Motorsport News Issue 274 - January 14-27, 2004

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Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST No. 274 Jan 14-27 2004

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dramatic 2003 season a and thM clash with The Enforcer

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motorsport

news

Issue 274

14-27 January 2004

news and opinion

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features

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56 The 2003 Quiz answers It was tough, but your holiday saviour has arrived ...

race coverage

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60 World of Outlaws Yes, Sydney had the honour of hosting our very first WoO event

Photos: Cover: Dirk Kiynsmith, sutton-images.com Contents: Dirk Kiynsmith, sutton-images.com, John Morris/Mpix MtUtno MiSfCHI

reguiars 58 Rallying

64 Speedway

68 NASCAR

72 Histories

74 National Scene

76 Marketplace

70 Drag Racing 3

Rumour Rile Where we air all those intriguing, but to date unconfirmed, rumours dug out by our imperious spies some of which may well turn out to be right on the button ...

No Peking Duck? Disturbing whispers reaching this office suggest that all really is not well at the China end of the Shanghai V8 Supercar deal. Our spy suggests that AVESCO might be quite close to giving it away,for 2004 at least.

Phillip Island in May? NZ back to November? Three rounds at Eastern Creek? Watch this space ...

Is it true? Our shadowy underworld figure lurking around Fisherman’s Bend tells us that one of the company's race cars might well have winged its way to a US wind tunnel.

For what, you ask? Are not aero packages fixed? Indeed, they are but radiator type and placement and other under-bonnet stuff ain't.

Did you hear the one about the Blue Oval V8 team who got an engine prepared by an associated company over in The Old Dart? You know, the old 'overseas expert' syndrome?

Engine wasn't much cop - at least not noticeably better than what they had.

The crunch came with the bill.

Seems R&D and all that must have added up - we're told the bottom line came perilously close to seven figures in good old Aussie dollars.

Team principal not impressed ...

Skaifey, your number's up! With number 1 gone from the doors of the leading red car, we hear that the number 2 decals may be moved sideways, below.

In the interim, the red squad decided that 22 would be an appropriate number to acquire for young Kelly's chariot.

An emissary was despatched forthwith to the current utiliser of that very number to inquire as to what monetary inducement might be required to part with it.

Emissary returned looking flustered. Other options are being considered...

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Box on!

V8 gearbox fight brewing...

A GEARBOX conundrum threatens to provide a costly and controversial start to the 2004 season for a number of V8 Supercar teams.

After some 15 years of providing its ubiquitous H6S sixspeed to the V8 fraternity, it seems that manufacturer Holinger re-designed the product last year, updating some of the mechanisms and, among other things, potentially improving reliabilty by removing the ‘preload’ on the input shaft and incorporating a built-in oil pump.

With manufacture of the older gearbox discontinued, numbers (said to add up to $2 million) of the replacement RD6 model have been sold and used extensively by teams at V8 races, including Bathurst, it seems, however, that Holinger inadvertantly overlooked a seemingly minor dimensional part of TEGA’s technical rules in producing the new model. The distance from the front edge of the gearbox to the centreline of the gearlever is defined at 423 mm.

In the case of the new ‘box, it has increased by some 30mm.

On the face of it, and strictly interpreting the rules, the new gearbox is illegal. The TEGA Board is currently considering what to do - bearing in mind that teams such as Triple 8, FPR and Perkins Engineering in particular have numbers of the new product

and no longer retain the older model.

Should teams using the older model be ‘handicapped’ by a seemingly illegal up-date? Will teams seriously have to ditch millions of dollars of hardware? Is the indiscretion significant? Could the same up-date have been achieved with the correct measurement?

The Board’s decision is complicated to a degree by the news that Melbourne engineering company Modena Engineering, which currently supplies gearbox internals and other machined parts to the industry, is close to launching its own gearbox - designed it seems using the correct measurement.

The galling thing for Holinger is that the regs governing the V8 Supercar gearbox were initially ^ framed around its gearbox, which at the time enjoyed (and still does, pending the arrival of the Modena option) 100 percent use throughout V8 Supercar racing.

TEGA Chairman Kelvin O'Reilly didn’t want to comment on the issue as MNews closed for press, other than admitting that it was a “tricky one.”

MNews does understand, though, that a preliminary straw poll among the new TEGA Board suggests bad news for the purchasers of the new model Holinger- unless there is a rethink before the vote becomes official ...

Skaife wins appeal

MARK Skaife's appeal against a stewards'finding of careless driving, in relation to the incident with Russell Ingall at Eastern Creek, was successful.

While the basic result of the appeal was known in time to make a Stop Press in the last issue of MNews, further details are now available.

According to the official CAMS statement, "The Court upheld the appeal, on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a finding of careless driving against Mark Skaife. The penalty of 30 championship points was quashed."

However, the matter is not quite yet over. Written reasons from the Court for its decision, including its recommendations, "will be provided by 16 January 2004," according to the CAMS statement.

Clearly, the court feels obliged to expand on its view that there was insufficient evidence to justify the case.

HRT's $10,000 appeal fee will be reimbursed in full.

Skaife did not appeal the decision of the Stewards that he brought the sport into disrepute. This finding, and the penalty of 75 championship points, a $10,000 fine and a three race suspension, suspended for 12 months, still stands.

Skajfe was, of course, delighted with the outcome and, free of the pre-appeal constraints, gives his views on the incident as part of an extensive interview in this issue of MNews (starting on page 32).

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4 cars for2004; Loi\

by CHRIS LAMBDEN ECONOMIC rationalism is behind Larry Perkins'decision to expand from two to four the number of V8 Supercars running from his Moorabbin workshops.

LP announced this week that he will run additional cars in 2004 under two Level 2 TEGA franchises.

The first will be a Castrol-liveried VY for former Bathurst winner Tony Longhurst, under the Rod Nash franchise used formerly by Team Brock in 2002 and leased to Ford Performance Racing for David Besnard to run under in 2003.

Paul Little's Toll Racing will switch its allegiance from Ford to Holden, with Perkins running a car for regular driver Anthony Tratt with ToU sponsorship.

Toll Racing will thus shut down as a separate entity, although it is understood that a number of the existing Toll team will find employment at the expanded Perkins Engineermg operation.

"The infrastructure you need for R&D and maintenance of a single car is imder-utilised to hell with just one or two cars," Perkins told MNews on Monday,"so the only way you can be more efficient is to go to the motorsport news

its 2004 Athens Olympics telecast.

Just who fills the commentary booth alongside Neil Crompton remains In the air but we're sure there'll be plenty of resumes being sent off...

Superteam!

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Ihurst in Castrol VY for Nash; Trait and Toll nnove to Holden AFI

■ Another rumour doing the rounds is Stone Brothers Racing already securing the signature of Greg Ritter to co-drive with Marcos Ambrose at Sandown and Bathurst.

Team chief Ross Stone told MNews that he hasn't even spoken to Ritter and there is no truth in the rumour.

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maximum number of cars that we're allowed to run under our franchise agreement."

Perkins already has two race-ready VY Commodores on the workshop floor, with a third scheduled for completion before the start of the season.

The new deal means that Steven Richards' Castrol Perkins team-mate Paul DumbreU will have to wait just that bit longer to get into a VY model Commodore.

He will start the season with a VX, upgrading when a fourth car is completed.

For more,see 5 Minutes with Larry Perkins, page 28.

14 January 2004

■ Therexould be something of an explosion in numbers in Carrera Cup this year. With six 2004-specification cars coming into Australia and a handful more into New Zealand some of which raced on the weekend at Timaru in the NZ GTS Series - we hear there's one destined for Greg Murphy Racing, who have the exPeter Hill car up for sale.

Our sources tell us a few drivers will be sampling GMR Porsche power as we go to press, including Fabian Coulthard, Formula Fordster Tony P.ugliese, and a couple of Kiwis, including Andy Booth.

And of the rumours that GMR will have something to do with Lansvale Racing's 2004 plans that have been floating around? Forget it is the word from the Murphy camp. Nothing but scuttlebutt.

It's a cast of thousands at Moorabbin in 2004: Castrol team regulars Richards and Dumbrell, below, will be joined by Anthony Tratt, above left, and Tony Longhurst, above right, in a four-car operation.

■ More accolades for our man Webber. Autocar Magazine has named the Jag star as its 2003'Man of the Year', the top accolade along its awards the 2003 FI season.

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■ Work hasn't just begun on demolishing the pit and corporate building at Bathurst- it's already been done! Our spies have forwarded through some pics of the demolition work and nothing remains of the pit buildings at the Mountain, which were constructed in time for the 1987 round of the World Touring Car Championship. It's difficult to imagine but it's looking very, very naked...

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Riley dumi

Mitsubishi springs pre-Chrisi

by JON THOMSON and MARK GLENDENNING

Murcho/PK deal?

Things are moving aiong for Aussie toJoin Champ Car...

CHRISTIAN Murchison is expressed an indirect interest in edging closer towards landing the 23-year-old when team a Champ Car drive for the owner and Open Wheel Racing 2004 season.

Series frontman Kevin “There’s still a couple of --..Kalkhoven told a press hurdles that we need to conference that finding an overcome, but we are definitely Australian driver was a priority for the series. very close to agreeing on a deal for next year,” said Chris “I am committed to finding a national driver from Australia Hocking of Vitenat Management Group, who looks and taking him up, certainly after the Western Australian’s through the Atlantic ranks and interests. then, hopefully, having a ride in Hocking was due to hold a Champ Cars very quickly," Kalkhoven said. meeting yesterday (Tuesday) that he said would finalise a “One of the things that makes an international series work well major part of securing the is drivers from each of those funding for the drive.^ He was unable to confirm countries (that host a round).” ' exactly which team Murchison Murchison spent last year was in discussions with, keeping his racecraft sharp by however MNews believes that competing in the Formula the most likely spot would be a Renault V6 Championship in second seat with PK Sport Europe.

- MARK GLEiMDENNING alongside Mika Sale. The team

More CAT for FPR

BOB Riley's BRADsport outfit has lost the contract to run the works Mitsubishi Ralliart team in the Australian Rally Championship.

Riley was told on December 22 that his contract to run the team had been terminated.

Spencer Lowndes, the team's second driver behind Ed Ordynski, was also advised that his contract l would not be extended through to 2004, however it is understood that Ordynski wUl remain to spearhead the new team.

"There^was really no warning," said Lowndes.

"1 guess there's some options there for me. Finding a budget will be the hard part."

The announcement comes at the end of testing year for Riley, who lost his wife Cheryl to cancer early in 2003 as weU as working through a raft of difficulties in getting the Lancer Evo VIIs competitive in the ARC. "I just want to close tlris chapter of my life and move on to something else," said Riley.

"My contract was terminated so I had to terminate the employment of aU my guys,because my company's sole income source was running the RaUiart team.

"I have been overwhelmed by the

number of calls of support but it is time now to get on with something new."

It seems likely that the team will move to Launceston under the control of long-time privateer runner Les Walkden.

Walkden is expected to meet with Mitsubishi General Manager of Services and Product Plarming Graham Fairhead to discuss plans for the new team in Adelaide today (Wednesday).

If Walkden's proposal is given the

Dirk Klynsmith

FORD Performance Racing has re-inked major sponsor Caterpillar for another two years.

Rob Obliubek, Caterpillar's Global On-Highway Engines Department Manager for the Asia Pacific region is hapy with the arrangement which will take CAT through to the end of 2005 with FPR. "The team achieved their goal of finishing in the top five in 2003 and with the move to two cars next season, there is no doubt that the team will be major players in 2004 and beyond," he said.

CAT has the title rights on one of FPR's Falcons for the next two year, with Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton returning to drive for the team tliis year.

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motorsDort news

NEWS

led in shake-up

mas surprise; Waikden poised to take over

Brocky in Porsche Mt Buller Sprint fieid PETER Brock will be stepping back into a Monaro for the inaugural Porsche Mt Buller Sprint on the January 26-27 Australia Day weekend.

The new event, which is capped 2 I to 100 entrants, features a prologue I stage at Winton on January 24 to g I determine a starting order before the ^ field runs four timed out of six runs on a 16-kilometre stretch of the winding Mt Buller access road which climbs 1000 metres.

Brock will be joined in the same Monaro he drove at Targa Tasmania

by Targa navigator Anne Gigney. n John Bowe and long-time gal , Alice are getting married I Yep, it's true, the duo - who have been engaged since late ^02- have finally found a free period next weekend to tie the knot in a private family ceremony in ' St.Kilda. Our congrats to all.

Back again? Ordynski drove a Waikden car at Rally of Canberra in 2003. He looks like being in one full-time now... green light, the deal will see Ordynski line up alongside Finn Juha Kangas, who was run by Walken in the 2003 championship.

"Les is obviously already in a strong position to offer the services that the team requires," Ordynski explained.

"It's likely that he will prepare the _ cars, but it is not locked away yet. If it happens,it will have a lot of positives for the team,and I think

that Juha and myself would be a strong driving combination."

Former 00 Motorsport team manager Alan Heaphy has been employed by Mitsubishi to look at ruruping an operation to manage the sale of complete competition cars as well as parts to privateer runners.

It is believed Heaphy may be being groomed to take over the entire RalUart operation at some point in the future.

Heaphy has admitted to the media that he has a one month contract with Mitsubishi to carry out some planning and plotting to see what opportunities there were for the team.

"But it's only for a month," he stressed.

The RaUiart works team will continue to run Lancer Evo VIIs for the foreseeable future and wiU not move up to the Evo Vin models until some time down the track.

With Docking in F3

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ALAN Docking will have another Australian join him in the British Formula 3 Championship this season with Will Power signing a deal to drive for the expat Aussie for 2004.

Power will follow in the footsteps of Mark Webber, Marcos Ambrose and Will Davison, who all have driven for 'Docko' in F3.

After a disjointed season where he began with a struggling Halt chassis at Diamond Racing that turned into a successful end to the season once having made the swtich to Fortec

^ j Motorsport, Power is keen to link up with > Docking for the new season, B "Alan's been in England 30 years and he's a B legend in F3 circles, so it's great for me to be K joining forces with him for this season," Power K said.

"The aim for this year is to win some races and hopefully the championship. It's a big ask, but you've got to aim high."

14 January 2004

Power sees Nelson Piquet Jr as the man to beat in this year's series. The Brazilian finished third in last year's title behind Carlin duo Alan van der Merwe and Jamie Green and is expected to be strong.

"Piquet Jr is going to be the guy to beat," Power said.

"I probably raced him more than anyone else in 2003 and he's very fast, but very clean."

Helping Power raise the near A$1 million budget he requires is London-based Aussie Colin Hyams, a former driver himself and these days property investor.

Hyams raced in Formula 5000 in Australia and the USA in the 1960s and 1970s and spent time racing in the Gold Star at Tasman Series.

Power, meanwhile, will return to England at the end of the month but will come back to Australia for the Foster's Australian Grand Prix, for which he is an official ambassador.

n Western Australian Karl Reindler has been confirmed as a member of BRM's 2004 Australian Formula 3 line-up.

Reindler raised eyebrows with his efforts during his debut season last year, finishing sixth in the competitive championship despite missing the final round through injury. The rest of BRM's 2004 line-up is yet to be finalised. n The new series spearheaded by Formula 4000 and Sports Sedans is continuing to grow, with Commodore Cup now having been added to the middle three rounds of the ; championship. Commodore Cup : freaks should therefore add the following dates to their diary: June 6-8 (Winton), July 9-11 (Oran Park), and July 30- August 1 (Eastern Creek). n Former Commodore Cuper Lee Holdsworth is moving into the Konica V8 Supercar Series. Holdsworth will join Alan Gurr in the Smith's Trucks team, driving the VT Commodore driven last year by Owen Kelly. n There'll be a bunch of new cars and drivers in PROCAR's GT Performance and Australian Production Car Championships this year. Protecnica Racing will continue to run two Subaru ' Impreza MY04 Stis for Wayne ' Boatwright, who is expected to team i up with Justin Hemmes, while Wayne Russell will enter two BMW M Coupes.

There will be two new Alfa Romeo 147 I GTA hatchbacks with drivers Scott n Farquharson and Hugh Harrison and Ric Shaw returns in a Mazda RX7 Series 8 for the whole series.

In the Production class. Champ Scott ; Loadsman will return with his VY SS Commodore, while the smaller Holden ' Astra of Martin Doxey will be back as well as another Astra for Dave Mertens and a Vectra for Mertens'son Lee. 7

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Rupprecht to run American beast from Adelaide THERE will be a Mosler in the 2004 Nations Cup - as predicted by Motorsport News late last year - and it will be run by Rupprecht Motorsport with Dale Brede driving.

The Adelaide-based team is set to take delivery of a new MT900R from the United Kingdom sometime this week with a chance of a second car also coming for the team to run in addition to two Falcons in the Konica V8 Supercai Series, Team boss Ralf Rupprecht worked with Martin Short’s Rollcentre team on its Mosler at the last two Bathurst 24 Hour events and-is looking forward to the Mosler debuting in his home state at the Clipsal 500 in March.

"The Adelaide Street Circuit has some special memories for me and its only 15 minutes from our workshop, so can t wait," he said.

Brede, 29, has spent the last three seasons in the Konica Series, though lumped at the chance to drive the Mosler in the Nations Cup as well as the Bathurst 24 Houi.

"I've known Ralf fora few years now since when I drove with Alan Heath at Bathurst in a car Ralf was running," said Brede, 8

"We spoke about it at the 24 Hour last year and we're going to liave a crack at the title. This car will be better than the one at the 24 Hour, it's stiffer and they've done a fair bit of development on it.

"It should be a very, very competitive package," Brede drove last year for the Holden Young Lions outfit, finishing sixth in the Konica Series. He took second in 2002, when he campaigned a Gulf Western Falcon for farris Rating.

Brede revealed he is also in advanced talks with some V8 Supercar teams regarding endurance drives, adding that it was important he have a full time race drive in 2004 to ensure he remained a candidate. A drive in a Mosler in the British GT Championship at a handful of rounds could also be in the pipeworks.

- AARON NOONAN

Voting op

VOTING has opened for the 2004 Australian MotorSport Awards.

While panels of motorsport experts are being convened to consider the majority of the prestigious awards, the MotorSport Personality of the Year will be decided by you, Motorsport News readers.

Your vote can make tlie difference when it comes to the March 2 annoimcement,at the MotorSport Awards Dinner in Melbourne,of the Personality of the Year - that is, the Australian whose persona shone out during the past year, be it here in Australia or overseas.

Register your vote now, to avoid missing the voting cut-off date (see voting options below right).

The 2004 MotorSport Awards Dinner will be held at'Zinc' within the Federation Square precinct, on the banks of the Yarra, on Tuesday March 2. Proceeds from the evening will go to children's cancer charity 'Brainwave'.

Patron of the charity, Mark Webber, wiU be among the international guests on the night.

While many of the motor sport industry attend, the evening is also open to the public, with a limited number of tickets available for purchase.

Tickets are $200 each (plus GST), with tables of 10 available. Corporate bookings are welcome for a night that officially kicks off GrandPr-ix- Week

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in Melbourne.

While the announcement and presentation of the nine major MotorSport awards is the prime purpose of the evening, the focus is also heavily on entertainment and fim.

Bookings and booking information can be directed to the awards dinner co-ordinators Corporate Business Productions - Phone (03) 9585 8115, fax (03) 9585 6881, email cbp@netspace.net.au

Whincupgoes DEPOSED Garry Rogers motorsport racer Jamie Whincup is yet to put in concrete his plans for 2004.

The 20-year-old. who debuted with the Valvoline squad last year, has the option of continuing working in the team’s workshop and becoming an endurance driver alongside Garth Tander and new signing Cameron McConville, though he is yet to finalise an arrangemenf.

“I'm back from holidays and busy sorting things out,” said Whincup this week.

“I'm not sure at this stage. There's negotiations with a few people but I'm yet to make a decision.

“There is the option of staying with GRM and staying working there in addition to being an enduro driver with possibilities in the future maybe arising. I want to sort it as soon as possible, really, and stay in V8 Supercars."

Whincup has been linked with the Holden Young Lions squad in thqy Konica Series and would be eligible to compete, given he didn't finishi in the top 25 in last year's V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The 2002 Australian Formula Ford Champion ran the team's older VX Commodore last year, before being given an opportunity alongside Tander at Bathurst.

He finally received his own VY for the title finale at Eastern Creek and had one of his best results, in addition to taking three of the VIP Petfoods 'Top Dog' Awards for the year.

- AARON NOONAN ffl otorsoort news

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Jag ready and running

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I n Ferrari will unveil its new F2004 1 on January 26 at its factory in Maraneilo. The car will then undergo an intensive test programme to ensure reliability is found before the start of the FI season in Australia in n March.

Pick a favourite, any favourite! Maybe Jag star Mark Webber is your pick or maybe Mark Skaife. Either way, make sure you vote and get in fast to decide the 2004 MotorSport Personality of the Year.

>■$

■ Williams is considering Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia for the role of second test driver although the team does intend to test Nelson Piquet Jr again before the start of the new season. The 18-year-old showed potential but was erratic during his first test in December.

Pizzonia is a known quantity, having done a good job testing for the team in 2002. Team members continue to say that they do not understand what happened to Pizzonia at Jaguar.

How to vote for your favourite star ...

There are two ways to register your vote - by mail or email.

You are asked to select your top three nominees, in order of preference and list them thus; 1 .Name #1,2. Name #2, 3. Name #3. and your name, either on the back of an envelope or in an email.

Email your name and vote to; mnews@mnews.com.au or mail your envelope to; MotorSport Personality of the Year, c/- Motorsport

News, PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186.

One vote per person, please.

Who is eligible? Any Australian competing in motorsport, here or internationally - your favourite V8 Supercar drivers? Mark Webber, Ryan Briscoe, James Courtney, Will Davison, or Will Power on the international scene? Any of our MotoGP contenders? It’s your call.

Voting will close on February 4. Don’t wait, vote NOW!

n/lawer tests with Carlin

■ According to the latest research, BMW Williams sponsors are getting ' more Formula 1 exposure at the : moment than Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. ; The latest figures come from the research consultancy S-Comm which has carried out a detailed assessment of the 2003 Formula 1 season. According to SComm, Ferrari gained 23% of all the coverage but its sponsors did not receive clear exposure. The company concluded that Toyota and Williams were more effective at delivering the individual sponsorship messages.

2003 Australian Formula 3 runnerup Barton Mawer has completed a second test with British F3 Championship-winning team Carlin Motorsport.

Mawer tested alongside Brazilian Danilo Dirani at Pembrey the week before Christmas, and became the first driver in the world to drive a Dallara-chassis powered by the newgeneration two-litre Honda-Mugen powerplant.

"This was a fantastic day for me," enthused Mawer.

1 AH

JAGUAR has already finished the R5 but will not unveil the car until the weekend, though Mark Webber was busy shaking down the car as we went to press doing shakedown straight-line testing in Belgium, The R5 was finished on December 19 and since then the car has been undergoing a series of rig tests at Jaguar to make sure that it is solid before it takes to the race tracks.

The team boasts a much stronger engineering staff than a year ago with the aerodynamic department having increased from a staff of 22 to 43 and a new vehicle dynamics department now boasting 18 engineers.

"This sort of opportunity is exactly why 1 came over here at this time of year.'

Mawer said that he is still

■ Mercedes protege Jan Fleylen has signed to drive for Team Astromega in Formula 3000. The 2002 Formula Ford Festival winner raced ■ this year in the Formula 3 Euroseries but did not have a very successful year. Fie had been expected to replace Christian Klien at Mucke Motorsport.

finalising his plans for the coming season, but that his opportunities may be dictated by budget.

"Both outright teams and scholarship British F3 teams have been in discussion about next year. It is very positive.

"Obviously it depends on the level of financial backing I can secure for next year that determines whether I

■ Ferrari has joined forces with the Beta Utensili SpA, a longtime Formula 1 sponsor, which will supply tools and sponsorship for the team for the next three seasons. Beta was previously involved with Ferrari between 1976 and 1982 and has since sponsored Surtees, Arrows, Minardi and Jordan.

-JOE SAWARO

can take advantage of these opportunities."

Mawer said that he is also considering the Japanese F3 series, which was won last year by feUow Australian James Courtney in 2003.

- MARK GLENDENNING

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ten home of [motorsport] 2004 V8 Supercar Championship* Mar y Albert Park (non-championship) .Rd 1 Mar 21 ,. .Adelaide Rd2

.Eastern Creek

Apr 4

May 2 ....Pukekohe

.Rd3

May 23 .. .Hidden Vailey ..

.Rd4

Jun13 Jul 4

Barbagallo ....

.Rd5

.Qid Raceway ..

.Rd6 ,Rd7

Jul 25 ... .Winton Aug 15 .. .Oran Park

,Rd8

Sep 12 ...Sandown Oct 10 Bathurst

,Rd9 .Rd 10

Oct 24

Sutlers Paradise

.Rd 11

Nov 14 ...Shanghai Dec 5 Eastern Creek .

.Rd 12 .Rd 13

2004 FIA Formula One Championship* Australia

Mar? Mar 21 Apr 4 .

.Rd1 .Rd2

.Malaysia .Bahrain .

.Rd3

Apr 25 ... .San Marino ..

.Rd4

May 9

.Rd5

Spain

May 23 ...Monaco ....

.Rd6

May 30 ...Europe (Nurb) Jun13 .. . .Canada

.Rd7 .Rd8

Jun 20 ....USA

.Rd9

Jul 11

Great Britain .

,Rd 10

Jul 25 ....Germany ....

.Rd 11

Aug 15 ...Hungary

.Rd 12

Aug 29 ...Belgium

.Rd13

Sep 12 ...Italy

.Rd 14

Sep 26 ...China

.Rd 15

Oct 10 ....Japan Oct 24 ....Brazil

.Rd17

.Rd 16

2003-04 World Series Sprintcars Jan 16 ...Speedway City SA

.Rd14

Jan17

.Rd 15

Speedway City SA

2004 World Raljy Championship'^ Jan 23-25 .Monte-Carlo Feb 6-8 .

.Rd.1

.Swedish

.Rd2

Mar 12-14 ....Mexico

.Rd3

Apr 16 -18

New Zealand .

.Rd4

May 14-16

Cyprus

,Rd5

May 28-30

Acropolis Rally

,Rd6

June 11-13

Argentina ....

.Rd7 .Rd8

June 25-27 ....Turkey .Finland Aug 6-8

.Rd9 .RdIO

Aug 20-22

Deutschland

Sep 3-5

.Japan

.Rd 11

Sep 17-19 Oct 1-3 ..

Great Britain .Sardinia .

.Rd 12

Oct 15-17

.France ..

.Rd14

Oct 29-31

.Catalunya Australia

.Rd15

Nov 12-14

.Rd 13

.Rd16

ten J home of motorsport I

All event dales in this calendar were correct tracks at the lima of printing.

Please consult any individual and/or associations for date changes.

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

Williams Si

FI Technical Editor PAOLO FILISETTI was there when WillL

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ESPITE ever-increasing restrictions, the Williams design team has come up with an innovative'twin keel' design for the 2004 FW26 Williams.BMW. Antonia Terzi, Williams' chief aerodynamicist for the past two years, has created a shape that is anything but conservative as Williams seeks to build on the speed shown intermittently in 2003 and present a serious challenge to Ferrari and McLaren.

Nose The radically-shaped nose features a very short nose cone,connected to the front wing by a pair of long, curved, downward extensions. These two extensions are separated by the maximum allowable distance of 50cm, giving the front of the car a profile not unlike a sea lion!

While the design still provides clean air across the top of the car, its primary function is to maximise the airflow directed underneath the car.

Tlus allows for more efficient use of the undercar area to generate additional downforce - which goes some way to balancing the downforce lost by the 2004 requirement that the rear wing have a maximum of two,not three, elements.

If there was an aero problem in the FW25,it was a deficit in front

downforce. The new front end treatment of the FW26 rectifies that.

Double Keel The adoption of the double keel concept is a natural consequence of the need to maximise and clean up the airflow under the chassis. The double keel is similar in concept to the McLaren one, but is more extreme, with the front suspension pick-up points sporting a wing profile section.

These are connected to the big barge boards placed inside the front axle, made up of two separate ^ elements on each side.

Sidepods and engine cover

The sidepods are very small and narrow at the rear, was made possible by the complete redesigning of the lubrication and cooling system, including the use of smaller, more efficient radiators than on the FW25.

The engine cover uses an increased side section to comply with the new 2004 rules related to the upper bodywork.

Engine

The new BMW,labelled P84, has been designed from scratch for the 2004 'one engine per weekend'ruling.

According to BMW Sporting

Director Mario Thiessen, tire new unit is some five percent heavier, with a power loss over the 2003 engine of some six percent- ie around SObhp.

The design and production of the engine has been a high-cost exercise, according to Thiessen, who maintains that it has wiped out any cost savings due to the reduced number of engines required.

TECHNO-NEWS

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I

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ms took the covers off its radical FW26

9

FW25

FW26

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Gearbox

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The rear end of the car is even more compact than its predecessor, thanks to a smaller seven-speed gearbox, designed by Williams with input from BMW,and produced in the UK by an external contractor.

The new gearbox and rear end has been tested extensively by Mark Gene in an interim car since testing began in November.

O

o

Rear wing

The rear wing is now of two upper elements instead of three, but features enlarged endplates to take advantage of the increase allowed in rear,overhand, up from 50cm to 60cm.

Understudy: Filisetti compares the undersides of the 2003 and 2004 Williams examples.

What'is in Patrick's Head?

Tliis is what the man responsible had to say..

I don't think it is correct to talk about increased risks as a result of our choice of following a completely different design philosophy for this car. The word risk reminds me of gambling and this is not the case.

We evaluated with a great deal of attention the potential advantages of this solution and we decided quite early in the process to follow this direction. We decided therefore to bring forward our production schedule in comparison to previous years, launching the car earlier than in the past.

