Motorsport News Issue 303 - February 23-March 8, 2005

JUSP/ V8 SUPERCAR PREVIEW ISSUE CO CO CO CO CO

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No. 303 February 23 - March 8 2005 Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST

Williams not the fastest car out there yet, hut ■■■

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Issue 303

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23 February-8 March2005

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FI as usual Court action and quit threats Prodrive’s Axe DR busts some caps in some asses

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features 36 Pressurised Drivers may not admit it, but pressure really exists 38 Ford Prefect After four years of trying hard but not getting many trophies is Craig Lowndes finally with the right team at Triple 8?

42 do it My Way How Mark Skaife plans to bounce back in 2005 44 And don’t forget All the little bits on Planet V8 Supercar, like an entry list, the Contenders and the roughies to watch (please, no gambling)

race coverage

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Photos: Cover: suHon* images.com Contents: sutton-images.com and John Morris/Mpix

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regulars 22 Bikes 70 Speedway

74 Drag Racing

68 Raliying 78 National Scene

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by JOE SAWARD RON Dennis has upped the ante in the debate over the future of FI by saying this week that he is prepared to pull McLaren out of FI if the conditions under which the sport is to be run are not suitable.

In the past it has always been Ferrari which has threatened to leave Formula 1 when it was unhappy with things. The threat has never been carried through. Now McLaren has decided that it too can play that game.

Whether the threat is one that will make the sport tremble is another matter.

McLaren is an important FI brand and would be missed, but it is not Ferrari.

The point, however, has been made that McLaren and

Dennis: Change the deal or we will leave Gi*i

its partner Mercedes-Benz are not happy with the way the sport is currently doing business (which is no big secret) and that it will not submit to the same kind of terms in the future. The important aspects being sought are fairness and transparency, concepts which are foreign in the current commercial structure.

The threat follows the meeting last week at which the GPWC's plans for the future of FI were presented to the teams.

The five-hour meeting between the car manufacturers and teams left a strong impression on those who attended and made it very clear that the new series being planned is deadly serious. The

presentation was thorough and professional and it was clear that the GPWC and iSe have done their research. Our sources say that compared to previous presentations, this was in a different league.

"It is really dangerous now," said one of the team owners involved. " There is a viable alternative. There is a strong desire that there must not be two series, but we have a situation that is the biggest dartger.that,Formula 1 has ever#faced. The FISA and FOCA war was a small fish compared to this. There are five big manufacturers and they want their voice to be heard."

After the meeting the five manufacturers and the nine teams involved (yes, no Ferrari) issued a statement which stated that they have unanimously agreed upon the establishment of a new framework for their participation in Grand Prix motor racing post 2007.

Home Court Advantage?

Stoddy may seek legal Intervention to race in Melbourne MINARDI team boss Paul Stoddart is threatening Victorian Supreme Court court action if he is not allowed to compete with his 2004-spec cars in the Australian Grand Prix.

With so much uncertainty about the 2005 rules(and questions about the legality of their introduction), and insufficient budget to build an interim car to race whOe a full-on 2005-spec car was designed and built,Stoddart maintained as far back as October that Minardi would start 2005 using its 2004 cars.

Most team managers, with the exception of Ferrari's Jean Todt, seemed to be sympathetic. However,Stoddart's recent run-ins with FIA boss Max Mosley, with the Minardi boss representing the views of nine of the 10 teams(guess wliich is the odd man out!) appear to have rUed the FIA, which is threatening to fail the Minardis at scrutineering, Stoddart has not made any friends at the FIA in recent weeks,exchanging letters with Mosley over the question of how the rules in FI have been made in recent months.

This has irritated Mosley, who recently made a series of ill-considered remarks about Stoddart, saying that the Minardi boss would be a good candidate as FIA president because he knew how to make slow cars and tried to brush off Stoddart's claims. He was not very convincing in this respect as Stoddart had clearly done his homework.

4

There are some team bosses who see the threat of

Minardi's exclusion as an attempt to destabilise Stoddart and get him to back off in his attacks on Mosley. The FIA argues that it is simply adhering to the rules.

Stoddart has obviously foreseen a problem over Melbourne and says that if his cars do have difficulties in scrutineering he will argue that the 2005 rules are illegal and the issue will end up in the Victorian Supreme Court.

Minardi would,in any case, be able to race under appeal.

The danger is that excluding Minardi in Austraha could also lead to accusahons that the FIA is trying to stop Stoddart stirring up trouble about how the rules were made,even if he is representing most of the other teams.

This argument will disappear if Ferrari agrees to allow Stoddart to run the old cars for three races and this is

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probably the sensible route to take because the old cars are not going to be any more competitive.

Stoddart says that he has not asked Ferrari boss Jean Todt to allow him to run the old cars since they discussed the matter at Suzuka last year. On that occasion Todt refused. All the other team bosses have agreed that Minardi should be allowed to use the older machinery.

"Maybe Jean has had a change of heart since then," Stoddart says. "I hope so for the good of the sport.

Nobody wants all this drama to happen in Melbourne."

-JOESAWARD

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Webber Cautious Webber Radio but still Hopeful

iitd Prix racing "They confirmed and fully endorsed technical rules and regulations and the "Governing Principles for Grand Prix Motor Racing" previously agreed between them.

They also confirmed their support of the principles of Grand Prix motor racing post 2007 as described by iSe in its presentation and committed themselves to supplying competitive engines at an affordable price to second teams. In addition to all this they agreed to work together to establish technical, sporting and governance working groups to come up with a new structure and regulations for the sport and agreed to invite all FI teams to join the series on equal terms.

MARK Webber is playing down expectations of a top three finish in next week's Australian Grand Prix, but admits that "anything can happen!"

While cautious optimism has been a Webber trademark during his Grand Prix career to date, the perceived shortfall in sheer pace of the new BMW.Williams FW27 during recent testing, especially in long runs, does suggest it may be a challenging weekend for the local hero.

While Webber won't be specific on what is affecting his car, he did concede this week that "the aero package is probably the most important element of the car in terms of outright lap times, along with tyre management and engine performance,in that order. We're certainly not on top of the aero just yet...

"We've done a lot of mileage - you always want more - but in terms of the pace of the car, we're not exactly where we want to be."

In an exclusive interview with MNews prior to heading to Valencia for the final, pre-Melbourne test (see page 50), Webber asked that race fans not assess him on just one race; "Whatever happens. I've got a long career ahead of me,so don't judge me on one race in Melbourne!"

