Motorsport News Issue 287 - July 7-20, 2004

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Australia $5.95'NZ $7.50 inci GST No. 287 July 7-20 2004

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features 32 Brock Speaks On the how and they why of his endurance outings with HRT

race coverage

36 The Top Banana Ambrose wins the race but loses the points and the rest do what they do - Richo chases, Skaife spears off and FPR blows things up 46 French tears Alonso and Renault looked the goods but Mikey won anyway 54 All to play for Owen and Jones set up a thrilling end to the KMV8SS 58 Thanks for your support Porkers and Fordsters take to the Paperclip Turkish Bath Loeb wins. On three wheels. And Peugeot gets a poke right in the butt!

ARCangas Juha and Julia rule in Tasmania

tiatnurst' AMBROSE LOSES QL0300 POINTS

rnoios; Cover: Dirk Klynsmith, Contents: Holden Racing Team, Ford Racing Media,

regulars 64 Rallying

66 Speedway 68 Drag Racing

70 National Scene

75

Marketplace

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Brock: I can w Holden's Legend returns to HRT for one more assault on the Mountain

by PHIL BRANAGAN PETER Brock says that he can win a 10th Great Race at Bathurst.

The 59-year-old touring car legend will return to the scene of his greatest triumphs to co-drive a Holden Racing Team Commodore VY with former British Touring Car champion Jason Plato. The two will share the team's second entry which will be reassigned with Brock's famed 05 number for Bathurst and the Sandown 500 in September.

"Absolutely,I can win," says Brock.

"I went to the 24-Hour last year with the guys and I said,'let's not forget one thing; we can win this race if we keep our cool, if we hang in there and stay focussed.' And that is exactly what happened. I feel we can win the Supercar race if the same thing happens. Sometimes, you get in the car and it all works out, like it did for Greg Murphy last year. It can happen to me. You never know!"

Brock said that there was no hesitation in his mind 10 days ago when he got a call from Mark Skaife, asking him to return to the Hoiden factory team for the two biggest races of thj year.

"Why? Why not? There are a lot of blokes in Australia who would like to get a phone call from Mark Skaife and hear him say,'We would like you to come and put your bum in an HRT car around Bathurst'!

"It happened last week. I was just flabbergasted. I was cautiously optimistic that it might happen; firstly, he said,'PB, let me work on a few things and see if we can make this happen'. So we went off, he checked with all the people at his end and they all said yes. At that stage, I started getting pretty happy about it.

"He was right up front. Skaife said.

'Yes, we have been having a bad trot but the cars are really bloody good and you will love them. We have a new engine, we have found a few things and we are sorting them out.

We are looking all right'.

"At that stage, I was thinking that this was looking pretty good. I liked the idea of someone ringing me up and asking if I wanted to have a drive in their rocketship! I went from being cautiously optimistic to being pretty chuffed just like that."

Brock made his last Bathurst 1000 start two years ago, when he shared the Team Brock Commodore VX with regular driver Craig Baird. After the car qualified in 26th position, it had a troubled run in the race and finished 23rd,25 laps behind winners Skaife and Jim Richards.

The announcement ends weeks of speculation as to who would pilot the second HRT entry. The team has traditionally announced its endurance drivers as early as possible in the season and, by waiting until July, there had been paddock chatter that the team was having difficulty finding suitable partners for Skaife and Todd Kelly.

While Brock's name had been mentioned in terms of possibly having a Bathurst drive, it has usually been linked with teams without the pedigree of HRT. While some will point to the fact that Brock has not been ultimately competitive since he

Sometimes, you get in the car and it aii works out, iike It did for Greg Murphy iastyear.lt can happen to me. You never know!

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- Brock rates his chances

stopped racing full-time in 1997, there is also likely to be a merchandising bonanza for the team, but none of these factors troubles Brock.

"My only expectations are that I am going to have a bloody competitive piece of machinery and a very dedicated crew," he says.

"They admit that it is going to be a different experience to be going in there what is probably my last competitive run in a Supercar and they are saying,'OK Pete, let's see what happens'.

"I suppose that they realise that there will be a certain expectation from the public; that might change things a little. I can rock up, put my hat on,blast around, give them some valuable feedback if they need it or keep my trap shut and just get in the car and blast around. Either way,1 am very flexible and my expectations are get in, put it in gear, drop clutch, bag up tyres, go through comer,lift wheel, wave to crowd, have fun!

"If I ever go into any event where I can actually not think about it too much,just relax and enjoy myself, the results are always fantastic. Once you study things to death, you leave that free spirit thing behind and that seems to work for me.

"They might look at it from another perspective. It is a bit like being able to play a musical instrument. You learn to do it and every time you do it, you get a rise. You get a great deal of enjoyment from it. You do not necessarily do it to entertain others. If it does entertain others, that is fantastic. That is the stage that I am at in my life."

"It is a terrific opportunity for me.

It will be a wild old week on the mountain!

For more on Brock's return to HRT,see pages 32-34

05, then and now: Brock had a long and emotional send-off from HRT in 1997, left, and s will now bring the famous 05 back to the Clayton team for the Sandown s 500 and Bathurst 1000.

motorsport news

n Bathurst

NEWS

Alex Davo for Winton V8 debut?

CASTROL Perkins signee Alex Davison looks set to run a V8 round in the Castrol car currently being steered by Tony Longhurst as a build up to the long distance races.

According to LP himself, Tony's strong run in last weekend's OLD 300 has eased his concerns about the twice Bathurst-winners form, to the degree that race miles for the new signing is a likely option. Winton is a possibility. The move also confirms the two as a likely enduro pairing. n Speaking of things Davo, Alex's younger brother Will was at Queensland Raceway. With endurance rides thinning down, he was in meet-and-greet mode with V8 Supercar teams but is working on raising the budget to return to Formula 3 overseas, starting with the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort in August. , n Alain Menu was a guest of ' Ford Performance Racing at Queensland Raceway on the weekend. The Swiss ace was taking in a V8 round before testing at Winton in two weeks time. Fresh from his assault on the Le Mans 24 Flour, the former BTCC winner was in a jovial mood in the media centre on Friday. Fle's going to have to have a sense of humour if things continue as they are at FPR towards the endures...

A Platonic friend

British champ not fazed by a Bathurst assault in 05

JASON Plato is not worried about the responsibility of carrying Peter Brock's hopes of a 10th Sandown or Bathurst win.

The 35-year-old Brit, who races for Seat in the British Touring Car Championship, left, will make his second start with HRT after driving at Bathurst with the team four years ago.

I am really looking forward to it. said Plato from his base in Monaco on Monday.

I can imagine what it is going to be like but there is no additional pressure.

The mindset to win Bathurst is like it is for any other major race; you go out there, do the best job that you can and try and win the thing. It is actually goittg to be an advantage to be driving with Peter; what he doesn't know about the place does not need to be known.

This will be Plato's third appearance at Bathurst, after his 1997 Super Touring assault with Renault (co-driving with Alain Menu) and his 2000 drive with HRT, alongside Yvan Muller.

Ironically, he will be racing against both drivers. Menu suiting up with FPR and bitter rival Muller racing for the Triple 8/Betta Electrical team.

Plato has never raced at Sandown but says that he will be trying to find out as much about the Melbourne track before he heads down under in September.

And, can he win Bathurst?

I would like to think so. HRT always prepares a great car, the team has a great record there and Bathurst is one of the world's greatest touring car races. To drive a Commodore with 05 on the door ... It's going to be great.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

n Interactive software company Atari confirmed last week that the popular console game, V8 Supercars 2, will be released on Playstation 2 in Qctober this year. An international best-seller on Xbox and PC, the PS2 version wiil feature some exclusive content, including a new circuit (Catalunya) and an expanded Championship structure. n FIA chief Max Mosley has unveiled plans to ram through immediate FI regulation reform under the guise of safety. The soonto-depart Mosley's most interesting plan is to introduce 2.4 litre V8 engines in 2006, while allowing teams to retain 3-litre VI Os with an FIA-controlled rev limit if they are not engine-manufacturer allied or unable to produce a V8 in time.

Mosley also suggests that engine manufacturer threats to quit if 2.4 litre V8s are introduced are unlikely to happen. "Don't believe them," he said. "They won't do it..." n Chris Alajajian will make his Formula 3 debut at Eastern Creek in two weeks time. The 17-year-old will drive Piccola Scuderia's 2001-model Dallara, the car that Peter Hackett took to championship glory in 2001.

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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 buMon...

Remember the recent rumours suggesting that Messrs Crennan and Walkinshaw might be seeking to acquire a V8 team? At the time, the mill suggested PWR Racing as a target. Latest goss suggests the above duo and PWR's Kees Weel may be joining forces to look northwards with a view to shelling out some dollars on an existing Ford team and converting it from blue oval to red lion.

Fanciful? Sounds it, but it won't go away...

Talking Red Lion, it really is the silly season. The mill is rumouring all sorts of moves within the Flolden Motorsport triumverate at the end of the year. Murph here. Bright there, Kellys united ... Throw in Garth Tander who reckons he's got Holden options (having told Garry Rogers he's out at the end of the year) as well as Ford ones and the chairs are fair dinkum looking musical. l

The Triple Jump Lowndes closes in on new deal for ’05

CRAIG Lowndes is closer to a move to Triple 8 Racing, if the latest rumours and coincidences surrounding V8 Supercars are to be believed.

Usually reliable MNews sources are suggesting that Lowndes has visited Triple 8's facility on the Gold Coast and that a deal is well down the road, if not fully agreed.

We hear that Craig had set himself a mid-year deadline to form his own view about his future plans. It is now July ...

Lowndes' manager, MCS's David Segal,told MNews on Monday that "I can definitely tell you that Craig hasn't signed any deal for 2005 yet," although he was less equivocal about whether

Lowndes' movements had included a visit to Triple 8 HQ. Both Lowndes and,for that matter, Triple 8 do have other options(DJR has been suggested as having expressed interest in Lowndes),though Triple 8 boss Roland Dane was unavailable for comment on Monday.

While Lowndes is under contract with Ford for next season, his deal with Ford Performance Racing concludes in December. Triple 8's Max Wilson is in the first year of a two-year deal but Paul Radisich, who finished sixth on the weekend at QR, is out of contract at the end of the season.

An aside from the Lowndes/Triple 8 rumours suggests that Max Wilson has a contract for 2005 with the eight by threes. That means bye bye Rat if CL moves in. Would the rodent head south, or is the British scene perking up again?

Despite the confident noises being made by race organisers, sources suggest that this year's Bathurst 24 Hour is facing a race against time.

Although the race is just 16 weeks away, MNews has been told that preparations for the event have still barely started, with prospective competitors still waiting for such fundamentals as the supp regs. There has also apparently been little progress regarding the organisational or commercial aspects of the event.

International interest appears to have taken a dip, with a number of former visitors, including Mosler team owner/driver Martin Short, having already stated that he doesn't intend to make the trip for this year's event.

In the United States, where litigation is king, lawsuits can be undertaken for all manner of events, whether common sense prevails or otherwise.

So it seems odd that some have suggested that Ralf Schumacher might take legal action over his treatment post-78G wall-banging shunt at Indianapolis. Our spies suggest that, while Schu Two is recuperating and waiting for Toyota to start piling Euros into the bank account, he can consider the fact that he signed himself out of hospital and, if he had stayed, those two damaged vertebra might have been found sooner...

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Two a overt

SBR concedes brea penalty and LP wa

by CHRIS LAMBDEN

AT least two appeals are to be heard this week in relation to the penalty handed out to Marcos Ambrose after last weekend's Queensland 300.

While SBR is to appeal the severity of the 192 point penalty (first place points), Larry Perkins is taking the opposite tack and appealing the fact that Ambrose was allowed to keep his race win, despite SBR being found guilty of a technical breach in relation to the wiring loom on the #1 SBR car.

The latter means that runner-up Steven Richards remains on 186 points, rather than gaining fuU race win points and every subsequent finisher is similarly affected.

According to AVESCO's preliminary release, scrutineering officials found Stone Brothers Racing to be "in breach of technical rules C8.ll.8 and C.8.11.9 relating to the control ECU loom schematic diagram as contained in schedule four."

SBR team manager Ross Stone conceded the breach of the rules that

Million Dollar Craig

CRAIG Lowndes is V8 Supercar's million-dollar man.

During testimony last week in a Melbourne court, it was revealed that Lowndes's pay packet grew from $230,000 in his final year with the Holden Racing Team in 2000 to $700,000 with Gibson Motorsport. In addition, Lowndes received a share of the team's merchandising revenue and personal endorsements, which boosted his pay to about $1 million.

In addition, MNews sources say that Lowndes is paid a retainer by whichever team he races for, as well as Ford.

The three-time V8 Supercar champion was testifying in the Federal Court in Melbourne in the law suit between former team owners Fred Gibson and Noel Watson, and Bob Forbes.

Lowndes denied a suggestion from Gibson and Watson's barrister, Peter Hayes, QC, that he was being greedy. Lowndes replied that he and his wife Natalie were "unhappy with the amount of sponsorship that was not forthcoming".

Lowndes, who was managed

by Watson at the time of his move from Holden to Ford, admitted one of the reasons he left the Gibson team for 00 Motorsport was that his former team-mate Rodney Forbes "crashes a lot". He also agreed that, during his time with 00 Motorsport in 2002, the team was "a complete shambles".

Lowndes also admitted that an affidavit submitted to the court and signed by him had not been written by him, but prepared by Forbes's lawyers.

was discovered at post-race scrutineering. AVESCO's release continued: "The Stewards found that the breach was unintentional. They also found there was an apparent lack of advantage from the breach.

"The Stone Brothers Racing team have appealed the decision. This appeal is set down for the V8 Supercar Court of Appeal in Melbourne on Thursday (July 8)."

MNews understands that an additional wire,50mm in length, with a plug (not connected to anything) was found connected to the ECU wiring loom that links to the airbox pressure sensor. It was, according to the team,a 5 volt power output lead,"Hke an extension cord that you would use in your house, without anything plugged into it."

The team is, it seems, baffled as to how the lead was left there, pointing to the fact that the dash board wiring loom (not a control item)is adjacent to the ECU loom and that simple human error may have been motorsport news

NEWS

neais 300

It but wants softer ts Ambrose DQ'd! involved.

Among SBR's rivals, opinion is divided over the incident and just what it all means. John Bowe, who drove for DJR during the era when the Stone brothers were the technical chiefs, is among a group which supports the Stones to the hilt: "Look,they may be technically wrong and may have made a simple mistake, but there's no way in my view that Ross and Jimmy are capable of cheating," he told MNews on Monday.

Others are less charitable, uncomfortable that the transgression is in the area of electronics, and pointing out that former MoTeC director Ken Douglas is the team's electronics expert.

It's an uncomfortable situation, which may not be completely resolved on Thursday.

As an aside to his appeal against Ambrose retaining the race win, Perkins points out that the controversy over the SBR wiring backs up his original call for a 'onceonly'programmable chip standard ECU,rather than one utilising 'Flash' (reprogrammable) technology.

"With once-only programmable chips, there wouldn't even be any speculation about this incident. As it is, the potential is there," he told MNews.

"The bottom line is that this extra wire was there, it's against the rules, they had no choice but to disqualify the car. You can't half disqualify it.

It's either in or out."

6

What are rules C3.11. and C8.11.9?

Good turns bad for Marcos THE 192 point penalty handed to Marcos Ambrose,in a championship which no longer allows a worst round to be dropped,is one of the most severe in V8 Supercar history.

It converts a 58-point championship lead into a 134-point deficit to new leader Steven Richards, dropping Ambrose to fourth place in the championship chase.

"I was frustrated when I heard we had a problem, but I was dumbfounded when I was told what the penalty was," Ambrose said on Monday.

"An honest mistake has been made and this is personally shattering for Ross and Jimmy Stone, who are two of the most honest and ethical people I have met in racing."

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

C8.11.8: Control ECU Loom.

The wiring loom which connects the Control ECU to the ECU sensors, ECU actuators and the rest of the car through the body connector, must conform to the Control ECU loom schematic as contained in Schedule C4.

C8.11.9; Except for connectors which are only connected "pin to pin", the Control ECU loom must not contain any additional wiring, circuitry, connectors, break outs or components except as detailed in the Control ECU loom schematic.

Nowadays,AVESCO plays hardball

THE penalty applied to the race winning car at the Queensland 300 is interesting in more ways than the obvious.

AVESCO has encouraged a softlysoftly approach to some technical breaches over recent years, often simply slapping a team's wrist behind closed doors on a "don't do this again" basis.

I'm aware of a number of breaches that have been handled in this manner.

7 July 2004

It avoids bad publicity. It keeps the dirty linen in the laundry. In some ways, it's a smart marketing-driven idea. But in others, it shows a weakness.

The seemingly substantial price that SBR (subject to appeal) is paying for either being sprung, or making a silly mistake, depending on your point of view, is a clear warning to team engineers. The days of let-offs are over.

Like John Bowe, my instincts say that

these guys aren't cheats. Anyone at the sharp end of the grid 'maximises rule interpretation' and so on. That's part of it. But cheat? I don't think so.

However,the result of the championship-leading team being chopped down so ruthlessly must send a strong message to a couple of those creative engineers out there. And that's a good thing.

OPINION by CHRIS LAMBDEN

7

The seats are a fill

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V8 Supercar endurance drives almost all gone

Owen and Leahey go shopping? ^8 KMART Racing appear set to give J 5 Steve Owen and Tim Leahey the I chance to join team regulars Greg I Murphy and Rick Kelly for the enduros.

The duo are slated to team up in the team's #15 Commodore, making for an experienced combination for the outfit. The team hasn't made any armouncement,however that is the strong tip MNews has received.

Owen has been racuig this year in the Australian Formula Ford

1.

lAIPS finalised ¥®ong iiid McIntyre to join Queensland squad FORMER Minardi Formula One dAver Alex Yoong will join Kiwi John McIntyre for an all international endurance line-up at WPS Racing.

The pair will step in alongside regular drivers David Besnard and Mark Noske for the upcommg Sandown and Bathurst rounds, however the actual

driver pairing for the races are stiU yet to be finalised.

"Even though it is a new team, WPS Racing has shown it has a great desire to be at the top of its sport, and that makes it an exciting team to be involved with," said Yoong.

Yoong said that he is hoping to use the opporturuty as a springboard into a regular race seat.

"The endurance drives for WPS gives me some good exposure to the category and I would like to think I could secure something more permanent in the future."

McIntyre, who last tasted a V8 8

Championship and clean-swept the weekend with three wins from three starts in his Bosch Batteries Spectrum at Queensland Raceway.

A stunning performance in the Holden Young Lions Commodore at the Winton Konica Minolta Series event helped put the Victorian back on the V8 Supercar radar.

He debuted on the Mountain in 1999 and finished in the top 10 alongside Greg Ritter.

Leahey, meanwhile,has been sitting the season on the sidelines, save for a handful of outings in the Volkswagen Golf R32 GT Performance team alongside Paul StokeU in the PROCAR Champ Series.

He raced for the Greg Murphy Racing Team Braun outfit in 2003,finishing fourth in the Carrera Cup series.

-AARON NOONAN

Stoke NATIONS Cup Champion Paul Stokell will join Simon Wills and Team Dynamik for the V8 Supercar endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst, the team announced on the weekend.

The 34-year-old tested at Mallala with the team last Monday alongside Wills and Dale Brede and is looking forward to the events. ‘●|fs one of the better teams that I have driven with at Bathurst',” said Stokell, who currently leads the Nations Cup series for Lamborghini.

"It will be my first time around there in a Commodore and in testing the car felt strong in all

Larko goes fc

Supercar in 2002, said that he was looking forward to debuting at Bathurst.

"I suppose I have a never-say-die attitude and that has paid off," he said.

"I first tested with WPS m April and the development from then until now has been very impressive. There is also a great spirit and passion among the guys, and you get the feeling it is going to be a very successful team.

MNews expects Besnard and Noske to share the #23 car, leaving Yoong and McIntyre to share #48.

KIWI speedster Matt Halliday has completed the driver puzzle for Orrcon Racing's assault on Sandown and Bathurst.

The Aucklander, who was ' supposed to campaign in the local Carrera Cup this season, has been signed by Mark Larkham's squad to join Larko himself and team regulars Jason Bargwanna and Mark Winterbottom.

The 25-year-old will test with the team prior to the enduros, having actually sampled a Larkham car back as far as 2000 when he raced here in Formula Holden.

"It is a great opportunity for me and my career, I simply can't wait," said Halliday, who raced last season in the Formula

Renault V6 Eurocup and finished second to Jim Richards in the Trans-Tasman GT3 Cup over the summer in NZ. "To race at Bathurst is any Australian or New Zealand drivers dream and to be able to achieve this goal with a team as professional as Orrcon Racing is unreal. I am confident that 1 will adapt well into the team and the characteristics of a V8."

It will be Halliday's first start at Bathurst and only Winterbottom's second. On the other hand, Larkham will be lining up for his 10th appearance in The Great Race.

Bargwanna, of course, was the 2000 victor alongside Garth Tander in a Valvoline/GRM Commodore.

moiorsport nsws

NEWS

nn

V8 Supercar Endurance Race Driver Line-Ups

I areas, especially powerful in a straight line."

Maybe Stoks is forgetting his two starts in 1997/98 in Wayne Gardner-run cars though ...

The signing of Stokell means that team regular Brede will join young signing Neil McFadyen in the #45 Commodore.

Stokell has campaigned in the endures for the past two years alongside Anthony Tratt in the Toll Falcon and joined Steve Ellery in the Super Cheap squad in 2000.

He is yet to record a particularly strong Mountain result, a best of 13th alongside Gardner in 1998.

- AARON NOONAN

1 2 3 5 05 6 7 8 9 10 11 12.

14 15 16 17 18 20 21 021 23 24 29 31 33 34 43 44 45 48 50 51 75

Pirtek/SBR Falcon BA Marcos Ambrose/Greg Ritter HRT Commodore VY Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly Tasman Commodore VY Jason Richards/Fabian Couthard?

Alain Menu/Adam Macrow FPV/FPR Falcon BA HRT Commodore VY Peter Brock/Jason Plato CAT/FPR Falcon BA Craig Lowndes/Glenn Seton Castrol Commodore VY Tony Longhurst/Alex Davison Castrol Commodore VY Paul Dumbrell/Jamie Whincup Caltex/SBR Falcon BA Russell Ingall/Cameron McLean Orrcon Falcon BA Jason Bargwanna/Mark Larkham Castrol Commodore VY Steven Richards/Jim Richards OzEmail Falcon BA Andrew Jones/John Cleland Smiths Trucks Commodore VY TBA/TBA Kmart Commodore VY Steve Owen/Tim Leahey?

PWR Commodore VY Marcus Marshall/Matthew White Shell Helix Falcon BA Steven JohnsonA/Varren Luff Shell Helix Falcon BA Owen Kelly/David Brabham Orrcon Falcon BA Mark Winterbottom/Matt Halliday OzEmail Falcon BA Brad Jones/John Bowe Team Kiwi Commodore VY Craig Baird/Mark Porter WPS Falcon BA David Besnard/Mark Noske Romano franchise TBA/TBA Sirromet Commodore VY Paul Morris/Alan Gurr?

Steve Ellery/Luke Youlden Super Cheap Falcon BA Valvoline Commodore VY Nathan Pretty/TBA Garth Tander/Cameron McConville Valvoline Commodore VY KurtWimmer/TBA Young Lions Commodore VX Simon Wills/Paul Stokell Team Dynamik Commodore VY Team Dynamik Commodore VY Dale Brede/Neil McFadyen WPS Falcon BA John Mclntyre/Alex Yoong PWR Commodore VY Jason Brighl/Paul Weel Kmart Commodore VY Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly Toll Commodore VY Anthony Tratt/Tomas Mezera Paul Radisich/Yvan Muller Betta Triple 8 Falcon BA Max Wilson/Dean Canto Betta Triple 8 Falcon BA

LP grabs Whincup

CASTROL Perkins Racing has signed former Formula Ford champion Jamie Whincup to round out its endurance race line-up.

The 21-year-old, who has been sitting on the sidelines this year since being replaced by Cameron McConville at Valvoline/GRM, will join Paul Dumbrell in the team's #8 Commodore for the enduros.

"Obviously,I'm happy to be back in a drive," said Whincup.

"Larry's cars are second to none when it comes to Bathurst and I've got faith that the team will be able to give me the support for a good result."

Whincup, who most recently tested for Tasman Motorsport was thought of as the likely option for the Sydney-based squad, but signed with Perkins as time ticked by for the Tasman deal.

"After the test I rang Larry and he pretty much gave me a deal straight away so I had to take it!"

Whincup's deal puts rest to speculation that Larry Perkins would 7 July 2004

4 return to the driver's seat, leaving 'LP' to concentrate on other matters.

That also leaves Carrera Cup ace Alex Davison to join Tony Longhurst in the team's #7 car, while father and son combo Steven and Jim Richards will lead the charge in the #11 machine. Those are the pairings MNews expects when the team rolls out for the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 on September 12.

-AARON NOONAN

Weber and Toyota!

Whoops,different spelling n nn

WILLI Weber says that Toyota will confirm Ralf Schumacher as one of its drivers in 2005 at the forthcoming British GP at Silverstone.

Weber has been reticent about making any comments in the past but obviously now that Schumacher is injured wants to get the news out as quickly as possible to avoid speculation that Ralf might be dropped by Toyota before the relationship begins, With Ralf expected to get US$12m a year for two years at Toyota there is obviously as incentive to see Ralf back as quickly as possible to kill all speculation. n The official launch of the GP2 series took place at Magny-Cours, with an announcement that Bridgestone will become the tyre supplier of the new championship with the clear intention being to convince teams that the series will not be too expensive.

The series will have a bonus scheme of US$1 m and the cars will be sold ready to race for US$250,000 each. This does not include spares nor the running costs of the teams and it will be interesting to see if there is much interest from the existing Formula 3 and Formula 3000 operations. n Martin Whitaker, who until last year was the head of Ford's European motorsport programmes, has been named as the new General Manager of the Bahrain International Circuit.

Whitaker was involved in this year's race, working with KHP Consulting in the run-up to the event. Whitaker has been through a string of jobs since quitting journalism, including periods with the MSA in Britain, McLaren, FOM,the FIA and Ford. He left Ford unexpectedly last year. n Michael Schumacher is the world's highest paid sportsman, at least according to Forbes Magazine in the United States. Schumacher's annual salary of US$40m is well in excess of other, although golfer Tiger Woods is reckoned to earn the same as Schumacher when merchandising and endorsements are taken into account. The two men are estimated to earn US$80m a year.

This put them fourth on the list of the world's highest paid celebrities behind actor/director Mel Gibson and TV presenter Oprah Winfrey(who both earned US$21 Om in the last year) and novelist JK Rowling (US$147m). The other motor racing on the list are NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr, 18th with US$20.1 m and Jeff Gordon 23rd with US$19.3m.

Ralf Schumacher is reckoned to be 40th with US$16m a year.

- JOE SAWARD

G®d©do JAGUAR Racing's managing director David Pitchforth has made the extraordinary admission that the team made a mistake in hiring Christian Klien as Mark Webber's team mate.

Pitchforth said last month that the team succumbed to pressure from Klien's sponsor Red Bull to put the 21-yearold in the race team, rather than appoint a more experienced driver and make the Austrian the team's test driver.

"We lobbied Red Bull very hard to make Christian the tester and put somebody more experienced in the race seat," Pitchforth told Britain's Motorsport News.

"I think they nov/ admit that maybe that was the better i move." ! Klien was announced as

Webber's team-mate in December,following Justin Wilson's departure from the team. Wilson, a former rival of Webber's in Formula 3000, scored one point in five races with the green outfit.

While Klien has been hampered by a lack of reliability from the team's R5, he has not done his cause any good by being caught in a multitude of incidents, including three on the opening laps of GPs. At Indianapolis, he crashed in Turn 2, costing himself almost certain points on a day when only eight cars finished.

At the time Jaguar signed Klien, it denied that it was because of the money he brought to the team; "He didn't seem remotely fazed by his first experience of an FI car," Pitchforth said after his maiden tests. "His technical feedback was excellent and there is no doubt in our minds about the potential of this exciting young talent.

Ralf out for thi

RALF Schumacher may be out for the rest of the FI season,following his 300kph crash at the US Grand Prix - which could well fast-track Mark Webber into the Williams team as early as the German Grand Prix in two weeks'time.

Schumacher got a shock last week when he visited a clinic at BadNauheim,near Frankfurt, for further checks and discovered that he had two fractures in his spine.

During his massive crash at Indianapolis, Ralf was subjected to a massive 78G. He spent a night at the Methodist Hospital and then went back to his home in Austria.

According to MNews sources in the United States, the hospital was not at all keen on him leaving but we have heard that Ralf wanted to discharge himself and signed a medical release. However, when the fractures were foimd by the Germans,Ralf suddenly became rather critical of the Americans ...

There have been several cases in the past when fractures have not started to show up until a few days

after a crash, when the healing process begins and the cracks open up. The Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis is probably the most advanced department In the world when it comes to motor racing injuries and has been dealing with the victims of big shunts in CART and IRL for many years.

Whatever the case, Schumacher will be out of action for a minimum of three months and that means that the earliest that he can return would be the beginning of October,in time for the last two races of the year.

Given his move to Toyota for 2005, it is likely he will take the time to heal properly.

Marc Gene replaced Ralf for the French GP and will probably continue at the British GP this week but the long-term solution will almost certainly be an attempt by Williams to get Webber out of his Jaguar Racing contract before the German Grand Prix.

Renault did not announce its 2005 drivers at the French GP as had been expected. It seems that Jarno Trulli,

Ecclestone shooting for 19 races in 2005 THERE will be 19 FI races in 2005 if Bernie Ecclestone gets his way.

Ecclestone is nothing if not an optimist and has asked the FIA to block 19 dates for FI races next year, despite the fact that the team bosses say that they are not going to do more than 17 races unless he pays them considerably more money than is currently the case.

Extra races bring in more income for Formula One Management but adds to the costs of the teams. The team bosses are worried that if there are any more races added, they will have to take on more people to avoid personnel burning out in the course of the season.

NASCAR has a much bigger number of races but they have rules to protect the staff, including a 6pm-6am ban on working on the cars and rotating pit crews. There are also easier transport arrangements, with the bigger teams flying crews to races on private aeroplanes to minimise the strain of the travelling.

Despite this, this season the teams are doing 18 events. The list of blocked dates is as follows: March 6, March 20, April 3, April 17, April 24, May 8, May 22,June 5, Jmre 12, June 26, July 3, July 17, July 31, August 21, September 4,September 11, September 25, October 9 and October 23.

This is going to create problems for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because the Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 29, which means that there will be only two weeks between the 500 and the United States Grand Prix, which will create some logistical problems.

The calendar of blocked dates means that there could be no fewer than four back-to-back sets of races. There is still a two-week break in August.

-JOESAWARD 10

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motorsport news

NEWS

season - Webber in?

Flavio Briatore and Renault were still unable to agree final terms on a new contract last week and Jarno has been threatening to take up an offer from Toyota. However, our sources are suggesting that an agreement will be reached this week, which will in effect confirm Webber's availability for Wilhams.

MNews understands that Williams will seek Webber's release from Jaguar as soon as possible.

