the whole point in that is, why the hell not?" he countered.

"OK,trying to do Le Mans, given that the fuel has got less energy, therefore you need to carry more, and with no allowance to do that, it's about the toughest thing you could set yourself up to do.

"But the fuel itself is readily available. It could go into any number of championships. If everybody is using the same stuff, it makes no difference whatsoever, does it? I mean,I cannot understand why we don't do it more.

6 August 2003

rliMiliiliil i : What is ethanol? i It's alcohol. The ethanol used in the r race car is around 205 percent I proof- which could make for some ' interesting parties.

To that end, a small amount of another harmless bio-chemical is ; added to preventimechanics fronsi' taking a 'some for the car, some for me'approachlo refuelling. iPuel drums with cocktail umbrellas and 1 straws sticking, out of them would: not look cool.

§

"And I think that's just an awakening that's coming through the industry as well. Why don't we do it?

We're happy to go out there and help anybody establish it because ... why not? It's not a bad thing to do!

"One has to admit that while there's an increasing amount of environmental awareness from everybody, and when everybody's doing something, they all follow the same trends. So there we are with the ultimate expression of renewable fuel versus performance. What we're saying is 'you don't have to be weird to be green' sort of thing, you know? (laughs). You can have performance and use environmentally-friendly fuels."

From a racing perspective, the team had a tough weekend. After qualifying 21st, the team went onto the back foot when it was forced to change an engine during the morning warm-up on race day.

Various early niggles were overcome and the car ran several trouble-free hours at the hands of drivers Romain Dumas, Robbie

Stirling and Werner Lupberger, before finally stoppmg with a terminal engine problem.

But while the team fell short of their on-track aims of getting the car to the finish, the fundamental objective of putting the issue of renewable fuels onto the table was achieved.

The car will run again at the Le Mans qualification race in November before being retired. However the team has said that they will be back at the 24 Hour next year with a different chassis - and possibly a second car, if resources and enthusiasm permit.

The Nasamax effort was essentially a small step toward what could one day be a fundamental change.

Ethanol will be added to pump fuel in increasing amounts over the next few years, and major manufacturers are already producing models with this in mind - take the Flexi-Fuel Ford Focus, which is currently on sale in the UK, for example.

Bio-ethanol-powered V8 Supercars for 2013? It just might happen ...

What isbio^ethandlmade kom?

I Just about anything organic. i Corn is commonly used in the ^ US, but bio-wastes, wood and lowi value agricultural produce cani also ^ be used.

■<

! ! |

: How does it not add carbon : dioxide emissions to the : atmosphere? . The burning of fossil fuels releases I carbon dioxide (C02) into the I atmosphere. To absorb it, one ; would have to plant equivalent ' vegetation matter to equal the i amount that produced the fossil 1 fuel, which would take millions of f years.

However if we plant a crop and : use it for fuel, the £02 emission rate is neutral, provided that a replacement crop is planted. ! What differences does it make 10 the car? , Apart from changes in the fuel delivery rate, there are fuel system ■' modifications to cope with higher I fuel flows, the materials selection for fuel compatibility, inlet air : management and delivery systems, turbo charger and injection specifications and ignition timing.

| ! i j

45

Britisli Granil PriM

Juan Man

Willams-BMW dominated in spectacuiar styie at Hockenheim, but with RaifSchumacher out at the first corner, Juan Pablo Montoya was left to cruise to a serene victory. Behind him, there was mayhem. JOESAWARD reports

'uan Pablo Montoya showed the rest of Formula 1 the way at Hockenheim on Sunday and ^01 bn a completely dominant victory, finishing more than a minute ahead of the opposition, despite having only 93 percent of full throttle, according to the team. The Colombian was helped by the fact that the first comer put paid to the chances of three potential rivals; Ralf Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens BarricheUo. After the race however Montoya reckoned that it would have made little difference as he was in a class of his own...

The first comer at Hockenheim has often in tlie past been a place of excitement and disaster and this year was to be no different. The track boasted over 100,000 spectators, and the fans were there to see Michael Schumacher do something spectacular from sixth on the grid.

SEVEN

but it was to prove to be a rather different story.

At the start Montoya got away well but Ralf Schumacher did not.

chances of winning tlie World Championship having taken a major down.

The Raikkonen-Ralf-Rubens

BarricheUo was also rather tardy and so Raikkonen was moving to the outside of the Ferrari as they headed down into the first comer.

At that point Ralf decided to move to the left to protect himself and the result was that Rubens found himself

Rumble was just a part of the activity at the first corner because there was even more excitement back in the

trapped between the McLaren on the outside and the Williams on the inside. He had nowhere to go.

The first impact was between the Williams and the Ferrari but BarricheUo was then punted into Raikkonen and the McLaren was tossed into a spin, which ended with a hefty impact with the tyre barriers.

K

imi and Rubens were out on the

_;pot and Ralf drove round to retire as the Safety Car came out, his

(30? RE! 0HANIIN

KEMCT.T

Rciizone Motgrsport linages

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2

pack as everyone else tried not to get involved.

"Everyone hit the brakes," said Heinz-Harald Frentzen. "Behind me someone obviously didn't realise there was an accident and crashed into me."

That someone was Ralph Firman.

"I didn't see anything that was going on," he said."Suddenly everyone slowed and I ran into the back of Frentzen and damaged by front wing. I thought it might be all right and I was trying to go around the outside of it all when Justin Wilson came into the side of me."

Wilson also complained that he did not have a chance.

"Everyone was on the brakes trying to slow down and Jacques Villeneuve came across in front of me as we arrived in the corner. Suddenly I had no stopping space at all and 1 hit him and that spun him around. 1 tried to go around the outside but then Ralph Firman arrived going very quickly and hit me and that bent a front track rod."

Frentzen drove round to retire.

Villeneuve came in and his car was checked over and the decision taken to put Jacques onto what was in effect a one-stop strategy. Minardi

i f

1 ■>/

called in both drivers for more fuel.

Wilson also came in and the team frantically changed the bent track rod. It took almost six minutes.

Wilson was then sent on his way.

■^he mess was tidied up as .. Montoya led the trail of cars around behind the Safety Car. He had TmlU, Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Webber, Coulthard and Panis behind him. The cleaning up was completed by the end of lap Uuee and the race was on again but the order was not going to change with a rolling start and for the next few laps everyone held station. Montoya edged away at the front but it was only gentle progress.

"I was amazed that 1 could not pull away in the first few laps," said Montoya later, "but 1 kept doing the same pace and then they seemed to drop away."

On lap seven Coulthard went around the outside of Webber at the hairpin and moved up to fifth. By then he was around six seconds behind the three cars squabbling over second and he made little immediate progress.

Up at the front Montoya began to move away.

After about 15 laps Montoya found

Gripping:

Alonso, above left, rocketed forward from his grid eight start while Webber, left, was rounded up by Coulthard as the Jag's rear rubber started to fade quite early. motorsport news

O Solo Mio:

that he had lost some of his top speed - the team later suggesting that he was operating with only 93 percent throttle..

With his team-mate gone, it was a cruise for Juan Pablo.

"It wasn't a big issue," he said. "It just stayed like that all day and even with that we had the pace to pull away."

And to set a fastest lap of the race on lap 14,just before the problem manifested itself, and his lml4.917s

challenger belonged to Renault, as it developed it was Michael Schumacher who made his way to the front. It was midway through the secont stmt before Alonso made a mistake and allowed Michael to get ahead of him.

"It wasn't a big issue. It just stayed like that all day and even with that we had the pace to pull away ti

- Montoya on his reduced throttle 5titton-images.com

was quicker than his pole position.

Very impressive, given that by that point in his run his tyres should have been shot.

He was never under threat m the course of his three-stop race.

"If Ralf hadn't gone out at the first corner it would have been a bit harder race than that," he said.

"But I think the team would have dominated the race anyway. They told me to back off and I was still puUing away.I could do a really hard lap, a low lml5s or an easy lap, a lml5.8s and stuff like that. Other people were running in the lml7s. I couldn't believe it."

By end ofafter the race his lead was 65the seconds 67 laps.

He had lapped everyone up to fourth place.

It had been a massacre.

Although for most of the race the honour of being his nearest 8 August 2003

After that Michael went after Trulli but he was not able to strike until the closing stages when TruUi ran into problems with his tyres. Jarno did not make it easy but Michael is no fading violet and on lap 59 he forced his way ahead. He was second.

But then Michael had a puncture or at least that it what the

If I'd known you were coming: Raikkonen really didn't know what had hit him as, above, he rotates across the front of Barichello's Ferrari, into half's Williams. Then, below, the McLaren rotated all the way into the barriers.

Bridgestone men seemed to think.

By the time Michael got back to the pits there was not much left of the damaged tyre and certainly not enough to do any scientific analysis.

"There was a great deal of debris out on the race track," said Bridgestone's Hisao Suganuma.

"That could have been the cause." We will probably never know.

By the time Michael was back on the track he was seventh and there he stayed - but two points is two points

continued on page 50 41

f

Qualifying

^_i -J:

u

- ^

Williams, Michelin dominant n the middle of the summer it can get very hot down on the flood plain of the River Rhine, Very hot. So hot in fact that Formula 1 tyres do not last very long as they slip and slide around a race track. And things change all the time, for at one moment a tyre will grip the road and at another it will slide, overheat and blister.

It is a science that few understand and few seem able to predict. Building FI tyres to do everything you need them to do is a very difficult thing, but at the moment it seems that Michelin is doing a better job than Bridgestone. It is a war between the two and so there is no end of propaganda from both sides. But, apart from Rubens Barrichello's victory at Silverstone, this summer has been a tale of Michelin winning and Bridgestone grinning and bearing the pain.

This has been particularly frustrating for Ferrari which believes, quite rightly, that it has the best chassis in FI, although in recent weeks Williams has made great steps forward.

McLaren is still there or thereabouts and from time to time a Renault will pop up and made a little splash. Ferrari still

(I

leads the World Championship but if things go on like this, it is not going to last.

i

t

A .

Saturday's final qualifying remains largely a matter still of mystery as one never really knows - until Sunday - what a car is carrying in terms of fuel.

And things have become ever more complicated as teams have started playing games.

On Friday for example, Ferrari seemed off the pace but it was simply a way of seeing how fast the opposition was capable of going, without giving away any secrets. The Ferraris were, it seems carrying more than 'single lap' fuel.

On Saturday they were back up to speed again and the red team knew what Williams could do without having given away any secrets. But would it be enough for a victory on Sunday?

Saturday's qualifying session was exciting with eight drivers holding the fastest time at.some point or other. The times drifted from the 1 ml 7s down into the 1 ml 6s and finally into the 1m15s. It was in mid-session that the Ferraris came out, having not recorded totally representative times on Friday.

Michael Schumacher went a

tenth under Olivier Panis' best and then Rubens Barrichello sliced half a second off Michael's time. This sort of thing does not normally happen unless Michael has a different strategy and it soon became clear that on this occasion Rubens was running softer tyres.

Michael was going for a harder compound in the hope that on race day the tyres would last the course. Softer tyres meant more tyre degradation and so the wisest course was for more stops and so smaller fuel loads, Sunday was going to be a case of survival of the fittest and in such circumstances one can never bet against Michael. But who knows what that strategy would be?

"It was not my best qualifying," Michael said. "The handling of the car was not perfect but I am still optimistic for the race as we have good tyre consistency. The lap times show that I can fight with Kimi."

Was that the real intention? Or was Michael bluffing by suggesting that he did not think SaUon-irTusnxom

48

4

n f-

he could stay with the WilliamsBMWs? Who knows? Who can tell?

Barrichello's hold on pole position was to last for some minutes in qualifying. Raikkonen did not get close, nor did Trulli, but then came the two WilliamsBMWs and suddenly Juan Pablo Montoya had dropped the pole by three-tenths of a second.

And then it was Ralf's turn. On the lap, Ralf was ahead through two sectors but towards the end of the lap began to suffer some understeer and failed to trump Montoya. Fie was twohundredths of a second slower than Montoya. The game was over. Montoya had won.

"It is not a big surprise for me that we are so strong," said Montoya. "Aerodynamically we are on the same level now as Ferrari and on top of that we have a tyre advantage. It is also important that we are able to find the right set-up much more quickly than we did earlier in the season."

Ralf Schumacher was more cautious.

"We should not underestimate Ferrari," he said, Gerhard Berger of BMW was also very cautious.

motorsport news

FORMULA 1

"With these high temperatures it is extremely difficult to predict how tyre degradation and general reliability is going to be over a race distance."

But a Williams 1-2 it was and for BMW that was a good victory over Mercedes-Benz.

As it turned out, third on the grid ended up in the hands of Barrichello while Michael was sixth.

"I don't think we could have beaten Williams," said Ross Brawn, "but I still think we are in a strong position for the race."

F

ourth place was a bit of a surprise as there was Jarno Trulli's Renault. In recent races Jarno has had the legs of Fernando Alonso after the Spanish driver's amazing showings earlier in the year.

Now Trulli is suddenly the amazing one.

But would the Renaults be challenging in the race? It is rare that they do.

Trulli reported that his car felt good but the team admitted that the choice of tyres was "on the limit".

The implication in that was that the team had gone for softer rubber and therefore

perhaps a three-stop strategy.

But who was to know?

Alonso's efforts were spoiled by a problem which deprived him of horsepower and he was eight kilometres an hour slower than Trulli on the straight.

"We need to take a long hard look at the data to understand where the problem is," said Alonso, who ended the ssession in eighth position on the grid.

0

ne might have expected to have seen McLaren up at the front and tangling with Williams but either the team was playing an interesting strategic game or else the cars were not on the pace.

"It was not my best lap ever," said Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard was 10th on the grid following an accident on Saturday morning which meant that he had to go into the spare car in the afternoon.

"It did not feel as good as the race car and I had particular problems in the low-speed corners," he said. "As I am now pretty experienced at driving through the field it should be all right in the race tomorrow!"

Did the McLarens look like car that were capable of winning?

Setting goals: Juan Pablo, top, watches Williams' opposition set the benchmark time to beat.

Who said pressure?

DC, far left, went off on bis first quick lap during Saturday practice, bis damaged McLaren joined, left,

by Kiesa's Minardi.

Even The Boss...

Michael too, right, failed to see out Saturday's practice sesion without drama

No, not really...

Probably the biggest surprise of the session was the speed of the two Toyotas, with Olivier Panis qualifying seventh and Cristiano da Matta ninth, the team's best ever qualifying performance in FI. Da Matta would have done better still but he had a huge moment at the last corner and so lost half a second. If that had not happened he would have been right up with Panis.

"I was quite angry because I spoiled two good sectors with my mistake coming out of the last corner," he said. "I actually only lost one place on the grid and so I guess that 1 am pleased with that."

But how much fuel were the Toyotas running? No-one knew and if they did they were not about to tell. The team had a new specification engine and so there would inevitably be some fears of reliability on race day.

J

aguar Racing would probably have done rather better if both drivers had not made mistakes. Mark Webber in particular was rather disappointed, having punched out a pretty good fourth-fastest lap on Friday.

"It was a mega lap," he said, "but then at the penultimate corner 1 asked too much of the rear end and it didn't like it and I guess I lost something like three-tenths there. Up until then it was good. Really good."

Webber would line up 11th on the grid with what the team described as 'an honest strategy' in terms of fuel load continued on page 50

\ Grand Prixof

Germany^jr^H

Ai^gust 2 2003

a|3 J P Montoya

'~rmi^ 1

Qualt^lnq

1:15.167 2]4 R Schumacher(D) BMWWilliamsFI Tea^^ iBmWNIiamsFI Team 11:15.185 +0.018 ^2 R Barrichollo(BRA) Scude'p-|prrari Marlboro j 1:15.488 +0.321 1 JTrulli (I) ?nauttF1Team!

1:15.679 + 0.512 S]6 K Raikkonen (FIN) 1:15.874 +0.707 M Schumacher (D) 1:15.898 +0.731 |20O Panis (F:

3 0

■I [f

^ j

1:16.034 ^ 0.B67 g]8F Alonso (E| K^lldLSei^hBenault F1 Team 1:16.483 1.316 Wi| 21 CDa Matta (BRA) PgHasohic Toyota Racing 1:16.550 +1.303 |5DCoulthard(GB) West McLaren Mercedes 1:16.666 + 1.499 Jaguar Racing 1:16.775 + 1.608 [ggil GFislchella(i: M ordan-iForo 1:17.111 + 1.664 ! i6 J Vllleneuve (CAN] Luckv-SlfikmBABi.Honda 1:17.090 + 1,923 ggiOHHFrentzon(D) {Sauber Petronas i 1:17.169 +2.002 N Heldfeld (D) [Sauber Petronas 1:17.557 + 2.390 litgisj Wilson (GB) luanRacing 1:18.021 + 2,854 [17 J Button (GB) Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:18.085 +2.918 12 R Firman (IRl Jordan Ford 1:18.341 + 3.174 ^19 J Verstappon (Ni; IR^IInirdLGosworth + 3.856 1:19.023 |^18NKiesa(DK) Minardi Cosworth 1:19.174 + 4.007

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continued from page 49 and tyres.

On Friday Justin Wilson, Jaguar's new boy, had been just three-tenths off Webber in qualifying, but on Saturday he made a mistake, trying too hard to impress.

"I ran wide and then the car came out of the corner on the kerb," he admitted. "I overdid it.

I just need to learn a bit more.