In this way we can manage any problems that may arise from such a new project and address them well before the start of the season.

We want to win as of the first race as last year we lost the championship in the first part of the season when our car was some distance from the pace of the leaders.

The championship is very long and anything can happen, so it is important to get as many points as possible, soon.

Patrick Head: Williams Technical Director

The I

Palmer buys Brands Hatch

I In Jos we Trust; ! Verstappen has a swag ofcash and it looks like he's going to take it to lead Jordan in 2004.

ANY possibility of the British Grand Prix being moved to Brands Hatch in the immediate future can be forgotten,following the news that the Interpublic Group of Companies has agreed to sell the Kentish track and three other circuits to a consortium led by former Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer, above.

Palmer and two partners, John Britten and Peter Ogden, have bought Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton, with their newly-formed MotorSport Vision company.

They intend to develop the four tracks along the same lines as Palmer has done with much success at Bedford Autodrome.

"We are totally committed to developing motorsport at the MotorSport Vision circuits and believe that through innovation and quality enhancement we can revitalise one of the UK’s most exciting sports," said Palmer.

"The future of these historic venues as motor racing circuits is now assured. Central to our plans is continued ownership of all four circuits and development of the motorsport business at each of them, in accordance with their character and opportunities they present.

"In four years Bedford Autodrome has become the most successful corporate motorsport venue In the country, though it was never designed to hold motor racing events. The addition of these four major circuits provides a most valuable complementary portfolio of venues."

Sllverstone will remain under the control of the Brands Hatch Circuits Ltd company, although this is being changed to become the Silverstone Motorsport Ltd. Andrew Waller, the boss of BHCL will become the managing director of Silverstone Motorsport.

- JOE SAWARD 12

Please share

Jaguar andJordan to share CRGCossie IT has been confirmed that Jordan will use exactly the same engine as Jaguar Racing in 2004 - although the Silverstonebased team will pay for the privilege. r The logic behind the deal is that the development of the osworth CR6 - a development of the 2003 unit which has been strengthened to be able to last fo^ 800km - will reduce costs of development and enable Cosworth to learn from two teams rather than just one.

It wiii also be a source of extra motivation as Jordan will want to beat the works team, and the works team will not want to beaten by a customer.

Rumours of a huge takeover bid for Jordan from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich appears to have been a means of putting pressure on Jos Verstappen to conclude a deal (see separate story) Tbe stories were denied by a spokesman for Abramovich.

- JOE SAWARD

Renault go Wime

RENAULT F1 has hired Rob White, the chief engineer at Cosworth Racing.

White is already working as Technical Director (Engine) at Renault F1 in Viry-Chatillon, alongside Bernard Dudot, who is currently Deputy ManagingDirector of the French operation.

White will be a big loss for Cosworth, where he spent his entire racing career, beginning in 1987 when he joined the company.

He worked on the development of the Cosworth DFX engines in CART and then spent two years working on the installation of the dynos and developing the new Cosworth XB Indycar engine.

At the end of 1996 he moved back to Europe and was put in charge of the engineering for the Formula 1 programme at Cosworth’s headquarters.

Hiring White is a radical move for Renault but could be a very good move for the French. White has very specific knowledge of how to design a current 90-degree

VI0, having been the man in charge of engineering at Cosworth Racing for the entire CR5 programme, the engine which was raced last year by Jaguar.

He has thus had to overcome a lot of teething problems with that configuration of engine which wili enable Renault to catch up ground that has been lost in recent years as the team has worked on its wide-angled VI Os. White’s influence on the 2004 engine programme is going to be minimal because major architectural changes to the 72degree engines will not be possible.

Some of his ideas may be incorporated into the engines towards the end of the current season but his main influence is going to be felt when it comes to the 2005 engine.

White’s problem is that he speaks no French, but if Dudot can manage the French and keep the heat off White, the relationship may bear fruit.

-JOE SAWARD

Ruben RUBENS Barrichello looks like he may be staying at Ferrari longer than many are predicting, possibly as long as 2006.

The Brazilian was talking to Williams in the autumn about the possibility of joining the team to replace Juan Pablo Montoya In 2005 after his Ferrari contract expired.

But the talks foundered because Williams refused to pay more than $10m a year while Ferrari was believed to be offering Barrichello a new two-year deal worth $20m a year.

Barrichello knows that with Williams he might have a chance to win the World Championship while he will have to go on acting as Michael Schumacher's number two at Ferrari, but it seems that he has decided to take that option and put the money in the bank.

Perhaps the 31-year-old Brazilian is hoping that he will eventually become the Ferrari number 1 when Michael retires.

It is more likely, however, that Ferrari will look for a younger man when Schumacher does call it a day and, with several up-andmotorsport news

toss to Jopdan

by JOE SAWARD

IT is now virtually certain that Jos Verstappen will be signed to lead the Jordan team in 2004.

Verstappen has the largest pot of sponsorship at the moment and has nowhere else to go. Verstappen's cash comes from Trust Computers and the Muermans real estate company.

It is believed that he has as much

5 until 2006?

as $28m,although his salary must come out of that as well, so the team will probably be picking up only around $20m.

The deal has been under negotiation since the middle of December when Verstappen's manager, Michel Perridon, announced that Jos had stopped talking to Minardi.

Eddie Jordan flew by helicopter to Trust headquarters in Dordrecht, Holland on December 17 and had discussions with Perridon and Harrie Muermans,the boss of the Muermans.

It is rumoured that the deal has recently been signed and that the announcement is now waiting for the transfer of money.

If confirmed, the news will be bad news for Nick Heidfeld, who had a deal with the team based on the German finding sponsorship for the team.

The second Jordan seat is the last available in FI for 2004 and this is expected to go to either Allan McNish or Ralph Firman, bdoiv, with the backing of Benson & Hedges, which will pay $10m to the team if it takes a British driver.

McNish has the advantage of being one of the most experienced development drivers in FI, having previously worked for McLaren, Benetton and Toyota before getting a season racing with Japanese team in 2002.

1

Last year he made an important contribution to Renault's success.

coming stars more than 10 years younger than Rubens, (notably Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Christian Klien), Ferrari has the option to go for them, Barrichello is undoubtedly 14 January 2004

comfortable at Ferrari, for which he has driven for the last four seasons, during which he has scored seven wins - although some of these have been 'donated' to him by Schumacher.

- JOE SAWARD

NEWS

Rocketsports re-signs backer JOHNSON Controls has announced that it has re-signed with Champ Car outfit Rocketsports Racing.

Following the.re-signing of driver Alex Tagllani, the automotive systems and facility management company will re-up for a second season with Paul Gentllozzi's squad. n Tony Stewart will put his Indy 500 ambitions on hold until he finishes his NASCAR career.

Speaking recently, the 2002 NASCAR champ says his open-wheeler aspirations are on hold, despite the fact that the '500 is the number one race he wants to win. Stewart, who pulled double duty with same-day Indy/NASCAR races in 1998 and 2001 but was unsuccessful in winning, is sticking with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2004.

"It's not fair to the team. As many people as we keep adding every year and as co.mpetitive as Cup racing gets every year...just the threat of something happening is what is keeping me from doing it," said Stewart. n Robbie Buhl's Dreyer and Reinbold Racing outfit in the IRL IndyCar Series has re-signed Purex Detergents for a sixth-straight season. Team co-owner/driver Buhi will remain in the driver's seat of the team's #24 Dallara/Chevrolet. n Arie Luyendyk Jr will make his Sportscar debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the end of the month.

The 22-year-old son of the two-time Indy 500 champ has raced in the IRL's Infiniti Pro Series, finishing seventh in the 2003 standings. He will drive a Multimatic Ford Focus Daytona Prototype for the SpeedSource team alongside Mike Borkowski and Paul Meats Jr. n Christian Fittipaldi will also be racing in the Rolex 24. The Brazilian, who these days is with Petty Enterprises and their Dodge program in the NASCAR Nextel Cup, is teaming up with Bell Motorsports and drivers Andy Pilgrim, Forest Barber and Terry Borcheller in a Chevrolet Doran JE-4. n Formula 3000 champion team Arden International has announced that its 2004 drivers will be last year's top rookie Vitantonio Liuzzi and Dutch F3 racer Robert Doornbos.

Liuzzi finished fourth in last year's title, which was won by Arden's Bjorn Wirdheim, while Doornbos has raced in the Euro F3 Series and raced at Macau and Korea (as well as the Spa round of the British F3 series) for Menu Motorsport.

13

Baum*anas

Breaking Cover

'1 ^

Most ofthe FI 'fraternity have been testing their 2004 '■ challengers since late last year, but v\/ith the ' : launches just around the corner, things are ' starting to get serious

Seen at Jerez: Briscoe gives the Toyota TF103 a run, above.

Joined by tbe BAR Honda 005 steered by Takuma Sato, left.

Also present was Kiini Raikkonen in McLaren's MP4/19, far left.

HUNGARIAN Zsolt Baumgartner's ride with Minardi may be under threat following reports in the Hungarian press that one of his primary backers, oil company Mol Rt.,is planning to reduce the amount of sponsorship that it had promised him.

According to atlasfl.com, Mol Rt. spokesperson Bea Lukacs told Hungarian television that the companu had decided to review its position after Baumgartner signed with Minardi instead of Jordan, as had been originally planned.

"We had signed a memorandum of understanding last year, which was only valid in specific circumstances," said Lukacs.

"This memorandum was not a binding agreement. Mol Rt. started the negotiations in light of the conditions, which have changed since then."

23-year-old Baumgartner, who signed a race contract with Minardi for the 2004 season last December, had originally been offered a seat

by Jordan, after making his Formula One debut with them at

Paulo Filisetti on the McLaren MP4/19

1) The nose is very low Its foremost point, dropping noticeably to maximise the air-flow directed to the bottom of the car and reducing the sensitivity of the front end to downforce loss in slipstream.

21 The front wing sports a double S Profile as on the Williams FW25 and its endplates are very similar to Renault in its horizontal knife profile.

3) The double-keel configuration has been kept and developed so as to increase the aerodynamic efficiency.

41 Sidepods are high at the front but very narrow and low at the rear, reducing the room for exhausting the hot air from the radiators. For this reason additional air vents have been created with chimneys mounted over them.

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5) The very narrow coke bottle shape sports big chimneys on top of the sidepods that cover the engine exhausts.. The small winglets on top of sidepods have been kept, as it is now a common feature to almost all cars. The big side winglets are even more in evidence in the Coke bottle section due to its narrov; section.

61 The engine air intake is now triangular in shape as this provides a better air flow to the rear wing and efficient alimentation to the engine.

1] The engine cover is longer and with a wider cross-sectional area to comply with the new 2004 rules.

81 The rear wing features only two upper profiles instead of three, to comply with the new 2004 rules.

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14

moiorsport news

NEWS

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the Hungarian Grand Prix in August.

However,his management couldn't raise the required funds, and therefore contacted Minardi owner Paul Stoddart about the drive. ' Mol Rt. reportedly promised Baumgartner $USl;.5m (A$1.9m)last year. According to RTL Klub,the company ●. i wants to reduce this sum by about $US470,000 (A$603,(100), although local radio station Klub Radio reported that it refused to pay him more than $US 284,000 (A$364,000).

Eitlier scenario spells bad news for Baumgartner, 3 since the Hungarian Ministr}' of Sports and Youth is 3 only willing to pay him the same amount of money he * raised from private sponsors, and without the J government backing he won't be able to get the Minardi seat.

The government has 'invested' in Baumgartner's career by setting up a company that owns aU his marketing rights, and Viktor Szigetvari, spokesman to the Ministry of Sports and Youth, confirmed to RTL Klub on Friday that they still maintained the offer.

However, he added, "now it's Baumgartner's turn to come up with the $US4m (A$5.1m) sponsorship, which is prerequisite for the government backing."

"I hope this is only a misunderstanding and my management will be able ten it out soon," Baumgartner id Hungarian news ageni^&fl|

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14 January 2004

i OPEL has announced the final piece ; of its DTM driver puzzle for 2004.

Tlnno Scheider has re-signed to drive for a fifth season for the company, joining Heinz-Harald : Frentzen, Laurent Aiello, Marcel : Fassler, Peter Dumbreck and Manuel n Reuter in the squad.

Scheider is expected to start the season in a year-old Astra before ' getting his hands on a new Vectra ^ (which the other five drivers have been guaranteed immediately), until later in the season.

The announcement leaves Swiss racer Alain Menu out of a seat.

■ Speaking of the DTM, Brit Gary Paffett has re-signed with AMG Mercedes for 2004 but is still waiting i to know if he'll get a 2004-spec car to ; play with. Last season he had to make do with a 2002-model car, though I impressed with some strong results.

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:

■N’S new MP4/19 may be jt initial tests seem to that car’s distinctive concept may have gone

too far.

Both Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard have reported difficulties in ftbng comfortably into the new car, wf!h Flaikkonen pulling the pin on his first day in the car at Jerez after just 32 laps due to hip and ribcage pain caused by the tight cockpit. Coulthard has also sustained bruising while driving the new car.

McLaren is rebuilding Raikkonen’s seat in the hope of solving the problem ahead of further scheduled tests. The team’s third driver, Alex Wurz, was forced to abandon his test programme altogether because he could not fit into the car, leaving second test driver Pedro de la Rosa to shoulder most of the test load prior to Christmas.

This is not the first time that McLaren have struck this kind if problem in the lead-up to a season.

In 1995 Nigel Mansell was forced to abandon an anticipated F1 comeback following a year in Champ Cars when he was unable to squeeze into the MP4/10. That time htswever, the problem was not that ibe car had become smaller, but that had gotten larger...

Putting together the DTM puzzle

No Change for Fridays

FORMULA One team owners will meet at the end of this week to discuss the matters of the moment, and the signs are that there will be no change to the rules regarding drivers who will be allowed to take part in Friday testing at Grands Prix.

It is anticipated that any move will be blocked by the big four teams, who think it is wrong for the smaller teams to gain a material advantage by being able to do their tyre work using experienced men, who will get the job done quickly and thus enable the team involved to save on engine mileage on Saturdays.

This means that drivers who have competed in six events or more in the previous two seasons will not be eligible, which rules the likes of Justin Wilson, Antonio Pizzonia, Allan McNish, Mika Salo, Nick Heidfeld, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Yoong, Enrique Bernoldi, Pedro de la Rosa and Eddie Irvine out of Friday morning tests.

With Wilson out of the picture, American driver Townsend Bell, above, is in line for the third Jaguar drive, and the announcement that Vitantonio Liuzzi and Robert Doornbos have signed for the Arden International Formula 3000 team means that Bell will not be staying in Formula 3000 in 2004.

- JOE SAWARD

■ Yamaha is not expecting that Valentino Rossi will add a sixth world title to his bet this season - but they are counting on the mercurial Italian doing to business in 2005.

Company spokesman Masao Furusawa told the BBC recently that wholesale changes have been made within the Yamaha racing department and the organisation is "working as hard as possible to make sure the package is fully capable to get the results we desire."

Earlier, Yamaha MotoGP team director Davide Brivio echoed those statements, telling the Beeb that the 2004 season would one for Rossi to establish a relationship with his new bike and team but the MotoGP World Championship is Yamaha's target for 2005.

Yamaha has waited a long time for a title in the premier class. Wayne Rainey was the last Yamaha racer to take the title, piloting a YZR500 to the 1992 500cc World championship.

■ SEAT Sport UK will team up with Ray Mallock Ltd for its tilt at the British Touring Car Championship this year. The team's Toledo Cupras, which will be driven by 2001 BTCC champ Jason Plato and 2003 SEAT Cupra Champ Robert Huff, will be built to ETCC spec by SEAT in Barcelona and then be jointly tuned

by SEAT Sport UK and RML ■ The longterm future of the Vancouver round of the Champ Car World Series has come under threat.

CART holds a contract for the event with the Molson brewery, but the temporary street circuit in the downtown False Creek area will disappear when construction begins in 2007 on the athletes' village for the 2010 Winter Olympics in the western Canadian city.

15

I:

S

F3= Dyk ASTUTI Competition has scored a minor coup by signing promising NSW driver ian Dyk to spearhead its first assauit on the outright Austraiian Formula 3 Championship.

Dyk was the revelation of the final round of 2003 at Wakefield Park, where he ran among the top order all weekend in his F3 debut with BRM. "Everyone wanted him,” said Astuti Competition co-owner Sam Astuti.

"He’s young, he’s quick, and he’s got all the right ingredients.

“I think there were a few people throwing contracts at him, but we played it low-key, told him what we could do, and he came around.”

Dyk will bring backing from Selley’s to the team, and will drive an Opel Speiss-powered Dallara F301 that last saw service in the French F3 series in 2002.

“We’re going to be a serious threat,” proclaimed Astuti, who prepared the car that took David Borg to the Trophy Class Championship last year.

"Both parties are strong - Ian is a good driver, and we can prepare a good car.”

-MARKGLENDENNING

WEBBER GBDPBN Here Is the second cut-out

token to collect for your entry in the Motorsport News Ultimate GP Experience Competition (see opposite page). Collect 3 and

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16

FORMER Holden Young Lion Tony D'Alberto will stay with the General for the 2004 Konica V8 Supercar Series- but in an Independent Race Cars Commodore.

The 18-year-old will join Marty Brant's Melbourne operation to campaign the team's ex-Paul Dumbrell/Mark Porter Commodore VX, which is undergoing a full strip and rebuild prior to pre-season testing.

IRC will run one car in this year's series,squashing initial speculation that the team would run two /, Commodores. M

Autobarn has been linked as the naming rights backer for the team, having been a minor sponsor over the course of the past two seasons.

"We are finalising the sponsorship as we speak," said Brant. "It's all happening,but we've got a few things to sort first."

D'Alberto, who ran the majority of the 2003 Konica Series in a HYL Commodore,finished 21st in the series having run four of the six rounds, will have support backing

from PPG and Holden Financial Services.

"I still need to get plenty of miles because there's plenty of guys in the field who have done heaps of laps in these cars," sad D'Alberto, who finished school last year.

"I'll have my own engineer this year, which 1 didn't have last year, and we'll probably do two or three test days before Wakefield Park so we'll be well situated."

The team finished third in the series last year with Mark Porter driving and won the 2002 series with Paul Dumbrell.

-AARON NOONAN/ GRANT ROW

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Sonic SONIC Motor Racing Services has announced a four-pronged attack on the 2004 Ford Racing Australian Formula Ford Championship.

The team, which won the national title in 2001 and 2002 and finished runners-up last year to Neil McFadyen, have retained 2003 Rookie of the 'Tear Bryce Washington, right, and Michael Trimble from last year, adding James Small and Daniel Reynolds to the 2004 line-up.

Hie team will trade in its trusty 2001 model Van Diemens for tire latest-spec 2004 versions, which are currently being bolted together at the team's workshop in Bayswater, Melbourne. winner will be notified in writing and by phone and their name published in Motorsport News on 25/2/04. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

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It’s your chance to experience the 2004 Foster’s Australian Grand Prix first hand. You could win two Grandstand tickets, return Qantas airfares to Melbourne from your nearest capital city (if you live outside Victoria), five nights accommodation, two Pit Lane Walk passes. Grand Prix merchandise, plus an amazing hot lap of the Albert Park circuit with Greg Murphy in his Kmart Racing Commodore.

And to top it all off, you’ll get an exclusive guided tour of ^ the F1 Paddock and Mark Webber’s den - the Jaguar F1 Team Garage. Sensational!

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mSTEJUSAUSmUAN aKAND mx2004

Rice to fill in for Brack sutton-images.com

There's no Bui Eddie Cheever faith in two Ai 2004.

American Rice, above, willBuddy fill in for the injured Kenny Brack in the opening races of the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series.

The Swede, who suffered major injuries in the Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway last October, continues to convalesce at home in Columbus, Ohio and is expected to miss at least four races this season.

"Kenny is getting better each day, and we feel fortunate to have a talented driver like Buddy available to fill in for Kenny right now," said team owner Bobby Rahal.

"We have attempted to put Buddy in one of our cars for several years and this opportunity gave us the chance."

Team Rahal has secured sponsorship from Argept Mortgage as a secondary sponsor of the Rice entry.

The mortgage broker will also be the primary sponsor of the team's Toyota Atlantic entry driven by Danica Patrick.

- PHIL MORRIS

Dario gets a backer for #27

Two cans of Bull Eddie returns to two cars; Barron re-signs for2004

by PHIL MORRIS RED Bull Cheever will return to a two-car operation for the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series after a season of running s ingle car.

Americans Alex Barron, right, and rookie Ed Carpenter wiU drive the team's Dallara/Chevrolets, which struggled last year in the hands of firstly Buddy ^ce and then Barron.

"GM ended on a really strong note last year," said team boss Eddie Cheever.

"I'm looking forward to continuing . our relationship with GM and our third consecutive year partnering with Red Bull. Not only are we expanding to a two-car team, we're

the season having become something

Racing car (the same outfit that gave Sam Homish Jr his first ride in 2000), running three races with two 13thplace finishes.

Matsuura to Fernandez

Formula Renault V6 Eurocup graduate replaces Yasukawa

The returning Franchitti willDario have a familiar name on the side of his #27 Andretti Green Racing Dallara/Honda in this year's IRL IndyCar Series.

ArcaEx, an open and all electric stock exchange, will be the major sponsor pf the Scot's car in 2004. It's a product of Archipelago, who have been a backer of Andretti's team and his previous Motorola ride in CART for the last few seasons.

The identity of the sponsor for AGR's fourth entry to be driven by Bryan Herta is yet to be announced. sulton-images.com

18

doing it with two of the best American open-wheel drivers out there."

Barron took over from Rice late in

of an IndyCar 'super-sub'.

He replaced Gil de Ferran at Penske in Japan, Arie Luyendyk at Indy and Felipe Giaffone, winning the Michigan 400 in the latter's HoUywood-backed car while he recovered from leg injuries.

Carpenter is the step-son of IRL founder and president Tony George.

He raced last year in the league's development Infiniti Pro Series, winning the 100-mile race held at Indianapolis.

The 22-year-old made his IndyCar debut late in the season in a PDM

SUPER Aguri Fernandez Racing will have a new driver for the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series in the form of Japanese racer Kosuke Matsuura.

The 24-year-old, who finished third in last year’s Formula Renault V6 Eurocup with three race wins, replaces Roger Yasukawa, right, in the team’s #55 Panasonic Panoz G Force/Honda.

Matsuura is a long-time member of the ARTA Project driver program which was founded by Super Aguri Fernandez team co-owner Aguri Suzuki.

He tested an IndyCar for the first time at Phoenix in November and impressed team co-owner Adrian Fernnadez.

"I’m excited about the season,” said the Mexican.

"I was very impressed with what I saw and believe Kosuke is going to do a good job for us. Obviously, there will be things to learn, but I think he has what it takes to be very competitive.”

The team has retained the backing of Panasonic and Honda, with managing director Tom Anderson and engineer John Dick also returning for 2004.

- PHIL MORRIS moiorspon news

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VIP expands to three GT3s Double Quinn trouble as KlarkJoins Tony; team waiting on Marshall to decide ‘04 program

by AARON NOONAN THE VIP Petfoods squad will expand to three cars for the 2004 Carrera Cup. Team owner Tony Quinn will return to lead the team in one car while son Klark will suit up in 'dog paw'colours after a partial season in an RT Motorsport machine in 2003,

right.

The 21-year-old is aiming at top three finishes this season, which begins as a support to the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

"1 just am aiming to do well in the championship and be consistent all year and not have too many mishaps," said Quinn Jr. "I'd love to do that Driver to Europe prize drive if it's up for grabs again."

The team has purchased one of the new 2004-specification machines, with the team's third driver dependent on the moves and deals of its 2003 gun, Marcus Marshall.

If Marshall does end up moving to race overseas in the Porsche Supercup, the team have a young

gun waiting in the wings to take over, whose identity remains a mystery.

Marshall, meanwhile, continues to inch closer to a deal for the Supercup, which begins at Imola as support to the San Marino GP on April 25.

"Not much has changed from before Christmas simply because over Christmas/New Year things shut down everywhere," said Marshall.

"At the moment I'm 100 percent focused on finding a driver overseas.

I've been in contact with Farnbacher (the German team Marshall raced with at Indianapolis in September) a bit and they start testing in March so that's the goal I'm aiming for.

"AEG have done a huge amount of work on this and Tony Quinn has been really understanding in holding off on his plans while he waits for me to make a decision."

IVIa-tarspart Calegory Manager 1

Surveys at major motor sport events where Historic Touring Car support races are held reveal that up to 60 percent of the spectators prefer watching these races above all other categories. The national body representing Australian historic touring car racing is seeking to appoint a National Category Manager on a contract basis to represent and manage this highly appealing catego^

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This position may appeal to a young and ambitious person looking for an opportunity to prove themselves, or a much more experienced person who may have been involved in the mainstream categories and would like a position with a little less pressure. Duties include: l Management of entries for AHTCA events l Liaison with major event promoters l Securing additional sponsorship and liaising with present sponsors l Ensuring competitor facilities are in place at each event l Management of receipts and expenses for major events l Arranging transportation and accommodation for competitors and officials

Motorsports Training Australia, a business division ofWodonga Institute of TAPE and a Victorian Government Specialist Centre, is looking for a teacher with passion to teach within its Diploma in Engineering (Motorsports) course.

In this position you will work with a dedicated team ofindustry professionals involved in all aspects of Motorsports from go-karting to racing cars, and be teaching the industry leaders of the future.

If you are able to demonstrate l Qualifications, knowledge, skills and expertise in the Mechanical Engineering and/or Automotive areas of Motorsports l Expertise in fault diagnostics, data acquisition, design and drafting, computing and electronics l Good communication skills and ate team orientated l The capacity to work flexible hours within a dynamic environmentthen contact our Human Resources Department on 02 6055 6624 during normal business hours for an information package containing full details of the position and how to apply.

Applicants must address the selection criteria and qualification requirements within the position description included in the information package.

This is a full time maximum term position of 38 hours per week until December 2005. Salary range is $37,606-$53,620pa. An initial 3 month probationary period applies.

Ideally the successful applicant will understand the workings of the V8 Supercar category and requirements of promoters, but above all knowledge of, and a flair for, promotion and attention to.detail is essential.

The terms of engagement are negotiable. The successful applicant could be a person or a company. Initially the term would be for one year. If you believe you are this person or organisation please send your details to The Secretary Australian Historic Touring Car Association 266 Benmuni Road WanneroD 6065 Western Australia

Applications close 4pm, Friday, January 30, 2004.

Equal Employment Opportunity is Institute Policy All appoinWients withm Wodonga Institute ofTAPE are subject to a satisfactory NanonalPolice Records check.

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motorsport news

NEVUS

Going for four in a row

Nafey goes jet boating again!

s WHY change a good thing? i.

That's the reasoning belrind ^ Vauxhall deciding to stick with its I Astra Coupe as it attempts to win a fourth British Touring Car Championship in a row.

The Triple 888 team had tested the Astra back-to-back with a Vectra but

has decided to stay witli the proven commodity.

Defending Champ Yvan Muller will be joined by James Tliompson and Luke Hines in the three-car team.

"1 think this year we'll move the car on a little bit more and hopefully we'll win some more races," said Thompson.

Le Mans winnerfor Audi UK 2003 Le Mans 24 Hour winner Guy Smith will return to La Sarthe this season, but in an Audi.

Smith will drive for the Audi Sport UK team in one of its R8s at the blue ribbon race as well as the Sebring 12 Hour and the new Le Mans Endurance Series.

Audi Sport UK wiU expand to two cars this season, and has already confirmed Brit Jamie Davies and German pair Pierre Kaffer and Frank Biela for its Le Mans programme.

WHAT do you do when you're a Nations Cup driver and it's the off-season?

You go and do something you haven't done for a while jet boating.

Monaro star Nathan Pretty took to the water at Melton just before Christmas as part of a two-round series and finished seventh.

"We had the speed to finish in the top three but I was a bit rusty. I hadn't been in one for 12 moiyths."

It's the off-season and racing'drivers are still making excuses ...

Pretty remains under contract to Holden and says it's business as usual with the Nations Cup program this season.

- AARON NOONAN

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Track licencing Testing times at Daytona change CAMS has announced a revamp of its track licensing and permit fee structure, bringing an increased range of event types under the CAMS's insurance umbrella.

The move is designed to offer greater commercial freedom and flexibility for motorsport participants and promoters.

Now covered under a track licence fee are such things as drifting, track cmising,corporate drive days and driver education programmes. All are now covered by CAMS'$100 million public liability insurance policy.

CAMS CEO Rob Nethefcote reports that 10 tracks have already signed up for the deal,including most of the major championship circuits around Australia.

Unsurprisingly, diose circuits most closely aligned to the alternate AAA group,launched last year - such as Winton and Calder - are yet to sign on,along with Queensland Raceway.

BELL Motorsports led every test session in recent Daytona 24 hour testing at Daytona International Raceway.

The Chevrolet Doran JE-4 turned its fastest lap on the last day, with Terry Borcheller, Andy Pilgrim and Milka Duno undertaking the testing duties.

The Red Bull Porsche

FABCAR of Brumos Racing posted the second quickest time, driven by David Donohue Darren Law and Porsche factory drivers Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr.

And in it’s first-ever on-track apperance, the Comp USA Lexus Riley of Chip Ganassi Racing sent shock-waves through the Grand-Am fraternity by posting the third-quickest time.

The Lexus, top, driven by Scott Pruett and Max Papis may be the car to watch out for in the up-coming Daytona 24 hour in three weeks time.

New Frenc

CITROEN launced it's brandnew Junior World Rally Championship contender at the recent Autosport International Show in

Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The C2 Super 1600, above,

replaces the Saxo, which won the JWRC title in 2001 and 2002.

