Motorsport News Issue 300 - January 12-25, 2005

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No. 300 January 12 - 25 2005 Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST

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news and opinion 4

My son went to West Point!

A new exterior at Johnson’s

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At least the initials stay the same For ‘Kmart’, read ‘Kelly’ Red Bull in China Shop Old guard out, new guard in

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11 Same time this year Triple 8 keeps Muller tor enduros 13 DTM or FI? Bugger it Mika, have a crack at both!

25 Business and Sport Lambden draws the line in the sand 26 Box Seat What Webber really does when he is at Williams 82 Talk Converter Three weeks between issues and no cards!

foaturos 28 Five Minutes with Jason Bright Brighty moves to Broadmeadows 30 Five Minutes with Craig Baird Changing manufacturers but not colours 32 The 30 to Watch Aussies have global Influence in motorsport on an off the track. Here is our list of the men to keep a green and gold eye on in 2005 40 Rookie Veteran After 11 years racing in V8 Supercars, Cam McConville speaks about being GRM’s new team leader - and life after Garth Tender 46 We’re 300 but we’re not all out (yet) Another milestone reached at MNews FORMULA ONE 2005 50 Ferrari F2005 A sneak peek at Michael and Rubinho’s new racer 52 Toyota TF105 The car that Ralf and Trulli hope will break through 54 Renauitvation Rescue Flavio Briatore on Fisi, Jarno and those rumours

The Maximum number of Jumbucks How Dumesny took the upper hand In Speedweek

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AUSSIES TO WATCH IN 2005

Happy New Alcohol, Gasoline and Nitro 2005 starts with some hardcore action at Willowbank

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j Photos Cover Ford Racing I Media and Paolo Fiiisetti \ Contents: John Morris/Mpix, Ford Racing Media, CBR b this OJR’s 2005 ^ look? ^j Photographic, sutton-images.com

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20 Stateside

56 Rallying 58 Speedway 68 Drag Racing 70 National Scene 75 Marketplace 3

DJR goes to the Wild West Shell staying put- but new naming rights sponsor for Johnson's Falcons

WILL this be the look that Dick Johnson Racing will carry to the front of the V8 Supercar pack this year?

The iconic Queensland Ford team is believed to have signed a multi-year naming rights sponsorship with Westpoint, a Perth-based property development and financial services group. It will be the first foray into the

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sport for the company and follows in the footsteps of Craig Gore's Wright Patton Shakespeare Group,the backer of WPS Racing.

While Westpoint's blue will take pride of place on the DJR Barras of Steven Johnson and Glenn Seton, Shell has confirmed that it will continue its neartwo decade links with the team with

subsidiary sponsorship of the cars. The team will also continue to be backed by Ford and a number of secondary sponsors,though Fujitsu (which sponsored DJR's Konica Minolta effort last year and which appeared on the team's BAs) has departed,joining Jason Bright's Britek Motorsport.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

motorsport news

FPR confirais Bright Deal

Two-year deal for Holden's leading'04 driver

by PHIL BRANAGAN

THE worst-kept secret in motor racing is out-Jason Bright will race for Ford Performance Racing for the next two seasons.

As first reported in Motorsport News last September, Bright will drive for the Ford factory team while his own team, Britek Motorsport, will run programs in both the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the as-yet unnamed 2005 Development Series. Steve Owen will drive in the main series while Jose Fernandez will be in the secondary championship.

Bright will race the familiar CATsponsored FPR Falcon while team mate Greg Ritter is likely, but not certain, to race in Ford Credits familiar livery. Two new cars are currently under construction at the team's Broadmeadows HQ,Bright's to be ready for the Australian Grand Prix races and Ritter's for the Adelaide 500.

another step towards winning the Championship."

Bright, who was Holden's highestplaced driver last season with Aird behind Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall, says that he is taking a conservative approach to 2005.

"The team looked good at the end of the year and the engine program is stable now,so I think that we can out there and compete," he said.

"This championship, with this pointscore, has proven itself; it is a matter of accumulating points. We want to get out there and run reliably and learn as much as we can about the car. We want to be more

competitive as the year goes on.

Initially, we want good solid results so that we can build on that later in the year."

Despite changing teams in the off season, Bright will continue to work with engineer Phil Keed, who oversaw his PWR Racing Commodore last year and who follows him to FPR. Bright is the last driver to win the Bathurst 1000 in a Ford, having shared the title with Steven Richards in a Stone Brothers Falcon, below, in 1998. From his 192 V8 Supercar starts to date, he has scored 65 podium places and 141 top 10 finishes.

with Greg Ritter, we have as strong a driving combination that we could have hoped for in 2005, taking FPR

Things get busy at Britek

12 January 2005

LP licences still in Limbo?

FURTHER to our story last issue, Larry Perkins expects to have the licence situation sorted in time for the start of this season.

Perkins sold his two Lis to WPS Racing recently and was prevented from completing his planned purchase of the WPS LI by TEGA. While he would not confirm where he would get his licences, we believe that he is considering the Team Dynamik Lis and the L2s of PWR Racing and Steve Ellery Racing. More news next issue. n Michael Schumacher has announced that one of the many victims of the Asian tsunami was one of his bodyguards. Burkhard Cramer died in the disaster, along with his two sons. They were staying on the Thai holiday island of Phuket when the tsunarrii struck.

Schumacher has obviously been upset by the disaster and last week said that he would donate US$1 Om to the relief efforts. Schumacher has been a substantial donor to charities for the last eight years, notably with UNESCO and UNICEF, including funding a school in Dakar (Senegal), a clinic in Sarajevo and a centre for street children in Lima, Peru. He is also a UNICEF ambassador. n Garry Rogers Motorsport has indicated its desire to run a car in the V8 Development Series.

Rogers said that he would like to run a Commodore in the junior league, but only if two of his strict requirements can be met.

"If there's someone out there who can drive and bring some money, I’d be interested," he said. "They would need to pay the bills and they would need to be a good driver. I think the idea of running a car in the Konica series is a great idea, but I wouldn't be interested in anyone who wouldn't be fast enough."

Rogers has had many enquires on one of his current VXs that is for sale.

"The team is looking forward to working with Jason Bright- a driver who we all know is an outstanding talent," said FPR Managing Director David Flint while announcing his new driver.

"I am confident that combined

WHILE Bright's deal with FPR is now official, on the other side of Melbourne, Britek Motorsport's program is taking shape.

The team is now operating out of its Dandenong base, with most of the team's proposed 16-strong members preparing their FPR-built Falcon BAs. The team settled on FPR cars after a number of alternatives were looked at, and they will be the cars raced by Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton last season.

Team manager is Adam Laws, who has wide experience in V8 Supercars, while Troy Nelson, who wrenched Bright's PWR Racing Commodore, is number one mechanic.

As well, there will be a program in the

NEWS

Carrera Cup, with Bryce Washington running a GTS with backing from ADRAD. We also believe that the team may field a fourth car; Fernandez may race a Ford Typhoon in the Australian Performance Car Championship, which will be hosted this year on the AVESCO program. The turbocharged six-cylinder highperformance car is the flagship of the Ford Performance Vehicles range and would be an ideal addition to the team.

We believe that the Typhoon project is yet to get the go-ahead but, if it comes off, will be run in the colours of Fujitsu and Ford Performance Vehicles.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

n Take a moment to pause and remember the podium and pedestrian overpass bridge at Bathurst, because both of them are being reduced to rubble this week as work continues on the Mt Panorama redevelopment.

The demoltion work will signal the beginning of Phase Two of the process, which will see the completion of new corporate suites at the end of the pit complex, the construction of a new, wider bridge (hoorayl), construction of a vehicle access ramp to level two of the facility, demolition of the old race centre, and completion of recreation and nature works in McPhillamy Park.

-JOE SAWARD/STAFF

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Dynamik settles New cars, new personnel but cloud still hangs over troubled South Aussie team

by GRANT ROWLEY SOUTH Australian V8 Supercar outfit Team Dynamik has been a busy workplace over the past month, with confirmation of a brand-new car, new personnel and a desire to put a harrowing 2004 season behind them.

But this desire might have been their very undoing, after team owner Kieren Wills allegedly told TEGAthat he wishes to sell his Level 1 licence, effectively ruling Team Dynamik out of the 2005 season. TD officials told MNews on Monday that a situation had arisen, but as far as they were concerned, preparations for the new season were well and truly under way.

The team is currently placing the finishing touches on a brandnew Commodore VY, which will debut in the hands of Simon Wills at the non-championship Grand Prix support races at Albert Park this March.

New staff members have also been employed, including former English test cricketer Ian Greig (brother of cricket commentator Tony), who will fill the role as commercial director. Steve Dewhurst, who has a Formula 1 background, as well as Peter Wallace (formally DJR), will head TD’s expanded engine program.

On the driver front, 2004 driver Dale Brede will be Team Dynamik’s third driver this year.

At the end of 2004, TD announced that Will Davison would join Wills full-time in 2005, but the likeable Brede will continue with the team as an endurance driver and tester, with the possible of a V8 Development program.

Ultimately, the team needed a budget and that was one of the issues because I don’t have that much money to bring,” Brede told MNews.

I've got a very good relationship with the team and I’m looking forward to staying on as an endurance and test driver. At this stage, it suits to do this because I’ve got my own business to deal with and at this stage, that will take some priority.”

Team manager Fiorinotto praised Brede’s efforts under difficult circumstances last year.

“Dale is a good guy and a great team player,” he said.

“We feel that the role he’ll play for us will be extremely beneficially for both parties.”

A V8 Development drive was by no means a concrete deal, however Brede confirmed it could be on the agenda if the appropriate funding can be found.

“If they can get a Konica program, I’d give that a go.”

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1000!

THERE may not be 1000 Super Cheap Autos stores - yet- but there will be a Super Cheap 1000.

The national retailer is expected to be confirmed as the new backer of the Mount Panorama classic for at least the next three years in Sydney next Wednesday. AWSCO would not confirm the new sponsor for the

Sydney test gets canned THE planned V8 Supercar test day at Oran Park has been cancelled.

Following input from a number of teams, the February 19 test day will not take place, though AVESCO will launch the series in Sydney. The likely date is February 19 at a venue to be confirmed, possibly Homebush.

The test day was knocked on the head after a number of complaints from teams that were 6

unwilling to surrender a test day in order to attend. Other teams pointed to the fact that the test effectively shortened the off-season break by three weeks, some saying point blank that they would not have two cars ready in time to make it to Sydney.

The development now means that all teams will have until the end of February to prepare its cars for the opening races of the season at Albert Park.

event, which will be promoted by AVESCO Events from this year, but CEO Wayne Cattach did confirm that an announcement had been scheduled and that the sponsor of the race would be launched.

All V8 Supercar drivers and teams are expected to be present at the launch, though the venue was not confirmed at the time of going to press.

Super Cheap has been looking for an opportunity to get involved with a major V8 Supercar event for some time, and will follow Bob Jane T Marts as the naming rights sponsor of The Great Race. We also believe that the Queensland-based retailer, which split with Steve Ellery Racing last October, is looking to expand into other events and could be a backer for a New Zealand race, depending on what happens post2005.

motorsportnews

X-MARTS

NEWS

Cam’s gettin’ hitched NEVER one to lead a sedentary life, Cameron McConville has spotted a rare empty weekend in his 2005 calendar and decided to do something about it - by getting married. MNews wishes Cam and > his betrothed all the best for when they tie the knot in May.

-THE mitials nray be different - but there has been a name change to KellyJtacing leam.

n Rory Byrne, the South African born engineer who has been the chief chassis designer at Scuderia Ferrari since Michael Schumacher lured him from Benetton in 1996, has confirmed that he will retire at the end of the 2006 season.

With Schumacher, sporting director Jean Todt and technical director Ross Brawn, Byrne has been central to the success of the Italian team, which has won five Drivers championships and six Constructors titles under their direction. The contracts of all the others are understood also to expire at the end of 2006.

FofllQwing the withdrawal of sponsor KmSrriast nrvonthi.

KPITIs pRoceediiitiigiias norimialli ^ith its Bjeparatioiiis fer the

feasoin. ^rsiaiff remiifi^

In^ their aecustorned^ roles, while Gairth lamder wiiijoliim iick iKellly litni the first races of the seasoitii iim IWIarch.

Riumoiuirs have sugigested: that the teaim> wii 'be baeked

by Moldeni Special Vehicles and that HISV owneir lo.nni VWaiki-nshaw would^ be taki ng an owiiiers'hiip role with; the team:. ;But not so, aGcoirdiiragi to Wolden's Ray B'orrett; 'There is inothiingi to be announced ;[re $ponsorsi]i iini the short-term," said B'orrett oni Monday, "and the Kellys are still the owners of the team."

MiNews beheves that the v -■ teamfstwo Commodore VYs sit ini the factory in undercoat. awaitingi new colours and signwfiitiihg;,. vwhiiilie; the tearhJis b elieved;to be awaiting an ex iNioideh 'Racingi Teairn Corn!na:0i,d0re-f0;r the start of Kmart is not believed to the seaso;n. Tihis would be the car crashed!-at lathiurst with; have any plians to sponsor Jason Plato at the wheel and ar^pther tearn this season,, wouildi be the team's first ● ,-4n;diiinp]|s ;fiy#year \ ' Holden IWIiotoir SpoPt-engmeGf, issociattoh' with V8 '' - ; VY. '● 'lijijgerdaiiis. .

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■ Meanwhile, both Byrne and Jean Todt, who are on vacation in the area, escaped the dreadful tsunamis in Asia.

Byrne was in his house near a scuba diving school that he owns at the Thailand resort of Phuket, which was hit by a four metre sea surge, causing many fatalities. Todt was in Malaysia with his girlfriend Michelle Yeoh on a visit to her parents. Both men were able to contact Maranello to tell the Ferrari team that they were OK. ■ BMW Motorsport is reconsidering its decision not to supply Formula 1 engines to independent teams, in the light of the coming switch to a 'long-life' 2.4litre V8 formula.

Director Dr Mario Theissen commented: "Currently we're concentrating on our common goal next season with Williams [but], from the capacity point of view, it would be possible to supply engines to another team in 2006."

WANNA see Webber in a i Williams,but can't get to Melbourne? If you live anywhere near Sydney, your wish can come tiiue!

MUMews expects the Australian Grand Prix Co;rporatiion and iBiMW Australia to confiirm quite soon a promotion that wit see Webber drive a iBiMiW-Wiillliiams FI car across Sydney Harbour Bridge on- the Suinday 12lanuary2005

morning prior to the GP that’s February 27.

Agreement has apparently been reached with both the NSW State Government and' the Sydney 'Ciity Couincit for the run, while we also hear that the TAG wit be inwoilved.

Apart from waking up a few late risers around the harbour, the question remains whether Webber will be required to sto:p and pay a toll (any

Mich el i n ruibbe r) .^ i At the same tiiiiine, plans are ; quite wet advanced for the * rii moured iMeflboiuiirne street procession, iinvolving; a number of FI teams and'cars, i on the fotowimg Wednesday. ■ Again, Webber/Williams fans cam expect to see their man.

Keep ani eye on local media,; in both cases, for details as they ©merge. !

■ David Pitchforth is on 'gardening leave' following his departure from Red Bull Racing, and this is likely to remain the case until the legal details of the split are sorted out.

Pitchforth’s name is, however, being mentioned as a possible recruit for BMW.Williams, which is strengthening its management structure at the moment. Pitchforth says he is interested in staying in FI if the right opportunity presents itself.

■ Tim Slade is to test for Team Lamborghini Australia later this month, with the aim of completing a limited schedule in the team's Diablos in the Australian GT Championships, which begin at Slade's home track at Mallala in April. * - SAWARD/SPURRING/STAFF 7

Red Bui

Stoddy converts Christijan

CHRISTIJAN Albers has been confirmed as a Minardi Formula 1 driver for next season.

Albers, pictured above with Paul Stoddart, comes to Formula 1 with substantial backing from Lost Boys and Media Republic boss Michiel Mol. Lost Boys has been in FI before with Arrows.

Albers has been trying to get into FI for the last five years since winning the German Formula 3 Championship in 1999. In 2000 he raced for Paul Stoddart's European Arrows F3000 team alongside Mark Webber, but in 2001 he moved to the DTM as a Mercedes-Benz driver.

There is speculation in Holland that Albers may also have the support of John de Mol, one of Holland's best-known businessmen, who made a fortune as the creative

force behind the TV production company Endemol, which created Big Brother and a huge market in reality TV shows.

There is likely to be more Dutch interest in FI in 2005, as another Dutchman, Robert Doornbos, is expected to sign for Jordan in the New Year.

Albers is a good catch for Minardi, and has rather more potential than the two pay-drivers of 2004. The major problem is the car, with the team confirming that it will not have a new car before the start of the year because of the late decisions over the engine supply resulting from Ford's withdrawal from FI. Gabriele Tredozi and his team are designing a new PS05, and if all goes well this will appear at the San Marino GP. -JOE SAWARD

JUST days after Red Bull Racing announced that it has signed up both Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi for 2005, the former Jaguar Racing management team of Tony Purnell and David Pitchforth has been dropped in favour of Christian Horner. Horner will be aided by Gunther Steiner, who will be the new technical director.

There has been a great deal of strain in recent weeks between the former management and the new owners of the team, but the news came as a surprise to both Purnell and Pitchforth, far right, who were planning to discuss the team structure with Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz this week.

The appointment of Horner is, however, suggests that the team is not just being handed over to parochial Austrians.

Horner has a successful record with Red Bull, notably in 2004 when Vitantonio Liuzzi won the FIA International Formula 3000 for Red Bull and Arden. The appointment of Horner is obviously good news for Liuzzi,

as Horner, right, is known to be a big fan of the young Italian.

The return of Steiner is also good news, as he won many fans during his time with the team and seemed to be unruffled by the job of running an FI team, despite the fact that his background was in rallying.

He became managing director of Jaguar Racing in December 2001, but was dropped after 12 months when Ford management decided to install Purnell and Pitchforth instead. Since then, Steiner has been working as technical director at the Opel DTM team.

The decision as to who will partner David Coulthard in the team has not yet been made (at least, not officially) and it seems that the plan is to run Klien and Liuzzi in the forthcoming tests and see who does the better job. The problem for Red Bull is that Klien cannot be the 'Friday' driver unless the rules are changed by the FI team principals.

The only question that remains is why Liuzzi would have signed up for such a deal, unless there

Bridgestone going?

BRIDGESTONE may be planning to withdraw from Formula 1.

At the moment, the stories are simply rumour but there are sound reasons why this might happen, despite Bridgestone’s run of success with Ferrari.

The company entered Formula 1 in 1997 and the following year won the World Championship with McLaren, beating Goodyear in its final year of FI. Bridgestone is aware that too much success brings limited returns and that being beaten by Michelin will not look good. Michelin has signalled its intention to redouble its efforts to win by announcing a complete restructuring of its FI management.

Additionally, with the majority of the FI teams now calling for control tyres to keep down costs, there is little point in Bridgestone staying on, as it would then have to bid for the deal with Michelin and would suffer from the inevitable loss of publicity that would result fro|[ithe end of the tyre war. ^ If any tyre company does want to quit FI, it must inform / ^ the FIA of its intention to do so on January 1 of the year before it intends to depart, so if Bridgestone had wanted to leave the sport at the end of this year it would have had to have given notice already.

- JOE SAWARD

AUiatizir ,

Frank’s new p

WILLIAMS has landed a major new sponsorship with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The deal is believed to be worth around $30m a year to the team and the RBS logos replace those of Allianz on the engine cover of the WilliamsBMWs. Allianz remains a sponsor, but has less space than it did previously and has moved to the cockpit surround area which had previously been reserved for NiQuitin CQ; the GlaxoSmithKIein smoking cessation product having

disappeared from the car. The deal between Williams and GSK was for one year and it seems that the drug company is happy to have raised the profile of its product and has decided not to continue.

Williams has maintained its support from HewlettPackard, Budweiser and Federal Express and has increased its sponsorship from Petrobras, which has moved to the cockpit side, a place which was previously occupied by Castrol.

The petroleum giant has

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? was something concrete for him in the longer-term. He is a man who would be in demand if he was on the market, so it is presumed that he has a guarantee of a Red Bull drive in 2006.

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Arden, incidentally, will continue to run in GP2 despite Horner's new job, and will announce that it has signed drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Nicolas Lapierre at the forthcoming Autosport Show.

- JOE SAWARD

—

ORIS

ortfolio moved to Petrobras's previous spot on the rear wing.

For the launch, the Oris watch company was also featured on the rear wing, but it remains to be seen whether this will be the case for the rest of the year.

The overall impression is that Williams has probably increased its rate card (which explains the reduction in size of Allianz and Castrol) and that the team will have a bigger budget in 2005 than was the case in 2004.

- JOE SAWARD 12 January 2005

... but what about the engines?

RED Bull Racing is already considering what to do about engines in 2006,and it seems that the Austrian drink company is considering commissioning its own engines.

The switch from 3-litre VlOs to

2.4-litre V8s will open the way for newcomers to enter the FI fray on a par with the big players. Red Bull Racing could, of course, rely on the services of Cosworth Racing, but there are other options available although some of the engine firms which might do the work do not currently have high profiles in FI. But any FI engine programme is still going to be expensive, so Red Bull would like to have the support of a major manufacturer.

There are a few options with current suppliers, perhaps rebadging them with secondary brands, and there is a slim possibility that the Austrians will be able to talk a new manufacturer into FI. The obvious target is Volkswagen, but there is no doubtingthat Red Bull is much less attractive a prospect than Sauber, which has an impressive wind tunnel and computing power.

In recent weeks there has been talk of Sauber building its own engines but we rmderstand that there are no plans for such a programme, despite the fact that the team continues to enjoy considerable support from Petronas.

-JOE SAWARD

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David Richards honoured DAVID Richards, chairman of Prodrive and until recently the chief executive of British American Racing, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)for' his services to motor sport in the New Year's Honours List in Britain.

Prodrive has been a huge success in the last 10 years and has become a major British exporter thanks to success both on and off the track.

The Honours List also included a CBE for Richard Parry-Jones, the man who is in charge of all of Ford's motorsport activities which, until recently, included Jaguar Racing and Cosworth Racing. n British American Tobacco and Honda have completed the purchase of British American Racing.

The Formula 1 team was put up for sale before Christmas as BAT and Honda tried to restructure the ownership of the team, despite the fact that minority shareholders Gerry Forsythe and Craig Pollock did not want to sell their shares at a price that BAT and Honda wanted to pay.

As a result, it was agreed that the company would be put into administration and BAT and Honda would then buy the assets from the administrator with a new company.

The plan, for the moment at least, is for BAT to own 55 percent of the team and Honda to have 45 percent, although this may change as tobacco companies are forced out of FI in the months ahead.

It is expected that eventually Honda will buy all the shares of the team. n Andretti Green Racing has hired John Lopes as its new vicepresident. Lopes joins AGR from Champ Car, where he has been executive vice president of operations since 2001.

Lopes is a 15 year veteran of the motorsport industry, after graduating from the US Military Academy. n Times are obviously hard in FI, even at the top end of the grid.

Ferrari is planning to auction some of its cars later in the year but it is worth noting that before Christmas at the annual Bonham's Ferrari auction at Gstaad in Switzerland, the FI 90/641 which belongs to the Williams team was put up for sale at $700,000.

The car was raced by Alain Prost and others in 1990 but was later given to Williams as part of the settlement that enabled Jean Alesi to escape from a Williams contract to drive for Ferrari.

The car has spent the last 15 years in the Williams FI collection but it seems that the team has decided that it no longer needs an old Ferrari.

Interestingly, the car did not reach its. reserve price at the auction. Nor did any of the other FI cars on offer.

-JOE SAWARD 0

vale David McKay Bairdo confirm

DAVID McKay,the former driver and team owner who became a respected Australian motorsports writer, succumbed to cancer on Boxing Day at the age of 83.

McKay's huge fund of knowledge, colourful motorsports raconteurship, trim moustache and attractive stutter made him a popular figure on the Formula 1 and local racing scenes. He had been involved in racing for over 50 years, having made his driving debut at Bathurst in 1950 with his MG TC. He drove an Austin A40 on the roundAustralia RedEx Trials and raced a Peugeot 203 in Australia's first-ever 24-hour race, on the Mount Druitt circuit in 1954, in which he finished fifth overall and won his class, co-driven by John Crouch.

Later in 1954,five of the Australians who had endured the Mount Druitt 24 Hours McKay, Dick Cobden, Les Cosh, Tony Gaze and Tommy Sulman - decided to form the first Australian-owned International racing team, which they called Kangaroo Stable, to race sportscars in Europe. They tried to order new Jaguar Dtypes and HWMs, but could not be given firm delivery dates, so they opted for Aston Martin DB3S racecars.

In 1955, McKay and his wife, Betty, embarked on a roundthe-world trip in a VW camper van and, after visiting the Monaco Grand Prix as spectators, they drove up to northern France for the team's debut race that May,the Hyeres 12 Hours on the lies d'Or circuit. Co-driving Gaze, McKay finished second, but they might have won had he not eased up towards the end, unaware that the leading Ferrari was in mechanical trouble. Cosh and Cobden were third, and Sulman fourth with a soon-tobe-famous young co-driver.

Jack Brabham.

The Aussie team had not been entered for Le Mans three weeks later and, after the horrific accident there, European sportscar racing dried up. The Kangaroo Stable had negotiated good starting money for races that were then cancelled and, after a short season of unplanned low-key 10

events,the team was disbanded. Two of its cars were shipped to Australia, where they were raced successfully by McKay(who also competed in Simca saloons) and Sulman.

He later acquired the works Aston Martin DB3S with which Stirling Moss and Peter Collins had finished second in the 1956 Le Mans, and used this car to win the Tourist Trophy at Bathurst and become the second Australian Sports Car Champion in 1958.

The following year, he founded his Scuderia Veloce team in Sydney, NSW,and raced a Maserati 250F and then more modern Cooper and Brabham single-seaters. The team also ran such as Graham Hill in Tasman Brabhams (with which Hill won the 1963 and 1965 New Zealand Grands Prix), teenager Chris Amon in a Cooper and Jackie Stewart in a Ferrari 250LM, among many others.

McKay himself won the inaugural 1960 Australian Touring Car Championship with a 3.4 Jaguar, and this famous car held the lap record for the Mount Panorama circuit for four years from 1960. McKay subsequently raced a Vauxhall Velox, led a team of Holden Monaros in the first LondonSydney Marathon in 1968, and brought the Australian GM brand to Bathurst for the first time later that year.

He last competed at Bathurst in 1979, with a Volvo. By this time, Scuderia Veloce had evolved into a dealer in exotic road cars, particularly as a Ferrari agency.

After retiring as a driver and a team owner, McKay became a journalist and author, working as the motoring editor of the 'Sydney Daily Telegraph' newspaper, and also editing 'Motor' magazine.

Later he lived in Geneva, Switzerland, with his second wife, Annie, during European summers, covering Formula 1, and returned down-under in the off-seasons to his home in Exeter, NSW. To David's family and many friend, MNews offers our sincerest condolences on the loss of an enthusiast who gave much to the sport, as well as a true gentleman.

- QUENTIN SPURRING

ANOTHER of the worst-kept secrets in V8 Supercars has been put to rest with confirmation of Craig Baird's move to WPS Racing.

Baird will slot into the seat

occupied by Mark Noske,Alex Yoong and Owen Kelly last season to team up with David Besnard after two years at the wheel of the singleHolden Team Kiwi outfit.

"It's a good opportunity for me to get into a Level 1 team again," Baird told MNews.

Everyone says the same thing. It has gotten so competitive now that you need to be able to share your data ' with someone. Bezzy and I come from similar backgrounds,so we'll both probably like similar set-ups."

Prior to suiting up with the Gold Coast team for the first time, Baird has a lot to keep himself occupied.

'

"One of the things I'm looking forward to more than anything is getting back into a two-car team.

Atko counts ti CHRIS Atkinson is fast settling in to his new life in Europe as a works , Subaru WRC driver, and is counting 'down the final days before he gets his first outing in the car.

Since arriving in Europe, Atkinson said that he has spent virtually no time at his new home in Banbury, having been whisked away for some practice at driving in the snow with Tommi Makkinen.

"It's pretty good," he said. "I haven't had a chance to settle down, but everyone has been very helpful. 1 have been in Scandanavia most of the time that I've been here -I've spent one day in England."