My knowledge of Michelin tyre performance is limited given that I come from a Bridgestone team. Understanding what the car and the tyres are capable of doing will take a bit of time."

Wilson ended up a disappointed 16th.

it

“The non-Ferrari Bridgestone runners were all in trouble, as usual, with the fastest of them on this occasion being Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella.

Fie was hoping that Sunday would bring some points to help drag the team out of the mess in which it currently finds itself away from the race track.

Ralph Firman was down in 18th and not reallly able to understand what had happened as his car had been good in the warm-up a few minutes before qualifying began. Such is the way of the modern tyres ...

BAR had Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button 13th and 17th and while Villeneuve was pretty happy with his car, Button suffered the same problem that had hit Firman. Jenson had been hoping for a top 10 place and so was depressed to be 17th.

Next up were the two Saubers with Fleinz-Flarald Frentzen 14th and Nick Fleidfeld 15th. The drivers had hoped for more but with Bridgestone tyres these days that just tends not to happen.

Down at the back as usual were the two Minardis but with the second car now being driven

by Denmark's Nicolas Kiesa.

Friday was a disaster for Kiesa as he did not know how to properly override an anti-stall device and so did not set a time.

And then on Saturday morning he had a crash. The car was repaired and it must be said that he did pretty well to get within a tenth of Verstappen.

Jos complained of tyres that blistered but the team did admit that he had a slightly different strategy to Kiesa.

The outlook was for even hotter weather on Sunday. It would be a struggle for both man and machine ...

continued from page 47

50

and with the World Championship as close as it now is, they could be vital.

Raikkonen failed to score and so Michael made progress, even if his chief rival is now Montoya,six points adrift with four races to run.

Michael's demise was good news for David Coulthard who had also managed to work his way through the Renaults.

After passing Webber for sixth early on,DC chased after Michael and the Renaults. The team chose a second stint that was longer than those of his rivals and this made it possible for him to get ahead of Alonso.

He then did what Schumacher had done to Trulli and so was tliird on lap 60. And when Schumacher had his puncture Coulthard was second.

"It is nice to be back on the podium," he said. "It's been a long season for me,particularly with the problems I have had in qualifying, but my race pace has been good and obviously that is they key for me having future success."

The two Renaults up fourth. coming home in ended third and

Tmlli was worn out having suffered from a fever during the weekend. At the end of the race he needed a bit of a rest but he was happy to have made it on to the podium.

Alonso reckoned that fourth was all right given that he had been eighth on the grid but there could have been a lot more ...

Fifth and sixtli places went to Toyota with Fanis ahead of da Matta.

Neither driver had any complaints and the timing was perfect as Toyota boss Fujio Cho was president to watch the action.

"It is a great achievement by the entire team," said Ove Andersson. "It is proof that hard work pays good dividends."

The last point went to Jenson Button after a lively battle with Webber, who spent tire day quietly drifting backwards as his car, for some reason, destroyed its tyres mid stint on each occasion. A two-stopper was probably the wrong choice under the circumstances.

Itwhen all came Mark to went an end foron it:the last lap "I could either choose between a no-points ninth place or take a stab at passing Jenson for a World

Upbeat: Despite feeling sick Trulli, above, put on his best showing for some time while, below, Toyota's superb weekend is emphasised as da Matta puts a lap on Villeneuve.

Championship point," said Webber.

"I did the latter but as I had problems with the grip and the balance of the car, I spun off. That was that. I have no regrets about trying. The opportunity for a point was there and I had no choice but to have a go."

This left Button unchallenged.

"I had a real problem with my rears locking up due a differential control problem," he said. "It wasn't easy to keep anyone behind me, especially Webber. It is a nightmare starting at the back and I have to do better in qualifying in Hungary because at the moment I am just making life difficult for myself."

Villeneuve was ninth after a long and hard afternoon.

"After we changed the strategy I had to work very hard," he said."We took a gamble and it did not pay off.

It is disappointing because there was a good chance to score points today." . Suiton'ima. agcs.com ^

molorsport news

Heidfeld was the only Sauber driver left after the first lap and he made little impression.

He was struggling all afternoon witli brake and tyre problems. Tenth was nothing to get excited about, Kiesa was the only Minardi driver to get to the flag anci it was a good effort that he ended tlie day in 11th place in difficult conditions.

"The car was good for the first few laps of each stint," he said,"and then the handling started to get worse and I had to struggle through. But I am relieved to have my first Grand Prix behind me."

There is now a real championship fight. The chassis and tyre equation has swung Williams' way and, with the BMW in the back, it is the pace setting package. McLaren too has benefitted from Michelin's progress, the French rubber particularly effective in warm to hot conditions.

Three of the four remaining races are likely to be hot.

Gentlemen, we have a contest...

Jos Verstappen struggled with tyres as well but went out early on with a gearbox problem,

T

he less said about Jordan the better. Firman was gone after the first corner. Fisichella had problems with his tyres, his car, his electronics and his engine. Apart from that things at Jordan were fine (well, if one forgets what the judge is about to say.,.).

Sullon’imaE

Tough break 1: Michael, top, was pretty unlucky to have a rear tyre fail close tro the finish.

Tough break 2: Firman's downer came at the very start - he was caught up in the tail end of the first corner fiasco.

Evolution rather than Revolution in Germany

With a rash of major changes introduced at Silverstone, Hockenheim saw some refinements of them. While the old Hockenheim was a compromise between low downforce for the long straights and good grip for the stadium section, the whole of the revised course is very much a medium downforce circuit, quite similar to Silverstone and Magny Cours.

The Williams FW25 sported the

etsew 6 August 2003

revised engine cover that looks like a ‘patchwork’ of various solutions already seen on this car, including the latest shark fin introduced at Silverstone.

The difference from the previous version of this element is the fact that the rearmost section of this fin now doesn't extends vertically (in a sort of shark fin) right in front of the rear wing, but still remains as a continues fin, for all the length of the engine cover. This version still provides benefit to the rear wing efficiency and New generates less drag in / the corners.

The winglets on the top of the sidepods also sported their fourth version. They are now doubled-up, but the upper profile is now not horizontal but inclined downwards to the centre of the car.

The side chimneys

smaller in comparison to their previous version.

The front end of the Toyota (A) has been compietely changed again foliowing the introduction on the new front wing in England.

In fact now the TF103 doesn't use the traditional barge boards in front of the sidepods, but advanced barge boards inside the font suspension in a similar fashion to the Williams, coupled with horizontal fins in front of the sidepods.

In detail the new barge boards are made up of by two elements, with the bigger one in front of the second, featuring a sort of step down to the reference plane in the central 50 cm area, allowed by the rules. Furthermore, the fins in font of the sidepods are not in a single piece, but in two separate elements each side, improving consistently the air flow directed to the bottom of the car.

The Sauber C22 also sported revised shields (B) featuring a

frontal extension diverging to the rear, creating a channel on the bottom side of the turning vane. This is very much like the barge boards of the 2001 McLaren MP4/16. Of course this solution, as in the ease of Toyota, improves the airflow directed to the bottom of the car and keep turbulence far away from it.

MoLaren, as in Canada, adapted the front suspension of the MP4/18, featuring vertical calipers (C) instead of the standard, placed horizontally under the disks. This change is due to the heavy braking requirements at the new Hockenheim, as in Montreal.

While this slightly compromises the centre of gravity position, it is balanced by the weight reduction of the front upright, now even stiffer than before.

- PAOLO FILISETTI 51

2003 FIA Formula One World Championship

FORMULA!

WORLD

2003 German Grand PHx - Overall Race Classification after 67 laps - 306.458 kms - Provisional No. 3

Driver

Nat

Juan Pablo Montoya David Coulthard Jarno Truth

5 7

8 Fernando Alonso 20 Olivier Panis’ 21 Cristiano Da Matta 1 Michael Schumacher 17 Jenson Button 16 Jacques Vilieneuve 9

Nick Heidfeld

14 Mark Webber 18 Nicolas Kiesa 11 Giancarlo Fisichelia

Entrant

Laps

Time

COL BMW WilliamsFl Team GBR West McLaren Mercedes

67 67

1:28:48.769 1:29:54.228

ITA ESP

67

1:29:57.829

67

1:29:58.113 1:29:03.793

Mild Seven Renault FI Team Mild Seven Renault FI Team

10 Heinz Harald Frentzen 2 Rubens Barricheiio

65.459 69.060

66 66

CAN Lucky slrike BAR Honda GER Sauber Petronas AUS Jaguar Racing

65 65 64 62

1:29:01.105 1:26:53.856

5 LAPS DNF

66 66

60

BRA Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro FIN West McLaren Mercedes IRL Jordan Ford

3 1 Juan Pablo Montoya

I COL I BMW WilliamsFl Team

00.284 1 LAP 04.638

1 LAP 1 LAP

19.419 35.580

1:29:03.268

2 LAPS

1:29:10.277 1:27:25.026

2 LAPS DNF

i LAP 7.009

1:30:03.430

Not Classified NED European Minardi Cosworth 23 0:33:49.071 GBR Jaguar Racing 6 0:15:38.141 GER BMW WilliamsFl Team 1 0:01:51.691 GER Sauber Petronas 1 0:02:21.895

6 Kimi Raikkonen 12 Ralph Firman

03.601

1 LAP 1 LAP

1:29:08.431 1:29:27.850

0

2 LAPS

Best

Lap

1:14.917 1:16.003

14

204.387 204.376 203.372 203.196 202.461 201.128 200.311 200.048 200.923 191.143 189.491

DNF

186.650

DNF

105.312

DNF DNF

147.427 116.045 205.111

DNF DNF

0 0

Kph 207.036 204.523

69.344

FRA Panasonic Toyota Racing BRA Panasonic Toyota Racing GER Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro GBR Lucky Strike BAR Honda

DEN European Minardi Cosworth ITA Jordan Ford

19 Jos Verstappen 15 Justin Wilson 4 Ralf Schumacher

Gap

1:15.740

14 13

1:16.060 1:15.883

34

16

1:16.051

35 36 41

1:16.081 1:17.430 1:18.235 1:18.036

65 10 46

1:17.754 1:20.171

26 51

1:18.145 1:20.399 1:19.441

6 3

198.043 198.765

DNF

Fastest Lap ■Suttpn-imagcs.ci

219.795

I 1:14.917 on lap 14

Drivers' Championship Points: M. Schumacher 71, Montoya 65, Raikkonen 62, R. Schumacher 53, Barricheiio 49, Alonso 44, Coulthard 41, Trulli 22, Webber 12, Button 12, Fisichelia 10, da Matta 8, Frentzen 7, Panis 6, Vilieneuve 3, Heidfeld 2 and Firman 1.

\

Constructors' Championship Points: Ferrari 120, Williams BMW 118, McLaren

w

Mercedes Benz 103, Renault 66, BAR Honda 15, Toyota 14, Jaguar 12, Jordan Ford 11, Sauber Petronas 9,

Grand Prix of

Germany

August 3 2003 Grid Position/Driver

Nat Car

1 Juan Pablo Montoya

COL Williams

2 Ralf Schumacher

GER Williams

3 Rubens Barricheiio

BRA Ferrari

4

ITA

Renault McLaren

Jarno Trulli

5 Kimi Raikkonen

FIN

6 Michael Schumacher

GER Ferrari

7 Olivier Panis

FRA Toyota

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BRA Toyota

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10 i David Coulthard

GBR McLaren

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ITA Jordan

13! Jacques Vilieneuve

CAN BAR

14 Heinz-Harald Frentzen

GER Sauber

15 Nick Heidfeld

GER Sauber

16 Justin Wilson

GBR Jaguar

17 Jenson Button

GBR BAR

18 Ralph Firman

IRL

19 Jos Verstappen

NED Minardi

20 Nicolas Kiesa

GBR Minardi

52

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9 Cristiano Da Matta

121 Giancarlo Fisichelia

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FORMULA!

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11! Mark Webber

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20 moiorsport news

FORMULA -I 5ufron*^^es.

Mark Vltebber^ German Diar1 'ii

I

f there's a track which exposes you if you've got the slightest tyre degradation problem, it's Hockenheim and we paid the frustrating price for that last weekend.

In the end, each stint in the race became slightly predictable, in that our car is pretty competitive while the rubber is fresh, but once the rears start to go away, you're into a vicious circle - the more you try to compensate for it, the worse it gets.

The whole art of vehicle dynamics is, as I have learned, very, very complex and we just have to keep plugging away until we come up with the right answers to overcome this problem Toyota is a good example of a team which has (no small thanks to a mega budget) worked its butt off to overcome some similar problems. From a similar rear degradation problem as recently as Canada, they have made solid progress and were rewarded for it on Sunday.

For our part, our weekends

continue to start promisingly and gradually drop away.

That, believe me, is frustrating.

When you explain the basic situation to anyone, it sounds quite simple. But, believe me, it's not, or we would have cracked it by nowl

W

e did a mountain of work on Friday and Saturday trying to find a reasonable set-up to run with the softer Michelin option. By carefully bedding a couple of sets, we thought we would be okay, but when we put one of them through a long-ish run, the old problem re appeared.

We thus had no choice but to go with the harder tyre, albeit with limited time to set the car up substantially differently for it.

Friday qualifying was, of course, run with everyone on their soft option and I was pretty pleased with my lap, and fourth spot.

Saturday was of course on the harder race rubber, and following our decision to go with a twostop strategy, we had more fuel

on than most.

That aside, it was a pretty mega lap, I thought, until the last two corners, when ... well, I asked just a bit much from the rears and ended up pioneering a new line around the outside of the last double right-hander.

It cost me three or four-tenths - the difference between P7 and where I ended up, 11th. saw the fist corner shunt starting to happen and headed right to the inside, figuring the crash was going to head the other way and on this occasion it was the right thing to,do. I was sixth out of turn one and passed DC at turn two after he left a gap as he had a go at Michael.

At this point, and for a few laps after the Safety Car, it probably looked quite good, but it was never, unfortunately, going to last. The rest of the first stint was a struggle, the second stint even worse, although the third was a bit better for longer because we put a set of tyres on that had been bedded for quite a while. When the rears go away, so does your braking and your drive out of the corners. You're sitting there, listening to the TC (traction control) doing its best to compensate ...

I had to have a go at Jenson on the last lap. We were closely No free drinks here, mate: It might have got tougher each lap, but Mark held da Matta at bay throughout the first stint - the Toyotas looked after their rubber better, though, and scored the team^s best result by far.

Su1ton-images.com

Sutton-imai’ef.com l

Combating the heat: Mark took on plenty of pre-race fluids, but in the end it was the rear tyres which gave out and the car had to be excavated from the sand! matched throughout the whole race, but I'd used the leaders to tow myself up onto his tail. He was eighth, the last pointsscorer, so there was absolutely nothing to lose.

There was no point in just sitting there, so I had a go as we came into the stadium for the last time, but there just wasn't quite enough rear grip when it mattered - so I ended up nosing into the barriers. No harm done and I'd try it again under similar circumstances.

We get anBudapest, extra week offactually now before then there's the Monza test, which is a crucial one for us. After Budapest, I'm also managing to get a day away at the World Rowing Championships, to catch up with and support my friend James Tomkins. guess I also have to comment about the Williams rumours which have been a bit rampant over the past week or two. FI is full of rumours all the time and that's something we all have to get used to.

But I'm a Jaguar man. I committed to the team early and for a very good reason. The challenge of helping them try and break into the front end of the grid is a big one and it's one that appeals to me. That pretty much says it all I think.

53

iConica VS Supercar Series —Wlnton “T?‘i^

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Andy Jones got his first V8 Supercar rum out the fifth round of the Konica Series. but third outright was enough to secu

Cl

PHIL BRANAGAN made ti

I

T was a day of firsts at Winton's penultimate round of the Konica V8 Supercar Series, with Andrew Jones breaking through for his first roimd win.

While Brad's nephew and Kim's son was racking up a maiden win for himself,he also delivered the first win for Brad Jones Racing in either V8 Supercar series,even if he was dirty on himself for what he perceived as a sub-par qualifying performance.

While AJ was on the top step of the podium,perhaps the biggest grin belonged to the bloke in third, Mark Winterbottom. Stone Brothers Racing's star rookie was stunning in qualifying, taking pole by a minute (by V8 Supercar standards)but had to overcome losing an engine in the Sunday warm-up,and a subsequent rear-of-grid Race 1 start, to seal the Konica title in his first year out of Formula Fords.

Matthew White battled set-up problems all weekend to take second overall in the Gulf Western Falcon, while Owen Kelly was the only Holden driver to challenge the Falcons in the Smith Trucks Commodore after a myriad of incidents accounted for anyone else who had ideas of spraying champagne aroimd as the sun started to set on Simday evening.

The score in the four editions of the KV8SS is now Holden 2champions (Simon Wills and Paul Dumbrell)and Ford 2(Dean Canto and Winterbottom). But the lads at SBR are probably not resting on their laurels as yet; nor, maybe,have they stopped making extensions to their (bulging) trophy cabinet yet...

Race 1(14 laps) After his emphatic performance, the qualifying most significant thing that could stop Winterbottom was a mechanical failure in the race, right?

Wrong. He had a mechanical failure in the warm-up. While the other drivers dealt with a long stripe of Havoline on the main straight.

Mark thoughtfully peeled off in sight of the Motorsport News sign in the Esses with a blown Henry. After a similar failure at Phillip Island, the Stone crew were capable of doing a quick change but there was a niggle or two during the 80-minute process and Winterbottom was forced start from pit lane.