Williams' recent FI seasons have been characterised by a slow start

and increased momentum as the

year, and development, have improved the car. 2005 may well be a similar tale.

Webber's comments about the aero package on the Williams aren't too difficult to interpret- if you are not where you want to be with aero, it simply means you don't have enough efficient downforce compared to your rivals.

Indeed, the suggestions coming out of Europe are that the windtunnel performance of the FW27 hasn't yet been matched by the real thing. As it attempts to address the issue, the team will assess revised aero parts at Valencia and, possibly, as late as practice in Melbourne.

While testing times can be deceiving, Webber joins a number of credible observers suggesting that Renault, McLaren and Ferrari could well be the Melbourne pace-setters.

Regardless, he promises to give everything in his home GP: "Of course I'd like to be on the podium. It's an important race: my first one for Williams, my first race with a big team, but I'll do what I've done every other time - come down to enjoy it and do my best."

And be prepared for a surprise Webber hasn't earned the reputation for lifting teams and cars above their status for nothing...

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

and he hates 1-tyre!

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AUSSIE FI driver Mark Webber has thrown his weight behind those disappointed with the nature of current and proposed changes in FI regulations.

The BMW.Williams star and GP Drivers' Association board member believes the purity of out-and-out racing is being unnecessarily compromised and this week told MNews: "I disagree with one-tyre thing. We're probably the only major category in the world which does that. Making stops without changing tyres is going to look a bit odd.

"We do need to monitor speed, sure. But despite everything they've changed for this year, lap times haven't really changed - we're as quick as we were last year!

"Going to a V8 engine is disappointing as well, but these guys react so quickly, they're already talking SOOhp. "What disappoints me is that we're losing the pure aspects of FI racing, or what it was.

You can't, for example, set the car up for qualifying, because it goes straight into pare ferme. And now we've got 'aggregate' qualifying - times from two sessions added together. For me, it just confuses things ..."

23 February 2005

He doesn't however, believe that the onetyre rule will convert GP drivers into endurance racers: "I don't think so. I don't think you'll find Kimi and Fernando driving around looking after their tyres.

"It's up to the car to be well-balanced. The drivers just have to drive the cars flat out that's what I'd expect and what I do expect.

There should be enough information and testing for the tyre companies to achieve that.

"I guess I'm just frustrated that they are taking (extra) tyres away. And I'm worried about how much running you'll see on Friday, thanks to having to do two events on one engine.

And, at the more absurd end of the scale, how about Mario Thiessen's apprehension that an engine change, allowable without penalty if you DNF a race, could lead to 'planned DNFs'for cars outside the points?

"Never say never with these guys in this game, but hitting self-destruct buttons on engines would be ...

"Let's say Charlie Whiting didn't come down in the last shower!"

-CHRIS LAMBDEN

WANT your pic taken with Michael, Mark, DC and Jarno? Want to sit in a grandstand? That's the prize on offer if you support depression-relief charity beyondblue by lashing out $5 for a mini portable radio to listen to the GP course commentary.

The radios will be on sale at Fed Square during the Wednesday street parade and at the track from Thursday through to Saturday evening when the draw will be made. Someone's in for a super Sunday... n The Team Perkins race number issue remains, for now, unresolved.

The official entry list for the AGP support races lists IP's two cars under number 24 for Steven Richards and 43 for Paul Dumbrell ... n The Peter Brock 60th birthday breakfast, at the Motorpsort Show, was a resounding success, with Brock's charity foundation benefiting significantly. A Holden Astra, donated

by Holden, was originally knocked down at $17,000 to Mark Skaife, but before breakfast was over, he'd done a deal with the underbidder to get the car. Brock's final Bathurst HRT race suit went for $5500 to an enthusiast from Perth who'd flown over with that one mission in mind. n Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer is a late inclusion to the field of the BMW Celebrity Challenge at the Foster's Australian FI Grand Prix.

"I am taking a week's leave so that I can prepare and train properly to ensure I can race as safely and competitively as possible," said Downer.

"My main ambition is not to come last. A politician has never won it, but I won't crack under the pressure." n Frank Adamson has been appointed as Steve Brow's technical assistant at TEGA. Adamson has a lot of experience in V8 Supercar, with his technical experience formally being enjoyed by Team Brock and Team Kiwi Racing. n Speaking of Brock, is that the Mick Webb, of SVO fame, offering a brand new, still in the box, Polariser on ebay for $1500? The same Mick Webb who crewed for Brock and Moffat at Wellington in 1986, pictured below?

Spring Clean

by CHRIS JORDAN

PRODRIVE Chairman David Richards'visit to Australia to ;

Game On

HRT will take new cars with an old look into battle in 2005, as the team sets about returning to its days of turning up to tracks and kicking the living daylights out of everyone.

Having just endured the worst season in the team's history, HRT was talking up its stability and a strong technical development program as the key ingredients for its recovery at its 2005 launch in Melbourne two weeks ago.

The team also took the wraps off its new VZ Commodore, which features a return to a predominantly red livery after a few splashes of black over the past couple of seasons.

"We've decided that the black was bad luck," confessed a team insider.

"Holden's colour is red, we're the official Holden team, so it seems appropriate that we go back to a red livery."

The drivers, however, were more excited about what was underneath the VZ's skin, with Mark Skaife declaring that the new car was the most advanced chassis ever produced by the team.

"The new car is a real coup," he said.

"We worked extremely hard to bring the new chassis on for the Tasmania race (last year), which gave us two meetings worth of data as a head-start on this year, "it's also important for us to get our head around the new engine as quickly as possible we had three different engines last year, and that held up development."

Todd Kelly's identical VZ is still under construction, and will be ready for the start of the season.

While he hasn't driven the new6

spec car yet, he said that he liked what he had seen.

"I've had a good look over the car in the workshop, and there are things there that I have never seen before," he said, "It's a really well-engineered car."

HRT also used the launch to unveil its 2005 endurance line-up of Jim Richards and James Courtney, as revealed in Motorsport News last issue.

Richards already has some pleasant memories of enduro drives with HRT, having won Bathurst with Mark Skaife in 2002 and finishing fifth alongside Tony Longhurst in 2003 For Courtney, however, the enduro role will mark the versatile 24-year-old's first-ever race on an Australian circuit.

"I grew up watching Bathurst, so I'm pretty excited," he said.