According to the Queenslander, adapting to the snow has not presented too many dramas - apart from a couple of creased doors.

"You have to stay pretty much on the line, otherwise you hit a snow bank - as I did a couple of times," he said.

"But everyone's there to support you, and apart from dinging every door on the car it was good fun. I

didn't go off, but you come in so fast to the corner that you hit the snow bank and bounce back off. Don't forget that Tommi dinged two doors this afternoon, so I wasn't the only one dinging the doors!"

Atkinson has already had his first outing in the WRC car - as a passenger to team-mate Stephane Sarrazin- and is just days away from taking the wheel himself for the first time.

"I got to spend a bit of time sitting in the car with Sarrazin at the test," he said."So that was good,just to watch the changes and understand what is happening with the WRC car.

It's made me even more eager to get in and drive it. Hopefully I'll get to drive the car in the next week or so, just as a shakedown, but actual testing will be after Monte Carlo.

Atkinson is scheduled to spend this week at Prodrive in England with his engineers to learn as much about the car as he can before heading over to do the recce at Monte Carlo next Sunday. It has been tipped

motorsporlnews

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The Kiwi is currently racing in a Porsche GTS Cup car in New Zealand before jetting off to drive another Porsche in the Daytona 24 Hour alongside Marcos Ambrose, Paul Morris and John Teulan.

- MARK GLENDENNING For more on Craig Baird, please turn to our inteiview on page 30.

The 1:05 from Cologne

MIKE Gascoyne's first complete Toyota FI car, the TF105, was unveiled in Barcelona last week, with the team hoping that the new chassis will move them up the Formula 1 grid.

But even as the new car was launched, aero updates are being produced which will be on the car before race one, In Melbourne. They will, according to Gascoyne "substantially alter the car's aesthetic appearance."

Gascoyne said that the team had compromised the development of the 2004 TF104B in order to try to gain an advantage for 2005 and that, despite the new reduced downforce regs, the car will start the new season with the same level of downforce that the old car had when it was launched - which is an illustration of just how poor the 2004 car was at the timel "initially, we lost around 25 percent downforce with the new aero regulations, but we are striving to reduce this by the largest possible amount in time for the first race of the season in Australia, and then subsequently throughout the year."

At the same time, Toyota has confirmed an advanced state of play in terms of production of a 2.4 litre V8 engine - expected to be introduced into FI in 2006. Toyota FI engine chief Luca Marmorini admitted at the launch of the team's 2005 car in Barcelona last week that the Japanese factory had 'signed off' on its first V8 design.

"Next year, according to regulations, a V8 engine will exist," said the Italian.

"From a design point of view our V8 has already been finalised and parts are already being manufactured. Of course this is a lot of work on top of our normal work because we have to develop this engine together with a racing engine."

- JOE SAWARD

For more on the Toyota TF105, see page 52 The Four Amigos: Toyota's RalfSchumacher, Olivier Panis, jarno Trulli and Ricardo Zonta. %

le Days

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that he could be one of the drivers nominated to compete for manufacturers' points as early as round two in Sweden, which will be his WRC debut.

As an aside, Atkinson's race number is still yet to be finalised, but expect him to take to the forests with either #5 or #6 on the side of his Rex.

Muller back for more 8s WAN Muller could head an international invasion of V8 Supercar's endurance classics.

The Frenchman will rejoin the Betta Electrical team for Sandown and Bathurst this year, despite his modest performances in the races in 2004.

Muller is likely to team with Adam Macrow in the Triple 8 team, while Craig Lowndes and Steve Ellery will share the #888 car.

The calendars for the world's major touring car series - the WTCC, DTM and BTCC - all avoid dates clashes with the Aussie events and a number of drivers are said to be looking for drives down under in 2005. One experienced DTM pilot, 12 January 2005

with a strong international pedigree but with no V8 Supercar experience, has already been in contact with a local motorsport identity, shopping for a V8 ride.

One of the problems to be overcome is the fact that the Sandown 500 still maintains only national status, while Bathurst has for years been an international event. This means that any international driver has to temporarily relinquish his overseas licence and race on an Australian one, prior to re-acquiring his 'own' licence to continue in his own series.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

James Courted with success LIFE is just dandy if your name is James Courtney.

The former Jaguar FI test driver will take a giant stride with Toyota's , Japanese GT program this season, taking the role as clear number one driver in the multi-car squad. Our spies Japan-side say that such a role guarantees the Sunshine Coastdomiciled JC use of the latest development equipment - and a pretty healthy basic salary!.

As if that isn't enough, James is also due to soon tie the knot with long-time partner Ceris. Congrats. n V8 development teams received a small Christmas present recently with the news that each car entered into the series will be allowed to purchase a brand-new set of tyres for private testing.

In the past, teams have been forced to test on old rubber from previous meetings, but TEGA's new rule allows Development cars to test with new tyres at their own selected circuit. Development cars are permitted eight tyres per meeting. n American Scott Speed, who won the 2004 German and European Formuia Renault titles, will race with Red Bull backing in the GP2 series.

The surprise is that Red Bull decided not to continue with Arden International (or perhaps was not willing to pay what was being asked), and has instead chosen to do a deal with the new iSport Internatonal team.

In fact, iSport is a new team in name alone and seems to be much the same as the organisation that was formerly the secondary Super Nova team. It has been known by various names over the years, notably Den Bla Avis and the Petrobras Junior Team, The team includes Paul Jackson, Charles Cooley, Gavin Jones and Richard Selwin, who were all part of the old team that won the Formula 3000 title in 2000 with Bruno Junqueira. n Former Grand Prix driver Adrian Campos will be running a car in the new GP2 series for 19-year-old Juan Cruz Alvarez from Arrecifes, a town in Argentina which has already produced two Grand Prix drivers: Froilan Gonzalez, the first man to win a World Championship Grand Prix in a Ferrari, and more recently (and less successfully) Norberto Fontana. n The FliTech Racing GP2 team will go into 2005 with two Formula 3 champions on its books: Nelson Piquet Jr, who won the British Formula 3 Championship, and Xandinho Negrao, who last weekend won the SudAm F3 Championship at Interlagos, beating his championship rival Gustavo Foizer by just two points.

- SAWARD/SPURRING/STAFF 11

Don't

Another day^ another cloud over the qualifying system ALTHOUGH the Formula 1 team principals agreed last year on a new format for qualifying in 2005, it is very clear that the idea has not gone down well with the media and TV channels around the world.

It is believed that the entire system is to be looked at again when the team bosses meet with the FIA President Max Mosley at the end of the month, although there are some who think that Ft must stop chopping and changing, settle on a sensible system and leave it alone.

There is still a lot of support for the old-style qualifying,

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VISIT MA Sauber goes low-key

SAUBER has decided to abandon the planned launch of its new C24 in Malaysia as a mark of respect for the victims of the Asian tsunami.

The country was spared serious damage by the waves following the undersea earthquake on December 26 because it is largely sheltered from the Indian Ocean by the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which took the brunt of the tsunami. The waves did hit Penang, Langkawi and some coastal areas of the states of Perils and Kedah.

Life is now back to normal in Malaysia but the authorities felt it would not be right to go ahead with the Sauber launch, scheduled as part of Malaysian major sponsor Petronas’s celebrations of its 10th anniversary in FI, because of the suffering elsewhere in the region.

The Malaysians are nonetheless worried that the disaster will affect tourism in Malaysia in the months ahead, and is keen to get the message across that tourists should not cancel their trips. The death toll in the country is believed to be around 68, with nearly 300 people injured.

The new Sauber C24 will not now have an official launch and will appear at the Valencia testing this week.

-JOE SAWARD 12

tic new A orano prix series seems to be increasing its ambitions as it becomes clear that more and more countries want to be involved in the new championship, which will debut in September this year.

The organisation has recently increased its order for chassis from 30 to 50, and announced that it has signed franchise deals with 13 countries and is in negotiations with a further 19.

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Maktoum Al Maktoum has also reshuffled his management team, with part-owner Tony Texeira having been promoted to the role of chief executive officer.

Texeira has no experience as a motor racing promoter, but has had a colourful career as a diamond and oil dealer in Africa.

The motor racing expertise will come from former FI team boss John Wickham, who is to take the role of global operations manager, while the TV ■aeflotiator Richard Dorfman has

motorsportnews

NEWS

Dunt Mika out yet

THE organisers of the DTM have finally issued their calendar for 2005 and there will be no clashes at all between the German touring car series and the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

This will mean that drivers in the DTM could, if called upon to do so, also fulfil the role of third driver for FI teams.

'■^1 KENWOOD

This is unlikely to affect anyone apart from the McLaren team, which is tipped to be planning to use either Mika Hakkinen or Jamie Green (both MercedesBenz DTM drivers) as the McLaren team's third driver.

This has already been denied by the team, but if he is available it makes no sense at all not to use

Mobil

Hakkinen, who was twice an FI World Champion and who has expressed the desire to return to FI. It may be that McLaren has denied the deal because it does not want other teams to change the rules before the start of the year, as that could easily happen if the teams decided that rurming Hakkinen would be a big advantage.

The current arrangement is that drivers who have competed in six or more Grands Prix in the last two seasons are not allowed to test for the FI teams. Only the bottom sbc teams are allowed to run third cars, but as McLaren finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship in 2004 it will be able to run a third car, which could be a very big advantage at some of the races. sunon-images.com

Obviously, the team does not want this to be lost.

-JOE SAWARD

arting to blossom

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been promoted to be commercial and broadcast director and is the managing director of the organisation's London office.

Most ambitious of all. however, is the calendar, which we hear is being prepared with 14 venues. The series is expected to kick off with a race at Brands Hatch in September, moving on to Portugal, Turkey, Korea, Malaysia and Australia.

There are plans for a street race in South Africa (probably Durban) for New Year’s Day, with races following in Brazil and Mexico before a possible two races in the United States in

3

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January. The series would then finish off with races in Dubai, China and Japan in Aprill.

The show would be ferried around by a fleet of chartered Boeing 747s The big question now is, which teams will be involved in the championship, running the cars for the national franchisees?

Originally it was intended teams would have to come from the country involved, but this was obviously not practical and the national element will be now provided only by the drivers.

- JOE SAWARD

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12 January 2005

Jordan passed in JORDAN Grand Prix is no longer for sale - unless there is a better offer than those that have been on the table.

Eddie Jordan spent several weeks negotiating with Christian Horner and others, but was unable to agree on a price for the team.

Both Bernie Ecclestone and the GPWC are promising big payments for Formuia 1 teams which join their respective championships. This means that Jordan needs to put together a budget for 2005, but with reductions in the cost of his engines and the sponsorship brought by paydrivers, Jordan may well end up going into 2005 with more money than he had last year.

There will be money from the Formula One group, sponsorship from Benson & Hedges and drivers with large sums of cash. Germany's Time Glock is tipped to benefit to the tune of $14m from the DHL Speed Academy, while Holland's Robert Doornbos is expected to be the second driver if he can come up with $7m. Further money will come from a third driver and from Jordan’s one-off deals.

- JOE SAWARD

Engine chatter in the iRL THE Indy Racing League has been meeting with engine manufacturers Chevrolet, Honda and Toyota to discuss engine regulations for 2007 and beyond.

Some of the conversation concerned the possibility of keeping Chevrolet in the series beyond the end of the year, as both Honda and Toyota are keen to have the competition. Chevrolet says it will not change its mind and intends to leave the series at the end of the current season but Joe Negri, Chevrolet's IRL program manager, says that General Motors could return to IRL in 2007 if it is happy with the engine formula.

The problem is that Chevrolet wants production-based engines.

The two Japanese firms do not.

There are fears in the IRL that both Toyota and Honda may eventually move to NASCAR. ■ McLaren is redeploying or laying off 48 members of staff who had been involved in the design of the company's new 'Project 8' concept car. The development of the new car has been frozen by McLaren and its partner Mercedes-Benz because of what it says were "the challenges currently faced by the global automotive industry". A number of other high-end car manufacturers have also found that there is not much of a market for such expensive machines.

The Project 8 car was planned to move McLaren from being a smallscale producer to becoming more mainstream after the Mercedes McLaren SLR supercar.

■ The Formula 3 Eurocup series will be visiting no fewer than four street races in the course of 2005.

The series will consist of 20 races at 10 venues, with eight of them supporting the DTM touring car championship.

The F3 racers will be seen at Monaco, Pau, Norisring and, for the first time, at a street race in Avignon.

The series will also make its first visit to Spa-Francorchamps and to Oschersleben in Germany. The other events will be Hockenheim (two meetings), Zandvoort and the Nurburgring.

The season kicks off at Hockenheim on April 17. There will then be a three-week break before a mad dash which will see the teams compete at Pau, Spa and Monaco on consecutive weekends in May. ■ The Sauber Petronas FI team, which is busy replacing the sponsorship revenue it lost when Red Bull bought Jaguar Racing, has secured a promotional deal with Certina, the Swiss watch manufacturer.

- JOE SAWARD

13

GT Pis(

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GT RACING is priming itself for a return to Australian racetracks with a new series built from the ashes of Nations Cup. Run under the banner of the

JAMES Cressey will contest the 2005 Australian Carrera Cup Championship.

After a trying debut season last year with the VIP Petfoods team, above, the Kiwi will step aboard the ex-Tim Harvey '04 GT3 that finished second in the UK-equivalent series.

Cressey tested at Donington Park late last year and the car is now somewhere between the UK and Australia. The GTS will reside in Queensland but at this stage, Cressey is unsure who will prepare the UK car.

"It was much cheaper to get the car from the UK," Cressey said this week.

"A lot of the data we will get we won’t be able to convert, considering the weather and track differences, but we should be able to get on top of it quick enough."

Cressey is likely to make his debut at the non-championship Grand Prix support race at Albert Park, but if the car isn't ready, he will miss the GP to concentrate on Round 1 at Adelaide. Backing for the car will come from Zarraffan

Coffee, as well as other supporters.

Meanwhile, Cressey will keep race miles under his belt over summer after he scored a late deal to drive in the Toyota Racing Series, which debuted at Timaru last weekend.

Cressey, who was a late entrant thanks to the help of some of his old local Formula Ford sponsors, won the third race of the weekend and finished in the top three overall.

-GRANT ROWLEY For more on Formula Toyota,turn to the National Scene, page 70.

New cars for BRM

newly-formed Australian GT Association, the former Nations Cup field will return in 2005 to contest a seven-round series made up of six sprint rounds and a three-hour enduro. The Championship will take place as part of the Australian Motor Racing Series.

Concerns about costs and levels of competition will see the series make a few departures from the Nations Cup format, the most notable being a revision of the eligibility requirements that will sideline Holden's controversial seven-litre Monaro and the Ferrari 550 Maranello. British GT Championship Cup class cars are expected to be permitted.

The Championship and Trophy classes will be scrapped, with the entire field competing under a single class, and a control tyre will be introduced. Cars will also be restricted to a limited allocation of tyres at each meeting. The Porsche 911 GTS Cup cat

Performing on all eights 1^.

CRACK Formula 3 outfit Team BRM has confirmed the purchase of an exMenu Motorsport Dallara F304 to run in its continuing campaign on the 2005 Asian F3 Championship.

The team's first preference is for an Australian to run the car and John Pettit, who impressed at the final round of the Asian series at Batangas in the Phillipines, is certainly in the team's sights.

"We'd love to run John in Asia we are very keen to have him back," team owner Bronte Rundle told MNews."We are very keen to have an Australian onboard for our 2005 Asian Formula 3 campaign."

The car, running an Opel-Speiss engine, will receive technical factory support, to combat the factory outfits run by Toyota TOMS and Three-Bond Nissan. The team has also been asked

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to run an F398 car, which is owned by the series organisers, for young Filipino driver. All drivers will be vying for a the series prize; a drive at the Macau F3 Grand Prix.

The ex-Menu F304 car may yet go to Asia via Australia for a run in the F3 races at the Australian Grand Prix in March, where the category will make its debut GP appearance. Team BRM are currently negotiating to bring Miko Wamek,the Chief Engineer of OpelSpeiss's world F3 operations(which overseas the use of over 300 engines worldwide)to the Grand Prix meeting.

On the Australian front. Team BRM is looking to bring one, or possibly two,F304s to run as part of the team's assault on the Australian Championship, to be run for the Gold Star for the first time. These cars are also likely to be sourced from Menu,

the British F3 team that ran Will Davison in the first half of 2004, above.

Nic Jordan is confirmed as being one of the team's Championship Class drivers and Adelaide driver Tim Slade is currently negotiating to drive the other car. Karl Reindler's championship-winning F301 has been sold to Bob Johns, but the team's other F301 remains and could also be run in Australia if a driver is found.

"I have all my ducks floating in the pond -1 just have to get them all in a row," said Rundle.

A young New Zealand driver will take up the team's older car to campaign Trophy Class, in a twoyear deal similar to that which saw Jordan take out the Trophy Class last year and graduate to the higher echelon of Australian F3 this year.

- CHRIS JORDAN

AFTER earlier confirming that it had secured a future with AVESCO,the Australian Performance Car Championship,formerly GT Performance, has established a schedule for the 2005 season.

The series will kick off at the Clipsal 500 in March and while the seventh and final round is yet to be confirmed, negotiations are well underway to run at Phillip Island as part of the BigPond Grand Finale.

All rounds will be held in conjunction with main series V8 Supercar rounds, except for Wakefield Park, which will be a V8 Development round.

2005Australian Performance Car Championship Calendar R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7

Clipsal 500 Wakefield Park Eastern Creek Hidden Valley Oran Park Symmons Plains Phillip Island* TBC

Mar 20 May 15 May 29 Jul3 Aug 14 Nov 13 Nov 27

motorsport news

NEWS

BS from the ashes AGTA 2005 Championship Calendar Rdl. Mallala Apr 16-17 Rd2. Phillip Island May 21-22 Rd3. Q/land Raceway Jul 2-3 Rd4. Eastern Creek Jul 23-24 Rd5. Phillip Island Aug 20-21 Rd6. Wakefield Park Nov 12-13 Rd7. Eastern Creek Dec 3-4

o s: s

MY2002 with 2003 updates has been set as the performance benchmark for the series.

Parity will be back in force, with an initial focus on induction control being undertaken to maintain the level of competition.

The series will share the AMRS television package, and while details are yet to be finalised it is anticipated

that the AGTA will have 30 minutes of coverage from each event.

Discussions are also under way with the management of Challenge Racing Australia (formerly the Porsche Drivers' Challenge) with a view to allow eligible CRA cars to bolster the AGTA field, while an affiliation has been made with FIA GT guru Stephane Ratel for future

events both in Australia and globally.

For now, the series will continue to be administered by the interim board consisting of fomer competitors and entrants John TeuOlan, Andrew Smith, D'Arcy Russell and Terry Little, with the formal election of all office bearers plarmed for the first round of the series at Mallala on April 16.

Developing Poms?

New Queensland-based team to prepare car for British youngster?

'■ ■-A

THE 2005 V8 Development Series is set to have a mid-season British invader.

Fortec Motorsport, a new Queenslandbased V8 Development team headed by Darrell Dixon, has purchased the ex-Tony Evangelou Dexion Racing Ford Falcon AU, below, and will attempt to compete in the entire junior V8 series.

At this stage, the driving duties will be undertaken by an un-named UK youngster, who has experience in the Le Mans 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, plus British GT and other

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endurance-based series. But the Brit will only be able to compete from round three onwards due to other commitments, which means Dixon is now on the hunt for a fill-in pilot.

"Our British driver still has a few hurdles to overcome," Dixon'said, "We now need a driver tp fill in the gap for the first few rounds. The car will be a good thing and the Development series is a great place to start in the sport."

- GRANT ROWLEY

?

Where to for Brant?

MARTY Brant's Independent Race Cars team’s plans were up in the air as MNews went to press.

The Kiwi, who ran Tony D’Alberto in last year's Konica Minolta series, has still got his former VX Commodore for sale or available for use on a lease basis.

Brant also did not rule out the possibility of running a Carerra Cup car or another type of race car for a customer. n After campaigning this year sporadically in international Formula 3 competition, keep an eye out for Barton Mawer at the Australian Grand Pix in March.

Mawer is likely to drive the Karl Reindler 2004 Championship winning F301 car, recently purchased from Team BRM by Mawer's former Aussie F3 team boss. Bob Johns. n Paul Pickett's Chance of a Lifetime scheme has hit a rough patch. This year's 'advanced' group, which was to award the winner a drive in the Lotus series in 2005 and the V8 development series in 2006, has been cancelled.

This year, both David Sieders and Damien French were meant to enter the V8 Development Series via their respective victories in the COAL program, however, Sieders has decided to concentrate on his Formula Ford ambitions. He will also take in some Lotus racing this year.

French, who recently won the Lotus series, will drive the team's current AU Falcon unless a BA Falcon can be purchased in the near future. Pickett denied rumours that the team’s current Falcon had been repossessed.

■ Formula Ford contender Brett Francis will enter cars in two FFord championships next year, however, Francis himself isn't a guaranteed starter.

With support from VIP Petfoods, Francis will enter one, or possibly two cars in the National Formula Ford series, while at least two of his cars will compete in the Queensland State series. Up to six would-be Formula Forders will test at Queensland Raceway with the team today (Wednesday).

Francis "hasn't given up" on his own career just yet, but he confirmed that his extra duties this year off the track may see him take a limited role behind the wheel.

■ The Lexus brand will be back in the British Touring Car Championship in 2005. A single racecar, based on the compact IS200 model, is under build to the Super 2000 regulations

by SpeedEquipe, Dave Qlder's team that has been successful in Renault Clio one-make racing.

- QUENTIN SPURRING/STAFF 15

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British FI TV in doubt Toiigli tobacco lavtfs put coverage in jeopardy

A CRISIS is looming in relation to the British coverage of Formula 1 and the new laws which come into force at the end of July which ban any British-based company from being involved in any activity which produces tobacco advertising in the UK. This includes all the racing teams, the race organisers and the TV companies.

There is almost no chance that the Labour government in Britain will alter the legislation. Prime Minister Tony Blair ■ was recently called upon to explain why he failed to declare a holiday with

tobacco baron Alain Dominique Perrin in 2002. At the time, Perrin was chief executive of Richemont, which owns Rothmans and, since a merger, owns a 21 percent stake in British American Tobacco.

The news showed that the government cannot dare offer the FI industry help, particularly as there is a general election due at some time in the next 18 months and it cannot afford a scandal.

At the same time, the German government has recently ratified the World Health Organisation's Framework

Convention on Tobacco Control, which means that the Germans are committed to stamping out tobacco sponsorship.

This will ultimately have an effect on the use of tobacco sponsorship at the European and German Grands Prix, which have featured free tobacco advertising in recent years despite the fact that the German's cigarette industry association, Verband der Cigarettenlndustrie, has a self-imposed ban on advertising at sports events. This is overlooked for Grand Prix racing.

-JOE SAWARD

■i'

Chevs get ready

TWO Chevrolets of very different natures are being prepared for their racetrack debuts.

The first Chevrolet Lacetti Super 2000 racecar, top right, for the new-for2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship has been shaken down at the UK's Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) proving ground near Nuneaton. Robert Huff began the brand's first ever factory motorsport programme in Europe, which is being operated by the RML organisation.

Eric Neve, the Motorsports Manager for Chevrolet Europe, commented: "Chevrolet's World Touring Car effort has now become a tangible reality. Six months ago, this car only existed in people's minds, but now it's a state-of-the-art race car, built and run by one of the finest teams in the business and to be driven by what we feel is an excellent line-up of drivers."

The Lacetti will run again on 21 January, and Huff will join team mates Alain Menu and Nicola Larini in the first WTCC group test over 2223 March at Monza, Italy where the new championship will start on 10

16

April. This is expected to be RML's first opportunity to compare it with its rivals from Alfa Romeo, Brilliance, BMW, Ford, Honda and Peugeot and SEAT. The brand-new Corvette C6-R race car will debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2005 after a full year of rigorous testing and development.

The two-car, factory-backed Chevrolet sports car program will compete in the production-based GTl class (formerly GTS) of American Le Mans Series as well as the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, a race where the Corvette has won its class for three out of the past four years.

The new race car is the most

I

technically advanced sports car ever developed by General Motors, culling years of experience from the dominant Corvette C5-R as well as the advancements brought forth from the next-generation Corvette C6 and Z06 production models.

Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis will drive the #3 Corvette C6-R and Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen will drive the #4 Corvette C6-R. - SPURRING/STAFF

5 era

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motorsport news

This is a rare opportunity for you and a friend to see the inner sanctum of the legendary BMW WilliamsFI team, the new home of Aussie F1 star Mark Webber, at the 2005 FORMULA 1 Foster’s Australian Grand Prix.

TU

You’ll also win 4-day Grandstand tickets, return economy Qantas airfares (from any Australian capital city except Melbourne), five nights accommodation. Pit Lane Walk Passes (for Saturday 5th March) and Grand Prix merchandise - all for two people. Sen

Win a personally guided tour of the BMW WllliamsFI Team Garage by Mark Webber* ^ l Plus airfares, accommodation & grandstand tickets for the 2005 FORMULA T Foster’s Australian Grand Prix

Albert Park Meibmne, 3-6 March 2005.

For bookings, cak 71

t31 641 or visit www.grandprix.com.au Should uijitoi-eseen £l.c?prnmitments prevent Mark being present, the tour wiM be conducted by a BMW WUliamsFl Team staff member.

HOW TO ENTER Simply answer the question on this entry form and send to: CHECK OUT MARK’S PLACE COMPETITION PO BOX 7072, GARDENVALE, VIC 3186.

The answer judged best by our panel will win. You may enter as many times as you like, but only original entry forms will be accepted. Entries must be received by 5pm on Thursday February 3, 2005. nditions apply. For details see www.mnews.com.au

NAME: ADDRESS: POSTCODE: PHONE: EMAIL:

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Situation No

WHILE Aussie Ryan Briscoe is a late addition to the field in the Daytona 24 Hour,another ex-Fl name might join in - two-time world champ Emerson Eittipaldi.

Briscoe will join Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz in one of Felix Sabates and Chip Ganassi's three Daytona Prototype Lexus-Rileys. The Sydney driver is soon expected to be confirmed as Ganassi's third IRL driver for 2005.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Fittipaldi tested the Kodak Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran, which won the classic race last year.

"It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed every second," smiled the Brazilian after the drive. "It was good. I felt comfortable in the car. I need more miles in the car."

Fittipaldi did 11 laps in the car and was enthused by the relatively

AS MNews closed for press, Mitsubishi was dominating the 2005 Dakar.

Defending Champion E Stephane Peterhansel, opposite, I kept a grip on the overall lead in the race, 20m01s ahead of low-tech racer, above. former skiing star Luke Alphand, "I love the Daytona Prototypes who won the ninth stage on category," Fittipaldi said. "I Sunday. The two Pajero Evos watched the race at Homesteadwere 40m26s clear of the Miami Speedway race last closest 'other' challenger, the September, and I wanted to have a Volkswagen Toureg of Jutta test just to see how it feels.[Co Kleinschmidt. driver] Paul Tracy told me yesterday Colin McRae swapped the that it was fun to drive, and now I early lead with NASCAR ace found it out for myself," Robby Gordon but the former Fittipaldi's only races at Daytona world rally champion crashed his International Speedway were a pair Nissan out of the even on Day 6. of sixth-place finishes in the 1975 Ironically, Gordon rolled his VW and 1976IROCII and III finales, on the same stage but was able driving a Chevrolet Camaro on the to continue in the classic, though 2.5-mile oval. well back.

And, will the 58-year-old race Even further back in the field with Tracy and nephew Christian? is Mitsubishi's Japanese driver "It's been eight years, a long time.

Hiroshi Masuoka. The two-time My last time in a race car was 1996 winner lost almost four hours at Michigan. It's possible I could race in the Rolex 24.1 don't know when he had a tyre go flat and strand him, costing him any yet, but it could be."

chance of a win. The car continues well down the order, "I will be a very fast assistance for Peter and Alphand," he admitted after taking fifth place on Stage 9.

KTM dominates the motorcycle division, though many of the two-wheeled racers have accused the organisers of unnecessarily putting them at risk.

Riders have been allocated no more than 20 litres of fuel to be taken on during the stages and some competitors have been stranded on-stage during the event.