The car boosts 225hp, which is more than 20hp bigger than it's predessesor, The French manufacturer is keen to place

AIRFLOW RESEARCM

Stars get ex-Tander VX KONICA V8 Supercar entrants Sydney Star Racing have purchased the e)e^Garry Rogers Motorsport VX for the 2004 season.

Team Manager Robert Tebb confirmed they will use the car that Team Kiwi leased for the opening three rounds of the 2003 V8 Supercar series, which was Garth Tander's 2001 mach me.

It should be a good thing," said Tebb. "Konica is getting more and more competitive now and the level of everyone involved has risen. This will give us a chance of a top 10 fi nisn.

The team will benefit from considerable GRM support, including engine maintenance and major componentry assistance.

Grant Elliott, who finished 20th in last year's Konica series will again drive for the Sydney-based team.

The car is currently in the paint shop and will be revealed in the coming week. The Commodore will adorn a striking new paintscheme of orange, white and black.

- GRANT ROWLEY 22

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Kiwi expands to Konica?

Baird to get ex-Moiris VY-Porter to race KV8^in -

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the car back on top of the JWRC tables after sitting out the 2003 season as an official manufacture.

The Renault Clio and Suzuki Ignis dominated last year's championship.

I

&

CBR Photographies

TKR X 2: The Trans-Tasman rivally is set to expand into the Konica ranks

INDUSTRY sources have suggested that Team Kiwi will expand to two cars in 2004.

Craig Baird will continue to campaign the team’s 'Main Game' Supercar effort, reportedly in an ex-Paul Morris VY, while TKR endurance driver and Konica regular Mark Porter will step into Baird's exPerkins machine for the entire KV8 series.

As MNews went to press, neither Team Kiwi manager Martin Collins or team .owner David John were not . ^ contactable.

Baird and Porter, both ftlewi.Zealand natives, teamed .liipjfli last year's Bob Jane T-Mart’s ]-■ .'iv 1000 at Bathurst, finishing ' 17th after a cracked cylinder head thwarted their efforts.

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AihH wheels eut new A4

ALMS Champion joins Champion, if that makes sense...

caiimi

38 .●iifirtm-

Audi has wheeled out its new A4 DTM challenger for its first run in the hands of Frank Biela, who will steer a Joest-run car alongside Emanuele Pirro. Our sources tell us the thing was blindingly quick and the guess news for Ingolstadt is that there are four other cars to be run by the Abt team with Tom Kristensen heading up the attack following the defection of Laurent Aiello to Opel. Cool, huh?

Corvette bolsters squad

Magnussen and Papis Join up to take on Ferrari 550s in ALMS

CHEVROLET'S big push to take a fourth straight manufacturers championship in the American Le Mans Series in 2004 and win the GTS class at Le Mans is taking shape.

The team has added three new drivers to its lineup tliis season and is updating its C5-R racecars with a number of mechanical and aerodynamic changes. v Defending GTS Champions Ron Fellows and Johrmy O'Connell retinn to drive the #3 Corvette, while former Viper and Panoz driver Olivier Beretta will partner Briton Oliver Gavin in the #4 entry.

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'4 Veterans Jan Magnussen, who paired with David Brabham in a Ferrari last year, and Max Papis will join the team as third drivers in long¬

The cars will run on Michelin tyres this season and will start 2004 with a new six-speed Xtrac gearbox.

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distance events.

CHAMPION Racing has announced its line-up for the 2004 American Le Mans Series.

Finn JJ Lehto has been re signed to drive the team's customer Audi R8, though wil l be joined this year by factory driver Marco Werner, placed with the team by Audi.

Werner won last year's Driver's Championship Title in the ALMS after pairing with the DTM-bound Frank Biela. Veteran Emanuele Pirro (who will also drive in the DTM in an Audi this year) will join the pair for the Sebring 12 Hour and Le Mans 24 Hour.

"It's nice to be back with Champion and it feels nice to race in America," said Lehto.

"I've raced in America for so many years that it feels like home. I knew very early last season that I wanted to continue with Champion. It will be a nice setup.

"He won the championship, and I haven't won it yet, so maybe now it will be my turn. We always try to be better than anyone we race against, whoever that is."

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New Year, New Opportunities

1

F you sat down with a list of V8 Supercar drivers and their phone numbers, and rang each of them one by one, you'd be hard-pressed to find a chirpier voice on the other end of the line than that of Jason Richards.

Well usually, anyway. On this particular day though, just before Christmas, the Kiwi sounded like he'd been anesthetised.

"Are you OK?" I asked him.

"Yeah ..." he replied groggily, "But it’s two in the morning."

With the 2003 season behind him, Jason had taken the opportunity to scoot over to England for a holiday.(Bet it's the last time he does t/iaf without turning his phone off). Here at MNews, we were momentarily surprised: a V8 Supercar driver on holiday? Surely not!

It was about then that it struck home - the summer of 2003/2004 is the first real offseason to have come the way of

the V8 Supercar fraternity for a couple of years. Yes, there are a few new cars being built here and there, and more than one driver giving the autodial function on their phone a workout in the scramble to grab one of the very few seats still vacant for this year.

But by and large, things are relatively quiet. Most teams have the worst of the AU-BA or VX-VY transition behind them, granting them the rare luxury of being able to spend the summer doing something other than thinking about what's happening in the workshops.

Being told to go home and not come back for a month is no doubt a novelty for a lot of V8 Supercar team-members, who are far more accustomed to being worked within an inch of their lives. What effect, if any. this will have when the circus reconvenes at Albert Park is hard to say.

Will the pit crews have lost their edge slightly when the time comes for a quick wheel change, or will they come back refreshed, rejuvinated, and knock 0.2s off their quickest time?

The though, willteam have bosses, other things on their minds. Most of the major players introduced new machihery some time during last season, so 2003 will be more about finding ways to develop and maximise what they've already got.

Some have more work to do in this department than others - ie just about everybody who runs a BA versus the Stone Brothers but it's hard to imagine Ross and Jimmy spending three months sitting on their hands ...

In light of the kind of year we had last year, it's fair to say that the judicial side of V8 Supercar racing will cross a few minds

witli Mark filendenning

4

while their owners are standing in the queue for beer at an MCG day-nighter.

In this very issue, Mark Skaife tells MNews that crime and punishment is at the top of his 2004 agenda as a new member j. of the TEGA Board, and it is to be hoped that the matter is J . discussed behind other closed ^134, ~l H I doors as well - and not just those of the teams.

2003 was a year in which the k". n applicability, severity and '~ consistency of the rules could be n called into question far tod often.

Here's hoping that 2004 will go down as the season in which those with the big stick got it right.

I

T has been a quiet holiday period in Formula 1 circles.

Dead quiet. But when the world kicked back into action on Monday,January 5 there was an interesting story doing the rounds: Russian squillionaire Roman Abramovich was supposedly going to buy Jordan Grand Prix for AS350m and take over the team for the glory of himself and the glory of Russia.

Jordan kept a diplomatic silence - an unusual concept for the garrulous Irishman - but he did not deny it.

Flaving a quiet moment, I decided to investigate the story ■'in some depth and found that it erpanated from The Sun in ' London, one of Britain's most -y ' cfflehrated-tableids: famous for ' ,jts topless girls and screaming headlines. The Sun is owned by ●J 'Rjjpert Murdoch and was fbi^ently condemned by a l^ember of Parliament as being + ● ; ■g'dilty,Qf "cancerous racist pornographic propaganda". Fie ●added that "The-Sun lives in the siwers and sometimes ascends to thb’gutter. .

The'newspaper is often in , Si- . trouble but that Is part of’ilT’

1.

charm. During the Iraq War, it published a special Paris edition branding French president Jacques Chirac a "wormland— published a"p'hdtograph of Chirac with Saddam Flussein. The accompanying caption read: "Cherchez la difference. One is a corrupt bully who is risking the lives of our troops. Fie is sneering at Britain, destroying democracy and endangering world peace. The other is Saddam Flussein."

“The story about Abramovich had been written not by the newspapers lmg-_e^^blsiied— -Formula T reporter Stan Piecha, an astute and forthright observer of the Grand Prix scene, but by a football reporter and one of the staff men.

There was a sneaking suspicion that Stan might have been involved because there were quotes from "a highlyplaced source in FI" which, if read out aloud, sounded

No-one in their right mind would pay A$350m for Jordan Grand Prix. The last serious offer for the team was a couple of years ago and was A$38m

u

If

This sort of thing may not go down well in polite society but in the pubs of England it pretty much represents what people are thinking.

Suffice to say, stories in The Sun need to be read with what the English love to call "a pinch of salt".

remarkably like the kind of thing one might expect Bernie Ecclestone to say. And Bernie and Stan are fairly tight, Ecclestone being aware that The Sun boasts a readership of six million people.

Anyway, the money involved was ludicrous because no-one in

their right mind (in fact no-one in a lunatic asylum either) would pay'ASSBOm for Jordan Grand Prix. The last serious offer for the team was a couple of years ago and was A$38m. A few months ago half the shares in the team changed hands, passing from a venture capital company to some wealthy Irishmen as part of what appears to have been a swap deal involving old people's homes.

Eddie's Irish friends appeared to mg be betting on making a when there is a new financial deal for the sport, which will allow FI teams to go to the stock market.

So what was the story all about? The thing about Formula, 1 is that things are rarely what they seem to be.

I could not help but wonder whether the stories tied in with rumours the previous day that Jacques Villeneuve was talking to Jordan about a deal for 2004.

Villeneuve is a star name but his future in FI is decidedly limited at the moment because no-one is showing much interest

tlordan,cn

OPINION in the 1997 world champion.

Jacques is not going to pay to drive for Jordan (although he could afford it) and there is little point, given that Jordan is not expected to be very competitive.

Flowever, if Jordan landed a huge new backer, Jacques would be only too happy to join the team, take a nice fat salary and help the team move forward.

Abramovich likes FI but is he really going to invest a huge amount of money in it?

In some respects it is a move that makes sense because it would offer him the chance to do something for Russia.

Abramovich is one of a group of Russian businessmen known as the oligarchs who became wildly rich by funding President Boris Yeltsin in exchange for special deals when Russia's massive nationalised companies were privatised. They all grew to be disgustingly rich but they are also very unpopular.

The richest, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is currently in jail

in Moscow, facing fraud charges. Others have fled the country. Abramovich is a bit different because he seems to be working with President Vladimir Putin to return some of the businesses to the Russian people.

There is speculation in the business world that Abramovich's next big deal will be to merge two huge oil companies to create the fourth biggest oil company in the world - and then give a chunk of it to Russia. Using money from that new oil company to fund a Russian FI project and the construction of an FI track in Russia would be seen as good things for Abramovich to do as he tries to make himself socially acceptable in Russia without having to give up all of his money.

You can build stories on such logic but the fact is that two days later Abramovich told the world that he is not interested in buying an FI team.

s

o what was it all about? The most likely explanation is that the whole Abramovich story is more to do with Jordan trying to squeeze a deal out of Jos Verstappen than about the creation of a massive new Russian FI team.

Verstappen and his sponsor Michel Perridon of Trust Computers have money. The word on the street is that they have A$19m to spend in 2004 - but they want a lot for their money. They are in no position to argue of course because by terminating their negotiations with Minardi, they left themselves with only one option for 2004 and thus put themselves at the mercy of Mr Jordan.

On paper there may be two free Jordan drives but Benson- & Fledges is contracted to give Jordan A$15.6m this year and will pay up an extra A$7.7m if Eddie takes a British driver. Fairly basic arithmetic -thus suggests " that it is wiser for-Jordan to go for a Brit than to sign up

f.

The Verstappen.

But Jordan wants all the money in the bank as quickly as possible so might it not-be a good move to panic Verstappen into doing a deal using tj;te possibjlit^of a< 'Russian' d’eaf |nd^ "a contract with Villeneuy-e..

The FI world moves in'^the ’ most mysterious ways. .

■a

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Five minutes with...

Larny Perkins

He'srun two cars muiiw's nm a Uwee car sqimit, hutnow Perkins Biguieering wihhave four cars untlerim umhiviia mZmi CHiBSLAMBDEV spoke to LP ahout Hw expmision anU whatitaiimemis MOTORSPORT NEWS: There has been a suggestion for the past year that you might move to a three-car operation but you've taken everyone by surprise by announcing that you will in fact be running four cars from your workshops in 2004. What is the rationale behind that?

LARRY PERKINS: The high cost of running cars today. A year ago, 1 decided I had to increase the number of cars we were involved with to make economic sense.

To have the infrastructure you need for the R&D and maintenance of a single car is under-utilised to hell with just one or two cars, so the only way you can be more efficient is to go to the maximum quantity of cars that we're allowed to run under our franchise agreement. That's four.

I've been able to get an agreement to run single cars for Rod Nash's franchise and also the Paul Little Racing franchise.

MN;So they're two independent teams out-sourcing the running of their cars to you?

LP: Correct.

MN: It's a doubling of the race cars emanating from your workshops. Has it required a substantial boost in resources and staff?

LP: All through 2003 I have been working on quality control issues and standards in my factory and that assisted quite a bit because you identify your we,aknesses.

Last year we had four completed cars in the stable, but only raced two at any one time.

So to race the extra two cars isn't a major drama and the management here will put in place the extra infrastructure needed to do the job. It's not the biggest problem we have.

It'll take a little bit of time, but we're not afraid of going forward in this way.

28

can operate that way. It seems like TEGA and the Clayton Group, to use your terminology, now have themselves in a loselose situation for both parties, in my opinion.

Four cars in '04: There will be three Castrol cars for Richards, Longhurst and Dumbrell, above, while Tratt will drive a Toll-backed Commodore.

"Ifs the most disturbing thing we have in our whoie categorythat our own management group is fighting our own" -Perkins on the on-going iegal fights TEGA has had with its teams MN: You'll be able to have four cars ready for the AGP? LP: Yes. We already had another new VY under construction, which was scheduled to be completed for the start of the season.

All it means is that Paul Dumbrell will have to wait a little longer for his VY. MN: Tony's car is being run under a Castrol banner - does this mean that your options open up a bit in terms of a co driver for Richo at the appropriate time of the year?

LP: Yes. Tony drives for the Rod Nash franchise, but I support him as the driver choice. We wanted - and I'll use the word 'we' because we are operating as a co-operative body experience. I didn't want a rookie or an outsider, so that's why we have got Tony.

MN: Given the ongoing investigation into the team set-ups based at Clayton, of which there are now three, do you anticipate any ripples from TEGA in relation to your arrangements?

LP: Clearly. There shouldn't be any ripples anywhere from TEGA, but you can't tell I On that front, I must admit to being continually disturbed to read that TEGA continues to chase its own members, with investigations costing many hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers on both sides of the fence.

It's the most disturbing thing we have in our whole category that our ow'n management group is fighting our own.

I've been able to put together a four-car team and I haven't had to ring up a lawyer yet!

Teams would like to think they

MN: There's been a threequarter change in the TEGA Board. You have been a critic in the past - do you have increased confidence in the new Board?

LP: No. I welcome the arrival of Mark Roworth from SBR and Mark Skaife, but I've cautioned them that it's in fact only a 50 percent change.

The other two are very much 'been there a long time' or 'recycled' directors and I see no joy in having a 50 percent change.

The problem as I see it is that the TEGA Board, over many years, hasn't looked after its members at all.

I hope those two new members, who I have the greatest respect for, are able to change that culture. The latest development, in relation to our gearbox, suggests not...

MN: Richo is your number one strike force and in the latter part of 2003 you were close to, but not quite in, the group battling it out at the front.

What are you doing to address that? What are the areas you need to improve on?

LP: The first thing is to ensure stability of workforce and funding into the future. The current operation is going to help me in that area.

We do have some shortcomings in the car. It's fine in relation to horsepower; the brakes are fine. Sometimes the handling is fine, sometimes it's not. But, it's really an exercise in traction that we have to focus on. motorsport news

Five minutes with

amm

Max Mosley

Great changes are afoot injust about every giobai motor racing category that you'd care to name. The HA Presidentis at the heart of them aft and he shared some of his thoughts with JOiV THOMSON MOTORSPORT NEWS: Were you worried in the last month or so when you had Ford reflecting on whether they could go on in the WRC? MAX MOSLEY: Well yes, I was worried, and what worried me in the last two or three months was that I realised that we should have done all these changes two years ago.

If we had done it two years ago, we probably wouldn't have lost the two teams we have lost, and if we left it for another year or two everybody would be able to see what was necessary. But by then it would be too late.

MN:(Ferrari President) Luca Wiontezemolo commented recently that there appears to be an agreement in place between the FI manufacturers

i

and FIA for some sor^of succession plan for Bernie Ecclestone. Is there a plan of succession in place?

MM: The manufacturers would like to see a successor. So would the teams, and probably so would Bernie. I don't know that it has quite got to that stage yet. At the moment there is an agreement in principle, as I understand it, between the manufacturers, Bernie and the banks and so on.

Then if they want to make change to the Concorde Agreement, in addition to Bernie's company agreeing, the FIA has to agree, and depending on what they want, that may prove difficult. So I 'think they are some way away from an agreement.

And of course in the end, the manufacturers supply the engines and supply two or three teams, but there is some question now whether it is the manufacturers - the companies Renault, Mercedes and Ford and so on - who are going to sign an agreement, or whether they are 30

going to get an independent company to sign an agreement which they themselves will not guarantee. So there are a lot of open questions.

MN: Do you see it being perhaps a sticking point, should anything happen to Mr. Ecclestone before any of that is settled?

MM: Well no, because you see in the agreements we have with Bernie's company, there are terms dealing with it.

What will happen is, somebody comes to replace him and there is a whole procedure to go through. All of us are going to go sooner or later. Bernie will go sooner or later. I will go sooner or later.

MN; Moving on to touring cars for a moment. Alan Gow, having taken control of the BTCC, has said that he will try and align it more with the European touring car regulations. Does the FIA see a rationalisation of touring cars rules around the world?

MM: It is always difficult, but again you see what tends to

happen is with each country it tends to be the importer of the manufacturer who calls the shots, because he pays most of the budget.

Then they have all got their own ideas and it is quite difficult to get everybody to agree. Alan Gow is doing exactly the right things, he is completely on the right line, but I don't underestimate the difficulty of doing it.

MN:So you don't see in the foreseeable future another World Touring Car Championship?

MM: There is certainly an attempt to do that with the touring car championship and to expand so that we have got races on several continents, which is a pre-requisite, and also with a number of different manufacturers which is a pre requisite. And I think this might happen in the next two or three years.

But it depends on whether the people concerned can get all the elements in place. We are certainly making a serious effort, and they are getting good

coverage for their championship.

MN; I know you don't have a lot to do with this, but I am sure you are an interested observer of the ructions within the Champ Car fraternity?

MM: Well, I think obviously it is a relief that they keep going, because it would be very unfortunate if any of our big series stopped.

We want to encourage racing, not to stop it, but the first thing that really needs to happen in the States for single-seater racing is that IRL and Champ Cars find a common ground and complete as one series.

The moment you split you reduce the value of the thing enormously. I think the split between IRL and Champ Cars has resulted in NASCAR being the number one series in the States, even though it is not open-wheel racing.

FI is known all over the world, whereas in America there is a confusion between IRL and Champ Cars. I think sooner or later they will come together. tnoiorspoH news

INTERUIEini

/

14 January 2004

»

l -Jft:

.yiv

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Bus Mark Skaife has finally drawn down the curtain on his most drama-filled season of V8 racing even With the Eastern Creek file now closed, he spoke to CHRIS LAMBDEN about a hectic year and gave his side of that incident with Russell Ingall

V.-

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MOTORSPORT NFWS: Given that Ford came up with a race car that was,in some hands, competitive, plus the unexpected team ownership issues, it all made for what would seem to be a pretty tough year.

MARK SKAIFE: Yes, 1 guess I've commented quite regularly in the last part of the year that it has been, in lots of ways,a difficult season.

32

I guess there are the obvious primary issues -Tom Walkinshaw's problems with the team's collapse at the start of the year, Holden's ownership buyout, the category compliance issues which went along with that; and then the new model introduction, then our ownership is.sues, project blueprint... Bundle all that up and you get some sort of perspective on it.

Any one of those things in isolation would be enough to impact on your year, but put them all together and it's very tough.

MN: When you do put them all together, h6w much do you think it affected your on-track performance personally; ie. Car #1?

MS: Very hard to quantify it, race meeting to race meeting. Any time

that you add a demand, you can question how that will roll out, in terms of the real effect it may have on your performance.

It wasn't just ray personal workload. It was the guys as well their workload was bigger than it's ever been and it's hard to quantify how those external issues impacted on us.

If the introduction of the VY was

motorsRort news

ness as Usual the only issue we'd had to deal with you could say at the end of the year that "the VY was going 'x' better, there are two or three things we didn't have time to put on the car; what would have been the difference if we'd had the extra R&D athibuted

compares with an average 18-degree engine - as you saw we were running one car with and 18-degree engine and one with a Holden Motorsport engine right up to the last round. So, there's more to come from that.

to the programme. Therefore, what have we lost?"

MN:Back when you were simply a driver and the Kmart, then Team Brock,teams came along, you expressed some concern that it might dilute the effort going into HRT.Do you still have any of those concerns?

MS: No doubt. I mean,I haven't seen McLaren running six cars! I don't see Ferrari fronting up with that many cars either.

But when you bundle in aU the different things together that affected us early in the year - the ownership change included - it's hard to say what overall effect it had.

MN:Your full VY-spec car was competitive pretty quickly. But do you think there was any competitive advantage or disadvantage in making the switch - you had a very competitive VX after all? Have you ever back-to-backed the two?

MS: No. We've never,in testing, been able to run one against the other.

Even when I switched to the hybrid VY. My feeling is that if we had continued to develop the VX,it wouldn't be much slower than where we are at with VY. But with VY,there are a couple of.

I'll call them core engineering features which will, down the track, pay us a return. We haven't got them yet because we've only just raced the new engine package.

At the moment our Holden Motorsport engine package probably 14 January 2004

The workload is high enough preparing two cars and a spare car.

it, I think, last year (2002) when the Kmart team was introduced, but of course the situation was exaggerated in 2003 with Team Brock.

MN:Given your preferences, would you return to a situation where you only had one team to look after?

MS:The TEGA teams' agreement restricts the situation, so we now have three separate team owners running three separate race programmes,but relying on a core supplier, Holden Motorsport.

They do supply a number of cars, but we receive priority service, as the factory Holden team. That's part of the agreement that we've got with Holden, for our mutual benefit.

"I've certainly spoken to Wayne Cattach and Kelvin O'Reilly and told them that the judicial system is at the top of the agenda! §1

-Skaife on his election to the TEGA Board

doing testing, and the appropriate R&D;to fit them all into a schedule, to include concept, drawing and design, machining capability to do all those things that we need to do to improve our game. Fitting all those things in is a complicated logistical thmg.

So then, when you add in a number of cars, the workload goes up exponentially. We got away with

It's a situation that, down the track, may well be reviewed. Like all things,if you don't review them, you wouldn't be professional. So that's what we'll continue to do.

MN:Race-wise, despite the ups and downs, you were still a contender when it carne to the last round. So, overall, are you happy with your year's work, or are there a couple of

things you'd do differently in retrospect?

MS: Overall, 1 was pretty happy with our year's work. Certainly, I made too many mistakes. That our overall level of competitiveness, given all the dramas, was such that we were in contention at the last round, was exceptional.

We also had what I call some

secondary issues ... just a bit of bad luck. If you look at it, we made bad weather calls, had wheels falling off the car; we had some reliability problems; like I said, I made plenty of mistakes; we had guys backing into us at Perth; I missed a gear in Darwin; had the door come open at Bathurst; the'Max issue' in New Zealand ...

You name it. It certainly wasn't a great season in terms of out-and-out racing!

All the normal external things that go into racing were there - turning up with a reasonably well-prepared car and the ability to develop the car through the season. Just the straightout vaguaries of racing.

Given all that, I was very happy with where we ended up. I was also very happy with our basic speed and where we ended up with our 'proper' VY versus an Ambrose/Stone Brothers, you know, a 'proper' BA.

continued on page 34 33

Know how.G

Comeback king: One of Skaife's biggest recoveries was in NZ, left, where he was deposited in the sand by Max Wilson at turn one, race one, but came back to win the third race, keeping his championship hopes alive, continued from page 33 MN:Okay, what, of the things that you can change, would you change?

A wish-list if you like.

MS: A wish-list? Just for us to be better prepared. To have a bit more time to go into the year with a proper testing regime and for us to get up to the next level.

We've got a great programme in place. There's no doubt that our car speed, at the end of the last races, is encouraging. We actually shape up, in terms of being ready to go into the year, as well as we ever have.

MN: Why is it, in your view,that the Stone Brothers seem to be able to preserve a margin over the other Ford teams?

MS: It's not just one thing. In almost all areas,SBR has improved, Marcos was a much more rounded’ professional in '03 than iiv'02. Their overall act is better. They're better presented, they have better personnel - they've got a budget increase there somewhere, which facilitates thatand they did a very, very sound job.

Tm not saying that it was perfect for them either. They lost the 'roll-on' in two or three race meetings late in the season, but they bounced back very well at Eastern Creek. They did lose some momentum,though,for a while, and it shows,in this game, how easy it is for that to happen.

MN:The judicial system has been the big issue over the past season.

You've been on the end of a couple of, in cricketing terms,'unlucky' calls. What is the way forward from here? You're on the TEGA Board now - is this something you're going to put some effort into?

MS:I've certainly spoken to Wayne Cattach and Kelvin O'Reilly and told them that the judicial system is at the top of the agenda!

If you rated the judicial system five years ago and called it, say, five out of 10, it's now only worth six out of 10.

In the meantime, the sport itself has been developing to where it is now an eight and a half or nine out of

10. The judicial system has hardly improved.

So, we need a system which properly administers the judiciary like the NRL,or the AFL Tribunal.

Both of those provide properly administered, credible aspects of a professional sport.

MN:In terms of the 'instant'justice thing, there seems to be a consistency issue and the view that the drive-through penalty is, in many cases, far too harsh.

Depending on when it happens, it can write off your weekend. Is there a way forward?

MN:The point of it is that you do have to have deterrents. But you also have to accept hard, tough racing, but have it fairly administered.

Sometimes, the interpretation of an incident has been wrong and the penalty has been too harsh; sometimes it has been correct and the penalty hasn't been suffoicient.

It's all about providing a deterrent and appropriate penalties.

When you consider all that, it is complex. It's not just about the system. It's about the people involved in it and the way that transpires, in a racing sense, in our game.

I don't want to get personal about it. There's not just one or two issues to this - it's a wide-ranging and critical problem that we've got to address.

1 ^ m

- on the Ingall clash

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if he had turned his car left at any stage and driven parallel with the road,and didn't try to push my car off the road, there woidibi't been an accidenf|^

Also

MN:Should we be heading away from instant justice to sorting things out straight after races, or is there a place for instant justice, but done differently.

MS: There's room for both. It's a matter of correct interpretation, correct judgement,and how any penalty is applied. And consistency, based on what has gone before.

Given that, severity is based upon the penalty being a proper deterrent. $5,000 for a Russell Ingall or a Marcos Ambrose or a Mark Skaife probably isn't a lot. But championship points does - at a time when championship points mean something. At the last round, when places aren't going to change doesn't matter. It's all about the appropriate penalty at the appropriate time.

MN:That's the closest I guess you and Russell have come to agreeing on anything for a few weeks! We do need to discuss Eastern Creek. You chose to appeal,successfully, the racing incident itself rather than the subsequent reaction. Why did you do that?

MS:I'm not proud of what you'd caU the 'post-race' incident. It does, however,show the passion that's involved in the game.

It happened at a very critical time of the day and knocked us out of second place in the championship, and it was one of the most deliberate actions I've ever been involved in, or seen, in this game. So I was never going to stand by and chuckle about it!

So,standing out on the track and so on is something I'm not proud of and, given my time again, wouldn't do.

But, having said that, I didn't appeal that- it was a fair and appropriate penalty for doing the wrong thing.

How'ever, as far as the initial incident goes, I was always going to appeal that. There was no way I was going to cop that part.

MN:Russell believes the incident started before the comer. Fie told us in his interview last issue that he was tapped, moved wide, and that it

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motorsport news

w

The day you start'playing the man'is the day that toother hlokeswill make n hay while the sun shines

went on from there. He also had a 'consistency'issue. Looking back to what he suggests was a similar incident between himself and Murph at Darwin - where he came off second-best. In terms of your incident, he felt he could have been left more room on the exit of the comer...

MS: Let's just get this straight.

There's no doubt in the world that, going in a straight line, if he had turned his car left at any stage and driven parallel with the road, and didn't try to push my car off the road, there wouldn't have been an accident.

There was no bumping prior to the comer. That was just Russell trying to substantiate why he did what he did.

I don't really care what he thinks, or said. In his heart of hearts he knows exactly what happened and it wouldn't compare, at any stage, with driving down towards the first comer at Darwin! They are two completely different racing incidents.

MN:If we could go back in time again, to just before that comer, would you change anything?

MS;I wouldn't change one thing. The Chairman of the Tribunal asked me the same thing - would I do it any differently. Absolutely not.

Any of the current leading drivers, or even those of previous eras, knows exactly what happened there.

Look,if the positions had been reversed, if I'd been on the outside of Russell IngaU,I'd have been off on the grass 15 miles before all that happened.

He locked a front, he ran wide,he knows he did and,in the end, he got caught out. He was out of the race an)rway - he was coming in that lap!

I don't want to get bogged down

MOT0

with it, but there's no doubt what went on...

MN: Moving on to the post-on-track part of it, you've said that you accept the penalty for the outburst but, as I said to Russell, don't you think the sport is being a bit overly politically correct in jumping on what was essentially a show of emotion,by two committed and fired-up sportsmen? What's wrong with that?