"This is a good opportunity with HRT. I have had offers in the past, but there have always been conflicts with my other racing. But there were no clashes this year, and I get to do it with a great team-mate in Jim. "He's got a lot of experience, and he's not backwards in coming forwards with information.

"It will be my first time on an Australian track, and I'm doing it with the most successful team in history. It's going to be a great experience!"

2005 also looks like being a busy year for the team on the marketing front. The cars will sport a new sponsor in the form of Riverina Boats, while there will also be a huge push to develop HRT as a brand.

"We want to be the biggest sports brand in South East Asia," said HRT's General Manager (Marketing), Andrew McKenzie.

- MARK GLENDENNING

examine his under-performing Ford Performance Racing team has brought about a high-profile departure, with the resignation of Chief Engineer John Russell.

"The design of the car was well behind schedule and we had to make some fairly clear decisions on that and how we move forward on that, and John decided in the light of my observations and my view of things that he was going to resign his position as Chief Designer," said Richards.

Russell's position will not be filled, with his roles now delegated to two men already within the FPR fold.

Composites Design Engineer Simon Holt and the newly-arrived Phil Keed.

Keed, who came to FPR with Jason Bright after serving as Bright's engineer at PWR Racing, will now assume the title of Senior Race Engineer and will undertake a leading role on race weekends and during car preparation, while Holt wiD now take the reins of the team's design operations.

Both will be answerable to Team Manager Dave Ward, who will

assume a far greater control of the team's racing operations,leaving Managing Director David Flint to concentrate on FPR's commercial activities and the search for a new Managing Director.

Flint will retire at some point during 2006 and scoffed at rumours his retirement was being accelerated

by Richards.

"For a few years now my plan has been to retire in 2006," said Flint."We are looking for someone now,not because we need someone for 2005, but because we need someone to begin putting plans in place for 2006.

"My retirement is not being accelerated."

As a result of delays, Greg Ritter's new car was late in completion and Jason Bright wiU begin the year in the car Craig Lowndes used to finish the 2004 season. Richards says he expects Bright to use the older car for the first four to six rounds while Bright's new car is completed at the team's Campbellfield headquarters. The team's first test day will be at Phillip Island on February 28, where HRT will also be present.

Engine guru Rob Benson, acquired mid-last year from Brad Jones Racing, has finally been able to restructure the engine department at FPR to his Ukin, with a new dyno now installed and a new specification

The Air In There WHILE everybody was cooing over HRT’s 2005 livery at the team’s launch in Melbourne, most overlooked the little gizmo fitted just above the car’s windscreen.

At the request of AVESCO, HRT will spend the year testing a new roofmounted air inlet designed to force air into the cabin to help combat high cockpit temperatures.

The device will only be fitted to HRT’s ride car for the time being, however if tests are successful then don’t be surprised to see it pop up in the V8 Supercar field a little further down the track.

MARK GLENDENNING

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engine well into development.

The moves implemented by Richards give FPR a new, more structured system of management.

Richards will assume a more handson role with the team now that he is free of his commitments to BAR Honda in Formula 1. Richards will be seen at V8 Supercar races more often this year, with his first visit currently slated for Round 2 at Pukekohe, New Zealand,in April.

Richards will also ensure that weekly phone conferences are held to ensure parameters are being met.

For more on FPR,turn to page 28for Five Minutes with David Richards

KELLY Racing Team will run in the colours of Holden Special Vehicles this season.

The team's two Commodore VZs will be backed by the HSV Dealers, as well as a number of subsidiary sponsors. The cars will be tested tomorrow (Thursday) at Phillip Island in their new liveries by Rick Kelly

HDT! and Garth Tander.

As reported last issue, KRT will run two ex-Holden Racing Team 2004-spec cars this season, using chassis numbers 48 and 49. Those cars, which were driven in the first part of the season by Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly, will run with Holden Motor Sport engines.

EXPECT to see Cameron McLean suit up in Ford Performance Racing colours at the Sandown 500 and Super Cheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst in October.

Although all parties remained tight-lipped, sources have tipped that the Queenslander will be announced as their driver at or just after the Australian Grand Prix.

McLean, 37, will keep match fit during the year driving a Porsche GT3 Cup Car for Sherrin Hire Racing in this Australian Carrera Cup Championship. The former Australian Sport Sedan champion and privateer stalwart in Super Touring and V8 Supercar has been a solid endurance driver in the past. His best result was fourth with Steven Johnson in the wet race in 2000.

- GRANT ROWLEY

Dynamik WRhdraws Appeal

TEAM D)mamik has withdrawn its appeal to the FIA over its penalty that was incurred as a result of its Woomera test last August.

As a result, the one-lap penalty (with the two TD Commodores starting from pit lane, after the last car has completed lap one) will stand for the Adelaide Clipsal 500 races only. It is understood that the penalty specified the Eastern Creek final round races of 2004 and the Adelaide races of 2005 as the events at which

appeal at the V8 Supercar laimch in Sydney last weekend.

"As far as I know we've withdrawn by mutual agreement between the parties involved," said the former Queensland 500 winner.

"That's about as much as I know at this stage."

Wills then spoke to his father on

23Feli9iruani2(105

ACCORDING to Max Wilson's racing manager Greg Siddle, the Brazilian driver will take part in the V8 Supercar endurance races ... but with whom remains to be seen.

Siddle said that there has been a lot of interest in the services of Wilson for Sandown and Bathurst, but at this stage, there is no confirmation on which team.

MNews sources indicate that Ford is keen to see him join one of their teams, but a deal should be sorted at the Grand Prix, where Wilson will be a spectator. n Brad Jones Racing (Team BOC) has been making its own contribution to the tsunami appeai, by auctioning a couple of hot-lap rides alongside John Bowe and Brad Jones on ebay. The auction was due to close yesterday, but as we went to press, each ride had exceeded the $1500 mark. n Expect to see the Paul Morris Sirromet car with a slightly revised colour scheme in 2005. Besides changing his number from 29 to 67, Morris will continue to run the familiar black and orange colours, but the flashes of orange and silver on the doors will change to flames.

Forget the actual sport, paint schemes is the new race to win! n Former Team Kiwi Racing staffer Barry Jones has taken up the role as race weekend chief engineer at Greg Murphy Racing.

The New Zealand native will oversee GMR's four-car outfit on the race weekends while concentrating on his own business commitments throughout the week. Alex Davison won the championship for the team last year. n AVESCO has struck a deal with Phillip Island to reduce the track practice fee.