The ninth stage went to Spain's Esteve Pujol riding a KTM while French rider Cyril Desperes, also on a KTM, is the now the new overall leader.

Andy Caldecott starred early in the event, the South Australian racer winning Stage 5 in his second assault on the desert event despite riding a privateer machine.

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NEWS

rmal in Dakar

2 eggs, no yoke LOOK for two Koenigseggs in the FIA GT Championship.

Apart from the newly-created Koenigsegg Motorsport Racing Australia, which intends to unveil a racing version of the car at the Australian Grand Prix meeting in March, the Swedish-based lowvolume 'supercar' manufacturer is planning to support a second entry. which will likewise operate supercharged Ford V8-powered CCR models. n Lola is making inroads in the Sportscar market, with Binnie Motorsports acquiring a new Lola LMP-2 B05/40. The car, which will be powered by a Nicholson-McLaren normally aspirated V-8, will be driven

by Adam Sharpe, Bobby Julien and William Binnie, who won te LMP2 class at Le Mans last year. The team will take in five European LMES 1000K races and the 24 Fleures du Mans. n Paul Newman escaped from his burning racing car after it spun during practice at Daytona. Newman, 79, was not injured in the incident. don't know what happened.

Newman was quoted as saying after the medical check. "I'm fine. It just caught on fire somehow.

- SPURRING/STAFF

Due to negotiations with Hubbard Downing Inc.and Revolution Racegear's bulk purchasing policy we have been able to land a major shipmentof HANS® Devices at a dramatically reduced cost.We have new stocks of all models g fn-store now for the 2005 season.Call into any of our stores now to view I these and Australia's the most comprehensive range of HANS® approved I helmets from Bell or Aral.

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NASCAR puts its HANS up FOLLOWING testing by SFI Foundation Inc, NASCAR will not allow the use of the Hutchens Device head and neck safety restraint in 2005.

SFI, a non-profit organization based in California that carries out tests on automotive and performance equipment,found the Hutchens device did not conform to NASCAR specs, apparently allowing more movement of the head than is deemed safe. NASCAR mandated the use of a head and neck restraint in October 1991 following the death of Dale Earnhardt.

The move now means the HANS device is the only option open to drivers in all three major NASCAR series. Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace were notables that had been using the Hutchens device and found the HANS more restrictive in use during testing.

- MARTIN D CLARK

Even the Bulls are crazy about the sport in Race City

Joupdain jumps to NASCAR

ONE of Champ Car's biggest stars, Michel competes in the NASCAR Trucks as well, with Jourdain Jr will switch from open-wheel driver Terry Cook. racing to Stock Car racing.

Champ Car World Series issued the The two-time CART race winner will become following statement: "We are disappointed to lose a driver of the the first full-time hispanic racer in the NASCAR calibre of Michel from our series and we wish Busch Series. Jourdain will team with Kenny him success in his new endeavour. Michel's Wallace at ppc Racing and drive a Ford Taurus.

"I wanted to thank everyone who helped me decision to stay in Champ Car after the in Champ Car the last nine seasons," Jourdain departure of his former team prior to the start of the season was a key in building said. "There were so many great crew guys, owners and drivers there. It's hard to leave the momentum for a successful 2004 and is series, and I wish them the best, but this was something that Champ Car will always be grateful for." an opportunity that I could not turn down. It's Jourdain scored Champ Car wins in 2003 at time for another chapter in my career."

Milwaukee and Montreal in a season that saw Ford has welcomed the Mexican driver to its him finish a career-high third in the standings.

Stock Car ranks with open arms.

A nine-year veteran of the series, Jourdain "This is just another step forward for us in made 152 starts and earned nine podium our ongoing driver development program," finishes. He finished 12th in the 2004 Champ commented Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Car standings with two podiums.

Technology. "Our philosophy has always been He had his first ride in the ppc Racing Taurus that we want our Ford Racing drivers to better back in October. His first test at a ^ reflect the Ford customer, and working with superspeedway will be thismonth during talented drivers like Michel helps accomplish Daytona International Speedway test days. our goal."

- PHIL MORRIS ppc Racing also fields a Ford John Andretti, a driver who also',be( Ktis I career as an open-wheel racer.'The l^mj p ,

THE North Carolina town of Mooresville (or 'Race City USA'as it's affectionately known),where a vast number of NASCAR teams are based, has just received 23 new Ford Crown Victoria cop cars to boost its 45-car fleet.

Plans were floated two years ago to paint the new cars in the schemes of stock cars. Those plans were shelved and the new look is a far cry from the norm, with a chequered flag design and 'Race City USA'logo on the rear quarters.

To top it off, the officers get to take the cars home when off-duty as a perk to assist in recruiting. With each car numbered, we wonder how long it will be before we'll see them street racing on Saturday nights?

- MARTIN D CLARK

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motorsporlnews

No rest for the Wicked in the Nextei Cup DAYTONA testing for Nextei Cup cars starts on January 11 for those teams that finished out the 2004 season in the odd-numbered team owners' points positions, while the even-numbered teams start their tests on January 18.

NASCAR can still be expected to make significant changes to controversial provisional starting positions before the February 20 Daytona 500 gets underway.

Honda gets Speaal K

THOSE Honda people are so sentimental ...

The No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda that carried Tony Kanaan to the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series championship is heading for a place of honour in the Honda Collection Hall at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.

The car allowed Kanaan to

set numerous IndyCar Series records, including leading 889 laps and recording 15 top-five finishes.

While Kanaan's car will be on display at the Hondaowned track, team-mate and IndyCar Series runner-up Dan Wheldon will also have his car based at the track but as a 'running' member of the

Honda Collection Hall.

The car, the first Honda to win on its home track in either IRL or CART,stopped at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week before the trip east while Kanaan's car will appear North American International Auto Show next week before joining its partner.

- PHIL MORRIS

n Hermie Sadler has teamed up with veteran crew chief James Ince and has sold a controlling share of his race team to Peak Fitness, a chain of gyms, to form Peak Performance Motorsports, with powerplants provided by RoushYates Ford engines.

H Sterling Marlin will have a new crew chief in the shape of former Goodyear tyre engineer Steve Boyer, who joined Ganassi Racing in 2001 and served as Marlin’s team engineer since 2002.

Boyer replaces team manager Tony Glover, who was filling the role on an interim basis.

- MARTIN D CLARK

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21

Suzuki s

PIERFRANCESCO Chili is to race for Klaffi Honda in the 2005 World Superbike Championship.

Chili, 40, will ride a CBR1000RR in the series, in which he finished fifth on a Ducati, nhim', last .sea.son. While no confirmation has come, it is believed that the team will race Ten Kate-prepared bikes, similar to the new machines for Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge.

"Over the course of my career I have experienced manv ups and downs," says Chili. "There have even been times when nobody believed in me, but I came back again and again.

"The Klaffi f londa team's entry in 2005 brings a super chance for me to ride in the World Superbike Championship again and aim for the title.

World Superbiku vutcrnn Chili has 239 SBK race slarts, with 61 podium finishes, 17 race wins, 29 fastest race laps and 10 pole positions. He last raced a four-cylinder machine four years ago, riding a Suzuki GSX-R750 from 1999 to 2001.

According to Klaffi Honda Team Owner Klaus Klaffenbock, his decision for his lead rider came down to Chili or Ben Bostrom. The American is expected to join the Renegade flonda World Superbike team, with confirmation that he will replace Yamaha-bound Noriyuki Haga expected soon.

Chili's team-mate is 21-year-old German Max Neukirchner, who rode for Klaffi I londa in the 2004 World Supersport Championship.

SUZUKI looks like having a strong Daytona 200 after topping testing at the Florida track last week.

Superbike rookie Ben Spies, who had a crash at the track last season, set the fastest lap time of all riders at a three-day tyre test at the track. The 20-year-old was the only rider to break the 1 m40s barrier in the test, running a fastest lap of 1 m39.701 s on the 4.8km track.

Spies's team-mate Mat Mladin was the fastest man coming into the final day of the test with a 1m40.309s, but crashed heavily Tuesday afternoon and sat out Wednesday with what appeared to be minor injuries.

"Essentially I got the thing sideways exiting one of the new turns, changing up from first to second for a short amount of time and it was at that point when I clicked second that it went sideways and spat me over the top," said Mladin.

"I actually got it back under control, but as soon as I looked

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Superbikes? As easy as dunking REMEMBER that funny pic of Michael Jordan riding Ducati's MotoGP bike last year? Well, the NBA legend is running a team of Suzukis in the 2005 AMA Superbike Series.

Jason Pridmore will race an MJ bike in both the Superbike and Superstock classes while Steve Rapp and Montez Stewart will compete ins. the Superstock class. All riders will ride new 2005 Suzuki GSXR 1000 machines prepared by Gemini Technology Systems. n Aussie MotoGP photographer Paul Barshon was one of the lucky escapees from the Boxing Day Asian Tsunami. The former MNews shooter was honeymooning in The Maldives when the wave hit the resort islands, with both Barshon and his bride thankfully escaping any injury.

t t

n We know that the Japanese rule the world's motorbike market but the fourth largest motorcycle company in the world has been formed after the acquisition of Aprilia by Piaggio Group. The new Italian group sells bikes in 50 countries and produces over 600,000 vehicles each year.

Aprilia will continue its MotoGP program this season.

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FOSTER'S AUSTRALIAN GRAND PmX2005

OPINION

The Sport of Doing Business

(or is it the other way around?) ell. It's all happening down here at the Australian Stock Exchange. BHP up 13 - how on earth is Pasminco going to respond?

Hello, a late run from Lihir Gold.

"I might be mistaken, but it seems that the banks are diving.

Never seen anything quite like that before. Resources could struggle from here.

"Wow! What a day it's been down here in Collins Street..."

This riveting scenario is played out every working day here in Australia and in all the industrial capitals around the world. Exciting, huh! Can't wait for more?

But hold it, you're saying. What is he rabbiting on about? That's crap. That's business.

Yep, that's business.

The frantic daily goings-on at the ASX are business. Motorsport is ... well, a sport. Uh-huh. You reckon?

Think about it. How many times have you heard a team owner, a driver, an AVESCO official, on TV, on radio, in print, come up with the line " well, it's not a sport any more - it's a business!"

It's got to the stage now where I cringe every time I hear it - and I, and the public out there, do hear it far too often.

//

t,.-

m-

—

9'

Yes, motorsport does, by its nature, involve more money in its equipment and staging than most other sports. I was going to say there's more money in motorsport, full stop, but that'd be wrong - there are any number of popular sports that turn over zillions more, like soccer, basketball and so on.

Yes, major motorsport is a corporate event. Business gets done in the suites. Yes, the sport, like all others, needs to be run along business lines.

But why do the sport's highprofilers persist in (publicly) describing motorsport as a business? Here they are, trying to pull the punters in the gate at racetracks around the world to watch what? Business?

Hell. Formula 1 even has its own magazine about The Business of FI ...

Heavens. Might as well get IMG and the marketing gurus down to the Stock Exchange and see what we can do. You never know. It is, after all, the era of reality television. The punters might go for it!

No, they won't.

When was the last time you w

heard Roger Federer mention the 'business' of tennis. When did George Gregan last use the 'B' word in a post-match chat (other than to exclaim that "the boys 'dun the business'!").

So please, motorsport people (call it a New Year's resolution wish-list), let's not forget that what we do is actually a sport.

Promote it as such. Use the word sport a lot - not business. Keep the business where it should be behind closed doors.

Because once every two or three weeks, be it V8 Supercars or Formula 1 - or your local state championship series - there's a race on. Man against man (no, I refuse to say person against person), machine against machine. Adrenaline. Action.

That's what it's all about - isn't it?

Otherwise, the punters might just conclude there's just as much excitement to be had down in Collins Street - and there's always the chance of making a buck at the same time!

W

hile it's a new year, with all the refreshed hope that brings, it also coincidentally sees the 300th issue of Motorsport

Once every two or three weeks,there's a race on. Man against man, machine against machine. Adrenaline. Action.

That's what it's all about -isn't it?

t\

Motor Mouth with Chris Lambden News published. Elsewhere in the issue, editor Branagan gets a bit nostalgic and looks back at the big moments over that time.

Interesting times.

I'd simply like to thank you guys, the readers, the motorsport 'tragics', many of whom have been with MNews from day one.

We have a great team here at MNews - I like to think they're the SBR of motorsport publishing (sorry to all at Holden PR)- but there's not much point if what you're doing isn't getting results; being well-received by the people you're aiming it at. So far, you seem to like what we do.

We're having fun, so let's press on ...

MNews lensman Dirk Klynsmith (below) exhibits the emotion and adrenaline that typifies sport...

i

12 January 2005

25

Mark's Office, Value a Y OU do realise that Mark Webber could be World Champion in 2005, don't you?

No? Well,ifs not a flight of fancy but a very real possibility. It may not happen,but the important thing if you're an Australian race fan is that it could. It all depends on a thousand little details but these boil down to just two questions; Will the BMW.Williams be quick enough?

And, Will Webber make any nustakes?

We will not know the answer to the

working hard because they know that it is all so close, that the tiniest detail could make the difference. If the traction-control system has a sUly stutter, victories can be lost and that is what decides World Championships.

For the last couple of years, Williams has faced a lot of criticism.

The cars have not been competitive out of the box and the team has taken

first question until we get to Melbourne, because one can rarely read anything into the winter testing.

At this time of year it is easy to be misled as the various teams start to show off their new cars. There is a lot of hot air. Beneath it all is the reality that some cars will be good and others will not be as good and that will be the difference between

capable of winning a race, but he has never had the right car. It was the same back in 1982 when Keke Rosberg was hired by Williams. He was a nobody in January and World Champion by September. The team produced such good cars in the 1990s that even mediocre drivers were made to look good. Yes, it's been a long time since Williams last won the World Championship but that does not mean it is not going to happen.

2004 and any team that has won 16 World Championships in 25 years is not to be underestimated. Webber

something that has shocked the folk at Williams. Admittedly, the team is not used to this sort of thing, having grown used to the 'absentee-ism' that ^ they have seen in recent years from the cruising Juan Pablo Montoya and the uptight Ralf Schumacher.

The other day. Sir Frank Williams was trying to think of the right word to describe Webber's effect on the team and he settled on "inspirational" # and added that Webber is "prepared to spend all of his time on the team and Formula One. What we see is

The tiring, from has where aminteresting sitting, is that Webber to I deliver. He knows it and he seems

may not have won a race, indeed he may never have looked like a man

pretty well prepared for the challenge ahead. And his motivation is

astonishingly good value for money!"

And if there is one thing that Williams likes, it is value for money.

I thought I would check it out and rang one of my spies in the team.

"He's at the factory so much that we really should give him an office," my spy confided."In fact he does have an office but it doesn't have his name on the door. If someone says'Where's Webber?' we always know the answer. We just say'Go look in the simulator'- and that is where he is."

The Williams race simulator is a big

time to get them working. The World Championships have slipped away.

But the team won the last race of

winning and losing.

Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Renault, BAR and perhaps even Toyota are all hoping for victories in 2005. Everyone is confident because they don't know where the other teams are in comparison. Everyone is Da Man in Da Middle: L to R, Antonio Pizzonia, Webber and Nick Heidfeld get to know each other in Bahrain.

Two of these guys will race for Williams but, so far, the team has only confirmed one ...

/

X-

5

ind The Enforcer secret but, in essence, it is like playing an amazing computer game on any of the Formula 1 race tracks.

Not only does the driver see things as he will from the FI cockpit (including wraparound screens)but he also gets bashed and buffeted as he will when he is in the car. A series of hydraulically-activated pistons translate the telemetry data collected at the actual circuits into movements, reproducing not only the bumps in

the road but also the effects of pitch (raising and lowering of the car as it accelerates and brakes), and roll(the load transferred to the chassis when cornering) and aerod3mamics.

Turning the steering wheel depends on the speeds involved and the downforce which the computers are told the 'car' is running.

The whole thing is run by a bunch of powerful Hewlett-Packard computers which work together to create a monstrously-powerful supercomputer, which is said to be the most powerful single-cluster automotive supercomputer in the UK. Webber likes it. He wants to learn and he spends every spare minute there. He knows what is going on in departments all over the factory-if there are delays in production or problems which might have some effect on the job he has been hired to do.

The point is that Webber is not about to waste the opportunity that has been presented to him.He has made it through the ranks the hard way. There is no money in his background and he tells wonderful stories about turning up at Formula 3 races with his pockets

stuffed full of cash which had been collected to pay for his drive. That is the kind of thing that gets a mechanic going, that makes them go the extra mile and do that little bit extra which can make the difference between winning and losing.

As far as I am concerned it is just down to those two unanswered questions. And if the answer to both is "Yes" I can see Australia ending up with a World Champion for the first time in 25 years.

The only fear I have is that Australia itself will not be ready for it, besotted as you all are with V8 Supercars, Ambrose,Skaifey, The Enforcer and all that lot...

FORMULA ONE

The With BoxJoeSeat Saward ''lAtebber is prepared to spend ail of his time on the team and Formula One. What we see is astonishingly good value for money!'

-Frank Williams enthuses about his new charge

r'

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Accenture 27

live minutes with

mam

Jason Bright

It will be a big year for Jasoa Bright in 2005, with a new team to run and two-year deal with Ford Performance Racing. He spoke to PHIL BRANAGAN MOTORSPORT NEWS: How long has this deal been in the works?

JASON BRIGHT: It has been talked about for a while, but it did not get consummated that long ago. It was a matter of throwing ideas around for three or four months.

MN: How difficult has it been to put a deal like this together, given everything else that is going on - including racing for another team?

JB: It was not that hard. From everyone's perspective, it had all the right ingredients that everyone looks for. It was just a matter of making sure that there was nothing that was going to get in the way.

It was a reasonably long process to make sure that it was going to work the way that we wanted it to.

MN: What is the nature of the deal? How long?

JB: Two years.

MN: Was it hard to decide to leave Holden?

JB: Yes, to an extent. But I think that we are all looking for what is going to be the best possible situation to be in, as far as being competitive. This gives me the right ingredients and the right backup to be able to develop and move forward, without restrictions, without being tied in with multi-car engine programs.

You are, sort of, getting good engines and the right development. That was the number one priority, to make sure that, even if we are not winning races initially, we have the right ingredients to make a very strong team.

MN: What are your impressions of FPR's shop?

JB: It's great! The focus is to make sure that it is not just a 28

c 9a

Other teams are yet to do the same thing. You usually see one area, a key area, that is not being done properly with other teamsrr -Bright on why teams are still playing ‘Chase SBR’ great facility but a winning facility as well. They have all the ingredients to do a really great job - that has been stated many times. The job now is to pull it all together to make sure that it is a winning shop.

MN: You raced against the FPR cars for the last two years.

Particularly towards the end of '04,they were pretty quick.

What were your impressions from on the track?

JB: I spent a bit of time behind [an FPR car] at Eastern Creek.

They started the season under tough circumstances, moving into a new shop and not having equipment ready on time, for one reason or another.

You do not have to be Einstein to know that does not work in this game; you have to go into each season and be ready, and things like that can really trip you up. They came into '04 under tough circumstances but, as the year went on and they sorted out their engine dramas, it was obvious that the car was pretty strong in the chassis department.

It was just a matter of getting

the right miles under the belt to form a base. That became obvious. The engine problems held them back more than many people realised at the time.

MN: You have worked in some of the best teams in the business. Is bringing a fresh set of eyes into the team a big advantage?

JB: Hard to say. I hope so. I think that the more different views you can get on things, as long as you have someone to filter through that process, it all helps.

I think that fresh eyes might help but we need to sit down and determine that.

MN: After finishing third in 2004,the logical question is to ask if you can win the championship this year. Is that realistic?

JB:[Long pause] I do not go into any team without having my sights set on winning the championship. You are never going to know until you get some miles in the car and go through the first race or two.

Then you have a better idea about how it looks.

The team looked good at the end of the year and the engine program is stable now, so I think that we can go out there and compete. This championship, with this pointscore, has proven that it is a matter of going out and accumulating points.

We want to get out there and run reliably and learn as much as we can about the car. We want to be more competitive as the year goes on. Initially, we want good solid results so that we can build on that later in the year.

MN: Ford finished first and second in the championship last year. Is the tide starting to turn towards Ford?

JB: I think it has turned, but not for all of the Ford teams. Stone Brothers has done an extremely good job, but that comes down to them doing a better job than anyone else. Their engine department is good, their chassis people are doing well and the drivers are doing the job. They have their ducks all lined up.

Other teams are yet to do the same thing. You usually see one area, a key area, that is not being done properly with other teams. 1 don't think that we have done as well as them and there are reasons why they look a lot better than everyone else.

MN: Marcos Ambrose, Russell Ingall, Craig Lowndes and now Jason Bright in Fords. This could be good!

JB: Should be interesting! We have to have a period where the team will gel together. We are still the new kid on the block and I need to fit in with the team.

I have to make it clear what 1 expect from the car and how we can make it all work together. I do not think that we are going to be winning races from the word go, but as everyone starts to work together, we can move forward.

motorsportnews

For<l

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|^'>^?ry2005

Five minutes wiW

Craig Bain

I

Everyone eise is changing teams tor 2005,so there's no reason why Craig BairO shoiiU miss out. MARK GLEVOBfiMNO sgoke to the Kiwi about his new gig as a ForO driver witt WPS Racing MOTORSPORT NEWS: Last year, WPS Racing boss Craig Gore described drivers as 'lightbulbs'- you just take one out and replace it with another. So are you looking forward to life as a lightbulb?

CRAIG BAIRD;[chuckles] For me, it's a good opportunity to get into a Level 1 team again.

Craig speaks his mind, there's no two ways about that. There are a lot of guys up and down pitlane who will shake your hand, look you in the eye and then stab you in the back as soon as you walk away.

At least you know exactly what Craig's thinking when he tells you something. It's sort of refreshing sometimes, to have someone that is so upfront.

Whether it's with you guys, or drivers, or mechanics or whatever it may be, at least you know where you stand.

MN: I guess it will be nice to have a team-mate again too, after a few years of flying solo?

CB: Yeah. That's one of the things I'm looking forward to more than anything, getting back into a two-car team. Even more so for Sandown and Bathurst and stuff - you go to those races with a real chance.

Everyone says the same thing.

It has gotten so competitive now that you need to be able to share data with someone.

You need to be able to work on your driving, and the only way you can do that is to compare yourself in the same equipment.

MN: How are you expecting things to work out with David Besnard?

CB: Bezzy and I have come from similar backgrounds. We've both done a lot of karting, we've both done a lot of single-seaters, so we'll both probably like similar set-ups. It's not as if we're from vastly different backgrounds.

30

CB: Really good. We need to get them Into Australia immediately.

They've got 20 cars or something running here, next year there will be more, and if you can get them into Australia, the young guys in Australia would be able to do the summer series here before they did their full championship in Australia.

MN: Have you had much of a chance to look around the WPS workshop yet?

CB: Yeah, I have. I have been in there a couple of times. They've got a good set-up there on the Gold Coast.

I guess one of the keys is that Craig is so hungry for success, not just in motor racing but in everything he does. It is pretty motivational, because he'll do whatever it takes to make sure he gets results.

were ... midfield, a solid midfield for the first half of the season.

MN: You were on fire in qualifying at Winton.

CB: Yeah, but I suppose that it's not a horsepower track, and there are not a lot of Kiwis that have not done a lot of driving in the rain. So things did fall into our hands a bit at Winton. But we qualified in the top 10 again at Queensland - once again, one of the smaller circuits.

But then as the year went on, I MN:One of the downsides is think the budget got tighter and that up until now you've had one tighter, and I think if you look at our finishing record for the last of the coolest helmets in pitlane, half of the season, we were and now you have to swap it for the team-issue one... probably the worst in the field.

I think there were only two e CB: I am working on Gorey a cars that had more DNFs than us little bit to let him keep some of my own design! But look, at the . through mechanical failures, end of the day, if you look at it MN: You're over in NZ at the from his point of view, he wants moment. New Zealand's V8 to represent WPS. I'm just happy to get in the car. round has been under a cloud for a while - what's the vibe I don't care if he wants to paint like over there? the thing pink. I just want to get CB: New Zealand, for a small on with it and try to get some results back. country, is very, very passionate about motorsport, and the With the Team Brock thing, I people, the enthusiasts, just really had high hopes of that want to do whatever it takes to going somewhere. When I was make sure the race stays. at Team Brock, a lot of people It would be a big thought,'oh well, you'll have disappointment for the whole good equipment, an HRT car', country if it doesn't continue. and a lot of people related it to a sort of works Holden team. But MN:You mentioned your singlepeople forgot, I just jumped into seater past before. You've just Rod Nash's privateer car, and that's all it was. spent the weekend racing on the same bill as the new Formula And then I went from that to Toyotas- with your background, Team Kiwi and a '99 Larry what was your take on them?

Perkins car. Then last year, we

MN: And they're good cars?

CB: Really nice. They are just miniature Formula One cars.

They are really nicely built cars, nice carbon-fibre monocoque and everything, monoshock front end in them ... very nice.

And 1 guess the biggest thing is, it's not like a Formula 3 car where you can choose a Honda engine, or this, or that.

Everyone's got the same engine, and I think it's about NZD$8000 to lease for a season.

I think a car is about NZD$120,000, you pay your $8000 to lease the engine, and that's cheap motor racing for a class that's very similar to Formula 3, Same lap times, I believe. It's very close.

So it's affordable. It would obviously knock Formula Ford around a bit - I think to do Formula Ford competitively, you would spend more money than what it would cost to run the Formula Toyota.

MN: Finally, before you return to Australia for the V8 season, you are heading over to Daytona for the 24 Hour.

How's that shaping up?

CB: I did the race in 1997 with Julian Bailey in the Lister Jaguar thing, and I really enjoyed it but it was a bit of an unreliable car.

So going there in a GT3 Porsche, that's probably one of the more reliable race cars around. If we get to the end, with the drivers that we've got, we've got a pretty good chance of taking at least the class win.

moiorsportnews

-WATTYL Justin Collins

31

12 January 2005 i

The

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Australians 30. The 28. Simon Eva Superhike you must Seven watch in '05 Driver, Team Toyota Racing

Australians abound in the wide world of motorsportboth inside and outside of race cars.

As a new season dawns, Motorsport News presents our list of the Aussies you need to have in the crosshairs in 2005- on the track, off the track, on four wheels and on two amm

32

Two years ago the World Superbike Championship was on its knees, nearly wiped out

by MotoGP. But the seven Aussies in the 2005 series Troy Corser, Steve Martin, Garry McCoy, Karl Muggeridge, Warwick Nowland, Andrew Pitt and Chris Vermeulen, above,share four world titles, and lots of wins, between them. This year's SBK series is a mustwatch.

29. Craig Gore Owner, WPS Racing Gorey's different; he's loud and opinionated. But WPS did win a V8 Supercar race in 2004 and the sponsorship clout of Gore and his company reaches further than just Australian racing. Whatever happens this season, you cannot ignore the man from Queensland. motorsport news

30 AUSSIES

27. Mat Mladin Rider, Yoshimura Suzuki US Five AMA Superbike titles down, one to go! Mladin is The Man in the USA but faces a massive fight this season with the arrival of former SBK champ Neil Hodgson at Ducati Austin.

26. Jason Crump Speedway Grand Prix Champion Finally, Crump broke through to win the world title last season and will be looking to defend against a horde of Euros this time around. In the anything-can-happen world of solo racing.

Crump's consistency could hold the key to back-to-back wins.

.Alan Gow Series Director, British Touring Car Championship The BTCC is back on song after a slump in the postSuper Touring era. After a couple of settling-in years after a technical revamp, the 2004 Championship proved that the British public will follow more than just open wheeler racing and, as ever, Gow has big plans for the future.

.Paul Taylor

Technical Delegate, FIA Rallies Commission

I 5

With Chris Atkinson off to the WRC,Evans is the form driver to take on double ARC winner Cody Crocker in 2005. His speed is unquestioned and if the TTR Corolla is up to the task, the Melbourne driver could lift the ~ Australian crown from Subaru.

The whole rally world seems to be calling for technical change in the WRC and the Aussie is the man with the brief of implementing change and keeping the manufacturers happy.

It's a tough tightrope to walk but, after looking after similar issues in the world of V8 Supercars,the former TEGAtech guru seems more than up to the task.