MS: Strangely, I've had quite a bit of positive reaction overall, but also a bit of negative reaction in corporate land. In a way,I probably didn't do myself a world of good and I fully understand how some people have reacted to that part of the incident and I accepted the penalty.

You should be doing the right thing,in terms of being a role model.

But having said that, it's a fair bit better than having someone drive at you ... threaten to run you over ...

MN:Nevertheless, it has created an unexpected burst of publicity and interest in the sport- AVESCO must be quietly rubbing its commercial hands together with joy...

MS;Out there in TV viewer-land and

among what I would call the fringe viewers- those who might watch Bathurst, but not too much else - the impact has been okay. They've taken it for what it was- a bit of aggro.

In sport, you're never not going to have a bit of argy bargy, a bit of blueing even,sometimes a bit of ugliness in the AFL or NRL- we've even seen things happen in the heat of battle in the cricket sometimes!

I'm never going to say I regret being aggro about losing second in the championship,because we worked all year for that. It IS sheepstations, and we should acknowledge that. In fact, Peter Hanenberger (Holden GM)said to me "Mark,I don't know how you controlled yourself so well..." For the German manager of a car company to understand it, I guess a lot of those fringe viewers might also understand.

MN:Ten's biggest regret must be that they didn't have one of their V8 Superstars panel shows scheduled for that week...

MS:Hm,. I don't think there would have been too many participants ...

MN:Both you and Russell carry a suspended sentence into 2004 in relation to 'bringing the sport into disrepute.' Will that affect you ontrack - especially when you and Russell find yourselves close by?

MS: I'll just get on with business exactly as I have been doing, and I'd expect Russell to do the same.

It's a very professional game in that respect and the day you start 'playing the man'is the day that 10 other blokes will make hay while the sun shines.

MN: With this incident and it's aftermath now over, what are your plans in the lead-up to the 2004 season?

MS: With all this, it's been a very busy end of season. We've had a good de-brief and we're on top of what we have to do to come out going well. Everyone's having some proper time off.

I'm zapping off(to Europe) with Toni for three and a half weeks, to get right away from motor racing and come back invigorated and ready to get back into it.

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14 lanuani 2004

« a 35

Michael shines m

After a yawn in 2002,Formula One jolted back to life with a stunnii look back at the issues,the winners and losers and the fight for

Why Williams lost the world

WILLIAMS should have won both the Drivers'and Constructors'titles in 2003- and they know it.

It is true that the team was not really prepared for the start of the year but Juan Pablo Montoya should have won in Melbourne if he had not thrown it away with a spin. In Malaysia Ralf was off the pace all weekend,disturbed by some lurid allegations in the German press and Montoya was involved in a first comer crash; in Brazil Montoya crashed and Schumacher had a wild afternoon.

By the time the teams headed for Imola the pressure was building up, not least because engine partner BMW was using the poor results as a lever in negotiations over a new deal with the team. At hnola Ralf was

fighting for victory but was beaten by his brother. But then in Barcelona, where there are a lot of fast corners the cars were struggling.

Williams refused to panic and by Monaco the car was much better.

Montoya drove a faultless race to win.

The win did a lot for Williams and silenced BMW and in the races that followed, there would be three more victories with Ralf getting two and Montoya adding another.

But Ralf's win in France was to be a pivotal moment because Montoya lost liis cool, believing that the team had helped the German. He ranted and raved about it over the radio.

I

Williams's Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael gave him two barrels straight between the eyes: he was prone to making mistakes; he was lazy and reUed too much on his natural talent. Blam!

Tilings were smoothed over but Montoya had soon done a deal to join McLaren in 2005.

Schumacher's season had gone off the rails as well. Spooked by being beaten by Montoya and knocked sideways by being ruled to have been responsible for causing tlie crash at the start of the German GP,Ralf seemed to lose control. Hungary was a fiasco and then he had a huge crash in testing at Monza that really shook him up. He pulled out of the Italian 36

GP because of dizzy spells. His World Championship hopes were over.

In the final races Montoya looked feisty but blew his hopes when he pushed Rubens BarricheUo off at Indy and was given a penalty.

And Ralf just did not seem to be all there...

It looks like neither man will be at Williams in 2005.

-JOE SAWARD

Where there is smoke ...

Patrick Head, above right, had cause to smile and frown through the 2003 season.

Ralf won twice and so did Montoya but the car never realised its potential, slowed by a lack of early development and some issues with reliability, right.

The Big Silver Wh

McLaren had a half-decent year in 2003 which was a bit of a surprise given that the team did the whole season with what was in effect an old car.

The MP4-17D was meant to be an interim car, to take the team through the opening few races while the new car was readied for the European season. The thinking was logical. It is easier to run a new car when one is an hour or so from base, rather than being a day away.

As the year went on, the date for the new car edged gradually backwards as one problem after another was encountered. Crash tests were failed. The new car had a couple of big crashes. The reliability was dreadful. The car was quick but it just would not

run for very long.

With the benefit of hindsight it is easy to say that pursuing the development of the MP4-18 was the wrong thing to do. By the time the decision was made to stick with the old car, the MP417D was fading. All the development work had been going into the wrong car. The drivers and the race team did what they could but there was nowhere like enough development work being done on the old car.

The MP4-17D had won the opening races but they were really opportunistic wins as others ran-into trouble. Back in Europe, the team found the going was tougher and after Raikkonen retired while in the lead of the European Grand Prix

F-l REUIEW

Blockbuster Year

g'03 season. We the world title

title(s) 1

IT'S a scene that you've watched in countless bad 1980's teen flicks.

Mid-way through the school prom, having endured months of jibes from those snobby girls from the valley and the captain of the football team, the dorkiest girl in the class throws away her horn-rimmed glasses, shakes her hair out from its tight bun, and is suddenly transformed into a beauty.

te Elephant

at the Nurburgring, the team was not really in the hunt for wins although the occasional opportunity did pop up when Ferrari struggled with tyres or Williams tripped over itself.

Raikkonen stayed in the game until the last race but he never had much of a chance in Suzuka.

By the autumn the decision had been taken to re-engineer the MP4-18 and turn it into the MP4-19, getting rid of some of the impractical bits and pieces and creating a car which would have a whole winter or testing.

Putting a positive spin on it (as McLaren is prone to do) it was not a question of the new car being late but rather or a newer car being early ...

-JOE SAWARD

14 Januiry 2004

The Williams FW25 underwent a similar kind of metamorphosis.

By Frank Williams and Patrick Flead's lofty standards, 2002's FW24 was a dud, Flaving ended the season with just one win and the mother of all poundings from the Ferrari F2002, an evolution of the concept for 2003 was not going to be competitive.

Consequently, a major re-think was applied to the design of the FW24's successor.

The car that Williams unloaded in Melbourne last March was clearly a product of a conceptual shift on the drawing boards at Grove, The problem was, it was badly undercooked. Montoya spun away the chance of a win in Australia, but it would have been a result that owed more to luck than anything else.

BMW had done their bit for the cause by coming up with an engine (the P83) capable of dishing out an unholy number of revs, and Miohelin had worked hard over the off-season to come up with some good rubber. But even as early as San Marino, both companies were already murmuring their disappointment that the blue and white chassis was not up to the same standard.

"I have to admit, I didn't see a chance to get into the lead of the Championship during the season," BMW Motorsport's Mario Theissen told MN at Monza, "and I have to say I haven't seen something like this

li

before, such a strong move (improvement) during the season.

"Williams did an exceptional job on the aero side as well as the chassis set-up side. They really found a lot of improvements step by step, and each race there was something new."

Indeed they did. Williams does not like losing, particularly when it is their end of the bargain that is letting things down. The team threw itself into a hectic program of analysis, design and component production that first bore fruit when Montoya won from pole at Monaco.

Progressively, the FW25 was transformed into the most powerful and versatile package on the grid, capable of winning under just about any conditions.

The Monaco success was bolstered by further wins at the Nurburgring and France (Half), and Flockenheim (Montoya), having also taken pole honours on four occasions.

It ended the year having scored a total of 144 points, completed 1800 racing laps, and carried Montoya into a championship winning position right up to the penultimate round - and even then it was a penalty, not the car, that let the Colombian down.

FW25: the best-developed Grand Prix car of the past 10 years?

- MARK GLENDEIMNIIMG 37

ii'

Bndgestone Rubens: Intel V Michelin

The FI tyre war got personal in 2003.

And it was not always pretty...

2003 was the year in which the tyre war in Formula 1 got nasty.

Ferrari was struggling from early on with the Bridgestone tyres but managed to stay in the hunt because of the mistakes being made elsewhere. But in Hungary there was utter humiliation when Fernando Alonso in a Renault lapped Michael Schumacher as he fought to keep his Ferrari on the road.

The design of the tyres was very different but both had been judged acceptable by the FIA at the start of the year.

The Ferrari team's response to Hungary was typical. A huge amount of effort was put into improving the situation with new aerodynamics and engine tweaks but the team also lashed out, complainjng to the FIA that it believed that the Michelin tyres were illegal.

The rival teams responded vigorously saying that the tyres were fine and that if Ferrari had really had a problem with the tyres, it would have done something earlier in the year.

The FIA had to skate between the teams. The tyres were not illegal it said, but added that the tyres at Monza wouid have to comply with the regulations. The Michelin runners had no choice but to play it safe and so new tyres were made, marginally smaller than the original ones. It made little difference to performance but it hurt both Michelin and the two leading Michelin teams because their development programs for the final races of the year were demolished.

Ferrari people like to say that Formula 1 is like fighting a war and that winning justifies the means. This was clearly the motivation behind the tyre move and it was one that angered rival teams who do not believe that this is playing fair.

They will have gained some amusement at the end of the year when Ferrari ran bleating to the Italian police in the belief that Toyota had used Ferrari data to design its 2003 car. It seems that treating FI like a war is only acceptable if Ferrari is not on the receiving end.

-JOE SAWARD

On his day... Unbeatable. But Rubens Barrichello is not allowed to have that many days in his Ferrari. But he still won two races in 2003.

Eight is more thai

2003saw the biggest number of different winne ON paper,things looked good in 2003. Motor racing does not happen on paper and often that is not a good reflection of what did happen but, this time,it is a fair comparison.

The bare facts are that Michael Schumacher won six GPs and a sixth

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title but that disguises a hugely competitive season. Eight drivers won races (the most since 1982), two of them for the first time, and those drivers represented five different teams.

The Big Tliree teams' drivers all won races,led by Schumacher (six wins) and Rubens Barrichello (two); Ralf Schumacher,above, won twice and Juan won two too; David

5 § Oa

2

38

Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen took their solo wins in the first tw'o races of the season and Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso won in opposite circumstances. Even after the Brazilian GP finished, no-one thought Fisi was the winner while Renault's young star had the Hungarian GP in the bag before the lights turned green.

If Michael was again the best driver in the game, there were races where his car and/or tyres meant that he rarely looked like it. Alonso lapped him in Hungary and Montoya lapped practically everyone in Germany in the most dominant display of tlie year. Ferrari and

motorsport news

FI REUIEW

‘national Man of Mystery RUBENS Barrichello is living a frustrating Formula One career.

Now 31, the Brazilian looked like a world-beater when he arrived in FI 11 years ago and there are days when he looks like more than a match for anyone in the sport. But he is the second driver at Ferrari and that means, above all else, he is not going to get many days; he is there to support Michael Schumacher.

Normally, no big deal. If Rubens had continued to drive in the same way as he did in Austria in 2002, an asterisk on his career (*Schumacher's team mate)and a large bank balance would have been his just desserts. Then he goes and ruins it all at Silverstone last year; after he screwed up his Friday lap, he was the first man on the track for Saturday

qualifying but still took pole position. He won the race by setting up Kimi Raikkonen for the one of the moves of the season and took home 10 points - and'the fastest lap.

In short (no pun intended) he looked like a man entirely capable of giving the Scuderia

another drivers' championship, if only that German chappie was not there. Kind of like any Indian batsman, if only Sachin Tendulkar was not in the lineup.

So, what now? Well. It appears as though Barrichello is committed to seeing out his time at Ferrari, as long as the

The Terminator Webber will be back for a sequel: Pizzonia and Wilson, probably not

JAGUAR Racing entered the 2003 season in a state of change, with new management, a down-sized workforce from the Niki Lauda era, a new car in the R4 and, most importantly, new drivers.

Lauda had recruited Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia before he got the axe and there were many, including the brains trust at Williams, who expected the Brazilian to apply the blowtorch to the Queanbeyan Kid. At the second race of the sea.son, in Malaysia,Jungle Boy became the first team-mate to ever out-qualify Webber, using a combination of lighter fuel load and softer tyres. It was looking interesting.

Four races later, Pizzonia's ambitions of a long FI career were as good as over. To be blunt, Webber kicked his butt; in front of Pizzonia's home crowd in Brazil, Pizzonia had his colours lowered

away by his team-mate.

The R4 was a handy car but not a great one. It lacked Renault's superb aerodynamics and BMW's horsepower, and its rear suspension used its rear Michelins more harshly than Williams and McLaren did theirs. The Cosw'orth was a nice raceable engine but its high fuel use forced longer pit slops and higher fuel loads. But it was generally reliable and gave the team what it craved; credibilitv

podium finish until Webber walled it late in the race while

5 for more than 20 years Bridgestone came good at the end of the season but it took a lot of work.

cooling his overheating wets. That set up a season-long assault that resulted in MW scoring all but one of the team's points. By then, Justin Wilson was in the other car; by the end of the season, his Ft ambitions had been largely blown

'Heathrow' testing option so well that Webber's Friday form pver tlie season was bested only by Ferrari's two drivers. And uniquely, Jagyvas the only 'Heathrow' team nqt tof employ a dedicated test driver. .! laguar's.designers did one really clever thing though; they allowed j ; enough space between the'roll bar . and the pedals to jam Webber into ' the car. Mark emerged as a real talent this year; as focused as Raikkonen but a much better

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talented as Montoya but with fewer errors. At Jaguar, ho is universally respected and looked upoiras 'their' driver. Oddly enough, there are several other teams titinking the same thing for 2005 If you have not figured out by now that Webber is’The-^eal ' Thing, please try to catchTip. Yes, we have been saying that for some ' time; but now we are not the only, ones. Recently, UK magazine Aiitocm- nominated its FI Man of the Year. It was the Aussie.

If the R5 turns out to be a good car, anything might happen this season. And, with a history of wrecked dreams among Webber's past team-mates, Christian Klien better gel his head down.

-IMIIL BRANAGAN

And,unusually, Michael was beaten by a team-mate when Rubens thrashed him (and everyone else) at Silverstone.

1

I! I

People are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of it happening again. Maybe ... not.

Renault is taking a giant step sideways with its new engine. Jordan will be further down in the dumps this year than last. It is hard to see another team 'stepping up' to win a race this season.

But, folks, isn't that just what a lot of us were saying just 365 days ago?

-PHIL BRANAGAN

14 January 2004

:i

communicator; as fit as Schumacher but a better athlete; as

and respect. The team used its

as the 'wrong' R4 qualified third for the race and threatened for a

I Enough

Prancing Horse wants him. That means more wins and points and a lot more money but, unless the proverbial bus comes along to take Schuey out of play, no cigars for our man.

It appears that Rubens can live with that; we will have to as well.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

39

qne Yflnnran MOST people in Formula 1 circles agreed in 2003 that Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso are the stars of the future. Opinion was split over whether Mark Webber should be included with them.

Teams are always looking for a driver with that little bit of extra something: the explosive magic that gains the extra tenth of a second just when it is needed. Being a World Champion is in part down to having that extra ability but there are many other necessary talents and disciplines as well.

Drivers must be hard-working, dedicated, intelligent, cunning and lucky. And experience

really helps because when it comes to beating a man like Michael Schumacher,even the best are struggling.

Raikkonen, in his second season at McLaren, was expected to outpace David Coulthard in 2003 and he did that quite dramatically, aided by the fact that Coulthard took a long time to recover from having his victory in Brazil taken away on a technicality and by the fact that the Scotsman absolutely hated the one lap qualifying regulations and struggled to adapt. David still raced exceptionally well but starting so far back on the grid was a huge disadvantage.

Alonso,aboi’t’, many people think, has even

more potential than Raikkonen. In Hungary he became the youngest ever race winner in the history of the World Championship. He was greatly helped by the fact that he was driving a very peculiar car that was exceptional on occasion but relatively uncompetitive elsewhere.

The engine was relatively underpowered but the car was therefore aerodynamically quite brilliant which is why the top chassis men at Renault were poached by others almost immediately.

It will be interesting to see how Renault does in 2004 because, as any driver will tell you, a reputation is based on the last race.

-JOESAWARD

Evolution hurts

The tension between IT'S simple, right?

BAR'S drivers received Jacques Villeneuve, the plenty of column inches second-highest paid FI driver (behind that early in the season, and manifested itself on the German bloke in red) racetrack at the first gets his 1997 world possibly opportunity championship-winning when Villeneuve butt spanked by a pinched Button's pitstop rejuvenated Jenson slot at Albert Park, Button during 2003.

Nevertheless, he asks costing the Brit around 20 frustrating seconds as for another huge wad of cash from BAR in he sat uselessly behind his team-mate in pitlane. exchange for the continued benefit of his '‘■ As a whole though, the issue was over-blown, services. BAR and Honda decide that and before long the pair Staying, going... gone? Villeneuve, left, is gone, had settled their tliey'd be better off with differences and carried Webber is staying and DC is ... endangered? test driver Takuma Sato, on. (who, as a Japanese driver, The real chasm existed between Villeneuve and BAR brings enormous added value to Honda) and the French-Canadian's world deteriorates rather Principal Dave Richards, which had much to do with the driver's close relationship with manager (and dramatically. Depending upon which story you believe, displaced BAR spearhead) Craig Pollock. Upon Jacques is either shown the door on the eve of the assuming Pollock's role, Richards quickly made his season finale at Suzuka, or he pulls out at the llth-hour presence felt by publicly questioning whether in the ultimate two-fingered salute to those that he feels shafted him.

Villeneuve was worth what he was being paid. Not the ideal way to start a relationship that, predictably, In reality of course, neither scenario is entirely became progressively pricklier. accurate, although it seems tliat the latter is closer to the mark. It's true that Villeneuve's 2003 results didn't offer And then there's Honda's role. The Japanese giant had been instrumental in keeping Villeneuve on board him much of a bargaining chip when the time came to when his first conhact expired in 2000. This time negotiate a new contract, but it's hard to imagine that around, with Sato in their pocket, they were a lot what happened at Suzuka was the product of this season alone. quieter.

But why didn't Villeneuve see the writing on the wall Did Button really destroy Villeneuve last year? Not and move earlier to secure himself a spot for 2004? necessarily. Discounting Monaco, where Jenson failed Perhaps he took his eye off the ball. to show for qualifying or the race following a huge It should be recognised, too, that there have been shunt in practice, the pair were reasonably equal in major changes in the way the driver market in FI qualifying, with Button claiming the honours eight to moves over the past few years, and Villeneuve appears six. But the race results, or rather lack of them, are more not to have acknowledged the new era. telling. Button's car failed to finish three times; Jacques The days of having an Eddie Irvine career on a had a whopping 10 early showers - almost all of which were the fault of the car rather than the driver. reigning champion's salary are over. Ralf Schumacher is But if Villeneuve was not worse than Button, nor was facing that right now, David Coulthard may well face it at the end of this year and Jacques Villeneuve has he measurably better. And for a guy making roughly possibly learnt it in the hardest possible way. three times the salary of his team-mate, this is bound to - MARK GLENDENNING raise some eyebrows amongst the hierarchy.

40

The Off-track Dramatics FORMULA One politics are usually about as interesting as 'real' politics - but some significant things happened in 2003.

The most significant was that the 'F1 banks' came to an agreement with the manufacturers and SLEC, Bernie Ecclestone's holding company. In effect, it means that the teams will start to receive a larger share of the television revenue and that the two-year old bid for the makers to launch their own Grand Prix World Championship after 2007 were canned.

Canada's race was placed in peril by the country's anti tobacco policies, the cigarettebacked teams wanting compensation for running another 'no-brand' race. France's raced lurched from disaster to disaster after non-payment of fees from recent races, while a magistrate in Brazil put that race's future in peril after declaring that the GP was too heavily subsidised by the local government.

There are new venues this season in Bahrain and China, new ones in the wings for the future and changes that the reappearance of FI Digital TV, some features if which will be down-streamed to free-to-air viewers. There will always be politics in FI and sometimes, that has been a welcome distraction from the actual 'races'. Last year, the action on the track stood on its own. Thank goodness.

motortport news

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2004: The Yea You could, in theory, sit through the next 12 months to see how the 2004 racing season pans out- or you could grab a beer, sit down and read the next four pages, because we Ve already done it for you. Lauda’s comeback? Murph’s dummy-spit at Sandown? A Carrera Cup car with a trailer? All will be revealed...

January Pre-season V8 Supercar testing kicks off at Queensland Raceway. Max Wilson has drama in his first test with Triple 8 Racing and walls the Betta Electrical Falcon.

The team responds swiftly to the incident: Wilson is paid out of his contract and replaced by Dean Canto.

Juan Montoya arrives at Estoril for a Williams test, only to find that the team has its three cars prepared for Ralf Schumacher, Marc Gene and Nelson Piquet Jr. "There was a communications error," says a team spokesman."We really wanted Juan to test this week but we did not have enough cars."

The new state-of-the-art Wfestern Sydney International Dragway opens amid much fanfare. The first meeting is an enormous success, although the show is stolen somewhat when John Bowe makes a surprise appearance in

a Top Fueller. The all-black dragster is bereft of any obvious sponsorship, other than a cryptic sign on the bodywork that reads:'Who's looking after your future?'

"I found myself with some spare weekends over the summer,and this looked like a fun way to fill them," said JB before being bounced out of the first round of eliminations by Johnny Cowin.

David Richards announces that Colin McRae will have a role in the World Rally Championship after all.

The Scot will front the television coverage of the opening round at Monte Carlo, through there is a fuss before the broadcast starts when producers realise that, having flown in straight from Dakar, Colin has packed only Nissan uniforms and he is forced to do his first stand-up to camera naked.

In an attempt to create additional interest in the Carrera Cup(and stop Jim Richards winning the bloody

Tell us what you really think! The man who makes Grant Denyer look like an NBA basketballer, Dean Canto, below, has something of an interesting 2004 in store. Jim Richards, below right, just can't do anything wrong ...

thing again!). Cup Car Australia introduce a 50kg weight per round win penalty. Richo accepts the news with typically good grace;"Well,I will just have to try a bit harder," he grins.

February Montoya flies to Valencia for a Williams test but, on arrival, discovers that the team is actually testing at Paul Ricard."The travel agent made a mistake," says a team spokesman."We did not mean to send Juan to Spain. In fact, we thought that he was supposed to be sent to Coventry this week."

The first V8 Superstars of the new season has to be cancelled after an uproar at the venue. New security measures,introduced to ensure the safety of all concerned, are met with resistance, with two men refusing to pass through a metal detector on the way into the auditorium.

"There was no way I was going to go through that thing," said a Mr M Skaife of Melbourne."I mean,if I want to carry something with me for my personal protection, who are Minilutll Cm

they to stop me?" The metal detector is signwritten in Caltex Havoline colours in a contra sponsorship deal.

Jim Richards spotted testing at Phillip Island with a rather large (no,fat) opera singer strapped into the passenger seat."We're covering all the options," explains Richo,"but I do have to keep teUing her to stop singing.

People might get the wrong idea."

March Michael Schumacher wins the Australian Grand Prb< from brother Ralf and Mark Webber. Montoya is the last finisher in 14th place, having missed Friday practice and arrived on Saturday after chartering a light plane to fly him in from Fiji, where he was sent by mistake by Williams's travel agent.

"A sad error," explains a team spokesman."Somehow, we asked for an 'FT ticket and wanted Juan to sit in 'JT and they read it as 'Fiji'. These things happen."

The opening V8 Supercar race of the season is a triumph for Larry Perkins' Superteam. Longhurst wins from Richards,Tratt and Dumbrell but there is uproar among the other Holden teams.

This is not what the sport is meant to be like," says a spokesman for the Holden Racing Team."One company,controlling all these entries, it is just not right."

Greg Murphy is pinged by the Stewards for "driving too close to the car in front". He is given a drivethrough penalty and finished 23rd in Race 2.

"Richards wins Carrera Cup opener" says series PR release,"but weight penalty will slow him down!" Richo is seen after the race belting along the highway with Barry Oliver in the passenger seat.

"I know he weighs more than 50kg,' says Jim,"but we are looking at the future."

44

motorsport news

ALMANAC

p That Will Be At least he got a drive this time ... Juan Montoya's 2004 season just kept getting, well, er, um, interesting, as Niki Lauda, right, steps into a Jaguar seat that nobody can keep.

April Bahrain's first Formula One event is a triumph for Sauber, with Giancarlo Fisichella holding off Kimi Raikkonen for the win. Montoya is 12th and last, exhausted after just making it into the race following a five-day cross-desert trip from Dubai.

"Juan is not having much luck in the travel stakes," says a team spokesman."Our agent asked whether or not they should buy a ticket for Juan to Bahrain and I said, 'Do buy'. An easy error to make ..."

Eastern Creek's second round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series is won by Todd Kelly. The HRT driver was in a battle for the lead with Murphy when the Kmart driver has to serve a drive-through penalty for "failing to give way to the right-foot braker". The dispirited Kiwi soldiers on to 19th position.

Canto has problems on the out lap, running into a tyre barrier and Triple 8 responds swiftly. He is sacked and paid out of his contract, the team replacing him with Wilson.

Jim Richards wins Carrera Cup race, despite additional weight handicap.

"Penalty will get him next time!" trumpets series press release.

John Bowe confirms that he is to add an assault on the Australian Rally Championship to his V8 Supercar, Nations Cup and drag racing programs. "1 feel like a weekend without a race is a weekend wasted,"

14 January 2004

says Bowe on the telephone from his accountant's office.

The Rally of Argentina is won by Markko Martin after confusion over the FIA's new driver eligibility rules. Subaru looked to be heading for a 1-2 with Fetter Solberg and Mikko Hirvonen until officials intervened.

It seems that someone had actually heard of Hirvonen before,in direct contravention of the new regulations.

Subaru is disqualified,leaving TV commentator McRae to run around in small circles, muttering to himself in unintelligible Hibernian oaths.

Mark Webber has a new team-mate at San Marino. Having declared itself unhappy with the performance of Christian Klien,Jaguar replaces him with Ricardo Zonta."I'm disappointed to have been overlooked again," says Alex Wurz.

May

is replaced for the rest of the season

by Canto.

Murphy fails to win his fourthstraight New Zealand V8 round.

"But 1 own this bloody thing," Murph is heard muttering as he walks back from Melbourne Airport after being refused a seat on the NZ-bound flight.

Apparently he was bumped by frequent flyer points users whose business address is listed as CAMS ...

The V8 International at Pukekohe ends in farce when,after running all laps of the opening two races behind the Safety Car,snow forces Race 3 to be abandoned. Fastest qualifier Marcos Ambrose is declared the winner from Ingall, who had to overcome a late start because the metal detector at the end of pit lane revealed items from various sponsors including Smith & Wesson.

Wilson runs off the track during a snow flurry and is sacked and has his contract paid out by Triple 8. He

Juan Montoya wins his secondstraight Monaco GP in controversial circumstances. After arriving in the principality in McLaren's private jet (thus avoiding a ticketing error that had him destined for Morocco)he is following David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen around when the two MP4/19S inexplicably fall apart at the same time in front of him.

It seems that the cars are actually MP4/18S which were "spontaneously modified along macro-linear guidelines to optimise

the real-time performance envelope in line with the imperatives outlined in a three-dimensional, fluid computational simulation, viz a viz the ongoing development in a racetrack-to-chassis interface scenario." In other words,the wheels fell off.

Bowe confirms rumours that he is to compete in the V8 BRutes Championship.

"I'm at the circuit anyway because of my Nations Cup commitments, and this is a way of filling those wasted hours when we're not on the track," he muses,stroking his beard.

"Racing these things looks like fun."

His Ute is to be sponsored by a newly-formed superannuation fund.

Richards Sr wins again in Carrera Cup,with real concerns that Oliver and his mate Dazza from Tassie

continued on page 46 45

continued from page 45 (who is perched in the back) could be in peril if there is more weight added to the car. Race promoters investigate the possibility of Richo towing a trailer.

June V8 Supercar racing descends into high drama at Queensland Raceway when almost the entire field is given a drive-through penalty for "driving in an aggressive marmer". The sole exception is Russell Ingall who,at the instruction of his team,is driving in the race wearing boxing gloves, in case he is required to get'physical wid it' during the race.

Canto hits his pit crew during his compulsory tyre stop and is sacked (and paid out) by Triple 8. Wilson comes back for the next round of the championship.

Network 10 annoimces a new program, V8 Superstars Idol, which will replace V8 Superstars. The idea is that 15 V8 drivers have to sing, catch fish, renovate a race workshop and shower together between races, with stewards ready to penalise anyone who drops the soap. , I

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Jim Richards wins Carrera Cup round."We needed to make some suspension changes to allow for the additional weight, but we did just

enough to keep the rest at bay," JR states in the series press release.

Having been comprehensively out gunned by Webber,Zonta is shown the door on the eve of the Canadian GP. The team approaches Jacques Villeneuve, who denies any interest in returning to FI despite having spent the previous few days lurking near the team's transporter with a helmet bag in his hand. The 1997 world champ duly signs up for the remainder of the season.

"I'm sure my experience will benefit the team,and it will be interesting to see how Webber deals with a really fast team-mate," the Canadian says.

John Bowe announces an open wheeler comeback,in the struggling F4000 category."He only has 52 weekends in the year in which to cover the mortgage," explains TV finance guru David Koch.