The Lindsay Fox-owned circuit was previously charging up to $8000 per day for the use of the flowing 4.4km circuit, however, it has since been reduced to $5500. This will benefit Victorian-based Development series teams as the V8 rules state that if a V8 team elects to test on any given day, other,teams are also allowed to use the track.

TD would be penalised.

CAMS was advised of the withdrawl in a brief letter from TD principal Keiran Wills, right,last week. With Wills in Queensland on business,it fell to lead driver Simon Wills to explain the reason behind the withdrawal of the

A Wilson return for enduros

everything has gone. As to penalties the phone and added; "As far as I've just been told, we've -1 don't know exactly what's withdrawn the appeal as that was the . happening with that at the moment.

Dad said that will come out soon." main thing we were upset about;just Wills Jr also believes that the team the process we were put through and will receive a 'Wild Card'enhy for Dad was challenging that side of the opening races of the season. things and now the whole system is "We'll have both cars at Adelaide changed and we're happy with the outcome of that. and in New Zealand,[that] is what "We're also satisfied with how I've been told," said Wills.

n Imagine the scene. You're a well-known 'red' PR person and you board your flight back to Melbourne last Saturday evening to find yourself sitting in a row of three ... between M Ambrose and R Ingall(why weren't they seated next to each other, you ask?).

What do you reckon the conversation-starter would be?

Thank you Qantas!

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The Last Goodbye?

WHILE it’s all systems go for next week’s Australian Grand Prix, expect to see some changes for the 2006 race.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chairman Ron Walker confirmed on Melbourne radio last week that a request had

been submitted to the FlAfor an early April date (probably April 69) to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games. This would see the Australian GP shuffled back to become the third round of the 2006 World Championship, however Walker

Chinese Take-Away

said that he was confident that the prestigious season-opening siot would be restored for 2007.

There could also be a significant change to the event’s support bill, with MNews spies suggesting that there is a reai possibility that the V8 Supercars may not return to Albert Park after this year’s race.

This is the final year of AVESCO’s contract with the AGP, and sources suggest that many teams see little value in running a non-championship race just weeks after the season curtainraiser in Adelaide. The fact that the recent track upgrades at Indy means that the Grand Prix is the only race on the V8 Supercar calendar that does not allow teams access to pitlane garages is also seen to be of significance.

Watch this space ...

- MARK GLENDENNING

V8sC

A CROWD estimated at between 5000 and 10,000 rolled up at Homebush, in Sydney, last Saturday for the official launch of the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Close observers of the V8 scene believe the Homebush venue to be significant, with V8 group AVESCO still working on 'Project Homebush' - its long-held hope for a street race near the Olympic venue.

Other than presenting the bulk of the V8 field, cars and drivers, along with transporters, to the general public, the launch also featured the release of AVESCO's new marketing push - based around singer Johnny Diesel's version of the Kinks hit 'You Really Got Me!'.

Also revealed were details of the 2005 V8 Supercar regulations, many of which had already worked their way into the public domain over preceding weeks. These are detailed elsewhere on this page.

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And more new rules

Testing regs get a re\/amp

THERE will be major changes to the V8 Supercar Championship Series tyre regulations for the Shanghai round in June.

The race at the new Grand Prix track will now be a 20-tyre race, with teams having access to two sets of brand new Dunlop rubber for practice, rather than using their already-used and marked 'tyre banks' as they do in other rounds.

This will allow Dunlop to freight its slick tyres directly to China from Japan. However, wet tyres will be freighted from Australia.

8

The teams will be permitted to take only three sets of rims to China and one of these (the ones on the cars) must be fitted with wet-weather "travellers’ that can be used, if needed, for practice, qualifying or racing.

Following the races, other tyres will be stripped from the teams' wheeis prior to cleaning, quarantine and transport back to Australia, Teams will have access to the "China’ tyres in their tyre banks once they return to Australia by sea freight. This wili probabiy happen in time for the Oran Park round in mid-August.

A NUMBER of changes have been made to V8 Supercar's testing regulations.

While teams will stiU be allowed a maximum of five test days during the course of the season, no testing will be allowed after December 16. As well, there will be a testing 'blackout' between April 10 and May 12, a period that includes the Auckland and Perth rounds of the championship.

This has been implemented to discourage teams from the costly exercise of flying cars back to Australia from Auckland for testing, as has happened in the past. Teams will still be permitted to fly cars back but they will not be able to run them anywhere.

As well, the Development Series testing rules have been amended to allow teams one test day prior to the opening round in the series in Adelaide next month. No driver other than those entered in the DVS can drive on that day, which means that a team that might be running four similar cars in the two series will not be able to have his V8SCS drivers sort the DVS entries.

There is also a change to the test ban, which used to come into effect on the day after the last round. In the past, teams that had not used all of its test days were unable to 'blood' new drivers. Now, drivers who switch to a team would be allowed to test in the final weeks of the season, providing the team concerned had at least one test day in hand.

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CHOOKLOTTO is back!

Well, sort of. Remember the draw drivers used to make to choose their starting positions in the Peter Jackson Dash? Well, the 2005 season will see echoes of those good ol' tobacco-backed days, with drivers choosing the running order for the Top 10 Shoot-Out at all races by a random draw.

The Shoot-Out will now start 15 minutes after the end of Qualifying, an idea aimed at limiting the amount of time teams have in which to 'lean on' their cars' set-up for the single-lap session and, presumably, save costs. ?

a limitea edition Broth BOth Birthday poster signed by Broth Six lucky MNews readers can acquire one of the limited edition posters created exclusively for Brock’s 60th Birthday Breakfast last week.

The poster features a number of never-before-seen images of Brock's early life and career and is a true collector's item.

Simply put your details on the back of an envelope and address it to: Brock Comp, Motorsport News, PO Box 7072, Brighton, VIC 3186 OR email ‘Brock Comp' and your postage details to admin@mnews.com.au (one entry only per person).

Six lucky winners will be drawn at random Entries close Tuesday 15th March. Thanks Pete!

23 February 2005

AS reported previously, there will be changes in the V8 Supercar Championship Series pitstop rules this season, but they are a little more complex than first thought.

In all sprint races (ie, races less than 400km) where there are Compulsory Pit Stops, crews will have to choose between two-tyre and fourtyre changes and will be only able to use two rattle guns.