Worse,he has a snagged fuel injector and ran the race from the rear to 13th on seven cylinders.

With the poleman accounted for,it was straight fight between the other two AUs,Jones and White. Andy missed the start but hauled alongside to win the lead at Turn 1 and that was that; he set a lap record,the only lap in the 24s, and cruised home to a near-8s win.

White was second from Brede, who slated more changes to overcome a lack of rear grip to the HYL VT after the race, and Luke Youlden. Team-mate Tony D'Alberto was a lap down after an off at Penrite.

Youlden was fourth, dear of the steady Todd Wanless and Peter Gazzard. The big loser in the race was Kelly; after having been caught

vs SUPERCARS

vith the Joneses

: on the board by taking Jt Winton last weekend, V Mark Winterbottom's aim to the 2003 crown, o trip to central Victoria First of many, no doubt: )ones and White waste a few litres of bubbly, right, while Winterbottom, below, might be in celebration mode for some time after securing the title. up in a first-comer melee with Clyde Lawrence,D'Alberto and Tony Ricdardello,Owen limped in with a flat. When he resumed,he had a further clash,this time with old sparring partner Mark Porter.

"I was being polite with Brede," he explained."I got through and did not hang him out, but that put me on the outside of the next comer.I gave him room but he just drove into me and broke the wheel. He's a..."

Sorry Owen,not m a family magazine.

Race 2(Reverse Grid, 14 laps) Kelly's Race 1 mishaps produced a boon for Race 2; a front row start.

AU he had to do was get away,not do anything stupid and hang on.

Those things, he aU managed;despite

l ..4 ‘I

having an 8s lead evaporate when a Safety Car was summoned,he made a good restart to win by 1.2s.

The action started on the opening lap. David Thexton and Tim Rouse went to grass at the MNews Esses, while Kevin Munday and Adam Wallis waited until the final comer of the first lap.

Once the cars'speed started to settle the order. Porter moved mto second,clear of Winterbottom, who made life hard to himself at the start, losing two spots("that's pretty good for me," he grinned later) before moxmting the assault that would take him to third,aided by the car

running on all eight cylinders.

He had looked like mounting a charge for Porter's second until running wide,almost sending the Milligan's AU into the pit entry

f

II

Genuine % the price of ali iippan Harnesses

l*

/

before leaving him to settle for second and a second-row for the final race. continued on page 58

31

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Marcus Ambrose will be out to continue his winning run, but he will have a full 32-car grid of other Falcons and Commodores all trying to stop him!

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Can't ToiM^ <

31 Konica V8 drivers were left to look rather sheepish after Mark VUinterbottoiin's scorching pole position lap at Winton on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Stone Brothers driver gunned around to secure his fourth pole of the year from five attempts. The time would have placed Winterbottom 10th on the 'Main Game'Supercar grid , and none of his rivals came within coo-ee of the Milligains Food Falcon.

In fact, his second and third best times were good enough for pole as well, just to stamp his claim.

"I'm happy with that," said the unassuming series leader.

"It was a really good run and the car was good."

After his pole time.

Winterbottom actually had a radio problem, and stayed out a few laps too long on his second set of tyres "I'm a bit blind, I think. I didn't see the guys waving me in and I ran a couple of laps too many ..."

Regardless, his time could not be touched.

Phillip Island round winner Matthew White was the best of the rest, just edging out a disappointed Andrew Jones.

White, who tested at the circuit two weeks ago, was adamant he could have gone quicker.

We tried a different set-up and thought it might have been better," said White, below. "But in hindsight it hasn't been. We simply didn't get enough out of the new tyres."

Hyrdralink Commodore steerer Mark Porter grabbed the fourth fastest time after some dramas in both practice sessions.

Flolden Young Lion Dale Brede rounded out the top five, but said he may need a rope tied to the back of Winterbottom's Falcon to stay with him.

Flowever, Brede was confident his HYL Commodore could net a good rsult with it's consistent race pace.

Kevin Mundy's Actron Air Falcon set his quickest time on his last flying lap and was the only runner from the bottom 50 percent group to remain in the top 10, and 10th is where he would start.

After missing Phillip Island due to business commitments.

Todd Wanless was surprisingly fast in his Metalcorp Falcon.

The oval track racer qualifyed a season-best seventh.

Luck refuses to join Owen Kelly in 2003. After setting just one quick lap, his gearbox decided not to play the game and would start from sixth. A mere consolation after a

shattering session.

Steve Owen and Luke Youlden were a couple of frontrunner struggling to find speed in their respective mounts, but qualifying in the top 10 ensured they'd be in the thick of the action come Race 1.

Dick Johnson Racing's Tony Ricciardello could not match his exeptional Sport Sedan pole position pace in his Falcon and qualifyed a poor 11th.

A misunderstanding between Jose Fernandez and his team saw the Fijitsu Falcon appear on the track before the his qualifying session started.

Robert Jones Adam Wailis Shane Beikoff David Thexton Derek Van Zeim Tony Evangelou Tim Rowse Clyde Lawrence Tim Gordon Graham Crawford

Fernandez re-joined the circuit with two ainutes remainingiiin the bottom 50 percent qualifying session when he was supposed to be in the fast guys session.

The misdemeanour meant he was forced to start Race 1 from the back of the field.

17-year-old Tony D'Alberto produced his best grid position position of the year, claiming 14th in the second HYL car.

Grant Elliot's weekend went from bad to worse when his VS Commodore broke a tailshaft, forcing him to pull off the circuit at the sweeper.

- GRANT ROWLEY

Spies Hecker Racing Commodore VX Sydney Star Racing Falcon AU Shane Beikoff Racing Falcon EL Thexton Motor Racing Falcon AU Motorsport Engineering Service VT ANT Racing Commodore VS V8 Racing Commodore VS Karingal Haulage Commodore VX First State/TGM Falcon AU Terry Wyhoon Racing Falcon EL

Rounds

lm27.1006s 1m27,1649s lm27,4156s Im27i5465s lm27.5480s lm27.6313s lm27.9146s lm28,2210s lm28,9070s lm29,3692s

Winton

Koniica US Supercar Series — WInton

Konica V8s Rd5 winvon

Race 1 (14 laps) POS DBIUER RACE TIME/UPS FASTEST 1 A. Jones 20m02.8368s 1m24.9149s* 2 White 20ml0.3989s lm25.3426s 3 Brede 20m16.1863s 1m26.0077s 4 Youlden 20m 18.0663s 1m26.0882s 5 Wanless 20m24.1763s lm26.0132s 6 Gazzard 20m27.3123s lm26.3939s 7 Marshall 20m28.3413s lm26.3513s 20m34.4131s lm26.7450s 8 Mundy 9 Elliott 2Qm38.0103s lm27.2121s 10 Russell 20m40.8221s 1m27.1987s 11 Peters 20m44.6096s 1m27.1087s 20m45.1848s lm2B.9759s 12 Whyoon 13 Winterbottom 20m47.19B7s lm25.5069s 20m53.3443s lm26.8842s 14 Bastian 20m53.9159s 1m26.7895s 15 Wallis 21m08.4028s 1m28.2759s 16 Rowse 21m09.7736s 1m28.2097s 17 Thexton 21m14.5617s lm27.5050s 18 R.Jones 21m20.1027s lm27.3949s 19 Miller# 21m20.4651s 1m28.9039s 20 Evangelou 21m20.7388s lm28.3357s 21 Beikoff 21m23.4473s 1m27.7487s 22 Howard 23 Gordon 13 laps lm29.8044s 24 Porter 13 laps lm26.2838s 13 laps lm25.3029s 25 Kelly 26 Doulman 12 laps 1m27.6668s DNF D'Alberto 6 laps 1m28.5631s ONE Owen DNF VanZelm DNF Lawrence DNF Ricciardello # include time penalty of 27s

Race 2(14 laps Reueise Grid)

25ml4.3012s lm25.4318s 1 Kelly 25ml5.5143s lm25.9783s 2 Porter 3 Winterbottom 25m15.7796s 1m25.l058s 25m20.1179s 1m26.7791s 4 Whyoon 25m21.6752s lm26.8184s 5 A. Jones 25m23.0437s lm26.6046s 6 Owen 25m23.7916s lm27.3679s 7 Bastian 8 Ricciardello 25m24.0488s lm26.4025s 25m24.8930s lm26.3419s 9 White 25m26.9853s lm27.1718s 10 Wallis 25m27.3690s 1m27.1107s n R.Jones 25m28.3669s lm27.2400s 12 Gazzard 25m28.8376s lm27.0564s 13 Youlden 25m31,4836s lm28.2072s 14 Howard 25m32.8629s lm27.3122s 15 Miller 16 Evangelou 25m34.3905s lm27,7828s 25m36.0926s lm27.1660s 17 Marshall 25m37.0646s 1m28.2529s 18 Russell 25m37.2969s lm28.5512s 19 Elliott 25m40.4932s lm29.6026s 20 Gordon 25m42.1008s lm27.8869s 21 Van Zelm 25m45.0101s lm27.8965s 22 Peters 23 Thexton 14 laps lm28.4598s DNF Doulman 13 laps lm27.1626s DNF Brede 6 laps lm27.2407s DNF Beikoff Slaps lm29.4391s DNF Wanless Slaps lm27.9784s 1 laps lmS6.9008s DNF Mundy DNF Rowse

Race 3(28 laps)

48m41.3254slm24.7626s* 1 A. Jones 2 Winterbottom48m42.6550s 1 m24.9289s 48m44.60G8s lm25.0285s 3 Kelly 4 White 48m47.3819s lm25.3634s 48m50.3912s lm25.9506s 5 Owen 48m51.8536s lm25.8655s 6 Youlden 48m57.3455s lm26.4997s 7 Brede 48m58.0323s lm26.9290s 8 Peters 48m58.6757s lm2B.5605s 9 Mundy 49tn02.6720s lm27.0492s 10 Bastian 11 Russell 49m04.6328s lm27.0314s 12 Doulman 49ml0.9444s lm27.9305s 49m11.7592s lm28.0976s 13 Rowse 49m12.345ls lm27.6755s 14 R. Jones 49ml4.4667s lm27.1306s 15 Whyoon 16 Howard 49ml8.6215s lm27.6992s 49m25.9775s 1m28.5354s 17 Thexton 18 Gordon 49m35.5077s lm29.1960s 49m40.5948s lm28.4244s 19 VanZelm 20 Wanless 27 laps lm26.7452s 21 Wallis 28 laps Im27.l212s 22 Miller 28 laps lm29.0418s 26 laps lm28.4684s 23 Evangelou DNF Marshall 24 laps lm26.5992s DNF Porter 12 laps lm26.6635s DNF Gazzard 12 laps lm26.6069s DNF Elliott 9 laps lm27.3902s DNF Ricciardello 9 laps lm26.8356s Points: Winterbottom 892, White 852, Porter 706, Kelly 680, Peters 670, Youlden 666, Gazzard 658, Mundy 612, Brede 604, A. Jones 540.

Points after dropping worst wound: Winterbottom 732, White 690, Porter 610, Kelly 604, Peters 576, Youlden 588, Gazzard 568, Mundy 530, Brede 544, A. Jones 486.

58

continued from page 55 Jones made it aE the way up to fourth behind the impressive Terry Wyhoon Falcon, whEe Craig Bastian latched onto the rear of the BOC car

We sponsor this corner for a reason: All hell breaks loose at the MNews Esses, above, while Brede was struggling in the HYL machine with some dramas of his own, below.

for a strong fifth.

The Safety Car was prompted by a four-car melee,Peter Doulman, Robbie Jones, Marcus MarshaE and Luke Youlden spearing off at the Esses in,roughly,synchronisation.

Brede had a clang with Gazzard early on,leaving the HYL Commodore smoking around with broken suspension,causing the tyre to rub on the machine-gun inner panel.

Race 3(24 laps) So, thedecision round? time.

CouldCoiEd WhiteJones keepwin the series ahve? Would it be another round of'Formula Ford'?

It certainly looked that way. White and Wyhoon made the best of the start, out-leaping thek row partners Jones and Winterbottom respectively, but Terry's bid for the podium was short-Eved, a haH-lose dropping him two place on the opening lap. Worse wastofoEow ...

WhEe he was going backwards, the man going forwards was KeEy. Starting 10th, thanks to his opening race problems,the Tasmanian was fourth by the end of lap 2 and looked, for a time,capable of passing aE three cars in front of him.

The AUs shuffled positions.

White's set-up problems leaving gaps for first Jones (for the lead) and Winterbottom to exploit. Jones opened the gap to Is before the Safety Car was summoned again.

MarshaE and Porter had been

The when third Van Safety ZehnCar lostwas it and prompted backed his VT into the tyre waE at the end of Dunlop Straight. Winterbottom got close enough for a sniff at the lead when Jones was slowed whEe trying to clear a yeEow to lap a backmarker but,in the end,both men would get their firsts at the end of the race.

Jones was thriEed to be Brad Jones Racing's first V8 Supercar round winner; "I don't think Brad wiE be too

together at the Esses, but the Audi was in action because of EEiot, off on the other side of the Esses after a

happy with that," he said cheekEy. // Too bad! I was keeping it pretty conservative,just cruising around."

Second on the day. White rued his decision to change *e car from the set-up Briggs Motorsport had raced it with at Winton last season; "We persisted with it aE weekend and,in hindsight, it probably wasn't the right decision," he mused.

For his part, Winterbottom was rapt to have tlurd after his morning drama,and to have won his and SBR's first title.

clang with RicciardeEo. Then there was another Safety Car after Porter got in a tangle at Kuhmo and was hit by the surprised Wyhoon. The ex-00 car copped a stoved in front and rear but survived to finish, though it looked like it had been in Iraq.

"I'd just like to thank Ross and Jimmy," he grinned."They took a chance when they gave me this drive straight out of Formula Ford."

Maybe,but seating the title with a n round in hand,and giving them an obvious enduro driver,is one heE of a way to show your gratitude.

Kelly was third in the race ahead of White, with Owen running home fifth. One of the best performances of the weekend came from Youlden.

Not entirely happy with the Super Cheap car, he stormed though the pack from the rear, involving himself for a whEe in the entertaining Brede versus MarshaE versus Owen battle, which was raging for laps. Luke cleared the pack and zoomed all the way to sixth, a strong result in a race in which the cars lined up in, roughly, order of performance.

The beleaguered Brede took seventh ahead of Brett Peters, while Munday followed home in ninth.

The series may be decided but there is still plenty to play for at the final round at Mallala. The form of Jones, White and Kelly,in particular, mean that Winterbottom will have to put the end of season celebrations on hold for a while yet.

And that disregards the fact that all of those drivers, plus others, have three dates to pencil in after that; Level 1 endurance drives at Sandown and Bathurst, and the 25lap Koitica bash around the mountain on Saturday of race week.

The series is delivering on its promise to develop talented V8 Supercar drivers, and then some ...

moiorsport news

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Sebastien

Sebastien Loeb scored his maiden win in last year's Rally Deutschland, and he backed it up in 2003- but only by the smallest of margins. JON THOMSON reports

CITROEN'S Sebastien Loeb has recorded his third WRC win in a drama-packed German round of the Championship, putting in a determined drive to hold on and again underline his credentials as a future world champion.

What made his victory all the more creditable was the fact that he very nearly saw his victory washed away into the Moselle Valley, with a late torrential downpour soaking the stages and allowing rival Marcus Gronhokn back into contention.

However the cool-headed Alsatian was able to hold on and record his second consecutive German rally victor}' by a mere 3.6s in a dramapacked final leg.

Loeb again proved to be the current master of tarmac rallies, blasting his Citroen to the lead on the second leg and fending off the challenge of Gronhokn to take the win.

Gronhokn made a rare unforced error on the final day, clouting a curb and Icnocking his Peugeot's wheel

the process and almost certainly costing him the win.

Loeb,running well back on the road as the overnight leader, lost a lot of time when he was caught out on dry tyres in the last day downpour, conceding almost 30s in the process.

The last day of the rally was badly affected by the sudden mid-summer rain storm dumping a huge amount of water on the tarmac as well as washing thick mud across corners, making it a disaster for those caught out between stages on slicks.

Richard Bums's role as Mr Consistent,scoring points in all but one round so far tliis year, continued with the Championship leader taking the final podium position after leading the rally at the end of Leg 1.

Burns, however,seemed unable to match the pure speed of Loeb and Gronhokn and will be looking forward to a return to gravel surfaces for the next few rounds to bolster his bid for a second championship.

Loeb may not have set any fastest times, but he brought the Xsara home

off the reigning world Champion.

"It is a fantastic result to win this event again," said a jubilant Loeb.

"The fight with Marcus through the last few stages was amazing.

"I thought we had enough going into the last stage. But then I saw the split time and knew I was only three seconds ahead. I had to put in the maximum attack for the last part but it worked."

Burns battled Colin McRae through the final day with the former teammates and traditional rivals going blow for blow. McRae spun at the end of the first loop on the final day after setting fastest times on two stages, but would finish behind Bums in fourth place.

"We got some luck with the weather on that first loop on the final leg, but it was about time after the way we kept catching the worse of it on Day 2," said Burns.

"It was only drizzling for us on part of the stage. The spin was a real shame this morning; prior to that we'd been up on Colin. From there it

fmtsh and a tough rally, but a pleasing result."