July Holden Motorsport spokesman Craig Fletcher announces the reformation of the Castrol Cougars program."It fits in well with Holden's demographic," says Fletch. "Half of all decisions made to buy new cars are made by women.Plus, we want to have some glamour in the new Network 10 program. Have you seen Longhurst's bum in the shower?"

Winton's V8 Supercar race is

dramatic. Murphy is again penalised, this time by his own team, which gets an 'all-clear'from the stewards after an on-track incident but his team does not know the appropriate response. Bowe wins the race but, after having four different races in four different cars in four weeks,is DQ'd for hopping into the wrong car by mistake before the race.

Wilson does nothing wrong in this race and finished second behind Rick Kelly but the HR manager at Triple 8 sacks him and pays him out because "that is what we have always done".

After having been paid better this season for being sacked than he ever was for driving. Canto prepares for the next round at Oran Park, where he arrives in a new Ferrari 550.

The German GP is a triumph for BMW,Williams and Ralf Schumacher. The local lad wins his home GP, despite having Montoya clamped to the wide nose of his Williams FW26 following the first pit stop. It seems that the Colombian was issued with the wrong tickets for the race; when someone at Williams was told to send him to the home GP(meaning BMW's home)he was accidently sent to Colombia.

"Thank goodness I was a champion in the FedEx Series," says Montoya.

AUgUS i.

The Castrol Cougars make a spectacular debut at Oran Park, with Melinda Price qualifying ahead of David Thexton and with rookie Heidi Klum immediately behind. Better yet, the ratings for V8 Idol go through the roof, with both women featuring heavily in the pool-side scenes until Flavio Briatore arrives ...

Villeneuve is sacked by Jaguar after a string of poor performances that culminated in his attempting to gain a 'psychological edge'over Webber by making his stop on the lap scheduled for the Australian, leaving Webber stranded behind him in pitlane. The team announces Niki Lauda as his replacement.

"It is the right time to come back," says the Austrian."Jacques had only won one championship. I have three. Webber will learn a lot from me." He subsequently fails to qualify at the US GP. Bowe misses the Oran Park V8

Bowe is lucky that Formula 4000 run at their own stand-alone series in 2004, otherwise how would he fit it into his tight schedule?

46

Supercar round after being jailed. It seems that the veteran leapt into Canto's Ferrari and took to the track, only to be collared by the police."But I can't make bail," explains JB as he is led away."All of my money is

invested in the Triple 8 superannuation fund and it has taken a bit of a beating recently."

This time Canto performs admirably; in fact, he wins, and will stay in the car to be joined by Wilson at Sandown's 500."But, where is the rest of the money?" he fumes as he looks at the winners'cheque."I am accustomed to getting paid a lot more than this after a race."

Michael Schumacher breaks through for his, and Ferrari's first win of the season in Belgium."So what,I always win in Belgium," explains the German.

September The Sandown 500 gets off to a controversial start when Greg Murphy is handed a two-minute penalty for driving with his highbeams on.

"The safety risks that arise from being dazzled by high beams are well documented," say the stewards in a post-race press release.

A furious Murphy abandons the car in pitlane, leaves the circuit, and is home before the first roimd of pitstops.

Thi-ough a series of elaborate charades during the stops, the team gets around it by pretending to perform a driver change when in reality, Rick Kelly is simply swapping his helmet for Murph's.

Rickler does the rest of the race single-handed,finishes second, and the team stalls the post-race festivities just long enough for Murph to speed back to the track for his podium appearance.

"I feel as fresh as a daisy," says Murph in the post-race press conference.

motorsport nows

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Triple 8 declare themselves satisfied with Wilson and Canto's fourthplace finish at Sandown,but things take a turn for the worse when the pair make an appearance on V8 Supercar Idol and Canto is caught on camera in a compromising position with a Castrol Cougar during a spa scene.

Canto is sacked for his part in the shenanigans,and Wilson is sacked for not doing enough to stop him.

Both have their contracts paid out, and immediately buy their seats back for Bathurst.

"It(the cost of the drive) is like a drop in the ocean now," says Wilson from his yacht.

The Montoya/WiUiams relationship reaches boiling point at the Italian GP. The Colombian decides to play it safe,ignores the air ticket provided for him by the team,and catches a train to the race - only to find that his car has been set up for Gene.

"He was supposed to be in Monza, Russia this weekend," says a shocked team member.

A livid Montoya goes straight to Ron Dennis, who immediately triggers the biggest mid-season driver shake-up ever seen by announcing that JPM will drive for his team that weekend.

Coulthard is left out of a drive ("I guess tins year wasn't my year", the Scot says later), while Luciano Burti finds a seat at Jaguar after Webber receives a call from Williams.

The team prepare to break the bad news to Gene before thinking better of it and sending Ralf home instead.

October The V8 Supercar circus arrives at Bathurst only to find that the new pit and paddock facilities haven't been

14 January 2004

completed. In fact, they haven't even been started, prompting teams to run the 1000 kilometre event on a one pit stop strategy.

'Joe's Fuel and Feed' in Bathurst reports record sales as V8 teams head into town to re-fuel their machines.

HRT is ahead of the game with the re-introduction of fuel chums. Group C-style. There are numerous reports of theft of equipment from the Flistoric Touring Car paddock but no one can quite put a finger on just what's gone missing ...

The race is won by Jason Bright and Paul Weel in their PWR Commodore.Jim Richards finishes second in HRT's second car but

Hair, hair, yeah, yeah; Rick Kelly, above left, does the lion's share of driv ing at Sandown and has the mane to prove it, while Webber can't under stand what all the fuss is about when it comes to team-mates. And sorry Murf, winning Pukekobe again just won't happen ...

received a drive-through penalty on the way. f"They thought I was driving the Porsche and I was a bit far in front so they gave me a penalty ..."

Webber scores his first Grand Prix win with a commanding performance at Suzuka. "The only way this could have been better would be if it was in Australia," says MW. "At least this is almost in the same time zone ..."

ITovember With the series already won, Jim Richards still takes out the final Carrera Cup round, despite the introduction of a compulsory tyre change stop. The air jacks simply can't raise the familiar yellow and white machine and a manual jack is required.

"I guess we were lucky," grins the champ. "The clutch nearly burned out getting off the line and it was a bit cumbersome around the corners, but we went okay ..."

Carrera Cup PR man resigns.

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ecember

The V8 series ends in another downpour at Eastern Creek. There's a wide range of celebrities on hand to take in the action, including Australian Idol reject Rob Mills and on-agam, off-again fling partner Paris Hilton.

Also in the VIP enclosure are Matthew Krok (the fat kid from Hey Dad) and Mimi McPherson. The duo are signed by Triple 888 on development deals for 2005, just in case their negotiations with Canto and Wilson fall through ...

A new team is announced for the 2005 OWRS (nee CART) Championship. Taking all the funds they accrued when their contracts were paid out through the season, Wilson and Canto are to drive for Holl5rwood-based Shortstop Motorsport, which is co-owned by Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman and Michael J Fox.

Bowe is seen testing a Sprintcar at Parramatta."This will dovetail nicely with his summer drag racing commitments," says JB's accountant.

"Here,he is constantly turning corners, whereas in the dragster he's just keeping it straight. The combination is a good way to train for next year, and with half-a-dozen speedway events every week it allows me,sorry, John, to plan for his retirement years."

V8 Supercar stewards respond to increasing calls for better decision making and penalty application.

AVESCO hires Australian Idol judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson, who makes sweeping changes.

"I can't believe the level of you all," he tells a meeting of drivers.

"You all bitch about one another, you all have inflated egos, you all worry about how much money you're making and all the girls want you.

"Ever thought of a career in the music industry?"

47

Juan Year at a

Time Juan Pablo Montoya may have a 2005 McLaren contract in his pocket - but he still has a championship to win this season with Williams. He told AMfM COOPER thft it is

gcRg to be another 102

percent assault on the title

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FIFTH consecutive World Championship for Michael Schumacher might be appreciated by Ferrari fans and statisticians, but a lot of folk would like to see someone else take centre stage in 2004.

It's not that Michael hasn't deserved his enormous success, but to the public at large,it's started to look a bit predictable. Last season provided plenty of thrills and spills, and yet, the end result was the same.

In a year where the Olympic Games is sure to hog the limelight, something special needs to happen in '04.

If the new Williams FW26 lives up to expectations, Juan Pablo Montoya could provide the answer. He proved last year that he can mount a title campaign, albeit with a few ragged edges. But he's learned from that, and if anyone can take on and scare Michael in the armed combat that is modem FI,it's the Colombian.

What's more,he'U do it with the' trademark flair and passion that has led punters world-wide to take him to their hearts.

"Last year everybody was very close, and we did the best we could," says Juan Pablo."We tried really hard to beat him,but we didn't manage to get the job done. I feel this year we can. I think the new car is very

promising, and if it works the way it's supposed to, we have a very good chance of winning. I'm pretty excited really."

Along with Williams team-mate Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen,Juan had a serious shot at winning last year's World Championship. He lived an extraordinary season, gaining just 13 points in the first six races, before a superb win at Monaco turned things around. He remained in contention until the penultimate race.

"I felt it was a good year. I think I did a good job, but we had some ups and downs. At the beginning of the year we were stiD weak, and it really cost us. We were not competitive enough,and that was it. We couldn't score enough points."

It was a tough season, and another valuable step in the education of a man who still has only three seasons at the top level behind him.

"Every year you learn new things, and it just makes you a better driver.

It's hard to say what, it's just general.

You work better, you do a better job, you understand everything better, and the end result is better."

Montoya really made his point with a sublime performance at Monaco, where he finally earned his second career victory. What made it

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Red comer. Blue corner: Montoya is determined to unseat Michael Schumacher and stop his bid to win a fifth straight world title. more impressive was that he won on merit, heading home his strongest challengers.

"Exactly. Everybody was there, and we reaUy got the job done. Kimi and Michael were on the podium,so it was good. It was a big relief to win Monaco. I think through your career that's a race you want to win,and

Tm a team player. I make a mistake or the team makes a mistake it's the same, because we've got to be one thing. We need to be united for this" - Montoya on Williams having done it already is really, really

good."

If Monaco proved that Juan could absorb the ultimate pressure on the most challenging circuit, siUy mistakes elsewhere generated a lot of flak in the media,and did not impress Frank Williams and Patrick Head. Does he think the criticism was justified?

"I don't know. Everybody makes mistakes, and you learn from it. I don't have a big problem with it.

With one of them I didn't lose anything, with the other one I lost one place. Nobody's criticising that in the last race I blew up the engine, or in Aushia I blew up the engine. It's racing, and you've got to be part of the team. I'm a team player. For me if I make a mistake or the team makes a mistake it's the same,because we've got to be one thing. We need to be united for this."

All concerned were particularly frustrated at Indianapolis, where Juan's title campaign was ended by the collision with Rubens Barrichello.

It wasn't just the thousands of Colombian fans who were disappointed by the subsequent drive-through penalty,for TV viewers around the world could.see the prospect of a thrilling championship climax fizzing out before their eyes.

"I still believe I didn't do anything wrong," rues Montoya."You ask

14 January 2004

Rubens,and he thinks the same way, he thinks it was a racing incident. But the stewards felt different, and that was it. It's a shame that a championship was decided by a penalty, but that's the way they play it.

Juan has twice suffered drive through penalties, an inevitable by product of his charging style. One thing that has clearly riled him is the popular perception that there's one rule for Michael Schumacher, and one for everybody else.

"I think Michael doesn't get as many penalties because everybody thinks that he's experienced and he doesn't do anything wrong. But they're not understanding the situation."

And doesn't that piss him off?

"I don't care really ..."

He may try to play it down,but

privately Juan nurtures a burning desire to put Michael in his place. As with Jacques Villeneuve, there exists a deep-seated animosity bolstered not just by various bruising encounters on the track, but by a belief that Michael tries a little too hard at gamesmanship out of the cockpit. What would it mean to be the man to relieve the German of the title after he's hogged it for four years?

"Somebody has to do it, and hopefully we can. It's just a matter that for the last few years Ferrari was too strong, and anybody could have won in that car. I think last year it was a harder year, but the luck was a bit on his side. They came back to perform when they had to, and they

continued on page 50

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honest. Ralf hasn't been signed either, from what I know. What's going to be the difference if I'm guaranteed not to be here, and he still hasn't signed a deal? It's not any different is it?

"I don't think they're going to throw away a World Championship.

Winning in FI is too hard. They want to win,I want to win,so we're behind the same thing. Hopefully we can do it together."

But why the desire to change in the first place? Williams is on the up, Ralf is a Imown quantity, and Ferrari's success has proved the value of a stable environment. All that was outweighed by the thought that McLaren will be a better environment

continued from page 49 won the championship. If we can be quick from the beginning we should be able to beat them. Now we've just got to do it."

If nothing else in 2003 Juan learned the value of a good start to the season, for he was never quite able to make up for that early run of disappointments.

"It really shows that if you have a competitive car and you can be consistently in front you can look quite good for the championship. I think we can start this season the way we finished, really strongly. If we can be strong from race one, we have a very good chance of winning. The million dollar question is what's going to happen this year with the new rules? Reliability is going to be an issue."

BMW and Mercedes both suffered in races last year, and Ferrari, as has become the norm,did not. Obviously the one engine regulation has forced all teams to put even more effort into improving reliability, but at what cost to outright performance? That remains the great unknovvn of the coming season.

"For everybody," agrees Juan."We believe we will be well prepared for the first race, but anything can happen. From what we've seen BMW is the manufacturer that's done the most miles with their engine. So I think we've got a clear advantage at the beginning of the year. But we have to wait and see what happens.I n think before Australia you get an idea already of how good is your pace, and then in Australia you really know where you are."

Tyres are the other key factor.

Bridgestone hasn't slept through this winter, but Juan is confident that Michelin will still have the advantage.

"I don't think Michelin is sleeping either. They have improved a lot over the winter,and there's still a lot of winter to go. I think the biggest thing they have to work on is the wet tyre, because in the dry they have the upper hand already on Bridgestone.

It's going in the right direction, but it just needs more."

If Juan does succeed, he will take the number one to McLaren in 2005.

His decision to leave Grove for the apparently sunnier climes of Woking has generated a lot of ink, mainly because it happened unusually early.

But Montoya insists that there's no great mystery to the deal, and doesn't expect to endure a frostier relationship with Frank and Patrick.

"I wanted to do a change,an opportunity came,and I took it. It was simple. Tl-ie team knew about that choice quite a long time ago, before it was even announced. They were still 100% behind me,and I'm still 100% a Williams driver, so I'm not very concerned about that, to be 50

in every respect,including financially.

"It's like everything in your life.

You get to a point where you want to experience something new,and I felt McLaren would be a good opportunity for me. There were a lot of things. From the point of view of performance it wasn't a difficult choice, because both teams are top teams.It was my decision, and that was it, simple."

Continental Divide: Highlights of Montoya's 2003 season included his Monaco win, above, and his 'swap'with NASCAR legend Jeff Cordon when Juan tested the #24 Cbev Monte Carlo at Indianapolis.

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Beating Michael and for RalfJuan, has but obvious attractions this year there will be an extra edge to any on track contest with Raikkonen.

If the Firm stays on board in 2005, he will be in his fourth year with McLaren,and in an extremely strong position. It won't hurt Juan to lay down a marker or two this year before they become team-mates.

"It's true, but if his car is stronger it will be hard to beat him,and if our car's stronger it will be easier to beat him. It doesn't really change anything. I'm not thinking about one person. I don't know why everybody thinks about Kimi or Ralf. You want to beat everybody.I'm really concerned and focussed about trying to win the drivers' championship and the constructors,' and that's it."

While everyone is speculating upon how williams wUl behave towards Montoya,there is a curious flipside to the situation. Of course until Suzuka,Juan owes McLaren nothing, and he will treat the silver cars as any other rivals. But what if in the heat of battle he gets into a scrape that rattles the cage of future boss Ron Dermis? That might be a little awkward.

"I don't care. I'm not a McLaren driver, Tm a Williams driver. If I end up crashing with someone,1 don't care whether it's a McLaren or Ferrari or whatever. If we're fighting for the championship with a McLaren driver and I have to beat him.I'm going to do my best to beat him."

His farewell party is still 10 months away,but Juan admits that he will miss Williams, "Some things I wiU, but some things I won't. It's like everything."

So what's the negative side?

"Don't even go there! I won't tell

moiorsaon news

True Believer Montoya's manager Julian Jakobi has no doubts his man will shine in 2004

JUAN Pablo Montoya's path from Williams to McLaren was smoothed by manager Julian Jakobi.

Having once had both Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna on his books, Jakobi has relationships with the top teams that other paddock svengalis can only envy. He's convinced that the right decision has been made.

"At some stage in his career Juan was going to fancy a change," Julian explains.

"The opportunity was there, offered by Ron Dennis.

Sometimes in life you're presented with a take it or leave it situation, and you take it. The view that we took in the summer was that we don't know when the door will open again at McLaren. It was worth Juan's while financially, and from a competition point of view, to take it.

"Ferrari was out, at least in the near future. You don't want to be the guy that follows Michael, and you don't want to be the guy that's there with Michael, because you will not get an equal chance. Toyota isn't ready yet, although they were ready to pay a ton of money. So you have to look at it as a straight choice between McLaren and Williams.

"McLaren is a team that is not used to losing, so taking a medium-term view of which team offers you a better chance of winning the championship from 2005 onwards, we felt that McLaren offered a pretty good bet.

Many observers feel that Montoya may find life tough against a well entrenched Kimi Raikkonen, but Jakobi has no such qualms

"Juan has always had to compete with Ralf, and he's never-been number one at Williams. His view is that you have to beat everybody, including your team mate, to win the championship. It's a challenge. Ayrton joined Alain at McLaren in 1988, and look what happened - he won the championship in his first year, and beat Alain. If you don't believe in your own ability, you shouldn't be doing the job.

"McLaren have always been very fair and treated both drivers equally, as indeed have Williams. And Ron Dennis knows how to handle Latin drivers - there's no question that he handled Ayrton as well as anyone ever did."

Julian expects Juan to get the full support of Williams, and won't suffer if both drivers are in title contention.

"The first person we informed after Juan signed for McLaren was Frank, within 24 hours, as a matter of courtesy. That was in July. Juan went to Frank and said Til give you 102 percent for the rest of my contract,' and Frank said, 'I'll give you 103 percent.' That has been the situation ever since between the team and Juan.

'■ "If you look at it logically, BMW and Williams want to win the World Championship. You've got a better chance of winning it when he's in your team in 2004 than when he's not in it in 2005 and racing for the opposition. It would be madness to sabotage your own attempt on the World Championship just because your driver is leaving at the end of the year. But my guess is that Juan will beat Ralf anyway."

- ADAM COOPER

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A Visit to the Ci Dropping in at a Formuia One factory is cool enough, but getting shown around by a Grand Prix driver is something else again. MARK GLENDB^MNG hooked up with Mark Webber for a grand tour ofthe Jaguar Racing headquarters

T

HE map said that this was definitely the right place to jump off the train.

But standing at Bow Brickhill station, literally a bus shelter and sign perched upon a raised section of asphalt and surrounded by little apart from a coupleof council workers digging a hole,fields, a few distant sheep and other features typical of semi-rural 1 Buckinghamshire,it's difficult to escape the feeling that someone's wires have been badly crossed.Probably mine.

In one direction the road appears to lead to a bunch of horses,so I head the other way instead. A factory ’ looming up behind some trees just . ahead looks promising, but proves to be a false alarm. Then,about 30 " : n seconds and another cluster of greenery later,I suddenly find myself standing outside Jaguar Racing's Formula One headquarters.

Located just outside the repetitive suburbia of Milton Keynes,around 90 minutes north of London,the modem facility began its life as Stewart Racing's nerve centre before the team's reinvention as Jaguar in 2000.

The operation was housed under one roof until 2002,when the team acquired a second building directly across the street to house their expanded personnel and technology.

In the reception area, a steel spiral staircase vnnds its way up around a floor-to-ceiling glass trophy cabinet occupied by a few chunks of silverware, but with plenty of room for new additions.

I occupy myself with a magazine for a few minutes, before a casuallydressed Webber materialises from a team meeting. He's knackered, having flown in from Italy at 1:00am from a particularly tough test at Monza,but is otherwise in good spirits. After a standard Mark

Webber-style handshake(not bone crushing, but close) and exchange of pleasantries, we are on our way. Or, we would be,if only Webber could get the electronic securiW swipe card to work.

Leaving reception, we pass through a design area to emerge rather suddenly in Jaguar's composites department. Most of the floor space is occupied by the giant autoclaves- the ovens in which freshly-pressed carbon-fibre undergoes the curing process behind the material's mighty strength-toweight ratio.

On a table nearby is an assortment of scaled-down carbon-fibre bodywork from the R4 windtunnel model. All of the aero bits on the car begin their life in this way,clocking up hours in miniature form under analysis at the team's windtunnel half an hour up the road before being deemed worthy of production for on-

track testing and,possibly, addition to the race car.

"Our factory is pretty' small," says Webber,just as Tm about to comment on how big ev’erything is. "It's nowhere near as fancy'as some of the other teams."

While Webber is putting things into perspective for me. I'm eyeing an unmarked door just over his right shoulder."That's the R&D department," he notes, and answers my next question before I even have a chance to ask it: "Mate,there's no way I can take you in there." Bugger.

I foUow Webber a few paces down the corridor to a section that he calls 'Woolworths'. It's the spares store, and massed on the floor-to-ceiling shelves are just about all the bits you'd need to build your very own fleet of Jaguar R4s.

Continuing on, we reach another door that requires a swipe card, and again the one in Webber's hand is

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FORMULA ONE Some time later, Webber finally reappears, and we head out to the carpark - only for him to realise that he has forgotten his bike. He bounds back to get it, disassembles it so its fits into his modest road car, and graciously offers me a lift (the bike not leaving much room for a journo. however, I decline).

With that he bids farewell, takes Or»/-1 Ozafo r\(f (r\-r ■n

r\f

the com

Your iVictorian specialist

Helmets Racesuits, Cloves, Raceboots, Harnesses. Seats and Accessories available for Karting, Circuit, Rally or speedway

Factory 9,19-25 Grange Rd Cheltenham VIC Ph 03 9585 5340 Fax 03 9585 5320 14 January 2004

55

And the Answe Gee, we didn't get any death threats about making last issue's 2003 MNews Quiz too hard. Maybe we were too soft on you. Anyway, the answers are below. Ifyou topped 50 percent, you did very well...

29. Indy Car driver Dario Franchitti is married to actress AsWey Judd.

1. With second at Sandown and third and Bathurst, Luke Youlden scored an average of 186 points per round.

30. Neil McFadyen won the FF title last year.

2. Zsolt Baumgartner(Jordan) drove at the Hungaroring and Monza, while Marc Gene (Williams) raced at Monza. Takuma Sato had already been named as a race driverfor BAR before the Japanese CP.

31. The '03 ATCC winner received the Lloyds of London Trophy.

32. Kenseth won one round, the UAW DaimlerClmjsler 400 at Las Vegas in March.

3. Jaguar's 'non-Webber' point came from Justin Wilson's eighth place at hidianapolis.

33. The single-make Toyota racer is theSP9R.

4. The 917. The GT40's roofivas 40 inchesfrom the ground; the 917's was just 36.2.

34. Todd Kelly is married. The others are not, unless they ran into Britney Spears last week.

5. Crocker's co-driver is Greg Foletta.

6. Doug Kalilta made a 4.428s pass in Chicago in September butfailed to back it up to become a record. Kalitta also holds the speed record at 333.00mph but, at Dallas in October, his cousin Scott posted a 333.95mph, which hefailed to back up.

7. The three leadmg FSOOOs are; L to R, Frank Matich (Matich A50/Repco), Johnnie Walker(Matich A5Q/Repco) and John McCormack (Elfin' MR5/Repco). The race is the Adelaide 100 at AIR on 25 February 1973.

Matich led most of the race until he suffered fuel pressure problems.

McCormack won from Allan Rollinson (McRae/Chevrolet).

8. James Hunt, who was drafted in for some F5000 races in 1975.

S

9. Biaggi won two MotoGPs,at Donington (when Valentino Rossi got a time penalty) and Motegi.

10. Jason Sides ivas 2003 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year Award ivinner.

11. Mark Winterbottom was the 2003 V8 ROTY. 12. LP drovefor Ensign, Brabham,BRM and Surtees. He also entered the German GP in 1974 butfailed to qualify in an Amon.

13. The company which Holden wished to own HRT was General Motors Austi'alia Limited.

14. Three companies have supplied control tyres to V8s. Between 1999 and 56

Average Champ: Youlden, above, scored more

35. Bruce McLaren was the youngest driver to win an FI race at the age of 22 years 104 days. Fernando Alonso was 78 days yoimger than that when he won his first race.

uiDtro

points per start than any other V8SCS driver last season.

36. Alan Stacey had a prosthetic leg.

I am Yay Yay: Jl Lehto, right. was the correct answer to Q21.

g 37. Stacey drove for Lotus. §

38. Chris Bristow was killed in a separate accident.

2001, Bridgestone supplied all tyres;for the last two years, Dunlop has. Yokohama has also supplied a control tyres but only for use by the 'Privateer'teams.

21.'T amJJ Lehto.

15. Jason Richards is older than Simon Wills by just under six months. Both are 27 years old.

23. At Monte Carlo, Citroen's Sebastien Loeb lead home team-mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz.

16. In 1993, Jordan had six drivers; Rubens Barrichello, Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen, Marco Apicella, Emanuele Naspctti and Eddie Irvine. In '94, Larousse had six as well; Erik Comas, Olivier Beretta, Philippe Alliot, Yannick Dahlias, Hideki Noda and Jean-Denis Deletraz.

24. At 20, Kelly is the youngest-ever round winner. Charlie O'Brien was 21 when he won hisfirst race 27 years ago.

17. Rob Benson was previously with Hendrick Motorsports. He is now witli OzEmail Racing.

18. The blokes luho own T8 are Roland Dane,Ian Harrison, Peter Butterly and Derek Warwick.

19. FPR is 100 percent owned by Prodrive.

20. Both Fords are now owned by David Bowden.

22. Mat Mladin won hisfourth AMA title in 2003.

25. The drivers are Marcos Ambrose, Russell Ingall, Mark Wmterbottom, Mark Noske and Jimmy Vasser, who did some demonstration laps in SBR's Falcon AU at Surfers.

26. Kmart Racing's John and Margaret Kelly bought the licencesfivm 00 Motorsport.

277. Jacques Lafitte never drove for Tyrrell but was still called 'jolly Jacques' 28. False. Webber's management deal is with Renault team principal, Flavio Briatore.

39. JB drove four different cars; a Ferrari 360GT,a Viper and a Porsche 911 GT3 RS(aU in Nations Cup)and a BMW M3 GTR (at the Bathurst 24 Hour).

40. Jenson Button was the anti-Ambrose, the cad.

41. Nasamax ran the ethanol car at Le Mans.

42. Aussies in F3 in 03; Alan Docking Racing and Menu Motorsport(Davison), and Diamond Racing and Fortec (Power).

43. Rob Nguyen and Michael Caruso have both tested with Colon!.

44. Rail is an abbreviation of'Ron and Austin Lewis Tauraiiac', who build the first Ralt in Australia prior to Ron's move to England.

45. Mister Fetter is not noted for his middle-distance running. Although being Solberg, he probably has been a champion in it and just didn't tell us.

46. Ed the Ace McCullough split with motorsport news

QUIZ

47. The KV8SS runners-up were Matthew White (2000),Paul Dumbrell (2001),Dale Brede (2002), Matthew White (2003).

57. The Dutch GP at Zanvoort in 1967 was Ford's breakthrough FI win.

Graham HUl was leading in his Ford Coswor’th DFV-powered Lotus 49 until the car broke, handing the race to the sister car of team-mate Jim Clark.

4S. Emotional Engineering is emotional about the Monaro.

58. Schuey and faajues clanged at Dry Sack corner.

49. T8 run a BTCC with Vauxhall Astras, although it previously spent five years running Vectras.

59. Nope, we do not know who designed Albert Park - but it was not HerrTilke.

50. Canto is the big guy. At 165cm,Dean towers afidi 2cm over Max Wilson.

60. Despite being Brazilian, Mighty Max was born in Germany.

Ron Capps,driver of the Skoal Green Racing Camaro.

Crikey, I should have brought a navigator: Klaus Ludwig fires his Zakspeed Capri through one of the Nurburgring's 172 corners.

67. Nico has the company of Christian Jones(son of Alan) when both tested for Carlin in British F3, and Nelson Piquet Jr (son of, um.

Nelson Piquet)for Williams FI. 68. Greg Murphy runs a Carrera Cup team.

69. Speedway to Konicas, the Todd Wanless Way. 70. The arc's maiden winners were Cody CrockerIGreg Foletta, Simon Evans/Sue Evans and Julia Kangas/julia Rabbett.

71. There have been four'Colin McRae' games.

72. The Albert Park podium malingerer is David Coulthard.

The first of many: The great Jim Clark takes Ford's first CP win in his Lotus at Zandvoort in 1967, above.

73. Murf plucked first(not third) at the Dipper.

74. Brocky won three times at Bathurst.

He won the 24hr, a 7-lap solo VSBRute race and he also combined with his son, James to win the ute enduro.

Scotty, I'm stuck on question 75: Pruett discusses helmet designs with a PPI crew member.

75. Pruett's cruet features a cartoon

83. Mr Carrera Cup Personality for 2003 was Tim Leahey.

84. Motorsport News sponsors the Winton, turn 1-2 esses. Gee, aren't we nice...

85. Mr Ed took the ARC crown once, in 1990.

5

86. F2003TSAfastfacts; Barcelona, Spain. Michael Schumacher,first.

87.1987's number 1 BIOOO entry was the Maserati bi-turbo of Armin Hahne and Kevin Bartlett.