Flowever, the teams will be able to have four rattle guns ready (ie, two on each side of the car) and should there be a malfunction in one of the 'primary' guns, a spare will be allowed to be brought into use.

Two persons will be allowed to attend to each wheel which, should a team choose to change two wheels, could make the stops slightly quicker than we have seen in recent years.

On a four-wheel CPS, the rattle guns will be moved from front to rear (or vice versa). According to one team we spoke to, the respective times for the stops would be about five and 12 seconds.

No air gun will be allowed to be used on both sides of the car during stops.

FI boys test and test and test...

RENAULT'S Fernando Alonso was the fastest driver over four days of Formula 1 testing this week at Barcelona, with the best lap-time ever driven on the Circuit de Catalunya.

The lap-times of almost all the cars taking part at the newly resurfaced Spanish Grand Prix venue were some way inside the fastest race lap in the 2004 race, driven by Michael Schumacher in 1ml7.4s. In several instances, they were better than the World Champion's 2004 pole (1 ml 5.0s).

In the absence of BAR Honda, the new Renault R25 was much quicker than the other new cars with a 1 ml3.971s lap on Friday. Alonso had also been quickest on Tuesday and his new team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, on Wednesday. Pedro de la Rosa, with a McLaren MP4-20 repaired overnight after an incident involving Kimi Raikkonen, had posted the best lap-time on Thursday.

The interim Ferrari F2004M, which the team will use for the first four races, all but matched the times of the new Renault and McLaren in the hands of both Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.

■ Jacques Regis, the president of the Federation Francaise du Sport Automobile (FFSA), the promoter of the French Grand Prix, says that he hopes that the French GP will be able to break even in 2005, The FFSA took over the running of the event last year and made a modest profit, but Regis says that the 10 percent increase in race fee, which takes the price this year up to $16m, will make it harder.

The FFSA policy is to lower ticket prices and try to attract more fans to see the racing. The event now has the cheapest FI tickets in the world with prices as low as $100. The French are not helped by the fact that the country will be without an active FI driver for the first time since 1966 but Regis hopes that a more competitive season - without Ferrari domination - will keep up interest.

■ General Motors has a new director of racing. The previous incumbent Doug Duchardt has decided to join Hendrick Motorsport only two years after he stepped in to replace Herb Fischel, who had held this important role for 12 years.

Duchardt's replacement will be 44-year-old Mark Kent. Kent is a powertrain engineer who was involved in the engine development of GM's IMSA and TransAm programmes between 1987 and 1992. He has since been involved in work in production of the Northstar V8 line of engines.

-SPURRING/SAWARD

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Qualifying remaii

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Sauber seeking

SAUBER and BMW are in talks about a supply of Formula 1 engines in 2006.

It has been clear for three or four months that Peter Sauber has' had enough of pumping money into Ferrari's coffers and there are strong suggestions that Midland F1 has already done a deal to take over the second Ferrari engine supply next year. That, at least, is iwhat the team is quietly telling people at the moment.

Sauber will need a new engine partner and, while the team has a historical link to Mercedes-Benz (having started out in F1 as the Stuttgart company's factory team), it is more likely that Sauber will end up with BMW. Down in Munich there are frustrations that Williams has not done as v.^ell as perhaps it should have done and while the company is not willing to go it alone in F1, it might be useful to have a team to push Williams along. Sauber does not have the same record in F1 as Williams but it is still an ambitious team, even if team boss Peter Sauber is edging towards retirement age.

An interesting connection between the two companies comes from the fact that Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf joined BMW from university back in the 1970s and worked there for 15 years before joining Sauber in 1994. Three years later he went back to Munich to become BMW's Enduro Racing Project Manager, leading the technical development of the F650 motorcycle which gave BMW victory on the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1998. Rampf then went back to Sauber in 2000 as technical director.

- JOE SAWARD

Life after Eddie

AFTER 14 years as one of the FI paddock's most visible characters, Eddie Jordan is wasting no time in preparing for his life away from F1 after confirming that he will not be making the trip to Melbourne.

"The worst thing would be to stay around and be completely sad about it," Jordan told Ireland's Sunday Independent newspaper.

"People say,'Oh, you'll be in Australia'. I won't. It's too far away, and this team has to stand on its own two feet. They need time to get themselves together and they don't need the confusion of me being there and being seen to interfere."

The flamboyant Irishman also revealed the truth behind his controversial sacking of Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 2001.

"People didn't understand the Frentzen situation," he said.

"At the time, I couldn't let him renew the contract because my only way of holding on to the Honda engine was by giving (Takuma) Sato the drive.

"I loved Frentzen. He won more Grands Prix for Jordan than anyone else. But I had to protect the engine situation; that was absolutely crucial. Nobody except myself and one or two in Jordan realised why I had to do what I did. I was in a position I hated. I wanted to keep Frentzen, but I couldn't."

Jordan sold his team to Russian-born Canadian Alex Schnaider last month. The team, which will be renamed Midland in 2006, is due to launch its new car in Moscow's Red Square on Friday.

10

DESPITE rumours suggesting there would be, there is no change to the planned El qualifying format as the teams head to Melbourne.

Qualifying will thus be split in two: Saturday afternoon will see the field run a single lap, with low fuel, in order of 2004 championship finishing order. This wiU be tine fastest laps of the weekend,without doubt.

On Simday morning, the cars will run again,slowest from Saturday going first, with race fuel on board.

The two times will be aggregated (or averaged)to decide the grid order.

While Saturday's low-fuel laps will bring back memories of the balls-out qualifying days of yore, the aggregate system has found no real favour with broadcasters. Britain's ITV has announced that,for the first time, it has no plans to broadcast final qualifying live...

Those were the good ol'days: Seens ofSenna, right in 1992 at Monaco,should inspire the current qualifying regulations to be banned.

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.VYJLIv3UL RED Bull Racing has confirmed that Christian Klien will start the season as the second driver alongside David Coulthard. The 22-yearold Austrian is being given another chance despite a mediocre season with Jaguar last year before the team was acquired by Klien's personal sponsor. Red Bull.

The announcement is not a surprise as the Austrian drinks company is under

pressure at home not to drop Klien. Unfortunately Klien has been overshadowed in testing by the team's other signing, Vitantonio Liuzzi, the Formula 3000 champion, who will take on the role of third driver for the moment. If Klien does not perform well enough Liuzzi will get the drive.

"We are very fortunate to have two exceptionally talented young drivers," says Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing.