23. Neil Crompton Commentator, Network 10 Along with FTs Martin Brundle and NASCAR's Benny Parsons, Crompton is the best comments man in motorsport's English-speaking world.

The return to Network 10 of Leigh Diffey could allow even Cromley to expand on his tellit-like-it-is style.

And it is not just V8 Supercars that Crompton handles; he does FI and he's on the radio, too ...

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I 12 January 2005

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22. Marcus Marshall

21. Troy Bayliss Rider, Camel Pons Racing After two frustrating MotoGP seasons wrestling with Ducati's hornery V4, below.

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Driver, TBA (Champ Car?) MM won a British F3 round last year and his off-season Champ Car test impressed many. There are options on the table for the Queenslander so this is a 'watch this space' listing; if he does run Champ Car this season, Marshall should be a fair bit higher on the list...

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^

.Kelvin O'Reilly Chairman and General Manager, TEGA The man is not difficult or controversial, but the job can be both - and O'Reilly knows it. Apart from the race to race dramas of the sport, there is TEGA's costcontainment program to implement.

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30 AUSSIES

19. Jeremy Burgess

Kim Green

Her, Andretti Green Racing

Crew Chief, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha

Everyone says Yamaha has a genius in Valentino Rossi.

Maybe they have two.

JB performed the impossible last year, seamlessly moving from Honda to Yamaha and allowing Rossi to take yet another MotoGP title.

The uncompromising Burgess never dwells on the past and is looking for more of the same with Yamaha's revised '05 Ml.

Green has a title to defend "after-TYiny Kanaan and Dan Wheldon, above,finished— first and second in the 2004 IR L'frrdyGatLSeries^ With all that in the tro~phy case, the only thing left to do -rrowdsLqj;epeat-and win the Indy 500.

§

17. Tim Schenken

16. Garth

Race Director, V8 Supercar Championship Series

Driver, Kelly Motorsport

At times in 2004, Schenken was in the eye of a storm and controversy raged around him. At 61, he has massive experience to deal with the pressures of one of the toughest jobs in the business.

15. James Courtney Driver, Toyota GT Now firmly established at Toyota's number one in its Japanese GT program - after several V8 Supercar offers Courtney becomes a focal point in its international racing program.

His dreams of Formula One championships did not work out and may be on hold, at least for now, but James has proven that there is life to be had in motor racing after open-wheelers.

14. Kevin Kaikhoven Co-owner, OWRS, Cosworth, Pi Research and PKV Racing Kaikhoven and his partners have taken Champ Car off life support to make it a viable series again within two years. It is not out of the woods yet but the direction is positive, while Kalkhoven's involvements in Cosworth and Pi give him global influence in the sport.

12 January 2005

Since 1998, Tander has driven only for Garry Rogers Motorsport but now moves to what was Kmart Racing.

Sometimes moves Jike that can rejuvenate a career; sometimes, things go the other way. Garth versus Rick will be some battle as Tander tries to reclaim him championship-challenging form of 2000. '?

S'

13. Ryan Briscoe Driver, Target Chip Ganassi Racing After two years on FI's doorstep, Briscoe will walk to a different beat and take on the IRL IndyCar Championship this season.

Racing on ovals will represent a challenge for a rookie, not to mention having the highly-rated and experienced Scott Dixon and Darren Manning as team mates. Toyota was out gunned last season by Honda and Briscoe's signing is part of trying to address that problem.

s 35

ii.KeesWeel TO. Tony Cochrane Owner, PWR Racing

Chairman, AVESCO

While HRT has gone in one direction, PWR has gone in the other. In two years Weel has taken PWR Racing from a one-car, mid-grid Ford team to Holden's number one V8 Supercar outfit. Along with that, he acquired Dencar and is well established as one of the sport's key suppliers.

The arrival of a title-hungry Greg Murphy and a key sponsor means that many expect nothing less than a title from the enlarged Dandenong team.

Never far from the action (or the microphones), TC continues to rule the roost in the biggest show in the country. So far, Cochrane has done just about everything that he said he would do when he came in seven years ago. So, what's next?

9. Will Power Driver, World Series by Renault?

Skaife Owner/Driver, Holden Racing Team Two tough years in 2003 and '04 - but Skaife enters 2005 with a new car and a challenge-to restore HRT to being, at the very least, Holden's best V8 Supercar team - and all this has to happen within a revised framework at Holden Motor Sport.

No-one disputes his speed and dedication but the off track stuff needs to be sorted if we are to see Skaifey back to his best behind the wheel.

At first glance, it might seem an odd choice to include someone who, at time of writing, has not yet finalised his 2005 program.

Assuming it all comes together though,the gutsy Queenslander looks like being the only Australian left seriously pursuing his FI dreams in Europe during 2005. The former British F3 contender impressed onlookers when he tested a F3000 and Minardi FI car in Italy last year, but it was a World Series by Renault test with Draco Racing that saw Power really leave his mark.

Power remains tight-lipped about his options for now, but the World Series by Renault is shaping up as one of the strongest development categories for 2005 - not least because it shares the bill with some European Grands Prix.

Perhaps Mark Webber won't be the only Australian navigating his way around Monaco in May ...

8. Rick Kelly Driver, Keiiy Motorsport Rick turns 22 next week and already has two Bathurst 1000 wins under his skinny belt.

The best-performed of V8 Supercar's new generation, Kelly needs to step up to be his team's new lead driver, especially with the

arrival in his garage of Garth Tander.

The team seems to have its dramas at some tracks, notably Eastern Creek, but Rick has shown so far that he can meet the challenges put in front of him.

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30 AUSSIES

7. Jason Bright n Driver, Ford Performance Racing Owner, Britek Motorsport

X

«

Drive for one Ford team and own another? It seems an unusual brief, particularly after jumping the fence from Holden in the off-season. Brighty has considerable determination and may well be the man to carry Ford's V8 Supercar torch on two levels.

Ambrose has become the benchmark driver of V8 Supercar racing. He might have had some embarrassing moments in 2004 but Ambrose's ability to get amazing and consistent speed from the Pirtek Barra - and make so

6. Chris Dyer Engineer, Scuderia Ferrari Having the best driver in the world in your car can be a double-edged sword; Michael Schumacher can do amazing things but that also means that any little mistake is amplified in front of the whole planet.

Bendigo-born Dyer is one pf Ferrari's new guard and that leaves him well-placed in the future plans of the Prancing Horse.

Could he get on the podium more often than Mark Webber?

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As raced at Bathurst. Has recorded main-game times at most tracks and fast enough to win in 2005. Engine always maintained by SBR. Includes spares POA Also Available with above, or separately: 96 Iveco Mt3500 Prime Mover. 830km with just 30km since full dealer engine rebuild. Full aero kit, alloy steers and chrome drives + Three Car Transporter. New white paint. $140k.

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SPEED FX RACING

Driver, Stone Brothers Racing

0412 052489

few driving mistakes in the process - means that many are looking for a hat-trick from the Tasmanian.

Three in a row is never easy but Ambrose is at the top of his career, so don'ttake any bets against him?

4. Sam Michael Technical Director, WilliamsFI In the last two years, Williams has rolled out a bad car and worked hard to turn it into a winner. Michael's brief is to avoid the first step and go straight to the second.

Sam is the most visible face of the new generation at one of the most successful FI teams in history. His job is to take the squad back to the future.

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And all them Foreigners

3. Craig Lo

LOCAL motor racing is about more than just Aussies so we thought we'd better include some foreigners in the list.

Sure, they talk funny, but they have a role to play.

The men to watch are: Greg Murphy(NZ) Driver, PWR Racing Murf left what was Kmart Racing to have a better shot at wirming the title. Bathurst wins are fine (and he has four of them)but now he wants to step up.

Ross and Jim Stone(NZ) Stone Brothers Racing Do we need to say anything? Even when they were battlers, the Stones had one of the teams to beat. Now, with the bad old days a distant memory, they have the best team in the business.

Jason Richards(NZ) Driver, Tasman Motorsport It seems odd to include a V8 Supercar driver yet to win a race but the pedigree of Tasman means that plenty will be watching the #3 Commodore this year.

Paul Cruickshank (NZ) Owner, Paul Cruickshank Racing After success in Nations Cup, Cmickshank heads to the V8 Development series this year with driver Warren Luff. With ambitions to go to The Show in the future, this could be the start of something big.

Roland Dane,Peter Butterly, Ian Harrison and Derek Warwick (Ireland/UK) Co-owners, Triple 8 Race Engineering Triple 8's foreign legion of owners have all the ingredients of the cake in place. Now,it is just a matter of getting the temperature right- isn't it?

Jim Richards(NZ) Driver, almost everything No matter what he races and where, the Gentleman is one of the class acts in local motorsport. He lost the Carrera Cup title and at Targa Tasmania last year - what price double revenge for Richo Sr in '05?

David Flint and John Russell(UK) Principal and Technical Director, Ford Performance Racing FPR has been in the doghouse for two years but with new drivers and engines, maybe the team's management will have something to smile about now.

38

2. Chris Atkinson Driver, Subaru World Rally Team

Not quite the rags-to-riches fairytale you see in Hollywood movies - they do not exist in this sport - but the Chris Atkinson Story is about as close as it gets.

There are three keys to works Subaru WRC cars and now an Aussie has one of them. Atko finds himself in great company, with former world champ Fetter Solberg and French tarmac jet Stephane Sarrazin to learn from and challenge.

He is yet to do his first test with the team so do not expect results too early. But after showing undoubted speed, Chris is playing with the heavy hitters now.

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30 AUSSIES

wndes

1. Mark Webber

Driver, Betta Electrical Racing

Ambrose might have the recent titles and the trophies but Lowndes is the driver who still rules the hearts and minds of V8 Supercar fans.

All you have to do is watch the crowd in any paddock to see the popularity that The Kid still maintains, and the sponsorship and merchandising opportunities made him Triple 8's targeted 'Plan A' driver.

But after four years in the doldrums with Ford, it is time for Lowndes to get back to the business of winning races and, maybe, titles.

Anything that even looks like an excuse this time is not going to cut it.

Driver, WilliamsFI

On paper, Mark Webber is the most modestly-credentialled Williams driver in two decades. His best FI result is still his debut fifth place for Minardi at Albert Park in 2002.

But that does not tell the story. It’s not the dedication, the racecraft, the fitness or the qualifying speed that twice dragged a Jaguar into the top three grid positions of a GP. All that stuff counts - but that is not the Aticket on Webber.

It's this; when he joins a GP team, it gets better. When he leaves, it gets worse. If Webber does at Williams what he did at Minardi and Jaguar, and there is no reason to expect he won't, he will get podiums and wins several wins. That could put him in contention for the World Drivers' Championship - and it has been two dozen years since we could say that.

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12 January 2005

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More than 11 years after first driving a V8 Supercar, Cameron McConville-is preparing to lead a two-car team for the first time.

He spoke to MARK GLENDENNING about Garth, the future, and that day at Winton....

MOTORSPORT NEWS: You've now got a year under your belt with a reasonably wellresourced team. Did the jump in performance match up to what you had expected?

CAMERON McCONVILLE: Certainly during the second half of the year, it did. Straight away I was impressed by the resources - the number of staff, the infrastructure, stuff like the chassis jig and engine dyno room, all things I hadn't even seen beoause Lansvale outsourced both of those things.

But the early results probably didn't equate to the resources.

So if anything, I was disappointed in our performance to start with. But we made a few changes internally, and I got on top of driving the car, which was quite different to drive to the VX, and particularly how they set the car up at that point.

Coming in, I was under no illusions that I was going to win races, even though we won one - we were a little bit fortunate there.

But I still thought that we would be a genuine top 10 straight out. And I wasn't. I was far from it. It wasn't until about round six that we started to get some results that reflected the infrastructure of the team.

40

MN: How badly did the two shunts at Adelaide set the team back?

CMcC; For me, two race meetings. For Garth, probably not so much. He had a third in the next round, but he was lucky that it was bucketing rain. He struggled in qualifying, like I did.

And we also had a test day planned which I, after Adelaide, needed at that point to get on top of things a bit more. So we lost a test day, and for me I reckon it was two rounds worth of languishing towards the end of the field, having the car not quite right.

So it certainly didn't help things, that's for sure.

MN: After spending a few years commuting to Sydney, how different was it driving for a team that was based locally?

CMcC: That was the most refreshing thing, probably-just being able to drive 25 minutes from home and be at the workshop.

And when you're riding your bike in the morning and you think of something, you can go in and be in there mid-morning and discuss it, or pass it on.

When I first started with Trevor (Ashby) and Steve (Reed), I had an agreement to be up

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there in Sydney for that year, but ... my family was in Melbourne, and Melbourne was home. So I commuted for the last two years. But it certainly wasn't the best scenario.

So being back in Melbourne, and then being with a Melbourne team, was the most advantageous thing. Even though the Melbourne weather is absolutely terrible, which l means at the moment I'm not getting much riding in. I'd love to live in Queensland, but it's not practical when the team is in Melbourne. And I think that is a big thing.

sure I did that as much as I possibly could, just to bounce things off the guys.

And also, at first, to get to know everyone and build a bit of a rapport. So I was consciously aware of being in there and being seen.

MN: Have you become one of those guys who is in the workshop every week?

CMcC: Yeah, I'm in there every week. The guys probably chuckle that they don't see me much in the a.m., but I keep telling them that it's because I'm training! They think I get out of bed at 11 o'clock - as most guys do think of their drivers. But I'm probably in the workshop three days a week. And Garth was the same.

I'm already starting to go back.

At the moment it's probably only once a week, because we're only on a skeleton staff until next week. But all year I made

MN: What kind of changes?

CMcC: In the driving, I was braking quite a bit differently to Garth, which wasn't helping when we were correlating data.

So I tried to change my braking style. Which I've done now - when you look at our traces, they are pretty much identical, which definitely did help us get a consistent set-up with the cars.

As far as general changes, at Lansvale I was the only driver, so the focus was on me, and because I wasn’t in Sydney I'd come in and everything would be done.

Here, Garry has a philosophy

MN: How long did it take to get used to the team?

CMcC: Everything was around mid-year. It was a good five or six months of learning.

They did things very differently to Lansvale. I had to make some changes in how I drove the car a bit, and how I went about things.

motorsporinews

s: 5.-

that everyone contributes, and if I'm not dead on the floor after a race, I try to help the guys to pack up the pit, whereas before I was on a flight out of there.

Just little things like filling my cool vest and my drink bottle for every session is my responsibility, not my

a 'Garth culture' within GRM. Did you notice anything like that?

CMcC: Yeah, look, I think when I got in there, there was definitely a bit of a 'Garth culture'.

1 don't have too many issues with that, because Garth had been there the longest.

When I arrived at GRM,there was definitelv a bit of a Garth culture

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mechanic's responsibility. He is responsible for the car, and I do the other little things. And I think that helps. It's not much, filling your own drink bottle, but at least you feel like you are carrying your weight a little bit.

MN: Over the past few years, there has been a perception of 12 January 2005

Whenever you'd talk about something with the guys, they'd say, 'well. Garth did this', or, 'with Garth, we'd do that'. And that was mainly because he was the yardstick.

But Garth and I were friends beforehand, and became good friends during the year, so Garth certainly didn't have a Garth

AFl /mages

culture. Garth wasn't domineering in anything. He'd still share information, we'd talk about how the car was. If I asked him what gear he was using, he'd always tell me.

But the focus probably was more on Garth when I walked in the door because he was the known product.

As far as there being a one and a two, which people think in the paddock, I didn't see that so much. If we tried something, sure, we would generally try it on Garth's car, but if it worked it ended up on the #33 car.

My car was the oldest of the two - it was the first VY that they'd built. So the cars were a bit different in the chassis, but all the running gear and everything else was the same.

Whatever #34 got, #33 had access to as well. So there was certainly no problem there.

MN: If you hadn't been docked 72 points after NZ, you'd actually have finished the year ahead of Garth.

CMcC: Yeah, and that's because Garth had a fairly ordinary last four or five rounds - with the odd mechanical thing, in fairness to Garth.

The 72 points was a bit of a bummer, and I suppose it was

just a bit of an oversight, a mistake. But at the time, I was nowhere in the championship and I said to the guys, 'don't worry about it, I'm 970th in the points, it doesn't matter anyway.

It's not as if I'm going to be in the top 10'.

And then sure enough, we weren't far out of the top 10 at the end of the year. But in Perth I had an engine problem in one race where I was running in the top six, so that sort of hurt us.

Then again, at Eastern Creek I had a shocker and finished 28th.

Even so, 11th and 13th, for the team, even though we weren't in the top 10, to have both cars close is a good thing.

When you look at a lot of two cars teams, there is often one guy up there and the other guy can be a fair way back. So we were fairly consistent, at least.

MN: What was the target at the start of the year?

CMcC: The target was to finish the championship in the top 10.

I said loosely top 10 or 12, because I know how hard the top 10 is. Having said that, I always tend to try to understate and over-dellver. continued on page 44 41

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continued from page 41 It would have been nice to say that 1 was going to be in the top five straight out, but I knew that was unrealistic.

I'm sure that was Garth's plan, having the continuity, to look in the top six. But mine was the top 12 in the championship, get the first year under the belt, and then try to press on in 2005.

MN: Did having PROCAR fall over help the team at all by taking the Monaro program out of the equation?

CMcC: No, 1 don't think so. We only really had two guys on the car. From what I can tell, I couldn't see it was detracting too much because the level of competition, with all due respect, wasn't that high. So Garry wasn't spending a lot of resources on it relative to what we needed to do to get the Monaro to the track. We didn't have six guys on it full-time.

I think it was more disappointing for Nathan (Pretty), because he was going well and he deserved to have a crack at a championship.

But this year, 1 didn't see it as a distraction. Maybe the two 24 Hour races would have taken a bit of focus off. Those races alone needed 25 people. Seeing the resources needed for '02 and '03, for those two races, I would say that it would have had some effect on the Supercar program if it wasn't structured properly.

Garry is pretty good at structuring the set-up of the workshop floor and that sort of thing, so last year it wasn't a noticeable problem at all.

MN: You can look back at your first V8 Supercar win from a distance of a few months now.

Has Winton changed anything?

€> ^ A

.1 44

oo l

CMcC: Actually, the other day I watched those last few laps again! I don't know why - I must be getting itchy feet in the off season.

MN: How many times have you watched it?

CMcC; I actually haven't watched the full race. I've watched the last 20 laps twice.

MN: Just fast-forward to the good bit...

CMcC: Just the bits that counted! Yeah, it feels good to have a win on the board.

I watched Eastern Creek the other day, and it had a list of round winners, and seeing my name there was a bit of a buzz because there were not a lot of round winners in 2004.

I suppose it was a lucky day. I don't go around saying,'we won, and I led from start to finish'. I was a little bit lucky.

But I was probably most happy with myself for having a go. It would have been easy to roll off the throttle and sit behind him and finish second - which still would have been the highlight of the year.

But deep down I am quite happy that 1 did have the lunge, and at least proved that I am

going to race as much as anyone.

I mean, Ambrose did that move on Skaife (in Darwin), and afterwards he said, Tm a racer'.

And it's like, well, it's not as if any of us aren't. We're all in there, paid to do the same job, and I'm in there racing just as hard as he is, or anyone else.

But I'd love to win some more, and be on the podium more legitimately. To do that, I know we have to qualify a lot better this year. Last year, finishing sixth and fifth and all of that, I had qualified 22nd.

So if I can qualify 10 spots or so further forward, which I really want to work on over the summer with the guys, that's what we need to do to be on the podium or win. I'm not going to win from 20th on the grid.

MN: Was the move on Rick a split-second thing? It looked so calculated.

CMcC: It was a bit of both, to be honest. I saw the green flag the lap before, but about five laps before that, that was a place where I had caught him under brakes.

My car was quite strong under brakes there, and towards the end of the race the car was really good. We'd had a test day

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So during that test day, we spent a lot of time trying to get it to be strong under brakes at the end of that straight, because 1 was braking inconsistently, occasionally locking a tyre or whatever.

We fixed that, we made some changes to the car over that weekend, and it was really strong under brakes there.

I noticed that I was catching him, and then on the last lap I seemed to be the closest that I had been the whole race - it just happened to be during the last lap that he came back to me a bit more.

I knew that the only place I could get him would be there, because that was the only place that I would be strong enough.

So I had filed that in the memory bank, that if I was close enough I should have a look in there, but that I also had to be careful not to be under him too early. At the same time, when I

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went into that corner, 1 had already made the decision not to, because I thought I was too far back. He had actually got a good run out of the left-hander, and I thought, 'oh. I'm too far back'.

I just grabbed fifth, as you momentarily do down there.

Then, when I saw the brake lights on, the eyes lit up and I thought, 'no way'.

So I stayed on it a bit longer and went in there anyway. It was a gamble, because I knew there was a green flag, but I didn't know how far in I was.

But when I saw the brake lights come on, it was just like a little button at the back of the head went 'GO!'. So I just put the foot down and took off.

When Rick was so emotional about it, I thought, 'he's obviously so determined that I passed him under yellows that maybe 1 did'. But I had seen it the lap before, and was thinking, 'how could it be yellow?'

Obviously he hadn't seen it, or he had assumed that the second flag point was still yellow. It took the shine off the win a little bit.

So there was some premeditation, and then I just played it by ear and as it turned out there was a gap, so at the last minute 1 decided to go.

I

he was probably embarrassed, and maybe tried to cover up that he'd made a mistake.

But I reckon Rick has learned a few things this year, and that is probably one of them.

He's a good bloke, so I actually "I actually felt for him felt for him after the race. But n I it's not often that I have been in after the race that position, to challenge for a - McConviUe reflecting on his win, so if there was a hole I'd late move on Rick Kelly at probably go in there with Winton everything crossed up and a bushfire off both tyres to get in there! So he knows that now.

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MN: I think that at that point immediately after the race, Rick desperately didn't want to believe that the last flag was green.

CMcC: No. I know that if I had have gone back to the pit after leading the last 15 laps of a race, my team boss would have said, 'what the hell were you not shutting the door for?' So I think

MN: You've got a bit of extra responsibility this year, in that you have Andy Jones coming on board who will presumably be looking to learn from you.

CMcC: Yeah, and that's fine. I don't have a problem with that, and I am looking forward to working with him.

The problem on the race weekends was that Garth and I would look at each other's data, but you just don't get a lot of time. I found that I would look at most of it back at the workshop.

We need to structure our time management at the track so that

we've got more time to look over those sorts of things.

But we definitely have an open forum between the two drivers and the two cars. That won't change. It will just be a different bloke that I'm doing it with.

MN; Finishing up, you were shooting at 10-12 last year.

What's the target in 2005?

CMcC: This year, it is the top six in the championship. Maybe I'm being a little bit cockier, so hopefully I don't under-deliver.

But I think that, looking at the results, if we can finish where I finished the last five rounds, then the top six in the championship is possible.

And I'd like to think that the continuity will help. A lot of guys are moving around, and it might take them a while to settle in.

Having the continuity of the same team, a new car ... and I really enjoyed my racing over the past six or so months. Probably more so than ever.

So I am really champing at the bit to go to the Grand Prix and get back into it.

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300 and Counting!

This is Motopspopt News'300th issue!'

Editop PHiL BRANAGAN takes a nestaigic ioek at seme ef metopspopt's(and the magazine's) hig moments aieng the way J

H

OLY Cow, we are 300!

With this issue, Motorsport News racks up its 300th notch in the belt.

It seems a long time since we started in 1993(and it is!) but we have made it all this way in a sport that can change very quickly.

The last 100 issues of MNews have seen a lot of things change - but a lot has also stayed the same. Since 2001, only one bloke has managed to lift with World Drivers' Championship, Michael Schumacher. Only two, Mark Skaife and Marcos Ambrose, have been V8 Supercar champions and only the Holden Racing Team and Kmart Racing have won the Bathurst 1000. Le Mans has seen one man, Tom Kristensen, win four of his six races, with various partners. Subaru has dominated the Australian Rally Championship, with titles for

Possum Bourne and Cody Crocker.

But is has also been a period of change. A look back at issue #200 is fascinating, with the lead story being the first drive in a Ford V8 Supercar by Craig Lowndes. Straight after his New Year defection to Ford, the three time ATCC winner drove an exStone Brothers car at Winton and said "there's no doubt we will get to the front - it's just a matter of when."

Three teams and four years later, much the same can be said now.

Adelaide's Race of a Thousand Years bit the dust. Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona, Network 10 was said to be sniffing around Formula One and there were news stories about FI teams named Arrows and Prost.

Internationally, Mark Webber was testing for his new F3000 team Super Nova, Michelin was

about to return to Formula One and take on Bridgestone and a new bloke named Paul Stoddart was racing against the clock so that the team he had just bought, Minardi, would make it to Albert Park in time for the first race.

Our feature chat was with Greg Murphy, who had shown up at our Christmas bash a few weeks earlier devastated by the news that Gibson Motorsport was going with Lowndes to Ford and that he was out of a drive.

Fortunately, Kmart kept its faith in the NZer and slotted its support to his new ride with TWR's new Kmart Racing Team.

One of the questions asked by Aaron Noonan (now the team's PR man) was how HRT and KRT would maintain their separate identities, a notion that TEGA ponders to this day.

During some of the ensuing issues, there have been some . huge stories. Of course, Webber

and Stoddy started to walk in synch at the end of that year and Mark found himself in the black beast at Albert Park 12 months later. History shows what happened and there was not a dry eye in the house when the two shared an impromptu (and unofficial) podium moment after the race.

The Lowndes story had been one of the biggest of the year and, because of it and the timing of Ford's news embargo, MNews 196 was deliberately delayed by a day to run the news first. We had been on the inside of the deal for some time, and one of the moments I will always remember was showing up at the official Ford photo shoot a few minutes before Lowndes and Fred Gibson arrived, armed with their suitable Ford corporate clobber. continued on page 48

-

. :ssTrni ^VWUV ?'

m Harry Wins: Heinz-Harald Frentzen took bis first GP win in time for MN #100, at the same time as Mark Webber was winning in Formula 3. motorsport news 46

Changing hues: Ford fans are still waiting for Lowndes to emulate his successes at Holden, right, though he showed speed at FPR, above, which emerged from the various incarnations of Glenn Seton Racing, below.

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Melbourne v Adelaide: Stoddy and Webber must love Melbourne after I 2002, left, but Adelaide seems to have coped with no Sportscar race, above.

12 January 2005

«

continued from page 46

I

The odd thing was that Gibbo had forgotten to pass on that I was conning and, for a while, the photographer's efforts to appear calm and 'nothing is going on' normal were reminiscent of some of John Cleese's finest work. Priceless.

Of course, at the end of the year Lowndes hopped from Gibson Motorsport to 00 Motorsport (or rather the team hopped with him on board) before the money ran out and so did Craig - to the highly-touted Ford Performance Racing. That team grew out of what had been Glenn Seton Racing; the day that change happened was the day before the last MNews of 2002 hit the stands. With no issue in which to run any news for three weeks, I got home, the phone rang and I soon had to have a stiff drink and a sit down ...

Webber went to Jaguar and became a genuine star, Arrows and Prost expired and TWR went broke, putting its V8 Supercar teams in peril. Now, Dale Earnhardt Jr has become the pin-up driver of many NASCAR fans.

F we wind the clock back further, to Issue #100 (9 May 1997) it is just as interesting.

This was one of those issues.

The centre poster celebrated the alliance between Konica, Tony Longhurst and Steve Ellery. That had been booked and planned well in advance, which was just as well because the Page 3 lead was how the two drivers had come to blows on the track (and almost off it) at Symmons Plains and ended their partnership with immediate effect. Ooopps, In Formula One, Heinz-Harald Frentzen scored his maiden GP win at Imola and, finally, looked to be a driver capable of taking the fight to what would be the force of Schumacher and Ferrari.

Eight years and a bunch of drivers later, Williams might finally have got that part right.

Schumacher was second, the first time Germans had finished 1-2 in a GP. Great news came from the latest round of the Brit F3 chase, with Webber taking what would turn out to be his only win. The good news came tempered with some bad (which, we hope you will understand, we kept quiet) that his budget was starting to show signs of strain and that he was looking for more support.

Soon, David Campese stepped in (God bless ya, Campo) and by 48

One more and we're a Boy Band: That's Garth Tander leading Marcos Ambrose in Formula Ford in 1997, above, while a fresb-faced Todd Kelly joins them after the final round of the series at Oran Park, left.