88. Dick Johnson led the opening lap in his Ford Sierra RS500.

89. The NordschUefe was 22.5 kilometres(14 miles) around. The track had 172 corners.

90. Big Pond joined thefun at round 7Queensland Raceway.

91. The Penultimate Pup was Jamie Whincup.

92. The original namefor the V8 'feeder' series was Konica V8 Lites.

self-portrait.

76. Offl At Skylinel Max Wilson (§18 Shell Falcon),Jason Bargwanna (#10 Orrcon Falcon), Nathan Pretty (#33 GRM Commodore)and Rick Bates(#23 INXS Team Ford Falcon).

51. At 2.62km, the shortest V8SCS circuit is Oran Park. But if you include Konica circuits, Mallala is the shortest track.

52. Juan Pablo Montoya used to be Williams test driver.

53. The Webber Challenge was over 10 fun-filled days.

54. The Roo Risk areas were the pit straight and Conrod straight.

61. Mondello Park is in Ireland.

62. Wayne Boatwright and Justin Hemmes were Protecnica's drivers.

78. Aaah,golden moments in commentary;"And it's Hooroo to the (Holden)Jackarool"

63. Marcus Marshall and Bart Mawer partner Whincup in Formula Ford.

79. Bathurst post-Chase is 41 metres longer.

64. Tivo Mosler drivers returned last

55. Shorty hit a tortoise. Seriously.

year- Martin Short and Charles Lamb.

56. Brabs and Mon termini were together for two races; the 1994 Spanish GP, where both drovefor Simtek,and the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour, where they shared a BE Racing Ferrari 360GT.

65. Davo won his F3 race at Croft.

14 Januanf 2003

77. The AGP Nations Cup sponsor was Cleanevent.

66. Tyrrell's six-wheeler was called the P34. The team ran the radical car in the 1976 and '77 seasons.

80. Simon Wills (Reynard 94D)lapped PIinlm24.2215s.

93. Anthony Tratt won 'lotto' at the Creek.

94. Nigel Mansell was waving to the crowd. Notice, ive did not say 'hisfans'.

95. Seven Creek winners have gone on to win the title. Spooky.

96. Bezzyfirst appeared with #7 on the door of the FPR Falcon at Surfers Paradise.

97. Thecko made five grids from 13 rounds.

98. Paul Morris was pingedfor the jumped start.

81. Audi won all those titles.

99. The fastest V8 start/finish line is at Eastern Creek.

82. Cromley out-Q'd The Kid zero times in 2002.

100. Yoong's best FI result was a seventh -Albert Park 2002.

57

straight To The Top

There are a million and one questions that any self-respecting rally fan would like to ask FIA President Max Mosley at the moment-so JON THOMSON did

MOTORSPORT NEWS:The 1000 Pistes same-day recce idea has drawn a lot of flak from drivers and team managers.

MAX MOSLEY:The problem with n rallying is it hasn't been adjusted to ; the needs of television, and one of the complaints is that with the 1000 Pistes !j Ir: ''system, we always end up with the competitive stages in the afternoon. j^.-This,some people say, is bad for h'ision. But in fact in the end, the iJ "relies are not going to work until we & * have a significant live television I'; event really works unless it is live on [iitelevision.

At the moment they are trying to f’;ifecord it and show it later. Well that's r- -fine, but you only get a minority «§:4lement,because no major sporting - ●■* aodience if you do that. The target .‘"has gjot'to be live television. Morning ^x^'Tviecpimaissance, a fternoon A&’rape^ition fits with live television.

\

Some team managers are i paying that the expansion of the i ii^ampionship into more far-flung Iv^^Jaci^s is only adding to the cost.

Well they certainly do say that, .,jj..r..f :4^ bd'Tbf coutse the argument doesn't

% sfand up.

Of ' '' Firstof all, if it's a mwld

I

I

H.

championship you have got to be in ' as many countries as po.ssible, and you itnist be geographically spread. . ■ You can't have all the events in Europe.

What the teams have been doing is taking fleets of gravel cars, endless .service vehicles and so on. That's What costs the money as far as transport. Transporting a crew of mechanics plus two rally cars is relatively inexpensive, it is all the

other paraphernalia they have to take.

1 know one of the team managers complaining about Japan,saying it was going to be very difficult to get their publicity truck there. I said, 'What's your publicity truck?' and it's some big pantcch truck with the name of the company on the side, and which will be seen by a few thousand people in the paddock.

Well, a sensible company would not even take that to single event, because the number of people who actually see it is tiny compared to the number of cars they are going to sell as a result of having that truck somewhere. They like to ha\’e these luxuries with them which are actually unnecessary.

The money will be saved by getting rid of the gravel cars and cutting down on reconnaissance,cutting down on the length of time the rally takes, and introducing flexi-service sothat they service the cars one at a time, not all at the same time or both at the same time,so you halve the number of mechanics and technicians you need.

There are various other things that we are going to pursue along that line. Because with rallying, the real way to save costs is to reduce the servicing and increase the interval between changing components.

For example,some years ago we said they could only change the gearbox once during the rally. That stopped them often having gearboxes in 30 different servicevehicles if they needed

to change one at any particular moment.

Can you remember the uproar when we stopped them servicing at any point on the side of the road with the service parts? That was a complete uproar then. Now everybody acknowledges it is the way to go.

The problem is there is a bad combination. They are in the habit of spending a great deal of unnecessary money plus they are deeply con.servatix'e, and the composition of those two things is pretty fatal.

What we have to look at is from the point of view of the public, and the public see the rally cars. They don't see all the reconnaissance cars, service vehicles and all the rest. They do see the rally cars on television and that's what we have to concentrate on and make sure there are as many of those cars as possible.

MN: The Rally of Great Britain in years past was spread over a wider variety of stages. That element of travelling across a much wider area seems to have been lost.

MM: Well the thing is, at the moment you ha\-e to run in a compressed area, partly because of servicing and partly becau.se of the requirements of television.

Now if we got rid of serc-icing, and personally 1 would like to reduce it drastically, the rally can almost go to wherever you want it to go. And there is an argument for that, because .servicing, at the moment, is not relevant.

With road cars, the tendency is less and less service and longer inter\-als between visits to the mechanic, where people seem to buy a car and sell it a O ain before you ha\’e had it serviced.

MN: Potentially no service at all?

MM: Well there is an argument for saving a rally car should do the entire without service, and the only

thing you would need would be running repair if you had a crash or the thing blew up, that you should be able to fix it.

There is also an argument on that basis that we should move over to the SuperRally system that was in\ ented in Australia, where if you lose your car on Day 1 you can fix it and run again on Day 2.

Personally, I would like to see that introduced \ ery quickly into the World Rally Championship.

But I think the starting point is to reduce service, and if you reduce service, first of all vou reduce costs and secondly you increase the flexibility for the route.

MN: Where is the FIA situated on the topic of regional rally cars at the moment?

MM: Well, we are pushing that idea quite hard, and the difficulty is getting the manufacturers to do it.

The teams competing or the manufacturers competing in the World Rally Championship, their teams like to sell off their rally championship cars, but actually build World Rally Championship cars for sale in one or two cases.

We don't like that because it means you have got to be extremely rich to buy one of these cars, and you cut down the number of people who are able to win a regional rally championship simply because the cost of the car is too great.

It's like allowing somebodv to use Inst year's Williams FI car in a national club race.

So we want a less expensive sort of car. The manufacturers teams do not want to make it, because it would kill the market which is a source of profi t to them.

But we point out that by selling cars into this market, what they are really doing is using the lesser championships to subsidi.se their world championship effort, and that's completely wrong.

Why do they need to subsidise their world championship effort?

Because it is too expensive, and what they should be doing is co-operating with us to reduce the cost of the | championship rather than trying to | sell off world rally cars to subsidise f their WRC effort.' i

RALLYING

^ The Boy’s Got Skills

FORD rally team director Malcolm Wilson rates his lead driver Markko Martin as a real contender for this month's Monte Carlo Rally, despite the dominance of French Citroen ace Sebastien Loeb on the event during the last two years.

"I think Markko's experienced enough to win it if there are consistent conditions. If it starts to get inconsistent, it would be difficult," Wilson said.

"It will be purely down to the weather but he has shown he has the speed to match and beat Loeb."

Warmer conditions in Southern France this year mean that snow from start to finish is unlikely.

No Estonian driver has ever won the Mpnte and Martin, left, has yet to win a rally on tarmac, although he set a searing pace in his Focus on a number of occasions last year.

Loeb was a convincing Monte n .. l victor last year and won the year n before only to have the title stripped from him for a service infraction.

- JON THOMSONi * nn

Back Down To Earth HYUNDAI could be liable to a fine of almost S1.3m for missing four rounds of the WRC when it prematurely pulled out of the Championship last year.

Flowever the Korean motor industry giant believes that it should escape the massive fine on the basis that it intends to return in 2006.

The company’s WRC effort collapsed in September last year when its relationship with the British rally team charged with running its WRC campaign, Motor Sport Developrpents, ended in acrimony.

The works Accents missed the last four rounds of the season, triggering an FIAfine of $300,000 per rally. The Korean maker announced before the end of the season that it would return with a new team, based in Russelsheim in Germany, in 2006.

Participation in all events is a condition of registration and no registered manufacturer has ever failed to turn up for rounds of the WRC “That is the regulation, but I think that is a little bit different from comparable conditions,” said a Flyundai spokesman.

“Flyundai has decided to move preparation for the WRC in house so temporarily we have halted the program so the we have more scope for being competitive in the WRC when we return.”

Flyundai has signalled that it plans to contest the Dakar Rally in 2006 as well.

- JON THOMSON

fl.'E-tHt-i

4-* A-.?

14 January 2004

Ford on the back foot?

NEW rules for minimum bodyshell weights in the WRC could disadvantage the Ford Focus as other manufacturers launch updated models against the carry-over car from the cash-strapped blue oval.

Technical Director for the Ford WRC team, Christian Loriaux, expects rival teams to save weight imder the new regulations, despite the imposition of the minimum bodyshell weight rules.

Under the new rules. World Rally I Car bodyshells must weigh at least n 320kg this season, but the rules also permit plastic front and rear I mudguards,as well as lightweight

bonnets and bootlids on newlyhomologated cars.

While the majority of the teams already meet the 1230 kilogram minimum car weight, a reduction in bodyshell and peripheral weight will enable them to use ballast and improve the weight distribution and lower the centre of gravity.

As Ford isn't planning a costly full re-homologation,it can't take full advantage of the new rules. Ford won't make any significant changes to the Focus until the Rally of New Zealand in April, a year after the latest version of the car first appeared.

- JON THOMSON

59

We know why Steve Kinser came, saw and conquered in the inaugural World of Outlaws down under. GREG BOSCATO caught ‘The King'at his best at Parramatta ii

1?

"&■“ AST Saturday night, the man I they call the 'King' simply iin—lblitzed the star-studded Sprintcar field at Parramatta City Raceway to take home the inaugural World of Outlaws Downunder.

Steve Kinser stormed into the lead on lap 16 after blasting by impressive Aussie Kerry Madsen. From there, it was all Kinser in the Quaker State Maxim and he took out a brilliant

victory over Sammy Swindell (Richard Petty Driving Experience Maxim) and Joey Saldana (Eagle Raceway/Hem Saw Eagle).

Madsen looked to have second position tied up but ignition problems over the final few laps saw his Bikebiz Cool machine drop to fourth, ahead of Donny Schatz and Jason Sides.

Time trails opened both the

Thursday and Friday nights meeting.

Jason Sides (12.234s) set quick time on the Thursday night over Tim Kaeding (USA) and Paul McMahan.

Quickest of the Aussies was Bruce White in fifth position, setting 12.517s.

The only major incident of the weekend occurred during the time trials when Tasmanian Robin Dawkins flipped over at turn one. It took over 45 minutes for the ambulance officers to get him safely out of the car.

During the delay, Sydney's heat and high winds sealed the track over, turning it very hard, sUck and dusty.

Still waiting to make their times were Max Dumesny, Brooke Tatnell and Robbie Farr and with the track conditions going off, they were left to play catch up for the rest of the weekend.

Dumesny did make it up by setting quick time on the Friday with a great 12.204s. Farr went fourth fastest (12.237s), not bad considering he was the only top gun using the Aussiespec 372. Both WSS regulars Dumesny and Tatnell were 410powered.

The opening night heats saw wins going to Madsen, Schatz, Craig DoUansky and Saldana while Dash victories went to Schatz and Saldana.

Farr defeated Tatnell and Kelly Linigen to win the C Main while White took out the B Main. Kraig Kinser and Jayme Barnes followed the Sydney racer home.

The Friday night format was the same as Thursday night, but as the Americans got dialled in, the action became fast and furious.

The king has come: Kinser stoie Kerry Madsen's Parramatta thunder.

60

Heat wins went to Daryn Pittman, Swindell, McMahan and Saldana but it was tire two Dash races that provided sensational racing action, McMahan

took out the opening dash from Madsen, Dumesny, Saldana, Pittman, Tatnell, Kaeding and Wimmer but the second Dash was superb.

Swindell and Sides traded places as Sides barely gave an inch to the Outlaws legend. Swindell retook the lead as they crossed the chequer, followed by Kinser, DoUansky, White, Myers, Maher and Green.

Young Brodie TuUoch won the C Main from James Thomson and Troy Little. Little, who damaged an engine earlier missed time trails and was using a borrowed 410 motor. Besides Madsen, he was the best placed Aussie in the Thursday night A Main, finishing sixth.

After blowing a diff in his heat, Schatz easily won the B Main from Kraig Bdnser and Farr.

continued on page 62 molorspori news

Lost magic: Dawkins flipped his car on Thursday, causiing a lengthy delay to precedeings. As we closed for press, the Tasmanian remained in hospitail.

14 iinuary 2004

61

continued fronn page 60

Doing us proud Madsen shines in front of US talent

WHILE it was Steve Kinser who took out the 40 lap final, it was locai hero and Aussie champ Kerry Madsen who took the fight right up to the American superstars.

The three night meeting saw Madsen win both the Thursday and Friday night preliminary features, before finishing fourth in the final. The Australian definitely gave the A,rnericans .'^methingto lt;think about.

'1 couldn't ,-'|faVe dreamt S'Xhat I would do Nhiswell this fH^/veekend." said “Madsen. "I don't ■think It would

happen, with so many good guys. It was unbelievable."

Madsen simply raced away on the Thursday night after passing Donny Schatz on lap 10. Madsen wasn't headed, leaving Kinser and Swindell to pick up the minor positions.

Madson again ran hot on the Friday night and took the win much to the delight of the local Sydney fans in front of American Paul McMahan (Selma Shell Maxim). Joey Saldana blasted into second and looked like catching Madsen, until he ran out of laps.

- GREG BOSCATO

After two nights of competition, the top four were Madsen,Swindell, McMahan and Sides but on Saturday finals night there was another round of heats, a Dash to determine the A Main starting order then C,B and A Mains.

Heat victories went to Kinser, Pittman,Saldana and Schatz, while the vocal PCR crowd got behind Madsen as he defeated Swindell, Sides, Kinser, Pittman and McMahan to win the Dash and to start from pole in the 40 lap final.

Danny Porter won the C Main from Shay Spranger and Rodney Maxwell while Barnes defeated Farr, Troy Little and Ian Loudoun in the B Main. Dumesny looked to have the B won, but retired after he blew a diff with three laps to run.

The scene was now set for the 40 lap World of Outlaws A Main with a star-studded 25 car field.

Madsen took control at the green from Sides, Swindell and Kinser.

Swindell claimed second over Sides just as the race was stopped after White flipped over at turn 1, almost destroying his Eagle sprintcar. He emerged unhurt.

Madsen retook the lead at the restart from SwindeU with Sides, Kinser, Pittman,Saldana, Dollanski, Schatz, McMahan,Green and Kraig Kinser. By lap 10, Kinser was pressuring Sides for third.

He passed him swiftly, and soon had Swindell's second position.

Kinser, who wasn't running strong the previous night was certainly now in top form. On lap 16, the 'King' got

by Madsen,and would not relenquish from there.

"I guess we had to win one and Saturday night is the one to win!" said Kinser after the race.

into the right direction. Sometimes you have to gamble."

Madsen tried to regain control but Kinser held firm and moved away from the field. Saldana was coming on strong towards the end, battling with Swindell with Schatz, who was now fifth.

"We ran second on Thursday, terrible last night. As terrible as it was, we learnt a lesson so it got me

With five to go, the yellows came out after Little and Dollansky tangled at turn three. Kinser retook control

Next time. I'll get 'em! Madsen did Australia proud. The Aussie Champ eventually finishing fourth after a solid weekend.

notorsport news

EEDWAY

They came from a land far, far away fohn Mom'i.'.Vfpi

Them versus us: The World of Outlaws didn't disappoint and the Friday night A-Main, above, was one of the highlights. One of the big Aussie hope. Max Dumesny, Valvoline #5, dropped out of contention late in the meeting due to diff problems.

Eagle boy: Joey Saldana, left. finshed on the podium, taking advantage of Madsen's late race problems.

THE Americans who made the trip downunder for his historic Worid of Outiaws meeting were: Steve and Kraig Kinser, Sammy Swindell, below, Jason Sides, Paul McMahan, Craig Dollansky, Jason Myers, Brian Paulis, Brandon Wimmer, Tim Kaeding, Dennis Moore Jnr, plus the guys who were already racing in Australia. These included Joey Saldana (racing his own Eagle), Daryn Pittman (Titan Garages Eagle), Donny Schatz, Jimmy Carter and Jayme Barnes.

Star Studded: Slammin' Sammy Swindell, below. ventured to Australia in his

fohn Morris.'Mni

Richard Petty machine. The veteran was in fine touch, but claimed he could have gone even better, despite the lack of track knowledge.

but Madsen slowed with ignition troubles, allowing both Swindell and Saldana by.

Swindell was happy with his podium finish, but rued some mistakes.

"It wasn't too bad," said Swindell.

"We got the car really close but I made a couple of mistakes. I was trying to make a little different line to maybe get by Kerry in traffic. The car was fast, I think they said I was 0.1s or so faster once I found the line the car really liked."

But the last word should go to Steve Kinser.

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"I'm glad to pick up the first win here, we have won at Mexico, been to Canada and won a race there, so now been to Australia and won here. We have won a lot of first time races so

liiltn Morri'-AMpix

PCR Podium: Swindell finished

we have a pretty good record for doing that."

fohn Morrif/Mpi\

2003/04 EUREKA SRA CHAMPIONSHIP

Max Dumesny Motorsport Australian Distributors for

Xoositr

2003/04 STANDINGS

ROUND 9, SIMPSON SPEEDWAY 1.

Brent Antill,

U96

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Ken Veal

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V73

9. Ron Dalton

V44

^^ RACING TIRE

For more Information on Hoosler Drag and Speedway Tyres call:

14 January 2004

in the top three.

S97

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Matthew Reed ...

John Vogels Darren Saillard...

Ken Veal Rod Matthews TroyShiells Rob Rankin Charles Hunter...

David Van Bremen.

Ian Thomsen

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11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Rob Dalton..

Brent Antill. .

Colin Barker Marcus Nelson .

ErinCroker Allen Barlee ...

Tim Hutchins ..

Adrian Redpath.

Frank Ramsdale Wayne Nicholls.

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Stewart scores In Brisbane American takes first Worid Series win, Tatneli doses to within striking distance of championship leader Dumesny

64

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HE latest round of World Series Sprintcars, presented by Proton Cars Australia, has fallen to a first-time WSS winner in the form of American Shane Stewart.

Stewart, above, who recently replaced David Murcott in the #6 BUI Mannowned machine, started from pole in round 11 at Brisbane International Speedway and took the feahue win.

It almost turned into a double celebration as fellow Performance Wholesale racer Cameron Gessner ran in second spot and it looked like an historic 1-2 for car owner Mann.

But that was until Brooke Tatnell pulled off a sensational move around the outside of Gessner in turn'four that put the Shell HeUx driver into second spot and helped move him closer to championship leader Max Dumesny.

"I worked on that outside pass for what seemed like 20 laps," breathed TatneU. "Cameron made that car so wide I didn't ever tlrink I'd get past."

However, nothing could get the smile off Stewart's face.

"I feel so good for my car owner Bill Mann and my crew chief Dave Sharman," he said.

"Today I went to Performance Wholesale and met Bill's employees

and I want to dedicate this win to them. They're real nice people."

Gessner was the Rock of Gibraltar throughout the main event in the Comp Cams/Speedflow Maxim, and though he was pleased to register a podium finish he was still disappointed not to get second place.

"I really wanted to get a 1-2 finish for BUI (Mann). I hope he's not too disappointed with third but I did all I could to hold on. I guess that's where the World Series guys are so tough in situations like this; they race to the very end and I guess I let up a bit in the last few laps."

Several big names experienced dramas in the main event, including American Brent Kaeding and WSS points leader Max Dumesny.

Dumesny shattered a right-rear wheel centre in the Valvoline/GIQR Transport Maxim early in the main event while holding down third behind Stewart and Gessner and the wheel sheared right off, bouncing down the hack after the wayward #5 car.

The disappointing non-finish for Dumesny sees Tatnell jrunp to witliin 500 points of the Championship lead with only three rounds remaining.

Kaeding suffered a flat left front tyre on the #69 Metalcorp car but that hardly slowed him down at all. The

Dolorsport Rews

SPEEDWAY

SummerStones Its been a busy time in l/l/orU Series Sprintcars since our lastissue el 2003. Here's a brielrun-Oom olthe rounds held over the Chrlstmas/Dlew Year period-including the Proton Jumbuck Speedweek

WHILE Christmas lunches and New Year holidays are the usual norm for the rest of the world, the World Series Sprintcar drivers have been busy over the Xmas/NYE period.

It all started at Speedway City on Boxing Day, which also doubled as the first round of five in the Proton Jumbuck Speedway, a separate 'title within a title’ that took in five rouds along the way, with $10,000-to-win in each.

Brooke Tatnell scored the first

aggressive Californian simply manhandled the car around before the fuel pump let go and brought him to a premature end in turn two.

Fourth home in the main event was Daryn Pittman in the Titan Garages Eagle after a fairly average night by the Oklahoman's standards.

Pittman registered a DNF in his first heat when he clashed with John Shore in the Caltex Delo Eagle and cut down a right rear-tyre.

The 2002/2003 WSS Champ worked his way forward from an inside third row start to eventually claim fourth.

Fifth home was Andrew Scheuerle in the Merv Tennant Painting Maxim, followed by Californian Jonathan Allard in sixth, Robbie Farr in the ERP Lucky Sevens seventh position, Garry Brazier, Jason Johnson and Stephen Bell.

I^ke Van Bremen suffered a leg injury and back bruising when he was involved in a heat race accident with Brad Heywood where the #6 Foster of Van Bremen was left stranded in the middle of turn one and two before Heywood's Eagle had nowhere to go and slammed into the stationary car.

The series continues at Wagga on January 14(as we hit the newsstands).

14 January 2004

at Speedway City, nursing his tyres on an abrasive surface to take the WSS title lead from Max Dumesny, who finished second ahead of Mike Van Bremen. It was Van Bremen's first podium in WSS competition.

Murray Bridge was the next stop and American Jason Johnson led all the way to beat home local star Luke Dillon and Shane Stewart, while engine problems stopped Tatnell.

A night later the teams were at Mount Gambler and Dumesny was back to his winning ways.

He won depsite some late race traffic and a closing Stewart

Engineered to Exhilarate 1 2

Shane Stewart Brooke Tatnell

Q6 NS

Cameron Gessner Daryn Pittman Andrew Scheuerle Jonathon Allard Robbie Farr Garry Brazier 9 Jason Johnson 10 Stephen Bell 11 Terry Bracken 12 Ricky Mitchell 13 Karl Ended 14 Brock Dean

Q26 U21 Q95 U61 W2 Q7 S5 S75 Q25 Q19 S11 Q99

13 L4 5 5 7

yySS Points: Dumesny 8543, Tatnell 8030, Johnson 7607, Farr 5339, Stewart 4832, Jensen 4146, Bell 3765, Reuter 3330, Van Bremen 3161, Heywood 3143, Dillon 3049.

WSS 11 Brisbane

S’

(who finished second), while a flat tyre put Tatnell further behind in the title chase.

A bicycling Robbie Farr, below, ended up fourth after winning the A-Dash and starting from the front row.

Last year's champ Daryn Pittman chimed in for a win at Avalon on December 30, blasting past Farr and Tatnell on a track he normally doesn't like to snatch the $10,000.

Dumesny bounced off Tatnell and bent an axle when he hit the wall, with the latter and Farr completing the podium behind the Titan Garages ace.

New Year's Day was spent at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool and Dumesny took not only the feature, but the Speedweek win (and the $10,000 and Proton Jumbuck GLSi that went along with it), before Pittman and Stewart ran home one-two in the Brisbane meeting on January 4.

The summer ofspeed: The fields for World Series Sprintcars have again been strong, top, while Brooke Tatnell, above, is still in with a chance of toppling Max Dumesny for the IVSS series crown. With three rounds to go, he’s going to have to get cracking...

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Oonny takes another 50 large away from PGR

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MERICAN World of Outlaws star Donny Schatz took out victory to win his third Parramatta City Raceway S50,000 to Win Sprintcar International in four years and continuing the American domination of this prestigious event.

Following Schatz home was last year's winner Joey Saldana, with fellow American Daryn Pittman claiming third, giving Uncle Sam's boys a 1-2-3.

"It was not easy," said Schatz.

"Joey was pushing me the whole race - lucky we didn't make any mistakes. The only problem was to adapt with the surface early, everything else was great, no problems with our car. It was al l about choosing the right tyre."

First local home in fourth was Adam Clarke, who forged his way forward in the latter part of the race with Trevor Green and Troy Little making up the top six finishers.

The two night meeting saw Schatz running his Parker Store WoO J&J (adjusted to the local weight regulations) while both Saldana (Rush Team Maxim) and Pittman (Ttan Garages Eagle) were using local-based cars.

The 40-lap $50,000 feature was all Schatz, who jumped into the lead from Saldana and Pittman at the green flag.

While the battles behind were fairly intense, Schatz looked 86

Highway Hauliers Maxim is the latest driver to add his name to the 31-year history of the Victorian Sprintcar Championship.

Sartori had a slice of luck with just six laps left to run in the 30-lap race.

As John Vogels swept past into the lead in turn one and two, American Brian Brown was riding out a wild wreck that had many people fearing for his wellbeing as

Antill

comfortable out in front and. while he did come under pressure at times from Saldana in traffic, he looked to have it always under control.

Saldana was brilliant in trying to beg back Schatz, though Pittman was equally a star. powering by Grant Tunks, Troy Little and Trevor Green to claim third at the checker. Madsen was a retirement after suffering damage early in the race.

Last night was good offered Saldana at race's end.

I was just trying too hard and kinda screwed up. I had enough to run with him and get him if he screwed up and he didn't so I didn't have enough to get by.

- GREG BOSCATO

AMERICAN driver Brent Antill tamed the tight confines of the Simpson Speedway to take round nine of the SRA Eureka Garages and Sheds Super Sprint Series last weekend.

Antill dominated the raineffected meeting, beating home Mike Van Bremen and series points leader Matthew Reed.

Numerous caution periods dogged the A Main, which included a spin by series contender Ken Veal after a clash with Phil Johnson. Charles Hunter, Daryl Downing, Darren Saillard made up the top five finishers.

MEANWHILE, veteran Geelong racer Rob Rankin will be jetting off to the USA during the winter after winning the two race Driver to the USA series held at Avalon and Nyora late last year.

The two rounds were also part moiorsport news

SPEEDWAY

ri takes Vic Title

Lance goes with the IVIurph TOP Western Australian 'Speedcar star Neville Lance has stotted into a new M urphy Sprintcar for the rest of the summer season. Lance currently has the only Ford-powened Sprintcar in WA and will contintie tto pull double duty in both divisions for the remain der of the season. n AFL football star Troy Wilson from the West Coast Ea gles has had one of the shortest campaigns in the Late Model division inWestern Australiia, after .a falling]out with the car owner. Wilson hasoi't wasted any time getting a new ridfe in Bunbury Speedway Promoter Bes Ferris's Jenkins 360 Sprintcar, taking his Adultshop.com sponsorship with him.

n '

Ccoff Grade'

g'

I Redpath finds the wrong path: Both Wayne Nicholls and Adrian Redpath, i above, destroed their sprintcars at the Victorian Titles. the car tumbled and careered out of control and on the rev limiter before coming to rest upside down and still on the limiter.

With a clear track and just six laps left to run, Vogels was unable to mount another challenge and had to settle for second place ahead of Tasmanian Tim Hutchins, Nathan MacDonald, Charles Hunter, Troy Shiels, Grant Anderson, Matthew Reed and Brent Antil.

Ron Dalton, Allan Bailee and Erin

Crocker completed the finishers.

"I was no good on the top," explained Sartori to Vogels as the cars were weighed.

"I went up there twice and it was no good so I came straight back to the bottom. I was worried early in the race because the car was brilliant early and I knew that if the track went away then we might start to struggle.

"I couldn't get any drive up high on the track so we stuck to the pole

line," Sartori said.

In a big night of action, Wayne Nicholls and Adrian Redpath both destroyed their cars in the opening set of heats after big crashes.

Brett Milburn also ended up with his car hanging off the fence, but was able to continue after repairs.

Reed also rode out a big moment when he fenced the Tmer in turn one at warp speed and spun in mid-air three or four times.

-BRETT SWANSON

I 31

n top at Simpson

j

: of the Super Sprint Series. . . Rankin sealed the deal at Nyora with an all-the-way victory, ' edging out American Erin Crocker.