F1 cars still to THE FIA's bid to slow FI cars by three seconds a lap has failed.

Last year, the FIA invoked Article 7.5 of the Concorde Agreement, which gives the FIA powers to change the FI rules on the grounds of safety. The whole process upset the teams considerably but FIA boss Max Mosley got his way and forced through changes for 2005 to meet his demands. But they have not worked.

When Fernando Alonso lapped

Barcelona last Friday in 1 ml 3.971s he took his 2005 car to within two-tenths of the best time set in February last year by Takuma Sato in his BAR-Honda.

The teams, who have spent a great deal of money to meet the new rules, can blame the FIA if they wish to do so but the federation will almost certainly blame the technical directors who came up with the options.

The worry now is that the FIA will have got it wrong about the motorsportnews

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IS for OZ Pizzonia to head Stateside?

HAVING been overlooked for the second race seat at Williams, Antonio Pizzonia may be headed to Newman Haas Racing in the US Champ Car series.

Pizzonia tested for BMW Williams last week in Spain but all is not well between the Brazilian and the team, which recently picked Nick Heidfeld for the second race seat alongside Mark Webber.

This left Pizzonia with no real reason to stay with Williams - apart from the money. The problems are that Williams does not want to pay a lot and Pizzonia wants to race. At the same time Williams needs a test driver with experience and speed and they are in short supply at the moment.

Thus, Pizzonia's management is trying to push up the salary. However, this is really only a last-ditch shategy as Pizzonia needs to be racing if he is to revive his career. And,if there is nothing available in FI,it is better for him to be racing somewhere else.

The obvious choice is America and the Champ Car series. Although the series was relatively weak in 2003 it still has some quality drivers at the top end, notably Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy. Others are now emerging as good talents, notably AJ Allmendinger and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Thus,if Pizzonia was to go to the US and win he might be able to parlay that into a drive back in FI in 2007.

The opportunity exists for a drive alongside Bourdais and Bnmo Junqueira at Newman Haas Racing, but only if the money is right. We hear that Pizzonia may be able to find the sponsorship needed and so may decide to leave Williams -JOE SAWARD

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"Christian will undoubtedly benefit from Coulthard's considerable experience and will hope to build on last year's performances."

The implication in this is very clear and Klien will be very keen to show his talent in the early races of the year. He will no doubt he hoping that the Red Bull car is reliable because the only thing that matters is results.

For his part, Liuzzi will be in a comfortable position. He is believed to have a contract with

the team to more tyres i Fridays to s It could b( announcem a poisoned chalice for Klien.

o quick Fries with that change of engine rules in 2006 as well. Last year Mosley suggested that a switch to 2.4litre V8s would drop horsepower to 650bhp. Engine designers do not agree and say that the starting figure for the new V8s is going to be around 800bhp and add that the ultimate potential of the engines is higher than the VI Os for the simple reason that a shorter crankshaft will reduce stresses and will make it easier to find more power.

- JOE SAWARD

23 February 2005

THE Minardi team has completed its Formula 1 driving squad with Patrick Friesacher, who impressed the team in a test at Misano in November.

The 24-year-old Austrian will partner Christijan Albers. Both are Formula 1 rookies. Team chief Paul Stoddart announced the deal in the company of the former Austrian premier Jorg Haider in Velden this week. Friesacher, right, has competed in FIA Formula 3000 for the past four seasons and won the Hungarian races in 2003 and 2004.

He placed fourth m the 2004 championship,a classification that earned him automatic qualification for a Formula 1 'superlicence'.

- QUENTIN SPURRING

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Champ Cars for Le Mans?

THE Automobile Club de I'Ouest, which runs the Le Mans racing facility and promotes the Le Mans 24 Hours, is believed to be in discussions with Champ Car over the possibility of running a Champ Car race in 2006. The current Champ Car champion Sebastian Bourdais comes from the city and the ACO has been looking to expand use of the Bugatti circuit. n Kimi Raikkonen emerged unscathed from a major crash last week after a brake failure on his McLaren during testing in Barcelona.

The McLaren MP4-20 was later repaired but the impact was such that Raikkonen suffered a jarred thumb and so he handed over the testing work to Pedro de la Rosa, who has now been confirmed as the team's third driver for the first three events of the season.

Alexander Wurz will most likely take over the role after that, but there continue to be suggestions that Mika Hakkinen could be involved later in the year, n Maurice Trintignant, the first Frenchman to win a World Championship Grand Prix, has died at the age of 87. In 1954 he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, sharing a Ferrari with Froilan Gonzalez. The following year he won the Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari after Fangio went out with a broken axle, Stirling Moss suffered an engine failure and Alberto Ascari crashed into the harbour.

In 1956 he joined the abortive Bugatti team and then moved to Vanwall and in 1957 was back at Ferrari driving a Lancia-Ferrari. After a stint with BRM in 1958 he joined Rob Walker and won Monaco again as the opposition once again fell by the wayside. In 1960 he was briefly with the Aston Martin FI team before moving on to Scuderia Centro Sud. His career in FI petered out after another short stint with Rob Walker after Stirling Moss's accident in 1962.

After he retired he returned to his home town of Vergeze, where he was elected the local mayor for a period. n Mario Dominguez says that he has a deal on the table to drive for the Midland FI in 2006 and turned down a job this year because of a commitment he has to the HWM team in Champ Car racing. The Mexican was offered the role of third driver role in 2005 but declined it because it would have required too much travelling, Dominguez will probably be seen doing some tests later in the year. In recent days Midland has given Nicky Pastorelli, the reigning Euro 3000 Champion, a taste of FI, Pastorelli had previously tested with the Walker Racing Champ Car team.

-JOE SAWARD 11

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I Got Me a Chrysler (it seats about 20)

Bntek break!

AVESCO goes bling, Holden, Ford care less IT may not be a Charger but Chrysler is back in Australian motor racing - sort of.

The V8 Supercar Safety Car will be a Chrysler 300C this season after a deal was announced to see the American-built sedan take over from Audi as the official vehicle at the head of the V8 queue.

The 5.7-litre Hemi-powered car, which will be on sale in Australia from October, features a five-speed automatic gearbox hooked up to the rear wheels - or optional all-wheel-drive. The car should be fast enough to set a crisp pace ahead of the snarling Henrys and Lions.

With 250kW on offer from its pushrod bent-eight, the new kid on the block dismisses a quarter-mile in under 14 seconds.