With the balance of Schumacher's 2004 salary (sortie US$9 million) now

likely to be covered by insurance, Williams has some cashflow to play with and will offer Jaguar a worthwhile sum to obtain Webber possibly in time for its pre-German GP test and thus a Hockenheim debut. If not, then the three week break prior to Hungary provides ample time.

The move makes sense for Jaguar in more ways than money. It needs to find a new driver for next year and it would be a good chance to settle a new driver into the team before then.

The big question is who could be chosen for this role? The test and reserve driver Bjorn Wirdheim is obviously one possibihty but Anthony Davidson, the BAR test driver, is a favourite of team boss Tony Purnell. It is also possible that Red Bull might push to get Formula 3000 racer Vitantonio Liuzzi into the second Jaguar, although it probably makes more sense for him to complete his Formula 3000 program and worry about FI after that.

-SAWARD/STAFF

Id Of An Ena MAX Mosley,the FIA President for the last 11 years, is retiring in October, one year before the end of his term of office.

Mosley, 64, said that he started thinking seriously about retirement a year ago but decided recently that he would not stand for re-election in 2005.

"I made the real decision about three weeks mp," he said at the weekend. "l am a bit sad. It is the end of an era but thingspove on. People change and to hang on -■is^ nristake. I have achieved everything I set / out to achieve. After 55 years of people trying, J have managed to merge the FIA with the AIT ^o create one federation.

"I have made the federation a significant player in Brussels and turned the FIA into a world organisation. I have established the FIA Foundation with $300m from Formula 1. That will do research. Half the money will go towards improving road safety and half will go into motor racing safety. I spent eight years building up the EuroNCAP crash test program.

The one thing left to do is to sort out FI. That is going to happen and I did not want to face another year doing things that are somewhat mundane."

Mosley told the FI media that one of the reasons he is quitting is his frustration in dealing with the Formula 1 team bosses. He was unable to stop himself from taking a swipe at them, remarking that some of them "were made rich despite themselves" and

7 July 2004

said that they all had to thank Bernie Ecclestone who made them "the Monopoly board on which to play".

"With one or two exceptions," he said, "they are not businessmen."

He even referred to one team boss as "not | the sharpest knife in the drawer, who attends' FI Commission meetings with a 'manager person', a detail man who wastes endless hours with irrelevant detail ..."

Team boss Ron Dennis shrugged off such comments, saying that Mosley's departure had nothing to do with Formula 1 and was all about politics within the FIA. There are some who believe that Mosley's departure is because he could see clouds gathering at the FIA with definite plans being laid to put a candidate against him in 2005.

Mosley and his staff say there is no sign of such things.

The interesting thing now will be to see who comes in to replace him. The FIA General Assembly will meet in October to elect a new president for the interim year. This is likely to be an established FIA name who is seen as a safe pair of hands to see the organization through until the election in 2005. The man most likely to play that role is Automobile Club de Monaco President Michel Boeri.

American Robert Darbelnet is being tipped as the man most likely to be the long-term replacement.

- JOE SAWARD

DC to stay in silver colours?

DAVID Coulthard may well stay with McLaren as its test and reserve driver in 2005.

Coulthard would be the perfect man to help the team with its development work and he could step in if either Kimi Raikkonen or Juan Pablo Montoya are not available to race. Coulthard wants to go on racing but at the moment there do not seem to be many opportunities, as neither Williams nor Toyota appears to be paying him much attention.

McLaren may also get a new second test driver as the team is rumoured to be looking at Gary Paffett and also needs to find a home for rising F3 star Lewis Hamilton.

H The United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis will be on June 12 next year. There had been fears that a switch from the usual date in September would adversely affect the attendance at the Speedway this year, particularly as the Grand Prix took place just three weeks after the Indianapolis 500. In fact the race day crowd of 120,000 was impressive and race organisers were delighted to see an increasing number of NASCAR fans coming to look at FI. n Stefan Johansson says he wants to run his own Formula 1 team. The 48-year-old Swede has been running teams since 1997 and last year put together American Spirit Team Johansson to run two cars in CART for Jimmy Vasser and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The team closed at the end of the season and Johansson is now moving to the West Coast, saying that as he is no longer running a team he no longer needs to live in Indiana. The idea of an FI team is obviously dependent not only on money but also on the adoption of proposed new cost-cutting regulations.

■ There is much talk in Germany that Microsoft is to become the title sponsor of the Toyota FI team. The stories have been linked to a deal involving Sony and, if true, could be linked to FI electronic gaming.

■ Third-generation racer Al Unser is to compete in the Indy Racing League's Infiniti Pro Series. 'Just Al', who is the grandson of Al and son of Al Jr, will drive with Keith Duesenberg Racing after a successful test at Kentucky Speedway last month. Just Al, 21, raced in the Barber Dodge Pro . Series last season and has raced in the Toyota Atlantic series so far in 2004.

- JOE SAWARD/STAFF 11

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Al Bows Out: AL Unser Jr, one of the USA's most accomplished racers, has announced his retirement from driving.

Unser, 42, announced last Wednesday in Indianapolis that he was stepping out of the cockpit of the Patrick Racing entry with immediate effect.

"I have always said that I would get out of the race car if driving stopped being fun for me and if I felt that I was no longer competitive on the track," said Unser, below.

"After careful thought, I came to this conclusion just after the Richmond race and knew that it was time for me to retire. So, true to my word, I am stepping out of the car."

In spite of his recent and well-publicised problems with drugs and alcohol, Unser takes to his retirement one of the most impressive CVs in the history of the sport. He is a two-time winner of the Indy 500 (in 1992 with Galies Racing and '94 with Penske Racing) and he also won the CART Champ Car championship twice - in 1990 with Galies and in '94 with Penske. He was also runner-up in the CART title - by one point - in 1985, beaten by his father Al Sr. For 14 years (between 1983 and '96), he was never outside the top 10 in CART points. Away from open-wheelers, Al Jr won the Daytona 24 Hours in 1986 (sharing with Al Holbert and Derek Bell) and won the International Race of Champions series in 1986 and '88. In that series, he is the co-leader in all-time race winners, an honour he shares with NASCAR legends, Mark Martin and the late Dale Earnhardt.

Unser will remain with Patrick Racing as an advisor to younger drivers as well as continuing to support and advise his son, thirdgeneration driver Al 'Just Al' Unser_-*^ - PHIL MORRIS

Ford going ARC?

IT appears Ford is closer than ever to re-entering the Australian Rally Championship with lead driver Michael Guest undertaking recce on the Safari Tasmania rally.

Guest completed the Tassie recce with co-driver Mark Stacey m a Ford Motor Company-owned Territory, and while the Newcastle flier would not comment on his presence at the rally, it was dear that he wasn't there for sightseeing.

As reported in MNews last year.

Ford has been planning to re-enter the ARC with Guest at the wheel of MOTOR racing has lost one of its most enduring supporters with the passing of Phil Jones.

The father of OzEmail Racing's Brad and Kim, and grandfather of KMV8SS star Andy Jones, suffered a heart attack in Albury two weeks ago and could not be revived. He was 76.

Jones Sr was one of the leading lights of racing at the Hume Weir track and was always highly visible, whether he was acting in an official capacity, organising events of just helping competitors. Long before the advent of Network 10's V8 Superstars, Phil pioneered the concept of bringing racing drivers to the people by organising and hosting a panel show, featuring 12

the leading drivers of the day, on local television in the , Albury/Wodonga region.

Jones was afflicted by ill health in recent years but, despite being confined to a wheelchair, was a regular fixture in the BJR workshops and a constant supporter of his sons' team at tracks around the country. A sign of the esteem in which Phil was held was that the funeral service in Albury last month featured a who's-who of racing past and present.

To Brad and Melissa, and Kim and Fran and their families, and Phil's many friends in the sport, Motorsport News extends its condolences at the loss of a fine man and a real racer.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

Focus for the past two years. The death of Howard Marsden,as well as financial constraints, delayed the company's rally plans but now they are apparently back on track for a 2005 attack.

The 2005 campaign will mesh well with the arrival of a new model Focus, which is set to be launched at the Paris Motor Show in September.

To have campaigned the current shape Focus with the new car just around the comer would clearly have been a waste of resources, it is believed there will be a roadgoing 4WD turbo Cosworthpowered Focus in the new model line-up, making a Group N or Group N P rally version a much easier proposition for Ford.

While Guest was hesitant about disclosing too many details of his plans, he did confirm that he will be competing in the 2005 championship and that the program was "very exciting."

- JON THOMSON

Situation normal THE proposed changes to Formula Ford will be delayed for 12 months.

Earlier this year. Ford announced that the category would update to a 1.4-litre twin-cam engine to replace the venerable 1.6-litre Kent OHV unit, which has been used in the class for 35 years. But following discussions between Ford and category manager Formula Ford Australia, the new unit will not be introduced until 1 January 2006, a year later than was originally planned.

One problem that may arise from the delay is the fact that while the newer motor is designed, and intended, to run on unleaded fuel, the Kent runs on Avgas, which is due to be phased out prior to the 2006 schedule. motorsport news

NEWS

Bounting the Costs

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DIALOGUE between the TEGA Board and V8 Supercar teams on the issue of cost containment and the long-term security of the series is continuing, witli a number of letters having been circulated between the relevant parties during the past few weeks.

Mark Larkham,left, sent a detailed communication to all stakeholders last week that confirmed his ongoing support for the TEGA Board's current cost containment charter, and supplied recipients with additional information and perspectives concerning the various aspects of preserving the category's economic viability while continuing to provide a good entertainment package for the fans.

This was followed up by another letter that WPS CEO/Chairman Craig Gore unleashed upon team owners at Queensland Raceway last Friday.

In it. Gore attacked parts of Larklnam's letter, and stated that some TEGA Board members "have gone to manipulate, discredit and conceal the real agenda of 'cost containment'."

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Gore went on to claim that the issue of cost containment had been hijacked by teams who were struggling financially and looking for an opportunity to "liquidate the licenses at inflated prices".

He suggested that the number of licenses needed to be reduced, possibly by buying all residual licenses at a 'fair market value' and having them cancelled by TEGA. Gore concluded by suggesting that some teams are "holding the sport to ransom by refusing to let it grow out of fears tliat they would be priced out of participating.

"I can't sit back and watch the sport disintegrate because a selfish few ... have decided to remove the basis of

competition from the sport-so they can still play in a game they can no longer afford to play in because TEGA won't take action against those holding the sport to ransom," the letter reads.

"I intend to take appropriate and necessary action to ensure this never takes place."

- MARK GLENDENNING

Winds of Change Maybe

KONICA Minolta teams met at Queensland Raceway to discuss the direction the junior category should take in 2005.

A vote was taken by the team owners and managers as to whether the introduction of the BA Falcon and VY Commodore should be delayed until 2006 - and the outcome was a landslide.

13 teams said they wanted the regulations to change,forbidding the new model Supercars from entering the junior category next year, easily outnumbering the three that voted the other way.

Paddock talk remains though that the BAs and VYs will be eligible next 7 July 2004

year, despite the negativity towards it. The TEGA Board looked at this

issue earlier in the year, but deemed that there BAs and VYs should be allowed to compete.

With the implementation of costcontainment in the main series, most of the small teams in the Konica Minolta paddock are concerned that the gap between themselves and the front-runners will not only increase, but the price of new models will be inflated due to scarcity.

Brad Jones Racing and Smith Trucks were two of the teams who want the new cars to be allowed to play, as both teams will have current cars raring to go and have been

planning this for the past 18 months.

"We've all had a couple of years to plan this," said Smiths Trucks team manager Ryan McLeod.

"I know a few teams and drivers who have put deposits on new cars.

If they change the rules, these guys aren't going to race.in 2005, which means we'll be have exactly the same cars in the field as we have this

year.

I also don't see any reason why the slower competitors should be made to look better."

TEGA were due to met today (Monday)to see if any rules would be changed.

-GRANT ROWLEY

Aussie wins in IHRA DRAG racing veteran Jeff Burnett has won the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals Funny Car title held in Edmonton, Canada, on Monday morning, Australian time.

Burnett, from Brisbane, is the second Aussie to claim an IHRA title following fellow Queenslander Troy Critchley's wins in Pro Modified a few seasons back, n Michelin Sport has submitted a series of proposals for new tyre regulations aimed at reducing both performance and costs in Formula 1 in 2005. With the agreement of its partner teams, the French company -which, like Bridgestone, is opposing any move towards 'control' tyres from a single supplier - has suggested that only one set of tyres is used for qualifying and the entire race. Michelin has further suggested that between two and four sets of dry-weather tyres would be available for each driver per weekend, in one or two types; that a samespecification 'prime' tyre and a samespecification 'option' tyre would be supplied to all team; and that only six sets would be available per team for each test day. n The FIA Formula 1 Commission, meeting at London Heathrow two days ahead of the World Motor Sport Council, voted for a revised Formula 1 start procedure but against a revised qualifying format. Under the existing start-abort system, a car stalling on the grid triggers a restart procedure, causing a lOmin delay In the TV coverage. In future, the rest of the field will simply perform another parade lap while the stalled car is removed.

As to the current single-lap qualifying system, it dismays Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone, who wants more interesting TV footage on Saturdays. Some teams supported a switch to two 25 minute sessions, in each of which each driver would complete 12 laps.

However, this method would likely reduce the TV exposure for the smaller teams (an issue raised by Minardi's Paul Stoddart) and has been rejected on those grounds. The revised format was to have been introduced at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix but instead the existing procedure will now remain in place through the end of the season. n The World Motor Sport Council has approved a recommendation by the FIA Safety Commission to adopt the HANS (Head And Neck Support) safety device in closed cars competing in FIA-sanctioned motorsport classes.

It will be obligatory in the FIA GT Championship from September 1 and in the World Touring Car Championship and WRC from 1 January 2005.

- QUENTIN SPURRING/STAFF 13

Choose your Destiny PROCAR Champ Series organiser Peter Boylan has challenged V8 BRute team owners to make a final decision about their futures, following efforts from within the camp to shift the series elsewhere.

According to Boylan, who owns a BRutes team franchise, a shift away from the PROCAR banner is not an option.

"Talk among a handful of owners of trying to race utes elsewhere is disruptive for those who intend to stay, disruptive to sponsorship

Series under the new management.

"Those who still wish to move on may do so, but they will have to find something else to race as the V8 BRutes concept and category management rights are firmly in our control.

"They will also have to forsake their V8 BRute entrant franchises, but as there is always a waiting list of people wanting to join the series I'm sure we'll have no difficulty maintaining full fields."

by GRANT ROWLEY

THE race has hotted up for drives in the three spare franchises available for the V8 Supercar endurance races at the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 and Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst.

Smiths Trucks will announce their driving line-up soon after confirming that they will run a VY Commodore in both endurance races under Mike Imrie's license (which Neil McFadyen used at Queensland Raceway).

V8 Supercar rookie Lee Holdsworth has bounced into the frame for the seat after impressive outings in the team's VX Commodore. The 22-year-old finished third overall at Queensland Raceway last weekend and team manager Ryan McLeod said the former Commodore Cupper has come along faster than expected.

"I think Lee has a lot of talent and has come a long way in Ms last few outings," said McLeod.

"Td really like to see him in there but we want to keep aU our options open at this stage. We don't want to miss out on any stand-out driver."

McLeod confirmed that the

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Nigel makes Comeback!

NIGEL Mansell drove a Jordan EJ14 in the ‘F1 Comes to Regent Street’ event in London on Tuesday(6 July), a novel downtown promotion for the 2004 British Grand Prix.

The 1992 Formula 1 World Champion had a seat fitting at the Jordan factory and immediately carried out a familiarisation run on the Silverstone circuit across the road from the team’s HQ, below.

Mansell said: “It was great to be back in a Formula 1 car -(I was) reunited with the love of my life. I think what London is doing is very special for the British Grand Prix. When I got the call from Eddie asking me if I would do this, it seemed the right thing to do.

“I was comfortable in the car today and really enjoyed having a little play this afternoon. I practiced start-launches, did a few laps, and went round some corners a bit quicker than 1 should havel “I can’t wait to take part in the Regent Street event- it should be great for the fans.”

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Mansell got familiar with Eddie Jordan's EJ14 at Silverstone.

VIP Pet Foods Carrera Cup driver Tony Quinn found an innovative method of fine payment at Queensland Raceway on the weekend.

Quinn was slugged with a $3000 fine for enduring a spin during passenger rides at Western Australia's Barbagallo Raceway.

Quinn paid the fine at QR in approximately 20,000 20c and 5c pieces which he delivered via upturned bucket to the Stewards Room. A cryptic message of 'Stewards Socks' was also written on the race car. The payment method may have been due to an ingrained Scots dislike of parting with folding ...

MNews believes the stewards asked Quinn to mop up the coins he dumped in the office and please return with a more appropriate form of payment.

- MARK JONES moiorsport news

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le seats up for grabs selected pairing for the endurance races won't have to pay for their drive.

'The team will use Paul Morris Motorsport's ex-'VX Commodore, 'Bam Bam', with a VY front-end upgrade after the car was damaged in Alan Gurr's hands at Adelaide.

The car will powered by a PMM 18degree Chev.

Meanwhile, the Holden Young Lions have confirmed they will use Kees Weeks Level Two franchise at

Sandown and Bathurst in the #46 VX. No drivers have yet been sorted, although team boss John Faulkner was most’impressed with Kurt Wimmer, who took his first Supercar race win at QR. "We'd like to look at performers to drive the car, not renters," Faulkner stated.

"I'd like to see Kurt drive in the

next week or so."

Faulkner also said if Wimmer gets his main game debut, he will not contest the Konica Minolta 25 lap non-championship race at Bathurst.

Gurr is a confirmed starter in that race for HYL. The Romano Racing license has been secured by Garth Walden for the remainder of 2004. He debuted in the

1000. By the time MaUala and a test day goes by, he'll be well up to speed, but I'd like to make a decision in the

Supercar series at Queensland last weekend. However,there has been a lot of interest in it...

Madness

CAMS has received the green light from the Australian |

Dirk Klynsmith

7 July 2004

Competition and Consumer Competition (AGGOltd' | ~ reintroduce a control fuel to the ARC. ~ | The supply of control Elf fuel was temporarily suspended | earlier this year to allow the ACCG to investigate CAMS' notification that drivers of turbo/supercharged 4WD vehicles i in ARC events be required to use a control Elf WRF fuel In order to be eligible to accrue points.

"We are grateful to the ACCC for ratifying what is common , practice in the world of motor sport and for permlttiing the use of 'control' mechanisms which are designed to maintain even competition and reduce costs to competitors," said Australian Rally Commission Chairman Garry Connelly.

It's all go for A1 engines ZYTEK Engineering has released the specification of its all-new A1 Grand Prix race engine.

The deal to supply the 520bhp 'spec' engine, signed earlier this month between Zytek and series creator Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum, is the company's largestever single order. The ZA1348 engine Is a 3.4-litre, quad-cam, 32-vaive V8 at 90deg, weighing 121kg. It delivers 520bhp and 3301b.ft of torque.

Al Grand Prix will begin in September 2005. Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar, China, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Australia have already committed to host the first Al Grand Prix season, and there are two further possible venues. n The state congress In Andhra Pradesh has now formally cancelled Its state-funded Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix project in the city of Hyderabad.

B. Satyanarayana, the state's Major Industries Minister, told media that, after a careful study of the project, the government had voted no longer to pursue it. He added that people in the state were starving, farmers were committing suicide, and investment in FI racing was not appropriate. n Last week's meeting between the FIA, the AGO and five manufacturers of GT racecars, aimed at implementing common technical regulations, has been hailed as "the most important sportscar meeting for 15 years" by FIA GT Championship promoter Stephane Rate!

Variations between the FIA and Le Mans rules are seen as a major restriction to the growth of the category. Ratel added:"We made very important steps and I hope we can have one set of rules finalised for 2005."

The meeting was attended by delegates from Aston Martin (which is understood to be building its new racecar to comply with the Le Mans rules), Chevrolet, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche. n The city council of Auckland has voted 13:7 to become a joint equity partner with IMG in the V8 Supercar street race fixture that will start in the New Zealand city in 2006, and will take 25 percent of any profits.

The council resolved to provide an NZ$3.5m interest-free loan to the event promoter, to be repaid over seven years.

A new assessment estimates that the city will enjoy an annual economic benefit of more than $40.2m from the event.

- QUENTIN SPURRING/STAFF 15

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AUDI has swept the latest round of the Le Mans Endurance Series with a 1-2 victory in the IMurburgring 1000km.

Allan McNish and Pierre Kaffer led home the team Audi R8 of Jamie Davies and Johnny Herbert in a race that was severely hit by rainstorms.

All four drivers are now tied with the series lead fol lowing the completion of the second round.

But it wasn't all plain sailing, as Nicolas Minassian's DBA, right, took pole and raced hard, however simply couldn't stop the Audi team from sweeping to victory in the 195-lap race.

"We all worked very hard for

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this result," said McNish.

"After what happened at Le Mans it was important for us to have a good result. At one point I thought it was gone."

The DBA finished a strong third, just one lap off the winners, while Dindo Capello took the Le Mans-winning Goh Audi to fourth spot.

Hyundai in hot water

HYUNDAI is to be "invited" to explain its early withdrawal from the 2003 World Rally Championship to the World Motor Sport Council in October.

The South Korean manufacturer, wliich is already being sued by Motor Sport Developments, the UK company that prepared and operated its cars, could face an FIA fine because it quit the series in mid season, having committed itself under the rules to contest every roimd.

When Hyimdai abruptly decided to cease its WRC programme with MSD, which ran its works-entered Accent WRC cars out of its factory in Milton Keynes, MSD had to lay off 100 staff, but managing director David Whitehead successfully appUed for protection against the company's creditors to allow it to continue trading while it pursued its litigation.

- QUENTIN SPURRING 16

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BRITISH Touring Car front-runner James Thompson scored an emphatic victory at Donington in late June in Britain's ETCC event.

Thompson, driving one of the four AutoDelta Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo 156 Gtas, blitzed the opposition, taking the fastest time in the two free practice sessions, qualifying and the warm-up before he ran away and hid in the race itself.

The Alfa was dominant in the opening race, whilst his team-mates Gabriele Tarquini, Augusto Farfus and Fabrizio Giovanardi tried to overcome the quick-starting of Jorg Muller.

Giovanardi made progress to the head of tire queue until he ran wide and feU down the order again, allowing MuUer to take second place.

Andy Priaulx won race two, despite 40kgs of success ballast on board his BMW, his second row start (from the reversed top eight on the grid) allowing him better haction off moiorsport news

NEWS

ITCC returns

Le Mans in sight for Zanardi

|?Ujlg I THE FIA is to revive the World Touring Car Championship in 2005. “ ° The 10-round championship will cater for cars built to the same regulations as the current European championship,left, and up to six manufacturers are expected to enter The series will take in some of tlie classic tracks of tlie touring car world,including Brno in the Czech Republic and Macau's famed Guia race.

The manufacturers which have committed to the series are Alfa Romeo,BMW,Ford and SEAT. The two other manufacturers thought to be pursuing programs are Peugeot and one unnamed maker.

The first - and only - WTCC was conducted in 1987 and included rounds at Bathurst and Calder. It was won by Roberto Ravaglia in BMW , M3.

It will include rounds at Buenos Aires, Monza, Magny-Cours, Donington, Brno, Spa, Oschersleben, Istanbul and Macau, with one round's venue TBA.

ohitsEICC

'ttQn’imagcs.com!

Donington drama

9d1

m the line to grab the lead which he was never to lose.

Behind him,Tarquini had to fend off Farfus, and once the mission was accomplished, Priaulx was out of reach. Despite the ballast-free Alfa chasing hard,Priaulx was able to extend the gap and scored a vital win for his championship hopes.

-DAVID ADDISON 7 July 2004

WILL Power endured a frustrating weekend in the latest round of British F3 at Donington two weeks ago.

The Queenslander qualified his ADR car fifth for the wet opening race, and made a cracking start to gain three places away from the line.

His good luck only lasted as long as the run to turn one however, where Lucas Di Grass! squeezed Power into the wall, taking himself and his team-mate Marko Asmer into the concrete as well, above.

The outlook failed to improve in the second race of the weekend. Starting from 11th, Power stalled on the line, recovered, cut the chicane to avoid some spinning cars in

front, and then looped it himself while getting back on the gas. He recovered to 10th.

It was a slightly better story for compatriot Marcus Marshall however, who scored his first points in the Championship courtesy of a ninth place in the first race — a good effort, given that he'd had to pit for lightning repairs after having his front wing damaged from contact with Fairuz Fauzy.

Oulton Park is scheduled to be Marshall's last race in the series, but he said that he is still hopeful of sticking around for a couple of extra rounds before returning to Australia to drive in the V8 Supercar endurance races for PWR. - MARK GLENDENNING Ijkob Cbrey

1

DISABLED racers Jason Watt and Alex Zanardi are targeting the Le Mans 24 Hours as their next goal.

The pair, both racing in the ETCC, have aspirations of tackling the Le Mans classic in a specially adapted car. Watt, paralysed from the waist down after a motorbike accident in 1999, raced a Panoz in sports car races in 2000 and was competitive, Zanardi has admitted that he would like to do the race if the car were competitive. n Nineteen Formula Renault Eurocup drivers were handed a time penalty at Donington for arriving late in the assembly area. The reason they were late? The way was blocked by a garbage truck! Drivers and teams had been warned that they must arrive on time, but the circuit's garbage team seemed to have missed the briefing.,. n Former Le Mans winner Guy Smith will race in the Spa 24 Hours, No, not that one. Every year, the quirky VW Fun Cup runs for 24 Hours with a grid of VW Beetle lookalikes and Smith will be on the grid. The cars are powered by ISOOcc Volkswagen engines with Audi A4 five-speed gearboxes. Smith will drive with journalists from the British Top Gear magazine, and said: "It is just a bit of fun. I have never driven one of these cars before, but I like Spa. It is a real challenge," n A consortium from Asia is looking at an assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours. Current F3 drivers Karun Chandhok and Fairuz Fauzy are linked to the project, as is Dallara World Series driver Narain Karthikeyan. TSport, the British F3 team currently running Chandhok, is understood to have been asked to run a car, but the team has refused to comment. n The new Formula Renault V6 Championship is likely to have nine weekends for 2005. An announcement was due at the French Grand prix, but it seems that nine double-header weekends are on the cards, to be supported by Formula Renault 2000 and a onemake saloon car category.

This may move it away from the existing Super Racing Weekend format. The technology in the current Formula Renault will be transferred to the Dallara, the Tatuus-built cars in FRV6 at present set for America. n Gabriele Tarquini is set to join the grid of the British Touring Car Masters race at Donington in September. Frank Biela and Tim Harvey have already committed to the SEAT Cupra race.

- DAVID ADDISON 17

i

A Royale,with cheese

by PHIL MORRIS

IT was another case of'burgers for everyone' when Sebastien Bourdais took his second-straight CART win in Cleveland.

The Frenchman calmly motored through the traditional Burke Lakefront Airport Turn 1 chaos, took the lead at once and hung on for another win that looked as simple as stopping for a drive-through meal at McDonald's.

"Tlris was probably the easiest win of my short career in Champ Cars," said Bourdais after the race.

"It's a great sensation, to be back to win my second time in Cleveland and to win my second race in a row."

While one Newman-Haas Racing car had a simple day (sorry, night) the other didn't. Bruno Junqueira got caught up in the Turn 1 drama and, along with fellow detainee Alex Tagliani, had to mount a rearguard action to salvage something. That something turned out to be a second place for the Brazilian and third for Tag, who had made a great start from the third row, only to run into the occupants of the first, Paul Tracy and star rookie Justin Wilson.

Tracy found Wilson sliding down his inside under brakes while Justin, in turn,found Tag doing the same to him. The result was inevitable; Wilson was out on the spot while Tracy staggered around for a lap before parking for good.

"1 knew 1 had a very good car, good enough to get a good result," said Tagliani.

"But the race didn't start very good. There were a couple guys ahead of me who were slower, and when 1 went to go past unfortunately 1 got first gear (instead of second).

My tyres locked and I was sliding.

Then Wilson came from nowhere."

"I know how late 1 braked," said Wilson."1 turned in and all of a sudden I saw a blue flash to my right.

"I was clear into the first corner, two to three car lengths ahead," said

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Planes, automobiles, no trains?

Sebastien Bourdais, above, kept bis head and steered through the Turn 1 mess, bottom, to maintain his Cleveland winning streak.

HOLDEN

Tracy. "1 braked at the same point I do for qualifying and turned in. It was my corner. Then Tagliani goes by at a hundred miles an hour, way too fast into the corner ... and Wilson

Positions Vacant

Motorsport Holden Motorsport, Australia's leading V8 Supercar preparation organisation, has two positions vacant in the Holden Racing Team designated area.

had nowhere to go."

Anyway, Bourdais won from his team-mate and a recovered Tagliani, who rode a smart pit strategy through the field. Oriol Servia was fourth after starting from 13th while Jimmy Vasser followed from an impressive A.J. Allmendinger.

Points: Junqueira 133, Bourdais 130, Carpentier 104, Tagliani 86, Tracy and Hunter-Reay 85, Dominguez 81, Wilson 74, Vasser and Allmendinger 73.

A TRUCK DRIVER is required, preferably with V8 Supercar experience (or other leading racing categories) at race track level including tyre fitting, as well as a 'B-Double' rig license. The right candidate would be self-motivated, passionate, energetic and able to work well in a team environment. They would also be highly flexible and able to communicate and cope well in pressured situations.

A WORKSHOP RACE MECHANIC is required to work within the Holden Racing Team. Mechanical apprenticeship is highly desirable and two years current race-car experience particularly in chassis set up. Welding and Fabricating qualifications would also be viewed favourably. The right candidate would be very self-motivated, energetic, able to solve problems, flexible, communicate well and work to high standards in a team environment.

Interested applicants should forward a comprehensive cover letter and CV preferably to: HR Associate or: 1 25 Rayhur St recruitment@holdenmotorsport.com

Clayton VIC

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Closing Date: 5pm Thursday 1 5th July 2004

3

Holden Motorsport supports Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity in the workplace. Information regarding Holden Motorsport's collection and use of personal information can be found at www.holden.com.au/privacy

I

HOLDEN Motorsport

motorsport news

NEWS

Right in the Hunt

JOSH Hunt has had his most encouraging outing to date in round six of the Toyota Atlantic Championship at the Burke Lakefront Airport.

After qualifying 10th on the temporary course. Hunt rocketed through to second on the opening lap and held the position ahead of series leader Jon Fogarty and Alex Figge.

But Hunt suffered a spin, caused by a broken sidepod, which forced him to stop for repairs.

"It was pleasing to show that I could match ir it with the front runners in the championship.

said the 18-year-old Queenslander.

"Although in saying it was pleasing to be at the front of the pack I am also disappointed that the tunnel failure ended my chances, I wouldn't be a racer if I wasn't disappointed. // In all my years in karting I was renown for my good starts, I knew that the opening turn could really make onbreak my race, in my case it made it."

Scot Ryan Dalziel won the race and the series continues at Toronto's temporary street circuit this Sunday weekend.