Saillard spun out of third place mid-race and on the restart, all hell broke lose. Rankin’s car stumbled off the line and Crocker was forced to take evasive action.

Vogels couldn’t avoid Crocker and flipped hard, taking Blair Jones out as well. The race was declared with Matthew Reed t- elevated to third. : Rankin got his winning ways of n to a reasonable start at his home 1. track of Avalon on Boxing Day but Vogels led all the way to take the 'n maximum early points from Rankin and Antill.

The EUREKA Garages & Sheds Super Sprint Series heads n to Wagga for round 10 on '■ February 14.

- STAFF/BRETT SWANSON

While Rankin heads for the United States

i

i Points after nine rounds: Reed 2580, Vogies 2228, Saiilard 2114, Veal 2016.

14 Januanr 2004

Born to race in the USA: Rob Rankin will travel Stateside after taking the Driver-to-US crown recently.

n The'Extreme Racer', Damien Eve dominated flound;2 :of the Tectaloy 360ci Sprintcar series at Adelaide's Speedway City early this year. .

Eve took two of the three heat wins and raced away like a freight train to take the feature race honours.

Eve scored the corafbrtable win in his Maxim intront of the .Burtord boys, Dennis and Michael, who edged out Simon Mcfean for fourth, Chris Evans finished fifth, holding out Col Beasley. Fo rmer Sprintcar racer Max Bell made a welcorned return to Sprintcar racing at Speedway City after an absence of over .a decade.

Meanwhile, South Australia defeated Victoria 74.5 points to 54 in the 36Gci Sprintcar State Challenge recently at Timmis Speedway, Mildura. Chris Evans led the SA charge to take the featurre race win, ahead of the Burford's.vvho claimed another duel podium fimsh. n Dor.nySchatz scored a solid A Main victory in the Titan Garages $10,000-to-win ilnternational at Parramatta City Raceway recently.

Joey Saldana led the Main early but stopped on the back straight with clay packing into one of his wheels.

Madsen took up the ftontt running but was overcome by the ultra-fast Schatz. Troy Little finished an impressive second ahead of 410 powered Grant Tunks.

Saldana was deniedianother $10,000 wo days earlier at PCR in the New Years day meeting. The pole-sitter was disqualified for being underweight.

Daryn Pittmain picked up the cash ahead of Madsen andlittle.

And after missing out on the $50,000, Madsen took a -flag-to-flag win in the last race at PCR for 2003 on December 29, beating Pittman and Little.

- DARRE'M SUTTON/ PARIS CHARLES/ GREG BOSCATO

67

Walt a And literally

Getting to grips: The Crawford Daytona Prototype turns left AND right. Bit of a shock to the NASCAR Nextel Cup boys...

Cup stars for Rolex 24 Stewart and Earnhardt Jr to team up in Crawford Daytona Prototype

TONY Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will co-drive a Howard-Boss Motorsports Chevrolet Crawford DP03 Daytona Prototype car in the Rolex 24 hour race alongside Andy Wallace at the end of the month.

“We've got a good race car," said Earnhardt during recent testing.

“I need to get it more comfortable for me, I'm just trying to get those nerves out and get comfortable with the car

and team so I can really enjoy it.

I’m still a little nervous right now.”

‘Little E’ last ran the 24 Hour event in 2001 with his late father in a Corvette co-piloted with Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins, finishing fourth.

Stewart ran a Crawford in last year’s event with Johnny Mowlem and Jan Lammers, their hopes ended when their Judd engine developed problems. n Jimmie Johnson is also entered in the twice around the clock event, driving alongside

Butch Leitzinger and Elliott Forbes Robinson in a second Howard-Boss entered Crawford.

“I think I made two laps,” commented Johnson. ”l spun out on my second one, I didn’t hit anything, it’s just a totally different vehicle to be in, but I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be a lot of fun and a great experience."

Kyle Petty and Kevin Harvick could also be late entrants in the event.

- MARTIN D CLARK

Winnin

ay dieese for Jasper!

iooki'e Gaughan joins as well as ppimary backer Kodak AS speculated in Motorsport News last month, an official announcement was made on January 6 that Penske Racing have joined forces with Jasper Motorsports forming Penske-Jasper Racing.

Primary backing comes from Kodak in a multi year deal with Rookie of the Year candidate Brendan Gaughan behind the wheel.

As part of the agreement, Kodak will remain an associate sponsor on the Moigan McClure cars whom they backed for 18 years as part of a contract buyKluti:^

rfee only way is up: Jasper Motorsport ran Fords last year with Dave Blaney and a minimal budget. Now they've hooked up with Roger Penske ...

88

Series points after leading going into the final event, will have his former truck series crew chief Shane Wilson along with him.

Wilson is also a former Hendrick and Ganassi employee.

"I am thrilled to get this opportunity,” said Gaughn who will share information with the other two Penske Dodges of Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace.

"I appreciate the confidence that Kodak and Penske have placed in my abilities and I can’t wait for the 2004 season to begin."

- MARTIN

Martin D Clark

Not S< NASCAR has made a change to the provisional starting slots awarded by car owner points standings after qualifying.

In the past,36 of the 43 cars making up the grid have qualified on time, the final seven positions being allocated provisional starting slots at the rear of the field.

This win now change to 38 cars qualifying on time with teams in the

moiorspori news

NASCAR

ip flies in test

lies

and over‘ Daytona roll-over! =■

3

MICHAEL Waltrip was consistently fastest in the first two-day mandatory testing session at Daytona on January 6/7, posting the fastest speed on the first day just five laps into his first run.

Unfortunately, Waltrip, left, crashed the car heavily on lap six when a power steering pump bracket that was fabricated to form part of the oiling system broke,spraying oil on the tyres and all but destroying the car.

"It happened so fast I didn't really know what went on," he remarked.

"We had a pretty major oil event under the hood that really messed that car up."

The Dale Earnhardt Inc team wheeled out the back-up Monte

Carlo and Waltrip posted a 186.590 mph lap compared to the 186.834 mph lap in the older car.

Next in line were both somewhat of a surprise. Second fastest was Dale Jarrett in his Robert Yates Ford with a 186.058 mph and Jeff Green in the Petty Enterprises Dodge at 186.835 mph.

Joe Nemechek,Jeremy Mayfield, Dale Earnhardt Jr (running a trusty multi-race winning car along with a new piece), and rookie Brendan Gaughan were consistently quick both days.

The second test for cars that finished 2003 in the even slots in car owners points is scheduled for January 13/14.

- MARTIN D CLARK

^dskins; Cup teams press on

TEAM owner Joe Gibbs has decided to go back to where he came 11 years ago before starting the two-time Winston Cup winning teams of Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

He's been lured back to coach the struggling Washington Redskins NFL team under a five Mjrtm O Clark year contract worth a cool A$45 million.

Gibbs led the Redskins to three Super Bowl championships between 1981 and 1992.

"I am very happy for him," commented Stewart.

"He's always been a coach and football has 'f always been very close 7 to him. After working " with Joe for a number of years I know his commitment to winning is unmatched.

Fans of the Redskins should be very happy."

Gibbs will still keep in close contact with his two Cup and two Busch Series teams, but day to day operations will be handled by his two sons J.D. and younger son Coy. The latter hung up his driving gloves at the end of 2003 after a none too earth-shattering career.

- MARTIN D CLARK

now

top 45 in owners points allocated four provisional slots at the start of the season, one additional provisional will be added after six qualifying attempts up to a maximum of 10 for the year per team.

However, if there are only 43 cars or anything less than the full qualifying grid for an event, any provisionals issued will not count against the season allotment. Teams 14 January 2004

NASCAR has once again made changes to its testing allowance for teams this year.

Teams will still be allowed five two-day tests per year, but will also now be permitted four extra one-day tests, while rookie drivers will get to test seven two-day and five one day tests.

The pre-season Daytona test is the only mandatory test all Daytona competitors must take and is subtracted from the annual allocation.

■ Larry Carter assumed crew chief duties at Penske Racing for 1989 Cup champ Rusty Wallace during the final week of December, replacing long-time Penske team member Bill Wilburn.

Wilburn stays with the Penske organisation and moves to the newly-acquired Jasper team as car chief for rookie driver Brendan Gaughan.

Carterpomes from Bace Motorsports where he crew chiefed the nonlsponsored Chevs for Tony Raines in 2003.

Prior to that he worked for his uncle at Travis Carter Motorsports with driver Todd Bodine.

mer heads to NFL s returns L

Giving the teams a good oi' test

outside the top 45 in points can earn two provisionals by attempting to qualify for four races.

The move by the governing body will stamp out those who show up for less than a handful of events each year and make their way on the gild as teams that cover the full schedule are out of provisional slots at that time.

- MARTIN D CLARK

£

■ While Gaughan gets his shot in the Nextel Cup, his old Craftsman Truck Series ride is going to a former Cup driver in the form of Steve Park, above.

Park, who was ousted last season from the #1 Pennzoil/DEI Chev and moved to Richard Childress Racing but was unable to hold onto that ride, will take over the Orleans Racing #62 Dodge on a full-time basis in 2004.

■ Derrike Cope has teamed up with Arnold Motorsports and will drive the #79 Dodge in 2004, effectively closing the doors on his self-owned and unsuccessful Quest Motorsports.

- MARTIN DCURK 69

Dave's Big Chance Aussie David Grubnic has hit the big-time after scoring the drive in the third Kaiitta Motorsport NHRA Top Fueller. Motorsport News tracked him down to ask about it

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Congratulations on scoring the ride with Kaiitta Motorsports. How did the opportunity come about?

DAVID GRUBNIC: I've know Conrad (Connie Kaiitta) for quite ; sofne time, but we really got to know ;’ each bther when 1 was driving the n ^Montana Express for John Mitchell. ,He'd always come over to our pit, go over to his and we'd BS and 0^|,^aug out together. Conrad is a great pily and he's got a great team and ^^^Ifhey were always fun to visit with.

Pomona at the end of last year, h'dinentioned something to me about ydstjng Doug and Scott's cars and 1 haid with and told him ifand he needed me nshe ji'il^eed his ideas everything ^ything to give me a call. .Tlnankfully, he did, although the tltjEd'bar was a complete surprise. n hlNt-feth three cars in the Kaiitta

m, ji-^'.^^otoSports team,where do you stand?

|;i|lC5^i‘i5early, tliey have the corporate fhe Mac Tools car for Doug and Hvfac Tools/Jessie James car for Scott.

My.'uhderstanding is that the third h'diy car - will be used for R&D. ^fe^-figipberhofer will be tuning Scott's ^Pg clihRa'Iin Tobler I believe w'ill be 'jyJIttiihtag Dbug's, while Conrad and Jon % „^_i:^©/Jimpb'erhofer's brother, will run

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■Iwuie I'll be there to race, rather _ (than-experiment on the corporate Nears,.the third car provides the best "-..possible situation to try things out . while at an NHRA national event.

There's a championship involved and our goal is to help Kaiitta Motorsports win that this season.

But 1 know Conrad and what he's like; he's got balls and if it's possible, he'll try and make the car run quicker. If the conditions are right, it should run low-mid 4.40s, and I'll have a car capable of winning national events.

To understand how he's always done things, you only have to look at Doug and Scott's cars, they are always equipped with the very best parts and tliat's reflected in their performances.

Look at Scott's return to racing at Indy last year after a layoff of a few years; after a couple of quick laps in testing, he went out there and runs 4.52/328 right out of the box. That gives you an idea of the calibre of equipment.

I believe the shop is able to support five teams and enough rigs to service those teams, while it is also equipped with all the machinery and clutch and blower dynos needed to run a NHRA championship-calibre effort for every team there - pretty much like the Jack Roush of drag.

MN:Except that Connie has more planes than Roush ...

DG:Exactly (Imiglis)'. I don't know how many jets he has, but I tliink it's' five, six or maybe even seven Boeing 747s, plus a few 727s.

I came to the US to race, and even if the gates were chained to keep people out, I'd find myself a way in and still he racing

H

II

I've been told that before he sold out a few years ago, he had over 100 jets. If that's true, man, that's impressive! Conrad is an incredibly impressive guy ...

Doug's also got planes; he runs Kaiitta Charters and has about 20 corporate jets.

You've got to hand it to Conrad, there's nothing he doesn't know about the freight business and it's the same with drag racing. Only five percent of people really know what's going on and you can tell he's definitely one of tlaose people.

MN: Kaiitta has a reputation of running one of the best teams in drag racing. What sort of budget does he have and what stress does running a third car place on the team?

MN: You're 41 now, so it's taken you DG: The budget? I honestly have no some time to get where you wanted idea, but Conrad has a reputation for . logo. doing everything first-class.

DG: Yeah, 1 moved here in 1991 when I Conrad w'ill be mainly financing was 27, but it all started back in my car out of his own pocket, but Australia w'hen 1 was 16 with Streeters. we've got great support from long I used to race my car, but w'hen I time Kaiitta sponsors Mac Tools, Red got to work on John Maher's fueller Line Oil, Fischer Honda, Champion and Technicoat. and had the nitro experience 1 70

stepping Up: Crubic running with Bill Miller at Pomona last year. promised myself that the next time I'd drive into the staging beams it would be in a Top Fuel dragster. It took 15 years to do it, but thanks to (expatriate Australians) Phil and Chris McGee,I did it.

MN:You earned a solid reputation in the US, but do you understand back home some people are going to be asking:"who is David Grubnic"?

DG: Yeah,1 know and that's my own fault for not promoting myself. It's not tliat 1 haven't wanted to, it's just that I really don't know how.

Sometimes I've wished I had a marketing degree rather than knowing how to make a car work!

To stay working here (in the US) and without being able to bring a big cheque to a team required a huge amount of desire and passion to get the results I've had, and in having worked my way up that way meant 1 really didn't worry about promoting myself.

I understand the importance of it. a though 1 came to the US to race and even if the races were held at tracks where the gates were chained to keep people out. I'd find myself a way in and I'd still be racing.

1 can build a car from a bare frame.

I can build and engine and tune it to run pretty good - I'm not saying I know how to run 4.40s by any means. but it would run pretty good - and 1 can even drive the wheels off it, but marketing myself is not something I've done a lot of.

MN: Does Kaiitta Air still fly freight to Australia regularly? If they do. maybe you could suggest to Connie

that you could load the car up and come home for a race.

DG: Hey, 1 truly hadn't thought of that, but that's not a bad idea! It would be a great holiday for the team. Christmas in summer and a barbecue for Christmas lunch for them would be different. That would be cool - mavbe I'll check it out!

MN:Have you kept up with the developments of the sport back home?

DG: 1 get e-mails from people and 1 speak with Graeme Cowin,so yes. 1 saw Santo Rapisarda at a race over here last year and he gave me the scoop on the new Sydney track.

I'm told it's the equal to Chicago and that's one of the best, if not the best track on the tour. It should be great for the sport in Australia.

MN: Would you like to race back home one day?

DG: Absolutely, it would be a huge thrill. The dream would be for them to have a national event down there.

Don't know how tine NHRA could do it, especially with Pro Stock, but I'm sure it would be wav cool if it could be done.

MN: Maybe, with Australia having a different Pro Stock formula, they should make it a round for the nitro cars only and Connie could airfreight all the US cars down under?

DG: Yeah that would be awesome.

Maybe they could include a stop in Hawaii on the wav back to the US for another race. Yeah, it could work!

Let's hope someone up high i reading this 'cause it might plant the seed!

RAG RACING

Cold Showers

GrubnicStrikes Gold AUSSIE Dave Grubnic is staring down the barrel of an exciting 2004 NHRA season after landing the drive in Kalitta Motorsport's newlyadded third Top Fueller.

The Montana-based Queenslander's car will be tuned by Kalitta with assistance from Jon Oberhofer, the brother of fellow Kahtta Motorsports crew chief Jim Oberhofer.

To say I'm extremely happy would be an understatement," said Grubnic, right.

I am fully stoked. I've been at this drag racing game 13 years at this point. I've been in the States a long time chasing this dream. To finally land with a team I have such enormous respect for and to be getting the seat in a car that should be as good as any car out there is a fantastic opportimity, no matter my role with the team.

had both liis nephew Doug and his son Scott running at the top of the charts towards the end of 2003.

Doug owns the quickest pass in history with a 4.428s, and Scott has the fastest dragster in the world with a top speed of 333.95mph.

This is a really exciting time for our race team," said Oberhofer.

"The addition of a third Top Fuel team will benefit all of our racecars.

Kahtta, who will oversee and help tune all three of his dragsters in 2004,

David Grubnic is a great driver and a fan favourite. His skills and experience will be invaluable to our entire organisation.

Grubnic has raced in 120 national events over the years. He has two runner-up finishes to liis credit, both with John Mitchell Racing, and was the No. 1 qualifier at the 1999 Memphis event.

Perhaps his most remarkable statistic tlrus far is the fact that he has only failed to qualify 14 times, despite having run the full NHRA Top Fuel championship just once.

JOHNNY Cowin took his second consecutive win in the championship at Willowbank Raceway's 2004 opening event two weeks ago.

Top qualifier after the first Top Fuel round was Terry Sainty, who produced his best ever numbers with a 5.20s/280mph.

Jim Read, in his Auto One dragster, recorded a shutoff 5.65S/170 on his first attempt, but both Read and Cowin improved on their second qualifiers. Read with a 5.15s/277mph and Cowin pipping him for the top spot with a tyre-smoking 5.J2s/258mph in the Rocket Industries dragster.

The first round of eliminations saw Cowin on a solo, while Read took the honours over a red-Hghting Glenn Mikres.

Read scored the bye in the next round, but Cowin had his hands full with Sainty in the other race. Sainty carded his best ET with a 5.16s/278mph, but was defeated by Cowin's 4.88s/291mph.

Cowin defeated Read in the the final 5,16s to 5.20s after both cars clicked it early at the 1000ft mark.

It was a battle of the Deans in the Top Alcohol final, with Dean Oakey in his American Auto Parts dragster taking the win over Dean McClennan's Funny Car. Oakey progressed to the final with a comfortable win over Ken Lowe in the first round and a harder-fought win over Steve Reed in the second.

McClennan took a first round win over Robert Ambruosi. His slightly slower 6.07s/235mph in

14 lanuary 2004

NHRA Pro Stock Bike competitor Reggie Showers will take a hiatus from the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series in 2004.

The 39-year-oid cited the lack of necessary funding and the desire to spend more time with his family as the reasons for taking the year off. n Don Sosenka and wife Lana have teamed with Flying Dutchman Motorsports to start a new race team named Team Caribbean Soul.

The team hopes to be ready to debut their new Funny Car by February's K&N Filters Winternationals in Pomona.

Sosenka competed in Funny Car throughout the 1980's and 1990's in a series of Mr. Magoo-themed entries. n Longtime NHRA racer John Lingenfelter passed away on Christmas Day at Adams County Memorial Hospital in Decatur, Indiana. He was 58.

The owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering for the past 30 years, Lingenfelter was a decorated drag racer who most recently competed on the Summit Sport Compact Series, With a career-best E.T. of 7.08 seconds, his Cavalier was considered one of the world's quickest fourcylinder drag racing vehicles.

On 27 October 2002, Lingenfelter was racing in the semifinals of the Mazda NHRA Sport Compact World Finals at California's Pomona Raceway when he lost control of his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Cavalier, crossed the centerline, and hit the guardwall in the opposite lane.

He had been hospitalised ever since.

the second round was still good enough to defeat Wayne Newby and advance him to his first final in Top Alcohol. Oakey took the win in the final with his second five second pass, a 5.96s/227mph, to McClenan's wild 6,29s/226mph.

Meanwhile, Nathan Peirano defeated Darryl Woods in the Supercharged Outlaws final with an 8.27S/158mph on his 8.22 dialin, to Woods'8.03S/172mph on a 7,89s dial-in.

Other winners on the night included Colin Lloyd in Supercomp, Daniel Peatey in Comp Bike, Troy O'Hare in Modified, Jimmy Dionysius in Super Sedan, Juan Kudnig in Super Street, David Rundmann in Mod Bike, and Tim Morton in Junior Dragster, - KEN FERGUSON

n In preparation for the 2004 NHRA POWERade season, racers will be able to take advantage of four major testing events prior to the season opening K&N Filters NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Raceway.

The Las Vegas Blast-Off will kick things off January 29-31 at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, One week later, Pro Stock will take center stage at the Pontiac Pro Stock Super Bowl at the newly re surfaced Houston Raceway Park.

On the same weekend, the National Time Trails at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix will take place.

The final pre-season testing will happen February 13-15 at Soutwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Arizona, This will be the very last chance teams will have to test their tune-up before the first national event of the year, which begins in Pomona on the following Thursday,

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKi 11

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m THE future of the world’s oldest, still-in-use motor sports facility, the famous Shelsiey Walsh Hillclimb is in serious doubt.

Established in 1905, Sheisley Walsh pre-dates Brooklands and is regarded as a motoring heritage site of national and international importance.

In spite of a century of automotive development, the hillclimb runs essentially over the same country lane in Worcester’s beautiful Teme Valley, rising 100 metres through a wooded gully against a backdrop of hills and ancient buildings, some dating back to the 11th century. The hillclimb facility was leased to the Midland Automobile Club in 1905.

Sadly, progress and the changing face of British agriculture now places the future of the property in jeopardy and the principal buildings have been 72

Living heritage: Barbara Skinner takes her MG 6 up the Shelsey Walsh hill at the 30th Annual Shelsey Walsh Hillclimb - way back in 1935!

identified as potential commercial and residential sites.

The Sheisley Trust Ltd. was formed in 2001 and has negotiated a 99-year lease of the hillclimb course, some of the buildings and 57 acres of surrounding land and is currently attempting to raise 1.5 million pounds sterling for restoration purposes and a costly upgrading of the track and other facilities. Only trouble is time is running out the trust's deadline is March 24, 2004.

Donations can be forwarded to: The Sheisley Trust, Freepost Nat 3339, Worcester WR6 6BR, England.

- BRIAN REED

WHEN FISA, the governing body of world molorsport in the early 1980s, formulated the rules for the newGroup C sports-prototype racing category, there was one car that quickly become the car to have - the Porsche 956.

■The 956, and its subsequent 962 variant, became the dominant car of Sportscar racing through the 1980s and into the 1990s as well, establishing itself as one of the true icons of the Group C era. Built following on from the 936, the 956 featured a range of firsts under the direction of project leader Norbert Singer.

It was the first Porsche to feature a monocoque chassis constructed of aluminium and all suspension parts were designed and constructed to handle the high stresses of high downforce. A certain place called Le Mans has plenty of those ...

The five speed gearbox was all new, though Porsche stuck with a tried and proven unit in the engine department.

The 2.65-litre six-cylinder boxer with a twin turbo from the 936 was good for about 640 horsepower and the car's weight of 800 kilograms made it very much a weapon on paper before it even hit the track.

With engine design unrestricted, the rulemakers still put a block on the

molorsport news

HISTORICS

F5000 + Three TOP-ranked English Formula 5000 drivers Mike Wrigley and husband and wife duo Frank and Judy Lyons will join their Australian and New Zealand counterparts on the grid at the next two rounds of the 2003/04 Tasman Revival Cup series.

The two rounds are being held in conjunction with two of NZ's biggest and most prestigious 'classic' motor racing meetings: the Skope Classic at Christchurch's Ruapuna Park over the January 31/February 01 weekend and the Leitch MotorSport/Southland Times Speed Fest at Invercargill's Teretonga Park on Saturday and Sunday February 14-15, n Murray Bryden had cause for celebration after winning the Leo Geoghegan Perpetual Trophy for 2003, a national competition for historic Formula Juniors.

Driving the ex-Lionel Ayers MRC Lotus, Bryden clinched the silverware after winning both events at Wakefield Park's final round.

ira of the 956 from IMSA founder John Bishop, who wouldn't allow the 956 to play in his series in the United States. He objected to the water-cooled engine and the fact that the driver's feet were

SOTWAM

Golden days: The Rothmans Porsche 956 was THE car to have ... engine manufacturers with fuel restrictions on how much fuel a car could use in each race, forcing them to come up with engines that were a compromise between reliability and performance, thereby keeping booming costs down.

Such was its effectiveness though, the 956/962 took five team, manufacturers and drivers world Sportscar championships as well as six Le Mans 24 Hour wins,including the 1983 success of Aussie Vem Schuppan.

1982 was the year the 956 debuted and it was treated as a test year. With cars built and run for the works Rothmans-backed squad as weU as customers(28 956s were built in total), Porsche had every angle covered.

Names like Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx, Stefan Bellof, Jochen Mass and Schuppan all piloted the 956 to glory around the globe. The first major

14 January 2004

success came with a 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1982 where Ickx/Bell headed home Mass/Schuppan and Hurley Heywood/Al Holbert.

Amazingly,in its'warmup'season, the 956 lost just once - to Lancia prototype spyder at Silverstone in the opening round of the world championship.

The 956 would remain undefeated at Le Mans after the Reinhold Joestrun privateer version took back to back wins in 1984/85 with Klaus Ludwig fronting the driving squad.

In fact, there were no factory 956s in the 1984 event, the Zuffenhausen factory upset so much by the cut in fuel allotment that they felt would stop their cars from having a wiiming chance against the factory Lancias that they pulled out completely.

The 956 was replaced by the 962, a longer wheelbase development version of the car, the idea coming

placed ahead of the front axleline.

This was at the end of 1983 with an air-cooled variant of the 935 engine used in IMSA racing and the stretched wheelbase, which put the driver's feet behind the front axle line, making the basis of the 962.

As time wore into the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s, the Porsche 962,for so long a dominant car, was being caught and passed by the Sauber Mercedes V8 turbos, the TWR Jaguar V12s and new Peugeot 905s.

Now as the 962, it took its last Le Mans win with Bell/Holbert/Hans Stuck in 1987 but still was a part of the landscape in privateer ranks.

Such was its longevity,a Joestentered 962 won the Daytona 24 Hour in 1992 and at Road America in IMSA in 1993,some 11 years after its predecessor, the 956,had been introduced.

Eleven years is a long time for the same design to still be a winner at the top of world-class level competition but that's exactly what Porsche did with the 956/962.

Put it this way,can you imagine the 2003 Ferrari Formula 1 car still winning races in 2013?

Hmm...

n Whgt is probably the best Formula.Junior in Australia, Nick McDonald's ex-works Brabham BT2 FJ 3-62, has been sold to Graham Brown in Queensland. Nick dominated the AFJA Trophy Series in 2002, and Graham is already signalling his intent with the car after scoring a second and third place at the Winton round after picking up his new toy only the day before the meeting. n The VHRR looks set for a busy 2004, commencing with its Phillip island Classic meeting on February 27-29 followed by its now traditional Tattersall's Historic Garages at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix carnival at Albert Park the following weekend.

The Phillip Island Classic has attracted the largest contingent of overseas cars and drivers ever assembled in Australia for an historic meeting - testimony that the 'Island's special magic has spread far and wide internationally. n The program for the annual Southern Festival of Speed on New Zealand's south island looks like an absolute smorgasbord for historic race fans: Jan 30-31: Scope Classic, Raupuna Park, Christchurch Feb 6-7: South Canterbury Classic, Levels Raceway, Timaru Feb 14-15: Leitch Speediest, Teretonga Park, Invercargill Feb 21: Three Mile Hillclimb, Dunedin Feb 22: Dunedin Festival Street Race, Dunedin.

Overseas drivers and their historic cars are invited to participate.

Contact Kelvin Prior on (03)9707 1652 for details.

- BRIAN REED/STAFF 73

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iichards exerdses white-wash at llmaru

ROUND two of the 2003/04 Porsche Trans-Tasman GT3 Cup was dominated by veteran racer and seven-times Bathurst champ Jim Richards.

The 56-year-old scored three wins from three starts at Timaru

hiternational Motor Raceway last weekend, beating home regular Team Kiwi V8 Supercar steerer Craig Baird, who steered the ex-Paul Pedersen machine.

Richards, a Stuttgart specialist, was more than 0.5s quicker than Baird in qualifying. Grid three went to New Zealander Matt Halliday, who out paced Sport Sedan regular John McIntyre, Charlie O'Brien and Rick Armstrong.

Richards fought back from a less than perfect start in Race 1 to take the opening honours. The four-time touring car champion made a mess of the get-away and was beaten off the line by Baird. But it only took 'Gentlemen Jim' two laps to reassert Ws claim to the top spot. Richards edged away to score the win by 2s.

74

At the start of the race though, all hell broke loose behind the leading duo. Richards was touched from behind as a chain reaction saw Ross Rutherford and Rick Armstrong spin off. Charlie O'Brien, in a new '04 spec car and Jody Vincent were also involved, and were forced to pull out at the end of the first lap with radiator damage.

Halliday finished third after he caught and passed McIntyre. The former Formula Renault V6 driver made a less than perfect, but found a way by McIntyre mid-way through the race. Mike Weeks and Andrew Bagnall made up the top six.

Richards claimed both of Sunday's race wins, again ahead of Baird. But unlike the first race, Richards was in a league of his own, demonstrating superior speed in his brand-new '04 spec GTS, which he only received just days before it was shipped to New Zealand.

"We got it delivered to the workshop, put a window net, the radios, and my seat in it then pushed

it into a container and didn't see it

again until we got here," said Richo.

Baird, having never raced a Porsche GTS before, was happy with his three rurmer-up results.

"It's more about learning what the cal’ Mkes," he said. "But that was my first Porsche start and I finished second.

You've got to be happy with that."

New Zealand team captain Halliday was an early retirement in Race 2 after contact on the first lap damaged his car's radiator. .

He made amends in Race 3,' finishing a mighty third after starting from the back of the grid.

O'Brien scored two top five pladngs on Sunday, as did McIntjTC, who actually finished third in Race 2. Weeks finished fiftli and shth respectively.

Class newcomer Glenn Cotterill had an unfortunate start to his TransTasman Cup campaign when he left the track at high speed in the third race and clouted a tyre barrier.