"With its contemporary styling and powerful HEMI performance the 300C will be right at home leading the field of V8 Supercars," said Mr Gerry Jenkins, managing director, Chrysler Jeep Australia.

"Being in the company of the locally-manufactured V8 sedans is also a nice fit for the striking sedan, given that when it goes on sale in

Australia at the end of the year it will provide customers with a genuine alternative."

But while AVESCO is, as usual, enthusiastic about its choice of carriage, Holden and Ford are less cheerful, with both V8 Supercar marques passing on any opportunity to supply SCs to the series.

"It didn't come under consideration because of the limited signage available for Holden due to the current WPS livery," said Holden's Motorsport Marketing Manager, Simon McNamara.

Ford Racing boss Stephen Kruk concurred; "In terms of the Safety Car, we see it as an opportunity. I think that Holden, Ford and AVESCO believe it would be ideal to share it between Holden and Ford, it could not happen this time, but dialogue is ongoing. Maybe we can achieve a result in the future that is closer to 'home'."

The left-hand-drive car featured at the Sydney launch last weekend was one of only two 300Cs in Australia. It will be joined at the early races by another Chrysler model as a Course Car before two 300Cs become available later in the year.

Bright’s a Ford Man FPR’s new driver signs untii 2009

JASON Bright has committed himself to be a Ford driver for the next five years.

Bright, who finished third in the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series with PWR Racing,signed a long-term deal with the blue oval after the end of last season. In doing so, he joins Marcos Ambrose,RusseU Ingall and Craig Lowndes as drivers contracted directly to Ford.

"I am happy to have a long-term deal that gives me security," Bright said on Monday."This secures my place in the series for the next five years."

The deal is separate to Bright's Ford Performance Racing contract, which runs for the next two years, and separate to Ford's backing of Bright's Britek team.

You'd smile too: New ride, his own team, a five-year Ford deal...

So, which Kelly do you wai

EVER stood at the side of the track and watched one of the Kelly brothers hurl a V8 Supercar into a comer at some ungodly speed and wondered how the hell they manage to do it?

Well, pretty soon you'll be able to find out. Todd and Rick have joined forces with HSV to create a new ride car that

will give Y8 Supercar fans a taste of what these two do for a living.

The two-seater has been built out of the former Lansvale Racing VX Commodore and will be named 'K2'in reference to the two Kellys that will drive it. The fact that the car shares its name with the world's second-largest moimtain will be reflected in the paint scheme.

The car will be unveiled to the public at the Melbourne Motor Show next week.

- MARK GLENDENNING

motorsport news

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»cover Mupcho-PKV? Test at Coyne, Kalktioven wants an Aussie

by GRANT ROWLEY

JASON Bright's long-awaited team, Britek Motorsport, was launched last Wednesday at its brand-new Dandenong workshop.

Britek, which was exclusively foreseen by Motorsport News back in September,includes two V8 Supercars for Matthew White and Steve Owen,a V8 Development car for Jose Fernandez plus a Carrera Cup machme for Bryce Washington.

All the cars, except White's car, is painted m Fujitsu's red and blue colours. White's car is expected to carry its own livery, but at the time of press, there was no word on what tlie car win look like.

One hurdle tlrat Britek will face is the V8 licence issue, which permits only 32 of tire 34 licences to start at selected meetings throughout the year. Owen's entry falls under this 'wildcard' mnbrella and may miss a couple of roimds this year.

"It's been the main thing on my mind recently," Owen told MNews.

"We don't have a testing licence yet either. It's a complicated situation but compared to the last few years.

I'm in a better situation, although not ideal."

Adam Laws,formerly with the Doulman team,is the team manager and the team currently has 22 staff.

Bright couldn't actually make the team launch due to commitments with Ford Performance Racing but said later, "It is good to see that it is all happening."

Britek is scheduled to test at Phillip Island on the 28th of this month, but a testing permit will have to granted from TEGA before a test can be undertaken.

nt to go with?

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FI in Toronto?

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A Supercar for Silverstone ANGLO-AUSSIE Adam Sharpe is set to race a propertouring car in the UK this year-and it is a V8!

Sharpe, who raced the Morgan Aero 8 in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hours, has bought the ex-Dexion Racing Ford Falcon and was intending to run it in the V8 Development series. However, the number of clashes between that and the LMES (in which he will race for Binnie Motorsports) has caused him to rethink his plans. Instead, Sharpe will race the car in the low-key British Britcar series, a non-championship affair offering long-distance saloon and sports car races.

Darrell Dixon is on his way back to the UK to help to look after the car as well, while British Ford expert Colin Stancombe will look after the car in the UK. n Chevrolet could be heading into the BTCC in 2006, if plans to build customer cars come to fruition. Car builder RML is looking at building a number of extra cars if its WTCC season is a success this year, but whether Chevrolet would offer assistance in any domestic championships is not yet known. The new Lacetti model was tested for the first time at Barcelona recently, with Alain Menu expressing himself pleased with the potential of the car, n The proposed Brilliance entry into the WTCC is in doubt, with team boss John Batchelor unable to confirm that a car will be on the grid for the first race in April. A delegation from China is set to visit the UK later this month and until then nothing can be confirmed, but if the car has yet to be built, it could be mid-season before a car is seen on track.

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CHRISTIAN Murchison may be about to embark on a year in Champ Car. MNews sources suggest that Murchison is currently training in Australia, awaiting the final details of a test day to be conducted at Sebring with Dale Coyne Racing. The test would be a precursor to Murchison running at the Champ Car Spring Training session held at the same venue next month.

The deal seems to have been instigated from the very highest level of Champ Car, series co-owner and expatriate Australian Kevin Kalkhoven.

Kalkhoven is keen for the series to have a high profile in Australia and was behind the move to have an Australian run at the Lexmark Indy 300, which led to David Besnard running in that event.

But now that the rival Indy Racing League has secured Toyota FI protege Ryan Briscoe to race as part of its ranks with Chip Ganassi Racing, Kalkhoven is keen to add an Australian driver to Champ Car on a full-time basis.

Enter Murchison, who was reportedly close to testing a Champ Car in late 2003. While Murchison's initial tests will be with Dale Coyne, a full-time drive, if it were to come to fruition, would more likely be as a third car in Kalkhoven's own PKV Racing stable, where former series champion Cristiano da Matta and Jimmy Vasser are already confirmed as drivers.