Bruno shouts the wallbangers SEBASTIEN Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira rewarded the NewmanHaas team with first and second in Cleveland but only after the Brazilian went on a tear - literally on Friday. The PacifiCare Lola wore the wall twice, not a bad effort in a place where, with all that runway run-off, there are only two places to crash and Bruno found both of them. n American youngster Jonathan Summerton (HBR Motorsport) took his fourth win of the season in Round 8 of the inaugural Formula BMW USA Championship in Cleveland. The win, his fourth of the season, moved him to second place in the championship standings, Graham Rahal, son of CART legend Bobby, was a seasonbest sixth. n Ryan Flunter-Reay had all sorts of problems in Cleveland. Apart from getting delayed in the firstcorner melee, RHR had a broken front wing and had the car stop dead on him, forcing him to reset the ECU several times. Fie finished two laps down but gained some points for his 11th place finish.

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Moreover, the MXL may be interfaced via CAN or RS232 to many ECUs, thus increasing the total number of sampled channels.

The MXL PRO has the same characteristics of MXL, but with 2 Deutsch connectors, 4 speed inputs and a CAN protocol for external expansion modules.

Both loggers are equipped with a huge non-volatile 8 Mbytes of memory which guarantees very ample recording time. Sampled data may be easily downloaded to the PC using a USB cable and the RACE STUDIO 2 software.

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19

Somebody’s poled Kenny!

BRIDGESTONE announced it was the real deal in MotoGP racing with its first victory in Brazil.

But more than that, when Kenny Roberts took pole on what was clearly a Suzuki inferior to Honda, Ducati and Yamaha's weapons, it could be time to take the Japanese tyres really seriously.

The pole was the first for Roberts and Suzuki since the Grand Prix of Valencia in 2000, the year in which Roberts clinched his World Championship in Rio, Roberts finished on the podium at Rio in 2002, his only podium finish riding the four-stroke Suzuki and the last time a Suzuki rider has stood on the podium.

Roberts also finished on the podium in Rio in 1999 after qualifying on pole.

Roberts's pole is only the second ever in the premier-class for a rider using Bridgestone tyres, the other being at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002 when Jeremy McWilliams was on pole riding his Proton KR3.

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Attack of the Killer Tamada BRIDGESTONE ruled the roost in Rio, with Japan's Makoto Tamada taking a brilliant win in front of 55,000 screaming Brazilians.

In liis 22nd GP start, the 27-yearold led home his MicheUn-shod team mate Max Biaggi by 2s, with Nicky Hayden given Honda its first dean sweep of the season.

If Tamada's win was a shock - not to mention the fact that Kenny Roberts stuck his Bridgestone-shod Suzuki on pole - the falls that claimed

ay

i

championship co-leaders Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau was a surprise. Gibernau last only two laps before he dumped his Telefonica Honda while eighth, while Rossi was only one spot better off when he fell on the same comer 11 laps later, Ducati showed that its new twmpulse motor is a step in the right direction, with Loris Capirossi taking fourth from local hero Alex Barros.

"A perfect race, with bike settings and tyres as good as tliey could possibly be," Tamada said.

"I want to dedicate this win to my team for aU their work and my dear friend Daijiro, I think this is the greatest homage 1 could pay to him."

Roberts faded to seventh, which was still his best result of the season, while Troy Bayliss emerged unhurt from a fall wliile chasing Gibernau and Rossi.

Gibernau and Rossi staged a war that will be remembered for a long time.

The fight went into the final lap when Rossi slammed down the inside of the Honda,then survived a frontend slide that saw the Spaniard's bike hit the Yamaha. Marco Melandri gave Yamaha even more to smile about with third after a long battle with Biaggi. Bayliss had engine problems with two laps to run.

Points: Gibernau and Rossi 126, Biaggi 113, Edwards 64, Checa 62, Barros 59, Melandri 57, Capirossi 55, Hayden 54.

IT took until mid-season but Manuel Poggiali won his first 250cc GP in Rio. The former 125 champ edged out Dani Pedrosa by 0.076s after an epic battle. Toni Elias(Honda)just held off Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) for third place with a huge gap back to Fonsi Nieto in fifth.

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Here comes Bridgestone; Rossi is being stalked by Tamada, who bided his time and took his first MotoCP win.

PEDROSA looked like the only man who could challenge Sebastian Porto at Assen but dumping 20 positions at the start put paid to the Honda man's

hopes.

Porto opened up the lead and won easily while Pedrosa surged through to take second from Toni Elias and Randy de Puniet.

Points: Pedrosa 130,De Puniet 119, Porto 88, Elias 86, Nieto 75,De Angelis 64, Poggiali 63.

SPANIARD Hector Barbera won the 125cc Rio Grand Prix in another blanket finish featuring Aussie Casey Stoner and Honda's Andrea Dovizioso.

Stoner led into the final lap but, as is becoming common,his KTM was hosed on the straight but he managed to stay in tlie battle to finish second.

Roberto Locatelli was fourth on his ApriUa.

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JORGE LORENZO emerged from the 125cc bunfight to win at Assen.

Locatelli and Stoner looked to have the race between themselves but were hauled in by a group,including Stoner's team-mate Mika Kalio. Only Stoner's ticker that got him onto tlie podium at the final chicane. Fourtli was Dovizioso,just 0.6s from the win.

Points: Dovizioso 125, Barbera 109, Locatelli 106, Stoner 104, Nieto 72, Giansanti 63, Lorenzo and Jenkner 58.

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I

Gordon out-runs DQ at Daytona

JEFF Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports may have finally toppled the dominance of Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the restrictor plate tracks when Gordon finished onetwo with team-mate Jimmie Johnson over Dale Earnhardt Jr in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona on the weekend.

"My car was good in clean air," said 'Little E', "but in traffic it wouldn't turn. The guys at Hendrick have done their homework, I have to give them credit, they've gotten stout and they wooped us all.

For Gordon, it was his second win from pole position in as many weeks and his second restrictor plate triumph after a victory at Talladega in April. Johnson played a key role in the win and Gordon was the first to point that out.

"I gotta thank Jimmie Johnson," quipped Gordon on his fifth Daytona win.

"I owe him big time and for the great push he gave me."

sulton^imoges.

That push came with six laps to run in the 400-miler as the pair drafted past Tony Stewart for the lead giving Gordon the win.

Hendrick cars in one shape or form took five of the top 10 places, with Terry Labonte eighth, rookie Bryan Vickers a deserving ninth and Joe Nemechek, with Hendrick power in his MB2 Chev, 10th.

The second DEI Chev of Michael Waltrip led the first lap from the outside pole of the two-hour rain delayed event, he and

Earnhardt heading the most tours. Waltrip ended his day 13th.

The only major incident came when Ward Burton cut a tyre and swept Matt Kenseth and Ken Schrader into the melee, but thankfully there was no usual restrictor plate 'big one' pile-up.

- MARTIN D CLARK Point standings; Johnson 2545, Earnhardt Jr. 2518, J Gordon 2313,Stewart 2203, Kenseth 2189, B Labonte 2164, Busch 2153,Sadler 2152.

Stewart fined TONY Stewart has been fined $70,000 and placed on probation through August 18 by NASCAR for an altercation with rookie driver Brian Vickers at Sonoma on June 27.

He was also fined 25 championship points after he bumped Vickers into a spin in the closing laps. Post-race, Stewart was apparently mad at Vickers and leaned in Iris window to discuss the incident.

"I have no idea why he is upset," said the mild-mannered Vickers.

"He hit me earlier in the race and then he wrecked us on turn 11. At

first, it was a discussion as to why he hit me and I thought it was funny,I was trying to figure out why he was coming to me. He later said that I laughed about the situation and when I laughed,it pissed him off.

"I was still strapped in the car with my helmet off and he hit the armrest and he reached in the car and he grabbed me by the chest and when he did he hit me,it was kind of an open palm,grabbed my shirt.

"It was hard enough to knock the breath out of me and then he tried to pull me out of the car and that's when my guys grabbed him and

pulled him away."

Stewart, above with creio chief Greg Zippadelli, issued a statement after the fines were handed down.

"After meeting with Brian France I

know it's my job to live within the rules. I'm putting this incident behind me and I plan no further comments."

- MARTIN D CLARK

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The Bell rings for Pom in IRL

w

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Rahars rush-fest

Indy winner Rice out-points team-mate Meira by seconddosest margin in IRL history second," the Brazilian said.

Townsend Bell, who debuted with Panther Racing at Kansas,finished 17th after losing several laps when the on-board fire extinguisher went off in his car.

Jeff Simmons finished 19th in his first race with Patrick Racing (replacing the retired A1 Unser Jnr) after an accident with Kosuke Matsuura.

BUDDY Rice won the Indianapolis 500 in May quite nicely but it wasn't as easy for him to win the Kansas Indy 300 on the weekend.

In fact, he only held out team mate Vitor Meira by 0.0051s, the second-closest finish in the history of the League.

"It's nice to come to your sponsor's-sponsored race and to win," said Rice, who started on pole.

"It's great being able to race each other cleanly. That's how it's supposed to happen,so I'm glad I could do it with my team-mate. It's fun being able to race like that and being part of a historical moment, especially on the Fourth of July weekend."

Tony Kanaair, who started on the outside of the front row,finished third. Andretti Green Racing team mates Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta, the defending race winner, finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

It was the second consecutive

runner-up finish for Meira, who also finished second at Richmond earlier this season.

"I wanted the win pretty bad,but not to the point to do anything stupid. The team is there. It is stupid to take both cars out, so I'll take

STATESIDE

A WEEK earlier, Dan Wheldon charged through from 20th on the grid to win at Richmond's 0.75-mile oval.

The AGR driver, left, was in sparkling form to put himself in the title chase, though the good work was undone for the Brit at Kansas when he had a problem exiting the pits due to the fuel nozzle still being attached. He finished ninth.

Points: Kanaan 275, Wheldon 247, Rice 225, Castroneves 207, Herta 165, Dixon 164, Franchitti 161.

AMERICAN Townsend Bell has replaced Mark Taylor in the Menards-backed second seat at Panther Racing.

Taylor, who was last year's IRL Infiniti Pro Series Champion, has struggled in his debut year in the IRL IndyCar Series with a number of crashes and time has run out for the Brit. He has only been able to manage a best result of 12th (at Phoenix) and was replaced at the weekend's Kansas race by Bell, above, who spent last year in F3000.

"Mark Taylor has done everything we have asked him to do over the past 18 months he has been part of the Panther Racing family," team co-owner John Barnes said.

"However, due to the many pressures of professional auto racing, it is in everyone's best interest that we look in different directions."

Bell certainly knows how Taylor feels, for he was turfed

by Patrick Racing in the 2002 Champ Car series, also for having a tendency to tear up equipment.

-PHIL MORRIS

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h

A (Very) Fresh Start Motor Mouth

with Wally Weissel

I

T is going to seem a little odd to be leaving the Holden Racing Team after more than a decade in V8 Supercar racing.

It seems a long time ago that I joined the circus. I had been working in radio for some time - Melbourne readers might just remember hearing me on Fox FM - and I was doing some other things, like being the court announcer for the Giants in the NBL. Advantage Racing was involved then and, as I already knew Mr Brock, Steve Frazer from Advantage asked me to come and have a chat about doing some work for them.

So I did. We did the final rounds of the championship, then Sandown and Bathurst, and it seemed like things were going to go pretty well.

Then I got a phone call from Frazer to come and have an end-of-season drink or three with the team. Never one to miss out, I showed up, only to find out it was a wake!

The team was closing down because Brock was going to HRT. I

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thought that I was about to end one of the shortest careers in the sport but John Crennan soon gave me a ring and asked me if I wanted to stay involved. My answer was something along the lines of, "Does a onelegged duck swim in circles?" and we were off.

When I joined HRT, there were about 10 or 11 people there. When we moved from the old base in Netting Hill In 1996, 1 guess there were around 20 people there. Now, with three teams operating from Clayton, there are about 701 Things have changed a lot.

s

ince people found out that I was leaving, there have inevitably been questions about what were the highlights of 11 years and five championships for HRT. Frankly, there are too many to mention, unless the editor wants me to turn this into a six-page feature!

One memory that really stands out was the first race of the championship in 1996. That was the year that the season opened under lights at Eastern Creek.

Craig Lowndes kind of stepped out of nowhere and beat everyone.

He had made quite an impression in the endurance races he did for the team at Sandown and Bathurst but to come to your first championship round, beat all the aces and do it so easily was really something special.

After the last race it was just about dark. Craig drove the car back to pit lane, stepped out and handed me his helmet. There was the really weird silence around the track, as if everyone was trying to come to terms with what they had just seen.

It really was a changing of the guard in the sport and it was a big moment.

But Craig, being Craig, was not affected by it all; he was trying to figure out what was next.

"What do we do now Wal?" he asked in that Lowndesy voice. "Do we have to go to a podium, or something?"

And it was still pretty silent.

"Mate," I said, "turn around, face the stands, smile and wave."

He did. For a split second, there was nothing. Then they went berserk. Here was this kid who, quite literally, stepped into the spotlight and became the biggest star in the sport in one moment. We were off and running and carried the momentum all the way through the 1996 season.

The other memory that really stands out for me was when we won Bathurst in 2002. It had been 10 years since Mark Skaife and Jim Richards had won the race together in the Nissan and here they were now, in the lead, with Skaifey managing all sorts of things going on inside the car because the

"What do we do now Wal?" Lowndes asked."Do we have to go to a podium, or something?""Mate," I said,"turn around, (ace the stands, smile and wave It

- Wally describes Craig Lowndes’s first win in 1996

temperatures were going up every lap. Everyone was working hard to make sure that the car would get to the end of the race.

When they were up there on the podium, it was a great moment for us. Everyone in the team knew that Skaifey and Richo were great mates and how much it meant to them to be there together, 10 years after they did it the first time. Of course, in 1992 there had been some strong words from the podium but not this time.

You might have thatHRT the is reason that I amheard leaving because my wife and I are going into the fruit and vegetable business.

That is true.

It is going to be a little strange to watch the next race, maybe, on TV in the shop! I think that I might well pull on the uniform and the red Filas and watch without the usual, "How does this affect us?"

When you are at the track, you do not usually watch the race, you watch each event in the race and figure out how it will affect the team.

After 10 years, it will be funny not to do that any more.

But I guess that plenty of people will drop in for their fruit, veg and a bit of a chat from time to time. The shop will be easy to find; out the front, it will have the reddesf apples, tomatoes and cherries you have ever seen!

After 11 years with HRT Paul 'Wally' Weissel had his last race as the team's media and PR man at the Queensland 300 last weekend

I

The Great Chicken ofB

The will BoxJoeSeat Saward

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ELL, blimey. What a week! Max Mosley is going, Ralf Schumacher is out of Williams and you blokes Down Under are all waiting to see whether or not Frank Williams and Patrick Head are going to do the obvious thing, accelerate all the deals, and get Mark Webber in a Williams in time for the German Grand Prix.

My money is on that happening, because it is a deal that makes sense for all concerned.

Flaving said that, I think it is safe to say that logic is not always the thing that prevails in FI circles. If that was the case.

Formula 1 would be bigger now than the Olympic Games.

Anyway, enough politics.

The question is Webber. Will he or won't he move to Williams this year? If he does go, it will give Australia its first potential Grand Prix winner since Alan Jones in 1981 and one hopes that Webber will finally be recognised as a major international sportsman by the general public in Australia - and not just seen as someone who is doing okay overseas but doesn't race V8s!

As far as we in FI are concerned. The Lucky Country has got lucky again. Webber is not only an ace driver but also a man with the intelligence to be a major player for years to come. And that is great news for the sport as a whole in Australia because having a top FI star in a country breeds new FI stars in that country. A new generation of kids is inspired and so, a few years later, new stars arrive.

One can see that in places such as Finland where Keke Rosberg's success resulted in

JJ Lehto, Mika Hakkinen and Mika Salo and they inspired Kimi Raikkonen. In Brazil, a whole generation was inspired

by Emerson Fittipaldi and nowadays, every young Brazilian says that their idol was Ayrton Senna. And half the small boys of Germany want to be Schumacher (Ed: Michael, we assume)when they grow up ...

This means that the sport of FI is on the verge of what could be an explosion of interest in Australia and now is he time for action, to raise the profile of the sport and underline the great FI heritage that Australia has. It is the time to bring out old Brabhams and put them on display in shopping centres and have Network Ten airing shows talking about the good old days of Sir Jack.

The good dayslast were the theme ofold a party Friday evening in the FI paddock, which set out to celebrate the achievements of FOCA and the people behind that organization.

It was a party filled with old faces: there was Guy Ligier; there was Peter Warr of Team

Lotus; and Francois Guitar, the man who with a big chequebook and a bigger vision, put French motor racing on the international map.

All the team bosses with a right to be there were there (and a couple of others) and they soon got to talking about the good old days at obscure race tracks in Italy where the promoters used to disappear into their offices to get the money and be caught climbing out of the windows at the back of the building.

There were stories of team bosses sitting up through the night,'baby-sitting' promoters who said that they would go to the bank on Monday morning.

It was a lovely evening. A little odd perhaps that the host, Jacques Regis, got up and made a speech and presented Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone with silver platters and bottles of fine wine for their efforts for the sport. It

FORMULA

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was a celebration of friendship at a time when friendship was the furthest thing from their minds given the extraordinary political upheavals of the preceding days.

As part of the event there was a livre d'or, a sort of almanac of stories and pictures about the good old days which featured some lovely tales.

'Bubbles' Horsley, once the team boss of Hesketh Racing, told of how the team used in Formula 2 days to pray to the Great Chicken in the Sky when they needed something like a new engine or some tyres.

He explained how one day, after losing their last engine, they were overheard praying

by March team boss Max Mosley, who immediately loaned them an engine for the race. From that day forward, Mosley was always known as The Great Chicken of Bicester and came to the team's assistance several times.

Not the least of these occasions was when James Hunt destroyed the last F2 car they had,so they decided on the spot that having failed hopelessly in Formula 2, the only way to go was into Formula 1!

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(and other stories) From there, they retired to a restaurant with The Great Chicken of Bicester to negotiate the purchase of a March FI car, using as currency the unusual monetary unit of sacks of grain, despite the fact that not one of them, least of all the Great Chicken, knew what a sack of grain was worth.

B

ut the piece that summed it all up best of all was from Mario Andretti.

"My love of FI cannot be explained in just one memory," he wrote."My profession gave me the opportunity to live a much fuller life because I so loved going to work. It gave me the access to go out and get to know the world. The people along the way made it extraordinary and friends enriched my journey immensely.

"My love of FI isn't just for my era. It is not just about my personal experience. I cannot pick just one memory. My attic is full of grand FI memories. It has now been 50 years since I watched Ascari, Fangio and Moss at Monza and I still watch every race. My passion remains the same."

Marvellous.

Call Me Bubbles;fames Hunt and 'Bubbles'Horsley discuss what do do next in 1973. Max Mosley, below with Ronnie Peterson and impossibly 1970s hair, was one of the only FIA Presidents once known as a chicken.

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"WlHMi James Hunt destroyed the last F2 car they had, Hesketh decided on the spot that having failed hopelessly in F2, the oidy way to go was into FI It

Five minutes with...

Paul Dumbnell

With three Castroi cm's in the top eight at Queensiand Raceway on the weekend, the young Victorian scored one ot his hostresuits in the big teague. We spoke to 'PD'abmit the road to earning respect MOTORSPORT NEWS: Considering the recent run of dramas it must be nice to bounce back and fly the Castroi flag at Queensland with a strong top-10 run?

PAUL DUMBBELL: Definitely. A result is always the best way to silence the critics a bit, but I have to keep one person happy and that's Larry (Perkins)!

He's had great confidence in me over the time and it's just been one of those things. I'm a short way along the long road of repaying the faith he's shown in me.

MN:So this good result doesn't cut it? There's got to be more?

PD: For sure. One result won't do it. I wouldn't expect it to. I think over the last three races we've been quick and it's been a matter of putting it ail together.

At Darwin we were quite strong, in Perth we were very quick as well and good enough for a top 10 finish but didn't put it together for the weekend.

Queensland was a combination of a lot of peoples' efforts from within the team and also me working hard to run consistently in the top 10.

MN: Part of that working was heading to England after the Barbagallo round. You've copped a bit of flak for going to a driving school but having input from different people has obviously rubbed off well.

PD: It was a four-day intensive training course of a guy called Rob Wilson, who's very experienced in all forms of the sport and in driver training. He does work with the McLaren Mercedes guys and has had David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonon through there, so it's a well-re'ioected place.

It was iTI done in Volkswagen road cars and we did one of the days at Goodwood. It was all about one-on-one work and everything's done on the stopwatch. It helps . you learn the dynamics of the car a little more in depth and what 28

"It doesn't matter what anybody writes or says, you're in control of your destiny and you have to be realistic that you and the guys in the team are the ones who can make things happen I,

-Dumbrell on the recent bouts of criticism against him controls the driver has in direct relation to the car's dynamics. It was definitely beneficial.

MN: How's your relationship with Larry? His patience must have been tested on a few occasions over the last 18 months but a result like this would show there's light at the end of the tunnel.

PD: Yeah exactly, you couldn't ask for much more with second, seventh and eighth between Steven, Tony and myself on the weekend. It was bloody great and that only adds to my confidence.

It just shows how strong the team's been over the off-season.

It's been a pretty long and hard road getting the VY Commodore up there and at the front regularly, but we're working hard. Richo's showing the speed and in the last two races I've only been two-tenths of a second off him in qualifying.

These days, two-tenths still puts you back in the pack a bit, but you've got to bridge that gap and make sure you keep consistently in the top 10 - that's

definitely where we want to be for the rest of the year. n MN: Are you going more and more along the lines of Richo in setup? Does not having a race engineer solely focused on your car become a bit of a disadvantage at times?

PD: Yeah, with the set-ups in practice at Queensland we were scratching our heads because we were running down in 30th and 31st. The tyres might have ma.de that appear a bit misleading but maybe we got a dud set of tyres, which can happen.

As soon as we got to qualifying, the set-ups on both our cars were identical. And that's good for the team so I was able to test some stuff in the bottom 50 percent session that worked and we dialled it into his for the other session. And likewise they tried something in the warm-up that worked and it went on to my car for the race.

Earlier in the year, we were very different in our set-ups but that's not such the case anymore.

With the engineer side of the

question, we've got a great engineering staff. Barry Ryan is Richo's engineer at the race meetings but these days you can spread yourselves over two cars.

Baz was my engineer last year and the team is still very strong. I'm sure we'll find someone sooner or later to fill the spot. It's definitely not detracting from our performances.

MN: How have you dealt with some of the criticism you've copped this year?

PD: You've got to have broad shoulders. It's very easy to start reading all of the things that are around and think about them rather than the job at hand. You have to focus on what you're trying to achieve.

It doesn't matter what anybody writes or says, you're in control of your destiny and you have to be realistic that you and the guys in the team are the ones who can make things happen.

For the last three months I've worked pretty hard on focusing on the performance-related things rather than everything else, moiorsport news

Fm minutes with

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WillPowen

GeW'ng results In British F3is tnugh. Gettmg money to race hi British F3Is tougher. WIH Power Is trying tti do both.

MABK SdBdlBVilllilG spid(o to die Queenslander MOTORSPORT NEWS: We're around the mid-season mark, so how are things looking at Alan Docking Racing?

WILL POWER: We've got the car going well. We started off in pre season testing a bit off the pace - we were running a bit overweight - but we've worked really hard and now we've got a good qualifying car.

We've been the most consistent driver and team up there - I always qualify in the top six. But in the last couple of rounds, I have had really bad luck in the races.

MN:The Championship is very tight this year, and I guess it is a sign of your consistency that you've had a couple of bad rounds and still managed to stay within reach of the leaders?

WP: Yes, it's just that sort of Championship this year. All the team owners are saying that it's the most competitive Championship they've had in 10 years.

It's unbelievable, how close it is in qualifying. There are so many good drivers there, and it pays off if you can consistently qualify in the top six. And not have DNFs - that's been our biggest problem this year. We've just had too many of them ... although to be fair, some of the other guys have had a few, too.

We've missed some opportunities for race wins on weekends where we really did have the pace.

MN: Bearing that in mind, will you be changing your approach in the second half of the year, and perhaps start concentrating on finishing races and scoring points rather than taking bigger risks and going for outright wins?

WP: If I get the opportunity to do the second half of the season, I will be going more for consistency, having seen that 30

|| MN: Has there been much [| interest yet? || WP: No. Which isn't surprising, || because it's really hard to get I ^ corporate Australia to put any I money into a series over here 3 that isn't even televised in Australia, And you've got all the V8 teams over there as well, . taking up all the sponsorship.

< maybe if I hadn't been so aggressive I could have been a lot further up in the Championship.

My approach will be more for consistency - and then I think the race wins will come anyway, once I relax a little bit. It's been more that everyone in the whole field just seems desperate, and you get taken out so easily if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's just the way it is this year.

MN: Is that aggression that you mentioned a natural part of your driving, or is it a response to everyone else being so desperate?

WP: It's just... as soon as you come over here, you realise that everyone is a lot more rough.

The racing is really rough. You wouldn't believe some of the ridiculous manoeuvres that go on. Even going down the straight, there's a lot of wheelbanging going on. You can't let yourself be bullied because you'll get run over in the race; you'll get pushed around.

So you have to drive the way everyone drives over here. And that's aggressively.

MN: I understand that Avon has introduced a new tyre compound. How has that changed things?

WP: Yeah, they introduced a new compound after Silverstone. The

tyre is a lot more consistent throughout the race, and even in qualifying it seems to have given us a lot more laps at every track so far.

Silverstone was the last time that you could do four or five laps in qualifying and then you'd be done. And that actually really suited me, because I was always quick straight out of the box. But now you've got a whole session to do a time.

MN:So why can't you build upon that initial speed in qualifying?

WP: It would have something to do with our set-up. Our set-up obviously uses the tyres a bit quicker. So that's something that we've got to work on.

MN: You mentioned earlier that your participation in the rest of the season is not guaranteed. A businessman, Danny Wallis, has offered to pay half of your budget if an Australian company gets on board with the rest. Can you tell us how that is going?

WP: Yes, that's what I really need to have happen if I am going to continue.

I need someone to step up and put up the other half of the rest of the budget, because that's the only thing that's going to keep me going. So we're really working hard on that at the moment.

MN: I'm guessing Mark Webber would have some good advice about all of this, because he has fought that battle before.

WP: That's right, he has. He just tells me to keep my chin up and to keep pushing until every possible opportunity is exhausted.

So that's what I'm doing.

But he knows how it is. He was over here doing Formula 3, and he was lucky to be picked up

by Mercedes. That really catapulted his career, and I think that's the answer, to be picked up by a manufacturer. That's w hy it's so important for me to finish the year, and finish it strongly.

MN: Does having the promise of a Minardi FI test give you a bit of extra leverage with potential sponsors?

WP: Yeah, we say all that to any potential sponsors that we're talking to, and maybe it does make a bit of a difference - but I haven't had anyone reply or take any interest, so I can't say whether it has made much difference or not.

MN: Has Paul Stoddart given you a date for the test?

WP: No, he. hasn't. I'm going to give him a ring this week. I think he's quite busy with the FI team at the moment, given that it's the middle of the season.

Any parties interested in assisting with Will's racing budget are Invited to email Kerry Fenwick at kerry@markwebber.com or visit www.will-power.com.au for further details. motorsport news

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NEWS FEATURE

Peter Brock is going back to Sandown and Bathurst with the Holden Racing Team.

He told PHIL BRANAGAN how, why and what he thinks might happen on the Mountain

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OTS of people believe in numerology. By their theories, it seems that everything in the universe is controlled by what numbers are in play when the major events in their lives happen.

You know,the big things, like births, deaths, marriage(s), divorce(s), Big Brother evictions, Bathurst...

Peter Brock might believe in numerology. He has won Bathurst's Great Race nine times; the same goes for Sandown. And now, at the age of 59, he is shooting for double figures for both events.

Until the call came from Holden Racing Team's owner and lead driver Mark Skaife late last month,it was looking like Brock was going to be an interested spectator at Mount Panorama this October.

"I had had a couple of people call me," Brock says.

"They were good cars but I just couldn't do it because of the conflict between their sponsors and the endorsement arrangements that I have. I said thanks very much and I was flattered to be asked but it was all too difficult.

"Then, when I got the call from HRT and there was no conflicts, I thought,'I am going to do this'. If someone taps you on the shoulder once, you think maybe; twice and you get interested; three times and you think,'I better do this'. That is

how it happened."

So now Brock, who at the best of times lives his very busy life on an hour-by-hour schedule, has some new things to fit in. Along with all the corporate commitments to long time sponsors Holden, Mobil and Bridgestone, his corporate speaking events, his activities with the Peter Brock Foundation, his wife and family and all the things we never get to hear about,Peter has to prepare for two endurance races.

If Brock is in any way apprehensive about being ready for the races, he is not showing it.

"I am always pretty fit. I eat well and I train and I am probably fitter now than I have been in any other period of my life. When you are a kid, you are naturally pretty sharp; that is just the way that life is. I feel pretty good about my ability to get into a car and roar around."

Naturally, HRT would like to have the time to get Brock and his endurance co-driver Jason Plato into the renumbered car and give them a test at Winton. The team has been conservative in its testing so far this season and the potential is there for the test to happen.

"I win probably need to have a test and I am hoping to get that opportunity," admits Brock.

"I think that the team has a day booked prior to Sandown but test days are so precious now that we will

have to run through a few things.

Back-to-back testing will need to be done by the team and Skaifey said that he would love me to have time in the car but that it might not be possible. Tliat's cool;I will just rock up and if I get the opportunity to test, fine, but I understand that is the way that life is these days.

"It does not worry me too much. I will just get in the thing and go for a drive."

If the test does happen,it will have to be timed to fit in with - of all things- the Olympic Games in Athens. No,Brock is not going to be clamped to his couch in front of the telly. He will be at the coal face, in Greece, witli the Aussie squad. As he was in Sydney four years ago, he will be part of the team as an advisor and mentor to the athletes, a role he relishes.

He is also looking forward to teaming up with Plato. The 2001 BTCC winner has been an irregular Bathurst visitor, starting in 1997 when he and co-driver Alain Menu appeared capable of running away with the Super Touring race until the Swiss ran over a kerb and damaged the car's transmission. A consolation prize was that Plato stiU holds the Bathurst Super Touring lap record.

"Jason Plato is bloody good and he is a good lad," says Brock. I ran across him over in Dubai when I rvas there recently and that was a happy

coincidence. He is a personable sort of guy and a fumiy bugger.

"When Skaife mentioned him,I thought,'We are going to have some fun!' We need to lighten up pit lane a bit. Things get a bit too serious sometimes so we are going to have a laugh. Have some fim with it. If you can do that and be competitive, you wiU actually enjoy yourself.

"At my age,if I can't pull a stunt or two,something is wrong!"

There is that word again -'age'. It is now almost 32 years since PB armounced to the world at large that he was a world-class touring car pilot by taking his first Bathurst win in a Torana XU-1. The world was a different place; Billy McMahon was Prime Minister but was about to be carpeted by Gough Wliitlam's 'It's Time' Labour campaign.

So, what are Brock's expectations?

"My only expectations are that I am going to have a bloody competitive piece of machinery and a very dedicated crew," he smiles.

"They admit that it is going to be a different experience to be going in there for what is probably my last competitive run in a Supercar and they are saying,'OK Pete, let's see what happens'.