No longer with us: The death of Dale Earnhardt, below left, stays with many in the sport. about 10 at the time, wrote the report (again).

o

August, Mercedes-Benz's Norbert Flaug was on the phone to Webber.

Flow did it feel to win in FI and F3? Our Frentzen and Webber columns spilled the beans.

In F3000, Lowndes was testing at Silverstone but it was all a bit of a struggle in those early days. The good news for his RSM Marko team was that his team-mate was fastest though we could have sworn at the time his name was Jose Luis Montoya. Sorry about that, Juan.

Locally, it was a bonanza issue. V8 Supercars had two races back-to-back so we carried all the latest from Sandown and a wet Symmons Plains. Seton ruled Sandown while, in Tassie, Murf took his first V8 Supercar round win with FIRT. That race also saw Jason Bright race a V8 Supercar for the first time, as Steven Richards had other

duties in the Lakeside Super Touring round on the same weekend. Paul Morris and Geoff Brabham were dominant in Queensland, while Richo had two DNFs. The support races at Sandown made particularly interesting reading. Bright faced his biggest challenge since starting in Formula Flolden from Jason Bargwanna, a preview of the showdown that would determine which Jason would win the title at Mallala (in acrimonious circumstances) some months later.

In the Formula Ford races, there were plenty of fresh faces.

Rookie beanpole Garth Tander ruled the roost, just holding out Todd Kelly in the second race to score a double. Marcos Ambrose took two thirds while Greg Ritter and Adam Macrow finished down the order.

Noonan, who must have been

ne thing that has been apparent since Day 1 at MNews is that hard work can get any job done, not matter how tough it seems at the time.

Since Day 1, we have had staffers and contributors who. quite simply, step up three gears and let their talent show when it comes time to perform. Without their input, it would be impossible to get the magazine done, so to all of you past and present, you have our sincerest thanks.

Also prominent from the first issue has been the support of the motorsport business, which has been right behind the magazine in terms of the advertising, as well as those invaluable late-night chats to discuss what is really happening in the sport.

Some time ago, an overseas associate asked me what my ideal job would be and where I wanted to be in five years' time.

A quick flick through this issue answers his question; we have a preview of Ferrari's 2005 GP car and a rundown on the latest in Formula Vee racing, Drag Racing from Willowbank and the action in Speedway's World Series. The latest news from V8 Supercars, conversations with the players in the sport and a magazine full of great reading. At Motorsport News, it all counts.

An ideal job? What, and give up all this?

motorsport news

IWINEWS IN ’S3

A Blastfrom itie Past The maiden issue ofMotorsport News emerged from hard work and early 1990s technology. Only the second part has changed...

I

T was the best of times,it was the worst of times.

I know, Charles Dicken has used that line already - but getting Issue 1 of Motorsport News on the newsstands in 1993 was a battle

against time, humanity, the elements and technology.

The world was a different place back then. The main system of access and transit for copy and photographs was still Australia Post. Mostly, people wrote on their own PCs and either sent us the copy or faxed it (wow!)to the South Melbourne office. Some of the smarties sent floppy discs in envelopes, which made life a hell of a lot easier. Insert disc, copy text, edit, put on page. It seemed like rocket science at its best.

Photos? It was still all about slides

After every event, photographers send images via email - pretty much all of them shoot digital now. If we need fill-in pics, we have our own digital cameras with us at the tracks.

Audio tape? Mr Lambden still clings to his cassette recorder but the rest of us have MiniDiscs. Modern laptops mean we can write at the tracks or on planes or, better yet, BigPond's media centre allows us to punch out the words at the tracks and email them to the office within hours of the chequered flag before a dash to the carpark or the airport.

So, we got better, and faster.

MNews changed in mid-2000 to a smaller, full-colour magazine format. Then we had our biggest challenge; to get the magazine out

Times change: Ed Phil Branagan and Asst Ed Mark Clendenning enjoy the BigPond Media centre, above, while even Greg Murphy, above, got roped in to the office one dark day. Below, the MNews team enjoys an outing in 2002(the 'red-eye'is the camera - not the drinks); clockwise from left.

Ad Manager Brendon Sheridan, Aaron Noonan (now Holden PR), Clendenning, Publisher Chris Lambden, Branagan, Art Director Viv Brumby and Mark Webber (whatever happened to him?)

or prints. A flatbed scanner, which cost a fortune, and the Nikon film scanner, which cost two fortunes, were used all the time for scanning and sizing images - which, do not forget, were largely in black and white. More than once, there was an anxious wait for someone to arrive with the gun pic - and if they were late, you had to leave messages on their answering machines or hope that they were one of the technophiles with one of them new mobile phones.

Much of the international stuff was digital, and meant that we had to dial-up an agency in the UK or USA to download a pic, which allowed enough time to go and do something else.

How did it happen? Hard work.

For Issue #1, people slept on camp beds in the office, snatching 40 winks between marathon sessions in front of the computers. Meals were ferried in by friends and loved ones and eaten with one hand while typing with the other. Every minute counted.

The first issue has more than its share of errors, mainly due to humans getting used to Apple Macs, QuarkExpress, Photoshop or some of the other toys in play at the time.

There were some story overlaps and some furry-looking pics but out came MNews number 1 on 15 July 1993.

And then, we started on Issue #2 ...

In made 2005,a computer massive difference. technology Inhas the old days, only five percent of images were digital. Now,they are virtually all digital and accessed via high speed cable internet. We can punch up a request for a pic, identify the one we like, download, size and adjust it and put it on a page in under two minutes. It used to take an hour.

12 January 2005

on one day earlier - on Wednesdays.

That may not sound like a huge deal but it meant moving the production deadline from Tuesday night to Monday. We have as little as 28 hours after a V8 Supercar race - or 15 after a Grand Prix or Champ Car race - to get it all done. Australia's time zone usually works against us but we still manage to get MNews on sale 34 hours before Aiitosport does in the UK. And our recipe stays the same; what we strive for is to present upto-date news and features on the big issues of the sport. Technology has changed but that goal never has.

Getting it done next week is never good enough for us.

The cover price of Issue 1 was $3.25. Now,it is $5.95 - and a chunk of that goes in GST. Technically Motorsport News is better than it ever was - and 24 hours faster. We hope we give good value.

And we are still getting better.

We hope.

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4 The defending Champions wiii not race dehut their definitive 2005 car until round four of the championship, hut Technical Editor PAOLO FILISETTI has some Maranello spies and a few hints as to what we will see...

T

HE most-awaited new car for 2005 will be the Ferrari. While FI fans and the media will be keen to see it so, in particular, will Ferrari's rivals. Will there be a 'secret weapon' element to the new car? For that, we will have to wait and see.

The new car - most iikeiy designated simply the F2005 - is not expected to debut until the first of the European races, round four of the championship, at San Marino, in April.

2005's big challenge comes in the aerodynamic area, where concerted efforts to reduce downforce have produced an immediate reduction of more than 20 percent of the downforce generated by the 50

cars - until the designers set to work to reclaim it as the 2005 cars evolve.

The front wing must be raised by 50mm, heavily affecting its efficiency, while the rear wing endplates are extended only to the level of the rear axle.

Furthermore, there must now be a 10cm gap between the front of the rear wheels and any bodywork - so the stepped bottom can't be so close, thus reducing the aerodynamic 'seal' that was an essential element of the previous rear-end aerodynamic concept.

Initial word from within Maranello is that the F2005 won't be a revolution, but the performance will be in the minute detail of the design - the

most closely-guarded secrets.

With the wing being raised 50mm (1), it is likely that the whole nose cone will be commensurately higher (2) to maintain its relationship with the wing profile and continue to manage the air flow directed to the bottom of the car.

The barge-board concept will be redesigned around that frontend change, and remains crucial to the front end aero efficiency and the overall airflow management.

Going further to the rear, the sidepods are expected to be slightly shorter and will probably lose the distinctive air vent gills that were a feature on the past couple of Feraris.

As mentioned above, the

bodywork around the rear wheels will be shorter and further from the wheels, by regulation.

Indeed, we can expect to now be able to see the side of the transmission (4), which will no longer be covered. The stepped undertray will also be shorter, thanks to the new restriction.

The rear wing is expected to feature extended endplates (5) which will reach the rear axle.

However, the rearmost top corner will feature some form of cutaway, to reduce the drag induced by the physically greater size of the endplates.

Weight distribution of the whole car will be significantly affected by a reduction in

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This will be achieved by a slightly smaller fuel tank (Ferrari never ran very 'long' in 2004 anyway!). This weight distribution adjustment is primarily a result of the change in tyre regulations for 2005 and the need to approach tyre strategy significantly differently.

While Bridgestone has been working on a whole new range of constructions, in particular, to address the new one-tyre-perrace rule, it seems that Ferrari's part of the technical response will be to keep weight and fuel loads to a minimum to help in preserving the rubber.

Expect a minimum of two stops in each race.

Overall then, expect the 2005 Ferrari to be visibly different to the F2004, but not revolutionary in its concept. After all, why change a winning formula?

Barge-board design remains signidcant, and crucial to controlling the element of airflow from the front of the car that needs to be moved out and around the sides of the car.

The F2005 will feature a complete rethink in this area.

Over page: Toyota first to launch new car

12 January 2005

51

Toyota:First offthe bl Toyota, like most well-budgeted FI teams, started on its 2005 chalerigpr|^ mid-2004 and hopes that bein§1ii|i|^ 'on-track' with a car designed^^Hpl much-changed 2005 regs.wjiiPiaftp dividends. .

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aerodynamic downforce - with changes to the front wing, rear wing and diffuser the most noteworthy - have provided the primary challnge to Toyota's design team,along with the move to one set of tyres per race. , "To combat the aero changes we have placed a lot more resources into the windturmel area over the last year and I hope that the TF105 will represent the fruits of our labours," reports Technical Director (Chassis) Mike Gascoyne.

"Initially, we lost around 25 percent downforce with the new aero regulations, but we are striving to reduce this.

"In the chassis design office, almost immediately after the TF104 was launched, we opted to appoint two project groups, one focusing on the development of the TF104, latterly the TF104B, and the other concentrating on the TF105, headed up by Chief Designer Gustav Brunner.

"We took the decision to stop development of the TF104B mid-year and abandon our original plan to continue the progress right to the season finale in Brazil, in order to concentrate on 2005. Although this was detrimental to us at the time, I

52

now feel that we are in a much stronger position compared to our rivals, given the number of regulation changes that we have had to take into consideration for 2005."

The chassis and suspension concept was thus at the forefront of Toyota's mind from midway through 2004 as the team began to implement the new one-race tyre rule and take into consideration all potential strategies that could come into play.

A great deal of work has also gone into electronic systems to optimise the tyre life.

An all-new engine will power the TF105: "We have enjoyed quite a smooth transition to the new engine rules," says engine technical director Luca Marmorini."We started at a very early stage to develop an engine that was increasingly reliable. A hybrid version of the RVX-05 with 2004specification fixation points was fired up on the dyno in July 2004, giving us ample time for fine-tuning and further development before its first run with the 2005 specification fixation points in the TF105."

And guess what?

"We will start the 2005 season with the same level of horsepower as we ended 2004, but with double the life expectancy..."

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Forward Planning

Renault's FI boss Flavio Briatore heads a teann nnaking progress in Grand Prix racing. The always-quotable Italian spoke to ADAM COOPER

MOTORSPORT NEWS: You finished third in the championship last season despite some problems in the last part of the year. What's your overall verdict on where you stand now?

FLAVIO BRIATORE; We had the objective in the beginning of the season to finish third, and we finished third. This was not so easy. BAR was really a surprise for everybody, and they did a good job, especially in the last part of the season. They improved a lot, and we did not.

But one of the reasons was that we spent a lot of energy already on the 2005 car. In the middle of the season, we knew we were in the first three anyway. In the beginning of this season, we'll see whether we were right or wrong. In 2003, the objective was to be fourth; last year it was third, close to the top teams. The top teams at the time were McLaren and Williams, and we are in front of them now. We never expected to be second.

In the beginning BAR had engine problems and the consistency was not there. But

s 1 s

54

in the second part they did a very good job and they got the results.

MN: You had a very different engine In 2004 compared to the year before. Are you pleased that you were competitive with relative little development behind It? FB: At the beginning of the season when the company, Renault, made the objective of third, I was really, really worried. I thought it was a little ambitious with a new engine. We started very late. I don't know, it depends how you see the bottle - half empty or half full - but I think our bottle is more half full than half empty!

MN: Does the team know why the car was so difficult to drive in 2004?

FB: We changed the engine, and we knew that it was very high, and the weight was not like everybody else. The car was difficult to drive, much more difficult than the car of 2003. It was kind of a transition year, because we arrived with a new engine, and we were looking at

what we could do to be competitive in 2005. I think both sides, Viry and Enstone, we are at full throttle to present a competitive car in 2005. This again we will see in Melbourne.

MN: You always say that It's not about one person, but you did lose Mike Gascoyne ...

FB: Mike is at Toyota, that's it.

Listen, it's a very young team.

We really started in 2001, and I think a lot of people forget that.

We started with a new concept of engine, and we made progress for two years. Losing two years in FI is very, very tough. It picked up, and we finished third. Catching Ferrari was impossible, and behind us we had Williams, McLaren, Jaguar and Toyota.

MN: Do you know what went wrong with Jarno Trulli in the second half of the year?

FB: I still don't understand what happened. The car was exactly the same.

What bothered me most was the allegation of Jarno that we gave a better car to Fernando.

The car was exactly the same.

It’s much more difficult to do different cars than make the same car in FI I This was really, really disappointing for the mechanics, for everybody. The people in FI work very hard, and we need to respect the job that people are doing.

When people read about Jarno complaining about the car, or that .the car was different, people who stay up until 2am or 3am to make their best effort, and these people make £25-30,000 a year, it hurts. Not respecting the employees is wrong. It's wrong when you start criticising the engineers and everybody for having different cars. We had not one reason to do it.

MN: Do you regret taking [Jacques] Vllleneuve now?

FB: We made a decision to change. Logically we had not so many choices. We had the choice to put in the test driver, or

Jacques. We decided for Jacques. Whether it's wrong or right, we'll never have the proof.

MN: Looking back, could you have handled Jarno differently? He's the kind of guy who needs support...

FB: Jarno had not only support from me, but from everybody, he was completely supported by the team. I think he changed. I don't know why. He changed in the relationship with the team, which is not correct.

I was fighting a lot for Jarno. I took Jarno from Prost to Jordan ... he knows that. It really was not that easy putting him with Prost, it was not easy putting him with Eddie [Jordan]. Then we put him in Renault. Basically he wanted to stay with Eddie at one point, and we were fighting to put him in Renault. I think I've done a lot for him.

MN: What Is your relationship with Jarno like now?

FB; No problem. We were friends before. You know, friendship is nothing to do with working together or not. The job is a job, and after, friendship is different. 1 can go out for dinner with him or whatever. I don't have any, any problem with Jarno as a human being. Jarno as a driver, or for Flavio as a manager, it's a different situation.

But really, I don't have any problem with him.

MN: Is It true that you would have preferred to have Mark Webber?

FB: No. If 1 wanted Webber, I'd get Webber. We have a contract with Webber, you know. There was an agreement with Frank, and it was very correct with everybody. We had really open talks with Mark, with Fisico, with Frank. Everything was perfect, everybody is happy. Hopefully we'll still be happy this year!

MN: How good Is Glancarlo?

It's strange that you've rehlred someone you let go two years earlier... motorsportnews

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I FB: I didn't let him go. If you remember, the situation with Fisichella was quite simple. I had the possibility to have Fisichella and Jarno. The difference was a few million dollars at that time, and really I didn't see that Fisichella was worth more than Jarno. It wasn't Fisico, because he did a very good season with us, and we had a very, ven/ unreliable car. This was more a mistake of the management, not Fisico.

MIM; Is he a better driver now that he's got more experience?

FB: Fle's got more experience, sure. Maybe he now understands that this is the chance for him to show how quick he is. I think he is quick, and if he pushes really hard in training and everything, he will be a big surprise this year.

MN: Do you think it's good that he's got ideas about going to Ferrari and Williams out of his system?

FB: He's very excited to be here.

He was very pleased to come with us, and Mark was pleased to be with Williams. We were very pleased to have Fisico or Mark, it was no problem. I spoke to the engineers a little bit about the drivers, and after I gave my word to Frank.

MN: It looks like McLaren and Williams will be coming back up this year. How hard will it be for you to maintain your momentum?

FB: For the moment we don't know who's coming back or not.

At the beginning of the season everybody wins the winter 12 January 2005

When people read about Jarno complaining about the car, or that the car was different, it hurts, it's wrong when you start criticising the engineers and everybody for having different cars. We had not one reason to do it fi

-Briatore on Trulli’s claims of favouritism at Renault in’04 championship, everybody tells you we're very good, we're very . competitive. I don't know. We are working flat out, we'll do our best, and we'll see in Australia.

Before Australia there's,a lot of talking, but no action. I don't know if Williams is bad, if BAR is bad, I don't know if Bridgestone is better than Michelin, or Michelin is better than Bridgestone.

What 1 know is that we are working really, really hard.

Maybe for the team the downside at the end of last season was very, very good, because it makes us put the foot on the throttle again, because it looked like in the beginning that it was too easy for us, no. I think we need to improve everything.

If you want to win, you need to be perfect in every area.

MN: We have seen Ford pull out of FI. Is there any chance of Renault going the same way?

FB: There's no problem. Renault is a very successful company.

They are one of the most successful companies in Europe, and Nissan is one of the most successful companies in Japan.

The two together is something very, very successful. There is new management, but racing is like anything. As soon as you get good results, everybody is happy. This is normal. If you spend a lot of money and you don't have the results ... but in the end you have all the manufacturers, and one of them will be last. This is the problem.

Now the risk is very high. If we have only four or five manufacturers and no more private teams, one of them will be the last one.

MN: What do you think about the expansion of the calendar?

FB: I'm very happy, as long as they don't forget Europe. Bernie [Ecclestone] knows that. The Grand Prix in France is very important and the Grand Prix in England is very important. I don't care if the Grand Prix is in London or Silverstone, but for

the people and the sponsors it's important.

It's not easy for people to invest this amount of money in FI. Bernie has done an incredible job, because when we arrive in China or Bahrain, everything is done. But the negotiations and convincing people to spend this kind of money is not really that simple.

MN: What's your own future?

There have been different stories about how long you're staying ...

FB: At the end of the season everything is a little bit boring, and in Italy the newspapers need to put two or three pages about FI every day. I've been reading like you about my future! My contract is until the end of 2005. This is not a problem.

MN:Do you plan to stay on longer?

FB: I don't plan. I already planned once, because once I left and I came back. I don't want to plan anything. But now it's becoming very, very hard. After 18 races you finish the season very, very tired.

There's a lot of travelling, and the last part of the season is very hard.

MN: Are you getting bored with it now?

FB: No, I'm not bored at all. I'm still excited to be part of this world, especially now. Because really now, working together with the other team principals the relationship between us is completely different, and I enjoy it.

Now we are really in business and we are working together with Bernie and Max to make FI better.

55

Hie Final Countdown OI\l the eve of the start of 2005 World Rally Championship in Monte Carlo, the event itinerary is yet be finalised thanks to the World Rallies Commission dictating a tighter schedule for crews despite the need for time to fit HANS devices.

The original itinerary for Monte Carlo submitted by the AutoClub Monaco allowed five minutes between time control and stage start so that crews could don the now-compulson/ HANS device.

The Rallies Commission, however, refused to ratify the extra time, saying crews already had enough time in the road stage and in the lead-up to the start to fit the HANS. The Swedish organisers are also revising their draft itinerary for the same reasons.

Former works drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Daniel Sola will both drive private Ford Focus WRCs at Monte Carlo after their respective efforts to net a seat in a manufacturers' WRC failed.

Ex-Subaru pilot Hirvonen is expected to use the Focus RS WRC 03 belonging to fellow Finn Jari Viita in at least six rounds of the championship.

The deal means that Hirvonen, who last drove for Ford in 2003, will run the car in Sweden next month.

"The deal happened very quickly," said Hirvonen. "It's a Finnish team, but we will get some people from England to help run the car."

In addition to his WRC outings, Hirvonen may tackle some PWRC rounds in a Group N car.

Sola, who drove for Mitsubishi last season, came close to landing the second works seat at Ford, but was forced to negotiate a private deal with MSport after losing the official drive to Henning Solberg.

The Spaniard will contest six rounds of the Championship with backing from Spanish telco Telefonica.

- JON THOMSON

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CITROEN molorsport boss Guy Frequelin has admitted that the team's hopes of back-to-back WRC titles could be compromised by the decision to retain the Xsara for 2005.

The team was forced to stick with the Xsara, which won the title at the hands of Sebastien Loeb last year, after scrapping its original plans to introduce the new C4, above, during the upcoming season. Development work on the rally version of the C4 was halted after Citroen, along with sister company Peugeot, announced that it will be leaving the WRC at the end of the year.

"For sure, using the Xsara is going to be a handicap," said Frequelin, right, in British magazine Autosport.

"Using it for the complete year is not going to be so good. Before, we were . going to switch to the C4 in the middle of the year. The C4 is finished now, but it was already faster. It's like this, and we have to live with it, but it's going to be hard."

Spare a dime?

NEW Peugeot recruit Marrko Mai has slammed rival WRC efforts. saying they have little chance of taking the title this year due tathd youth policies they have emplowM "The problem for most of the o1h| r teams is that they are like driving schools," said Martin, who feceivad his break in the sport thanks to Subaru's youth policy at the time.

"I am not saying there's anythjn^ wrong with the drivers coming iritci the other teams, but when they hav( different drivers who have to learn that can take some time."

J Martin himself has had to learn the

56

On The Bac

A development version of the C4 had already been completed, and the car was tested successfully several times late last year.

Markkcil

troublesome Peugeot and has been^-^^^ testing the 307 on tarmac over the past few weeks after his switch ffor . \ Ford.

I Still have one or two areas wmere I want to work on the car, but it is feeling very strong," he said.

- JON THOMSON

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LACK of funding could see Alister McRae sidelined from the international stage this year.

The former Hyundai and Mitsubishi works driver finished second in the Production World Rally Championship last year as a member of the RED World Rally team, but the Scot told Autosport magazine that the chances of returning to go one better in 2005 were looking less and less likely.

"There's nothing at the moment," admitted McRae, left.

"We are talking to people still and they do seem keen, but until something is signed, you don't know. If this doesn't come off, then we don't have anything else to fall back on."

motorsport news

1

RALLYING

Mexico debut fop 2005 WRX

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CHRIS Atkinson should be getting his mittens on a Subaru WRC car for the first time in the next week or so, but he - along with the rest of the team - will have to wait until at least the Rally of Mexico before he can drive the new 2005 car in anger.

Subaru team boss David Lapworth confirmed iast week that the team will begin the season with the 2004-spec car, and said that the new model will not appear before round three of the WRC in Mexico on March 11-13.

“The new car is the biggest single development project we’re working on at the moment,” Lapworth said.

“The plan is to launch it in Mexico and we’re already well into its test plan. As well as completing a second endurance test, we’re undertaking a series of performance appraisals before the start of the season.

“For the current car, any new developments will be fairly conservative for the first two events of the season - Monte ■Caclo-ancLSweden—as.th.ejYe _ ^

rallies where the focus is very much on tyres and tactics.

“They’re not events where we feel we have to push for one tenth of a second per kilometre and, as both offer a massive variety of conditions, the best plan is to concentrate on preparation.

“In the longer term, we’ve got lots of new developments to follow the introduction of the new

car in Mexico.

“We’ve got two or three more major developments to drop in as the year goes on to keep moving ahead, but I’m not going to tell you what those are!”

The car is tipped to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary as the team chips away at its aim of recapturing the world championship won by Fetter Solberg in 2003. o

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KEN Willsher put in a Gbainpion performance both on and! off the track in the 0val! Express Formula 500 Series over the Christmas^New Year’s periodi The 46-year-ofd Viictoifiaiiii driver, abeve, giracidusly handed over hiis seriies prize s. a race meetiinf i» 111' iraanni's Performanee Wholesaile Sprinteair - to yo.uHg! seriies runner-uip andi Sipriiiiitcair aspiraiht Maitt iBirowwn, beH&w.

"Since he {ilrownijis ilookiiing to ultimately fee iini Sprintcars, it's only fitting that :he gets this great opportunity," said!

Willshir, now a four-tiinne winner of the iprestigious series.

Brown, 26, was devasted at losing; the closely fought series, feut was soon: in: awe of his rivals generosity.

"1 can't feeliieve it - what a generous offer fro:nrv Ken to do this, i! don't know what else to say but thaniks. ill know 1 will give it everythiing ill ha ve got," said the Austrailiian mumfeer two.

Brown was victorious i» Round 1! at Speedway City, but the wiiiy WiUshiir fought back to eteiim Riou ndi 2! at Murray Bridge.

Round' 3’ at Mount

“● ON the penultimate leg of the I World Series Sprintcars tour, the ® black machines of the Titan Squad have stepped forward, taking three consecutive victories in their home state. Despite that. Max Dumesny moved closer to his seventh crown, taking three consecutive third places.

At Round 13 on Saturday night at Brisbane International Speedway, Robbie Farr got his fading title challenge back on track, winning ©amibier'S'Boirderiine ! from team-mate Daryn Pittman.

In a crash-marred event, Farr's Speedway saw a first for the I night began controversially after time series, wihen West Australian trialing a second faster than the field M'ars'halil' 'MePiairmid' claimed i due to a timing error. WSS organisers th e win in: his 600cc fo urStroke Yamaha R6-powered i were adamant the time should stand car and the crowd were ; until 20 minutes of arguments from competitors saw officials accept BIS's definitely!» approval of the own transponder timing and Farr ear's fiame-beic'hing exhaust. | dropped to 13th.

The roundi proved a decisive i Good heat results promoted Farr to one, as WillShiir imanaged fiffh: a front-row start where he outwhile rival Brown failed to \ dragged Terry Bracken to take the Ainishithe A-lMain after spiinning! | Dash win and pole position. tO:.aw0id at flipping Damien Lee. | For the first half of the race, Farr iBirown' ctaiiim ed Round: 4 at i resisted the challenge of Jason Avalon Raceway and Round 5 ● Johnson until Dumesny forced his

at Western: Speedway, Hamilton, but it was his victory at Sumgold Stadiiuim,, Warrnambool that brought the most attention.

Brown and Willshir battled almost the entire race sideby-side on'the slick banked turns, with Brown taking the win to cement his fourth feature win of the series.

Queensland: youngster Daniel Moes won the final round, also at Warrnambool, ahead of Lee with Willshir third and Brown fourth, giving Willshir the series win thnough sheer consistency, Final Points: Willsher 520, Brown 489, Mick Pronger 457, McDiarmid 445, Ian Burrows 427, Jeff Hedington 421.

^ j i i : j

Battle of the fives: Hodges was fast but unlucky on home soil. Below, the Rookie of the Year favourite battles with the title favourite, Max Dumesny.

way forward after half distance.

With 10 laps to go,Johnson's car bit, hiked and rolled, bringing Pittman up to third. By this stage Tatnell was out, succumbing to damage from an earlier hit with fastest time trialist Bracken.

Tim Kaeding was also out, Shane Stewart had spun down field and Darrell Hodges was fading. Pittman dived inside Dumesny with six laps to go, and then hung back from a final restart allowing Farr to skip away without threat.

"We've had a bit of a struggle the last couple of rounds," said Farr.

"It was good to fight back and stay in there with a chance. Hopefully we can come home in the next three rounds and give it a real shake for the championship."

"Coming away with two wins and a second is nothing to hang our heads about especially starting ninth tonight," said Pittman of the Queensland trifecta of shows.

Pittman though had his sights set elsewhere.

"We're happy with that and it gives us momentum going into the Outlaws show next weekend at Parramatta."

Stewart climbed from the tail into fourth place ahead of a consistent Mike Van Bremen, Darren Jensen, Hodges, Nathan Macdonald and Bracken.

Four days earlier at BIS, Pittman won Round 12 in a highly entertairring and clean race-long fight with Tatnell.