Carlos Sainz was also stuck in a final day fight, trading times with Ford's Francois Duval. Sainz was never at ease during the aU-tarmac event but in the end was sixth, beating his former team-mate by 9.5s.

"I'm quite glad to get this rally finished," Sainz admitted.

"It hasn't been the best for me,but you have some rallies Uke this. Today has been a big fight with Francois, which has made the final day mo£|H ●i I

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WRC

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interesting."

Ford could take some consolation from Markko Martin's storming run on the final two legs,taking 10 fastest stage times on the way to fifth, handicapped by mechanical problems with the Focus.

Despite this, Martin,above left, was named star of the rally for his storming drive when the car was working properly.

The Estonian climbed from 10th to third on Day 2, only to have a shaft between the front and centre differentials snap on the second stage of the final leg.

If that wasn't enough,co-driver Michael Park struggled with an illness throughout the final day.

Gilles Panizzi, the man that many experts thought would lead the Peugeot charge as its hard surface specialist, was never in the groove.

The Frenchman was at a loss to explain the suspension trouble that

slowed him on the final day, but it cost him enough time to drop him well down the order behind Fetter Solberg and semi-works Peugeot driver Cedric Robert to finish in tenth.

If it was an ordinary rally for Panizzi it was a truly dismal event for Subaru,losing Tommi Makinen at the end of the first leg, while Fetter Solberg battled a virus on the first two legs. Solberg also struggled with car set-up on dry tarmac to take eighth behind Duval.

Skoda's new Fabia WRC looked the goods but never really had a chance to strut its stuff on the German tarmac, with Didier Auriol retiring with a failed engine on the first leg and Toni Gardermeister going out with a broken rear driveshaft on the second leg.

Spain's Dani Sola in a Mitsubishi Evo Vn took the Production car win ahead of Britain's Martin Rowe in a Subaru.

With just a two-week break, the Championship moves from tarmac back to gravel for the jewel in the WRC crown, the Rally of Finland on

August 8, where Gronholm,above, will be making his strongest effort to overhaul his team-mate Burns's lead in the title chase.

;V'ToT/

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen Richard Burns/Robert Reid Colin McRae/Derek Ringer Markko Martin/Martin Park Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Francois Duval/Stephan Prevot Fetter Solberg/Phillip Mills

Citroen Xsara Peugeot 206 Peugeot 206 Citroen Xsara Ford Focus Citroen Xsara Ford Focus Subaru WRX

r A. 3h46m50,4s 3h46m54.0s 3h47ml0.1s 3h47m21.8s 3h47m48.3s 3h48m29.0s 3h48m38,5s 3h49m20.6s

Drivers Championship points: Burns 43, Sainz 39, Gronholm 38, Loeb 33, Solberg 30, McRae 28, Martin 27,Rovanpera 16, Makinen 15, Manufacturers Championship points: Peugeot 95, Citroen 88, Ford 50, Subaru 49, Skoda 20, Hyundai 7.

WRG Round 8 Rally Deutschland

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307 WRC is Go Colin:Top Tea AFTER months of denials and avoiding the question, Peugeot has finally had its hand forced and admitted to its plans to develop a new World Rally Car based on its 307 model.

Faced with spy pictures of the car published in leading French sports daily L'Equipe, Peugeot Sport Director Corrado Provera was forced to concede that the company was well advanced in

;

its plans to shift up a size.

The photos proved the worstkept secret in the rally world: that the 307 World Rally Car actually exists.

The photo that appeared in L’Equipe was apparently snapped at the Ales racetrack in southern France, which Peugeot had privately hired for testing.

An indignant Provera, left, while admitting that the car was under development, accused the French paper of theft.

■‘This photo has been stolen by someone who wants to make some money," Provera said.

‘Of course, this is confirmation that we are working on a new rally car on the 307 base. The target is to be ready with this car for the start of next season.

Peugeot’s move also adds fuel to the rumours that the WRC is looking to move the car size up a level for all makers.

Mitsubishi has apparently scrapped plans to run with its smaller Colt and will run with an updated version of its Lancer when it returns to the WRC next season.

- JON THOMSON

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FOLLOWING Sebastien Loeb's win

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in Germany and the better track record of Carlos Sainz so far this

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year, the third Citroen team driver, former champion Colin McRae, appears to be facing an increasingly tough battle to retain his seat at the French team in 2004.

McRae has added fuel to the fire

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by coming out and declaring that he would consider retiring at the end of the season if he cannot secure a top level drive next year.

"I'm not thinking in terms of

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Dave goes in to bat

TV rights holder David Richards has warned the WRC against expanding too rapidly.

The manufacturers are believed to have delegated their votes to Richards for last week's WRC meeting, and he voiced their concerns over rapid expansion.

"There isn't a team here that isn't looking to reduce costs, and from a TV point of view, maintaining the quality and raising incremental costs isn't ideal. I couldn't afford it at the moment," said Richards, right.

"It would make the disparities between the haves and the have-nots greater and that is not in the interests of the World Championship. It shouldn't be interpreted as a reluctance to change. This is a championship and a group of people who've embraced change more than

Tommi going home?

8 I I

THE debut of Skoda's new Fabia WRC may not have netted a I finish in Germany but the performance of the cars while they I were going impressed many observers.

I Both Didier Auriol and Toni Gardermeister outpaced the ■ struggling but well-established Flyundais, although Auriol went out with a broken engine on Day 1 and Gardermiester with a broken driveshaft on Day 2.

The team ran with completely different transmissions in both cars. World Rally Car rules permit the homologation of two gearboxes, so Skoda ran Auriol's car with an Xtrac system and Gardemeister's with a Swedish-made Carlsson type.

Both use hydraulically controlled differentials and six speeds, but were otherwise entirely different. Auriol's had a semi-automatic gearchange and active differential control, while Gardemeister's was manual, and had passive differentials with a Celica-style 'hang-on' clutch at the rear to aid use of the handbrake.

Both cars, however, will use Xtrac systems in Finland.

- JON THOMSON 62

any other in motorsport over the last five years."

The WRC has scheduled a further meeting in Finland just prior to the next round, where it is hoped that a solution and format for 2004 will be finalised.

- JON THOMSON

. .1 3

A REUNION could be on the cards between Mitsubishi and Tommi Makinen.

Makinen, whose future with Subaru is far from certain, was spotted in discussion with Mitsubishi's Andrew Cowan at the Rally Deutschland.

While Cowan said that the team's 2004 plans were not yet finalised, he did not discount the possibility that Makinen could return to the fold.

"We've not signed any drivers so far, because our strategyhasn't yet been decided," said Cowan. "We're committed to bringing on young drivers, but it stands to reason that if we have a young driver we might need somebody experienced alongside him."

Several drivers have been linked with a Mitsubishi drive in 2004, including Gilles Panizzi and up-andcomers Jani Paasonen, Kristian Sohlberg, and Dani Sola. motorsport news

RALLYING

m,or No Team At All

1.

retirement," said McRae. I'm thinking in terms of getting one of the top cars, but if I couldn't, it would be enough.

"I don't want to go back and drive for a second-division team."

With his Citroen contract expiring at the end of the year and a change in the driver nomination rules, McRae appears to have limited options.

Citroen has already signed Loeb, and will be obliged to dispose of either McRae or Sainz.

- JON THOMSON

sutton-imagi

So many unknowns WITH the arguments continuing over changes to the format of the World Rally Championship,the World Rallies Commission has delayed a decision on exactly what and how changes will be made to the Series.

At its meeting in Germany just prior to the Rally Deutschland, the WRC failed to arrive at any firm conclusions about the form of next year's championship, or about the contentious recce issues under discussion.

The Commission has agreed 'in principle' to a 16-round series, but has yet to officially ratify the change.

The WRC has also accepted the long-term objective of practicing with rally cars, but again has yet to pass the decision into law. This is despite the ongoing objections by teams and drivers to changes to recce and gravel note rules.

The death of Mark Lovell in a rally crash in the USA, where gravel cars and recce are not allowed, has been cited as a reason why the current WRC practice rules

should continue.

Competitors are bitterly opposed on safety grounds and their opposition has been strengthened by the deaths of Lovell and nagivator Roger Freeman in the USA. "It is another concern about safey," Peugeot Sport Director Corrado Provera said.

"Look at what happened two weeks ago in the US.In the beginning, they (gravel note crews) were to improve performance, but now it is about safety. Common sense should prevail, not authoritarianism."

The teams argue that greater cost savings will come from maintaining a 14-round series rather than moving to a 16-round title.

Short-term change,including the idea of moving to airfreight immediately to facilitate expansion to 16 rounds, will also require completely new - arid expensive -freight equipment and service packs.

- JON THOMSON

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OOWM4.

Juha hospitalised

www.pedders.com.au

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I’edder Priorities SCOTT Redder could miss noxt weekend’s Cooper’s Pale Ale Rally SA as it clashes with the expected arrival of he and his wife Caroline’s first child.

The Victorian, who currently sits seventh inthe points tally, will send his car and team across to the Barossa Valley as planhed, but will have to wait to see when the newest member of the Redder clan decides to make its appearance before making a decision on whether to compete.

6 August 2003

JUHA Kankkunen is resting comfortably following emergency surgery last week.

The four-time world champion collapsed in his Espoo home and was rushed to hospital, where he underwent surgery for a stomach complaint.

Not so fast SEVERAL WRC drivers could find themselves being disallowed from driving on public stages at this year’s Rally GB after 20 were allegedly caught speeding at last year's event.

Armin Schwarz has already pleaded guilty to speeding, and according to solicitor Paul Trotman, most of the other drivers involved, including Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, Richard Burns, Tommi Makinen, Freddy Loix and Markko Martin, are expected to do so as well when their cases are heard later this year.

Loix was allegedly caught topping a SOmph limit on seven separate occasions in one day, while Burns has been accused of breaking 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70mph limits.

Linder English and Welsh law, if somebody is caught committing multiple breaches of the speed limit in one day, the points penalties accumulate. Once 12 points have been lost within a three-year period, an offender faces a possible disqualification from driving.

It is possible to avoid a licence suspension by pleading 'special circumstances’, which could include scenarios where the offender's livelihood is placed at risk by the removal of their licence, however a significantly higher fine is often imposed in its place. It is understood that in the case of the WRC drivers, this is the most likely outcome.

But you are also restricted to just one 'special circumstances' plea, so any who are caught speeding again this year will face certain suspension of their licence.

Prosecutions are also underway for the huge number of spectators caught speeding at last year's event.

Organisers for the Rally GB said that this year they will take steps to make more drivers aware of the speed limits.

"The organisers do everything possible to ensure that drivers and teams are aware of the local speed limits and have the greatest respect for local communities," they said. n Subaru has announced that it will back Rally Australia this year as official vehicle supplier to the Australian WRC round.

Nick Senior, General Manager Subaru Australia, said that the company is excited to be on board as an official partner.

Subaru has a long association with rallying in Australia and has won the last seven consecutive Australian Rally Championship Driver's titles, and four out of the last five Manufacturer's titles.

Subaru will be the Official VIP Vehicle Sponsor for this year's Perthbased rally providing Course Cars, set up vehicles and a range of other cars to help organisers run the event smoothly.

- JON THOMSON/STAFF 63

The 410 Issue

: PARRAlWIATTA City Raceway's decision to force Sydney Sprintcar racers to run 4T0ci ; engines continues to cause a I lot of debate and consternation I amongst teams and is set to i potentially cutPCR off from the i rest of the country.

All this - it seems - is being I done for an annual three-night I World of Outlaws show, and in i the alleged interests of reducing ; costs. ; The World of Outlaws are i considered the Formula One of ! speedway. The best drivers are ’ there and most new Sprintcar I technology is developed from ; within its ranks. However, like i Formula One, the fields have I been dwindling over the past i seasons as the cost of I; competing has grown beyond the reach or desire of many of I the well-funded teams. As a I result, fields at Outlaw shows are considerably lower. In : reality, there are only a handful i of full-time Outlaws chasing the ; entire championship.

So is this the way Australian ; Sprintcar competition should be j headed? ! Are 41 Os cheaper than 372s ; as many supporters argue? Not ; for brand-new ones. Leading US ' engine builders say the cost is ' the same for a brand new 372 as it is for a 410. However, ! there are far more used 41 Os ' available in the USA that can be purchased at a reasonable price.

But when it comes down to ; it, the top Aussie teams won't buy second-hand motors, meaning the cost to compete here at the top level won't be any different and so the ^ medium to budget teams will still struggle, even with 410's, ; to beat the top dogs, j As Brooke Tatnell wrote on this web site some time ago, I *Yes, there are cheap motors around but price isn't

I

everything. You have to consider just exactly what you are buying and how old it is?"

If Australia is to eventually fall into line with PCR and run 410s, then maybe the SCCA should consider a spec 410 similar or the same as the one that will be run by the 410 Sprint Bandits organisation.

The Sprint Bandits are poised to revitalise the upper echelons of US Sprintcar racing by specifying that the cars run Brodix developed series heads, specific wing rules such as set back, wicker bill and degree constraints, and of course, a control rear tyre.

According to series director Emmet Hahn: "teams can easily run a minimum of 20-25 races before refreshing their engines."

Currently Outlaws teams get (at best) six shows before a

rebuild is needed.

The Brodix heads have been specifically developed to significantly reduce the cost of 410ci engines as well as extend engine life. The result is that 410 Sprintcar racing becomes more affordable.

This, along with rear tyre width and compound rules, will aid in unhooking the cars, thus enabling the driver to become a greater part of the equation and give the punters better racing.

The end result will be a significantly more cost-effective and competitive form of 410 Sprint Car racing.

This is true for not only the competitors, but also promoters and the paying fan, who will get to enjoy vastly more competitive and entertaining racing at a reduced cost.

Something to think about...

- BRETT SWANSON

Aussi

by BRETT SWANSON AUSSIE speedway racers continue to show excellent form in the USA with Brooke Tatnell, Kerry Madsen and Adam Clarke all tasting Sprintcar success recently.

TatneU, who has been incredibly fast but unlucky recently, finally had some luck go his way when he won his the feature event at the daunting Belleville High Banks. Making the result even tougher was the fact that extreme winds due to impending tornado's actually forced the car to dart about on the track, leading Brooke to think that something had broken on the car. That was not the case and Brooke took the win when the race was flagged off a few laps early due to the wind.

Belleville was the highlight of a three night road show in which Tatnell starred.

Starting the weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma,Brooke was leading the feature easily when the engine broke a conrod.

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Is 4W pie future of Australian Sprintcars? Scherule's pit crew work on t will be a different powerplant this season ...

The following night, Brooke again dominated,leading 17 laps before dropping back to fourth. A determined late lunge saw him regain second place by the races end.

Adam Clarke also added his name to the list of winners back in May when he drove brother in law Steven Graham's car to the feature win at Cherokee Super Speedway in Gaffney,South Carolina. Clarke took the win against the American Outlaw Action Series regulars.

Aussie Champ Kerry Madsen backed up his recent IRA win with another feature, this time at West Liberty Raceway in the Muscatine County Fair Sprint Show.

Madsen started from pole and was able to take the chequered flag first. Madsen also scored three top 10 finishes against the Outlaws at his home base of Knoxville, including a fifth place finish.

Madsen also lucked out at the twin features night when he was leading the first feature up to the halfway point until his car failed to restart after a red light period. Apart from this DNF,Madsen has finished in the top 10 in all of his other features.

FeUow Knoxville based Aussie Skip Jackson has been miming consistently of late with numerous top 10 finishes.

Marty Perovich has found the going stateside extremely tough, struggling to graduate from the B-

molorsDort news

SPEEDWAY

lesin the Hunt mains on many occasions. He did however record a fourth place Amain finish at US 36 Raceway.

L}mton Jeffrey has been busy since taking his maiden US win. Jeffrey has recorded regular top 10 results, including a third and fifth at Husets Speedway.

In the midgets,Paul Farrell scored a sixth place finish at Indianapolis Speedrome which put him in the lead of Regional Midget Car Series Rookie standings.

Team-mate Ken Thomas just missed a top 10 finish when he ran home 11th at the same venue.

Paris Charles

1

Wanted: Go Fast Colours NEWLY formed South Australian 360ci Sprintcar team Steuart Brothers Racing are looking to make a maximum visual impact in their upcoming debut season in the SA 360ci Sprintcar ranks this summer and have invited the race fans to help with their quest.

Rookie Sprintcar driver John, brother Anthony and their SBR team are looking for some help in designing a paint scheme to don their SI5 SBR Maxim. John has run his Limited Sportsman in the past with a black and yellow flames design. The team feel for their new venture they would like to keep with black as the main colour, with a dash of red and silver.

“We want to keep it a fairly simple design but one that will stand out.” said John.

The winning war paint designer will be announced in a future edition of Speedway Racing News and rewarded with a photo of the car and invited to the SBR teams 2003/04 Sprintcar season launch. People wishing to submit designs can email them to Steuart Brothers Racing at johnsteuart@bigpond.com - PARIS CHARLES

Making us proud: Tatnell has produced some great results in the States, including a feature win recentley at Belleville High Banks.

Max Dumesny Motorsport Australian Distributors for

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NSW:02 9679 1990 l Fax 02 9679 1187 Via 03 9331 6477- Fax 03 9331 7444 SA:08 8332 0800 l Fax 08 8364 0296

NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY JULY 28 Donny Schatz

8.

Brian Paulus

15.

Danny LasoskI Paul McMahan

9.