"I suppose that they realise that there will be a certain expectation from the public; that might change things a little. I can rock up, put my hat on,blast around, give them some continued on page 33

A lot looks the same: The mane may be a little greyer these days but there will still be plenty of familiarity when Peter Brock gets backs into a Holden Racing Team Commodore in Melbourne in September; Holden, Mobil, Bridgestone...

I July 2004

33

NEWS FEATURE continued from page 33 valuable feedback if they need it or keep my trap shut and just get in the car and blast around. Either way,I am very flexible and my expectations are get in, put it in gear, drop clutch, bag up tyres, go through corner, lift wheel, wave to crowd, have fun!

"If I ever go into any event where I can actually not think about it too much,just relax and enjoy myself, the results are always fantastic. Once you study things to death, you leave that free spirit thing behind and that seems to work for me.

"There are a few blokes around who share my point of view. They do

not necessarily expound that viewpoint but, when you look in an interview in a non-motorsport magazine, they share that love for doing things properly.

"They might look at it from another perspective. It is a bit like being able to play a musical instrument. You learn to do it and every time you do it, you get a rise.

You get a great deal of enjoyment from it. You do not necessarily do it to entertain others. If it does entertain others, that is fantastic.

That is the stage that I am at in my

life.

And,of course, there is a wife and some kids to deal with, What does

Mrs Brock think of Peter heading back into action?

"Bevo sort of rolled her eyes a bit," he grins."She said,'HRT? Yeah?

Wow! Skaife! Yeah? Ummm "Then she started to think about

Plato is an experienced driver, if no V8 Supercar expert, and there is no reason to think that the team is not going to be up to the task, despite the problems that they have had this season.

the whole scenario. The factory team.

'They are ringing me up Bevo to have a drive.' She said,'You are right. Enjoy it!"'

Wheels turn full circle. When Brock had his 'first' farewell at Bathurst in 1997,Skaife had just joined the team as,in the first instance. Brock's co-driver. Skaife nailed pole position in the 05 car and Brock won the start and led the

"If you were driving with a team that had in their mind that finishing 14th would be quite okay, well,I have never been in the business of

opening sector of the race until handing over the Skaife at the first tyre stop. The car stopped soon after and that, it seemed, was that.

Then two years ago,in the 'black' incarnation of Team Brock, Peter came back to the mountain. The publicity was huge and there was a lot of attention but, given the performance of the team through the 2002 season. Brock and co-driver Craig Baird were never going to be real contenders.

But this is different. HRT is a contender - with both cars. Jim Richards starred in qualifying at Bathurst last year, taking third on the grid and he and Tony Longhurst brought the car home in fifth place.

doing that," says Brock firmly.

"My kids have not been brought up with the acceptance of something like that! If you are there with a pretty hot team - thefactory team who knows? It is going to be a hoot!"

It is going to be a hoot. It is also going to be a merchandising bonanza for HRT and Holden.

"More than anything else, I feel honoured to be asked. When you look at hfe, you have to keep your mind open to possibilities.

"You never, ever know."

No, you never, ever do. Will Peter Brock win at Sandown or Bathurst?

The likely answer to that question is "No". But, the way Brock looks at life, there is more to winning than taking a chequered flag and collecting a trophy. He will take that philosophy to Greece and share it with the Aussie Olympic team.

And Bathurst is going to be a blast. Brock. Bathurst. HRT. Does it get a whole lot better than that?

Times past: Brock heads into Forrest's Elbow in bis last 1000 start in 2002, left. In 1997, Brock welcomed Skaife to HRT, above. How times change ...

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moiorspoit news

z

5

●1 K A

I

V'

VIRTUAL CARS. VIRTUAL RACES. REAL PLAYERS. REAL WINNERS.

Now you can race to win for real - by playing the latest V8 Supercars game on Xbox Live and BigPond's GameArena.

There’s a virtual round happening each month, wi th the fastest two qualifiers being flown to see the real race action of the V8 Supercars. BigPond members can even win a hot lap in a real V8 Supercar with the legendary Mark Skaife.

GameArena iicsnse.© laoD-iiuuH itiBouuduiaoicio

Winning without wi Marcos Ambrose wil’lip into the history books as the ‘winner’ofthe Queensland 300, but the real winner was Steven Richards. The Castro!ace now holds a handy points lead in the V8 series through speed and cansistency and MARK GLENDENNING was there to watch it unfold at the “Paperclip'in QLD

L

AST weekend's V8 Supercar round at Queensland Raceway may have been the sort of race that made you wish you were doing just about anything other than watching it, but at the time Marcos Ambrose couldn't have cared less as he steered his Pirtek SBR Falcon to a commanding victory.

The team's celebrations were short-lived however, after the reigrdng Champion was stripped of his points following the discovery of what was deemed to be an

Uirk Klynsmitb

Success and champagne but no points: Ambrose was handed a 192-point penalty but keeps his Queensland race win. The SBR Falcon was a jet all day but now Marcos has to fight in the V8 Supercar Court of Appeal as well as on the track to try and regain his points.

irregularity in the car's wiring loom during post-race inspection.

The team was fined $10,000 but of greater importance to Ambrose was the loss of the 192 points that he scored during the weekend, and the consequently dire effects upon his hopes of defending his title.

However, Ambrose remains recognised as the race winner. Stone Brothers Racing have already announced their decision to appeal the penalty.

Out on the track, Ambrose never looked under serious threat, and managed to retain command despite having a number of lead gaps wiped away by Safety Cars.

"On paper it would have looked easier than it was on the track, but we got the win, and to be honest, we wanted it here," said .Ambrose after what was, remarkably, his first win at the team's home circuit.

"The restarts were the most important time in the race. I was lucky enough to get the car off the first couple of corners well enough not to be challenged, and I'd put a lot of thought into setting the car up for it to be able to do that."

Second across the line was Steve L Richards, who spearheaded a ^ fantastic weekend for aU of the cars f connected with the Perkins camp.

I On top of Richo's podium came a

36

■Bev'enth for team-mate Paul Dumbrell, and an eighth and 11th respectively for the Perkins-prepared cars of Tony Longhurst and Anthony Tratt.

Of particular importance for Richards, though, were the Championship repercussions of the result — which were upgraded from handy' to 'meteoric' in the wake of Ambrose's shock penalty.

"Our car wasn't perfect, but in ■saying that it was good enough for second," said Richards.

"There was something not right with the first set of tyres, and I bounced myself off the road a couple ■of times. But Pm pretty happy (with he result); coining second to Marcos at his home track is, I guess, as good as it gets.

"■We're still plugging away and ■grabbing points. Now we're just ■waiting for Marcos to get a bit of a coM and have a sneeze, and we'll ■drive on by!"

Completing the podium was Garth Tander, who capitalised on the speed ithat the car had hinted at earlier in the weekend.

"We're very happy with third, ■considering how many cars test up :heire, and how poorly we went here ■last year," he said.

"It's a genuine third. Eastern Creek ((where he last finished on the ipodium) was wet, and we had good pace in the wet, but it wasn't a dry race. So to get a third in the dry here, ■we're pretty happy."

Meanwhile, you could have :throwTn a rock in any direction in the .paddock and hit a team that ended he weekend ruing what might have ■been. It may have been processional racing,, but more than anything else this rormd demonstrated that you don't necessarily need lots of wheelto-wheel racing for people's weekends to turn very, very sour ... moiorsport news

ining 1

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!'

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OirkKtymmilh.f

Race(90 laps) One race. 280km.

Two compulsory pitstops.

Great weather (which had the winter-bound Victorians blinking bewilderedly into the sunlight). Bugger-all overtaking.

And the majestic type of post-race traffic jam that only Queensland Raceway can provide,just to make sure that you have plenty of time to think about it all as you try to leave the circuit.

If anything, the traffic was even worse this year due to the massive crowd that descended upon the bush blocks behind Ipswich to see some racing. Official figures put the number at a shade under 40,000 for race day and 66,507 for the weekend - a whopping 13,000 up on last year.

And while their enthusiasm may not have been rewarded with the world's greatest racing, they were at least granted some insight into how Bad Things can happen to Good People.

And they didn't even have to wait very long. Ambrose's life was made much easier the instant the race began when Mark Skaife, who was sitting alongside him on the front row and was looming as the blue car's most serious threat, fluffed the start and allowed the Tasmanian to lead the field away imchallenged.

"Mark hasn't been starting the best whenever I'm around him," Ambrose observed.

"I tried to be aggressive on the 7 July 2004

start, and I got a good start, and he got a shocker - which made me look like a bit of a hero.

"I expected a duel with Mark after his qualifying performance, and his performance here last year. I'd expected Mark to be right on the pace and to give me a really hard time, and it's just proven that he wasn't the one I had to worry about. It was Steven, and Jason Bright, and Garth."

Skaife dropped to fourth on the opening lap but recovered to third before dropping out of the picture altogether when the car was sidelined by a wheel bearing failure on lap 46.

Skaife was not alone in seeing things turn pear-shaped in the opening moments of tlte race.

All manner of mayhem was triggered when John Bowe and Steve Ellery came together at the first corner, pitching Ellery's car into that of Steve Johnson and flinging all three off the circuit.

The combination of the ensuing cloud of thick dust and the concertina effect amongst those just behind the shunt saw cars veering madly in their efforts to get through without hitting something.

Most were lucky,some were notnotably Greg Murphy and Dale

continued on page 40

The new one and two: With Ambrose losing his points, it made for a strong haul for new title leader Steven Richards, below, and a welcome podium for Garth Tander and the GRM/Valvoline outfit.

s

BIG P%<i D

Qualitying

Home and A' P

EOPLE love record-breaking statistics, no matter what the

a number of V8 Supercar teams.

Whether or not this translates into

sport. Will Michael

any real advantage depends on who you talk to - but if you talk to anybody who looked at the timesheets from last weekend's

Schumacher win six Championships in a row? Can Lance Armstrong nail his sixth-straight Tour de France?

And who will be the first person to score five-straight V8 Supercar poles at the same circuit?

I I I

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The hard part; Once Ambrose got his head

P CJALIFYINB.^W session and stole pole position in the shoot-out.

Queensland □□□

VBSCS Rd 6

Pdb/Nd I Dr i ver | car/team I PWR PorlormDnoo Produols Commodoto VY 50 loson Bright 2 1 Marcos Ambrose Plrlok Slono Brolhers Rocing Falcon BA 3 9 Russell Ingall CoIlM Hovolino Slono Broihora Falcon BA 4 2 Mark SkoKo Holden Rocing Taam Commodoro VY 5 II Sloven Richards COBlral Porkins Moloroporl Commodore VY 6 68 Paul Rodisleh Toani Bono Triple 6 Falcon BA 7 12 John Bowo OiEmail Brad lonoa Rocing Team Falcon BA 8 44 Simon Wills Roadahlpa/Alplinwost/Wofld Ind Commodoro VY 9 22 Todd Kelly Holdon Rocing Team Commodoro VY 10 021 Crnig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Commodore VY II 16 Paul Wool PWR Pcriormnneo Products Commodoto VY 12 34 Oofth Tondor Ropco Volvollne Cummins CRM Commodoro VY 13 31 Stove Ellery Supor Cheap Auto Racing Falcon BA 14 20 Mark Wlntorbotlom Larkham Orroon Rocing Falcon BA 15 688 Max Wilson Toom Bella Triple 8 Falcon BA 16 18 Warron Lull Shell Helix Dlok lohnson Rocing Falcon BA 17 8 Paul Dumbroli Castrol Perkins Motorsport Commodoro VY 10 17 Steven lohnson Shell Helix Dlok lohnson Racing Falcon BA 19 10 lason Borgwanno Larkham Orroon Rocing Falcon BA 20 40 Mark Noske WPS Falcon BA 21 23 David Bosnard WPS Falcon BA 22 29 Paul Mortis SIrromot Lllo,Stylo,WIno Commodoro VY 23 51 Grog Murphy Kmart Rocing Team Commodoro VY 24 15 Rlok Kelly Kmart Racing Team Commodoro VY 25 21 Brad Jones OkEmoll Brad lonos Racing Team Falcon BA 26 5 Olenn Soten Ford Perlotmonce Racing Falcon BA 27 6 Craig Lowndes CAT Ford Porlormonco Racing Falcon BA 26 33 Cameron McConvIllo Ropco Valvolino Cummins GRM Commodoro VY 29 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Commodoro VK 30 75 Anthony Trott Toll Racing Commodoro VY 31 14 NollMcFadyon Toom Dynamik Commodore VY 32 45 Dale Breda Roadahlpa/Alphowoat/World Ind Commodore VY 33 7 Tony Longhurst Caatrol Porkins Motorsport Commodore VX 34 24 Garth Weldon Romano Rocing Falcon AU 35 43 David Krauso PWR Porlormonco Producia Commodore VX

|

!

I

straight, above, he was second in the qualifying

r,

.

t i me 1:10,2 957 1:10,3583 1:10.6130 1:10.6450 1:10.6847 1:10.6900 1:10.6916 1:10.6970 1:10,6994 1:10,7756 l;10,83B3 1:10,8547 1:10.6614 1:10,8738 1:10.8952 1:10,9035 1:10,9058 1:10,9489 1:10,9896 1:10.9982 1:11,0146 1:11,0715 1:11.0732 1:11,1364: 1:11,18 67 1:11,26 84 1:11.3623 1:11,3895 1:11,5053 1:11.5177 1:11.6369 1:11,6576 1:12,1773 1:13.2630 1:15,9429

Mark Skaife was leading the way courtesy of his four-straight at Hidden Valley, but he now faces competition from Marcos Ambrose, who made it four on the trot at Queensland Raceway courtesy of a cracking Shootout lap.

"The track changes so much that we struggle to keep up with it," said Ambrose."We've been running pretty well, but we had to work hard to maintain our speed advantage."

He was flanked by two red cars, having just beaten Skaife to pole, with Todd Kelly set to start from third.

opening sessions, then you'd probably come away thinking that the home ground advantage amounts to very little indeed.

But that's not how it seemed when the cars first took to the track on Friday afternoon. An uneventful session ended with two Stone Brothers cars occupying the top two spots, with Ambrose just nosing ahead of Russell Ingall.

After a couple of Melbourne-based Holdens(those of Jason Bright and Steve Richards), came another Sunshine State Ford - the DJR Falcon

up to speed engine-wise yet, but as the year goes on we're getting stronger and stronger."

Much is made of the fact that

of Warren Luff, on scrubbed tyres, as he was quick to point out later. And just to prove the point, team-mate Steve Johnson was also occupying top 10 real estate after going seventhfastest. The team had been banking on a getting a result at the Paperclip after an encouraging outing at Barbagallo was followed up by an enlightening two-day test and so far, things looked to be on target. Come Saturday morning, the team's cars were 11th and 12th -some ground lost to its rivals, but still there or thereabouts.

Queensland Raceway is local turf for

Sometimes it takes a whUe for a

"Compared to here last year, we are two or three km/h slower through turn one and turn two, and five or sb< km/h slower down the straight," said Skaife. "So the reality is that you have to make the car good in the areas that you can control. We're nowhere near

TOP TEN SHDDTDUT RESULTS 1 2 3 4'

Ambrose Skallo Todd RIcho

24,2204 24,2 641 *24,2023 24,3991 24,4 5 57

* 64.1764 84,2 6 9 7 54,2695 64,4596 54.4 4 4 3

1:10,6336 1:10,5 8 5 6 1:10.6907 1:10,7264 1:10,73 53

BIBP^JD 31

6 7 8 9

TM

Ingall Wills Bowo Redlslcb

24,4375 24,6438 24,4697 24,8430 24,6877

54.5443 54.7170 54,7319 55,2048 65,9003

1:10.8140 1:11,0678 1:11,1677 1:11,7223 1:12,5381

www.bigpond.com.au motorsport news

U8 SUPERCARS

vay team to blow the cobwebs out of a car when it is first unloaded at a race, but when both of the Kmart Racing cars burbled down pitlane to qualify amid the slower half of the field after having failed to run any higher than a PIO for Greg Murphy on Friday, the alarm bells began to sound.\^en qualifying ended with Murph and Rick Kelly slotted in at P23 and P24 respectively, it was clear that this was rather more than an

early weekend-hiccup. Even the team was at a loss.

"We're struggling everywhere," grimaced Rick.

"The guys are about as sure of what the problem is as I am. At the end of the day, we have got some big dramas here, but it's a long race tomorrow and we're going to do everything we can to come out of it an a good position."

Things also got off to a slow start for HRT, with both cars relatively anonymous during the opening sessions, but by the time qualifying had rolled around the red cars were safely amongst the top 10. It wasn't a recovery on the kind of miracle scale displayed by SBR and Ambrose in Perth, but still stood as a neat illustration at how adept the top teams can be at thinking on their feet and rescuing a less-than-ideal start to a weekend.

There were a few headaches

I

Sunning themselves in the north: Jason Bright and Mark Skaife took their winter blues out of Melbourne to take on the locals, showing great speed in their Commodores. elsewhere in the field as the teams

irr- ■:

prepared for qualifying. David Besnard lost an entire session on Saturday morning after suffering engine problems in the WPS Falcon.

"We had a new engine that looked great on the dyno but when we put it into the car it just had nothing," he shrugged. "So we replaced it with another one that we had that we know isn't that great - but it's still better than the new one."

Elsewhere, electrical problems brought Craig Lowndes's FPR Falcon to a halt on Friday afternoon, while Max Wilson also lost some time due

presence felt and shot to the top of the sheets just minutes into the session, only to be bumped almost immediately by Ambrose. From there the floodgates opened; by the time the session was half over. Wills, Winterbottom and Wilson were the

to a power steering pump failure.

With the Kmart cars still lost in the wilderness, qualifying for the slower group was dominated by three drivers; Simon Wills, Mark Winterbottom and Max Wilson. Wills socked his way to the top of the sheets early on with a ImlO.Ss, improving to a lml0.6970s to consolidate his spot at the top. The other two took a little longer to do their times, but all eventually managed to lap under the Imlls barrier (Paul Dumbrell being the only other driver in the session to do so).

Then came the quicker guys. After the anomaly of Perth, where the slower guys managed to hold a goodly portion of the quicker half of the field at bay, normal service was Q resumed at Queensland. The faster 5^ cars came out, made a couple of f exploratory laps, and then the slower I cars began to tumble like dominoes.

Weel packing with just a couple of seconds left on the clock.

I 3-

*'s

Skaife was the first to make his

only drivers from the slower 50 percent to still hold a spot in the top 10. Wilson's hopes for a Shootout spot were dashed by Steve Ellery with seven minutes remaining, and a gun lap from the TKR car of Craig Baird poured water on Winterbottom's ambitions shortly after.

Bright fired himself into the top spot with a lml0.2957s with four minutes remaining, and set the scene for a frantic scramble from the rest of the field to secure a spot in the top 10.

Bowe announced his intentions by vaulting from the midfield into fifth, forcing Paul Weel onto the bubble. A late dash from Garth Tander fell just short of beating Weel's time, but before the PWR driver had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief Paul Radisich went sixth-fastest and sent

>^HE stage was set for what looked i to be an intriguing Shootout, not least because of Baird having put a number of better-funded teams to shame in planting the TKR Commodore amongst the top 10.

The fairytale was short-lived, though - Baird suffered the motlier of all lock-ups at turn three, just managed to reel the car in, and that was that. Todd Kelly was next out and immediately raised the bar by setting what would be the fastest first sector time for the session. He completed the lap in a tidy lml0.6907s, and sat back to see whether anyone could do anything about it.

For a while, he was safe. Wills was next out, happy to be in the Shootout but ruing the fact that he wasn't a little further up the order.

"We stuffed up in second practice, and being in the bottom 50 percent really screwed us," he said.

"It's good to be in the Shootout, but we used all our rubber to get in there -1 made a mistake on the second set so we came in and changed it".

continued on page 40 39

/ BIG

D

Qualifying

continued from page 39 WOls's lap was OK -Imll.0678s in a session that was generally slower than qualifying had been - but it wasn't going to threaten the top order.

A1 the same, he made up a spot when Bowe followed him out and went 0.1s slower, but declaring himself happy with the result nonetheless, and then climbed a further position when the Rat made a mistake at turn four, ruining what looked set to be a quick time.

Then things started to get serious.

Richo was next on to the track and kicked off with an opening sector that was a couple of tenths shy of Todd's, clawed some of it back through the second split, but finished up just 0.03s short of dislodging the HRT machine from the top spot.

No such problems for Skaife, though. The two HRT cars were separated by just 0.01s coming out of the second sector, and HRT #2 found enough time in the final part of the circuit to undercut Todd by 0.1s and take the top spot. His lml0.5856s was too much for Ingall, who was next out and fell short by 0.3s, but with both Ambrose and Bright stiU to come,there was no time for celebrations yet.

Just to drive that point home, Marcos swung onto the circuit and opened his account with a 24.2284s first split-slower than Kelly's, but faster than Skaife's. The second sector time of 54.1764s was the fastest of the session, meaning that all Ambrose had to do was bring the thing home.

This he did,in lml0.5335s. The only person who could do anything about it was Bright, and after falling 0.2s short at the first split the threat was over. Once again,Ambrose could drive home with a smile on his face.

Not everyone was so fortunate.

The DJR crew were wringing their hands after their promising start to the weekend turned bad when it counted, with Luff qualifying 16th, two spots ahead of Johnson.

"We made a marginal gain on green tyres, whereas everyone else seems to have made a major gain", shrugged Luff.

Paul Morris was getting no love out of his home track, with the Sirromet Commodore languishing way back in 22nd after suffering from evil mid comer understeer,and there was a similar song being simg at FPR. The team had made some minor engine changes after Perth, only to find that that both cars now had understeer by the bagful, with Glenn Seton suffering a little more than Lowndes.

Still, as just about everybody who qualified outside the top five was saying,280km of Queensland Raceway is a long way,and Sunday is anotlier day ...

40

continued from page 37

And then there were the ones who were in the wars: Skaife ended up

Brede, both of whom drove into the dustcloud and simply failed to come out again. For Bowe, Brede and Ellery, the situation was sufficiently bleak for the cars to register DNFs on the spot.

Johnson and Murphy,however. managed to clatter back to the pits.

The DJR team set about replacing Junior's exhaust system and rear left suspension with the aim of getting him out again in time to complete 75 percent of the race distance, while their compatriots at Kmart Racing set about making similar repairs with the same aim in mind.

Both made it back out onto the

with zero points and some gravel for his trouble, top, while Steven Johnson and Warren Luff were both walking wounded, above.

circuit, but for Murph it was only a fleeting return - on lap 31 the #51 r Commodore finally gave up the ghost, and all but snuffed out -● c Murphy's Championship hopes in Queenalau the process.

Johnson, on the other hand, ticked around for the rest of the afternoon, was interrupted by yet another unscheduled visit to the pits to have the diff checked out, and eventually B'KHQ ended the day a disappointed 24th, 20 laps down.

While all this was going on,the Um, JB, I think you're missing a bit off your car ... Murphy and Bowe guys at the front were having a race.

Well, sort of. After spending 10 laps were among the Turn One victims, above, and FPR had their now-regular behind the Safety Car to allow the engine failure, below. Surely Craig must be churning... mess at turn one to be sorted out, the i -» field was uncorked again on lap 11 and Ambrose immediately vanished into the distance,leaving secondplaced Todd to worry about the fact that Richo was bobbing around in his mirrors.

i1 5 ■ 1

But this was as close as it got to anything resembling a battle for position, at least at the front of the field. In fact, by lap 14, after just three laps under green flags, the field was already more or less spread out.

From here on, if anyone was going to make an impression, they were going to do it tlrrough strategy and 9 helpfully-timed Safety Cars rather 5continued on page 42 motorspoit news

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continued from page 40

and it was at this point that Ingall played a wildcard and made his second visit to the pits.

Bright followed suit on lap 48,just moments before Skaife sailed into the

than making big lunges under braking.

There was a little more reshuffling as the head of the field moved

gravel and triggered another Safety Car. For Ingall and Bright, this could have turned the race on its head -

towards their first round of stops when Richards slid off the circuit on laps 20 and 22 and dropped behind Todd Kelly, the soon-to-retire Skaife, Russell Ingall and Bright.

Ingall was the first of the leaders to show his hand and pitted for a new set of boots on lap 28, followed by Bright a couple of tours later.

Fortune still had a major part to play though, and this time Todd was on the receiving end. The #22 HRT Commodore had developed a severe vibration in the front brake rotor, and

nccTmcM- d s ■?

I : I

Car double-eight for Triple Eight: Radisich pushed on and was rewarded with sixth place in the Betta team's Falcon. Team-mate Wilson wasn't as lucky ...

It

CE

from that point on Todd's afternoon became devoted to trying to simply keep the car on the road rather than harassing the frontrunners.

He slipped off the tarmac a couple of times, but otherwise managed to hold things together to drag the car to the finish. All things considered, his final finishing position of ninth was a pretty good effort.

Ambrose swung into pitlane for a fresh pair of Dunlops on lap 33, giving Richo a brief spell in the lead before his turn for a tyre change came three laps later.

By lap 42 the entire field had completed their first round of stops.

♦v

eiSXG G

except that Ambrose had built up such a lead that he was able to nip in under yellows the next time around and rejom without losing track position. And that, as far as the win was concerned, was that.

A couple more Safety Car spells allowed Ambrose's pursuers a tantaUsingly close look at the Pirtek's car rear wing,but the #1 BA was more than ready to respond to the restarts and bolted each time the race returned to green. Until the scrutineers came into play, this had simply been Marcos's day.

The outcome was far less certain for most of the people who were chasing him,though. Ingall didn't look like having the pace he needed to challenge his team-mate, but things looked well on target for a safe SBR one-two imtil he found some oil at turn three on lap 62 and got just out of shape enough to fall behind Richards and Tander, dropping to a fourth place that he would hold to the end of the race.

Bright, right, meanwhile, never seemed deliriously happy with his

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Total flame out: That kind ofsummed up the weekend for HRT. After strong qualifying performances, Skaife ended up a retirement and the Toddler had to deal with a vibration to pick up a top-10 finish. car's race package and gradually dropped back to fifth as he battled understeer and brake balance problems. He did, however,go home with the satisfaction of having set fastest lap of the race with a Imll.6319s.

Their misfortime helped Richards recover from his earlier problems. and with a car tliat was performing a lot more happily on its second set of tyres, he was able to consolidate second pace and another crucial bundle of points.

Tander, on the other hand, had

worked his way up from his P12 starting slot though a combination of people in front of him falling off the circuit, and a little bit of thinking outside the circle in the strategy department.

Where most of the cars had made their tyre stop first, Tander opted to take on fuel instead.

We knew that we'd have fresher tyres for the run home,but 1 had to use the tyres a little more than 1 would have liked to get through some traffic before I got to Richo, explained Tander.

"That took a lot of the freshness out of them,so I couldn't really have a go at him.

Tander's result was capped off by a satisfying 10th place for team-mate Cameron McConville, who was happy to walk away with some points after a few lean rounds.

It's good to be scoring some real points!" he said.

1 had a lock-up after the first restart and flat-spotted it really badly

continued on page 44

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43

I vases ROUND 6 GJUEENSLAND Race

9D laps

Pos Driver j race Time j Fastest|Lap 2:01:44.8762 1:11.7532 16 1’ Ambrose

continued from page 43 "I tried to hold out for a Safety Car before 1 came in to change it, but the tyre was flat-spotted that badly that it ended up blowing.

"I had to pit and that put me down a lap, but we were able to come back around under the Safety Car after the second stop and get that lap back."

With Bowe having exited the race on the opening lap, BJR's hopes fell to Brad Jones. Having started from 25th on tire grid, the Albury driver looked set for a long, upMU battle, but tlie team rolled the dice and went for an aggressive strategy that saw the OzEmail car make its first stop as early as lap four - an idea that was shared by Tratt.

"We decided at the start of the day to do that," said Jones.

"If Simon Wills hadn't turned me around, we'd have been in a really strong position. We didn't have tlie speed of the top guys, but the car was still pretty good."

For a wMle, the gamble was paying off, with Jones sitting a bona fide second place for a spell during the middle of the race before being slowly overhauled by some of the faster cars.

It all Mrned bad just after a restart on lap 54, however, when Jones was tipped into a spin at turn tMee that saw Mm drop a bucketload of positions. He eventually fmished 12th,just behind Tratt.

In the shadows: Ingall was solid all day, putting the second SBR car into fourth spot.

Triple 8 had a 50/50 kind of weekend, with Paul Radisich keeping Ms car clean throughout the race to finish a solid sixth bemg offset against Max Wilson suffering aU sorts of dramas and limping across the line in a car that looked like any number of bits were ready to fall off at a moment's notice.

Seventh and eighth were the domains of Dumbrell and Longhurst, both of whom did well to avoid the various mishaps that accounted for a lot of the drivers that started from the same parts of the grid.

Finislring just outside the top 10 was Glenn Seton, who was on target to bring his FPR Barra home eighth until a cruelly-timed alternator failure caused all the electromc systems in the car to shut off on the last lap. Seton rolled across the line to snare a few points, but it was not a fair reward for Ms efforts.

It was a shame for the team,too, who would no doubt have liked a top 10 finish to help alleviate some of the pain caused by another engine failure, wMch tMs time accounted for Craig Lowndes on lap 39.

Orreon Racing had a frustrating afternoon, wMch first started to turn sour when Warren Luff and Jason Bargwanna had a coming-together on lap 18. Bargs was soon on his way to the pits, where the team went into

1

Oil* Klynsmilh;

overdrive to replace Ms radiator and steering rack quickly enough to allow him complete 75 percent of the race distance. This they did, and on lap 40 he was back in action, but out of contention.

TMngs were not going much better for Mark Winterbottom, who lost a bundle of time when he was turned around by Craig Baird (for wMch Baird was later summoned to the pits for a drive-through),and then lost even more time when the Safety Car decided to pick Ms car up during a spell under yellow flags.

"We really got screwed by the Safety Car," Winterbottom sMugged.

"I was sixth or seventh, and it picked me up as a leader, so I basically lost a lap."

Elsewhere, Wills had the Dynamik VY hooked up nicely, and looked to be well on track to score a substantial haul of points until engine dramas brought the car to its knees on lap 65.

Most of the Victorian teams are planning to crank out some test miles ahead of the next round, and with the Championship race looking the way it is, there will be any number of people making the trip to Benalla with a mission plan firmly in place.

For we humble spectators, hypothermia will be a small price to

pay¬

CARS that take to the track merely to fulfil licence requirements have been a rather sorry sight during season 2004.

For the most part they have tended to develop mysterious (and terminal) mechanical problems about one millisecond after they have completed the requisite number of laps to fulfil their obligations, however at QR we saw the rare sight of two actually going the whole nine yards and participating in the race.