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lensland Titans The win arguably should have gone elsewhere, as Hodges launched from a front row start and was

leaving the field behind when he launched over the berm and spun.

The hugely popular local drove from the rear to fifth in a determined comeback drive. Prior to Hodges's spin, two pile-ups put paid to several competitor's chances, including Randy Hannagan, Kaeding, Bracken, Farr, Jensen and Mark Wells.

This left Todd Wanless sitting in third ahead of the most remarkable drive of the night...

A dreadful time trial and heat race had put Dumesny into the C-Main.

After winning that and fighting into fourth in the B-Main, Dumesny climbed into third place, having massed a total of 25 cars, just after lalf-distance.

Stewart claimed fourth ahead of the flying Hodges,Johnson, Wanless and Cameron Gessner, guest driving Clem Hoffman's Maxim.

In between the two meetings, WSS returned to Charlton Speedway, Toowoomba to re-run Round 2, lost to rain last year. A huge crowd turned out to see Pittman launch away from the pole with Hodges climbing from fifth into second.

Pittman continued to keep a lapped car between himself and Hodges until just past half-distance when at a restart, Kaeding swept around the outside of Hodges into second on the back straight. Hodges challenge ended with four to go.

crashing hard enough at turn four to crack the chassis, forcing the team into a frantic rebuild for Round 13 the following night.

From the restart, Kaeding pushed ' Pittman hard but the Titan car held firm to win. Dumesny claimed third from Hannagan in the final dash to

the flag "I hurt a motor a couple of weeks ago in Brisbane and we're rumiing with a little 360 trying to keep up with these guys," said Kaeding."We started off slow and by the end of the night we were trying to keep up with them and we're doing a pretty good

job right now."

Wells climbed from the B-Main to take fifth ahead of Farr, Johnson and Macdonald. Stewart crashed out of fifth with six laps to go and Tatnell succumbed to engine dramas.

With three rounds to go, Dumesny's points lead sits at 661 points over Farr, while behind Stewart, Tatnell, Hodges, Johnson and Wells look set to scrap over the following positions. When asked about the possibility of a championship Dumesny was cautious; "There is plenty of racing to go yet.

We'll worry about that when we get a bit further down the track."

Hey Robbie, this ain't so bad: The Titan team's Outlaws star, Daryn Pittman, left, and Australian Champion Robbie Farr proved a formidable combination in the team's home state, taking a clean sweep of wins.

HI MOTOR B

tobbie Farr

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Daryn Pittman Max Dumesny Shane Stewart Mike Van Bremen Darren Jensen Darrell Hodges Nathan MacDonald Terry Bracken II John Shore

Points: Dumesny 11511, Farr 10850, Stewart 9947, Tatnell 9076, Hodges 8014, Johnson 7861, Wells 7478, Van Bremen 6828, John Shore 5712.

Back in the red: Tatnell, having sold his blue ride, gets some air.

12 January 2005

WSS R13 BRISBANE 59

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Max wins big Four $10,000 winners cheques, a Proton Jumbuck and the lead of the World Series Sprintcars Championship. Max Dumesny certainly enjoyed Speedweek

MAX Dumesny was victorious for the second consecutive occasion in World Series Sprintcars Jumbuck Speedweek over the Christmas-New Year's break,taking the championship lead in the process while other rivals were left to merely pick up the pieces of their title hopes and battered cars.

Speedweek kicked off with the traditional hit-out at a packed Speedway City in Adelaide on Boxing Day. Trevor Green was fast all night at his home track and was unlucky not to win the A-Main, the Adrad car ran slightly wide through Turn 2 late race, giving Dumesny the opportunity to slip through and take the win.

Mike Van Bremen equalled his best finish at the same venue in 2003 by claiming a solid third in the quality

field.

The teams headed southeast to Murray Bridge for night two and again Max came up trumps when it counted. The tight bullring served up

60

some fantastic, hard fought racing but unfortunately tliis meant that many teams left with damaged cars.

None more so than Alan Woods, who end-for-ended his car down the back

from the fifth row on a track not noted for passing was something well worth noting.

Round 3 of Speedweek again saw

Dumesny take the win as others crashed out at Mount Gambier's Borderline Speedway. Shane Stewart managed to take his first podium

straight in spectacular fashion, escaping uninjured.

American star Fred Rahmer was slowly succumbing to an engine problem while leading the A-Main when Brooke Tatnell tried to dive down the inside. The two collided, sending Tatnell into a roll and Rahmer a spin, leaving Dumesny to take the win ahead of Darryl Hodges and Ben Atkinson. Atkinson had been unlucky to not reach the podium the previous night in Adelaide, after qualifying on the front row for the A-Main.

The night also served as a form guide for the Australian Championships to be held at Riverview Speedway in February and TatnelTs speed to be challenging for the lead after starting the feature

Oinirl Br^d

moiorsporinews

Daniel Board C.onff Grade

Three wide! Sungold Stadium (nee Premier Speedway) at Warrnambool is an absolute treat this season, producing irresistible racing, above. Kenny Griffey probably isn't so keen on it, after his car was wrecked, left.

Local hero: When the Classic does come around, John Vogels, below, will

since Round 4, trailing Dumesny home for second while Tatnell was

third.

Round 4 saw the fleet cross the border to Victoria's Avalon Raceway and a rough track saw the already high damage rate soar.

Amid the carnage and a flood of subsequent caution periods, Robbie Farr rode the bumps best to take the A-Main and keep within reach of Dumesny in the points.

Rounds 5 and 6 were held at WarrnambooTs Sungold Stadium (formerly Premier Speedway)and in contrast to Avalon, the drivers couldn't stop raving about the track surface. The wide, banked turns Yosemite Sam wins!

Travis Rilat, left, not only had the best paint scheme, the proud Texan broke a spell of bad luck to win the first Warrnambool round.

12 January 2005

slicked off nicely to provide multiple grooves and an abundance of passing.

The first night was taken by Texan driver Travis Rilat, who last year was booed from the same venue after sending Erin Crocker out of the BMain of the Classic. This time around there were no such problems as the Yosemite Sam-themed car finally recovered from engine gremlins that had haunted it constantly to lead the A-Main from start to finish.

The second night at Sungold saw Speedweek end as it had begun, with Dumesny claiming his fourth $10,000 winner's cheque of the series, as well as taking home a Proton Jumbuck to match the identical model he won by winning last year's series. Dumesny Motorsport now has two little Jumbucks to deliver all those Hoosiers ...

Local driver John Vogels impressed all with his speed at Sungold and

pushed Dumesny all the way to nearly snatch victory in the A-Main, Second was a reward for his tenacity and he and Rilat will be ones to watch at the Classic later this month.

But Speedweek was all about one man. Max was clearly on top of his game over the festive season and managed to avoid the ever-present carnage that claimed so many of his rivals (Tatnell ran out of spares!).

"We started off the year pretty slow and everyone wanted to know what our problem was but in reality we just had a slow start in what has been one of the toughest Championships ever," reflected Dumesny "It took us a while to get dialed in.

Now we're really going well and 'Mouse'(Green, Dumesny's engineer)has the car set beautifully."

Stewart and Farr completed the Speedweek podium, albeit a long way behind.

1. Max Dumesny 2. Shane Stewart 13. Robbie Farr 4. Darrell Hodges 5. Luke Dillon.

6. Brooke Tatnell |7. Mike Van Bremen E Mark Reuter !9. Jason Johnson 10. Mark Wells

5105 3855 3834 3365 3091 3020 2699 2607 2562 2505

Overall points after Rndll: Dumesny 8819, Farr 8543, Stewart 7940, Tatnell 7259, Hodges 6231, Johnson 6182, Wells 6062, Van Bremen 5432.

WSS SPEEDWEEK 61

Donny's $50,000

MERICAINl Outlaws star Donny Schatz won his fourth Parramatta City Raceway $50,000 to win cheque on January 2 after completely destroying his Parker Stores J&J Sprintcar the previous night.

Schatz, who was simply awesome in driving back through the field to win, credited harder compound tyres that started to work later in the race as a contributing factor to his victory.

"I think I could drive a little better but 1 was trying to be cautious," said Schatz.

"I've been making a lot of mistakes and it cost us a race car last night. I don't have any room for error any more."

Of his crash, Schatz commented "I: don't know what happened. The front end came up and it started flipping as soon as the front end came up something that rarely happens. It was almost a non-wing flip! All I know is it hit very hard and destroyed the car from end to end. That was a good race car, way better than this one.

But this is what we have to work j with and I'll make the best of it. I 6x6 learn a little about this car / tonight, but it took us all night / to get it going."

Schatz, who had been undefeated in the three PCF Speedweek meetings up to the start of the two night $50,000 meeting, went into the

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prestigious event as firm favorite against some of the best drivers America and Australia has to offer. But after having to hastily build up his spare car, Schatz blasted back from position 10 to take control of the 40-lap final from Joey Saldana just after mid-race distance. Titan Garages gun Daryn Pittman managed second ahead of Sammy Swindell, Saldana, a very rj, impressive Kevin Swindell and Fred ^ Rahmer. ,, The action started on New Year's Day and in '■i' Heat 3, Schatz got it all wrong coming onto the front straight, flipping his machine over and destroying the car.

The three-time winner was out for the night and i» had to have his spare chassis built up overnight by the Rush team. Craig Brady, debuting a new Maxim, also flipped over in Heat 4 and was out for the weekend. Swindell, in a new Maxim to replace the one damaged as the previous meeting, set the quickest time in qualifying with Skip Jackson, Troy Little, Trevor Green, Saldana and Craig Dollansky made up the top six in the 47-car field.

The New Year's Day heat wins went to Pittman, West Australian Ken Satori, Adrian Maher, Saldana with Pittman and Saldana winning the Dash 8 races while Kevin Swindell won the C-Main and Ian .T Loudoun the B-Main.

The night one 25-lap 1 preliminary A-Main saw A Pittman jump into the lead n only to lose it mid-race to n Saldana, while Dollansky

and Kerry Madsen fought out for third for a number of laps. Pittman regained the lead, going on to score a great victory. Swindell came on strong in the closing stages and moved up into second place putting Saldana back into third followed by Madsen, Dollansky and Statler sixth. The top four place getters went straight into the next night's Dash races, missing another round of heats.

Sunday night came and the chat around the pits was all concerning Schatz: Could he bounce back and win another $50,000 event after building up his spare car?

Schatz's immediate answer was a brilliant drive in the third heat, quickly moving forward to greet the flag in third to qualify for Dash 2. That heat was won by Rahmer while Dollansky, Jason Statler and Grant Tunks were the other heat,winners.

Pittman took out-another victory in DashJ^. while Sammy Swindell won the second dash. Bruce White took out the C-Main while Nathan Smee defeated Kevin Swindell and Bruce White in the B-Main race.

The 40-lap final saw Pittman jump to an early lead from pole ahead of Dollansky, Madsen and Swindell. Lap 8 saw Saldana and Dollansky tangle in turn 2 sending Dollansky crashing out of the race with a wrecked race car.

Pittman, Saldana and Sammy Swindell, Madsen and Schatz S1I vied for the lead.

Schatz was quickly moving forward art'd'-'’ > by lap 20 was third and amazingly, within three laps had taken the lead, ahead of Pittman and Saldana.

Madsen was soon out after flipping over in turn 1 and from there it was all Schatz.

He continued on to take the win over Pittman with Saldana losing third to Sammy Swindell late in the race. The younger Swindell, Kevin, after coming from the B-Main, sensationally moved up the field taking Rahmer for fifth. Statler was next, ahead of Green (the first Australian home), Jackson and Little rounding out the top 10.

- GREG BOSCATO

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what a difference a day makei: Schatz totalled his primary ride on the first night, only to find himself holding the trophy (and $50,000) a day later. .iioigrsDortn!;-iVS

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American invasion

DONNY Schatz and Sammy Swindell have been the drivers to beat at Parramatta since Boxing Day, with Schatz winning three A-Mains then finishing second to Sammy Swindell on January 5 and 8.

The biggest drama over the series was the car-destroying Americans with Joey Saldana and Daryn Pittman tangling in the December 30 A-Main.

It sent both cars into a series of wild flips, wrecking both, while later in the A-Main Swindell broke a front axle and barrel-rolled on the front straight, also wrecking the frame. While Pittman and Saldana’s wrecks were horrendous, both emerged unhurt.

Boxing night saw the annual Sprintcar Grand Prix take place.

Jamie Jones all but destroyed his new J&J chassis on the opening lap of Heat 1. Jones was taken to hospital late in the night while at the restart. Skip Jackson spun and was hit by Ian Loudoun. Loudoun was out with Jackson’s car needing chassis repairs. Both Saldana(excluded in his heat due to noise) and Schatz(spun out in his heat) had come into the A-Main field from the BMain. It was a great battle for V the win in L

the B-Main but it was Saldana who defeated Schatz, But in the A-Main Schatz, below, was brilliant, moving into the lead after starting back in the field. He took out the race from Kerry Madsen, with Craig Dollansky third.

The following night it was Schatz again with Saldana and Dollansky following in the minor positions.

They were followed home by Pittman, Swindell with Madsen the first local with Troy Little, Martin Lawes, Jackson and Jason Statler making up the top 10 in the AMain.

Teenager Kevin Swindell, who had been sensational the previous day, was caught out on the very slick track and had a spin in the A-Main, hitting the outer wall and retiring. Like the GP meeting, Saldana was fastest in qualifying as well as picking up a heat and dash races on the Monday night.

After a couple of days off, on December 30 the teams returned to PCR and like the two previous meetings, Schatz again tasted victory with Dollansky and Little following him home. The night saw Pittman, Saldana and Sammy Swindell crashing and destroying their cars.

After the ‘$50,000 to win’ show, the

Sprintcars returned on January 5 but this time it wasn’t Schatz but Sammy Swindell who won the 30-lap A-Main. After 51 cars at the GP, only 37 cars fronted for the mid-week show.

Saldana again was quickest in qualifying, but Little and Schatz took out the two dash races while Martin Lawes was impressive in winning the B-Main. Schatz took the lead over Little at the start of the A-Main but Sammy Swindell soon forged forward taking Madsen, Little then Schatz to control the race by lap 15.

Over the final laps Madsen was pressuring for third, getting by Little on the final lap, only for Kevin Swindell, who had started from the rear of the field, to round up both Madsen and Little as they moved towards the finish to take the final podium position, leaving Madsen fourth and Little fifth.

At the weekend the older Swindell took out his second AMain win, defeating Schatz, who again came from the B-Main, and Dollansky.

Madsen rolled heavily, but managed to repair his car (yes, he did the welding, below) to finish seventh in the A-Main, via the B-Main.

- GREG BOSCATO Points; Little 3136, Tunks 3044, Maher Zm Lawes 2964, Mark Blytw 2886.

New Aussie team for Knoxville IT has just been announced that Sydney team owner and former driver Barry Lewis has joined forces with Lynton Jeffrey, a former Sydney racer who now resides and races successfully in Knoxville, Iowa, to form a new Sprintcar team to tackle the upcoming season of racing at the famous Knoxville Raceway.

It was Lewis who first took Skip Jackson and Peter Murphy to the USA and he's also had Robert Jackson, Tony Hopping, Todd Wanless, Wayne Skipper, Fred Rahmer and now Craig Brady racing his Sprintcar's at PCR over the years.

Barry Lewis is sending from Sydney both his 410 engines, which will be fitted to a pair of new J&J Chassis, with Jeffrey's car being numbered 4AU. Plans also include Craig Brady, who will fly over from Australia and race in a limited race program in the Lewis-Jeffery second J&J machine.

The car will be entered under Barry Lewis's new US business. Pick 'n Payless Inc USA. n After seriously impressing in the opening rounds of Proton Jumbuck Speedweek, American driver Fred Rahmer has parted ways with the World Series Sprintcars Championship.

One of America's premier Sprintcar drivers, Rahmer was disqualified from second position at the Avalon round of Speedweek for running an illegal lightweight rear axle. After an appeal from car owner Peter Attard failed, the team moved their efforts to Parramatta City Raceway and the $50,000 to win event, where Rahmer placed an impressive sixth, n Ryan Farrell will travel east for the big summer events, the Classic at Warrnambool and the Australian Titles at Murray Bridge, later this month. The spectacular West Australian and his ex-Kinser Maxim have been causing quite a stir over in the WA AHG Series this season. n Tracy Hines has taken out the prestigious Chili Bowl held over 50 laps indoors in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

New Zealand's Michael Pickens picked up the Rookie of the Year title at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa Oklahoma, driving the Australian designed and constructed Smith engine with a New Zealand built Breka chassis. His Australian team-mate, Adam Clarke, recorded a 10th in the B-Main, not enough to transfer into the feature. n Michael Burford claimed the opening round of the Revolution Racegear 360ci Sprintcar Series over Craig Vanderstelt at Adelaide's Speedway City last weekend in a flat out battle to the flag. Darryl Guerrin was third ahead of defending series champion Dennis Burford, - BOSCATO/CHARLES/STAFF 63

Those Wacky Westerners WESTERN Australian Sprintcar fans have had a festive season full of surprises - and not just from Santa. The AHG Sprintcar series feature at the Kwinana Motorplex on Boxing night finished in very controversial circumstances.

With the program running over an hour behind already, the 25-lap Sprintcar feature orily lasted nine laps before being cancelled due to a combination of the program running so far behind and a demolition derby still having to be run.

Ryan Farrell, who started from position 11 and had worked his way forward to fourth, jumped from his Maxim and was very animated. The Kendrick team of Jamie Maiolo and Jeff Leisk, who were running third and fifth respectively, pulled their cars up to the track entry gate and blocked the demo derby cars from entering the track, Pino Priolo joining them.

A 25-minute stand-off between the drivers and Motorplex management resulted; Speedway manager Gavin Migro eventually dealt with the matter and came to a compromise to re-run the event at the following meeting.

Take two - New Year's night Sprintcar Muster: Farrell stamped his mark on the re-run of the AHG Series feature and dominated the event.

Starting from position nine, he quickly moved forward and ran down rookie star Shaun Bradford (son of the late 'Bonza' Bradford) and claimed the win. Bradford held off Jamie Maiolo for second with Maiolo settling for third.

Next night out and Maiolo, starting from position 10, quickly moved forward and into the lead, before a caution allowed Leisk and Farrell back into the game.

Maiolo again pulled away from the field, leaving Leisk and Farrell to fight their way forward until Farrell blasted by Leisk and into second place and put a good distance between him and Leisk. Maiolo was way too strong in the closing laps and greeted the chequers first with Farrell clipping a car on the last lap causing both cars to spin. Farrell executed a 360 degree turn pulling back out and still finishing second with Leisk finishing a distant third.

"I am real happy with the win. The team did a great job and we got the job done," said a jumbilant Maiolo.

-DARREN SUTTON Points; Maiolo 570, Farrell 550, Chris Ackland 544, Veronica McCann 540, Michael Reid 520.

64

Vogels pules

JOHN Vogels,the Simpson Speedster, is in fine form after he took two wins from the last three rounds of the Victorian SRA Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series, including last weekend at his home track of Simpson Speedway.

The trio of SRA rounds kicked off on Boxing Day at Avalon with the running of the Sprintcar Gold Cup. Vogels, pictured right, qualified on the front row but unintentional contact with pole sitter Stephen Bell saw Vogels spin into the wall on the first lap.

Bell, however, was in stunning form but had to fend off both Adrian Parr and Brett Milburn, often simultaneously, as the trio put on a brilliant race that was sadly curtailed when the yellow lights were thrown to get the ambulance off the infield to attend a spectator who suffered a heart attack.

The stoppage had a cruel effect on Milburn, who rode over Bell's wheel as Bell slowed and flipped.

When the race was declared, Milburn was stripped of his second place despite not being the cause of the stoppage, elevating Parr to second from Stephen Lines.

A depleted field headed east to Nyora on December 27 under wet and dark skies. Vogels made amends for the previous night with a dominant display to record the win and consolidate top spot in the points chase. Parr recorded his second consecutive runner up placing with veteran

C«nr Crjcie

'Rotten' Ron Dalton grabbing third ahead of Frank Ramsdale and Brent Hough.

After a couple of nights of World Series Speedweek competition, the locals headed south west to Simpson and as an added bonus the American pairing of Travis Rilat and Brad Sweet were both competing.

Rilat had his primary engine back in the car and was a real contender but when he started the feature out of position 12 and with Vogels off the front row, it was always going to be tough.

Fellow local favourite Jeff Judd rode out a wild

Crump Bell/s offto returns JUNIOR Speedway will be given a huge boost next ; weekend when World SOOcc Solo Speedway Champion Jason Crump returns home to Mildura in Victoria.

Crump, in recognition of the support and training he rece^ivedTrom the Mildura Motor C^cle Club as a youngster, hasxjffered to run a .

-training da^Tor JuRior nders at the Mildura;tr-a'efe Aeran^dded bonnes, CijtjtTip will ride at-;// Mildura ^dtu'rday night against' a line-up^of world-claSstridec? that started their speedway^ careers'inThe Mildflratjyni<ar,,_. ranks.

Crump has also waSlS^.fiis appearance fee, asking that a similar amount be invested by the club into junior spe^edway, a move that has b'een/fd'l ow^bythe other riders that wpl coiTipete in the eWuNi^ i Jl want to do it in recoghition ofjwhere I started and where I/ came from,” said Crump, iwho"' "-Wifi;be embarking on hjs flfs^' event aS World Charripion.

- dLENN MILNE

Knoxville

AUSTRALIAN 360ci Sprintcar Champion Stephen Bell found the fastest way to Knoxville, Iowa a week ago was by winning the Telstra Country Wide Mildura to Knoxville 360 Nationals in front of a full house at the Timmis Speedway.

Bell's prize is a trip to the 2005 Knoxville Nationals, the most coveted race in world

Sprintcar racing.

"This win goes to the crew who gave me a great car,"said Bell, who is also expected to be suiting up for the Disbury team for the Australian Championships at Murray Bridge in February.

Early leader Dennis Burford was second and Brett Milburn third.

- PARIS CHARLES/STAFF

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SRA

Adams crowned MILDURA hometown hero and world number four Leigh Adams has won his eighth Australian SOOcc Solo Speedway Title after dominating the finals series, held over four rounds at Gosford, Newcastle, Adelaide and Mildura, with only one race heat defeat.

Adams won every round of the Championship in a sensational display of his ability and current riding form.

Jason Lyons, also a Mildura rider, fell heavily at Newcastle but put in a gutsy effort to take second place in the Championship, riding with cracked ribs and bruising.

and high multiple flip at the start of the feature, as did Simon Amato. Thankfully both drivers were okay, but their cars were

seriously damaged.

Vogels, however, led from start to finish with Lines in second. Rilat was charging and was fourth by the end of the opening lap and compatriot Sweet was also steaming through in the Bruce Stephensowned car.

Rilat hounded Lines, and with six laps to go grabbed second and was hard on Vogels' tail when Daniel Newnham and Milburn clashed and spun in turn four. Restarting behind Lines, Rilat was unable to mount a fresh challenge and was forced to follow Vogels and Lines across the line, with Sweet fourth (after starting last in the B-Main). Rob Rankin, Hough, Ian Thomsen and Parr completed the finishers.

- BRETT SWANSON

In third place was Steve Johnson of Western Australia and Danish rider Charlie Djedda was a very creditable fourth, given he hadn’t ridden at any of the tracks before the series.

Lyons found some consolation with his fifth second placing in an Australian Championship, winning a $8000 Jawa Speedway bike as the highest placed non-Grand Prix rider.

- GLENN MILNE

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n Yet another reason to get to the opening night of the new Heartland Speedway in Moama.

The boys from Network Ten's Blokesworld\mW be there amongst it, shooting for their high-brow (cough) late-night television program.

"They're a great tjunch of blokes with a penchant for fast cars and pretty girls and that's what World Series is all about!" said Adam Brand, who suggested the idea after appearing on the show.

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Points: Vogels 2152, Milburn 1782, Parr 1645, Lines 1580, Dalton 1562.

Pins Ourin

Blake rules Late Mods

BRAD Blake proved himself to be all class as he dominated the $20,000 Farmer's Union Fireball Derby at Adelaide's Speedway City.

The reigning Australian Late Model Champion won the 40-lap feature event, that ran flag-to-flag without a stoppage, by around three-quarters of a lap from the hard-charging elder statesman of Late Models, Ben Ludlow.

Ludlow slotted himself into second early in the feature in his Steel City Dodge by using the heavy lapped traffic and the high line to his advantage to go around fellow West Australian, Phil Richards and the best performed of the East

Coast drivers in Michael Hebditch, who finished fourth.

Ludlow looked as though he may have been able to peg the gap somewhat to Blake, however a diminishing brake pedal towards the end of the feature meant that he would have to be content to protect his second placing.

Richards had a strong run on the final lap and committed to a lowline run, getting underneath Ludlow, however was unable to take the second placing.

All in all, the Fireball Derby established a strong platform for the future of Late Model racing in Adelaide.

\J\JNBURY CHEAPER B U T

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BROOKE Tatnell has sold his 'blue' Maxim chassis to fellow World Series runner Kenny Griffey, who wrecked his car at Warrnambool.

The sale will be a welcome addition to the Tatnell Motorsports coffers, as the team is campaigning with next-tono sponsorship this season. It has been said that this could be the final year of Tatnell Motorsports if new sponsorship cannot be found. Shell, who is putting minimal funding into this season, will not be returning as a major backer.

Tatnell campaigned a spare, red Maxim chassis at the Queensland rounds of World Series at the weekend.

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Tatnell sells 'bluey’ to Griffey

n Leigh Adams benefited from the experience of Canadian tuner, Carl Blomfeldt, for the recent four round Australian title. Blomfeldt is most famous for taking Tony Rickardsson to several world championships and has also worked with former world champions, Sam Ermolenko, Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill.

■ Americans Tim Kaeding and Randy Hannagan won three postChristmas Sprintcar shows in Queensland.

Kaeding dominated the Boxing Night event in Toowoomba, leading home Cameron Gessner. Kaeding broke a conrod in his engine on December 28, allowing Hannagan the win from Todd Wanless.

At the New Year's show Kaeding, re-engined with an alloy 355, won from a tight four-car battle of Gessner, Richard Morgan, Nathan Macdonald and Hannagan. They will return for the final Queensland USA Sprintcar show on January 22.

-MARK JONES/STAFF

Hoosier Tire Australia World Series Sprintcars 2004-5 Championship Australian Distributors for

Xoostrr

^ ^ RACING TIRE

For more Information onHootierDmgandSpeedwayTyres calk

NSW: 02 9679 1990 ● Fax 02 9679 /187 VIC: 03 9331 6477 ● Fax 03 9331 7444 SA' 08 8332 0800 ● Fax 08 8364 0296

12Januarv200S

Brisbane lilt. Spcedway 8 Januaiy 2005 | 1 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Robbie Farr . . . .Daryn Pittman . . . .Max Dumesny . . . .Shane Stewart . .Mike Van Bremen . . . .Darren Jensen . . . .Darrell Hodges .Nathan MacDonald

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

. . . .Terry Bracken John Shore . . . .Kenny Griffey . . . .Todd Wanless . . . .Brooke Tatnell .Randy Hannagan . . .Jason Johnson .Cameron Gessner

2004/05 Standing to 8 January 2005 1 2.

3.

4, 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

. . .Max Dumesny Robbie Farr . . .Shane Stewart . . .Brooke Tatnell . . .Darrell Hodges , . .Jason Johnson Mark Wells .Mike Van Bremen John Shore . . . .Danny Reidy

11.

12.

13.

14, 15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

.Ben Atkinson , . .Tony Moule . . . .Ian Lewis .Terry Bracken . . .Luke Dillon . .Mark Reuter . .Dylan Jenkin Ken Veal . .Allan Woods . .Leith Ahlfors

65

New Year's Morgan, Bray and the Queensland weather kept the heat on everyone at the re-run of the Australian Nationals. KEN FERGUSON reports ARREN Morgan put his Top Fuel rivals on notice after another crushing display at the re-run of Vtfillowbank Raceway's iTel Community Telco Australian Nationals on New Years Day. In stark contrast to the weather that forced the postponement of the November event, Morgan and his Lamattina team, below, braved the very hot and sticky conditions to win the final, and came within a whisker of the Andrew Cowin's current national record.