Steve Kinser

46. Rick Lafferty 17. Bob Bennett

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Jason Meyers

11.

5.

Daryn Pittman

12. Trevor Lewis

6.

joey Saldana

13.

Fred Rahmer

7.

Billy Pauch

14.

Kevin Welsh

^^ RACING TIRE

For more IrrformtTtJon on Hoosier Drag and SpeedwayTyros calk

SOUTH Australia's Speedway City recently held their end of 2002/03 season presentation to honour Adelaide's top drivers from each of the divisions that competed at the venue.

372ci Sprintcar Driver and Rookie of the Year awards were won by young gun Luke Dilion who had a fantastic debut season, upsetting many of the established Sprintcar competitors aboard his S81 Metaicorp Eagle.

Fellow youngster Michael Burford had a great season amongst the 360ci ranks to win the 360ci Sprintcar Driver of the Year award.

Michael's father Dennis Burford also collected a Sprintcar award. Last but not least, rookie 360ci Sprintcar driver Damien Eve collected the Upside Down Award after a season of learning the Sprintcar craft the hard way aboard his SI7 Lightning Karts J&J, The Super Sedan racing was a close and hard fought affair going down to the wire, with two stalwarts tied for the Speedway City's Super Sedan Driver of the Year Award.

Veterans Steve Stewart and Rocky Caruso were inseparable and both received a new piece of hardware for their mantelpieces. The racing at the pointy end of the field over the summer was second to none in Australia, and proved why the Super Sedans are Australia's premier sedan division.

Reigning South Australian AMCA Nationals Champion Michael Miller was a cut above the rest of the competition, taking on all comers to take the 02/03 Speedway City AMCA Nationals Driver of the Year honour. Last but not least, Darren Flatmann in his SA 12 Rova Wreck Falcon was the dominant force amongst the huge field of Street Stock racers who did plenty of hard charging, paint swapping and panel beating throughout the season.

- PARIS CHARLES

2003 WORLD OF OUTLAWS CHAMPIONSHIP 1.

6 August 2003

South Aussie Winners Awarded

10. Lance Dewease Jason Sides

Dan Massey

18. Ed Aikin 19.

Brian Powell

20. Wade Hendrickson

1

2003 STANDINGS AUG 3

1 Danny Lasoski 2 Steve Kinser .

3 Joey Saldana..

4 Daryn Pittman 5 Donny Schatz.

6 Jason Sides ..

7 Brian Paulus..

8 Mark Kinser .

9 Paul McMahon 10 Tim Shaffer ..

6885 6882 6535 , 6413 6061 6007 5031 4963 4788 ,4136

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Randy Hannagan Jason Meyers ...

Kraig Kinser .... johnny Herrera .

Sammy Swindell.

Bob Bennelt ....

Jac Haudenschiid.

Jeremy Campbell.

Tyler Walker....

Craig Dollansky.

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Beat This!

FORD unveiled its 2004 Taurus Winston Cup car on July 31st.

The new car features a more sleek nose and rear end and will fit in with the three other marques’ jelly mould appearance. The announcement has been much anticipated by the Ford teams, who say they are struggling in the aero department compared to the other manufacturers who all had body changes prior to the start of the 2003 season.

Along with unveiling their new car, Ford also announced that it has signed Robert Yates Racing, Roush Racing and the Wood Brothers into five-year contracts, taking them out of the loop when Toyota plan to enter Cup in 2007.

- MARTIN D CLARK

ULDU

KEVIN Harvick won the 10th running of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, becoming the first driver to win the race from pole when he passed late race dominator Jamie McMurray on a restart with 16 laps remaining.

"I knew we had some fast cars on the inside and outside in front of us," said Harvick, who lead the first 17 and final ; 15 laps of the 160 laps event ; and held off Matt Kenseth by 2.7s.

"Jamie chose to go outside, and I dove on the inside and he got pinned behind the

j r\

700, Still counting

RICKY Rudd started his 700th consecutive Winston Cup race at Pocono on July 27th, a streak that started back at the now 'shopping mailed' Riverside Raceway in California in January of 1981.

Rudd's career started further back in 1975, but it wasn't until his 88th start at Riverside that the streak started. During that span, Rudd has 23 wins, 28 poles and 189 top five results. Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte are the only two current drivers to have amassed more starts than Rudd, Labonte at 765 and Elliott 715. Labonte stopped at 655 consecutive races in 2000.

Rudd started 27th at Pocono, finishing a disappointing 39th thanks to a blown Roush engine in his Wood Bros Ford.

- MARTIN D CLARK 66

*

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NASCAR has implemented a new ruling following three serious rear-end fires involving Ken Schrader, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte.

Starting at Michigan on August 17, all Cup, Busch and Trucks will be fitted with a boot fire extinguisher. The system will activate thermally, although can be overridden by the driver and releases a minimum of 10 pounds of halon. The capacities for the current in-car and under-bonnet systems have also been increased to five pounds for a sole in-car manual system or 10 pounds if the system controls under-bonnet extinguishing.

Several teams, including Penske, have been lobbying NASCAR for more effective and less toxic foam dispersing systems, but NASCAR will not approve them due to the cleanup problems they present on-track.

Meanwhile, NASCAR is looking into the design of a fuel cell at their research and development center that will not erupt on impact.

- MARTIN D CLARK

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NASCAR S

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lapped cars.

"To win the Brickyard 400 as our first race this year is awesome," Harvick continued.

1 can't explain it. I've got a picture hanging on my wall from when I was a kid that says, 'Good luck, I hope to see you here someday,' from Rick Mears. Damn if we aren't here in victory lane at the Brickyard!

I'm in awe right now."

The victory was the second for Richard Childress Racing at Indy, his first coming in 1995.

"We didn't need that last caution to come out," said a dejected McMurray, who ended a successful rookie day third.

Indiana native Tony Stewart had the dominant car, leading 60 laps through haifway, but trouble ^^Ste«iA/iTh an air wrench during one

'I

stop and taking right side tyres on what should have been his final stop, then pitting again for left side tyres, ended his day in 12th place.

The major incident of the race involved Dale Jarrett pitting in the first stall on pit road. The Yates Ford spun on pit road, hitting the team's jack man and long-time Yates employee John Bryan, who suffered leg, pelvis and shoulder injuries when he was slammed against pit wall.

The accident closed pit road and eventually brought out a lap 38 caution. Jeff Gordon, Kenseth and Kurt Busch had to pit while it was deemed 'closed' as they would have run dry of fuel. The trio was sent to the rear of the pack on the restart by NASCAR, but all rallied to finish in the top ten.

- MARTIN D CLARK Final result; Harvick (Chevy), Kenseth (Ford), McMurray (Dodge), J Gordon (Chevy), Elliott (Dodge), R Gordon (Chevy), Busch (Ford), Spencer (Dodge), Martin (Ford), R Wallace (Dodge).

Points standings; Kenseth 3152, Earnhardt Jr. 2886, J Gordon 2834.

Johnson 2856, Waltrip 2653, B Ubonte 2642, Harvick 2623, Busch 2569, Newman 2498, R Wallace 2467.

RYAN Newman captured his fourth win of the year at Pocono on Juiy 27.

Newman led the race from pole, tlien raced mid-pack before making a 5it stop gamble to head the final 44 aps and hold off a challenge from runner-up Kurt Busch, who fought back from suspension issues early in the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed his team-mate Michael Waltrip for tliird on track.

Newman pitted for the final time for two tyres and fuel on lap 154 of 200.

During the final 46 laps there were 14 caution laps,enough for Newman's Penske Dodge crew to retain track position.

"I knew we needed some caution laps and I was doing the best I could to save fuel, yet at the same time stay out front," Newman said.

"We did a lot of strategy, but the yeUow flag laps were just luck. We have to think the Gibbs guys,they kept blowing motors and giving us the cautions!"

Again it seemed the car out front had the advantage due to the dreaded aero push, where cars behind get trapped in an air Tiubble' they can't 6 August 2003

t V *

V-

ord edit

What rumours?

DALE Jarrett apparently has a signed contract with Robert Yates Racing through 2004, and says he has an option to stay longer.

The announcement is seen as an effort to squash rumours regarding him leaving the struggling team, and the possibility of Yates selling his operation to concentrate on engine building.

- MARTIN D CLARK

if you got ^em

Bouncing back JERRY Nadeau made an appearance at the track recently, but not behind the wheel of the MB2 Army sponsored Pontiac.

Nadeau who was injured at Richmond in May, was there to cheer on his team and chat with his fellow drivers. He also held a press conference regarding his return, which looks likely for 2004.

"It depends on how long it takes the brain to heal," he commented.

"I do plan to come back, but a doctor can't schedule or plan when I can return."

Nadeau has some loss of feeling to his left side, but has been practicing his skills in a kart and will test a late model stock car at a local track later in the year to continue to hone his skills. Mike Wallace continues to drive in relief for Nadeau. n Ultra Motorsports and driver Jimmy Spencer have learnt their current sponsor Sirius Satellite Radio will not be back in 2004. Team owner Jim Smith commented that he's already been approached by interested parties to back his Dodge team next year. n NASCAR announced that starting at Bristol on August 23 the series will celebrate out-going series sponsor Winston with a 'Lap Of Honour' featuring past and present Winston Cup champions in the prerace ceremonies and special commemorative race cars. n Scott Maxwell has been hired

by Petty Enterprises to drive the number 43 at Watkins Glen on August 10th while regular shoe Christian Fittipaldi runs the number 44 Dodge. Maxwell, a native of Toronto, is a seasoned open wheel and Sportscar pilot and gained a win in the 2003 Daytona 24 race. n Mike Skinner has replaced Mike Wallace at the wheel of the MB2 Motorsports Pontiac in relief for the recovering Jerry Nadeau.

Wallace competed in nine events for MB2 with a best result of 19th at Dover.

burst when closing on the car in front.

To prove that point,only four of the races 18 lead changes came imder green flag conditions, making it a mundane race and the fourth in succession to be won with a fuel mileage call from pit road.

Reigning Champ Tony Stewart and his Joe Gibbs team-mate Bobby Labonte both encountered engine problems,Stewart's letting rip on lap

154 and Labonte's on lap 181, cuhninating in a smack against the wall when the water and oil slicked up the rear tyres.

- MARTIN D CLARK Final result; Newman (Dodge),Busch (Ford), Earnhardt Jr.(Chevy), Waltrip (Chevy),T Labonte (Chevy), J Burton (Ford), Nemechek (Chevy),T Bodine (Ford), Blaney (Ford), Martin (Dodge).

n Eighteen teams tested over two days at Watkins Glen, with Mark Martin posting the fastest unofficial lap at 124.051 mph.

Roush rookie Greg Biffle was a surprising second at 123.703mph, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., then Jeff and Robby Gordon. As in Sonoma earlier this year several circuit ringers were present for the test, including Scott Pruett in a Ganassi Dodge, Johnny Miller and P.J. Jones both in Morgan McClure Pontiac’s, Paul Menard in an Andy Petree Chevrolet and Ron Fellows in the Pennzoil Dale Earnhardt Inc. Monte Carlo.

- MARTIN D CLARK 67

Larry on a roll

CLAY Millican won his 25th career IHRA Top Fuel race during the ACDelco Canadian Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park two weeks ago,tying him with Don Garlits for the most career i Top Fuel wins in IHRA ' history.

I Millican's fifth win of the i season came once again at the I expense of IHRA arch-rival, n Bruce Litton. Millican's Werner i Enterprises dragster recorded a I final round 4.70s/311 mph to I stop Litton's Lucas Oil dragster, n which recorded 4.83s/298mph. i After top qualifying at 4.80/278, i Millican recorded round f victories over Grant Flowers, i and Roger Dean to reach his : sixth final round this year.

I In a nitrous versus blower j final round, Mike Castellana, i above, racked up his first 1 career IHRA Pro Modified win, stopping Fred Hahn in the final j round, j Castellana's Western Beef I '68 Camaro used a 6.31s at ! 221 mph to defeat Hahn, who i recorded a 6.34 at 222 in the I Summit Racing Equipment I Corvette. ! Castellana qualified 10th at I 6.30/221 and took out Canadian i driver Carl Spiering in round i one with a 6.34/220, point j leader Mitch Stott in the : second frame with a 6.28/222, ' and headed into the final after a ‘ 6.29/221 victory over Pat i Moore in Ed Steffey's '57 I Chevy. ; Hahn, the 2000 Pro Modified I champion, defeated Mike I Stawicki and Quain Stott in the I opening two rounds before stopping number one qualifier I Rick Distefano in the semifinals.

In Sunoco Race Fuels Pro ' Stock, Jeff Dobbins scored his n first round wins of the season ! en-route to a final round victory I over Chris Holbrook. Dobbins's : 815 cubic inch Ford Probe took ‘ a slight lead at the start and 68

motored throu^t6ra-.€.58/2^"~ to 6.59/211 victory.

Dobbins had not won a rouncT all year until defeating Pete Berner in round one of Sunoco Pro Stock. He then went on to defeat 2002 Champion Brian Gahm in round two and Floyd Cheek in the semifinals.

Jason Collins, hot off a two race winning streak and leading the Pro Stock standings coming into Toronto, failed to make the program. Joining him as a spectator on Sunday was Grand Bend and Richmond winner Carl Baker. Baker and Collins recorded 6.636s and 6.638s passes respectively, but fell short of the 6,627s bump held by Elijah Morton.

With the surprise DNQs, Brian Gahm moved back into the points lead, with Rick Jones, Collins, Doug Kirk, and Baker rounding out the top five, which are separated by just 62 points.

Rob Atchison continued his torrid performance in Alcohol Funny Car, taking a 5.89/233 single in the final round over Mark Poyser, who couldn't get the engine fired. Atchison top qualified at 5.77/242 and defeated Neal parker, Milan winner John Vouros, and Larry Dobbs to get to the final.

Poyser defeated Terry McMillen round one, five-time champion Mark Thomas in round two and Tony Bogolo in the semis to advance to his first career final round.

The next event on the 2003 Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series is the 22nd Annual Northern Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, Michigan, August 8 -10.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI Points: Top Fuel: Millican 760, Litton 562, Baton 365, Flowers 310, Dean 258.

Pro Mod: M, Stott 444, Q. Stott 360, Janis 343, Martin 252, Castanella 240.

Alcohol Funny Car: Atchison 475, Bogolo 402, Midyette 395.

I

LARRY Dixon capped off the threerace western swing with a huge win in Sonoma and joins fellow racers Cory McClenathan,John Force, and Joe Amato as the fourth driver in to complete the three-event sweep.

Dixon recorded his eighth win of the season by stopping David Baca in the final round,4.^/319 to 4.80/298. bonically, both finalists' fathers, Larry Dixon Sr. and Dermis Baca, used to square off in southern California Top Fuel competition back in the 1970s.

The Miller Lite dragster was the quickest car in every round, trailermg John Smith,Tony Schumacher, and Rhonda Hartman-Smith to advance into his 58th career money round.

Baca moved into his first career final-round appearance by knocking off three of the best cars in the class in his American Racing Wheels dragster.

Baca opened with a win over Doug Herbert, then took out No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta before dismissing 65time national event winner Keimy

Bernstein in the semifinals.

Three-time Top Fuel champion Gary Scelzi, right, finally recorded his first Funny Car victory with a wireto-wire win over finalist Dean Skuza, 4.95/312 to 4.96/306.

A 25-time winner in Top Fuel, Scelzi is also the first driver in NHRA history to win in all four supercharged classes, having scored previous wins in Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car. After being denied a chance to run for his first career Furmy Car victory one week ago in Seattle due to a team decision, Scelzi and tuner Mike Neff got the Oakley Dodge to the Wirmers' Circle with a steady string of foursecond passes against his early-round opponents.

A 4.89/316 and a 4.97/309 took out teammates Scotty Cannon,and Whit Bazemore in the opening two rounds, and in the semis,Scelzi used a 4.95 at 308 mph to stop John Force, ending the Castrol drivers bid at scoring

Trading places

WHIT Bazemore beat Schumacher Racing team mate Gary Scelzi after a puzziing, iast-second iane swap in Seattie that saw Sceizi’s favored Oakiey team eiect to move to the less-thandesirable ieft-hand lane.

The decision proved a fatal blow for Sceizi’s victory hopes as his top-qualifying car smoked the tyres, allowing Bazemore’s Mateo Tools Dodge Stratus R/T to take a 5.12s win and advance into the semis.

“I just go where they point me,” Scelzi said. “They made a decision that we would race but that Whit would be on the right 'side. The thinking was that we ran our best pass of the weekend in the left lane during qualifying."

Team owner Don Schumacher mentioned the tight points race Bazemore is currently locked In n with Tony Pedregon, who lost in the first round, but insists the decision was out of his hands.

“The crew chiefs pick what lane they want to race,” Schumacher said.

“I know the Oakley team really : needs a win and they went after it. Gary had him by threehundredths at the tree and was ahead at 60-feet before he overpowered the track.”

“We owe them,” said Bazemore, pictured. “We’ll have ; to make good. This is a team and

; 1 -J

I ' r,

we are in a Championship hunt but the perception multi-car teams present, whether it’s right or wrong, is not healthy for the sport.

“At the same time, it is part of all sports where you have a team scenario like this. It doesn’t mean you have to like it.

“I didn’t know what was happening when we got up there. I was just doing my normal thing. Then we swapped lanes at the last second. I asked what was up when we got to the other end and they said that lane was where Gary had run a 4.96 in qualifying.”