Gaiih Walden slipped into the seat of the #24 AU Falcon entered under the Romano license, while the Imrie-entered brand new Dynamik VY was placed into the trust of Neil McFadyen. He looked immediately comfortable with his surroundings in his debut,

2

S. Richards

2:01:46.4605

1:11.9810 16

3

Tander

2:01:47.5981

1:12.1023 13

4

Ingali

5 6

Bright Radisich

2:01:48.5369 _ 1:11.6701 30 2:01:48.8947 1:11.631934’

7

Dumbrell

8 9 10

2:02:00.5526

1:12.5674 42

2:02:01.0777

1:12.0368 14

2:02:01.2976

1:12.5135 25

11

Longhurst T. Kelly’ McConville Tratt

2:02:01.7609

1:13.1676 15

12

Jones

2:02:02.3883

1:12.8200 13

13

Secon

2:02:32.2477

1:12.5876 46

14

Wilson

89 laps

1:12.7153 57

15

Luff

89 laps

1:12.7125 16

16 17

R. Kelly Baird

89 laps

1:12.6025 57 1:12.4946 14

18 19

McFadyen Besnard

89 laps

1:13.2151 27

69 laps

20

Noske

88 laps

1:12.6299 45 1:12.8666 19

21

Winterbottom

87 laps

1:12.2661 33

22

Walden

84 laps J:14.5245 25 74 laps 1^2.0162 18

2:01:54.0479 2:01:54.3438

J:12.3913 36 1:12.2763 42

23

Morris

24

Johnson

70 laps

1:12.5895 9

25 Bargwanna DNF Wills

68 laps 65 laps

1:12.8229 _1^ 1:12.2129 36

DNF ^aife DNF Lowndes

46 laps

L12.0340 16

39 laps

1:12.6077 38

DNF J. Richards

38 laps

1:13.1246 20

DNF Murphy DNF Wee!

31 laps

1:12.7057 5

DNF Bowe

0 laps

DNF Brede_ DNF Ellery

Olaps

1 lap

1:42.0140

1

Olaps

* - Ambrose deducted points though kept victory Points: S. Richards 1006, Bright 951. R. Kelly 930, Ambrose 872, Murphy 811, Ingall 808, Tander 780, T. Kelly 741. Bowe 638. Johnson 597, Weel 569, Radisich 562, Baird 544, Bargwanna 544, Skaife 540, Jones 522, Winterbottom 514, Wilson 504, Dumbrell 503, Seton 485, Longhurst 464, Morris 454, Luff 414, Lowndes 414, Tratt 398, Besnard 398, McConville 380,). Richards 343, Wills 304, Ellery 260, Noske 196, Brede 118, McFadyen 90, Walden 66, Porter 58. * - Ambrose points deduction subject to appeal

CBR Photographic

BIG

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setting times that were easily on a par with any number of his more experienced rivals.

“I’m very, very disappointed,” he said, somew/hat surprisingly.

“I had no brakes from about lap 2 onwards the pedal just went to the floor. It was sort of intermittent-sometimes it would come back. I had a couple of spins because the car just wouldn’t pull up.

“Plus, 1 had no radio communication whatsoever. We had to do everything with pit boards. Our pit equipment was absolutely second-rate old crap, and the team still did perfect pitstops.”

McFadyen will be back in the car for another crack at Winton.

- MARK GLENDENN8MG motorspors news

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The Great Escape F

OR a while the French Grand It was obvious that, unless they did Prix looked like going to Fernando Alonso's Renault. something remarkable, Michael The Spaniard had been on pole and to the amazing Renault starts Schumacher and Ferrari would be thanks he stayed ahead on the first lap, and then again after the first of three beaten in France. So they did something expected stops.

Michael Schumacher could not get remarkable - and won. JOESAWARD by. The Ferrari was quicker but there was no way to get ahead, until the reports from Magny Cours Ferrari strategist came up with the

idea of a fourth stop.

"We had nothing to lose," said Ross Brawn."There was no risk because we were stuck in second and it would have been difficult to overtake. We needed to run in free air and to be able to use the car."

That was what Schumacher did and that was the end of the story. It was strategy played to perfection and Renault didn't see it coming. If they had reacted and brought Alonso in straight away, it was conceivable the young Spaniard might have been able to keep the Ferrari at bay. But they didn't and he couldn't.

Ferrari short-fuelled Michael at the third stop, he put in some blinding laps, and was far enough in front to accomplish an additional,fourth stop with ease. Checkmate.

Tactical brilliance aside, this is not a race that people will remember fondly. In fact, they won't remember it at all because it was not a great spectacle. TV viewers want to see overtaking, crashes and spins and the French GP offered almost nothing.

Juan Pablo Montoya had a spin, Zsolt Baumgartner went off, Takuma Sato blew an engine and on the last lap, third-placed Jarno Trulli dozed off and allowed Rubens Barrichello to grab the bottom step on the podium.

Eighteen of the 20 starters finished the race. Not much else happened.

In fact,Aussie's the most overtaking came from own Mark Webber.

Another tardy Jag start saw him beaten into the first left-hander by team-mate Christian Klien,but Mark is not one to cruise the opening lap.

He got KUen back,and Cristiano da Matta's Toyota, both through Turn 1, then threw the Jag down the inside of Marc Gene's Williams at the Adelaide

hairpin.

It was the prelude to a strong run for Webber,but it was just one of , those days when reliability was high I and aU of the guns, barring Sato, |- would finish. Ninth,just out of the I points, wasn't tlie right reward for I such a strong race.

Further forward, overtaking was limited.

"I think that Michael was just stronger today," said a resigned Alonso.

It was a very good illustration of why Formula 1 needs to have a think again about the tracks and the rules.

Constant testing has made the cars almost bullet-proof and drivers are too scared to incur the wrath of team owners because every point counts.

Thus, they do not attempt any manoeuvre which is too risky and that means that they never get to overtake because the tracks do not give them enough of a margin for error. A driver has to do something pretty dim to allow a rival to overtake.

The speed of the cars relative to one another is also not really the defining factor because even if a car is a second a lap faster than a rival in front of it, it is still not possible to pass the car ahead. The start is vital and it seems that only Renault has worked out to make the cars get off the line quickly. Pit stops give passing opportunities but that is not the kind of motoring that will have old buffers reminiscing in the years ahead about the good old days of 2004...

Something does have to change.

Races thus decided by silly little can things like anti-stall devices that kick in for no reason other than the fact that a gremlin went walkabout in the electronics. Jenson Button had his car hesitate for a second during the final round of stops and that was enough to rob him of third place. He had sat beltind motorsport news

Le Launch: Alonso won the start and dominated the opening sector of the race. Jenson Button, left, paid for a bad pit stop and gotjammed behind Barrichello and Trulli, the latter nodding off on the final lap to allow Ferrari to take a 1-3.

Trulli for 48 laps before that happened and the glitch meant that in the final laps it was Barrichello cliallenging Trulli, rather than Button.

And so, when Jarno dozed off on the last lap, Barrichello went down the inside at the final corner and grabbed tliird.

Still, Button was better off than

Sato who once again suffered from an engine failure, again immediately after his first stop. BAR boss David Richards promised an investigation to find out what had happened.

Trulli, still haggling with Renault over his future, drove a somewhat subdued race, unable to stay with the two contenders at the front, instead fending off the BAR and then the Ferrari for much of the distance.

Much was made of development work on the Williams and the McLaren but neither was that good.

Juan Pablo Montoya wowed everyone with a blisteringly quick lap on Saturday in the pre-qualifying session but he made a mistake in the

the neck as a result of a big crash in the wet on Friday. This came back to bite Irim (literally) on Sunday and things were not helped when he hit a kerb and spun from sixth to ninth just after the first pit stops. He did get to the finish but one point was all he could manage.

Ralf Schumacher's replacement Gene did a solid job but a poor start and a tussle with Webber meant that after qualifying eighth he was llth at the end of the first lap and 10th at the finish.

The bottom line was that the Williams was not quick enough.

More work is needed.

The same is true of McLaren but at least the MP4-19B looked better than its ill-born elder sister. David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen came home sixth and seventh. The fuel loads run in qualifying were not very heavy and when the cars were loaded up with fuel during the third stint the lap times dropped off markedly and were far less impressive than the list of fastest laps would seem to suggest.

On that list Raikkonen was beaten

qualifying run and ended up sixth on the grid.

Wliat he didn't mention on Saturday was that he had a pain in

only by Schumacher and Alonso but sometimes numbers can obscure the reaUties. It was nonetheless a good effort from the team, even if Coulthard had gone from third on the grid to sixth at the finish.

If we had not messed up in qualifying yesterday we would have done much better," said Raikkonen.

The speed of the 19B is good.

We will see just how good as the season develops.

The reality is that, for now,the challengers to Ferrari remain I prime Renault and BAR. 5

7 July 2004

continued on page 50 47

iiforsa Dennis always likes to MCLAREN boss Ron say that there are no J miracles in motor racing and 7 that progress is made by hard work, god strategy and the application of brainpower. On Saturday at Magny-Cours, he must have been questioning his own philosophies because not only had FIA President Max Mosley disappeared from the FI scene with a flash of conjurer's smoke,there was a McLaren in the top three after qualifying.

Oh, and the sun came out as well.

The thing that gave it all away was that there was a Renault on pole position at a

J. .

Wf.at? A McLaren in third?

Yep, and it was the usually single lap-shy David Coulthard who managed to do it, above. Even a pretty hard brake lockup was not enough to stop Fernando Alonso taking pole position, main pic.

Grand Prix of

France

'-P

rJuly 3 2004 .i

8 F Alonso(E) MW Seven Renault FI Team 1:13.698 1 M Schumacher(D) Scuderia Ferrari Maritxxo 1:13.971 +0.273 5 D Coulthard (GB) West McLaren Mercedes 1:13.987 +0.289 9 jBullon IGBl Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:13.995 +0.297

/

Mild Seven Renault FI Team 1:14.070 +0.372 J P Monloya(CO) BMW WilliamsFI Team 1:14.172 +0.474 Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.240 +0.542

cm

»*0

f WfO

4M-Gene(l BMW WilliamsFI Team 1:14.275 +0.577 6 K Raikkanen (FIN] West McLaren Mercedes + 0.648 i 1:14.346 2 R Barrichello(BRA) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.478 +0.780 ISCDaMatta (BRA) Panasonic Toyota Racing + 0.855 1:14.553 14 M Webber (AUS) Jaguar Racing + 1.100 1:14.798 ISCKIIen(A) Jaguar Racing + 1.367 1:15.065 17 0Panis(F) Panasonic Toyota Racing + 1.432 1:15.130 IIGFlsichella (I) Sauber Petronas + 2.479 1:16.177

ass ay.

f.

r

12 F Massa(BR) Sauber Petronas + 2.502 1:16.200

.1

IBNHeldfeld (C Jordan Ford + 3.109 1:16.807

1

19G Pantano(l) Jordan Ford + 3.764 1:17.462

■i

' Minardi Coswortli + 4.215 1:17.913 21 Z Baumgartner (HUN] Minardi Cosworth 1:18.247

■vtsrtwrt Mwt

FORMULA

EQ

ltd the importance ofthe B racing circuit where a Renault should not have been on pole position. The angels had clearly been by, sprinkling magic dust on Formula 1.

There is one other rule of Formula 1 which had also been broken: you can polish a lump of coal for as long as you like but that still won't make it a diamond. Beneath the shine it is still a lump of coal. And the amazing progress of the McLaren MP4-19B, a car which is not fundamentally different to the MP4-19, seemed unlikely at best.

The grid had something of a new look to It but if you stripped out two times which did not really make sense, the grid was actually much more familiar: Fernando Alonso's pole position and David Coulthard's third place.

Take away these two and there was Michael Schumacher a couple of tenths ahead of Jenson Button with Jarno Trulli, Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato and Marc Gene (read the mock Ralf Schumacher). Something which one might have expected to see.

Rubens Barrichello was out of the picture because of a hydraulic problem which meant that he missed the first qualifying run and thus had to

run first in the final qualifying.

So he was missing, but the back half of the grid was pretty much standard with the Toyotas and Jaguars a little jumbled and then Saubers, Jordans and Mlnardis all pretty much where on would expect them to be. No miracles there then.

With qualifying as it is these days - and for the rest of the year - we have to guess and see what Sunday will bring, but the theory was that Alonso and Coulthard were running cars with a little less fuel on board in order to make things look good. Alonso said he was surprised to be where he was.

Fie had not expected the Renault to be that competitive at Magny-Cours.

Th is is France and the men in the boardroom at Renault headquarters in BoulogneBillancourt like to see their cars doing well in front of the home crowd. Alonso himself

said he was happy but made the point that "we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. It could be a surprise ...

In Formula 1 driver code that sounded like a man who was running less fuel than the opposition.

Coulthard delivered a speech about the car being new and that it may well be better than the old one but it was still to be proven. David spoke about having confidence that the team can build on the performance but it did not sound like he was that confident for Sunday. Fie pointed out that, although the team has done hundreds of miles testing the car, it has not done a full race distance without stopping.

The man who did seem pretty relaxed by it all was M ichael Schumacher. Fie had made a mistake in the final sector.

The other man who looked like a threat was Juan Pablo Montoya in the revised Williams-BMW with its new aerodynamic package. Fie had a big shunt on Friday but on Saturday wowed everyone with the fastest time in prequalifying. Under the circumstances, his lap of 1m14.172s was a bit disappointing - he appeared to muff the Sector 3 hairpin.

The team's press release mentioned the 'disappointing' third sector from both drivers ...

Come race day, a lot would depend on how well Individual drivers got away at the start on a circuit at which overtaking is traditionally difficult...

I

FRANCE

Les Changes

PAOLO FlUSETTl looks at the latest FI tweaks In the Magny Cours paddock

THE French Grand Prix is always a race of some relevance as it is often the venue for major developments to the cars.

Indeed, this year, both McLaren and Williams debuted revised versions of their cars. In this issue, we look at the Williams in some detail - a similar evaluation of the McLaren will be part of our Silverstone coverage.

The revised Williams clearly follows the concept of the Ferrari F2004 with very narrow sidepods at the front end, below right, also adopting the inclined chimneys on the top edge of them.

An interesting feature is the side shark vents, which are placed behind the big chimneys previously mentioned, but are not removable - in contrast to the Italian car.

The rear end features an increased section of the engine cover which sports a mid-wing as the previous version. Going further back the bodywork is very narrow, covering the torsion bars in a very similar manner to the Ferrari.

The rear wing is interesting as it features endplates that contain two horizontal vents, as on the Toyota. This feature, above right, is very useful in reducing the turbulence close to the inner side of the endplates, reducing drag.

Speaking of wings, the new front Sauber wing, far right, which is the first of a series of

I

il

-S’.

I

elements that will be brought in at forthcoming races, was cretaed in the team's new wind tunnel.

This wing is very similar to the Ferrari F2004 first version of this season, sporting a very sculpted main profile (1) and endplates that include elements of the current Ferrari including the curved profile of the bottom section (2) and a full width side winglet (3).

Ferrari itself made some changes related to the nature of this track, making a step back in its choice of the front wing.

Stepping back from the singleflap version adopted in Canada and USA, the F2004 sported the older version of the wing, top. with double flaps, to provide better driveability to the car in

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Here is one we repaired earlier

JUAN Pablo Montoya had a very big accident in practice on Friday when the Colombian lost control of his car on a damp track and bounced across the gravel trap and into the wall in the high-speed Nurburgring section of the Magny-Cours circuit.

The Williams-BMW actually came close to flipping over before it hit the wall, smashing the front suspension. Montoya did not want to give away any sign of weakness but he did have some trouble with his neck during the race on Sunday.

"1 didn't expect the paid to become so sharp in the race," said Juan Pablo.

Montoya was due to drive on Tuesday in the FI event on the streets of London but his attendance was in doubt as we were closing for press. The team wants him to be fully fit for the British GP tliis weekend.

-JOE SAWARD

Work

MARK Webber summed up his Sunday afternoon by saying that his car had been "incredibly competitive".

"The team has done an amazing job all weekend," he said. "To see us finishing ninth and 11th in a race which had only one serious retirement is really a testament to the hard work we have done here at the track and back in the factory.

There is no doubt that the R5 is competitive and worthy of points finishes. The problem is that these days you have to be perfect all weekend because the level of competition is so tough. I am very motivated.

"I did have a little problem with the brakes and they were not cooling properly and so I had a long brake pedal but I still managed to set the fourth fastest lap of the race."

-JOE SAWARD

i ;g

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Jamie

I am a deferred university student at the moment. I was

studying a Bachelor of Arts and also a Bachelor of Asian Studies. I am currently working as an Army Reserve Soldier.

I have been modelling now for over four years and will continue to do so for a while yet. I have completed all sorts of modelling jobs including photographic, promotions, catwalk and hair modelling.

Running is also a passion of mine having been the aged Champion for Cross Country and Athletics. I also ran at Homebush in the National in 1999.

I love motorbikes especially the Augusta MV and the Hondo CVRs. My favourite rider is Valentino Rossi.

I have worked at quite a few V8 Supercar events and really enjoy the atmosphere.

My favourite driver is John Bowe.

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A

51

Another pall ofsmoke: Whatever Takuma Sato does to his

I

Honda engines, he did it again in France, his VI0 blowing sky-high on lap 16, left.

More like it: McLaren looked more like McLaren in France, with both MP4/19Bs getting to the finish - in the points, below left. s s

Home boy... farewell?

Olivier Panis struggled with the Toyota, below, the team obviously wanting its own B-spec asap.

?■

I

French Grand Prix

Grand Prix of France

Results 70 laps/308.586km

July 4 2004

POS I DRIVER

Race Time [ Fastest

Schumaclier

1:30:18.133

1:15.377

32

2

Alonso

1:30:26.462

1:15.551

34

3

Barrichello

1:30:49.755

1:16.035

50

Trulli

1:30:50.215

1:16.248

15 50

5

Button

1:30:50.617

1:15.971

6

Coulthard

1:30:53.653

1:16.303

7

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1:30:54.363

1:15.791

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1:31:01.552

1:16.140

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1:31:10.527

1:15.956

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Gene

1:31:16.299

1:16.070

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Kiien

69 laps

1:16.852.

37

Fisichella

69 laps

1:16.699

22

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Massa

69 laps

1:17.388

23

daMatta

69 laps

1:19.937

49

15

Panis

16

Heidfeld

17

Pantano

67laps

1:17.641

15

12 mwD

18

Bruni

65 laps

1:18.932

52

DNF DNF

Baumgartner Sato

31 laps

1:19.659

13

13 CKWt

15 laps

1:6.809

14

53 26

Drivers’ Championship: M. Schumacher 90, Barrichello 68, Button 48, Trulli 46, Alonso 33, Montoya 25, Sato 14, R. Schumacher and Coulthard 12, Fisichella and Raikkonen 10, Massa and Panis 5. da Matta, Webber and Heidfeld-3, Clock 2, Baumgartner 1.

Constructors' Championship: Ferrari 158, Renault 79, BAR-Honda 62, BMW.Williams 37, McLaren-Mercedes 22.

Sauber-Petronas 15, Toyota 8, jordan-Ford 5, Jaguar 3, Minardi 1.

52

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AGNY Cours was a very good race for Jaguar, but unfortunately we didn’t end up with any points to show for it.

That's a real shame, because it would have been a timely boost for all the guys in our garage and back at the team base. After our recent run of outs, everyone has lifted their game and, after a solid test last week, both our cars ran strongly and reliably all weekend.

Nevertheless,finishing a Grand Prix that had such little attrition jammed between the two Williams cars isn't too shabby a result.

My race wasn't quite as straightforward as the basic result would suggest. The one thing we're still not 100 percent on is our starts.

Sometimes, it still goes a bit pear-shaped in the start system and we're left to 'wing' it ourselves. It happened to me this time and so team-mate Christian (Klien) was actually a nose ahead as we headed to Turn 1.

However, I was able to go round him and also squeeze past da Matta as we headed off for the rest of the opening lap and then have a go at Marc Gene as we braked into the tight Adelaide hairpin.

It was a bit of a squeeze and there was a little bit of contact, 7 July 2004

but I came out of it in front and with no obvious damage. It wasn't until the end of the race that I noticed one of the turning vanes on the front wing was missing. I'm presuming it happened then, although the effect was obviously minimal.

Things went smoothly until the second stop, although when Juan Montoya rejoined in front of me after his brief spin, he held me up for a while until he got his act together.

After the second (of three) stops, the car developed a bit of a brake problem.

This track is very tough on brakes and I think we might just have underestimated how tough. Anyway, I started to get a long pedal and, for the first time at Jaguar, actually had to pump it up a bit.

In the end, we decided to wind a fair bit of brake bias to the rear for a while to recover the fronts and, after 15 laps, it seemed to have helped.

Otherwise, the car ran faultlessly and we left nothing out on the track. It was the best we could do and,to be honest, that's where we probably are in the pecking order. With only one retirement at the point end of the field, it was a good result.

Some of thebeen reliability well have due tomay the fact that Friday was pretty well jj

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- Mark ‘Scooterboy’ Webber had a good look at the back ofa Williams in France...

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washed out and so everyone had limited miles on their engines before race day.

Either way, it meant that we had to cram as much of our pre-race program into Saturday as possible.

I was relatively happy with my qualifying lap - there may have been a tenth or two gone somewhere, but it was pretty clean. Twelfth may not sound brilliant, but it was only seven-^ tenths away from the frnnt^^^^^ row.

It's definitely closing up''"' I'm aware ofsurrounding all the ;; speculation '' not only next year, but what's happening at Williams now that Ralf Schumacher is looking like being out for a while.

I'm as frustrated as anyone else in wanting to know what the future holds, but all I am doing at the moment is trying to put it to one side and concentrating on doing my job as well as I can. There are some good guys at Jaguar and,as I think I might have said before, we're one really good day away from getting the good result they deserve.

We ran quite well at the Silverstone test a few weeks back, so I'm hopeful this weekend's British GP might provide that opportunity.

53

Owen Kelly topped the table at The Paperclip’s KMV8SS round but Luke Youlden’s misfortune has set up a fascinating finish to the championship.

GRANT ROWLEY reports from Ipswich

A

CCORDING to Owen Kelly and Andy Jones, it was only a matter of time before Luke Youlden had an 'off'round in the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series.

That round didn't look like it would ever surface, but it did at Queensland Raceway last weekend, and it has set up the most fascinating finish in the history of the KM Series.

Fifteen points separates the leading three Ford contenders, while Mark Porter, Matthew White and Jose Fernandez still hold a small, yet mathematical,chance of stealing the championship glory.

Pole-sitter Kelly starred on DJR's home track and he took two race victories for the second meeting in a row. It was a timely round win for Kelly, who now has a real chance at snatching the title at the last hurdle.

"This should make the last roimd interesting," smiled Kelly.

"We've had good race pace all year. The test day we did here last week was all about getting a good qualifying car. We knew what we had to do and hardly changed a thing all weekend."

Jones was second overall and played his cards perfectly to be within striking distance of Youlden at Mallala in South Australia next month.

"That puts a smile on my face," said Jones referring to his title place.

"In terms of speed, I think we have it over Luke. We are at the business end of the season now."

Race 1(17 Laps) was all The firstarace forfirsts. .Kelly - -- ]First into about trio of turn one,first to create a gap and first to cross the finish line. Even a mid race Safety Car for the beached Dean Wanless failed to disrupt the Fujitsu Falcon's all-the-way win, which also included the fastest lap of the race.

Kelly simply maintained a one to two second gap on his pursuers.

Cameron McLean's solid qualifying effort came to naught after just one lap when the clutch failed in his Howard Racing Falcon. The mechanical misfortune all-but ended his-championship hopes.

Jones' sensible approach to the race netted the BOC Falcon second place, but it took him 15 laps to grab the 54

runners-up place. Lee Holdsworth made a solid start from grid four and slotted into second without a hiccup.

Only fading brakes in the Smiths Trucks Commodore allowed Jones to slide past. Holdsworth held onto third in front of a fast finishing White.

Mark Porter and Youlden finished fifth and sixth, ahead of an arguing Jose Fernandez, Alan Gurr and Marcus Zukanovic.

Tony D'Alberto's career-best qualifying effort(sixth) was wasted with a small off at turn one.

"We've been struggling to get the car settled on the bumps and I lost the rear and went off," he relayed. He fought back to score 10th.

Alex Yoong's race debut at Queensland Raceway was hampered by a gearbox wliich randomly stuck in fourth gear.

Kevin Mundy, Wayne Wakefield

continued on page 56

n ANTj

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Everyt

Taking Pole in the nick THERE'S nothing like leaving things to the last minute.

Owen Kelly took 19 minutes and 30 seconds to score pole last weekend at Queensland Raceway.

The Dick Johnson Racing driver, in the dying moments of the session, edged out Cameron McLean, who had sat at the top spot of the timesheets for the majority of the 20 minutes exercise. Kelly struggled to get a clean lap without any mistakes, but put it together when it counted.

"It's not so much that I got pole it's more that I'm not starting from ninth or tenth," he said.

"For most of qualifying I wasn't able to put together one good lap."

Andrew Jones was the first of the Victorians in third and was pleased with the performance of the Team BOC Falcon.

Lee Holdworth impressed

and claimed fourth ahead of the ever-present Matthew White and Tony D'Alberto.

Championship leader Luke Youlden was confident his qualifing speed was no reflection of his race pace. He would start eight behind Hydraulink Holden driver Mark Porter. Alex Yoong was ninth and championship contender Jose Fernandez 10th.

- GRANT ROWLEY

Eights and Nines: Luke Youlden was conservative in qualifying and lined up eighth, right, one spot up on Alex Yoong, below, who is starting to get used to V8 Supercar racing.

2S 26

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Aaron McGill

27

80 83

Steve Volght Tim Gordon

28

110

29

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Jamie Cartwright Mark Howard

Howard Raclng/Dux Hot Water Falcon AU Mike Olsen 4x4 Falcon AU

1:13.4302 1:13.4968

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1:14.5080 1:14.7887 No time

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55

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continued fronn page 54 and Young Lioner Kurt Wimmer got tangled late in the race, but this clash was just a teaser for what the reverse grid race would deliver ...

Race 2(Reverse Grid -16 laps) The reverse grid race had just about everything including carnage, a new race winner and the title leader in major strife for the first time in 2004.

Wliile the dust was flying, Wimmer took advantage of the reverse grid start to claim his first V8 Supercar race win - and he did it without a drink straw, Wimmer led every lap of the race, withstanding immense pressure from the experienced Wayne Wakefield, who was throwing everything at the 19-year-old.

"I tried to get in a rhythm and push without getting crossed up," said Wimmer.

"Tlie drink straw not working didn't concern me until the race had finished. I didn't even think about it."

The biggest talking point of the race was Youlden's first DNF for the year. The championship leader got caught up in the typical reverse grid drama, which eventually ended in a snapped tailshaft. Youlden was disappointed, but quickly drew a

I

! t

comparison to his 2000 Formula Ford championship-winning season, where he had a disastrous penultimate round but went on to take the series. Will history repeat?

To make championship matters worse for Youlden,Jones seethed through the field after an off of his own to record a brilliant third, ahead of Kelly, D'Alberto and Porter.

And now,the list of clashes must be documented.

Lap one saw Mundy and Yoong bang doors. Lap two saw McLean get touched, turned and finally tee-boned

by Gurr. Jamie Cartwright played in the sand at turn six before Wanless and Adam Wallis collided a lap later.

On lap four, Dexion Racing's Tony Evangelou tried an inside run on Aaron McGill into turn six. The move failed, which sent cars dodging left, right and centre. Evangelou was punished by the stewards with 10s added to his race time.

White's weekend was put on the back foot when the Gulf Western driver claimed Kelly turned him aroimd under yellow flags. White lost nine spots in the controversial incident, but no penalty was imposed.

"Nothing against Owen,but it's a severe breach of the rules to make contact under yellows," White said, who recovered to finish ninth.

"It's not a good precedent to set. To be turned around is one thing, but under yellow flags is another."

Bam Bam goes Wham!

IT'S been 'one of those' seasons for Konica Minolta team Smiths Trucks Racing.

The year started with a jubilant round win for Alan Gurr at Wakefield Park, but on the Adelaide streets, both team cars left the circuit with heavy damage.

But the purchase of 'Bam Bam', an ex-Paul Morris VX has ' paid big dividends for the Victorian team. Before the Eastern Creek round, Smith Trucks plucked the engine and exhaust system from the Morris machine and put it in Lee Holdsworth's mount and he won the reverse grid race.

More vital gains were made with braking and power after a successful test at Winton between rounds. These gains were clearly evident at Queensland Raceway where Holdsworth qualified a career-best fourth, before finishing third, seventh and third "It's been a really good weekend," Holdsworth said.

"There's plenty of pace in the car at the moment. I was hoping for a consistent weekend but we didn't expect to finish on the podium. We've done a lot of testing with the brakes and how I brake. It's really paid off. Bam Barn's engine and exhaust has also been a huge advantage, but still not as fast as some of those Falcons though ..."

- GRANT ROWLEY 56

Amazingly though, all this unfolded and not one Safety Car was required!

KMVBSS Rd 5 G^ld Raceway

Race 3(33 laps) The V8 Supercar start in lastbest 50 years helped Kelly setthe a platform for his second race win for the weekend and secure the round victory.

The race was deluged with four Safety Car periods, which dragged the race on for nearly an hour in the hot Queensland winter.

At each restart, Kelly was able to launch away from Jones, who settled for second in the race and runner-up overall. Jones later said that he tried to stay as close as he could to the Kelly, but the Fujitsu Ford's powerdown was simply too good.

"I was sick of the Safety Car coming out," Kelly said post-race.

"But I really worked hard for the first two or three laps after each period to get a gap."

Holdsworth ran consistently to score third and pick up his first overall podium finish. Holdsworth passed a fast-starting Porter on lap five and was untouched from there.

White was another to enjoy an easy run and took fourth in the race and fourth outright ahead of Youlden, who salvaged saved his disastrous weekend by storming back though the pack to take fifth.

Porter dropped back to sixth in front of Wimmer,D'Alberto, the Kanga Loaders Falcon of Gary MacDonald and Evangelou.

McLean's up and down weekend continued. While fighting back from towards the back of the grid, Wakefield touched him off, which earnt Wakefield a drive-through penalty. The Safety Cars got McLean back in the game,but on lap 29, he turned around Zukanovic(who was having a super run inside the top 10).

McLean was soon called for his own tour of pit lane.

So with one round to go,it's on. No dropped rounds like last year, no more second chances, no more excuses. n Mallala beckons and Jones summed up the championship situation nicely.

"I'm looking forward to it. Let's bring it on."

Indeed ...

Points: Youlden 771, A. jones 761, Kelly 756, Porter 717, White 701, Fernandez 695, McLean 647, Elliott 600, D'Alberto 576, Zukanovic 535, MacDonald 532, Wallis 499, Wakefield 453, Holdsworth 434, Verdnik 416, Gurr 412, Evangelou 410, Mundy 408, Tilley 393, Scifleet 375, Wimmer 364, Hotoard 350, Wanless 310, R. [ones 306, Cartwright 276, Caruso 256, Rose 218, Olsen 206, Deane 190, Beikoffl68, McGill 150, Gordon 144, Yoong 128, Peters 108, Foster 90, Owen 62, Crick 58, Halliday 51, Voight 40, White 30.

1 7 LAPS

RACE 1 Pas I Driver 1

Race Time | Fastest Dn

!