Ben Bray was another to continue along his merry wiimning way with victory in Top Doorslammer. Dean Oakey also took a well deserved win over his more famcied rivals in Top Alcohol. Qualifying times from the postponed November event stood, with each competitor allowed two practice sessions before the Elimination rounds began.

Morgan was the model of consistency thirougihout a days of the Nationals. He set a brilliant

qualified in the field back last year with a 6.14s/232mph, with only rookie Aaron Lynch and Steve Stanic also dipping into the 6.1s zone.

He reproduced the same form to dispose of Brett Stevens in the Jack Daniel's Studebaker in the semi-final with a 6.15s pass at the magical 240mph mark. Gary Phillips almost pulled off an No Christmas bonus for you! McLean beat team boss Stevens in tbe Top upset ini the final, but his Bike final at Willowbank on New Years Day. 6.17s/23'lmph was just, Morgan. Unfortunately for the overhauled-by-Bray's holeshot 4.78s/305mph on New Year's 6.20s/238m'ph. Bray now Day and all his other passes Rapisarda team,the flame heads to the Summer were in the mid-to-low 5s went out after the burnout, Nationals in Sydney with a leaving Morgan on a solo for region. very commanding lead in the Nationals glory. Morgan's car Morgan's big match came in the semi-final when he met championship. left hard but went bang in a Phillips again wore the big way and he shut off to Terry Sainty. Sainty was in coast to a 13s win. bridesmaids tag in the lop good touch over the weekend Bray drove the doors off his ..Alcohol class when he was and got the early jump with a Castrol/Super Cheap Auto'57 l defeated .ih the final bf ihe quicker reaction time Chev to take his fifth-straight ever-cO:"naistent Dea.h Cibkeyih (5.04s/293mph), but Morgan fought back with a 4.78s to event win in the highly his^^mefifean take the win to advance to the competitive Top Doorslammer Aul^^cf^er class. final.

Pommie Steve Read made grabbeGTtneit v Bray's record now boasts an top spSt back if the final with wins over Roy impressive winningatreak of 15 elimination round wins in NovembeT witlS Smith and Bob Shepherd, and succession and has been a 5,78c/236mph with a heap of 5.0s passes to his credit looked to be a , undefeated sirifce last year's Tin jtimecard. He ' Top Titles in April. Bray ha'd top opened formidable opponent for

DRAG RACING

Revolution that Newby had gone bang, proceedings on New Year's Stevens pedaled his Mustang Day with an off-the-trailer 5.76s/244mph,the only car into to record a 8.50s to 9.24s win. the fives in the first session, Phillips soon put an end to Stevens campaign though in the final, Oakey's with victory in Round 2. holeshotting 5.78s/232mph to Dave Rogan collected his Phillips' 5.74s/244mph was first event win in his ex-Peter enough to give Oakey a proud win.

Ridgeway Olds Cutlass in the Pro Stock class.

Oakey scored a bye run in the first round of eliminations Rogan was the only car in the 7.3s zone on a day where at the expense of Debbie the weather conditions clearly Reed's small oil leak problem. didn't suit naturally-aspirated Not one to take it easy, he still cars. Rogan had qualified recorded a 5.96s/236mph and fourth in a pretty tough;field. then disposed of Mark Sheehan in Round 2. but capie good^at the right Mark Brew's first run against time with a 7.38s/184mph first round win over John Sheehan caused controversy Barbagallo. after Brew was left sitting on the start line. The crew His second round match up against top qualifier Jon disputed the victory as Brew Andriopoulos was a little never received a light on his slower due to the fact side of the tree. The race was re-run an hour and a half later Andriopoulos was well out of shape in the top end. and Sheehan stepped up to a Jason Grima grabbed the 5.83s/241mph to defeat Brew's other final spot thanks to a red gutsy 5.99s/249mph.

The'most exciting race of the light on the start line from Nick Xerakias In the semi-final event came when favourite battle of the Ford Probes.

Wayne Newby lined uip Rogan took a close win over against^rett Stevens in Round Grima, a 7.39a/183mph to.

T. A blower backfire put the fire oyt in Newby's car but in 7:42s/1^mph. v i lt was^n all Jack Daniels the other lane, Stevens affair in the Top Bike class with launched into a huge wheelstand'and crashed back l Troy IcLean taking defei ng team boss to earth,pretty^rd. Seejngs \.

Stevens. Both had qualified their Harleys in the six second zone and McLean was the only to repeat his six second performance on race day, defeating Craig Bonwick with a 6.88s in the semi final. McLean edged out his boss with a 7.15s to a 7.30s to claim Nationals glory.

Daniel Peatey led from start to finish in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, top qualifying back in November, and going on to win the final over Michael Gilbertson.

Peatey recorded a string of 7.5s passes, but won the final with a 7.60s/173mph to Gilbertson's 7.68s/172mph.

Peter Cochrane was the big improver in this class, but was defeated in the semi-final by Peatey.

Winners in other classes

included David McCowage in his C/dragster in Comp Eliminator, Ross Sacre in his J/SK Pontiac in Super Stock, Damian Densmore in Comp Bike, Graeme Frawley in Modified, Steve Jurgensen in Modified Bike, Wayne Nipperess in Super Sedan, Terri Sander in Super Street, Joshua Price in Junior Dragster and Dave Newcombe in Super Gas.

Grubnic downs Densham at Nationals NHRA superstars 'Aussie Dave' Grubnic and Gary Densham were celebrity guests at the conclusion of the rain-delayed Australian Nationals Saturday at Willowbank Raceway on New Year's Day. Grubnic and Densham took part in a best-of-three celebrity challenge, squaring off in identical 5.7 litre LSIpowered Holden SS

■Krtots ●

Commodores. Grubnic got the better of his friend 2-1.

"That was great fun," said Grubnic, who is originally from Brisbane.

"Gary and I had a ball and the crowd really got into the burnouts we were doing. It was the first time I'd driven down a dragstrip in Australia in 14 years and I loved it. It's always good when you win."

■Drag Racings Fim

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& ^ Angus MacMaster

Surprise guest gets win: Dave Grubnic, below, joined fellow American drag racer Cary Densham at Willowbank on New Year's day for a celebrity drag race. Grubnic won two of the three heats. ^ngus MatMaster

Team Force and Schumacher havi

by DAVID OSTASZEWSKI HOT-SHOT American drag racing teams John Force Racing and Schumacher Racing look set to finalise their new year plans very shortly.

John Force has not announced an official replacement for Gary Densham, who has driven the third team car for the past several seasons.

But at the Mac Tools Fair in Anaheim, California, Force's son-inlaw, Robert Right, in team uniform, was reportedly introduced on January 7 as "John Force's new driver".

Right's most recent position with John Force Racing, 7nain picture right, has been that of Facility Manager.

Meanwhile, one of Drag Racing's worst-kept secrets is missing only a press conference and media release.

The third Schumacher Dodge Stratus Funny Car will be driven by new team man Ron Capps, with Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch tuning the car.

Capps will join new team-mates, Gary Scelzi, and Whit Bazemore for a

His name is The Ace: Ed McCulloch is rumoured to be tuning the third Schumacher flopper for Ron Capps. solid three-car effort for 2005. The car will be backed by Brut cologne, inset right.

... but Reiser resigns frem Schumacher

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DRAG racing fans will soon have a real chance to hurl themselves down the quarter mile at their favourite-tracks in their dream machines.

Lucky Chicken Games are currently placing the finishing touches on NHRA Drag Racing 2005, the NHRA's long-awaited first console game which will be launched in America's spring.

Australian's should expect to see their first copies of the exciting game in May or June.

Game players will be able to tune and drive Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock machines on 20 tracks, including 10 real-life NHRA national-event venues.

The game will be available on PlayStation 2 and PC formats.

68

SCHUMACHER Racing crew chief Mark Peiser, who tuned U.S. Army Pro Stock Bike riders Angelle Savoie, above, and Antron Brown to second and third in the 2004 NHRA POWERade Series, has resigned from his position at Don Schumacher Racing.

Peiser had previously worked with George Bryce and the Star Racing Team before hooking up with Brown as a member of NFL star Troy Vincent's Team 23 operation.

In 2003, Peiser, Brown and three-time NHRA champ Savoie joined the Schumacher Racing fold. He has been the crew chief for all of Brown's 14 NHRA national event victories.

Steve Tartaglia will most likely be the crew chief on the Schumacher Racing bikes. Tartaglia is an ex-Pro Stock Bike racer who worked with Orient Express and Vance-Hines Racing. He was the 'guy back at the shop' when Matt Hines was competing in the class. His efforts enabled Byron Hines to focus his attention on the very successful V-rod project. He left Vance and Hines last year to join DSR. - DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

motorsportnews

DRAG RACING

ipted for 2005 i done their homework over the new year period

Gilbertson ready with Autolite/Prestone

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FUNNY Car racer Bob Gilbertson has unveiled the Autolite Xtreme Performance/Prestone Chevrolet Monte Carlo he’ll campaign this year.

Autolite and Prestone are divisions of the Honeywell Consumer Products Group, which manufactures and markets Autolite XP spark plugs and ignition wire sets, Prestone Antifreeze/Coolant, Fram Filters, and Holts car care products.

Fram and Prestone carry official sponsor designation with NHRA, while Autolite is a contingency sponsor.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

12 January 2005

Calder gets new timing boards CALDER Park Raceway will feature new timing boards in 2005.

The outer-Melbourne circuit has; ordered new timing boards for both lanes that will be sourced from America. The new boards will arrive early in January and will look very similar to what is currently in place at Sydney's Western Sydney International Dragway, below. The boards will feature both * mph and kph terminal speed readings.

Calder's first meeting for the year wil be the off-street ‘ drags, scheduled for January 14th. Off-street racing contin les at Calder every Friday in 2005. ^

!●

Pomona and Bristol undergo improvements POMONA Raceway in Los Angeles has been given a new concrete starting line in preparation for the season-opener in February.

The existing starting line, below, was rennoved on January 5 and, weather permitting, the new concrete pad should have been poured shortly after.

The NHRA uses a specially designed mix and proven pouring and leveling techniques to ensure ■pool-table flatness' for what already is considered one of the sport's best racetracks.

An area from 25 feet behind the starting to 75 feet downtrack is being replaced and will seamlessly join the existing concrete, which reaches to halftrack. The area that is being replaced was originally poured in the early 1990s and has been ground twice over the years to maintain a level and smooth surface.

Bristol Dragway, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2005, and also one of the premier facilities on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, will be even bigger and better for the 2005 O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals.

The track will see the addition of premium grandstand seats, luxury suites, plus 3400 seats in Thunder Terrace, which will sit above the existing grandstand. This section will feature stadium-style, flip-down seats with cupholders and armrests.

The terrace will be topped by 10 corporate suites. The Thunder Valley Club just off the starting line is also doubling in size to nearly 1000.

■ The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host the final two test sessions before season kick-off.

The Nitro Blast-off between January 21-23 and the Last Chance Test Session on February 4-6 will be the last chance for leading teams to test ahead of the seaosn opening race at Pomona.

In between these though, the annual National Time Trials, which run from January 28-30 at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix and the Pontiac Pro Stock SuperBowl, February 5, at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas will be run.

-DAVID OSTASZEWSKI 69

naniMl AMRS races onto the scene scene

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Australian National motorsport given a home with new four-state series

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THE Australian Motor Racing Series is go.

CAMS and the Australian Motor Racing Commission recently gave the AMRS the all clear to organise and promote a 10-round series that will feature nine different categories of national Australian motorsport.

AMRS directors Garry Willmington, Richard McLean and Rod Dale will build interest for the wide variety of categories that will compete in four states across a maximum of 11 months.

The creation of the AMRS comes after an unstable period for many categories after the demise of the PROCAR Champ Series.

Graeme Emerton from the Australia Motor Race Commission said the ongoing development of the categories was of paramount importance.

"The AMRC,along with members of the CAMS Administration, has gone through an extensive and inclusive process with all parties to come up with what we believe is an exciting and effective motor racing series," he said.

"The entire process of establishing this motor race series has taken longer than we expected but the Australian Motor Race Commission felt it was important to give all parties a solid foundation to ensure the ongoing development of each of the categories involved."

The AMRS will work with the

Headlining act: The Australian Formula 3 Championship is one of nine racing categories on the AMRS calendar. circuits to promote the events and series, while the categories will be left to self promotion and management.

Friday is set to be private practice at each circuit under CAMS.permit, with Saturday for qualifying and Sunday for races, subject to category regulations.

The AMRS is still working on a major sponsorship and a TV package and will have a display at the Australian Motorsport Show, where they will officially launch the series.

- GRANT ROWLEY

2005AUSTRAUAN MOTOR RACING SERIES CALENDAR Rd 1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9 Rd 10

Wakefield Park 27 Feb Mallala 17 Apr Winton 1 May Phillip Island 22 May Queensland Raceway 3 Jul 24 Jul Eastern Creek 21 Aug Phillip Island Oran Park 18 Sep 13 Nov Wakefield Park Eastern Creek 4 Deo

AMRS CATEGORIES * Australian Formula 3(Gold Star) * Australian GT Championship * Australian Production Car Championship * Australian Formula 4000 Championship ♦ Australian Super Kart Championship * Touring Car Challenge Series * Tranzam Sports Sedans Series * Saloon Car Series l Commodore Cup Series

Strong start for FToyota THE world debut of the highly anticipated Toyota Racing Series saw a local driver snatch the round win.

At Timaru last weekend, 30-year-old Brent Collins won the inaugural Formula Toyota round after he qualified on pole in very wet conditions, took a race victory and finished runner-up in both other races.

In Saturday's first 12 lap race, Brendon Hartley took a well-fought win over Collins, former Formula 4000 champion Daniel Gaunt, Porsche driver James Cressey and local Matthew Hamilton.

Grid positions for Race 2 are determined by lap times from Race 1. This

70

put Collins back on the top spot and he and it took a while to get some temperature in the tyres," he said after his win. used it to his advantage when after the rain arrived. Due to the inclement "But I could start to see the possibility of weather, the race was called at lap 10 a top three finish with most of the cars on with Col l ins firmly in the lead. Hartley, wet tyres and the track drying so well."

Gaunt finished third ahead of former Hamilton, Ben Harford and Cressey rounded out the top five. ' karting world champion Wade Cunningham and Andy Knight.

Race 3 was a different story though. The Collins holds a handy lead in the series. rain had past but the track was still damp, Round two of the championship will be held yet drying. Those who opted for the slick 'at Ruapuna Park, Christchurch on 22-23 option were rewarded in the end. None January, more than Cressey, who gradually picked off the pack before disposing of Collins on the Points: Collins 209, Hartley 187, Cressey 178, Gaunt very last lap.

165, Hamilton 148, Harford 138, Cunningham 132, Tim Edgell 98, Ben Crighton 91, Walter Grubmuller 88. ' "Initiallv the racing line was quite greasy

motorsport news

AUSSIE Racing Car runner-up Coim ^ Sieders haf purchased Pavid I Reynold^ 2004 Australian ForfiiUiei I Ford Championship-winning Car tocontest the IMew Shuth Wdies Formula' Fordi series, which incorporates the 'Search! for a V8 ! Superstar' competition,, Sieders, who made his Formiula Ford debut at Bathiuirst last year, said the chance at a test dirive with a leadiiing V8 1 Supercar team is too hardi to pass up.

"The V8 drive is the big carrot," the western Sydiney driver said.

It's the biggest reward in Formula FOijdL at the imoment and it would' 'be gireatlo have an end of season V8 drive."

The Sieders Racing Team will' prepare the Vein ©iemen RF04 itself but wiill reeeiive trackside assisanee from the Sonic Motorsport team.

Oine hiuirdlle that the team 'miust overcome though is the clutch system Colin requires. Sieders has very little use of hiiis left leg aifter a childhood accident and a hand clutch will have to be fitted to his car. The Sonic team is currently working out how to implement it while

working?anourid tight reg’ulatidntiissiiies.'^ ■'Sifciers will .fia,ve a seat fitting, early4i^ .

February before a test at Winton'with the Sonic Motorsport team. Colin's younger ^brother David is contesting the national FFord crown for the Champion Victorian team, while Colin will also drive in this year's Aussie Racing Car series.

As MNews went to press, the first of the entries for the NSW FFord competition were being received.,A.niaici,paH£n pf 20 contestants will be allowed to enter for the chance to test drive a Tasman Motorsport V8 Supecar, as well as a huge array of prizes.

Tour de Saloon Force

THE 2005 CSA Alloy Wheels Saloon Car Series has announced its 2005 calendar.

The Ford versus Holden championship will visit five states and utilise the new Australian Motor Racing Series, as well as two AVESCO meetings and a Truck race at Barbagallo, Western Australia.

Each driver's worst score will be dropped at the end of the series to determine the overall winner.

A television package for the series is currently being negotiated.

The class has seen a surge in entries over the past few months, with the confirmation of a new threecar team and the expansion of three

teams stepping up from single car operations to two-car teams.

Les Morrall has formed a new oufit called Tri-State Racing Team. Former champion Bruce Heinrich, John Goodacre and Matthew Lovell will look after the driving duties.

2005 CSA Saloon Car National Series Rd 1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7

Wakefield Park Mallala Wakefield Park Eastern Creek Barbagallo Phillip Island Oran Park

27 Feb 17 Apr 15 May 9 Jul ' 7 Aug 21 Aug 18 Sep

Locally brewed: Brent Collins, above, leads Cressey in tbe final race. The inaugural Toyota Racing Series event was a success, and can only move forward from here.

12 January 2005

Harry Bargwanna's Wynn's team will expand to two cars (maybe a career change for Jason!), while Mark Primmer and front-runner Kevin Weeks will both increase to two cars.

Drives in these seats are yet to be confirmed.

And the Woodstock Bourbon team

also wish to expand. In 2006, the team plans to ramp their operation up to four cars when the new model Commodores are permitted entry.

- GRANT ROWLEY

THIS is the car that will bear the war colours of Garry Rogers Motorsport during the Aussie Racing Car Championship this year.

Phil Ward and his ARC team have been working feverishly over the festive season to get this VY Commodore, plus at least six other new or near newcars, ready for the 2005 season.

The car will test in the next couple of weeks before visiting Rogers's shop for its livery and launch.

A driver has not been selected for the car yet, however Ward indicated that if a suitable young gun cannot be found, then 'celebrity-type' drivers are the likely contenders.

71

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The new Make Formula Vee features innovation, style and history

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LMOST 40 years have passed since the first Formula Vee race was held at the historic Warwick Farm circuit in Sydney's south.

In 1965, a young man named Frank Kleinig debuted a car of his own design to win that first race. Now, he is back in the same formula with a new car that has already proven to be a winner.

The new Mako has been built to the new rules that specify 100mm extra wheelbase, rack and pinion steering, ball joint front end and disc brakes.

Kleinig also fabricated a new rear suspension system that was loosely based on a Porsche 911 arrangement.

"The rear suspension took four months of my life trying to get it right," he explained.

"I nearly gave up but Joe (Zarantenello) wanted it so we persevered and now we have perfected it.

The main problem with the rear suspension was the joint that actually pushes the car and takes the brake reaction. This joint is also all-important in the legality issues of the formula as well. After consultation with a metallurgist, a joint more commonly seen on USA helicopters was selected.

Most Vees run a camber leaf or coil spring set-up. The Mako is unique, as it runs a torsion bar arrangement. The rear suspension is a wishbone fabricated from steel tubing in a triangular configuration. The tube that runs parallel to the chassis contains the torsion bar and is directly attached at the rear. The front of the torsion bar is attached by splines to an aluminium lever, which is adjustable. This lever determines the ride height of the car, rear wheel camber, and loading

on the front wheels. It can also be used for 'jacking' the car (as in speedway Sprintcar usage).

And the whole assembly can be removed in minutes, which is crucial when repairing damage in between races.

The shocks have been developed exclusively for the Mako by Ikon. They are mounted outside of the body on the front suspension H beam and are very quick and easily adjusted for ride height, rebound rate and bump height.

So what about the unique shape of the Mako? It has an aesthetic impact with its raised nose and flat panels but part-owner and designer Joe Zarantenello says the design was a compromise.

"We wanted something that emulated the look of Ferrari but keep flat panels because they are a Mako trait," he said.

The new Mako certainly passes the innovation test, but could it cut it on the race track?

Benjamin Porter was entrusted with the new Mako's debut and drove as a guest of Frank Kleinig and Zarantenello.

After qualifying third behind the two Jacers of Michael Kinsella and Adam Proctor, Porter kept them honest throughout the first race until, with only a few metres left to run, the two Jacers touched and Porter streaked through to claim the win. Scripted? Or a Fairytale?

Just like the Mako's first race 40 years ago, the new Mako won on debut....

- JAMES RYAN

I I s Smart and innovative: The Mako features a unique rear torsion bar arrangement.

s

■BANK «OTO 40 years in the making: Kleinig, above at Amaroo Park, was a winner in his own car.

Ryan

12

motorsportnews

NATIONAL SCENE

Ready to make his Marcus Marcus Zukanovic spent 2004 jumping between V8 Supercars, V8 Utes and Commodore Cup cars... but 2005 will be a different story. GRANT ROWLEY grabbed him for a chat MOTORSPORT NEWS:You had a busy year in 2004. Was the plan at the start to compete in so much motorsport?

MARCUS ZUKANOVIC: Not really.

The ute came about after I contested the 'Great Australian Ute Race' at Bathurst with Jack Elsegood at the 24 Hour in 2003. We ended up buying a Ute after that and did the first round at Clipsal to give me more miles for the Konica race. We then thought,'this is a bit of fun', and the rest of the rounds didn't clash so we just kept up with it from there.

I'd been racing Commodore Cup prior to that so that just filled in a couple of weekends here or there.

My old man still loves motorsport with a passion and because I'm based in Queensland with the Paul Cruickshank team, he looks after the ute which allows him to remain involved in the sport.

MN: Was it difficult to adapt to each category's disciplines?

MZ: The only time I found it difficult to adapt was when I was jumping from the V8 Supercar to the ute. It didn't actually affect my performance in the Konica car, it affected my ute driving because of the speed difference and the braking distances and judgements. In the ute, where it obviously doesn't have the braking performance, 1 was taking Supercar braking points and I thought 'Shit, I can't brake this late!'

The driving styles between the ute and the Commodore Cup car are very similar and because I've done heaps of miles in the Commodore, the ute came very natural to me.

MN: Did driving the V8 ute and Commodore hinder or compromise your ability in the Supercar?

MZ: No, I don't think it did. It gave me more race miles, and you can never get enough of them. If anything, driving the V8 sharpened my skills in the other categories. But it didn't hinder. Working with the Cmickshank guys, they've helped me define the differences between the cars that I was driving.

MN: So what's on the calendar for yourself this year? Will you concentrate more on the Supercar?

MZ: Yeah, we are going to cut back on the Commodore Cup at the moment.

12 January 2005

I'm definitly doing the Grand Prix in the ute. I've been hanging for something to race at the Grand Prix for a couple of years and, now we've got the opportunity. I'll be there with bells on.

After that, we'll wait and see what happens. I'd like to do the utes, but three rounds clash with the V8 Development series, so I won't be doing them. I'd like to do the rest of the rounds because it is a fun, enjoyable category.

MN: You have an exceptional team mate joining you at PCR this year in the form of Warren Luff. Are you looking to learn from his experience?

MZ: Definitely. I'm going to be sticking to him as much as I can and learn all the stuff I can take in.

With the amount of experience he's got. I'll try and utilise that to the best of my advantage. We've already had a chat and we are going to help each otlier as much as we can this year.

MN: What about the short-term goals for Marcus Zukanovic. Is your season goal a top five in the series or even an endurance drive?

MZ: My goal for this year's Development series will be top five.

Considering now they've introduced the BAs and VYs, it makes it a little harder for the older models.

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at the end of this year, especially after another full season of racing and working with the guys.

MN: Are you testing the Supercar before the first round?

MZ: At the moment, we might have a test scheduled for February, but I'm not entirely sure. I guess it depends if the cars are ready and if everything is sorted.

NATIONAL SCENE ^^r-TEf^ir Toi/va^

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Rutherford and McIntyre score

ROSS Rutherford took a surprising win in round three of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Series.

Championship contender Matthew Halliday qualified on pole but was out-raced in the first heat by V8 Supercar star Craig Baird.

In Race 2 and 3, Baird and Halliday clashed twice, handing Rutherford, above, a fortunate round win. It has also put him in the lead of the series, which heads to Teretonga Park Raceway this weekend.

IN the NZ V8 Touring Car Championship,John McIntyre, above, claimed the round win.

McIntyre won the first two races from Kayne Scott and Wayne Henshaw, before Andy Booth and Henshaw gazumped McIntyre in the final race.

Points: Rutherford 540, Baird 481, Matt Halliday 481, Dean Fulford 464, Mike Weeks 374.

Points: Henshaw,613, Booth 501, McIntyre 494, Paul Manuell 404, Scott 398.

Karting Briefs

JASON Burns made easy work of the ReSa Nationals at Port Macquarie, NSW, last month.

Burns (Redspeed) lifted the ReSa Light Championship ahead of Mick Day (Birel) and Chris Peterson (CR6). Peter Lawler's run in ReSa Heavy was similar, the CRG driver enjoying an advantage over the field. Glen Saunders (Redspeed) took second ahead of Scott Conoie (PCR). Redspeed carded another win when Tommy Quinlan picked up the Junior ReSa title. n MNews karting contributor Mark Wicks has launched a new karting website. The site, www.kartsportnews.com, carries the latest news and information about what is happening in Australian karting.

"The site has only been live for little over a month, but it's already established quite a following," he said. n Chad Sullivan has received the Victorian Karting Association's 'Karter of the Year' award for the second time in succession. The award was made during the VKA's Annual Presentation dinner at Luna Park recently. Jordan Ford was voted Midget Karter of the Year, Rookies went to Brenton Mountjoy while Juniors was a threeway tie between Robert Munneriey, Jake Chapman and Joshua Hughes.

■ A number of Australian karters

74

will be competing overseas this month.

Jordie Lindstrom and Cameron Thorpe make up the Australian entry in the World Rotax Finals in the Canary islands this weekend. At the same time, Matthew Wall and Jason Hryniuk will battle the Kiwis in the Formula A CIK Trophy of New Zealand. The following weekend down in Florida USA, Derek Cunningham will be competing in the Rotax class in the Florida Winter Tour. Cunningham recently sealed a deal with the Canadian First Karts team and will return to the 'States for the following rounds in February and March.

n Justin Schneider is set to make his CIK debut at the opening round of the Sparco Australian CIK Championships at Geelong in April. The Melbourne driver will compete in Intercontinental A aboard Tecno/Parilla, but has not yet decided whether he'll do the entire series.

"The first round is our local round" said his dad Michael, "so we'll do that and see what happens from there," ■ Another to announce his CIK plans for this year is NSW's Phill Lucas. A long-time PCR driver, Lucas has made the switch to Redspeed and will again compete in the ICA category, plus a few other selected events. It is expected Redspeed will continue to field Jason Burns in Formula A. -MARK WICKS

1: Niall McShea sealed the Production Car World Championship in Perth.

2: March was an acronym of the team's founders, Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker and Robin Herd.

3: Formula One's 'Friday drivers'in 2004 were Anthony Davidson(BARHonda); Bjorn Wirdheim (Jaguar); Ricardo Zonta and Ryan Briscoe (Toyota); Timo Clock and Robert Doombos(Jordan) and Bas Leinders (Minardi) 4: Four BMW drivers finished in the top 10 of the'04 ETCC; Andy Priaulx, Dirk Muller, Jorg Muller and Antonio Garcia.

5: False. The Cosworth DFV Formula One engine had its cylinder banks angled 75 degrees apart.

6: Cosworth is now owned by Jerry Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven.

7; Helio Castroneves used Toyota power to finish fourth in the IRL. 8: Andy(now Sir Andy)Green set the LSR in ThrustSSC(Super Sonic Car) at Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA on 15 October 1997. He hit Mach 1.016,1227.99kmh or 763.035mph over the measured mile.

9: Nelson Piquet Sr won one of the British F3 titles in 1978. Piquet won the BP title and was second in the Vandervell title to Derek Warwick.

10: False. Webber will be the third Australian to race for Williams. Alan Jones was the second, while Warwick Brown drove for Williams (in a Wolf) at the 1976 US Grand Prix.

11:1 am Greg Moore.