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI motorspon news

DRAG RACING

w Gary writes history

another western swing sweep.

Scelzi's Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T was the quickest car of every ehmination round.

With rock legend Meat Loaf on hand,Skuza drove his special-edition 'Meat Loaf: Should Have Known Better'Pontiac Firebird to his first finalround appearance since Gainesville 2001 by defeating Ron Capps,Del Worsham,and Cruz Pedregon.

For the third race in a row.Funny Car points leader Tony Pedregon was out in the first roimd. Keith Jackson was able to take a 5.01s/275 win over

Pedregon when the Castrol Syntec Mustang began to haze the tyres past half-track, slowing him to a 5.43s/227.

Jeg Coughlin drove his Jeg's Mail Order Parts Chevy Cavalier to his first win of the season,strapping a huge starting line holeshot on current point leader Greg Anderson in the final round. Coughlin's 6.83 s pass at 201mph was able to hold off Anderson's hard-charging, and much quicker and faster 6.79/203 for the win.

For the second time this season, POWERade points leader Geno Scali denied Harley-Davidson its first

NHRA Pro Stock Bike victory. After beating GT Tonglet in St. Louis final, Scali stopped Tonglet's team-mate, Andrew Hines, with a wire-to-wire win that had Scali reaching the finish line in 7.17s/189 mph to Hines's 7.26s at 180 mph.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI Points: Top Fuel: Dixon 1462, Kalitta 1152, Russell 880, McClenathan 778, Schumacher 773.

Funny Can T. Pedregon 1210, Bazemore 1166, Force 1011, Worsham 944, Densham 836.

Fro Stock; Anderson 1337, K.Johnson 1198, Coughlin 982. Pro Slock Bike:Scali 784, Savoie 596, Gann 567.

Back in the hunt JOHN Force is quickly muscling his way back into points contention with his second Funny Car victory of the season Sunday at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals at Pacific Raceway, Seattle two weeks ago.

Force motored his Austin Coiltuned Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang to a 5,03s to 5.21 s victory over a tyre-hazing Bazemore to nail his second win in a row and fourth successive final-round showing, posting the quickest pass of every round.

He carded a pair of 5-flats at 302s and 293mph against Scotty Cannon and Tommy Johnson Jr., before defeating semi-finalist Cruz Pedregon with a 5.04/275 in a rematch of the Denver finale.

Mateo Tools driver Bazemore defeated Dean Skuza, team mate and No. 1 qualifier Gary Sceizi, and Johnny Gray to reach the final round, Larry Dixon, right, and crew chief Dick LaHaie overcame the tricky left-hand lane in the Top Fuel final round and powered away from Doug Kalitta for victory number seven of the 6 August 2003

S’ 2003 campaign.

I l In a rematch of the Denver I final, Dixon recorded a 4,67s I pass at 316.82mph to defeat ~ Kalitta's 4.739 at 306.

Dixon's Miller Lite mount was impressive all weekend. After qualifying No.1, he roared into race day carding a pair of 4.66s at 318 and 317mph, and a 4.73/314 to trailer Mike Strasburg, Darrell Russell, and Tony Schumacher to reach his 10th final of the year and 57th of his career.

In reaching his third consecutive final and seventh final round of the season, Mac Tools driver Kalitta defeated Don David Baca, and Kenny LUC/IS 01 Sosenka, Bernstein.

EHm/rjm Pro Stock point leader Greg Anderson picked up win number six for 2003. Anderson's Vegas General Construction Pontiac overcame a huge starting line deficit after finalist Larry Morgan streaked out to a 0.024s to 0.06s starting line advantage, but Anderson had the power to drive by and take a 6.85/202 to 6.91/200 victory.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Cruz control VETERAN tuner Wes Cerny has joined Cruz Pedregon's Advance Auto Parts Funny Car team in the capacity of a consultant.

Cerny joined the team at last weekend's 16th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals in Seattle for a two-event stint. Pedregon and Cerny worked together on Joe Gibbs's Funny Car in 1999.

Pedregon has enjoyed a muchimproved performance as of late, going to the final in Denver, and posting strong semi-final finishes in both Seattle and Sonoma. n Kenny Bernstein had strong semi-final round showings in both Seattle and Sonoma.

After qualifying second in Seattle at 4.69 seconds, Bernstein rattled off another good 4.68/316 in a round one win over local campaigner, Ron Smith.

In round two, the Budweiser dragster used a 4.72/311 to dispose of Scott Weis.

In the semis, Bernstein shot out to a huge starting line advantage over Doug Kalitta, but began to haze the tyres, and was just nipped at the finish line, 4.72/312 to 4.79/297.

In Sonoma, Bernstein qualified fourth and trailered David Grubnic and Darrell Russell, before losing another close semi-final round to David Baca, 4.65/319 to 4.68/316. n Andrew Hines clocked the fastest Pro Stock Bike speed in NHRA history when his Vance & | Hines Screamin' Eagle HarleyDavidson recorded a 195.28 mph i ]pass during qualifying.

His elapsed time of 7.105 was the i quickest-ever for a Harley Davidson.

Hines made it ail the way to the final round, before falling to Geno Scali. i n Top Fuel legend, Chris 'The Greek' Karamesines, recorded a 'career best elapsed time in Sonoma, recording a 4.677 second pass at '310.13 mph to land in the seventh spot.

Karamasines paired up with Tony Schumacher in round one, only to have the engine go silent following the burnout. The Greek may have been able to steal one, as l Schumacher was up in smoke at half-track on his single. n Gary Densham failed to qualify the third car in the John Force stable at Sonoma. The Jimmy Prock-tuned A/\A of Southern California Mustang never improved on its opening 5.07/295, breaking a blower belt in the second session, slowing to a 'soft' 5.12 in the third, and striking the tyres on the final shot.

Densham had qualified for every show since 2001.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI 69

A Clas

by MARK JONES

f

A

off SandoiAfn HERE'S a good question for your next motoring trivia night.

'What year was the first motor race held at Sandown Park?' Was it 1960?

1962, perhaps?

In fact, the answer was 1904!

Yes, on March 12,2004 it will be 100 years since the first meeting was held, organised by the Automobile Club of Victoria. Secretary of the meeting was Mr. Harry James,a Dunlop executive and great-uncle of Peter Brock.

This landmark occasion has been carefully researched by VHRR member and CAMS scrutineer Lloyd Shaw, who was Sandown Park site manager from 1990-2002.

The event ran in conjuction with the annual picnic of the Commercial Traveller's Association, and 1400 spectators travelled by train to Sandown station while many others made alternate arrangements to be there, including a cavalcade of cars and motorcycles that left from the city.

Three races were held on March 12, 1904 and a report on the meeting will appear in Motorsport News closer to the centenary.

Fifty-eight years later to the very day, motor racing returned to Sandown Park on March 12,1962.

Let's hope the 100 years of motor racing at Sandown Park will be suitably acknowledged when this important landmark comes around next year.

- BRIAN REED 70

THE Shannons Queensland Historic Racing and Classic Car Festival attracted a huge crowd and entry list on the 26th and 27th of July.

And the stars of the meeting were the Group C cars, with no less than 15 of them entered, which was a bigger entry than some of the Lakeside and Surfers Paradise entry lists of the period.

Particular thanks should be extended to the Harris Racing team, which brought five Fords with it, including two newcomers to Historic Group C. Craig was forced to retire from the lead of the John French trophy in the 1980 Bob Morris-liveried XD with fuel pump failure, but the car most were interested in sat in the familiar dark blue Bryan Byrt Ford colours, and wore the famous Dick Johnson #17.

"Bill O'Brien still had it (the XD)from new and had been sitting in the back of his shed," said Harris.

"We had to do a basic strip down, repaint, rebuild the front end, do all the bushes, get the motor and gearbox and pull them all apart and give them a bit of a freshen-up. , "That was pretty major and I it didn't turn a wheel here until Friday, and it has been on the pace all weekend.

Aero be damned:JR Crooke takes out the Voiturette race at Sandown in 1904 in his 4.5 bhp Locomobile steam car ahead of CR Kellow's Darraq, top. The background looks strikingly similar even if the machinery is different (but the co-driver idea is alive and well) above - although AVESCO has a fight on its hands to match this kind of crowd, below.

i u THE C.T. PICNIC AT SANDOWN PARK THE ARRIVAL.

motorsport news

HISTORICS

sic Reborn in QLD “With the Dick Johnson Falcon, we found that in Melbourne. It was in a guy's shed who was a street racer and it was in bits and pieces and it was a bit bastardized. We brought it back and spent about eight months rebuilding it from a bare body back to the way it is now.

"This car originally was a Jim Richards car. He had two Falcons, and it was commonly referred to as the Jim Richards rent-a-car. John Goss rented it to race at Oran Park and Dick Johnson was in a brand-new Falcon car that Bryan Byrt Ford had built him. At Turn 1 they came together and Dick's car hit the wall and was written off.

Ma^hallCass

Combined heroics: Kevin Bartlett took some Allan Moffat machinery for a steer, above. Also highly visible throughout the weekend was the name of Carroll Shelby, who sadly passed away recently.

"Two weeks later when they were in Queensland, Bryan Byrt Ford rented the same car off Richards for the Queensland round and ended up keeping it while building another new car for Dick. At Lakeside he was winning, but with three laps to go he got a stone through the radiator."

At Bathurst in 1978 this was the team's #34 car, driven by John French and Warwick Brown, failing to finish while Johnson and this same track during the Qld Vern Schuppan would take the 500 of 2000. new car on to fifth.

Johnson himself was on hand "It certainly brings back an awful lot of memories, I can tell to give the car a few laps in you," said Johnson. "Certain anger for the croyvd, and while ' characteristics haven't changed no times wefe^recorded, he much. Things they do were wasn't taking it easy in his first mostly good, but there were still drive of a racing car since stepping out of another Falcon at

one or two bad things, which is the nature of the beast."

Racer of the car for the weekend. Sports Sedan driver Stephen Voight, would echo I this, pointing out in particular I that brakes were a pmblenq. —*

Heritage under threat THE long-term lease has expired on England's Sheisley Walsh, the world's oldest motorsports venue still in regular use.

In order to maintain this important part of motor racing history, £1 million ($2.48m) is being sought to renew the lease, preferably for 99 years or at least for 25 years.

Not surprising that donations are being sought - and Australian enthusiasts are rallying to the cause. n Local hillclimbers are reminded that the date of the next Historic event at Morwell has been changed to Sunday August 10. For further information, contact John d'Asques on 9766 1013(AH) or Ray DaCosta on 5940 1647. n The Austin 7 Club is currently planning an Historic Car Sprint meeting to be held at Korobeit Rd., Myrnong on Sunday, October 12.

It will be a sprint with a difference as the course rises 60m over the 850m journey.

The organisers are planning for a 10am start with two runs per entrant before lunch and another two after the break. Fifty cars up to 1950 will be accepted and cars to 1960 will be by invitation at the discretion of the organisers.

For more details contact the event secretary David Lowe on 9533 4277 (W)or 9827 8124 (AH). n On September 6-7, the HSRCA will conduct its Shannons Eastern Creek All-Historic meeting where special tribute will be paid to Australia's world championship winning designer Ron Tauranac A.O. A dinner will be held in Ron's honour at the Crowne Plaza, Parramatta on Thursday, September 4 which will be hosted by IVIark Oastler, and on September 6, immediately after practice and racing finishes, Kevin Bartlett will host a Design Presentation with Tauranac in the Horseley Room (above the garages) at Eastern Creek International Raceway.

Numbers are limited for these events, so reserve a place early with the HSRCA, 78 Curtin Ave, Wahroonga, NSW, 2076. n What better way to enjoy summer in the UK than to take across an Historic race car and 'do' the circuits?

Even better if you enjoy success I Don Thallon and wife Jeanette have been doing just that, and he recently steered his Cooper Climax T53 to victory in the 29th European Historic GP at Zolder.

- BRIAN REED

6 August 2003

71

national

scene

etBediy,

Grant Bowley

Hossack back in the game ... But McIntyre and Ricciardello give him plenty of food for thought

by GRANT ROWLEY

KIWI John McIntyre and Darren Hossack shared the spoils at Round four of the Australian Sport Sedan Championship, which also coincided with round two of the Trans-Tasman Challenge at Winton last weekend.

McIntyre took a convincing Race 1 victory after an early clash with Tony Ricciardello's Alfa Romeo at turn four of the first lap.

Ricciardello got a clean getaway at the start, but McIntyre applied the blowtorch right from the word go.

The controversial clash saw Ricciardello fall to the back of the pack. He fought back to

finish an amazing fourth.

McIntyre's weekend would sour though after he holed a piston before the start of Race 2. He was force to sit out the second event.

"It's been a pretty good weekend," said the young Kiwi.

"It's unfortunate that we can't get out there for the second race, there's no compression in one of the cylinders so we've parked it."

Hossack finished second in Race 1, and fought off a stern challenge from Ricciardello to take the Race 2 win.

The second race, which featured a reverse top 10, went down to the wire between Hossack's Saab and Ricciardello's Alfa. Tony gradually pegged back

Hossack's lead, and made a move around the outside at turns 11 and 12 on the penultimate lap. Ricciardello's Alfa got on the loose surface on the outside of the track and slammed into the pit straight tyre wail, launching his car into the air. The shunt ended his spirited weekend fightback.

Bernie Gillon, aboard his Jennian Home's Ford Mustang, snared third in Race 1 and fourth in Race 2. Gillon survived a tense battle with Kerry Bailey's mighty Nissan, Mark Stinson's Mid State Spares Holden Commodore and Dean Randle's Exhaust Systems Australia Saab throughout the weekend.

Randle inherited second place

in Race 2 after Ricciardello's wall-crushing performance, and Stinson fought back from a DNF in Race 1 to finish fifth in the second race.

Hossack's round win puts him to the top of the Trans-Tasman Challenge and places him back in the running for the Australian Sports Sedan Series after a disasterous start to the year.

Bailey's consistency has maintained his lead in the Sport Sedan Series with one round to go.

Trans Tasman Challenge Points: Hossack 33, McIntyre 26, Randle 20, Ricciardello 18, Baily 19, Gillon 16, Scott 11, Stinson 11.

Sport Sedan Points: Baily 149, Randle 110, Ricciardello 109, Hossack 92, Graham Smith 66, Rodney Woods 64, Stinson 53.

^ IH?

if T , -

Winners and spinners: Above, Hossack pushed hard for his Winton round win. Top left, McIntyre easily claimed race 1 while top right, Andrew Gillespie got it all wrong at the start of the reverse top W second race ... motorsport news 72

KARTINC

Brothers in Arms

The Butler Did It

CHiRIS Butler broke through for his first round win in the Aussie ‘ Racing Cars at Queensland Raceway late last month.

"It's been a long time coming," said Butler, above. "It's so good to finally come through for the win at my new home track."

The ba ttles at the front of the field sa w a large group of dirivers each ha ve a bi te of the lead witli Holden Young Lions team owmer John Faulkner trying to push aside his off track dramas with an impressive debut, winning the reverse grid, even if he was driving the Super Cheap Autos Falcon...

Butler won the first race ahead of

Trouble at QR: Carlos Rolfo found the going a bit too hot at Ipswich.

The field dived left and right to miss his stricken FJ. Faulkner and battled out the other races with Faulkner, Klark Quinn, James Ward,Travis Edwards and Phil Ward. Quinn won the second race, with James Ward playing the

waiting game to defeat Quinn and James Ward in the final.

-MARK JONES Points: Butler 67, Mike Russell 66, Brad Ward 63, Paul Kernel and J.Ward 61, Edwards 60

Carted Away

Ir^u.vh

Tilley’s Day Ciss

LOCAL hero Jamie Cartwright carried off a pair of dominant race wins in the MGF Trophy at Queensland Raceway, running away twice from a battle for second position.

The first race saw Cartwright quickly away from Gary Vastag and Chris Oxley with Chris Thomas pushing up into second place briefly with a few laps to go. But Oxley got the best of a desperate last lap to take second from Vastag and Andrew Fisher, while Thomas was pushed sideways in turn 6 and dropped down fieid.

The iap record took a battering as Cartwright again built up a six second iead while the field squabbled over second. Gilford pushed hard initially, but Fisher was able to clear slowly away while further back, John Bolton and Oxley were scything through the field from the rear. Boltons charge carried him just short of Gilford with Vastag fifth.

- MARK JONES

6 August 2003

BRAD Tilley dominated the Historic Touring Car proceedings at Queensland Raceway, taking a trifecta of victories in a weekend controlled by Fords.

Tilley, above, shattered the lap record on his first flying lap in the fast back Mustang gradually moving clear of Chris Stillwell's similar car with Cameron Tilley's GTHO in third. Series leader Paul Stubber had brake failure on the back straight, hitting the tyres at barely abated speed,but was able to drive back to the pits.

The second race saw the Tilley's score a one-two ahead of Stillwell with Stubber recovering to fourth.

Race 3 on Sunday produced a similar result.

-MARK JONES

IT was a case of Brothers in Arms at the Northern Territory Championships last month, one set of brothers winning a title each and another set almost doing the same thing.

Callan and Kyle Gear won the blue plates in Junior National Light and Junior National Heavy respectively.

The Nott family nearly did the double too, Denny Nott winning Junior Clubman while Royce Nott finished second in Junior National Light, Other Championship winners were Blake Varney (Rotax Light), Jeff Thompson (Rotax Heavy), Craig Griffis (Clubman Heavy) and Brandon McGinnis (Midgets). The Rookies result is currently under appeal. n It has been a tragic couple of months in karting circles with the passing of a number of identities.