2 3 4

Kelly A.Jones Holdsworth White

2U9.1649 1;11.6624R 21:41.7263 ’ 1:11.8344 21:43.3480 ’ 1:11.8449

5 6 7

Porter Youlden Fernandez

8 9

Gurr Zukanovic

21:43.5714 21:47.7283

10 D'Alberto Vr 'Elliott 12 MacDonald

4 ’S 5

1:11.9865" 5 1:12.4693 5

21:48.5349"' 1:12.4958’ 21:50.7069 ’’ 1:12.4702

4 4

21:53.6451 ’ 1:12.5975 21:54.3425 1:12.5447 '21:57.7144 1:13.0120

’7 4 2

21:58.8340 1:13.4198 iT 21:59.8359 ' 'l:13;3’678 ’ 13

13 Evangelou 14 Crick

’22:03.1922 22:05.8760

15 R. Jones 16' McGill 17 Wallis

22:06.7226_ ‘l:l’3.9906 '22:6Z2824 ’ 1:13.5339 22:10.4289 'l:14.0677

'5 15 7

18 Deane

22:13.8036 ' 1:14.0650 22:17.3150 ' 1:14.3740 22:19.7731 1:13.5961

13 "5 6’

22:20'6824. ’ l:i5.0134 22:20.8855" 1:13.0161 22:22.1128 '’l:13.2942

6 3 4

19 Voight 20 Tilley"' 21 Cartwright 22 Wakefield 23 Mundy 24 Wimmer

22:23.6261’

25 Yoong 26 Verdnik 27 Wanless DNF Gordon

3

A.Jones

4 5

Kelly’ ’ D'Alberto

6 7

Porter Holdsworth

10 Yoojig ll__Zukanovic 12 McLean 13 Gurr’

1:20.0243

’ T

1 S LAPS 19:36.4706

8 Fernandez 9'White'

1:12.7817

10

19:37.3065 1:12.7133 19:44.0864 ’ ’ l:’l2.0384 19:44.7161 ' ’]:'n.9279

8 11 ’l3*

19:46.1279 ’ 1:12.5829

9

19;50.’5_34T ’ ”l;12.5597 19:51.5070 1:12.6295 19:55.3726 ' 1:12.9432

12 'l4 8

19:55.8110 " 1:12.39J7 19:59.1248’ 1:12.9527

13 7

20:00.2359 ’'’l:13.1040 20:02.7347" ’ 1:12.4206

14 6

20:0'3.5227'' 1:12.9309 20:05.'2813 '1:117460

16 7

20:06.2287’ 1:13.3657 ‘‘20:08.’040'0 ”1:14.0575 ’

13 10

20:10.9005 1:13.9604 20:119542’ 'l:13.8963 20:l’7.1517’"1:13.9717

9 ’2 6

14 Elliott 15 Mundy 16 Jones 17 MacDonald 18 Wallis

7 4

I'lap"

Race 2 Wimmer Wakefield

1:12.8225

16 laps"”1:12.6452

n "l6 laps J n 1:14.5390 9’ 13 laps J:13.8963 "'4 n 14 laps' T:14.5049 ' 7

DNF McLean’

I 2

1:13.7329 ’ ’l2 'i;13.6799 ”7

19 Tilley 20'Verdnik

20:20.3375' 1:137250 ’ 'll 20:22.’5275 ’ 1:13.6695 16

21 Evangelou 22 Gordon 2’3’Crick 24 McGill

20:22.5913 20;’23.3931 20:24.4790

1:14.5937 ' ’l3 1:13.8659 15 ’’l:14.0171 13

25 Cartwright 26 Deane

2(j:3'9.0532 20:39.7478’

1:14.5695 ’ 1:14.1601

5 13

27 Voight DNF Youlden DNF’wanless’'

20:49.0635

1:14.4413

‘ 6

’ '’12laps'" 1:13.5158 7laps ■’

Race 3 1 2 3

33

7

1:13.8849

‘ ' 7

LAPS

48:59.8447

1:11.9730*

27

Kelly _ A.Jones Holdsworth

49:01.6282 ’

1:12.0159

7

'49:02.7280

'l;12.3238

14

4

White

49:04.0492

' l:'l2.3385'

is

5

Youlden

49:07.5137 ' ’l:12;8533 '

27

6 'porter

49:10.9091

1:12.9595'

12

7

Wimmer

49:12.0>00 "' 1:12.9131

' 6

8

D'Alberto

49:13.0026 ’

l:li2611

27

9

MacDonald

’49:177184'

1:13.4847 ’

13

10 Evangelou

49:19.1530

1:13.3087

13

49:19.7209 'j:13.5217 ’’49:22.1380 ’ l:'l3.7587

’l4 7

11 l\^undy 12 Elliott 13 Tilley 14 Verdnik

49:2'3.0410 '

15 Wallis

’49:40.0360 ’

1:14;1003 ”’28

16 Zukanovic

49:45.0322

1:13.2179

’ 13

17 Wakefield

49:45.2776_ ’ 1:12.9511 49:56.3766 1:12.8118

’27 16

50:10.3754 ’

1:12.6339

' 27

50:28.1973

1:15.0206 ’

15

1:13.1876

7

18 Yoong 19" McLean 20 Gordon 21 Fernandez

1:13.8698

28

49:30.5’2!2’’’'’ 1:13.1489

"28

32 laps "

22 R, Jones

32 laps'

1:14.3132

25

23 Deane

32 laps '

1:14.2623

12

" 29 laps

’l:!5.’893

6

DNF Cartwright DNF Gurr

27 laps

1:12.8507

15

13 laps

1:12.6962 ■ ■ 12

DNF’ McGill

"lOlaps

1:14.5254

DNF Voight

'

6

moiorspoit news

f.

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Oran Park

r-,ii

For the best seat in ydney’s favorite motor sport venue is open 363 days every year. Featuring four circuit variations, there is one to suit every need. Starting with the full 2.62km Grand Prix circuit, this versatile track can be divided into the South Circuit, the North Circuit and the Figure-Eight Circuit, all of which can be operated individually. As well, Oran Park features a comprehensive 4WD driver training track, two ‘flat’ dirt circuits, one that can be operated as a ‘rally stage’, and a high-speed skid pan. These options allow Oran Park to offer a wide range of driver training facilities, and currently six full-time professional Driving Schools operate on one or more of these circuits.

Six corporate hospitality suits are situated above the newly built pit garage complex situated on the main straight. These suits offer fantastic viewing of the whole Grand Prix Circuit complex and can be formatted to hold between 120 to 160 guests with full catering services available, and are ideal as venues for car, truck or

product launch’s and drive days.

Sited on 165 hectares, Oran Park has been used as the . venue for ‘shooting’ television commercials (both local and’ .'-j ●: international) as well as episodes of ‘Getaway’, ‘Renovatioiit;)?.- ■' , v Rescue’ and ‘World’s Worst Drivers’. Professional film crewsr .t ’ lo' from many countries have, utilized, and enthusiastically endorsed the diversity of Oran Park’s layout to create a - ' y multitude of visual effects.

But the heart of Oran Park is racing, and we offer ‘the best seat in the house’, either in a pit-top suite or a luxury Marquee, high on the hill overlooking one of Australia’s most recognized race-track corners! Just call to discuss how we can make your ‘day at the races’, one of your most memorable ever! ●t J .

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: August 14/15th V8 Supercars Championship - Round 8 ACTION CENTRAL in 2004 For further information contact: on 02 4646 1004

ORAN PARK

Davison takes five from five, Couithard second turn three on the eighth lap. The pair clashed mid-comer as Davison turned in, Richards taking the lead only to lose it when he stopped on the back straight a lap later.

"Obviously it was a puncture which blew out for some reason, we don't know why," said Gentleman Jim,/nr right.

This gave Couithard a second place after a long string of thirds, with Cressey getting up for third place after picking the right route through an accident in front of him. "ha turn four Jonathan Webb just got sideways and I really had nowhere to go and I just ploughed straight into him," said victim Klark Quinn.

"Straight away I knew the radiators were gone; it was a fairly heavy crash."

Paul Pederson took fourth from

ALEX Davison continued his steady march towards the 2004 Carrera Cup title with two wins from the two races held at an incident-marred fifth round at Queensland Raceway.

"The end result was perfect,just exactly what you want," said a satisfied Davison after the presentations.

Davison had to work hard, as first Fabian Couithard and then Jim Richards each took the lead from him at various points throughout the weekend.

In Race 1, Couithard was able to outbrake Davison into turn three, only to lose the lead as the New Zealander lost pace with a slow run through turn two the following lap.

From there, Davison raced away to win, with Richards also getting the better of Couithard before race's end.

Klark Quinn was fourth ahead of Peter Fitzgerald, Jonathan Webb and James Cressey.

Tony Quinn and Rodney Jane.

Race 2 was declared a no race after

MOrORSPORT

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In Race 3 it was sUghtly different, as Richards outbraked Davison into

by MARK JONES

I

i

a series of incidents on the operung lap. As mid-pack reach the end of the pitwall, Roger Oakeshott,Stephen Bomess and David Thexton squeezed before Oakeshott was turned across Borness' bows and struck by Thexton, who was spearing to the left.

Oakeshott was then turned into the concrete wall for an impact heavy enough to send him to hospital for precautionary x-rays to his sternum.

Fitzgerald, above, and Cressey clashed to a standstill in turn three while Jane

also crawled to a halt in turn two.

The race declaration was also a godsend for the younger Quinn, who had broken a driveshaft on the line and wasn't able to take the start.

With the Sunday morning schedule already running late, the race was reluctantly declared,leaving Davison with five roimd wins from five starts this year.

Points; Davison 804, Richards 681, Couithard 630, Fitzgerald 462, Pedersen 345.

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[3

CCUP/FFOR

Dirk Klynsmith

STEVE Owen stormed to three wins from three starts in the Ford Racing Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway last weekend.

Owen, above, has only finished five races in this year's series, and from 12 races so far in 2004, has won four of them!

Each race though at QR was a thriller and Owen's win was by no means plain sailing, Sonic Motorsport youngster David Renyolds continued his impressive form with outstanding results.

The Victorian shadowed Owen for the majority of the meeting and finished the races second, second and fourth. His recent form surge has been timely and he pegged back Brett Francis' lead in the championship.

But it was happy days for the factory Spectrum squad, who not only took round honours, but Owen's young team-mate Tim Macrow claimed third overall.

Macrow was one of the quiet achievers throughout the

CARRERA CUP PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARO Presented by Motorsport News Vote for your favourite driver at www.cupcar.coni.au after each round and go into the draw to win some great prizes each time!

The People's Choice winner will be announced at the Carrera Cup Awards Night on Monday October 25,

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7 July 2004

weekend, finishing with a 6-3-3 scorecard.

Owen's win was all the more sweeter though when he said post-race that the car was suffering from carburettor problems, but only at turn two.

This resulted in him running down the inside of the back straight each lap, forcing his rivals to drive around the outside of him. Reynolds was one who got caught out by Owen's tactic and fell from second to fourth on the final lap of Race 3.

Francis had another round where points gathering outweighed outright results.

The Queenslander is having one of those seasons where even when things aren't going his way, a result is always salvaged.

He clashed with James Small on the final lap of the first race and dropped a number of positions, but still managed to finish seventh. Francis improved to take fourth and second in the final two races.

Small's speed, on the other hand, did not translate to

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results. He scored two DNFs and a seventh, which has dented his championship hopes.

Western Australian cleansweeper Dean Fiore ran with the leaders and picked up third in the opening race before getting shuffled back in the fraught Ford fights. His series ambitions though remain intact after a consistent performance.

Bryce Washington struggled for outright speed in his new Sonic Van Diemen, claiming that it felt "different" to the one that nearly got destroyed at Barbagallo last month. The ADRAD-backed driver notched up three top-10 finishes, Dave Sieders in the Chance of a Lifetime machine had one of his best results for the year, taking fifth on merit in Race 1.

On the penultimate lap of Race 2 though, he out-braked himself at turn three and dropped to 15th. He stormed through the pack to score eighth in the final.

- GRANT ROWLEY

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59

1

Young

France may have bombed out of Euro 2004 but its dominance of the Turkish WRC round continues. JON THOMSON reports of another Sebastien Loeb domination in the heat of Turkey

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ITROEN has maintained its dominance of the Turkish WRC round, with Sebastien Loeb withstanding sizzling temperatures to take a dominant win.

Witli the Celsius hitting 40 degrees for most of the event, the young Frenchman took the lead on the second stage of the rally and not even a last-minute seized wheel bearing could stop him from claiming the event by 26.2s from Marcus Gronliolm. It was Loeb's fourth win from seven starts and extends both his driver's title lead and Citroen's grip on the manufacturer's Championship.

Loeb was given a penalty on Day 2 for jumping the start on a special stage but that decision was reversed on Day 3. Even if the error had stood, he would have won anyway.

The final stage wheel-bearing problem came at a point when everyone had virtually conceded the win to Loeb and celebrations had started in tire Citroen camp. It was a heart stopping moment with the Xsara's right rear wheel bearing seizing halfway through the last stage.

"In the last stage, 1 foimd that the car was bouncing a bit, then the rear right wheel locked solid and we decided to take it off to make sure we readied the service park," said Loeb.

"It's a good win for sure but Sweden was better. I tried to drive gently to keep the thing together and it all worked well."

Gronholm was Loeb's closest challenger, but he never quite had the pace to stretch the Citroen. The Fhm had his own worries in the closing stages with a failing gearbox conceding almost a second per kilometre to the pursuing Fetter Solberg on the last two tests.

It was a drama-filled rally for tire Peugeot number one who may have been a greater threat to Loeb had it not been for a bizarre incident on Day 60

2 when a metal bar fixed to a concrete post pierced the bottom of the car.

The steel shrapnel went through co-driver Timo Rautiainen's seat cushion and into his bottom, the ensuing(and understandable!) scream prompting Gronholm to back off and lose time. The navigator was not seriously injured and the pair continued but time was lost and it delivered Loeb the upper hand.

Gronholm was also unwell all through the final leg, which must have affected his ability to pursue the flying Frenchman.

"It's been a tough event I've not been feeUng very well maybe it was something I have eaten," said Gronholm.

"At least Timo is feeling OK after his problems but the gearbox problem was a bit more of a drama for us. We have certainly been made to work for second place."

The retirement of Harri Rovanpera late on Day 2 when his transmission seized,further underlining the worries the Peugeot team has with the 307's gearbox.

Solberg captured the final podium spot, 11s behind Gronholm but it was only in tlie final stages and with a stricken Peugeot in front of liim that the Norwegian looked to be in the fight for second. Subaru's lead driver never really had the right package or tyre spec for this rally and that, coupled with time lost in a water splash, meant Solberg was content with third place "We have finished all the rallies this year so I'm quite happy," said Solberg.

"The small problem with the water splash on the first day was unfortunate and our performance was OK but not quite as good as other rallies this year."

The reality was that the Subaru tyre and suspension package on the longer and more demanding stages was simply not up to the pace set by Loeb and Gronholm.Solberg also admitted

I can beat these Turkeys with one wheel tied behind my back: Sebastien Loeb took the lead on SS2, above, and was never headed, despite having to delete a wheel on the final stage when a wheel bearing seized, below.

that putting an extra cut in his Pirellis backfired and proved to be the wrong strategy.

Fourth place for Carlos Sainz was a reward for perseverance on the second leg when the Spanish Citroen driver was stricken by a stomach bug.

So bad was the pain tlrat the veteran

was nearly forced out of tire rally.

"It's been quite a difficult rally" he said. "I had big problems coping witli the pain and 1 was lucky to finish. It was very hard to concentrate but I am happy I made it and I'm very happy with the points."

Francois Duval was fiftli in what moiorsport news

bodywork was pushed out of shape in the splash and blocked the air intakes, causing the car to go into 'limp home' mode. Martin finished the day in 43rd and then had to rim as first car on the road on Day 2, costing time as he swept the gravel for the cars behind. Martin finished way back in 24th.

Mikka Hirvonen again picked up useful points, building his experience in the second Subaru but is still a way off being considered an outright threat. The young Finn brought the number two Subaru home in sixth.

Mitsubishi continues to lurch from disaster to disaster, witli rumours that heads are about to roll in the motorsport department. The team succeecled in getting Italian Gigi Galli's car home for a couple of Manufacturers' points in 10th place while Gilles Panizzi retired with a failed ECU on Day 1. Panizzi returned under SupeRally rules on Day 2 and 3 for testing and development, doubtless gaining both personal experience and valuable data on tlie car.

TheTinal pomts scoring positions were taken by Focus drivers Janne Tuohino and Antony Warmbold.

Loeb goes to the next round in Argentina in mid-July with a nine point advantage over Solberg, w'ith Martin a further 10 points back while Gronholm is two points adrift in fourth.

In the Manufacturers' Championship, Citroen has built a 15 point lead over Ford, with Subaru just six points behind and Peugeot languishing anotlier 10 points back.

The Championship is shaping as

Ups and Downs: Marcus Gronholm, left, chased hard in the 307, despite his co-driver copping a spike through his leg!Janne Tuohino, right, scored seventh in the private Focus while Fetter Solberg, below, lost time when he nosed his Impreza hard into a water splash on Day 1.

was a solid, but not brilliant, drive at the wheel of the second Ford. He was in the hunt for tliird until he took a chunk out of a front tyre on one stage and lost drive to the front wheels on the next,losing three spots. He fought back one spot but it was a disappointing return for his efforts.

"It's not bad," said an optimistic Duval. "I was setting top three times.

We had a few problems and we could 7 July 2004

have been on the podium."

It was not a particularly outstanding result from the Blue Oval, which must be praying for a change of fortune in the next few rallies to restore its hopes in the Manufacturers' title.

Markko Martin had a mediocre time in the lead Focus after suffering similar damage to Solberg in a water splash on Day 1. The Focus's

1 Sebastien Loeb

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Drivers' Points: Loeb 53, P. Solberg 44, Martin 34, Gronholm 32, Sainz 24, Duval 23, Hirvonen 13, Tuohino 12, Rovanpera 10, Carlsson 6, Loix and Panizzi 4, H. Solberg and Stohl 3, Ginley and Valimaki 2, Campos, Vovos, Burri and Warmbold 1.

Manufacturers' Points: Citroen 80, Ford 65, Subaru 59, Peugeot 47, Mitsubishi 11.

WRC 7 TURKEY another fascinating battle that is unlikely to be decided until the contenders have faced off in the final roimd in Perth this November.

Globalstar

Finnish First Mobile everywhere-.

Juha Kangas and Julia Rabbett put Mitsubishi back on the map after winning a dramatic Rally of Tasmania.

JON THOMSON braved the rain to see how things unfolded

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RASHES,freezing rain and an upset win were the standout features of a dramatic third round of the Australian Rally Championship in Tasmania's Huon Valley two weeks ago.

Toyota's Simon Evans has almost certainly seen his chances of the 2004 title washed away in the wet and slippery Tassie forests after breaking his right leg in a crash that could only be described as freak.

Evans's crash overshadowed many aspects of the event, particularly the fine double-heat wm of Juha Kangas, who delivered Mitsubishi its first ARC victory of the 2004 season.

Kangas relished the open and fast roads that sweep through the Southern forests. Comparing them to his homeland, the Firm attacked throughout Day 1,fighting for the lead with Cody Crocker and Chris Atkinson and only sealing the first Heat wm on the final stage.

The Mitsubishi driver had an easier path to victory in Heat 2, with the dramatic demise of Atkinson and 62

Evans, while a string of problems held Crocker back. The Subaru driver had no luck at all, with times being neutralised on tire one stage in which he beat Kangas on Simday.

Kangas's win follows the Finn's maiden ARC victory on last year's Tasmanian roimd, proving the advantage the Mitsubishi driver enjoys in his adopted home state.

"I think every rally should be like Tasmania," said Kangas.

"I think maybe this rally is very good for me.I like the roads, but they are very slippy and easy to go off."

His run wasn't totally without blemish. A large stick pimched through the front right corner of the Lancer on Saturday, going within inches of the car's oil cooler. On Sunday, Kangas cleaned up a signpost at full noise in fifth gear but the car escaped virtually unscathed and he was able to take the win with ease.

I damaged the car in one stage. he said.

"I just got one corner wrong where there were trees and logs and I

crashed with them. I cut the corner too much and I saw the trees coming but I didn't care.

"Always when you're racing, you need to think you can make up the time, and always try to think 'I can do this'. You have to think this way or it doesn't happen."

Crocker diced with Atkinson during the early stages of Saturday until the factory Subaru driver gained the upper hand and led until his car blew a piston on the final stage. He was able to limp into the service park where his team removed the engine,changed two pistons in the two hours allowed and got him to the start line for Day 2.

Atkinson was always close to the lead despite his tyres losing their competitive edge during the opening leg, but the yomig Queenslander was not enjoying the same advantage he displayed in Queensland last montli.

Third place,6.3s belrind Kangas, was hardly tardy however. On Sunday Atkmson was in the fight, leading Evans by 2.5s after two stages, and would have been another

6s ahead had organisers not cancelled the first stage of the day due to timing problems.

In a tight fight with Evans, the Subaru driver was pushing hard when he came to grief.

"I ran wide and hit a tree stump, sending the car airborne and into a 360 degree spin before landing back on its wheels," said Atkinson.

"We managed to continue on for a couple of hundred metres but the rear suspension was broken,forcing us out.

"With the competition so close you always have to push to the limit; unfortunately I pushed a little too hard on a comer that was slipperier than I thought."

Atkinson and his co-driver brother were uninjured, and the pair had just gotten out of their stricken Subaru when Evans ran off the road, crashing on the same corner.

It was a dramatic scene tliat saw both contenders out of the rally.

Evans was evacuated by helicopter but was quickly stabilised, suffermg a broken femur. Tire Toyota driver molorsport news

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ARC Round 3 Rally of Tasmania H EAT

1

Pas Driver

CAR

1 }. Kangas/ J. Rabbett 2 C. Crocker/G. Foletta 3 C. Atkinson/B. Atkinson

Mitsubishi

56m17.4s

Subaru Subaru

56m20.3s 56m23.7s

Toyota Subaru

56m35.2s 56m59.6s

Toyota Mitsubishi

57m42.7s 57m52.1s

8 B. Goldsbrough/D. Moscatt Subaru 9 B. Barker/0, Long Toyota Mitsubishi 10 M. Lintott/T. Jackson

58m46.7s 59m22.3s

4 S. Evans/S. Evans 5 D. Herridge/G. Macneal!

6 N. Bates/C. Taylor 7 E. Ordynski/I. Stewart

Time

58m43.8s

Heat 2

V Champagne shower: Herridge helps Kangas celebrate while Rabbett keeps out of tbe firing line.

1 J. Kangas/J, Rabbett 2 C. Crocker/G. Foletta

Toyota Subaru

46m09.3s 46ml4.6s

3 D. Herridge/G. Macneall

Subaru

46m26.4s

4 N. Bates/C. Taylor 5 E. Ordynski/I. Stewart

Toyota Mitsubishi

46m57.6s 47m22.6s

6 M. Thompson/R. Thompson Mitsubishi 7 J. Monkhouse/D. Masters Mitsubishi Mitsubishi 8 M. Lintott/T. Jackson Subaru 9 B. Goldsbrough/0. Moscatt

47m43.5s 48m41.9s 49m05.8s

10J. Murray Jr/D. Pizen

Subaru

49m20.8s 50m56.2s

Overall Results: Kangas 40, Crocker 32, Herridge 24.

Bates 20, Ordynski 20, Atkinson 15, Evans 12, Goldsbrough 8. Thompson 8, Monkhouse 4.

Drivers Championship: Crocker 82. Evans 77. Herridge 64, Kangas 62, Bates 60, Atkinson 51, Ordynski 42, Goldsbrough 26.

Manufacturers’ Championship: Subaru 242, Mitsubishi 208, Toyota 152.

Clobalstar Mobile everywhere..

a fact Strickland

expects to be back behind the wheel in about seven weeks, which will potentially see him miss two rounds of the title.

Atkinson had claimed third on Saturday behind Kangas and Crocker and in front of Evans, Dean Herridge and Neal Bates Crocker was set to benefit from the departure of Atkinson and Evans but gearbox problems early on Sunday slowed his progress and the cancellation of two stages meant he had no chance of bridging the gap to the flying Kangas later in the day.

Herridge had a consistent run, staying out of trouble to take third overall for the weekend,improving his own series standings and Subaru's manufacturers points as well.

While Evans had stepped up the pace in the Toyota team. Bates has not been far away and save for some wild spins, the three-time Aussie champ would have been closer to the pace on the opening day.

Bates scored sixth after complaining that the road conditions were proving hard to read.

1 iuly 2004

Can't buy luck: Evans, above with Bates, faces an uphill title battle after breaking his leg in a shunt. while Crocker bounced back after some Subaru surgury, right.

On Day 2 after the crash. Bates claimed fourth in conditions that were no more kind.

Ben Barker had a TTR youngster good run on Saturday. Despite putting his Corolla into a ditch where he lost almost 30s, he still came home in ninth, recording some valuable stage miles in the process.

Sunday was a different matter, with the young Bega driver going off the road in the opening stage only to encounter a course car off the road and underneath his car when it came to a halt.

It was another early shower for Barker,but he impressed with his Saturday times and will be a force in seasons to come.

At Pedders',it was one disaster after another throughout the weekend, with both Scott and Mark suffering more than their fair share of problems. Scott had gear selector problems and a spin before the gearbox in the Evo let go on Saturday, while on Sunday he fired off the road into retirement.

Mark Redder was 11th on Saturday and went out after two stages with a blown engine.

It was a tough couple of days at the office for Ed Ordynski in the Ralliart Lancer, taking seventh on Day 1 and a fifth on Day 2.

"We're one rally behind and our task now is to find more speed," said Ordybski.

"We need to do a bit of work on set-up. But I reckon we will have it by the time we get to SA." The battle for privateer honours went down to a fight between Brad Goldsbrough's Subaru, Mark Thompson's Lancer and the ageing Galant of Jack Monkhouse.

Goldsbrough was eighth for the weekend with Thompson in ninth and Monkliouse 10th.

Ross Dunkerton again won the Australian Cup in the all-wheel-drive Magna despite losing an alternator belt three stages from home and having to push the car 1.5 kilometres into the service park on Sunday.

He came home just ahead of team mate Michael Taylor, while Steve Glermey carried the day in the Subaru RS Challenge.

With Evans out of the picture, the Rally of South Australia on July 31August 1 will have a very different feel as the other contenders set their sights on the title.

63

Evans aims for Adelaide

by JON THOMSON SIMON Evans is doing well after undergoing an operation to insert a 300mm rod into his broken right leg at Royal Hobart Hospital last week following his high-speed crash in the Safari Tasmania.

Late last week, Evans was due to be flown back to Melbourne where he will spend more time recuperating in hospital. Despite the severe break, the ever-positive Toyota driver says he is aiming to be

back in the driver's seat in time for the next ARC round in Adelaide at the end of the month.

Simon told MNews that he was

trying as hard as he could when the crash happened,fatefully, on special stage 13 of the Tasmanian event.

"We were fighting for tenths of a second on every corner and 1 was trying very hard to catch Chris Atkinson," said Evans.

"I was going as fast as 1 could on the straights so the only way to make up time is to try and go faster around

the corners. I was in fourth gear and trying to get maximum speed and simply ran out of road.

"I was pleased at how the car stood up to the impact, and I have told Neal and the boys that it was a very big impact."

The car hit a tree stump mid corner with the major impact being taken in the B-pillar. Ironically, the Atkinson brothers had crashed on the same corner and ran to the Evans car to offer assistance.

"I told Chris I was in a bloody lot of pain and to get me a doctor," Evans laughed.

Evans was fortunate that the break was a clean one just below the hip joint and says that the pain has reduced significantly since the rod was inserted last week.

"The doctor reckons I'll be out of action for about six weeks, but I've told Neal and the team to have the car ready for Adelaide. I have a championship to win," he declared.

"Obviously it is up to the doctors but I am confident of getting back in to the car in time for Adelaide.

Ouch! Will Simon Evans make it to Rally Adelaide? Will he let Sue drive?

"I've got no qualms about getting back into the car and my aim is still to win the Championship."

Atkinson's WRC chance Rally Finland and GB start for busy Queenslanders RISING star Chris Atkinson will mount a full campaign in the World Rally Championship in either a Group N or Junior WRC car in 2005.

Wlrile tire young Queenslander won't confirm any details, it is believed the team is looking at all options with the goal of becoming the first Australian to gain a full-time WRC drive "We're looking at all our options for next year and that is where we want to be," said Atkinson."Whether it is in a JWRC or a Group N car we don't know yet.

The 23-year-old did confirmed that he will drive in next month's Rally of Finland in a Subaru Impreza Production car run by Tommi Makinen's new junior team, with backing from Rally Australia, Qantas and BF Goodrich/Michelin.

"The Finland deal has come together in the last week and the Makinen team is the best option because it is very close to our ARC car in spec and set-up.

"We're doing this as an experience thing. You have to do Finland because it is one of the toughest WRC events and one that separates the men from the boys.

"We'll be looking to match the pace of the local production car runners but will pick our stages and see how it goes."

Depending on budget, Chris and his co-driver brother Ben may also run a similar car in the Rally of Great Britain m September, adding to the pair's unrelenting schedule which will see them competing on 21 out of 37 weekends 64

between March and December this year.

The Atkinsons are set to fly out of Adelaide on August 1 at 6.40pm,just hours after the finish of Rally SA,landing in Jyvaskala at 2am Tuesday morning ready to start recce for Rally Finland later that morning.

As well as their ARC campaign in a Subaru,the brothers are driving for Suzuki in the Asia Pacific Championship,a Subaru in the Chinese Rally Championship and selected WRC events. They are also doing recce on a number of JWRC rounds with Suzuki.

"I think the constant competition has meant we are faster in the opening stages on rallies and because we are getting into different cars all the time it has helped our ability to adapt," said Chris.

-JON THOMSON

WRC ’05 calendar shake up

THERE is more turmoil ahead for the World Rally Championship, with the FIA's Rallies Commission set to throw the schedule for the Championship into the mixer again.

The latest plan will potentially see the WRC finish in Europe in 2005 in either Spain or Britain, with a drastically altered schedule that will see new dates for Argentina, Australia, Britain, Italy and New Zealand.

In both of the scenarios put forward by the Commission, Australia will once again move back to October or September, despite organisers' pleas that these dates badly affect the Perthbased event because of weather and football finals.

One of the proposed changes sees Rally New Zealand move to a February date, defying the logic of grouping all the Southern Hemisphere events together in a smooth flow from one to the next.

The Commission has not revealed why it is again shuffling the calendar after so much upheaval in recent years but it is clear there will be plenty of lobbying before the calendar is set later this year.

- JON THOMSON The latest proposed WRC calendar for 2005 is: Monte Carlo Rally January 21-23 Swedish Rally February 4-6 February 25-27 Rally of NZ March 11-13 Rally Mexico Rally of Argen tina April 8-10 Rally of Turkey April 29-May 1 May 13-15 Acropolis Rally May 27-29 Cyprus Rally June 17-19 Rally of Italy Deutschland Rally July 22-24 August 5-7 Rally Finland August 26-28 Rally of Japan September 16-18 Rally GB Tour of Corsica September 30 - October 2 Rally Australia October 14-16 Catalonia Rally October 28-30 motorsRort news

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Brook

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Tatnell tackles busy l Jas the Ace takes commanding series lead JASON Crump enjoyed his second Grand Prix victory of the season in front of 25,000 fans at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen recently.

The 28-year-oId is now 11 points clear in the overall standings ahead of fellow Australian Leigh Adams, who failed to make the final.