Points after two rounds: Richards 294, Halliday 210, Weeks 174, Baird 162, O'Brien 150, McIntyre 132, Tim Martin 111, Bagnall 99.

Jim knows: As always, Richards was in great touch in his Porsche. moiorsport news

KARTING

Hossack returns to roots SPORTS Sedan racer and part time V8 Supercar driver Darren Hossack has retuned to karting.

Hossack has taken up the position of Race Team Manager at DPE following the departure of Kiwi Dale Verrall, Hossack, who drove for Ford

Performance Racing last year at Sandown and Bathurst, below, is a former Australian champion and works Arrow driver and held a similar role with the Wynn's karting team that ran Mark Winterbottom and Paul Dumbrell in the late '90s.

While Hossack has been back behind the wheel on test days, he has no plans to return to top level karting in a driving position.

"I'll need to be looking after the logistics of the team and its drivers at the race meetings," he said.

- MARK WICKS

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f.

BEN Van Ryt has earned himself a trip to race in the United States as well as a season of Intercontinental

Australian scored the biggest win of his career ahead of James Sera (Monaco)and Wall.

damp conditions in the final having started lOth.

A racing in Australia by winning Sportsman Light at the Super-8 Series National final at Todd Road, Melbourne.

Field the weekend before

Junior Sportsman ended in controversy after a last lap collision between race leader Da\ id Sera and

win his final e\ ent before retiring and started the best way possible by qualifying fastest. A heat win helped, but NSW's Damien Meyer (CRG) prin t'd too strong, taking both the pre-final and final ahead of Davidson with Dale Paterson.

Christmas, the second annual .National Final brought almost 200 drivers from around Australia.

Local driver Dean Foster (Azzurro) qualified fastest for Sportsman Light and won the opening heat before Matt Wall took control, winning the remaining heats ahead of Daniel Elliott (Birel). Elliot beat Wall in the pre-final, but slid off the track and out of the lead in the final when light drizzle dampened the circuit.

Van Ryt(Arrow) ran inside the top 10 all weekend and was excellent in the greasy conditions late in the final. The Western

14 January Z003

James Love. The race had been exceptional for the entire 23 laps.

Sera, Ben Small, Jordle Lindstrom and Andrew Budge battled the early stages as Love worked his way through from grid seven.

Love(Arrow)crossed the line first ahead of Ben McCashney and Budge while Sera recovered for fourth, however the result is provisional.

Matthew Wall (Arrow)dominated Rotax Light, qualifying fastest and winning every race to earn a fully funded entr\' to the Furopean Rotax MAX Finals. Simon Leech put together a strong and consistent weekend for second ahead of Mark Hester, who made the most of the

Brett Da\ idson (Arrow) wanted to

National Champions William Yiirwood (Arrow)and Brad Fitch (Monaco) headed up the front row for the Sportsman Hea\ y final hat ing earlier finished one-two in the pre-final.

The two collided in the roll-up laps with Yarwood breaking his steering.

A re-start later in the day provided more spice as the two came together in the very first corner, this time Fitch ended his race buried in the sand trap. Local driver Danny Buzadzic(Monaco)fought off Jason Pringle and Brett Hobson

for the win.

Victorian Super-8 champion Ben Lincoln (Monaco) took a clean sweep of tlie Midget events, hut had to endure some frantic pressure along the way. He edged out a gap o\ er Queenslander Christopher Hays and Warren White.

Likewise, Rookies was close all the way. Justin Tate(Wright) burst througli to win the final as Leigh Nicolaou and Brett Mullavey collided on the last lap. This handed second place to Spencer Walker.

Mark Dorbolo(Arrow) was the fastest Junior National qualifier, but couldn't win a race as Paul Pittam, Marc Pracy and Robert MunnerleV took the honours. That all changed in the final, Dorbolo able to break away from the slipstroaming pack in the closing laps to pick up the win over Munnerley and Nick Lacev.

- MARK WICKS

75

MARKET PLACE

New Formula Safe Hans NEW to the Australian market for 2004 is the OMP range of helmets with the popular Snell SA2000

GMP Racing Products have now in stock the latest Hans safety equipment. This includes the specially designed range of Scroth HANS compatible racing harnesses.

These harnesses feature a narrower

homologation for both Australian and international racing.

Shown is the Integral helmet "Formula" which features a

narrow eye port, whilst the version "Vision" has a larger opening, all other features are identical

r

■a-

webbing to ensure correct fitting of the Hans device which results in improved lateral stability of the driver.

The shoulder belt anchorages can be moved inwards to better keep them on the Hans. This is

including the flat 3mm antiscratch polycarbonate visor with fitted tearoff posts and Nomex flameresistant lining.

The price is also a winner at just $999. Supply is now available from your local Speedzone dealer or further enquiries to the importers - R&R Speedsports on 02 9709 4655.

critical in the post impact phase and important for KH|r second impact or rollovers.

For more information contact XH

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GMP Racing products Vic 03 9543 6222, NSW 02 9820 4255, WA 08 9358 0050.

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NSW: (02) 9678 9977 OLD: (07) 3808 1986 VIC: (03) 9794 5177 WA: (08) 9353 1155 Auatrallen Importer and diatrlbutor:

CRANE

Ph: 08 8363 5566 Fax: 08 8363 5633 ^W TECHNOLOGIES www.cranecains.com.au :^PTY. LTD.

Remarkable Windows of Opportunity for Engine Experts

● Aciurale, Repeotable, Versotile

● Fast profile design service to your requirements ● Custom ground roller, solid and hydraulic — profiles using unique computer controlled machines for unrivalled accuracy i mw ● Matching race valve train components ^ CAMS including PSi (USA) valve springs and a huge range of one piece super duty J] pushrods

Ph 03 9357 0469 or Fax 03 9357 0001 Visit our website: www.crowcams.com.au

● Mocal ● Aircraft Bolts ● Girling ● Goldine ● Silverline

● Local design, support, development, Installallon and on-site trnining ● Top names demand lop equipment (users inc NIZPRO, HSV, HRIS John Sidney Rodng) ter del

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Ph/Fax 02 9526 6666

Ph Byran Miller ● Mob 0417 274 507 ● Ph 02 9524 3389 ● 1 Tamba Place Lilli Pilli NSW 2229 ● Email easternraceparts@hotmail.com

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Sftctcc " “Contour forged'2618 alloy Precise top ring groove mechining Pressure belence groove Ideel skirt Indexing to pinhole & skirt-to-skirt polerlty Precise CNC pinhole machining

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Phone 07 3808 1986

or visit our website for your nearest distributor.

www.fjerformaficewholesale.com.au ONE PIECE PACE PUSHRODS As used by top touring car, speedway & drag racing teams. ● .080" wall chrome moiy ● one piece construction ● available in M*" &

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motorspori news

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CLASSIFIEDS

mrac® gueop RAGE SHOP gives you the opportunity to promote your products and services to the widest possible range of motorsport

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g, Hose & Hose Ends t Fuel Management Systems I

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Sandman Technical & Racing Services

Queensland 07 3341 9911 Sydney 02 9609 1101 Melbourne 03 9326 6088

raeetx brakes

Competition disc pads l Race brakes l Pagid l Hawk l Endless l Performance Friction

Over 10 years experience of brake modifications and upgrades for road and race. Caliper conversion 1, 2, 4 & 6 piston. Custom made disc rotors. races High performaneo A raring disc brakes

Manufacturers & distributors ofi

RUSSELL PERFORMANCE Motorsport preparation and fabrication * FAI Homologated Chrome Moly rollcages

Low cost, high availability IT systems for all levels of motorsport.

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All systems sold come with an APC Surge Arrest powerboard valued at $100.

Category managers - Want V \ on site support for race weekends? Bulk buys for categories are available, enquire now. Our national supplier network can also deliver goods to your door in any state within 24 hours on in stock items. e smanteoh@tpg.com.au p 0419 369 748(24 hours)

RACE PRODUCTS

Contact your state distributor...

Hcirdiman Auto Supplies (02) 9771 5877 Motorsport Connections (02) 9838 7272 (03) 9794 5177 Victorian Speed Pro Performance Wholesale (07) 3808 1986 (08) 8363 5566 Crane Technologies Gogear Racing Services (08) 9443 4400

* Race car preparation and construction * EFI installation and tuning * Turbo manifolds, inlet plenums & intercoolers Ph: 03 9544 1249 Mobile: 0402 127 243 39 Renver Road, Clayton Vic 3168

Simpson Safety Equipment Austraiia 11/62 Newton Road Wetherill Park NSW 2164 Ph 02 9756 0202 Fax 02 97S6 0203 AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTORS

Black, Red, Blue S point - $539 l 6 point - $579 FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY Aust 5tandard 4 point belts fr $145

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Includes lecture and OLT. Formula Ford Test Drives - $695 in our cars.

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World's leaders in Motorsport Safety Technology Helmets l Suits l Boots l Gloves l Harnesses l Crew Gear l and all accessories for all motorsports Quality l Price l Service

rm m FIA HARIUESSES i\ 2008 expiry, lightweight buckle, 8 i S^EEDrLOW 3" webbing, clip in ends Premium Motorsport Hose & Fittings! w 1

* Aluminium and stainless steel TIG welding

RISIMPSON II

Ph 03 9555 5522 Fax 03 9555 4152 www.yellaterra.com.au

The USA’s first choice in race valve springs now available In Australia ● As used by top US teams including Hendricks Motorsport (NASCAR), John Fbhoe (Funny Car), Iterren Johnson (Pro Stock) ● Specific super duty spring design for endurance (circuit, speedway and marine) or Drag Race applications deliver consistent pressures and longer spring life.

Available from the exclusive Australian distributor

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Ph 03 9357 0469 Fax 03 9357 0001

The world's strongest and most affordable shaft type roller rocker

● Available in twin shaft and unique single shaft designs for all parallel and cant valve engines ● Strongest race rocker available with unique lifetime warranty for road and race applications

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Extremely durable bonded dampening material Easy to read computer etched timing marks Available In economical cast iron Street, all steel SR approved Race and new Serpentine for Chev, LSI, LTl etc Ph 02 6937 8868 Fax 02 6921 7536 Visit out website www.precisionparts.com.au

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This space could be yours

Vic 03 9873 5400 Vic 03 9553 4200 Vic 03 9887 3833

NSW 02 4577 2400 SA 08 8340 4333 [ QLO 07 3274 4797 WA 08 9331 8488

moiorsport news

CLASSIFIEDS

Classifieds LLuj/Awmm^. ^ online classifieds from lust $25 Find hundreds more race vehicles and parts for sale at www.my105.com

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your motorsport vehicle, parts, memorabilia with our all-new combined magazine/internet classified service.

Courtesy of an agreement between Motorsport News and internet classified service my105.com, your advertising will appear in both for as little as $25.

Yes 3 months on my105.com AND one insertion in Motorsport News for just $25! HOW?

Just log on to www.my105.com and follow the prompts!

Alternately, you can still use the classified form on these pages (surcharge applies for the service of entering the ad onto my105.com)

LOG ON NOW — IT’S THE SMART WAY TO SELL YOUR EQUIPMENT!

1983 & 82 RALT RT4 CHASSIS

1983 RALT RT4 roller (No431) as raced by Dean Tighe QLD Raceway 30/11/03, Ex American Pro Atlantic History, Log books, History to ’83’ available. G/Box & suspension rebuilt in '03'. Included 82 RT4 Chassis(No344)with Log books, good condition but minus g/box. Prefer to sell both as package. $45,000 Neg. Call 0418 736 869 /(07)3359 4222.

www.myl05.com/66226

Race Winning Saloon Car, 4 years development, many race wins, pole positions and lap records. New engine and gearbox, spares including 2 sets of wheels, one of the best in the country. $25,000 ONO. Kurt (07) 3368 1188, 277 www.myl05.com/62B25

Saloon Car #399, Saloon car #399 for sale fast and reliable car 3rd in Qld state champs first commodore moving to different class. $18,000 ONO.Troy 0409 875 894 / 274 (07) 320‘9 8755. www.myl05.eom/62064

Sedan$/Sports Cars

Eg

Lancer Evo 5 RS, EX Mark King Australian GTP Title Car, All ralliart bits, LSD's, Motec, OZ Mags (12), new steel cage, $4000 exhaust, new paintwork and interior. As new condition. $46,000 ONO. Ray 0412 644 780.

275 www.my105.com/16327

Mazda RX7 Sports Sedan, fully rebuilt, ex condition, space frame, wishbone front suspension, APG spot and 4 spot calipers, fresh 3 rotor turbo, injected motor, nine inch full floater, Koni's brake Blast, 3 link rear end. Micro Tec display, new everything, built by factory Mazda US. $40,000 DNO, Robert 275 0418 974 351. www.myl05.com/74224

2003 AU Falcon Supercar, 2003 Model newest Falcon Supercar available, last Ford Beehag chassis. Large spares package.

Full Motec with live telemetry. Only raced Konica series, not at Bathurst. Fully prepared and maintained, no expense spared. Also selling 2001 Falcon AU Supercar, repainted like 2003 car. New urtused engine parts available. Craig 0412 895 560.

275 www.my105.com/705

Mk 1 Escort, Porsche injected 2ltr, motec ignition, 4wh discs, brake bias, 5 link rear, adjustable suspension, fuel cell, full cage. $7,500 Neg. John 0418 404 945 /(02)8824 7676.

276 www.my105.com/67473

t 1

j Mazda Rx3 Sports Sedan, Very neat & tidy car,never crahed, has done minimal racing, has got potential to be fast competitive car with some development, log booked & ready to race in 2004. $12500, $7000 less engine & box Neg. Simon 0409 875 381.

274 www.my105.com/57559

t Mazda RX7 3J Club Car, Log Book and Good Pedigree, 12A Bridgeport, Needham close ratio. Engine gearbox suspension brakes exhaust all recently new, 2 sets wheels, 120 litre tank, new interior, adjustable brake bias, quick and well balanced. $13,000 Not Neg. Kevin 0418 246 972.

274 www.my105.com/39174

PORSCHE GT2 TURBO, Spectacular and fast. Ideal for Porsche Drivers Challenge. $130,000 plus GST. Paul 0418 618 561.

274 www.myl05.com/8972 Suzuki GTI 1600 Twin Cam, Improved production Suzuki Swift GTi complete car ready to race, running a 1600 twin cam Suzuki race engine. Comes with complete spares package including spare gearbox and spare 1300 cc engine. Ex gtp championship winning car '98, a fantastic car and very competitive package. $7,500 neg. Graham stones (08) 9378 2666 / 0413 445 738.

275 www.my105.com/15706

14 January 2004

Mazda RX3 Improved Production, U/2ltr fuel injected 10a pp 4.77 dif ratio 2 piece tail shaft 4 spot brakes brake balance bar good tyres etc. $6,000 Or Best Offer. Call Jason 275 0411 638 308 / (02) 9672 4257. www.myl05.com/59316

Gemini Rally Car, 2003 NSW Genini senes WINNING car. Full NSW Rego. 6 wheels / tyres. Proven Fast Reliable Car. Will Win again in the right hands. $3,900 Neg. Luke 274 Ryan 0427 894 587. www.myl05.com/88896

Mustang Group A, Mustang Group A, We built this car from new. Has Log Book, SVO Block, Roller Cam, all steel internals, 460HP with Holley, Getrag 5 speed Gearbox, 9" Harrop Diff. Car Is currently dismantled.

Spare body panels and original 75 Gearbox and other components, $40,000, Lawrie 275 0412 182 .848. www.myl05.com/11846

Commodore Cup Car, Very competitive race car Ideal to race for 2004 in commodore cup, Konica support catergory!

Comes with fully caged out, chrome moly VS shell for class upgrade. Great Package Dealll $30,000 ONO. Michael 0419 811 111.

274 www.my105.com/6497

Improved Production RX7, Only 6 meetings old, all new running gear, 13B injected, 1:1.5 speed with quick change.

LSD with spare ratios, new brakes, shocks, spares included. Trailer also available.

274 $25,000. Phil (02) 9835 1230. www.myl O5.com/13050 Mazda Mx5 Racecar, all new: AVO coil over suspension, extractors, bucket seat, 5pt harness, brake rotors, 1.8 brakes and race exhaust, good condition, dyno tuned at competative hp. $16,000 ONO. Call John 274 (07) 3393 1588. www.my105.com/63022

79

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McLean Special Sports 1300, Sports 1300 for sale 90% complete new Suzuki 1300 twin cam engine, new body, spare wheels & tyres, good entry level car at the right price, ri ng Darrell on (02) 4578 3434 or 0409 785 273 114. $6,500 ONO. www.myl05.com/4686B

I'

Ford EA Saloon Car, 2003 Old State Championship winning car.Swift Race Engine.Very fast and reliabie.Spares inc Gearbox, Wheels, Alloy Radiator, Brakes Etc. $20,000t Neg. Gavin (07) 3251 6616.

273 www.my105.com/48306

Nissan Pulsar GTIR, Lightweight rally version. C/R g/box, roll cage, FIA spec seat/bamess, 3 inch exhaust. Centreline suspension, Pagid race pads, surge tank, competition radiator. Very competitive.

Second Group 5 & PIARC sprint championship 2000 & 2001. Numerous top 3 finishes. Rally registration (PVN 490), 41,000km. $15,500. Call on Ron (03) 9230 273 4595 or (03) 9480 0929. www.myl 05.com/67400

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Improved Production Mazda RX-7, 2000 Victorian Championship winning car. 2 meetings since full engine rebuild. Some spares. Complete car, ready to race, $14,000 Neg. Scott 0407 521 985. 273 www.my105.com/64514

2L Sports Sedan, Datsun 180B, Logbook, Roilcage, Race seat, window net, L20B 5 speed (to be fitted) 13x9 slicks, wets, big brakes, 3 diffs - 3.9, 4.1 and 4.4. F/glass bonnet, boot and bumpers, straight body, new paint, tough car to start your race career. $3,500 ONO. Max 0418 485 460. www.myl05.com/48215

2001/2002 Championship winning WRXSti, Slill holds QR lap record, rally rego, Moly cage, proflex shocks, Momo seat, Autronic, extra wheels, would be unbeatable club car, would consider trade of WRX. $27,995 ONO. Brett (07) 3284 8844 / 273 0417 750 108. ’Aww.myl 05.com/67352

Datsun 1600 Club Car/Sports Sedan, 2nd owner, excellent condition, new paint, cams log book with alloy cage. Veto 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. 273 www.my105.com/80734

Datsun 1600, Improved production, racs winner, 2nd 03 NSW State Championship.

Strong SR20 turbo, 320HP Motec, Konis, Peddle box, strong brakes, fuel cell. Very well presented car. Ready to race. Comes with trailer and spares. $20,000. Paul 0413 306 143. 273 www.myl05.com/72156

Dallara 398 F3, Team BRM have for sale rts Dallara 398 Spless Opel. Vehicle comes with a factory prepared Olspec Spiess Opel, Bosch system 2,2.1 ECU, PI System 3 with C Dash, a range of spares, engine tow km's Ideal for the novice or experience driver. $75,000 ONO. Bronte 0412 846 997 / (03) 8373 7546.

274 www.my105.com/9718

Open Wheelers

Formula Libra Autocross/Hillclimb car, Kawasaki ZX12-R engine, 170HP, 6 speed sequential. Built 01/03, 4WD, Fully adjustable suspension. Space frame chasis, Race seat, FIA Harness, 4 wheel disc brakes, LSD, Quick ratio rack, CAMS Log book. Trailer, succsessfully raced 2003 Race To The Sky NZ, Very fast, reliable.

Countless race wins. New car almost completed. $22,500.00 Neg. Greg (03) 5662 5115 / 0427 625 115.

276 www.my105.com/14351

Suzuki Swift Gti, Group A spec, ARC and NSW championship winning car. Complete ready to rally, comes with huge spares package. $9,000 I need to sell quickly, will take offers. Call Michael 0402 108 915 or 274 (02) 9419 7639. www.myl05.eom/20568

RALT RT4/86, ex Thackwell/Greg Muqjhy.

Rebuilt around new tub. Fitted 2.0 YB Cosworth-SIdepods for BDA included with spare ratios, tyres, wheels etc. Turnkey @ A$55,000 plus custom built 4 wheel lock-up trailer, storage compartments etc. A$12,000.

Contact Teagle Ph. (NZ) 64 9 5247662.

274 www.myl05.com/47974

appliesjust to ads entered directlylust onto myi 05.com) ITMf'waytosellyourgaarl (*$25 From $25* log

Mk 6 Cheetah F2, Fully restored. 1600 cc Celica engine dyno time only. Webber 45 carburettors. Hewland gearbox. Brand new chrome exhaust system. Fire system fitted.

Eligible AF2 or Histories. Spares including head and mounted wheels. Also included purpose built, fully enclosed refurbished trailer with 12 months registration and full length side and rear annex. Excellent car. $37,500 ONO, Alan (02) 6367 3030 / (02) 6367 3222. 274 www.myl 05.eom/69423

1977 Elfin Formula Pacific, Rare Elfin Formula Pacific. Originally owned by David Craig, C&C Autos 1977 with Andrew Medicke Ford BDA driven by Keith Poole. Recent rebuild including FT-200 with new parts.

CAMS Historic C.O.D. & Log Book. Enclosed trailer. $65,000 ONO. Rod 0428 290 010 / 273 (02) 4731 1649. www.myl05.eom/65038

ou

Advertising can also be supplied using this form ($10/315 surchage to text only/text + pic advertisements) Advertisements will appear in nextpossibie issue of Motorsport flews PLUS theLvTOa.com websiteforthreemonths.

Please read & cross the desired services and calculate the total.

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□ Other

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noiorsport news

CLASSIFIEDS Speedway

Modified Production, EL Ford, Front runner, 2 Seasons old. Adjustable suspension. Auto Meter gauges. Race tyres.

Ready to race. $10,500.00 ONO. Don 0418 643 901. 275 www.myl05.com/58339 Super Sedan, VTill sell as roller if needed, the engine is a rocket ,the car is a piture, we are selling only because my son has a sponsorship deal In his motorsport career that is full time for me. $40,000 Or Best Offer.

Warren 0412 487 771.

273 www.myl05.com/25417

Modified Production Sedan, VR Commodore #10 Aust 2 1998-99 Vic 1 2000-01 Fresh Engine & fibreglass Panels with spares. $15,000.(02)6033 1291 / 0408 570 822.

263 www.my105.eom/72040

Engines

Collectable/Memorabiila

Ford V8 Supercar engine, 619hp Mark McLaughlin,Run only 150km. Headers, SS exhaust, carbon clutch Rattle guns and hoses etc.. Garry 0413 879 879 /(02)9688 3003. 274www.my10S.com/58255

Motoring Books - Collectors' Clearance, Motoring Books - Collectors' Clearance, Vast range - over 1200 titles at Discount prices. New lists each month - call now for January list ... chrismx@bigpond.net.au or (02) 9997 8428, fax (02) 9979 5799. 273 www.myl05.com/79192

Lotus Twim Cam, 1650cc, totally rebuilt, all machining operations, new Cosworth pistons, new LI Cams, Vandervell bearings, LTW cam buckets, head full rebuild, big valves, balanced, rods and crank shotpeened, 45mm side draft Webers excellent and new. $12,000. Call Travis on 0417 3)9 948. 273www.my105.com/52984 I

2 Car Transporter, 2 stage Hydrolic tailgate. Bench's, tyre racks, suit open wheelers, CD, tow bar, stored inside workshop, $45,000 ONO. Peter (03) 9761 4510. 275www.my105.com/86618 Car Transport Tilt tray Trailer, 1995 Ex NRMATilt Tray, Duel Wheels ,Electlc Winch well looked after always stored undercover. $4,500. Ray Gold 02 6331 5991. 275 www.my105.com/83318

Driver/Orew Apparel Racing apparel, Dual layer racing suit Medium,fireproof u/wear and socks, size 11 . boots. Bell composite helmet Large. New cost more than $2,000. $1,200 ONO. Grant 0408 841 680 / (08) 8255 9767. 272 www.my105.com/51380

Wanted

372ci Sprintcar Engine, Lightened Alloy Block, Brodex -12 Heads, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Vertex Magneto, Dry Sump, Latest 1 piece Air Filter System, $22,000. Dennis 272 0408 844 841. www.my105.com/81925

Isuzu Transporter, Low kms, bought new In 2000. Factory fitted aircond, passenger air ride seat. Custom built prime mover body and semi trailer to carry 2 F3 cars or more smaller open wheel cars. Easily converted for saloon cars. Inc 9x6m annexe and floor, generator with lighb'ng, huge storage facilities, 240v power. $105,000.00.

Bronte 08 8254 8444 or 0412 846 997..

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inotorspMt EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Phil Branagan l editor@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Mark Glendenning l mark@mnews.com.au News Editor: Aaron Noonan National Editor: Grant Rowley l grant@mnews.com.au

PRODUCTION Adv & Graphics Co-ordinator: Viv Brumby l viv@mnews.com.au ADVERTISIH6 Brendon Sheridan - PR Driven Tel: 03 9550 0870 Fax: 03 9550 0816 mobile: 0407 007 286 l ads@mnews.com.au ADMINISTRATION Managing Director/Publisher: Chris Lambden l publisher@mnews.com.au CONTACTS 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East Vic 3187 iPO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186) Ph: 03 9596 5555 Fax: 03 9596 5030 Email: mnews@mnews.com.au CONTRIRUTORS 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 Pliotographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Burnett, AFl 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.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Australia (inci GST) Overseas (Air Mail): New Zealand, PNG, Malaysia, Indonesia, Phiilippines, Hong Kong, Japan US, Canada, Europe

1 year $143

2 years $275

Unlike some other publications you actually showed the winner of the 2003

Empire'is no more, but an advertisement in Saturday's Age newspaperwould have us believe this is not the case.

championship, Marcos Ambrose, on your front cover (not some microscopic pic on the bottom of

the page!).

It would seem that the other

HSV is advertising for marketing/PR staff for one of its race teams. This makes me believe that John Crennan is still behind the Clayton hell hole.

I'm positive your readers, including us Blue Oval believers, would love to see a brief referring to the matter in this week's issue, then maybe a true investigative story into the Crennan/Borrett covert operations.

'Ford Man' Name and address supplied

converter Send us your thoughts: mail: PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au

Field of Dreams How about a feature article on what's wrong with Australian or more particularly Sydney speedway?

The Outlaws promotion was outstanding,except for the dry dusty tracks that deserved stronger spectator support. Only about half of the expected crowd came and of those, about 15% were from out-of- town.

The promotors spent a lot of money improving facilities,offering big prize money and bringing some of speedway's best drivers to the coimtry but in the face of waning interest from both spectators and media the sports future must be clouded.

What's happened to the huge crowds and media coverage of past years?

Ed Sulway edsidway@primus.com.au

Quiz test I've read the December 24 issue cover-to-cover.

A great read, and congrats to all who are responsible for the mag. And thanks for the easy quiz questions (not!)

I have a query about the FI race in 2006 and it's certainly a cause for stressing me out.

You will have noted that the new construction work on the Albert Park

hobby is motorsport and I have been to every Grand Prix since 1984 when Calder opened. It would be devastating for Australia not to have the FI Grand Prix as part of it's event calendar, be it in Melbourne or Adelaide. There are stacks of us who love to see FI 'first hand'and will go overseas if necessary if it leaves Australia.

Kayren Browne Dingley Village VIC ED: On closer inspection, the swimming is to be held at the end of March. The Grand Prix is traditionally held earlier in the month. This may also give Mark Webber two shots at an Australian crown in 2006 ...

Brockie and the No. 10 When they print the Bathurst 1000 guide this year, will it show Brock as a nine times wirmer or a 10 times winner? Nine times .... game over!

Glerm Milne

Mildura VIC It’s a love and hate thing As a first time writer to your mag 1 must first say congratulations on your coverage of the V8s.

publications couldn't be bothered covering Ford's first championship win in six years.

It would also seem that all they want to do is portray the Mark Skaife sob story to its maximum effect and taking the gloss off Ambrose's win.

My god, Holden loses one and it's the end of the world.

As for the incident at the Creek, the only aggressor was Skaife, as he ran on the track, and. stormed into the SBR pit, shooting his mouth off like the spoilt fool he is.

It would seem that if Skaife is behind you, you must yield so he can storm off and win another race, like the script says.

The mentality of Holden motorsport seems to be one of we rule the roost and everyone else can go to hell.

Good on you Russell Ingall for showing HRT/Holden Motorsport a big middle finger with your actions at the Creek. Somebody finally had the balls to stand up to these tyrants and say enough is enough!

The V8s exists for something like 34 drivers fighting for supremacy, not for the glory of one (or is it three) team, who seem to think the world revolves around them.

Once again, a big thumbs up to MN for your fair coverage of the championship winner and also motorsport as a whole.

NickK flankerl7@optusnet.com.au

Flying World Champ?

Williams FW26 - FW surely has to stand for 'Flying Walrus' now,doesn't Andrew Guy Mitcham VIC

Swimming facility is about to commence. It was reported in the Herald-Sun this week that the Commonwealth Games swintming events are being held at the centre in March 2006.1 find this very interesting, and pose the question: When will the 2006 FI Australian Grand Prix be run (if at all). It would be physically impossible for both events to run in the same month.

A$195 A$250

$370 $480

Post your cheque/money order to the address above, fax your credit card details (Bankcard, VISA, Mastercard, or Amex)to 03 9596 5030 or email to mnews@mnews.com.au

02

Holden truth?

Holden Motorsport's Ray Borrett would have us believe the 'Evil

It is also interesting to note that Ron Walker is heading up both events, so his company and interests will not lose whichever way the chips may fall!

Don't get me wrong -1 love the swimming events. It's just that my

And the debate rages: The Skaife/Ingall/Eastern Creek controversy still has some fans smokin'...

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