With Geoff Price succumbing to cancer in June, the sadness continued in July at the Vic/SA Challenge at Swan Hill when Victorian Over 40s driver Trevor Apps suffered a brain aneurysm while competing.

Gerry Brookes Snr, father and business partner of Aurora Kart's Gerry Brookes Jnr and a stalwart of Australian karting, died of the same complication a week later. This was then followed by the death in a car accident of 20-year-old Kristy Graham, brother of Adam and a former karter herself. n The British Superkart Grand Prix scheduled to run at Pembrey last weekend was cancelled at the last moment due to a lack of entries. This is a bit of a smack in the face for the organisers as the CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship has been quite strong this year, the next round, ironically, in Britain at Donington Park this weekend. n Former karters and now Formula Forders Adam Graham and Brett Francis paid a visit to the Brisbane Royal Children's Hospital on the weekend prior to the Ipswich round of Ford KartStars. "Being stuck inside a hospital when all this motorsport is in town would really suck," commented Graham. The duo handed out posters, stickers and hats to sick children and gave some of them a tour of a Formula Ford that was on display. n The fourth of five rounds of the Ford KartStars series is at Sydney's Oran Park Raceway this weekend.

Fifteen-year-old Andrew Thompson leads the series but will come under immense pressure as there are still half a dozen drivers in with a chance of winning the title. Sunday's finals are due to commence around lunch time.

-MARK WICKS

...

by GRANT ROWLEY JONNY Reid came,saw, and conquered Winton Raceway last weekend.

The young Kiwi star taught his Formula 4000, Powered by Holden rivals a lesson in speed and skill in his Reynard.

Reid’s season has been tough since his first round success at Wakefield Park, but the up-andcomer bounced back into title contention with two solid victories.

"It was great," said Reid. "The track was a bit slippery but I can't complain."

JR took the Race 1 win by over 5s despite having no clutch for the last portion of the race.

Championship leader Nelson Hartley had a disastrous weekend, failing to finish either heat.

"I was all over Jonny at the start," said Hartley after the first race. "But the plug lead came off and we lost pace so I decide to pull in."

His weekend did not get any better in Race 2. Fluid spewed from the rear of the car on the grid, ending his day on the spot and he left Winton with no points to his name.

"We still lead the championship so we'll see what happens from here," said Hartley.

Another Kiwi, Daniel Gaunt, equalled his best result for the

year when he finished second in Race 1 but he failed to finish the second race with mechanical woes.

Paul Trengove picked up a third and second placings, while Ricky Occhipinti finished fourth and third in the two races.

Sports Sedan regular Darren Hossack jumped aboard a Formula 4000 car for the first

time and adapted quite quickly to the unfamiliar open-wheel surroundings. The ex-Supercar driver finished fifth and fourth in the two races respectively and, despite a spin in Race 2 (while sitting comfortably in third place), enjoyed a trouble-free weekend.

Points; Hartley 98, Reid/Trengove/Occhipinti 82, Gaunt 70.

Smoke Screen: Reid, above, clears.out from Gaunt who bad oil pouring onto the exhaust. His car held on to equal Gaunt's best result for the year.

Six Tonne HQ on Speed

THERE’S something both alluring and spectacular rollover. Peter Eastwood, driving his Classic Ford V8 Racing Special ended scary about the thought of piloting a truck on a racing track. With the weekend in hospital with neck injuries.

More rollovers marred the Formula Ford Barbagallo’s notorious surface, racing a truck is, as co-driver Peter Bowra class. Local heroes Paul.ancLDeariiFistgii; said, “... like a six-tpnn&JH.Q onspeed.” had a coming together,-resulting imPaul’s An ,rriasgiyi|:c^liv|ccu[;redi;on^^^^ Van Diemen R’F924aunchihg info'.the air. fort uckl driver:fiariy’ BcitwelF.-wiffT his and made a creditable impression of a niah- ANDY Ford was the triumphant victor over 95 other dive swimmer, rolling twice before iftipact.)

Scania impactirig.the'Esse’s wall..Mass competitors who converged on the steep, twisting and Thankfully,ithe West Aussie escaped with a- challenging Collingrove course for the third and final round andjspeed caused the kont axle to igHd up directty Ofider-the:Gi?i;ver’p;Seat, destro])/jn’g minor headache;;Steye'B^er was another of the 2003 South Australian Winter Cup Hill Climb series. to rollover, but Was fdrfun'ate to step from '' the n^ounti'iigrDemt^fcjntliiqiJpytf'truck ' A happy Ford, above, took a well deserved class eight and ;e|ay. his car,--shaken-pot^Q[jharmed: ( outright honours,setting the fastest time up the hill on his last driver, resu i|||) Some niiiacM The HQs saw a"hu^ field take to the " run of the day with an impressive time of 31.83s. jljWellJ^njoWn traok, with-eonfe,nd§rs:fro,rfr'arduhd the pedaller-Rc Ford proved to be the dominant competitor, setting the top Ll'i lit: vyefekend’s tonp ^pountry..Somejndredibly tight-racing over three quickest times from his four runs against the clock jthe weekendaaw local man Tony JameS * aboard his Reynard. andtBQkan'e^’Bl ^ lerHi^lifbn taking,^ second and thi®:^ Second was the penultimate round winner Andrew Mitchell *i^nihis BRE.baeked-.HQ-win4h§^ht to^f*‘ ,;The day saw .soirie fantastic racing ,J display the coveted NumMrJOTThe from veteran racer Dean Richards, who took out class 16 v\jfjth young gun Aaron Caratti lowering , -jSide of'h^r|b honours and outright. th'^ lap record4ri,the-StFeel-Car-G!ass|9'^^\^ tony’s'Sla-spdrring‘panrter¥eter'Brown Round 1 winner, Doug Lehmann had a great day,finishing 62?S;^afon.4he%^74Km.circuit. '' had to contend with a push that lost him outright fourth. Lehmann wound his way up the course in a Unforturiateiy, the sump in Caratti’s Evo several places, a change of engine and a time of 33.33s to not only win the ultra competitive 4WD VI decided it wasn’t interested in playing son in hospital with burn injuries, Sedan class, but also beat his existing class record by 0.01s.

2 The next major meeting sees the n and split, ieaving Caratti on the sidelines.

Fifth placing went to Raymond Kamleh,also in a 4WD The Historic’s class had a clean first race.

Histories at Barbagallo.

Mitsubishi EVO. DAVE CONOLE but the second race was marred by a -PARIS CHARLES

it

74

moiorsgort news

Leading the way

Almost every Australian Formula Ford champion has gone on to bigger and better things. Is Glen Hastings the next? GRANT ROWLEY got the iow-down

MOTORSPORT NEWS:Five rounds down,three to go, How does it feel to be leading the Formula Ford championship?

GLEN HASTINGS: It feels fantastic, to be honest. There's still a lot of hard work to go, but at this stage my focus is on the championsliip MN:You were driving FFords for a while in the Victorian State series.

How's the transition from state to national level competition been?

GH: It's been made a lot easier by joining an established team such as Sonic Motorsport. It's made the transition so much easier. They are very good at what they do. Running the team yourself would be quite a lot more difficult.

MN: Do you think you waited too long to take the step?

GH:I would have liked to be in the National series a couple of years earlier. I don't think it did me justice staying at state level for so long, but in the background I was putting away as much money as I possibly could whilst still keeping my hand in.

MN:How is life with Sonic Motorsport?

GH: Absolutely great. Michael (Ritter) runs a very, very professional outfit, the cars are always prepared immaculately. I just can't fault them.

MN:Garry Rogers Motorsport has been a proving ground for talented young drivers over the past few years. There is still a vacant seat for the endurance races with the team later this year and you are driving in 6 August 2003

the right colours at the moment. Is this something you'd like to do?

GH:For sure, if the offer came up. It would be a great honour to talk to Garry about that, but until that happens I can't even start to think about it at this stage. I'm purely focused on the FFord championship at this stage.

MN:Have you driven a Supercar yet?

GH: No,but I'd love to!(laughs) MN:What's your plans for 2004 and beyond?

GFl: My goal is to become a professional racing driver in Australia. As for next year, all we can do at this stage is keep getting winning results. I have to keep impressing the right people and keep talking to the right people.

I'd love to go to Konicas next year.

In some way I'd like to emulate Mark Winterbottom, to a point. He's gone from FFord to Konica and he's done well there. I'd like to do the same. At this point, that's where we are aiming.

still there this year.(Neil) McFayden signed a deal with Team Dynamik but what comes of that we won't know for a while.

Formula Ford is a great feeder category. All the V8 teams respect FFord and they do look there for drivers. FFord is very even,they are a proper racing car and they attract the more focused drivers. But I expect at least the top two or three to go somewhere.

MN:So what's the game plan from here?

GH: We are aiming for the win. We have a 16 point lead, but pardon the pun,it doesn't mean we can take the foot off the throttle. I'm always trying to develop my driving a little bit more and Michael is trying to get as much out of the car as he can.

Oran Park will be a challenge for us but Queensland was challenging and we came away with a round win.

We'll see how we go ...

U

Pardon the pun, it doesn't mean we can take the foot off the throttlen - Hastings on his series iead

MN:Any overseas ambitions?

GH:It's not something that I've given a great deal of thought to. I've always set my goals to being the best driver in Australia. Of course, as a kid I wanted to be a Formula One driver but you have to look at these things realistically.

MN:The top three drivers from last years FFord championship have all gone onto bigger and better things.

Do you think this year's field is up to that standard?

GH: I think the quality of driving is

Here's Hastings: The 24-year-old Melburnian wants the FFord title, wants a Bathurst drive and wants to be the country's best...

75

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The USA’s first choice In race valve springs now available in Australia l /Is used by top US teams inciuding Hendricks Motorsport (NASCAR), John Force(Funny Car), Warren Johnson(Pro Stock)

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CLASSIFIEDS

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Commodore VK Improved Production, log book, fresh 308, M21, LSD, cellfoam struts & shocks, 200kw at rear wheels, adjustable brake bias, adjustable front heights, ready to race, $16,000. Phone Mitch BH (03) 97832427 or AH (03)9770-5683. $16,000.

Sedans/Sports Cars

Escort Mkl Sports Sedan, New 1600cc engine with twin webbers, good exhaust, full steel cage, straight solid body, cams log book, some spares. $2750 Neg. Kevin 0403 268 116. 284www.my105.com/59651

Subaru STI RA, Close ratio Box, 4,44 diffs, 330 mm rotars and AP calipers, full roll cage Quich Rach steering, 5 injectors, uni chip, 1.53 Philiip Island, 17inch Speedlines, Exel club and hillclimb car, emaculate original condition. $24,500. Ian 0408 103 815 / (03) 9555 9291. 264www.my105.com/81841

Datsun 1600 Club Car/Sports Sedan, 2nd owner, excellent condition, new paint, cams log book with alloy cage, Velo race seat.

New 2Lt engine with twin 48mm webbers, and extractors. Adjustable race suspension, 4 spot calipers front, 2 spot rear. 2 sets of 14x7 wheels, dry and wet tyres. Spare engine/tyres. Ready to race. Proven results. $7,950. Max 0418 485 460 / (03) 9842 3132. 264www.my105.com/80734

6 August 2003

Lotus 7 Replica, 200hp Rover V8, T5 Gearbox, Independent suspension. Good brakes. Used for Hillclimbs, Sprints, Motorkanas. 2 Sets of wheels, spare motor, gearbox and diffs. New seat and 5 point harness. . $12,000. Allyson 0400 065 164 / 07 3202 9262. 264www.my105.com/73946

U2L Sport Sedan, Datsun 1600 with SR20DE Quad Throttle bodies, MOTEC, extractors, Morris vernier cams, 5 Speed box, ATB LSD Diff, Adjustable Suspension/Koni shocks all round, big brakes, wets and slicks. Sparco race seat, Victorian State Champion 2000. Front running car. Log booked with alloy cage.

Ready to race. Trailer available. $12,500.

264 Max 0418 485 460. www.myl05.eom/50478

Toyota Corolla IMP Production Car, 4 AGE 20 valve engine, autronic engine management, TRD, C/R, g/box, 4,3 LSD, Sparco seat and harness, log book, includes galvanised tandem axle braked trailer. $10,500. John (07) 3206 8308. 264 www.myl05.com/43891

Honda Sports Sedan, Honda Sports Sedan Tony Edmonson Designed complete rebuild front to rear all top componentry available with top HP twin turbo V6 or top HP 20B triple rotor both engines fresh or available as roller 16 superlight wheels,tyres moulds, jigs etc etc everything needed , beautifully presented POA. Gregg (02) 9674 5651. 264 www.my105.com/86771

1994 PORSCHE 911 GTR, Converted to GT2 body, inci carbon fibre on bonnet & rear wing. Recent dyno records 280HP at rear wheels. Motec data acquisition and dash.

Motec engine management and fuei injection. Price is FOB Perth, Australia. $100,000 Neg. Michael (08) 9347 8800. 264 www.myl05.com/75124

RX7 Sports Sedan, 13b turbo, T04, Microtech MTX8, 430 HP Supra gearbox, comp clutch, borg Warner 4.11diff, comp susp. Cobra seat, datalogger, 16inch wheels, log book, turn key. Daytona body kit. With spares. $18,500. Rod 0403 254 387 / (07) 3396 9255.

264 www.myl O5.com/17545

MGB 1964 PRODUCTION SPORTS CAR, Suit group "o" or rare road car. Raced oran park. Adjustable suspension, CR gearbox, Isd, Webber, raydots, filler cap. Mawer mags, new soft top unleaded head and full race head and some spares will supply rwc vie RACEMG plate negotiable. $18500 Or Best Offer. Ray (03) 9608 4102. 264 www.myl05.com/86282

2 Litre Sports Sedan, Ford Zetec Twin Cam, 121 kw at wheels, 5 speed 2 x LSD + ratios, weighs 740kg, 5 link, Beli crank rear suspension, adjustable Bilsteins front and rear, new mounted wets and spare slicks, heaps spares, log booked and race ready, laps PI 1.51, Calder 1,07, Dyno sheets and official current lapi times available, $11,000 Neg. David 0418 358 197. 264 www.myl05.com/37003 Group "A" Skyline, Genuine Group A Skyline DR30 $ Appreciating in value $ as Historic next year. Currently racing with Sports Sedans. Championship winning car.

Easily converted back to original most parts & books included in sale plus all spares, too many to list, Apperal for sale as retiring. $65,000 ono Serious buyers only please phone Clive (03) 9387 0680. $65,000 ONO. 264 www.my105.com/27823

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Cortina Mark 1 Group N, Log book, very straight, immaculate inside and out, 1598cc C/R gearbox, 45 Webbers, range locked diffs, adj suspension, alloy cage, lots of spares, including full shell. $15,000. Robert (02) 9869 8254.263www.my105.com/59812

1969 Porsche 911T, 1969, Long wheel base, 2 litre, LHD, Group Sb log book, race/rally. Ultra reliable. Excellent rust free condition. No expense spared in race preparation and equipment Can be easily converted to Goup Nb. CH registration.

Trailer also avail, for sale. Detailed build specs, avail, on request $48,000 ONO, Tony 0419 898 835,263www.my105.com/7720

79

Open Wheelers

1999 Bullet Roadster, Show Quality Engineering with Supercar Performance, Microtech MTS & Controller, Airconditioning, Custom 3" Stainless Exhaust, Custom Headers, New Tyres,Fantastic To Drive, Turns Heads, Sounds Like A Ferrari On Steroids, Full NSW Rego, Register Any State, May Trade USA Muscle Car or Other Interesting Vehicle. $65,000 Neg. Scott 0408 222 321.263 http://virww.my105.com/76308 Mallock Mark 31, Brand new roller (factory car), knock on hubs, 8 x Magnesium F2 wheels, body panels, fuel oeli/foam, steering, disc brakes with Wiiwood calipers, Suzuki 1300, Twin cam engine, gearbox, diff centre. Ask for Greg. $10,000. Greg Baird 0419 645 770. 263www.my105.com/82744

LOLA T-492 S2000 (1978), This beauitful historic sports car has been subject to a recent freshen-up and is absolutely race ready. It is totally original and unmolested, right down to original gearbox & engine numbers, as it left the factory. Very quick and a delight to drive, low maintenance and ultra reliable. (Group R). $48,000 ONO. 262 Stephen (03) 9710 1444. www.myl05.com/66989

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Datsun 240Z Race car, 1st U3ltr/ 5th outright 2002 VMRC Sportscar class, L28 2.9ltr motor.