Crump was too fast for Adams in the semi-final and had to work hard to win the final. Nicki Pedersen crashed in the first ruiming and in the re-run. Crump outpaced Swede Andreas Jonsson,(who was making only his second ever final appearance) and Cardiff round winner, American Greg Hancock.

"I was a bit slow on the set-up tonight, but once I made a few minor changes the bike was perfect in the final two races- and the result is there for all to see," said Crump.

"In the semi,I just nailed the start and that was pretty much it, and then I was leading the final with two-anda-half laps to go before Nicki crashed, "I then had to do it all again in the restart, wliich wasn't too much of a problem -1 was on a high and tlie

Darley Crowned

I

NEW Australian Litre Car Champion Scott Darley capped off a sensational summer with the young Sydney charger being named the NSW Litre Club Champion,the A Grade Drivers Champion and Parramatta City Raceway's Litre Car Track Champion at the recent NSW Litre Car awards night.

Runners up in both the Club and A Grade Championships were Brendon Fox (second) and Trent Singleton (third) while Singleton and Brendon Fox were runners-up in the Track Championship.

The NSW Litre Car division will feature regularly at Parramatta City Raceway next summer.

- GREG BOSCATO 66

I in the last two events.

I The third Australian in the series, I Ryan Sullivan, has dropped to 11th i after a disappointing night. He was eliminated in heat 12 and failed to make the main event.

'^1

b- n z conditions were pretty good."

Crump has now made it through to 28 finals m 54 GP appearances and four out of five this year.

Adams did not look as sharp as he has been, but remains in second place in the championship ahead of Hancock,Tony Rickardsson and Pedersen.

Rickardsson, by his standards, is struggling. The five-time world champ has failed to make the semis

With only the top eight qualifying automatically for next year's series, he will need to get back to form sooner rather than later.

Next year only 16 riders will compete in each round, with 20 heats plus semi-finals and a final. Each rider will face each other once in the old World Championship format before the climax of a Grand Final to decide the rostrum places.

The top eight from tliis year will be joined by the top two from the World Championship Final at Vofens in Denmark in August and the FIM will nominate the other six men to race in the series.

With the World Cup in early August, the next GP is not until August 21 in Gothenburg.

-TONY MILLARD Points: Crump 94, Adams 80, Hancock 75, Rickardsson 69,Pedersen 63,Tomasz Gollob 53.

SA Dates Confirmed VARIETY will be high on Adelaide’s Speedway City programme in season 2004/05.

While continuing to run their traditionally successful events, the prestigious Australian Sprintcar Masters will kick off the season on November 6.

Three rounds of World Series Sprintcars, including the Grand Final and the Tectaloy 360ci Sprintcar Series has also been slated. The AMCA Nationals, Street Stocks and Junior Sedans will continue to support their home track.

Despite relinquishing the Australian Speedcar Championship, the venue is looking to continue to build the section and will look to run some

/>.iris Chirlcs

high class Speedcar events.

The Introduction of Late Model Sedans is expected to make a big impact when they venture to Adelaide next season and cars from both the East and West coast already have Intentions of converge on the city of churches.

- PARIS CHARLES

ITH his normal Trop Arctic #66 parked for the weekend dueO to inclement weather, Brooke Tatnell jumped at the chance to drive the #5 car of legendary Knoxville spanner-man Guy Forbrook.

The car, inset, which is normally driven by Tyler Walker, was handed over with immediate success for the San Souci Speedster who recorded a pair of wins in the IRA series.

Tatnell's form has been on the improve since mid-May, which started with a seventh in the outlaws event at Tri City Speedway.

The following weekend in the two day Princeton Nationals, Tatnell scored third in the preliminary after starting a lowly 15th place start. He backed that up fourth in the A Feature. . A week later, the call came from Forbrook and Tatnell arrived at Jackson Speedway feeling the pressure.

"Hopping into an Outlawcredited car for the first time and being at a non-Outlaw show adds pressure to win, as this car has won Outlaw shows against the best and if we don't win I look like a nondriver." Tatnell explained.

He set a new track record which was clearly enough for fastest time in qualifying. He then blitzed the field to win the opening heat. Starting from position four in the main, the car was suffering

Litre at PCR? DISCUSSIONS are well underway with the Australian Litre Sprintcar division to see the running of the 2005 Australian Litre Car Title being run at Parramatta City Raceway over Easter next year.

Confirmation of tire Title plus other dates will be aiuiounced shortly when the PCR season calendar is released.

-GREG BOSCATO motorspori news

SPEEDWAY IXmirl Bvjril

Sight for Sore Eyes WORLD of Outlaws rookie of the year contender Jonathan Allard has been forced to take a leave of absence after it was found that he has developed vision problems.

Allard, who drove in Australia last season, has experienced these vision problems since a large heat race crash at Rolling wheels Raceway Park on June 2. A replacement driver has yet to be named and it is yet to be known if another driver will take the place of Allard in his absence.

Allard's problems are similar to the one faced by Melbourne's David Murcott, who last season left the Bill Mann team on the World Series after Mann advised him to seek specialist tests for his eyesight. n Defending Knoxville track Champion Terry McCarl became the 14th different winner of a WoO event for 2004 when he dominated the entire 30-lap feature race at Joplin 66 Speedway, Joplin, Missouri recently.

It was McCarl's career-first WoO event victory after he was the fastest in time trials and blitzed the field in the dash. Finishing behind McCarl was Kraig Kinser and Donny Schatz followed by Danny Lasoski and current WoO point's leader Steve Kinser. Erin Crocker had her best finish of 2004 finishing 10th. Brooke Tatnell was 14th.

sHgihtly from a fueling problem, but once he had his momentum up, the Aussie ace swept to the lead for his first win stateside this season.

Tatnell didn't have to wait long for his next win when he claimed his second IRA feature for Forbrook at Superior Speedway.

Still in Forbrooks Maxim,

the new team took in the Outlaws show at LaSalle speedway where Tatnell lead the event for a dozen laps before finishing third.

The Eagle Nationals yielded a pair of third place finishes over the two nights of Outlaw competition.

Two days later Tatnell was at

Dodge City with the Outlaws and after blowing an engine in his heat was forced to run the B-main where he finished second. From 17th position, Tatnell grafted his way to a satisfying sixth place in the Main event against the toughest oposition.

- BRETT SWANSON

n On the Sydney scene there are a number of drivers entering the 'Sin City' ranks.

Ex-Fender Bender driver Adam Wray has recently purchased a 2000model Stealth from the Linigen family stable which has been campaigned in the past by Mitchell Dumesny and Kelly Linigen.

Ex-Drag racer Peter Broadbent will be based at Parramatta next season after purchasing the ex-Warren Ferguson Maxim and has so far been using PCR practice sessions to great effect.

Rodney Bright will be making a return to the Sprintcar division, after his brief stint driving the #76 Gary Stacey owned Grizzly back in season 1994/95. Recently it was announced that Bright will team up with car owner and AMCA National campaigner Kerry McCombs, who has purchased a brand new Eagle from Billy Roberts.

- DANIEL POWELL

Hoosier Tire Australia 2004 WORLD OF OUTLAWS CHAMPIONSHIP Australian Distributors for JOPLIN 66 SPEEDWAY

^^ RACING TIRE For more Informaeon on Hoosier Drag and SpeedwayTytes call:

NSW:02 9679 /990 l Fax 02 9679 1187 VIO 03 9331 6477 l Fax 03 9331 7444 SA 08 8332 0800 l Fax 08 8364 0296 7 July 2004

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

9.

10.

.. Terry McCarl 11. .. . Kraig Kinser 12. .. Donny Schatz 13. . Danny Lasoski 14. , .. Steve Kinser 15.

Craig Dollansky 16. .. Jason Meyers 17. . .. Jason Sides 18. .. Joey Saldana 19. .. Erin Crocker 20.

. Aaron Berryhill .. Daryn Pittman Brian aulus .. Brooke Tatnell .... Tim Shaffer . Shane Stewart . Paul McMahan ... Mark Kinser Jamie Passmore .. Brian Carlson

2004 STANDINGS TO 29/06/04

1. Steve Kinser ..

2. Danny Lasoski .

3. Donny Schatz .

4. Jason Meyers .

5. Craig Dollansky 6. Paul McMahan 7. Tim Shaffer ...

8. Joey Saldana .

9. Daryn Pittman .

10.Kraig Kinser ..

.4347 .4263 .4151 .4108 .4102 .4005 .3946 .3946 .3940 .3910

11.Jason Sides 12. Brian Paulus ...

13. Erin Crocker ...

14. Jonathan Allard .

15.Brian Brown 16. Brandon Wimmer 17. Brooke Tatnellt .

18. Bob Bennett ...

19.Mark Kinser 20. Brian Carlson ...

.3859 .3659 .3367 .3260 .2722 .2573 .2066 1835 1650 1649

67

A Risini

1

sad day n O'dftTG Kalitta moved into the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel pointslead with a victory at the ,S^ars Craftsman NHRA Nationals r-at Gateway International Raceway two weeks ago. ^ ●- Gary Scelzi, Greg Anderson and i Steve Johnson were also victorious in their respective Funny Car, Pro 3toGk,,and Pro Stock Motorcycle ' iclasses, . Theeventwasmarredbya . second round crash involving Top ^'‘Fuel driverParrell Russell. Russell was fatally inj,ured when his dragster wenhout of control and crashed just |jast the finish line. (See sepemte-news story).

In the Top ©apl final, Kalitta, top, powered his Mac Tools dragster to a 4.53srun at 326triph to defeat Australian' team-mate David Grubnic, whp ran 4.79 at 304 in his . Kalitta Air machine. It was Kalitta's second victory of the season, and he now leads the points standings for the first time in his career.

For the day, Kalitta had taken round wins over Jolm Smith, Tony Schumacher and Scott Kalitta.

Grubnic, in making the all-Team Kalitta final round, had posted earlier wins over Scott Weis, Bob Vandergriff and Larry Dixon.

Scelzi recorded his first Fmmy Car victory of the season by defeating final round opponent John Force. Scelzi clocked a 4.82 at 325mph in his Oakley Dodge Hemi Stratus R/T, while Force's Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang lost traction and posted a 5.32 at 210.

Scelzi's Dodge advanced into the final after taking wins over Tony Pedregon, Jerry Toliver, and Cruz Pedregon.

Force was able to rack up early round victories over Jim Head, Bob i

Gilbertson and Ron Capps.

Anderson motored to liis ninth victory of tlie season, stopping Steve Johns in the final round. Anderson ran 6.72 at 204 mph in his Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am while Johns trailed in his Sportlite Chevy Cavalier at 6.77 at 205.

9

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DRAG racing worldwide is in mourning foiiowing the death of NHRA Top Fuei racer Darreli Russeii.

Russell, 35, was fatally injured In a crash during his second round race against Scott Kalitta at Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis on June 27.

The cause of the crash is yet to be confirmed, however early signs suggest that a right-rear tyre failed, causing the rear wing structure to collapse and pitch the car sideways. The dragster then broke into two pieces and caught fire, but was quickly extinguished by the NHRA safety crew.

Russell was extracted from the car unconscious but still breathing and was airlifted to St. Louis Medical Centre, where he was pronounced dead from head injuries a short time later.

Reports suggest that Russell was wearing a head and neck support device, which are not compulsory in NHRA, but are utilised by an estimated half the field.

Earlier this year, the NHRA had mandated a new Goodyear control tyre for both Top Fuel and Funny Car, and several

drivers and team owners had expressed concerned about the new tyre’s durability in the weeks leading up to Russell’s accident.

The NHRA has not commented on any role that the new tyres may have played in the crash, however a new tyre has been manadated for both Top Fuel and Funny Car with immediate effect, as well as introducing a new requirement for roll cage shielding on Top Fuel cars.

Some, however, are speculating that the tyres themselves were not the problem.

“In my opinion, it has nothing to do with the tyre,” Top Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher told Associated Press.

“There are thousands of pounds of downforce putting so much power down, I don’t care what you have on the back.

How can you take it?”

Investigators confiscated the car before releasing the parts not deemed to have been involved in the accident back to the team.

Russell, of Hockley, Texas, was one of the NHRA’s rising stars,and was immensely

P 5;

I For the day, Anderson, above, out distanced Mike Edwards, Warren Johnson and David Connolly, while Johns reached his first career Pro Stock final round by taking out Troy Coughlin, Kenny Koretsky and Jeg

s

flTm,>cafni atir

Coughlin.

After racing bikes for 18 years, Johnson claimed his first victory in Ms seventh career final round appearance. He used a holeshot start and recorded a 7.22 at 183 mph on his K&N Filters Suzuki to defeat the quicker Mateo Tools Suzuki of Craig Treble, who posted a losing 7.12/186 effort.

The next event on tire NHRA POWERade tour will be the 25tli annual Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colorado, July 16-18, as the gruelling western swing goes into action.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Points: Top Fuel: D. Kalitta 940, Schumacher 929, Bernstein S92, Dixon 695, Rnsseli 695.

Funny Car: Force S60, Worsham S57, Bazemore S21, Scelzi 771, Denshani 71S. Pro Stock: Anderson 1272, K. /ohnson S63, Line 852. Pro Stock Bike: Hines 655, Ca nn 47.1, Scali446,

Two in a Rowe PRO Mod driver Danny Rowe reached the final round of the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge for the second national event in a row two weeks ago, and captured his second career national event victory dating back to 2001.

Ironically, Rowe’s last victory came at this same event during the first season of Pro Modified under the NHRA sanction.

Rowe recorded a winning 6.20/229 shot in his InfiNet Insurance/Unique Performance-sponsored ‘63 Corvette to stop Von Smith, who recorded a 6.24/226 in the Dr.Moon’s ‘Rage’ ‘04 Mustang.

Rowe, the fifth qualifier at 6.22-seconds used a pair of 6.22/226 and 6.20/228 passes to take out teammate, Mike Ashley, and low qualifier Mike Janis.

Smith qualified third at 6.20/230 and posted earlier round 6.17/230, and 6.20/229 wins over Rickie Smith, and Zach Barklage.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

motorsport news

RAG RACING

I star Lost popular for his warm disposition and willingness to make himself available to fans.

He was also fast. Fresh from his win in Columbus two weeks prior to his accident - his first win in 42 races , and sixth of his career - Russell had top-qualified for the St. Louis event.

Driving for Top Fuel legend Joe Amato, Russell first underlined his potential by becoming just the third driver in history (after K.C. Spurlock and Gary Sceizi) to win in his first professional start, when he took down Mike Dunn at the 2001 Winternationals in Pomona.

He went on to make seven final round appearances that year and take another victory, earning himself the 2001 Rookie of the Year title.

2002 brought another three wins, including back-to-back victories at Denver and Seattle before powering to fourth in last year’s Championship. He never failed to qualify in his professional career.

The NHRA is conducting an investigation into the crash, which was the first fatality in the series since Blaine Johnson was killed during qualifying at the US Nationals in 1996.

JFfiAn/i

You want this Hail the Champ WITH a bit of luck, Australia's Andrew Cowin will be well and truly back in the thick of the NHRA action for the 2005 season.

And with a bit more luck, you might be able to go and cheer him on at the 2005 NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, California next February - for free.

Willowbank Raceway has a trip for two to next year's NHRA Wirtternats up for grabs, along with airfaires, six nights accor modation and seven days car hire. And all you have to do is pre-purchase your multi-day pit pass with reserve seating or Corporate Club ticket for the Australian Drag Racing Nationals in November before August 31 to be in the draw!

Come on, you're going to go anyway - might as well try to get a freebie to the States as well ...

Full terms and conditions can be viiiewed at www.willowbankraceway.com.au

1 luly 2004

Aussie Dave Grubnic fell victim to Scott Kalitta in the first round.

LARRY Dixon sent Top Fuel rival Cory McClenathan packing to win the NHRA K&N Filters Supemationals in Englishtown, New Jersey on June 20.

Dixon's return to the Winners'

Gary Densham overcame John Force to take Funny Car honours in a 5.004s/311.70mph to 5.902s/175.57mph final. Earlier, Densham had defeated Bob Gilbertson, Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham, while Force had accounted for Jeff Arend,Tony Pedregon and Gary Sceizi.

Other winners on the weekend were Pro Stock driver Jason Line and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Bike.

Circle came courtesy of an easy 4.657s/318.92mph to 4.703s/304.39mph final round effort. The reigning Champ earned his slot in the finals by defeating Doug Herbert, Bobby Lagana Jr and Darrell Russell, while McClenathan had earlier beaten Scott Weis, Rit Pustari apd Doug Kalitta. x\

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Fitting Fareweii MORE than 2000 mourners turned out to pay their final respects to Darrell Russell at the NHRA Top Fuel driver's funeral in Texas last week.

Joining the 35-year-old's family and friends were fellow racers including John Force, Joe Amato, Shirley Muldowney, Don Prudhomme, Gary Sceizi, Larry Dixon, Tony Schumacher, Alan Johnson, Tim Wilkerson, Whit Bazemore, Doug Kalitta, John Smith, Rhonda Flartman-Smith, Dave Grubnic, Gary Densham, Don Lampus, Doug Flerbert and Mike Kinsella, n Sydneysiders have been given the green light to start getting excited following the confirmation of the inaugural East Coast Nationals event, to be held at WSID on September 24-26, 2004.

All six of ANDRA's Group One categories - Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol, Top Bike, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Bike - will be on hand, and they'll be supported by the usual wide gamut of sportsman classes.

Given that the drag racing season officially starts on October 1, the ANDRA National Council will /consider changes to the season schedule at their August meetings in Adelaide. m Still on the subject of WSID, life in Western Sydney is also set to become more comfortable for competitors following the commencement of work on an upgrade of the pit area.

The existing sealed pit surface is set to be extended by 65 metres, adding an additional 89 sealed pit bays, and they'll be serviced by an expansion of the paved roads.

Additionally, the north-western corner of the hill adjacent to the pits will be removed to provide the equivalent of an extra 42 pit bays. n And if you are in Melbourne and are sick of reading about how good those lucky so-and-sos in Sydney have got it, then you will be happy to learn that you'll soon have an opportunity to do something about it.

The Drag Racing in Victoria Association (DRiVA), which has been formed to help secure a track for Melbourne and thus return Victoria to the civilisect world, will host a fundraising dinner and celebrity auction at Eden On The Park on Saturday, 16 October.

Amongst the desirable items up for grabs in the auction are a number of rarities from racers in the NHRA series.

Tckets are $125 each, and can by obtained by phoning Rachel on 03 9758 9883, or Venessa on 03 9702 0778. For more details, go to www.driva.com.au.

69

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scene

edtedby

Grant Rowley

New Azzurro On Track

R6 ready to rock establishment QUEENSLAND kart manufacturer Kartequipe recently released the Azzurro R6 onto the karting market.

While the layout of the main chassis rails are not greatly different to the successful models of the past, there are some significant and spectacular changes to bolton accessories.

The most noticeable of these is the seat mounting (see inset picture). The R6 employs removable CNC machined billet aluminium brackets that house a spherical bearing to secure the seat bolt. The seat itself is also different, Azzurro now fitting the famous fillet brand as standard.

The striking yellow anodised components will make the kart a standout on the grid, but of more significance is Azzurro's new take on front-end adjustment. The traditional Azzurro stub axle carries over from the previous model and continues to provide camber adjustment (nine settings). The king-pin bolt is no longer fixed in the chassis.

Instead, it has its own bolt-on section that now allows independent caster changes with five different settings.

Constructed of chrome-molly tube,the kart uses Azzurro's own six-piston brake calliper and vented disc plus their customary

urethane-mounted axle bearings. Gone is the driver-adjustable torsion blade of the Z3+ model, however a regular removable torsion bar is fitted across the front. A 40mm axle is fitted as standard with the option of 50mm.

- MARK WICKS

McFadyen masteps home tpack

NEIL McFadyen extended his lead in the Formula 4000,Powered by Holden Australian Drivers Championship at Oran Park Raceway recently with two dominant victories.

The 21-year-old was on the pace aU weekend,claiming pole position on the Saturday in his Ralt Australia Reynard 95D with a best lap of l;04.0763s around the 2.62km GP circuit.

McFadyen,above right, last year's Australian Formula Ford Champion, power away from pole in the first 19la'p race and was not touched throughout.

McFadyen built a lead over Ty Hanger, who was unable to reel him in and settled for second. Paul Trengrove,Canberra's Terry 70

Clearihan, and impressive debutant Stephen Bomess rounded out the top five.

until Nguyen spun out of contention on the restart after he had just moved into second. The former International

Winton round winner Rob Nguyen had a disasterous qualifying session and continued his horrible run with electrical problems in Race 1. As the race wore on, Nguyen's car began to sort its self and he recovered to finish sixth.

F3000 driver rejoined the race at the tail of the field.

In Race 2, it looked as though McFadyen wouldn't be challenged as he got away to a blinder of a start leaving his rivals behind.

On the sixth lap the Safety Car was deployed after Trengove (Ralt Australia) slipped on oil over the dogleg and beached himself in the sand trap, beloiv right.

Hanger and Nguyen tried their best to bridge the gap to McFadyen

Borness then spun off near Konica Comer,forcing another Safety Car apperance. Once the car of Bomess was removed, there was a one-lap dash to the finish. McFadyen never put a foot wrong and powered to his fourth victory of the series. Hanger finished behind McFadyen in second followed by a gallant Nguyen in third Clearihan(who picked up third outright and the Silver Star), Ian Peters and Rohan Carrig completed the first six.

-DANIEL POWELL Points: McFadyen 110, Hanger 76, Nguyen 58, Clearihan 43, Trengove 42, Peters 42.

I

Sieders Smile and Frown Top 10 Horstman BEN Horstman picked up two top 10 placings at the second and final round of the European Super ICC Championship at Varennes, France, last weekend.

Having qualified 12th in the 30 kart field, 'Mully' (Biesse/SGM/ Bridgestone) carded eighth and 10th in the two finals. This was good enough to move him to 17th in the standings after a disastrous opening round in Italy.

Francesco Laudato (Birel/TMA/ega) was crowned Champion.

-MARK WICKS

DAVID Sieders dominated proceedings in the Aussie Race Cars class, taking three of the four race victories with Tim Monte winning Race 3 at Queensland Raceway.

David's brother and series leader Colin had a tougher time after a nasty accident in the final race of the day heavily damaged his AU Falcon.

Sieders spun exiting Snake Gully and was struck by Stewart Maxwell.

Three second places and a third has seen James Ward (Falcon AU)move into the series lead, with Travis Edwards being the other standout performer with four top-five finishes.

-MARK JONES

Mitch

IN Formula A, Kiwi Mitch Cunningham (CRG/Maxter) is finding the going tough.

Fifty-ninth of 72 in qualifying, a best of 15th in the heats combined with a DNF saw him miss the cut for the finals.

The French round saw the return to form of Tecno. Using Atomik engines, the Italian manufacturer top scored in FA with two second placings in the hands of countryman Johan Besnault.

With one FA round remaining, Nick De Bruijn leads the series with his father's PDB/Gillard team. Rotax World Final runner-up Ricardo ven der Ende (Energy/TM) won ICC. -MARK WICKS

Fi>hfT Morrn/A^t

7 July 2004

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DAMIEN French won two of the three races in the Kumho Tyres Lotus Trophy at Queensland Raceway after a series of close fought battles with Malaysian prince Djan Ley. French, left, won the first race after a long dice which ended in a three-way drag to the finish line. James Moffat ranged up on the inside to snatch second from Ley with the cars three abreast. Richard Buttrose was also snapping at their heels.

Ley and French raced through the reverse grid field to finish in that order ahead of Dennis Rigon. Moffat struggled home in 10th.

French won the final race after a spirited dice with Ley and Colin Flarper.

James Brock debuted in the championship at Queensland Raceway and will compete in the remainder of the inaugural series.

-MARK JONES

Going gets tough for

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WESTERN Australian Tony Ricciardello put an end to Darren Hossack's winning streak in the TranZam Sports Sedan Series by taking out round three at Oran Park two weeks ago.

Hossack, aboard his # 4 Chev-powered Saab, was out-gunned by Ricciardello, above, throughout the weekend, although Hossack did snatch the win in Race 1 from Ricciardello with a sensational last corner pass after Riccardello missed a gear.

In Saturday's qualifying, Ricciardello paced the field by setting a best lap of 1:07.5954 which was unable to be topped by arch rival

Hossack, who missed out by 0.3s.'Kiwi Bernard Gilion was third in his Ford Mustang Cobra.

Ricciardello scored wins in the remaining two races despite constant company from Hossack in both heats.

The championship gap between Hossack and Riccardello has now narrowed, however, Hossack retains a healthy lead.

Gilion snared third in the opening race but was out-paced by Dean Randle in Race 2 and 3.

- DANIEL POWELL Points: Hossack 178, Ricciardello 137, Gilion 113, Randle 78, Rodney Woods 76, Graeme Smith 52.

71

r

,( ,, n

British and Australian representation: The 2003 Le Mans winner in the trusting hands of Mark Blundell, above. Aussie F1~champ Alan Jones and friend, below, were also part of the Goodwood spectacle.

,■

■

●

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-

I

[Gei\re-acquainted with your Toyota; Jut^a Kankkunen stepped into his World Championship-winning Toyota Celica, above. Christiana Da - ^ ^Maita also, slid back into his Toyota-powered l^ewman Haas Lola Champ Car in which he won the 2002 Championship. Oh what a feeling :^.

72

gathered many of the greats past and present - to showcase the history of the sport in the backyard of Lord March's family estate near Chichester, West Sussex.

The 'who's who' of motor racing included Damon Hill, Emerson and Christian Fittipaldi, Gil De Ferran, John Surtees, Stirling Moss, Derek Bell, Rene Arnoux and Carl Fogarty.

The Formula 1 stars and cars were a popular pick. Vehicles from Williams, BAR, Toyota, Renault and McLaren were represented, driven by Antonio Pizzonia, Jenson Button, Christiano da Matta, Frank Montagny, Darren Turner and Pedro de la Rosa.

One of the most interesting and historical features was the appearance of Jacques Villenueve in his father's Ferrari 312 T3. Gilles used the car to win the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix, his first GP win.

The festival also boasted a handful of Australians, including Sir Jack Brabham, right, Alan Jones and Aussie Formula 3 hopeful Barton Mawer.

Festival stalwart and threetimes world champ Sir Jack was kept busy signing copies of his autobiography while competing in two of his former cars.

"I've been to every Goodwood except the very first," he said.

"I think the really special part of it is seeing the old friends we used to race with and the old cars we used to drive. It's a fantastic opportunity."

But who was the fastest up the Goodwood hill? Justin Law in his 1990 Jaguar XJR12 secured the fastest time award with a 49.26s.

HISTORICS

Playing with dad's toys: Christian Fittipaldi wheeled out father Emerson's Penske, above.

Jacques Villenuve got his first taste of FI power in 2004, right.

The car; Cilles'Ferrari in which he won his first GP in Canada in 1978.

JGRAMMES ra: i^

SWttK .j®

's

winner

's next winner?

John Surtees took reigns of the RA272, above right. In 1965, the car claimed the honour of FIonda's first F1 victory.

Yet to win a race but on the verge, Jenson Button gave the crowd some circle work in last year's BAR 005, above.

K

I'm a little teapot: Frenchman Jeah-Pierre Jabouille filled the woods with the sounfj.'pf the Renault's first post-war,GP car, the 1977 Renault RS01.

73

NATIONAL SCENE

Ain't nothin' but a hound dog

THERE was no stopping Geoff Emery in the latest round of the RDA Rotors Commodore Cup after he whitewashed his rivals recently at Oran Park.

The reigning Champion dominated qualifying, took three classy wins and snared the championship lead. His closest rival was the former series leader, Christian D'Agostin.

Emery,driving his VH Commodore, was constantly challenged throughout the weekend by a determined but at times frustrated D'Agostin in his VH example.

In all three races, D'Agostin threw everything at Emery but to no avail.

Emery drove around the Oran Park circuit like he was on rails.

After finishing second in the opening two races, D'Agostin was hell-bent on registering at least one win for the weekend. His aggressive style saw a collision eventuate with the rear of Emery's car, which shattered his right front head light. A handful of laps later, the left-hand pin holding the bonnet down came adrift, wliich saw half his bonnet lift.

The officials deemed that D'Agostin had to pull into the pits to mend the damage. It was an order he was none too happy about. Once back on the track after the hurried repairs, D'Agostin was well down the order and finished ninth.

The race win was taken by the ever-consistent Emery ahead of David Gittus and an impressive Ashley Cooper in third.

Andrew Mclnnes and Geoff Fontaine were others to record consistent top five finishes in the 18-car field.

-DANIEL POWELL

i

Points: Emery 493, D'Agostin 470, Gittus 407, Fontaine 402, Holdsworth 396.

John sMonis/Mpix

Crick reigns in OP Supports AFTER an absence of two years, the mighty and popular Super Trucks returned to Oran Park where local hero Rodney Crick blitzed the opposition in typical fashion.

Crick, above, dominated all three races in front of a healthy western Sydney crowd.

Talented Daniel Bajema was Crick’s closest rival. He was unable though to find a way pass Crick, who knows the Oran Park south circuit like the back of his hand.

Others to impress were Adeiaide’s Bob Middleton andthe fast Isuzu of Doug Little.

Anthony Skinner dominated the entire weekend in the Production Sport class, with no one having an answer to his speed.

In MoPro Cup, Yanis Derums cleaned up the MGF Trophy after a tight tussle with Chris Oxiey. Youngster Brad Lowe finished third overall while Ian Kegg dominated proceedings in the Daewoos.

- DANIEL POWELL

3

I.

Look familiar? An MG bad a similar problem at Oran Park last year ...

Andrew Fisher was on the hot end of the rough stick this time around.

74

Emery takes back Commodore series lead

John .Mi}rn\/Mpix

Back from the brink: Reigning Commodore Cup Champion Geoff Emery is back at the top. Christian D'Agostin tried bard, but came up short.

THIS year's Speed on Tweed Festival will honour the life of motor cycle ace Barry Sheene.

The festival, to be held in the northern NSW town of Murwillumbah on the weekend of September 18-19, has attracted the support of some big names in motor sport and festival chairman Roger Ealand is anticipating a record entry this year.

One of Australia's most successful and respected international drivers, Frank Gardner, was so impressed with the event and its organisation last year he has agreed to be the festival patron.

V8 Supercar driver Russell Ingall has thrown his weight behind the event with the release of a new segment celebrating the life of former BOOcc motorcycle star, Sheene.

"Barry would have loved this event," Ingall said, "He was a regular participant at the Goodwood Festival and this event really is Australia's version of Goodwood.

"The Barry Sheene Celebration will be a demonstration of historic race bikes to be ridden by friends of Sheene and will help raise money for the Children's Cancer Institute Australia Research Fund," As well as the bikes, some 200 historic race cars valued at more than $34 million will challenge each other over the 1,4km street circuit. And some 12,000 spectators are expected to converge on Murwillumbah for the three-day festival.

- BRIAN REED

vs VIC

15

DAVID Giugni grabbed both heat wins in the Australian Porsche Drivers Challenge at Winton Raceway last month.

The ACT'S Giugni held out a horde of Victorians, led by Paul Stuart, Andrew Luxton and Dean Koutsoumidis.