12: The first turbocharged ATCC winner was the Volvo 240T of Robbie Francevic at Amaroo Park in March 1986.

13: True. Radisich has never raced a Holden before.

14: Mark Porter was third in the KMV8SS. 15: Nicola Larini was a Ferrari'sub' in 1994, driving two races for the injured Jean Alesi and finishing second in the fateful San Marino GP.In 1999, Mika Salo sat in Michael Schumacher's seat after the German broke his leg. He also scored a career-best second place finish at Hockenheim.

16: Hailwood's best GP result was second, in a Surtees Ford, at Monza in 1972.

17: Brock raced a Birrana with an Isuzu engine - or, rather, a Ford engine with an Isuzu rocker cover ...

18: The top three at the Lexmark Indy 300 were Bruno Junqueira, Sebastien Bourdais and Mario Dominguez.

19: Mladin's 2004 AMA win was his fifth (yep,it's a record). He wears Joe Rocket leathers.

20: Ooops. Former Kmart Racing TM Rob Crawford ions to be TEGA's new tech man before he did a reverse and decided to stay. Now,it is Steve Brow

in the job.

21: Jason Bright was the fastest man at Bathurst with a 2m08.8972s.

22: Non-current V8SCS drivers were Garth Walden, Grant Elliott, Tony Longhust, Paul Dumbrell,Jamie Whincup, Alex Davison, Mark Porter, Philip Scifleet, Terry Wyhoon, Christian D'Agostin and Kurt Wimmer.

23: Tommy K's winning offsiders were Seiji Ara and Rinaldo Capello.

24: Senna qualified a lucky 13th for the 1984 Monaco GP. 25: It is John (Jackie) Young Stewart and Mario Gabriel Andretti.

26: The Indy 500 prelims featrrre Back Home Again in Indiana.

27: The Adam Macrow/Alain Menu FPR Falcon started the BIOOO from the pit lane.

28: The first driver to score back-toback ATCC crowns was Ian 'Pete' Geoghegan 29: The Safety Car got busy seven times at Bathurst.

30: Pukekohe's pit lane flooded on the Saturday.

31: Glenn Seton made MN's cover of Issue 291.

32: WPS will be fourth in pit lane because owner Craig Gore has purchased Level 1 licences from Larry Perkins.

33: Dick Johnson,1989. Dick always kept number 17 on his doors, despite winning the ATCC five times.

34: Caterpiller sponsored Griffins Bend at Bathurst.

●tl)B£T£H UMLL9

.5-

Dick and 17 ... a love affair: Johnson kept the number 17 through his entire racing career.

motorsportnews

QUIZ

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I

The Motorsport News quiz has been run and won for another festive season. If your quiz pages survived the beer spill or pudding fingers, check your score here ...

35: The last time Mark Skaife finished outside the top 10 in a V8 Supercar Championship was in 1997.

36: Castrol had its logo on the bonnet of four cars during 2004 V8 Supercar season - Steven Richards, Paul Dumbrell, Tony Longhurst and Steven Ellery.

37: Dean Grant won the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge.

38: Tony Sullens and Julia Rabbett won Targa Tasmania in a Subaru WRX STi. 39: Mount Panorama was built as a scenic tourist road.

40: The last drivers to win Bathurst with both drivers' names signwritten across the windscreen were Johnson/ Bowe (1989).

41: A1 Unser Jr. won 34 times before he retired.

42: His dad won 39 times.

43: WPS had a'team'helmet last year.

44: Chevrolet has scored three IRL IndyCar Series wins since Honda and Toyota arrived.

45: Mick Doohan won the 500cc world championships between 1994 and 1998.

46: Yokohama supplied tyres to the Australian F3 Championship in 2004.

47: POWERade is the official sponsor of the NHRA Drag Racing Series.

48: The outlawed Holinger gearbox was the RD6.

49: The last pullrod FI car was the 2001 Minardi PSOl. 50: Dale Earnhardt Jr is second on Talledega's winners' list.

51: The first guy to win a V8 round

2, plus 18: Steve McQueen piloted the #20 Porsche at Le Mans.

12 January 2005

Rubens'Jordan had Hart: Barrichello's first Grand Prix pole position came at Belgium in 1994 for Jordan. from outside the shoot-out Jason Bargwanna, who qualified 14th at the Gold Coast in 2002.

52: It depends how you look at it.

Martin Brundle was the last to drive a WRC car at a WRC round, when he steered a third Toyota Team Europe Corolla at the Rally GB in 1999. A year later, Eric Comas drove a Group N Evo VI at Rally Australia in 2000, while Mark Blundell hopped into a MG ZR Super 1600 at the Rally GB in 2002. Incidentally, it was rumoured that Jenson Button was a chance at contesting the Rally GB in 2000, but was prevented from doing so by

Williams.

53: Greg Murphy, who drove a de tuned ex-Arrows FI Michelin Driving Experience car at Magny Cours in May. 54: Rick Kelly at Eastern Creek in April scored Holden's 150.

55: The driver of the Brabham is Ricardo Zunino. His historic role in FI is that he is the last name on an alphabetical list of GP drivers.

56: Paul Hawkins is the driver. The car finished the race ... in the harbour.

57: Brazilian FI practice was delayed because dog ran onto the circuit.

58: Ronnie Peterson carried number one in 1974.

59: The only other driver to win back-to-back CIK Karting Championships in the same class is Ryan Briscoe (Junior ICA 95-96).

60: Dean Canto won the Junior Clubman class in Adelaide in 1994.

61:16 Aussie raced FI internationally; Will Davison, Will Power,Marcus Marshall, Barton Mawer in British F3,

Karl Reindler at the Bahrain Super Prix, Christian Jones,John Pettit, Aaron Caratti and Craig Rundle in Asian F3 and Kenny Habul,Bevan Carrick, Bill Maddocks,John Boothman,Michael Navybox,Heath Eustace and David Borg in the Lady Wigram Trophy in New Zealand.

62: Former West Coast Eagle Troy Wilson races Super Sedans.

63: Michael Schumacher is two poles behind Senna and well behind Ricardo Patrese in starts.

64: Dumbers has five Bathursts under his belt; 1999 with Matthew White, 2001 with Leanne Ferrier, 2002 with Larry Perkins, 2003 with Tomas Mezera and 2004 with Tony Longhurst.

65: Rubens Barrichello's first FI pole was the Belgium GP,Spa 1994 in the jordan-Hart.

66: The 2004 Bathurst 24 Hour was scheduled for November 19-21.

67: Damien 'Ice' White's Bathurst V8 co-driver was Rod Salmon.

68: Alan Heath, driving the Konrad Motorsport Lola, finished second in the ALMS Race of a Thousand years.

69: The last European make to win the ATCC was BMW,with Jim Richards in 1987.

70: Brooke Tatnell has never won an Australian Sprintcar Title.

71: Jack Young won the World Speedway Grand Prix Championship in 1952.

72: Coulthard stepped into the Williams for the Spanish GP after Ayrton Senna died in 1994. DC was rested for the following race at Monaco.

73: Bezzy had to pay up because he

left his helmet back at the hotel.

74: Leanne Perrier won Class C of the Australian Production Car Championship.

75: John Teulan won the Trophy Class in the 2004 Nations Cup series.

76: CART had more. Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti all won races in the 1993 PPG CART IndyCar Series. FI only had two blokes called Frost and Senna.

77: Adelaide and Albert Park are equal on 11 each. Albert Park will jhump to 12 in March.

78: Honda's 2004 FI engine was designated RA004E. 79: The V8 drivers with the same surnames were Steven,Jason and Jim Richards and Rick, Todd and Owen Kelly. Will Davison and Andy Jones raced alongside'namesakes' but did not score points.

80: The two drivers to 'platoon' an FI seat were Teo and Corrado Fabi. Teo had Champ Car commitments so Brabham drafted his brother in when they needed a driver.

81: Surprise! Toyota covered the most race and practice kilometres during 2004, with a total of 24,661.

At the other end of the spectrum was McLaren, which covered just 16,296.

82: Steve McQueen's racing number in the movie Le Mans was #20.

83: The nine tyre companies to have supplied FI since 1950 are,in alphabetical order, Avon, Bridgestone, Continental,Dunlop, Englebert, Firestone, Goodyear, Michelin and Pirelli.

84: A1 GP's chassis partner is Lola.

75

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Toyota Drift/Race/Rally Car, Originally built as a rally car but has been used at autocross and sprints in Warwick for the last 10 years. All Levin GT parts, LSD, Quick rack, Billsteins etc. $3500 Neg. Terry 07 301 3201 8866. www.myl05.com/54959

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Torana XU1, Blasted,seamwelded,sleel cage.Tangerine 2 pack thru out.New motor off dyno inch carillos,rollercam, Webbers,msd,etc. 4spot brakes,Tilton master cyl./Bias.Sand bent extractors.alum radiator & fuel tank. 8 x7" Hot Wires & tyres.SPARE race eng. comp, balancer to clutch. Completed 3 race meetings. $40,000 Not Neg. Leo 08 96411218. www.myl05.eom/84902

Morris Cooper S, Original Mkl S, it raced from 1967 as a series production touririg car, and improved production from the early 70s, interior trim is original, car has period mods including genuine minilites. Car is has some very special history, is immaculate, road legal, and is ready to race and enjoy. $22900.00. 0438170099 / ot 55641502. www.myl05.eom/72720

2001 Porsche GT3 Cup Car, This car Is as new. Complete chassis overhaul includes new control arms, caster arms, rotors, pads, drive shafts and an engine build. Comes with 3 sets BBS with rubber, stack dash/logger, new harness and fire equip.

Ready for season 2005. $139,000 Neg. 301 Paul 0418 319908. www.myl05.com/55838

V

1982 Lola T610 Group C, Ex works team, Lemans, Aust history, CAMS log book, 6 Ite Chev, full gear set, many spares. $220,000.

301 Kerry 03 9336 2248. www.myl05.com/51360

Improved Production Mazda RX7, immaculately built car, only 6 races old.

Chrome moly cage, 1:1, 5 speed box with quick change, custom manifold and alloy radiator, electric water pump, thermo, Haltec, factory LSD with spare ratios, 2 piece tailshaft, cambered rear with adj watts linkage, adjustable brake balance bar and much more. Includes large range of spares and frailer. Complete ready to race package, $25,000. Phil (02) 9835 1230.

301 vww.myl05.com/89211

IT’S THE SMART WAY TO SELL YOUR EQUIPMENT!

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Improved Production Datsun 120Y, Competitive front running car. Winner 2004 Interstate Challenge series. SR20 Turbo power.autronic ECU, big brakes. Double adjustable shocks, in car adjustable sway bars. Only raced 3 seasons, very reliable & cheap to run. Mallala 1:16, W/Park 1:06, Winton 1:35, QLD 1:21, E/Creek 1:46 .

300 $27,000. Mark 0419 853 134. www.myl05.com/99535

Commodore Sports Sedan, Group C copy, 308 Holden motor, 5 speed Supra gear box.

Group C suspension, spare complete painted body shell with flares and spoiler.

301 $9,500 Neg. Adrian 02 6362 2027. www.my105.com/39789

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1976 Ford Escort Club Car, Cams log book, full roll cage, brake bias, near new Yokohama Advan tyres on 7" Rebel wheels, 12mths since full ground up rebuild. Heaps of spares including motor, diff, gearboxes, body panels etc. Includes single axle trailer with hydraulic override disc brakes. This vehicle is in excellent condition. $12,000 ONO. Darryl (07) 4630 8210 (home)/ 0409 301 615 255. www.myl05.com/25493

1

Grp Nc 68 Monaro GTS 327, Three year build with the best of everything. Massive amount of developement on all components. 530+ HP roller motor. Only Two races old with excellent speed already shown. Perfect Biante Series car. Half of profesional build cost. Forced sale. 69000 300 Neg. David Belford 0412692172. www.myl05.com/51619

ECLAT Series II 2.2, Queensland registration and fresh roadworthy, white (pictured), fresh paint, 8 original Lotus Speedline alloy wheels, top end overhaul and new cam belt, all ports polished and matched. Crane Cams fireball ignition, Accel Coil, Top Gun Leads, Inboard rear discs, electrics upgraded (mainly Bosch). + 1982 model for spares . 22,000 ONO. George 301 0409 271 187. www.myl05.eom/90584

Mini Cooper 64 Replica, Full ground up restoration, all genuine cooper parts in correct sliding window bodyshell. Rare internal offset minilites (no flares required) with Yokohama Advans, Fully adjustable suspension including Koni shocks, camber, castor and hi-lo's. Cooper S brakes.

Competition Clutch. Large capacity radiator.

The perfect targa Tasmania or tarmac rally car. $9500 Or Best Offer, Derek 0408 300 992691. www.myl05.com/75881

79

Open Wheelers

Mitsubishi Evo 6, 550hp engine, 8 pot brembo's, cusco diffs, new HKS/Garret Turbo, Improved Production National Championship winning car (late model class). Eligible for rally rego. Spares also available. $35,000. Aaron 0409 298 108.

301 www.myl05.eom/60367

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C.

i

Racecar & Trailer For Sale, CAMS Log Book Regular entrant at nsw Sports Sedan & Super Sprints Seven years entered 6hr Relay Classic has finished them all. 12 years of fun and reliability. Trailer regd 08/05 electric brakes Dual axle Lockable Panniers Extra long ranps for low car Designed light weight 465kgs. $6500.00 Not Neg. David 300 (02) 9792 3909. www.my105.com774025

J

I GRP Nc "68 MUSTANG TRANS AM, OUTSTANDING RACE HISTORY, PREPARED AND MAINTAINED WITH NO EXSPENSE SPARED. BUILT WITH THE VERY BEST AVAILABLE. FRESH TOP HP ENGINE. EXTENSIVE SPARES. FULL SET-UP DATA. TOP 3 BIANTE SERIES 2004. RARE OPPORTUNITY. $90,000.

DREW 0418312587. www.my105.com/54457

Tr

*7

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racecar, LC Torana better than new inside & out, only done two hillclimbs. Ground up pro build Logged NC with heaps spares.

Best example available bargian @ $30,000 Ph024257504. 30.000 Not Neg. Garry 42257504.

300 www.myl05.eom/54530

LOTUS MOTORSPORT 200 ELISE, .Imported as a knockdown racecar by Lotus Motorsport Australia, this is the very last Motosport Elise chassis to be produced by the factory. The car has never raced in the UK or here and has new everything!. Big brakes, blueprinted standard motor, roller barrel! throttle bodies, Motec, Safety Devices cage, Corbeau seats, and much more.

Great reliable car for Production/Marque Sports or could be a potent Sports Sedan with a change of motor. A similar car won the 2001 Production Sports car championship in 2001 beating Porsche GT3's.Due to the closure of Lotus Motosport Aus, this car is being sacrificed at $100,000. Normal new price would be $170,000. Call Peter Landan on 300 0418 207 600. $100,000. www.myl05.com/38796

EVO 7, Race winning car, ready to race the 2005 season with AVESCO. Many spares.

Garry 0413 879 879 / (02) 9688 3003.

300 www.myl05.eom/28980

Supersport Project, 4AGE 20 Valve, 6speed GB, new 15 x 7 wheels with new Yokohama slicks, chassis, uprights, driveshafts, steering rack, rose joints, call for more info. 3500.00. TONY 0411 603 402.

300 www.myl05.com/89269

Porsche GTS Cup Car, MY2003 with 2004 update package currently running in Carrera Cup. Maintained perfectly (no race mechanical failures), recent motor, gearbox and chassis refresh (no major shunts).

Spares, Motec, Radio and other Equipment.

Trailer and/or Transporter also available.

Setup, track, dyno, shock, parts life and other data. Price is negotiable. Stephen 0418 685 575.

300 www.myl05.com/19254

96 Van Diemen Formula Ford, This car Is very neat and is ready to race. Well maintained and very reliable car. Great for a State series competitor. An extensive spares package Is also available. $20 500 ONO. Ben or Brian 02 4954 7560 / 0409 467 136.

301 www.my105.com/23364 Formula Holden Reynard 93D, Ex >' Dumbrell. Sequaential updated to 96 suspension, wingsetc. Complete rebuild groud up including $5000 paint, complete with spares minus engine, Motec dash. $55,000 firm. ksmith$titan.co.nz. $55,000.

Ken 64 9 274 8646.

301 www.my105.com/17579 Formula Holden Reynard 91D, Ex Kevin Weeks, Top Condition, race ready with spares, minus engine. $37,000 Firm. PI Dash New. ksmith@titan.co.nz. $37,000.

Ken 64 9 274 8646.

301 www.myl05.com/69628 Formula Ford Van DIeman RF91, Formula Ford Van DIeman RF91. Complete ready to race, good orig car, spare wheels/ratios/body panels/suspension parts.

Bargain $15,000 Firm. ksmith@titan.co.nz. $15,000. Ken 64 9 274 8646.

301 www.my105.com/33527

er

Ultima GTR, 5 liter Ford engine fuel injected with Porsche G50 5 speed gearbox, full roll cage Simmons wheels, racing harnesses new trim. $110,000. Mark 9838 8374 bh / 0408 976 958.

300 www.myl OS.com/89394

Dallara F397/8, F397 with F398 updates.

Fresh Tom's Toyota engine. Second in 2002 Championship ( Will Power ), second in Trophy Class 2004. This car has been meticulously maintained & comes with a comprehensive spares package including Data Logger & setup information for most tracks. $60,000 Neg. Bevan 0733755566.

300 www.myl05.eom/56609

f^MFwayto sell vour gear! From lust$25* lustlog on (*$25 applies to ads entered directly onto my105.com)

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CLASSIFIEDS

super sedan pontiac grandprix, light weightchassis.fresh engine with dyno sheets 366 bow tie block+heads,dry sump.msd ing.winters box.woodwood rack+powerhead,new winters quick change with bert tubes,griffon radiator,rebco guages,weld wheels,afeo threaded shocks,new bodymost spares,car 15 showes old. Ph Daryl after 6:00pm. Daryl 299 (03) 5973 6075. www.myl05.com/87272

Parts

Fabricator, Sheetmetal Worker/TIG Welder/Fabricator reqd by Braeside racing car manuf. Must have alum TIG exp. Exc cond, neg pkg. Ph Paul 03 9580 5236. Full Time. Borland Racing Developments 03 299 9580 5236. vwwv.myl OS.com/57051

Engines

Speedway

BDA Jennings Cosworth 1600cc, BDA Jennings Cosworth 1600cc. All Steel dry sump, to be reassembled. Brand new parts include AX motorsport Block, Cosworth pistons, rings, bearings, cambelt, webber carbs. Low miles on valves and conrods.

Complete to Flywheel, top condition. $25,000. ksmith@titan.co.nz. $25,000. Ken 301 64 9 274 8646. www.myt05.com/63956 F/F Goodman Engine, 2 fresh Goodman engines,can be supplied with oil pump,carby, dissy, ALSO available 1300 ford to suit histories. Phil 02 67463404 / 02 301 67463404. www.my105.com/39278 Lotus Ford Twin Cam Engine, Totally rebuilt by UK T/C experts New internals.

0.020" oversize bore. New pistons, standard size Lotus steel crank, SE cams, New clutch, unleaded valve seats, new valves and guides. New water pump, Ready to drop in and run. Only needs a distributor and exhaust manifold to suit your application. 8,500 Not Neg. 9417 4755 / 301 9909 2990. www.myl05.com/22090

Tow Vehicle, Ford Transit, Suit Towing or Motorhome Conversion, Tandem Rear/\xle, LPG, New Paint, Numerous Mechanical Reciepts. $9500 ONO. Andrew 300 0418726226. www.myl05.eom/50548 ^CAPITAL

I

Marketing 8i Media, Formula Ford seeks a person to dynamically manage its media/marketing. Includes off/on track, driver, media pre and post race activities.

Requires strong marketing, media and Contract skills. communication fee/expenses will be negotiated. Send cv, to references experience, cated@escalate.com.au. or P O Box 117, 300 Albion 4010 www.myl05.com/98386

Karts for sale Excellent 2 Kart Trailer, 2 Kart Trailer in Fantastic Condition, Heaps of Storage, Large Stmt Rear Door, Axle, Tyre and Fuel Racks, Interior Light, Tows Well. $2000 Not 300 Neg. Ian 0427074842. www.my105.com/68871

Transporters/Traiiers Parts and Tires, Brakes Tilton floor mount clutch/brake pedal assembly new $570 Tilton masters 7 to choose from $50 each Sparco steering wheel new $220 Longacre memory tire/brake pyrometer $400 Wilwood superlite 4 piston calipers and 4 sets of hawk blue pads $450 discs 330/30 with bells to suit HQ/Jag pattern $350 Wilwood prop valve $30. Tires Dunlop slicks 265/630 R16 all 4mm rubber x 6 $100 each, tires Hoosier radial 255 / 50 ZR16 all 4mm rubber x 4 $75 each, and 245/45 ZR 16 all 4/3mm rubber $50 each. Peter 03 9578 302 1964 / 0409 578 196. www.myl05.com/26479

Motorsport Jobs

I

GMC 3500 Turbo Diesel, 1 owner custom built for Peter Brock , Aust complianced , removable canopy , 6.3 Itr Turbo Diesel ,18 in Billet wheels, 9 in front 10 in rear ,285 Bridgestone tyres , proflex shocks. Bull Bar ,2 speed winch , auto ,/VC , CD , cloth trim , power windows , twin fuel tanks , tub liner.

47500 Neg. Greg Stevenson 03 9462 0186 / 303' 0412 385 540. www.myl05.com/85993

Rally Mechanics, small Melbourne based team requires rally mechanics with specific experience in build, preparation and running cars at national championship level.

Commencing early 2005 and beyond.

Applications in writing by Jan 31 to: The Manager, CM&E, PO Box 1216 Blackburn 301 North VIC 3130. www.myl05.com/69715

1. .

25th Anniversary Arrows AX6, Not used in 18months because of commitments else where. Shame to leave her sitting around.

Runs well previous owner 3rd in championship. Purchase from Kartworks 10/06/2000. $2200.00 Neg AUD. Wayne 299 0407948357 / 43900990. www.myl05.com/32291

iU.

Yokohama A032Rs + VX SS rims, 4 x Holden VX SS 17 x 8 rims, fitted with 235/40R17 Yokohama A032R tyres. Tyres have only done 6 laps of Winton. Tyres retail new at $540ea. $2200.00 ONO. Delian 301 0418 221 353. www.myl05.com/97432 Jerico Gearbox, 4 spd Jerico Nascar gearbox, straight cut racing box used in 500hp VN holden club car in 2004.

Excellent condition never damaged and regularly serviced. Ultra reliable and great to use. Includes shifter. Stop mucking around and get a proper race box. $4250. Jeff 0418 301 239 466. www.myl05.com/30853

STOLEO GEAR PLEfiSE CALL ULHTH inFO stolen 20 Gear Ratio Sets, suit Hewland, FT200 FGB etc. Anonymous phone call identifying person selling such gears greatly appreciated. Chas 03 9752 7639 (b - ah), 303 www.myl05.com/86582

12 January 2005

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92 CHEV "GMC" SUBURBAN, RARE 4WD, 454 Big Bloc(Economical) AUTO, ELEX, /VC, CAPTAINS CHAIRS, 7 IN COMFORT AND REAR SEATS FOLD FLAT FOR LUGGAGE OR SLEEPS 2 PEOPLE. 12 MTHS REG. BLUE/BLACK COLOR, FULL SERVICE HISTORY, VERY GOOD CONDITION AND VERY RELIABLE. EXCELLENT TOW VEHICLE $32,500 ONO 0438 405 558. William 0413244244.

301 www.myl05.com/93947

Supercar Transporter, Freightliner Argosy 2001 110" sleeper Detroit series 18 speed 466km 45' tri on air, 3 car, kitchen, airconditioned, workshop, tailgate loader, 3 car side annexe, generator, compressor, both Old current Rego & machinery $300,000,00 pius GST (will separate) contact 0418 870 302 274.300,000 + GST. 0418870274. www.my105.com/27641

AX8 AMAX Bargain, As new AX8 AMAX with fully rebuilt motor. Raced once. Comes with Alfano and Brand New Easijet Tuner.

Cost $7500 Sell $5000 BARGAIN Not Neg 300 AUD. Ian 0427074842. www.myl05.com/2898

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Just who is the top Holden team?

I just finished reading MNews issue #299. A great read as usual.

There was one thing I wanted to question you about, though.

You said PWR are the number one Holden team. Are you serious? Surely KRT earned that title in 2004.

Murphy finished fourth in the championship and Kelly finished sixth. That would make BCRT the number one Holden outfit.

It doesn't really matter what assets Mr Kees owns, it's results on the track that count. I realise Murphy has moved to PWR but I don't think KRT will lose anything with Tander joining the team.

Adam West thebatcave@ozemail.com.au

convener Send us your thoughts: mail; PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax; 03 9596 5030 www.mnewsxom.au

ED: James now races in the Japan GT Championship with the factory TOM'S Toyota outfit, where he finished this year's series in sixth position. He was somewhat hamstrung by a much slower co driver.

Young Chapman fan

Aussie A-OK in 2005

Where’s James?

I would like to know what has happened to James Courtney.

Is he still racing, and if so, where?

You folk at MNews will barely have any room for V8 Supercar content.

Simon Brown Clearview, SA

Commentators to blame

CHRIS JORDAN: On the basis of Bright being the highest placed Holden in the championship, in third, I would call PWR the top Holden team. After all, they will be the second team (behind SBR) in the pit lane this year.

I definitely cion't deny that Kmart/Kelly Racing had a stellar year, but I based my comment on who had the highest placed driver in the championship, not the assets of the team owners.

As a young motorsport fan I really enjoyed your article on the Lotus 72 (MNews #297).

It provided an insight to a world of Formula 1 of which I know little about and it is also a good page filler, during the off season.

I want more please, keep 'em coming!

Name Withheld mjoh6100@bi^ond.net.au

Two Honda-wielding Aussies in Troy Bayliss and Chris Vermulean - will be at the pointy end of MotoGP and World Superbike respectively. And don't forget that Ant West and Casey Stoner will be on quality machinery in the 250cc class.

Mat Mladin, Dave Grubnic and Brooke Tatnell are all in the US doing us proud and there are a host of others all over the globe showing the rest how good we Australians are at motorsport. I haven't even started on the off track brains like Sam Michael!

Is James still a chance of getting into Formula One? I hope you can help.

Sam lapira samJapira85@hotmail.com

Look out world - Australians are coming to get you!

I was elated to hear recently of Chris Atkinson's signing to the Subaru World Rally Team. The yoimgster has really made a name for himself over the last 12 to 18 months and he thoroughly deserves this great opportunity.

Next year you boys at MNews will be very busy indeed. Mark Webber in a top-flight Formula 1 team and likewise for Atkinson in WRC. Ryan Briscoe should be in the Indy Racing League with Chip Ganassi and Marcus Marshall has his eyes on Champ Car.

Something which annoys me really badly is the commentators on television that continually refer to competitors as being in 'such and such' a position after someone else has pitted.

If Marcos Ambrose has pitted and returns to the track in 27th position, then he is in 27th position.

Yet the commentators always come out with 'oh well, Marcos Ambrose will be in the lead when Joe Blow and his mates all pit'.

Now to my way of thinking, if someone has not pitted and they are leading the race, then that person should be called the race leader, regardless of what might happen and the TV cameras should reflect that as well.

I am sure that the confusion in Tassie was helped along by people believing the commentators ami their 'but if' stories.

So come on fellas, if the slowest car on the track is leading because he has not pitted yet, then he is leading the race regardless, so please refer to that car as the leader in the future.

Mike Thompson gt27@iinet.net.au

Material published by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Australasian Motorsport News does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

‘Opinions expressed in Motorsport News are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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82

msv Orri Kltitmnitfi

Which team is better? Reader Adam West took exception to PWR be named over Kmart as the top Holden team. Both will be very different next year, so what do you think?

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Ph: (02) 8825 1900 fj Fax: t02) 8825 1911, email: sales@roGketind.com For the latest full product listing on all the products we stock please visit our website,

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● Nigh Performance Ignilion 6 Fuel Systems ● Billet "Ready to Run" Dlslributors ● Coils ● Performance Spark Plug leads ● Injectors

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Available from Yokohama key dealer 131 509 Bob Jane T-Mart 13 26 25

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