Triple webbers mnning avgas, R200 LSD, 4 spot calipers, new hawk pads, new vented rotors, 16x10 Dunlop slicks, fibreglass panels, spare g-nose front and much more, laps ph island in 1:47, can help new owner with set up and maintenance, 20,000. Ashley 0418 508 262 756 / (03) 9555 7848. www.myl05.eom/66083

HISTORIC LOLA FF, This Historic LOLAT200 Formula Ford is a 1969 T200 and is one of only three built by Lola Cars in that year. Engine and Hewland gearbox have done two meetings since full rebuild. Car comes complete with CAMS log book and Certificate of description. 22,000. Ken 03 480 4040. 264www.my105.com/57976

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VAN DIEMEN RF 86, Unique model with spare set wheels, nose cone, gear ratios bodywork & other spare parts. Rolling chassis - can supply new engine. CAMS Log Book. Ideal restoration project for someone wishing to make a start in Formula Ford. Suit state series competitor or club racer. Help can be supplied to buyer. $12,500 Not Neg. John 0418 130 600. 264 www.myl05.eom/53909

Mazda RX7 One of the quickest cars in Targa Classic Division. Proven track record Baskerville 59.4s. Upgraded Microtech ECU and many spares. This car is ready to race/rally in 2003. $26,000 ONO. Kym 0409 211 614. 262 www.myl05.eom/40907

Porsche 944, Challenge race car LHD, motor and gearbox renbuilt, at the end of 2002 season. 2002 lap record holder at sandown with trailer. $25,000. Garth 0411 700 666. 262www.my105.com/49958

1981 Cheetah Mk 7, In tip top condition.

Pole at Oran Park Nov '02 with Dallara 395 Mugen in field. Easy to drive, valid for AF2. 1 have all log books if you wanted to run in historic Gp R. Comes with spares. A proven race winner. Won Rookie of the year 2002.

Engineer: Tom 9588 9443 Owner: Brendon 0409 952 905. $27,500 Neg. 264 www.my105.com/24886

IWOSSON 3a

Lotus Motorsport 200, Brand new engine with dry sump. No expense has been spared on this beautifully presented car. A true pleasure to drive with lap times at Eastern Creek under 1:40. $150,000 Neg. Mark 02 9838 8374 / 0408 976 958. 262 www.my105.com/30841

Porsche 930/964, Body 3.8 RSR wing, coil over suspension 3.3 Itr turbo, G50 gearbox, fully rebuilt motor, new turbo, three sets of wheels, race ready. $53,000. Garth 0411 700 666. 262WWw.my105.com/88878

Welsor Waggot Sports 1300 Clubman, built 1972 by Colin Wear car no.6, complete rebuild 3K Corolla engine with big valve head, Modena straight out close ratio gearbox, new clutch, rebuilt diff and new front shocks, 2 sets of 3 piece wheels, 1 set of Soft Avon tyres, new aluminium guards and battery etc, very quick and competitive, with all log books. $16,900. Andrew (03) 5443 0810 / 0418 510 462. 264 www.my10S.oom/7355

MYGALE FORMULA FORD, Just fully rebuilt by Mygale Australia - no expense spared with all latest factory updates. Ritter Race Engine at zero kims. Full set up for all Australian tracks and assistance. Spares package with car. $32,995. Greg 03 9580 7047. 264 www.my105.com/73905

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RALT RT4/81 ROLLERS, Car#1 ex Bowe very original restored car, wets, gear sets, COD. Car #2 ex O'Brien, Cesario, rebuilt tub, little to complete. Both have correct ID# and documents, offers on either or both required. Engines available. Neg. Peter 0418 556 934 264 www.myl05.com/95358

Formula Ford Historic Bowin P6F, car is well maintained, Ritter engine, spare ratios, log book and COD. Always a top performer, and in excellent condition. Inc. Trailer. Must Sell. $22,500 ONO, Vince 0418 509 145.

264 www.myl05.eom/54032

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moiorspon news

Speedway

Modified Production Sedan Commodore #10 Aust 2 1998-99 Vic 1 2000-01 Fresh Engine & fibreglass Panels with spares. 02 6033 1291 / 0408 570 822.

263 www.myl05.com/72040

Modified Production, EL Ford, Front runner,2 Seasons old. Adjustable suspension. Auto Meter gauges, Race tyres, Ready to race, $10,500 ONO. Don 0418 643 901. 261 www.my105.com/58339 Sprintcar High Bar Rolling Chassis, Lightning Chassis, new tank, almost complete. $4750 2 Maxim Chassis $1200/$750 Also a range of Sprintcar parts including Quick change diffs, shockers with dyno sheets, bars with test sheets, complete front axle, bare front axles, front and top wings, tyres, rims, bonnets, side bars, Quad with push Bar $1100 . Dennis 08 8269 2928 / 0408 844 841. 260 www.myl05.eom/25409

Production 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. 260 www.myl05.com/81149

Used Racing Tyres, 3 x Bridgestone RE610S 225/50/16 25% left $50 ea ono. 4 X Dunlop Formula R D96J Wets 205/60/15 80% left $75 ea, ono. 2 x Formula R D78J 195/60/14 60% Left $50 ea, ono. 1 x Dunlop Formula R D78J 185/60/14 25% left $30 ono. 2 X Yokohama A-028 225/50/16 25% left $25 ea. . Jim 02 4731 4988 / 0414 31 4988. 263www.my105.com/12863 Sprintcar Parts, Chassis & Engines, Large range of used sprintcar parts including diffs, wheels, axles, chassis and engines. For a full list Fax (08) 8269 5969 or e-mail lightning@picknowl.com.au. 262 www.my105.com/69516 Porsche Parts, 1 set fully adjustable bilstein suspension (currently on PorscheGT3) excellent condition, fully refreshed in 2002. Spare spring, 1 spare shook, Neg $3,750. 1 set OZ racing 18" rims (PorscheGT3) $4,200 or original GT3 rims $4,500. Lightweight door and floor inners, to suit PorsoheGT3 $2,100. Race exhaust GT3 $2,200. Cobra evolution race seat $500. Detachable steering wheel $250, Separate or sell lot for $8,500, , Dean 0418 507 403. 259www.my105.com/88971

Engines Toyota 4 AGE 20 Valve, Black Top, set up for rear wheel drive, suit many applications, aluminium competition sump, comp clutch, hand made extractors and exhaust. $2,900.

264 Adrian (03) 5221 5225. www.myl05.com/57119 PERKINS HOLDEN ENGINE, Perkins Holden V8 Supercar Engine, just Fully Rebuilt. New Perkins Heads - $19,500 ono.

Also available spare panels, wheels, spoilers etc for VH Commodore PDA. $19,500 ONO. Greg 03 9580 7047. 264 WWW.myl05.com/79592 Suzuki GSX - R1100, motorcycle engine, 1990 L model 1127co, suitable for hillclimb car, litre sprintcar, racing buggy, etc, completely standard, no modifications.

Includes carburettors, oil cooler, starter motor, alternator, GDI unit, Road use only, never raced, excellent condition, $1,900.

Also, complete turbocharger system to suit above engine. Any offers?. Brett (03) 6295 0610. 264www.my105.com/82215

Transporters/Trailers Trailer, Large enclosed car trailer, 6.5m long X 2.5m wide x 1,95m high. Spring loaded rear lift door, side door, work bench at front, will fit all open wheel cars and most sedans. Originally built for Speedway Super Sedans. Photos available on request. $10,000.00 ONO. Bronte 08 8254 8444 or 0412 846 997.264www.my105.com/38329 Trailer Car / Boat, 6m x 2.5m, with totally enclosed 6m x 5m x 2m high annex. Fitted tool box on draw bar and ramps. $6,500.

0408 369 070,260 www.my105.com/7375

Collectable/Memorabilia Transporter Isuzu SBR, 18 Ft Pantech, Excellent rear ramp system that works well for low cars. Large toolbox. Chrome rims, 5SP 6BB1 turbo engine. Weil maintained truck that is ready to use, . $11,750 +GST. Richard 03 5248 8845.

264 www.myl05.eom/52901

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.myl05.com/92629

Driver/Crew Apparel

Enclosed Trailer, Tri axle trailer with electric brakes on two axles front and rear, has been carring a super sedan, tyre rack at front, 12v winch only use twice, great to tow.

NSW rego. $12,500.00 ONO. 0405 204 819.264www.my105.com/8077

Betta Electrical Driving Suits, As used by Tony Longhurst and Max Wilson last year, 2 suits each, 1 new Wilson suit never used, FIA approved 2 & 3 layers. NZ$1300 Or Best Offer. Shane Drake 001164 9 5800552. 264 www.my105.com/43425

Wanted

Twin Cab Isuzu, 1983 Twin Cab Isuzu SBR, 22ft pan, Electric winch, hydrolic tailgate, compressor, belly lockers, CD Player Reg 12/03 $27000 ONO Phone BH 0405 123 035 AH 03 9736 2006. $27000 ONO.Ash 0405 123 035 /(03)9736 2006.

263 www.myl05.com/86978

Escort Race parts, 4 or 5 speed close ratio gearboxes 'Rocket type' or similar. 4.1 & 4,4 crown wheel & pinions. Quick rack steering rack. Anthony 0419 340 927 / 03 6343 6193.

261 www.myl O5.com/10410

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Ford Trailer Crew Cab and Gooseneck 9m Trailer, 350 Chev engine petrol/gas, tandem axle trailer, carry 1-4 cars, exc. cond. VIC rego many features. $45,000 plus GST ONO. Tony 0408 805 518. 263 www.my105.com/30158 2002 AU Super Sedan, John Brown Chassis, all the best equipment used, open axle diff, Burt Box, 363 Cleveland engine 700HP, no expense spared on building of this car, only raced one meeting. Plus all spares. $35,000 or will separate. 0419 989 010 / (02) 4730 3440.

259 www.my105.com/4465

Parts

Escort Full Floating Rear /txle, with spare axle and alloy hub, vented discs, and Brembo 2 spot calipers - $2,270. Brembo 4 spots 2x41 mm and 2x45mm to suit 295mm plus disc - $1,290. Danny 0409 470 055. 264 www.myl 05.com/30059 ROVER 5 SPEED GEAR BOX, Rover 5 speed close ratio rover gearbox suit TR8 or MG, straight cut close ratio ex Tom Hutchinson, Needham rebuild complete with bell housing and tilton oil pump, ratios by application. $2750. Ray 9608 4102. 264 www.my105.com/60121 COMMODORE, Commodore caged body shell in excellent condition, never bent. Suit Commodore Cup or Sports Sedan. Urgent Sale $2500 ONO. Richard 0419 225 433.

263www.my105.com/14131

6 August 2003

Mazda MX5 1.6 engine, 1.6 litre with polished cam cover (Inc. starter, alternator, flywheel)$ 500 Tighe cams and adjustable cam gears $400 EFI technology 45mm throttle bodies, with custom made polished manifold $1500 Locke Stewart extractors $250 $2650 or $2500 for all Mioroteo computer and dash (■*■ all wiring harness) $1200 $3850 or $3500 the LOT. Approx 86kw at rear wheels on Ric Shaw dyno.

Nick 02 9736 4172.

263 www.myl05.eom/67304 372 Alloy Sprintcar Engines, 372 Sprintcar Engine Maxwill Built, Just freshened with new special stroke scat crank, Kinsler F.I.J and Mallory Super Mag III, Just dynoed and set to go. $28000 also a 372 Sprintcar engine.Maxwill built as raced in 02/03 season, $25000 2 3/16 Hilboum Fuel Injection complete with latest 1 peice air filter$1800 Aluminium Radiator $200 Roller Camshaft $150 Pro Iron Lightning Steel Cylinder Heads - Complete, Ported, Good HP $2500 , Dennis 08 8269 2928 / 0408 844 841. 260 www.myl O5.com/1589

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o FORD F250 1991 8. 36ft Goosneck trailei , /VC, Powersteer, Low kms, CD, EFI, Trailer as 240V, Belly Lockers, Annex, Heaps of Storage. . $29,000 ONO. Henry 0417 131 989. 262www.my105.com/35479

cc OJ More refined searches

Chev C30 & Enclosed Trailer, Chevy C3C Dual Cab with 22ft Enclosed Trailer, currently used and decked out as a sprintcar transporter. 6 seater, Gas/Petrol (350L Tanks), Black, Tri-axle trailer fitted w/ith electric brakes and break-away system, air compressor. Travel with the speed of a car and the room of a truok. $35000. Dennis 0408 844 841. 262 www.myl05.eom/24901

Browse the ‘motorsport catalogue' of new parts and accessories Coming Soon ...The Motorsport directory and membership areas

Get it seen Get it sold!

81

OPINION

motorsport EDIT08IAI STUFF Editor: Phil Branagan ° editor@mnews.com.au Assistant Editor: Mark Glendenning ® mark@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Grant Rowley « grant@mnews.com.au

PRODUCTION Adv & Graphics Co-ordinator: Viv Brumby “ viv@mnews.com.au

ADVERTISING Brendon Sheridan - PR Driven Tel: 03 9550 0870 Fax: 03 9550 0816 mobile: 0407 007 286 « ads@mnews.com.au

ADMINISTRATION Managing Director/Publisher: Chris Lambden « publisher@mnews.com.au

CONTACTS 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East Vic 3187 (PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186) Ph: 03 9596 5555 Fax: 03 9596 5030 Email: mnews@mnews.com.au

CONTRIBUTORS 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.

‘Opinions expressed in Motorsport News are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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82

I demand change!

Is Col on something we’re not?

Just imagine it is the end of the 2003 V8 Supercar Series. The last five races have been run and Marcos Ambrose won four of those with Jason Bright finishing second four times. They both have a DNF in one race. The end result-Jason Bright wins the championship without winning a race and Marcos Ambrose comes second even though he had eight wins and a second place in the season.

With the current points system, this outrageous fictional result could be fact...

There is absolutely no excuse for this. The construction of the points system is the result of weeks,if not, months of discussion and calculation, not a split second decision made under pressure. So there was plenty of time to see that it was a mistake. Whoever was responsible for this points system should be shot. The old Formula 1 points system's weighting was pretty good (don't get me started on the new system - Eddie Irvine would have beaten Mika Hakkinen to the championship under the new system).

Obviously the actual points awarded would need to be different, but the reward for the higher placing needs to be adopted.

You do not change a points system to stop a driver from winning the championship too often. You look at the reason why the other guys are not winning. If there is no obvious technical

converter Send us your thoughts: mail; PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax; 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au There's just heaps to see and the crowds are steadily getting bigger and bigger. I love it! Surely there's more news out there that you could cover ... I live in rural Victoria and I can't wait for the cars to come to my local track next month.

Anyway,congrats again.

Fred Tipsker Benalla, VIC

Now that the Stone Brothers have confirmed their alliance with Ford, who would be the next in line for a MitsubisW deal?

Fred Gibson would have to be in the running? Or maybe even someone like Bob Forbes or any other out-of-work ex-Supercar team boss.

I can't wait to see another

Franchise Farce I have been a motorsport fan for over 33 years and I have got to the stage where I have really had a gutful of Tony Cochrane,AVESCO andTEGA. They make out as though they are the saviours of Aussie motorsport but I think they will be the death of it in the long term.

Everyone I talk to is sick of hearing about franchises and ownership problems.

Who are these people to teU teams who they can sell their team to, and what qualifications they have to say who is fit to own a team.

This is why this franchise system sucks because the owners have lost control over their own teams. You

I can respect people who can admit they made a mistake and do what they can to fix it, but if this points system is kept because the decisions makers won't admit to their mistake then the queue for their flogging starts behind me.

Ryan Dean Berwick, Vic

need a legal degree to keep track of who owns what. Now Paul Morris

Top Mag, but where’s my PROCAR!

coverage. I love going to their meeting because there is so much diversity on offer. Lambos, Ferarris, Monaros, Utes, VWs and Subarus.

Gibbo or Bobbo for Mitsu

manufacture join the ranks ...

Robert Guest Werribee, VIC

reason, then congratulations to the guy/team who is doing the winning. Because that's what racing is all about- winning.

I believe a new points system should be adopted for this year and applied retrospectively to the completed races. All the drivers say they are racing to win and . won't changing their driving to suit the current points system, so there is no issue that the race results would have been different.

I'd would like to offer my congratulations on a first-class publication.

You are certainly kicking-butt at the moment!

But I want to see more PROCAR

A little message to your reader Col Young who had a letter published last issue(MN 262).

Are you on drugs? You can't be serious can you? As if Holden are going to take their once-dominant cars out of tlie biggest motorsport show and put their cash in Production cars or Sport Sedans!

Your letter was complete dribble and I'm surprised it even got printed.

The only thing I can agree on is the rally program you mentioned. It would be fantastic for more manufactures to get involve in the ever-improving Australian Rally Championship.

Name withheld by request via email

Worthy Champion? Irvine, above, would have won the '99 FI World Championship if the current FI points system was in place. MNews reader Ryan Dean is concerned that the V8 points will award the series win to an unworthy champ.

is suing TEGA because it can't get a level one franchise.

One of the biggest farces is that David Thexton can buy a franchise and waste a spot on the grid nearly every round because he can't qualify. He has to be kidding himself if he thinks he will qualify at Bathurst. We have teams with franchises without cars and viceversa. Let's go back to the system of turning up and qualifying, the best get in and the others run in a nonqualifyer.

Neii Stratton Hornsby, NSW

motorsport news

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Auitralia

Team Polo Shirt $99.00

Printed T- Shirt $26.00

Coffee Mug $13.50

Watch $140.00

Royal Cap $20.00 (Also available in black)

Black Bucket Hat $20.00

Beanie $15.00

Drink Cooler $10.00

Maglite $60.00

Please allow $7.50 postage & handling per order. For the full range of Carrera Cup Australia products, visit our website, call the number below, or see the merchandise truck at your local Carrera Cup Australia event.

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©Copyright Cup Car Australia 2003. Porsche, Carrera Cup Australia and the Porsche crest are registered trademarks of Porsche AG. All prices are inclusive of GST and are shown in Australian dollars. Prices are correct at time of printing and are subject to change.

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