Stuart just edged out Luxton for second overall. Koutsoumdis finished second in Race 1, but dropped down the order in the second event. molorspori news

INDUSTRY NEWS

Hot Seat The Latest Kirkey Racing Seats are now available from Hoosier Tire Australia.

The new range of seats feature a Integrated head and shoulder

KRC STEERING

KRC began research and development on an aluminum power steering pump in 1996. In 1997, they teamed up with ZUA,a company that builds power steering systems for many major auto manufacturers, to produce an aluminum pump designed to meet the needs of today's racer. The result is a lighter, cooler miming and more efficient power steering pump.

All pumps are Dyno tested at many RPM ranges and pressures for horsepower consumption. CNC machining centers produce housings for over 1 million pumps per year.

Accuracy and speed is the key to building a quahty pump while remaining affordable.

At the end of the assembly line all

,KRC pumps are run on a performance tester to check for leaks, noise, flow and pressure relief. They are then factory sealed to prevent any contamination,so you can be assured of a quality pump.

Performance Wholesale now have in stock Aluminum Power Steering Pumps,V-Belt & Serpentine Pulleys, Alternator & Water Pump Pulleys, Flow Valves & Relief Valves and Reservoir Tanks & Belts to suit most types of motor sport applications.

For more info or the location of your nearest distributor contact Performance Wholesale on 07 3808 1986 or visit www.performancewholesale.com.au

^^^Race Clutch Our name says what we do 26 Gladys St Stones Corner Old 4120 Jim Berry - Ph 07 3847 9999

COMM

support and are designed to accept all head and neck restraint systems. The adjustable head and shoulder support systems feature energy absorbing impact padding.

I

The

contoured bottom and raised front give excellent thigh support while the seat front has been lengthened for extra leg support. Padded rib supports offer tlie driver extra comfort and

are available in sizes ranging from 14" to 18".

For more information contact Hoosier Tire Australia on 02 9679 1990 or email

support.

The new Kirkey range of seats

Huge range of tachos Boost gauges Temperature gauges Over 70 quality instruments.

Why pay more?

matt@hoosiertiraustralia.com.au

ING REPAIJ^S TJQ 'J'JEUi 1 55 HPr

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9 904

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mm shop

RACE SHOP gives you the opportunity to promote your products and services to the widest possible range of motorsport competitors and enthusiasts. Advertising in RACESHOP costs as little as $60 per issue! Call Brendon Sheridan on 03 9550 0870 now!

Best Ofthe Best

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b www.rocketlnd.com Australia's Most Wanted Performance Gauges > MM—WcoigcrmoN iHSTwyEwrSw^,

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Australian Made MonufKlurtn jppointoiJ dituasotot lot Aujt/jHiAR trod* enqulfiw thoUd be dV«ted to Ph.0awsai966f«.0j97»n55 Enuittnfo«abfCiomJu

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Camshafts Roller Lifters Roller Rockers Ignition Systems Valve Springs & More!

CRANE TECHNOLOGIES PTY. LTD. Phone: 08 8363 5566

DRY SUMP OIL — ^ PUMPS

4 stage pumps $1505.00 [3 +GST Racer Price,

^ West Australian Made

New expanded range far details call Vic 03 9873 5400 NSW 02 4577 2400 SA 08 8340 4333 Vic 03 9553 4200 QU> 07 3274 4797 WA 08 9331 8488 Vic 03 9887 3833

&ai

Fax: 08 8363 5633

www.cranecams.com.au

a CDC3

'^1-5 stages available ^ CAM or BELT Drive

P |08) 9258 7700

CROWCAMS

The True Performance Alternative

● Custom ground roller, solid and hydraulic

i* Extremely durable bonded dampening material

profiles using unique computer controlled^ machines for unrivalled accuracy

● Easy to read computer etched timing tnarks ’ Available in economical cast iron Street, all steel SFi approved Race and new Ir^ Serpentine for Chev, LSI, LTl etc ^ P/I 02 6937 8888 Fax 02 6921 7536 Visit out website www.preclslonparts.com.au

ONE PIECE RACE PUSHRODS As used by top touring car, speedway & drag racing teams. ● .080" wall chrome moly

● Matching race valve train components including a huge range of one piece

Ph 03 93S7 0469 or Fax 03 9357 0001 Visit our website: www.crowcams.com.au

%

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ifHi Flow / Alloy Heads

'HI PERFORMANCE ENGINE PAfTTS ,

* one piece construction ● available in M*" &

diamet

● .050" length steps

^

from 6.00" to 10.00" ^ ● .080" wall hardened steel

The ultimate power fix for your Holdeu 'eifiir CAMS

NEW street race version^ also available

p:03 9357 0469 f:03 9357 0001

● Available for early and VN Style V8 ● Super flow potential compared to ported iron heads

A

● Greater thermal efficiency and half the weight of iron

Ph 03 9555 5522 Fax 03 9555 4152 www.yeiiat0rra.com.au

visi^ur^ebsite^w^jcrowcams^com^^

Race car preparation & storage

ENGINE BEARINGS

MG V8 Racecar preparation Spares for Capri, Datsun/Nissan 240Z, 260Z, 280ZX, 300ZX, 231,32

Trade enquiriesweicome filioj] 88251900 emaiaalssSrockeUndconi

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Balancers

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'Contour forged' 2618 alloy Precise top ring groove machining Pressure balance groove Ideal skirt Indaxing to pinhole & skirt-to-skirt polarity Precise CNC pinhole machining kUnufjcturcnappE

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motorsport news

MARKEF PLACE

M'MICHELIIU

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' All new 2004 range now available (9 models) I ' SuiDble for all forms of mocorsporc I ' Innovative design,latest materials and manufacturing processes are used to ensure ultimate comfort and ventilation

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Contact your state distributor...

Hardiman Auto Supplies (02) 9771 5877 Motorsport Connections (02) 9838 7272 Victorian Speed Pro (03) 9794 5177 Performance Wholesale (07) 3808 1986 Crane Technologies (08) 8363 5566 Gogear lacing Services (08) 9443 4^00

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For your engine tuning and development needs

Postal Address PD Bex B1 Bisberne VIC 3437 Tel/Fax 03 542B 11B3 Mobile D4BB 834 2B5 Email KODLKARS@bigpand.com.au

Steel Main Caps to suit most V8 applications

Dry brake connector Available in all sizes -3 thru to -12 Hi-Flow

Manufactured in USA by Pro-Gram Engineering

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1800 242 910

Ph 03 5339 5/59 Fax 03 5339 2/44

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FBKFOKmJAMCm _ FKODLfcra ^ . World’s # I range of race car seats . Ergonomic design for ultimate driver comfort ● Largest range of colours and styles ^ ● Latest materials for driver safety ♦ HANS Compatible models available

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RADIATORS, INTERCOOLERS & OIL COOLERS ● Offroad cars ● Motorbikes ● Boats ● Hot Rods ● Street Cars ● Circuit Cars Contact 07 55 981 499 or Fax drawings to 07 55 984 398 BUI LT

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Eastern Raceparts Racing Fuels CAMS & FIA Approved

Full range of racing fuels and lubricants: National Office: Hi-Tec Fuels Pty Lid 02 4659 6396 VIC: Race Fuels Ply Lid 0419 511 517 SA: Performance Fuels SA 0414 540 886 OLD: Elf Racing OLD 07 3269 6823 TAS: Devonporl Performance 03 6427 0700 www.hhtecfuels.com

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FIA HARNESSES 2008 expiry, lightweight buckle, 3" webbing, clip in ends Black, Red, Blue 5 point - $539 l 6 point - $579 FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY Aust Standard 4 point belts fr $145

Melbourne Trulli Dealer: Melboufne Kart Centre 0397692543 i 5/45 Sinclair Road Dandenong VIC mvw.mkcracing.com.au^

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Rivonvood NSW Established 1974 Phono 02 9534 5466 Fax 029533 2891 .AUSTRAL Email austmldzipworld.<

CAMS racing and rally licence courses @ Oran Park monthly $650 in your car.

Includes lecture and OLT. Fprtnula Ford Test Drives - $695 in our cars.

No pre-requisites. 40 laps at Oran Park.

International Racing Drivers School For more info ph 02 9873 1773, fax 02 9871 1018 or email peter@finlays.com.au www.finlay5.com. a.u

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stockist of 4130N MIL-T-673-6B1 SEAMLESS AVIATION GRADE TUBING ● Tube ● streamline ● Rod ● Sheet ● Aviation Grade 2024T3 Aluminium Sheet

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Security for car and equipment

BANNERS

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Ph 02 9756 0202 Fax 02 9756 0203 sales@simpsonraceproductsxom.au

race@tnt.com.au

competition Karts @ ^ Competitive Prices ^* l Melbourne's best value new & used Karts M ■'i 14 l Service, Sales and Advice ^ U': Cmk^Wrmnspn Melbourne Kart centre Ph 03 9769 2543 5/45 Sinclair Rd Dandenong 3175 wmw.mXraclng.eom.au

llolleu www.holley.com

Holley Performance System Distributors I Call 08 8132 1888 for your nearest distributor |

T/Mcr/a/\/

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65 Kellets Rd Rowville 3178 Ph 03 9764 2811 Fax 03 9764 8740

YOKOHAMA RACING AV#N TYRES

Distributors for Victoria and Tasmania Your high performance tyre and suspension specialists

CLASSIFIEDS

Classifieds online classifieds 7

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22Z27

Find hundreds more race vehicles and parts for sale at www.my105.com

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IT’S THE SMART WAY TO SELL YOUR EQUIPMENT!

3J VC Commodore Roller, Big 4 spot calipers on front, V8 fronts on rear, balance bar, Bias valve, hydraulic h/brake, approved roll cage, adjustable front suspension, 5 good A032S on rims. Velo race seats, Simpson harness, Cams log book, locked diff. $6,000. Glenn (02) 4353 7888 / 0414 288 522 576. www.my105.com/59255

FUEL INJECTION

(l)HILBORN FUEL INJECTION MANIFLOD ETC WITH BRAND NEW KINSLER HILBORN 286 PUMP PRICE$2,200.00NEG. 2,200.00 Neg. louis 0408342519 / 0408342519. www.my105.com/87923

Sedans/Sports Cars

Sports Sedan, Sports Sedan U2h Toyota Corolla KE30 Log Book Roller. Suit club car. $2,900 ONO. Leigh 0402 570 617 / 03 9745 288 2125. www.myl O5.com/19312

Porsche 911 RSR Replica, log book, timer 3.4c 330hp 1/wt 975kg big brakes c.r. box autronic etc. May trade standard 911.

288 $55,000. Peter 0402 029 100. www.myl05.com/29146

SALOON CAR, Complete ready to race, log book, stinger computer, dyno sheets, lap timer, spare gearbox, doors, rotors, tyres,etc. includes trailer with tyre rack-Dec Rego. 18,500 Neg. John 0412069534. 288 www.my105.com/54480

—-T5,.

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Gemini Roller (unfinished project). Ext. 12pt cage, Billit Axles,full float 5 link Hilux diff,Fuel celLdba rotors,biltein adj.lots more good gear.ring for details. 3,500 depending on opt. REG 0407112701. www.myl05.com/38133

HQ Holden, Probably the best presented HQ in the country, no expense spared. New motor, gearbox, diff and suspension. Ready to race with heaps of spares. $8,500 Neg. 288 0402 114 593.

Diego www.my105.com/17317

Mazda RX7 Sports Sedan, mid mount 20B peripheral port, engineered from ground up supra 5 speed Willwood discs, ail round Tilton clutch, new 16inch slicks bargain. $19,000 Not Neg. Darrell 0413 383 102. 288 www.my105.com/78353

7 July 2004

WM

J

Race Winning Saloon Car, 4 years development, many race wins, pole positions and lap records, ail offers considered, also available, brand new gearbox $2500, 2 sets of rims with tyres $800 per set, car trailer with tyre rack $3500. $18,000 Or Best Offer. Kurt 07 3368 288 1188 / 0419 705531. www.myl05.com/62825

For Sale, Commodore cup car for sale as raced by Daniel Richer! front running car, Fresh engine, Long shifter, two Exhaust systems„logger&dash, ten wheels,plenty of spares. $40, 000. Daniel 0404 096 598 / 288 52 755988.

(03) www.myl05.com/97777

RX7 Improved Prod Club Car, Fresh 13B, RX7 Turbo 5 spd, series 5 brakes, new envy wheels, 51mm Webber, Hilux diff, Aaj Watts, Cams log book, Ohiins and Koni shocks. $14,700 ONO. Matthew (07) 3846 6560. www.myl05.com/53136

V8 Supercar, Ex-Kmart Greg Murphy.The last Gibson-built car.Only 6 races from new.Complete less engine.Includes spares package with 4 sets of wheels. $110,000.

289 Eddie Abelnica 0418 360 058. www.myl05.com/41985

Porsche 3.8 RSR Replica, RHD, full spec 3.8 litre high torque race engine, Autronic engine management, throttle bodies, dual ignition, est. 380 bhp, Modena 5 speed dogbox with LSD, coil overs, air jacks, awesome Harrop brakes, full steel cage through to suspension, front mounted oil tank and cooler, safety fuel cell, heated windscreen, Velo race seat with head restraint, Sparco suede steering wheel, window net, harness, elec kill switches, fitting for Dorian, Odyssey battery, two sets Simmons wheels with slicks and wets, CAMS log book. Unregistered. Light weight - only 1040 kgs with fuel and oil. Successful race record in NSW, including outright win AROCA Six Hours. Recent repaint and mech overhaul. Richard (03) 9822 5034 or 0417 370671 mobile. For info pack/photos email womble@mira.net. $59,900 ONO. 289 Richard 03 9822 5034. www.myl05.com/38245

1989 Ford Saloon Car, No expense spared. Lots of spares, no damage, top hp engine, custom exhaust with Motec data logger. $24,500 Neg. Vince (02)9636 5411 / 238 493.

255 0425 www.myl05.com/29068

Mirage Rally Car, 2003 F16 Championship winner, currently tarmac specs, 50 mm DMS, all Ralliart engine and suspension bits, also Modena close ratio dog box available and gravel kit (sump, underbody, heaps wheels, etc). 20,000 Not Neg. Lee 268 0418141762. www.myl05.com/86498

Escort RSI600 (Replica), Tarmac Rally Car, Twin Cam Shell, 2ltr Alloy block BOA, Motec Injection, Dry sump, Quaife 5 speed SCCR Sierra Box, Tilton Twin plate clutch, Tranx LSD, Quaife Floating Axles, Willwood 4 Piston front Ford Motorsport rear discs, Alloy Tank, Alloy radiator, Bilsteins, 2 VI “ Adjustable front, single leaf rear springs, compression struts, anti-dive, too many extras to list, replacement cost well in excess of $120,000. 1 Event old, everything new or rebuilt. $58,000 ONO. Colin 0438 268 480.

441 www.my105.com/77953

79

Sports Sedan Celica 2ltr Twin Cam, complete ready to race, new fully adjustable suspension, new harness, adj brake bias, spares inc wheels, tyres, moulds, and spare race heads. Well presented quick and very reliable. Please call for photos and laptimes. $10,000. Brad (02) 4577 8111 - 0415 975 2B9 713. www.myl05.eom/60856

Mallock Mark 31, Brand new roller (factory car), knock on hubs, mumford link, 8 x magnesium F2 wheels, aluminium body panels. Fuel celhfoam, steering, disc brakes with wilwood callipers, diff centre,suzuki 5 speed gearbox, Suzuki cylinder head with new valves, ported & polished, new camshaft and suzuki bottom end (unassembled). $12,000. Greg 0419 645 www.myl05.com/39778

GROUP C HISTORIC XD FALCON, A FORD MOTOR COMPANY BUILT LIGHTWEIGHT/STRENGTHENED SHELL DELIVERED TO JIM KEOGH/JOHN SANDS RACING & BUILT FOR THE TOURING CAR BATHRUST CHAMPIONSHIP. DRY STORED SINCE 1982 AND SUBJECT TO A COMPLETE FRESHEN UP IN 2004 & NOT USED SINCE. NEVER HAD AN ACCIDENT, TOTALLY ORIGINAL & IMMACULATE. SERIOUS OFFERS INVITED. Steve 267 0397101444 / 0417564524. www.myl05.com/38521

Monoskate Historic Racing Car, Famous George Reed car raced successfully at Bathurst, AGP Narrogin 1951, etc. Side valve Ford V8, Offenhauser heads, twin Stromberg 97, Scintilia magneto, Needham c/r gearbox, aluminium hand formed body with all the patina of decades of racing. This car is probably the fastest most original pre war "Ka” car in Australia CAMS logbook, COD ready to race and win, nothing to spend. . $60,000 with all the spares. Barry 03 9670 8299 (BH)/ (03) 9663 7131 (AH) 0418 396 281.

289 www.my105.com/19021

-●i

'.V, .

A VS Commodore - Wakefield winner?.

Looking for the most cost effective, competitive entry in the new Wakefield Park Series for combined Touring Cars? Great sports sedan, club car, champagne rally or basis for Commodore Cup car. Built entirely from new components this gem has a proven competitive pedigree even though it is only 5 meetings old. 400 HP, super T-10, Harrop pedal box, callipers, hats rotors and hubs, immaculate build quality, sold with comprehensive spares package inci, diff ratios, 4 rims and numerous tyres. Brett 0402 456 281.

287 www.myl05.com/25578

Group R sport car. Cams log book. Dry sumped, 6 cyl Toyota Twin Cam Turbo Charged Engine. 5 speed renault 25 gearbox, Ap twin plate clutch. New wheels and tyres, car rebuilt and resprayed.

Genuine Reason for sale bought two, wife will only let me keep one. $13,500 ONO. Adam W 02 63321594 / H 02 63316332.

287 www.my105.com/41321

'A

daBBSS FORD FALCON NC XY GT, Strong 530 HP Steel Crank Motor. Close ratio gear box. 31 spline gold track diff. Mustang 4 spot front.

HO Rear etc.eto. Most parts new o near new. Very fast car in excellent condition. $50,000 Col Higgins 0401 213 808 or 02 9875 3500 ah.

287 www.myl05.com/49645

2002 Tanzam Corvelle DTM, ready to race and win again. DTM -Carbon/Kevlar body.

Chrome moly chassis, 3 x way Penske shocks fully fabricated in chrome moly rear with 9inch Ford, 5 speed Wiseman. TC gear box. BBS 3y pease wheels AP 6 pot brakes, 6 litre Hendrick 700 hp engine, dry sumped, 180 degree exhaust system. Only the very best has gone into this car. (No duty to pay car of new Zealand orgin ). $135,000. Peter 0064 3963 1381- fax 0064 3366 0133. 287 www.my105.com/1026

Open Wheelers

Formula Ford Spectrum 06- for sale or lease. Great 1st car, competitive in all state and National events, great history with many poles, fastest laps and wins, finished 4th Bathurst 02, 5th AGP 04, Penske shockers ail round, dash and logger, set up equip, full set ratios, 3 sets wheels and tyres, ready to race. $29,000. Daniel (03) 9725 5366 / 0411 029 561.

288 www.my105.com/18142

MYGALE SJ95 FORMULA FORD, Our Factory SJ95 Mygale is available for immediate sale. Join the G-Force Junior Development Program. No expense spared on the full factory rebuild of this car. Mygale factory assistance. Optional spare parts package. Full spec Ritter Race Engine - at $26,995 plus GST, Call Greg on 03 9580 7047. $26,995 plus GST. Greg 03 9580 7047.

289 www.myl05.com/38457

"L

i 1983 Ralt RT4 Roller, Ex American Pro Atlantic History. Suspension 06/box rebuilt in '03', Penske shocks and spares. Phone John or Tony. $28,000, Tony 0418 736 869 / 07 3359 4222, 290 www.myl05.com/2673

1981 Cheetah Mk 7. 1981 Cheetah Mk7, spares & log books come with car. Running in AF2. Pole at Oran Park Nov'02 with Dallara 395 Mugen in field. Brian Shead built car. Very good history. Urgent sale due to class change. Willing to talk on price. $23,000 Or Best Offer. Brendon 0409 952 905. 207 www.myl 05.com/57004

TlKFway to sell your gear! From just $25* just log on

(*$25 applies to ads entered directly onto my105.com) Advertising can aiso be suppiied using this form ($10/$15 surchage to text oniy/text-F picadvertisements) Advertisements wili appear in next possibleesue of MoforsF?rt News PLUS the my: OS.coi,; websitefcrthree months.

Please read & cross the desired services and calcuiate the total.

online classifieds Category: □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers

news Description:

□ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers

□ Speedway

□ Wanted □ Photographs

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NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Please use the form provided and print clearly. Please note we are unable to return photographs supplied for use In classified ads. Ads will appear as soon as possible after receipt. MN/my105.com classifieds are for the sale of private goods and vehicles only, not business advertising Photos marked “prooT wili not be used.

motorsport rows

CLASSIFIEDS Speedway

Transporter, Mazda T3500 dual cab 85 model,5 speed with split shift.Powered by on 350 chev gas.New paint,upholstery,gearbox,clutch+tyres.Cd player+cb radio.12 month reg (vicj.Very tidy+quick truck.ldeal tow vehicle, Ph 0394609588 or 0407336785. 14,000 Neg. 288 Adrian. www.my105.com/19585

2003 MIDGET CAR FOR SALE, Alach/Gaerte, complete roller with best available gear, only 4 meetings old. Dash 12 Gaerte, weldtech cylinder head, rodeck block, new rods, pistons, cam, valve train, new Joe Hunt magneto, will possibly split.

289 NZ$40,000 Neg. Ray 025-908-335. www.myl05.com/6278

Race Car Transporter, 92 Mitsubishi FK417 2 car transporter, 12mths Reg, CD player. Tyre Racks, Bench's and shelving, Tow Bar, Hydraulic Tail Gate. $35,000,00.

289 Peter 03 9761 4510. www.myl05.com/55658

Competition tyres, 205x60x15 Yoko A32R ex Targa. Call Bradley or Steve 03 9583 4493. $80 each. 0419 381 270.

287 www.myl05.eom/30425 r

FOR SALE, Leftovers from projects and excess spares Tilton 71/4 inch clutch near new $850 Tillon.pedal with balance bar new $200 Tilton brake bias remote adjuster new $120 SBC wide style Drysump pan $250 .

Mark 0418241992.

287 www.myl05.com/69888

Jobs Live and Work on the Sunshine Coast, Motor Mechanic Wanted. Applicant must have experience in tuning and maintaining high performance vehicles. Fabrication and Chassis dyno experience prefered. Must be reliable, a team player and able to work 289 unsupervised. Jeff 07 54417700. www.myl O5.com/13292

Race ready Super Sedan, Super Sedan Pontiac Firbird REDUCED for Quick Sale complete car, race ready, engine very strong, Q-Change wide fives, all spare will go with this car new spare chassis to go with car,easy to set-up REDUCED $12,900.00 ono MUST BE SOLD Ph 0413 226 771.

283 www.myl05.com/27300

Engines CHEV 340 18DEGREE RACE ENGINE, NEW RACE ENGINE JUST BUILT.DRY SUMP ETC, NEW PETERSON PUMP, PERKINS OR HRT INJECTION,AUTRONIC ECU,CRANE CDLNEW BOWTIE BLOCK,18 DEGREE HEADS NEW TITANIUM VALVES,RETAINERS AND RODS ETC,LUNATI C R O W E R P I STONS MUCH ROLLERS,JESELS,PLUS MORE.COMPLETE,BARGIN. 25000.00 ONO. BRAD SEARLE 0418928953. 288 www.myl05.com/33278

4 KART TRAILER, Easy side loading, lots of storage space, tyre rack, pipe rack, gas botlle storage, single axle for easy moving, and tows well. Works well as pit workshop with under door cover. Near new tyres (3).

Has everything you need for karting. $5000 ONO. John 0419 105 637 / AH 03 9808 4414. 286 www.myl05.eom/40698 Fully Enclosed Trailer, Tandem Wheel Fully Lined Suit Formula or Sports Car. $2200 Or Best Offer, dennis 0359688777.

287 www.myl05.com/49387

Wanted - a job with a Top Racing Team, I am a European bom Australian stuntman, car designer, rally driver, manager, seeking a job for a top racing team (pits) plus RCPO Randwick 2031. Contact Roy Cooper on 0413 130 448 286 www.myl05.com/65949 Competitive Experienced Drivers, Positions are available in a first-class team for national/state series in F/Ford. Highly competitive vehicles with excellent infrastructure. Compete at all Australian tracks. Professional attitude and budget to achieve objectives essential. Please contact cated@clookwork.com.au or Tony on 0419 285 777 977. www.myl05.com/99385

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Wanted

Porsche 3.4 Litre Boxster Engine Complete NEW, Built by Chellingworth Porsche Perth. Includes flowed heads, Porsche Sport cams and Pfitzner flywheel, 285 $25,000 ONO. Kim 0417 917 189. www.myl05.com/88381

Trailer Fully Enclosed, brand new, alum clad, internal size, L3600 hi900 w1950 electric brakes 240v sink, water tank, fridge, lighting, alum ramps, storage box, 1/t truck, tyres, removable winch fitting suit fonnular or sports car, $6,000 ONO, Brian 03 9726 6749 / 0417 501 814.

286 www.myl05.com/52165

Parts

Transporter^railers

Wanted, Rally/Race Car preparation business to lease half of immaculate top quality premises in inner Sydney, on Parramatta Road close to the CBD and all facilities. The building is newly painted, has excellent features including engine room and spare parts rooms, and is the National Headquarters of a Rally Drive Day organisation that requires rally car building regularly. 02 9560 6055 / 0413 300 000.

289 www.my105.com/17745 Log Book for Camel Rover, 1971 onwards, plus any related matter for owner last twenty years. Rob 02 9948 4108. 286 www.myl05.eom/70778

^£1

Coilectable/Memorabilia

Tandem race car trailer, professionally built April 2004, all-new components.

14'x6'6" capacity, light (560 kgs), aluminium ramps, drop axles, light truck tyres, spare wheel, lockable tool box. brakes, winch, jockey wheel, registered. $3700 ONO. Richard 03 9822 5034 / 0417 370 671.

288 www.myl05.com/20690

I July 2004

Velo "Podium" race seat, with mounts and detachable head restraint. Please note - this is Veto's narrowest fitting (won't suit big bums!). Richard 03 9822 5034 / 0417 370 671 288 www.myl05.com/61318

Gokart Replica of 1st Gold Coast Indy in excellent condition in car Winner, garage since 1992 never driven. $7,500 283 ONO, Brett 0412 495 467. www.myl05.com/52231

/ am very happy with the service ji eceived. Aii three of the enquiries you forwarded were firm buyers and it was sold on a first come first served basis.

Again thanks.

I. Hills

Get it seen Get it sold!

81

PINION

noiorsuMi EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor: Phil Branagan l editor@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor; Mark Glendenning l mark@mnews.com.au News Editor: Aaron Noonan l noonz@mnews.com.au National Editor: Grant Rowley l grant@mnews.com.au

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ADVERTISING Brendon Sheridan - PR Driven Tel: 03 9550 0870 Fax: 03 9550 0816 mobile: 0407 007 286 l ads@mnews.com.au

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CONTACTS 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East Vic 3187 (PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186) Ph: 03 9596 5555 Fax: 03 9596 5030 Email: mnews@mnews.com.au

CONTCIBUTORS 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, Tony Millard (UK), Greg Boscato, Daniel Powell Rally: Jon Thomson Histories: Brian Reed Drag Racing: Greg Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Nick Nicholas, Steven White, Ken Ferguson National: Mark Wicks, Sean Henshelwood, Mark Jones, Dave Conole, Chris Jordan Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Burnett, AF1 Images, Neil Hammond, Slipstream Photographic, 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.

Bee + MW = 2005 It seems like only yesterday that Mark Webber was making his debut at the Australian Grand Prix where he scored his first GP points on debut.

Just three years later, he seems set to land the biggest motor racing gig of all at Williams BMW.Forget Jacques, forget Ralf, our man Webber is the one that will put the Williams back to the top of the Grand Prix world.

Going to Williams is just so much more attractive than being lured to Toyota where he won't be in a winning position straight away. He would probably have a fatter wallet at Toyota, but I hope and pray that we see him in blue and white in 2005.

If Webber ends up with Frank and Patrick at Grove, we very well could have an Australian world champion at the end next year ... Although anyone but Michael Schumacher winning would be worth cheering for as well. I admire his ability, but I hate his consistency!

Rusty Collins Bnllarat Vic

Trucks to the rescue I was at the Premier Racing Series at Oran Park and I couldn't believe the size of the crowd.

The trucks hadn't raced there for a while, so the western locals crowded the place. It was like the good old late '80s! I hope they come back again soon.

The racing on the day wasn't too bad either. It would be nice though if they could get a few more Sport Sedans, but Commodore Cup provided great sedan racing.

Mitchell Barker via email

Seton saviour?

Everybody is talking about where Craig Lowndes will end up next year.

But my gravest fear is Glenn Seton's future. The stalwart of Australian touring car racing has

everything FOX Sports says).

In fact it was the secondnd time. Hendrick Motorsports did it at the spring Darlington race in 1995. Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader started 1-2-3.

My information comes from the Jayski Nascar site (21-6-2004).

Amo Poesnste Brisbane Qld

converter Send us your thoughts: mail: PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au

Struggled for a result the past two years because of the pathetic team he's employed by (Ford Performance Racing). I'm a Ford fan, and I can't believe I've lowered myself to say that the factory Ford squad is pathetic.

Seton deserves way more than what he's got. My biggest concern is that at the end of this year, he's going to get left out in the dark by this amateur Ford outfit. Please Ford Australia, realise the natural talent this guy has and place hirti in a team that will grant him the equipment to win, which he can still do.

I can't believe Seto still hasn't won Bathurst. If he stays at FPR, he will forever be the nearly man of Mount Panorama.

Seton fan RosehillNSW

MNews can’t win with NASCAR On page 17, in Martin D Clark's NASCAR news column last issue, he states that it was the first time in Cup history that three cars from the same team qualified 1-2-3 for the Michigan DHL 400 (he shouldn't believe

It’s not true, is it?

I've just heard that Marcos Ambrose has been disqualified from Queensland Raceway for an ECU breach.

I would be totally surprised if this was an illegal move. I believe that the Stone Brothers team would be the last to cheat and I hope they can prove the stewards wrong.

If Marcos doesn't get his points back though, we will see what a true Champion he is when he storms back through the field and gets his second championship m a row!

Blue Blood via email

This is a real issue I have a gripe that I noticed at Queensland Raceway (no, it's not about the traffic, that is always an issue).

I go to many V8 Supercar races, but didn't really notice until my QR experience how fast some of the Supercars and support cars drive through the back of the pits.

I was nearly run over on a number of occasions by Level 1 V8 Supercars.

I'd hate to think what injuries one might sustain if you were hit by them. Those spoilers would nearly rip your leg off!

There are a lot of punters and team members walking through the paddock, if if the drivers and/or mechanics keep driving these cars at that pace in populated areas, it's only a matter of time before someone gets injured...

Geoffery Gibson Gold Coast Qld

●Opinions expressed in Motorsport News are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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82

m

sutton-ima^r^vom]

Everybody take one step to the right: According to MNews reader Rusty, Webber will fill Rail's boots a treat ... motorsport news

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