This move from Kalkhoven follows attempts by he and WPS's Craig Gore to get Josh Hunt into Champ Car. Hunt was later replaced by Besnard to drive the Gold Coast event, and his racing plans for 2005 have yet to be confirmed. ^— - CHRIS TORDAN

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HAVING bought the Jordan FI team,it seems that steel baron Alex Shnaider now wants to get the Canadian Grand Prix to his adopted town of Toronto and away from Montreal, where it has been held since the 1970s.

Shnaider is a partner in a major real estate development In the city (in league with US magnate Donald Trump) and there is no doubt that an FI event would be useful to promote Trump Tower in Toronto.

We have heard stories over the years that Bernie Ecclestone is also involved fuiandally with Trump and it has even been said that the Midland FI deal has been entirely orchestrated by Ecclestone. This may account for the wariness that some of the team bosses have towards Midland in the current negotiations over the future of FI. If Toronto is to have a new race track it would Inevitably have to be a street circuit. This would not be new to the city as Champ Cars have been racing in the city for years. That race dates back to 1986 when Molson began to stage a race on a 2.9km track laid out in the parkland of the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds. The race, which is promoted by Molson,is still a major date on the Champ Car calendar.

-JOESAWARD

n Mazda has quashed talk of returning to the BTCC, citing reports of its involvement as "just not true."

The company last raced in the BTCC in 1994, withdrawing mid-year due to a lack of sponsorship. n The DTM's visit to Moscow could be in doubt, with organisers asking for a later date in order to complete the safety measures that are required. Indeed, insiders believe that the event may be postponed until 2006. n BRDC President Jackie Stewart has asked the club if he can take on a more ambassadorial role. The three-times FI world champion has told members that he no longer has the same amount of time available to dedicate to the club. Coming as it does after the recent on-going spat between Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone, and the ousting of BRDC Chairman Ray Bellm, it is unclear whether this is Stewart's own idea.

- DAVID ADDISON

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Developing Fatties DV8s gain 100kg,team owners not happy

by GRANT ROWLEY

V8 SUPERCAR Development teams will carry an extra 100 kilograms in this year's championship.

The shock new rule separates the Development teams from their main game cousins even further after TEGA confirmed last December that all Development cars would use a reduced number of sensors, including suspension position, gforce, brake balance, anti-roll bar position and fuel usage. All of this is designed to reduce the benefit of electronic data information that will assist the main V8 Supercar teams.

And Development teams are less than impressed with TEGA's decision, saying the rules have come too late and could even endanger the drivers' lives.

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Tony’s TONY D'Alberto will drive last

year's Kmart Racing Team VY Commodore in the 2005 V8 Supercar Development Series.

The Victorian has formed his own team that will run out of his LUydale (Melbourne) workshop. The chassis is currently in the paint shop and is due to be ready for a test at Winton on the Monday before Clipsal.

D'Alberto will share track space with Team BOC(Brad Jones Racing).

Tony D'Alberto Racing will run under #99 and carry support from GMAC,PPG,HSV, Bellmonts and D'Alberto Holden.

Now in his third year of Supercars, D'Alberto believes that this will be his best opportunity to run towards the front of the Development field.

"We are very confident with the package we've got," he said of his exBathurst winning car.

"I've been to all the tracks we'll race at this year so that will help but we'll certainly be cautious at the Clipsal 500, especially with the new car. If you get through that round without damage, you'll be in good shape for a result."

Tony's dad A1 will be the crew chief while the team will also have assistance from five other staff who will help at the track.

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"I'm very disappointed about the whole thing," said Robert Smith, team owner of Smith's Trucks Racing.

"I'm absolutely dead against it.

We'll have no testing with the car as fat as that and I'm even threatening not to take my car to Adelaide. It's potentially very dangerous.

"And what effect is it going to have on the brakes, wheels, tyres or gearbox? It's very late in the off season so it will be a game of guessing where the best spot to put the weight will be."

The extra 100 kilograms will be mounted towards the back of the car, as the front axle weight remains unchanged.

I just want #1

IT may have been a while since we last saw Chargers on Aussie racetracks but, if you are a fan of all things Mopar, you might just want to look on eBay. The first 2006 Dodge Charger to roll off the production line is being sold on the internet site and some lucky American will get more than just a car. Apart from the Charger, which will come with all the option boxes ticked, the lucky bidder will get a trip to Darlington in May to pick up the car, receiving the keys from none other than King Richard Petty (who won three of his NASCAR titles in Chargers).

As well, them good ol' boys at Chrysler will chuck in a race car shell, painted in the hues of Kasey Kahne's #9 Dodge Dealers team, above. As if that aint enough. The King, Kahne and

DODGRi i £

Chrysler Group CEO Dr Dieter Zetsche will autograph the shell.

Sounds like a winning deal to us, especially since the proceeds of the auction benefit the Salvation Army and the Victory Junction Gang, a children's

charity founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty and Paul Newman.

Sounds good to us. Have a peek at ebay.com and, even if you do not wanna bid, it seems like a good cause.

-PHIL MORRIS

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Super BMW team BMW Motorsport has decided to contest one more Nurburgring 24 Hours with its two SOObhp V8 M3 GTR racecars, which finished 1-2 last year.

The drivers on the daunting, 25.4km Nordschleife circuit on 7-8 May will be Germans Dirk Muller, Jorg Muller and Hans-Joachim Stuck, Dutchman Duncan Huisman, Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy, Britain's 2004 European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx and America's Boris Said.

Pushing their Barras AS revealed in Motorsport News Issue 301, Dean Canto and Grant Denyer will be Dick Johnson Racing's drivers for the 2004 V8 Development Series, both in BA Falcons.

The new-look squad was confirmed at a launch yesterday, with Gatorz Eyewear the primary backer on Canto's car and Summit Fleet Leasing for Denyer.

For Canto, the return to the Development Series marks an attempt to re-establish his career. The

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young Sydney driver won what was then the Konica Series in 2000.

Denyer has sold his V8 Utes Falcon and licence to Dave Griffen, who has switched from Flolden to Ford now that his Pedigree-backed campaign will be run by Brad Jones Racing.

Also running one of the newer model Fords this season will be Tony Evangelou. The Victorian will race the ex-Anthony Tratt BA, below, in the colours of regular sponsor Dexion.

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n Michael Trimble will drive for Team BRM in this year's Kuhmo Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship.

Trimble, who has raced a Formula Ford for Sonic Motorsport over the past two seasons, will be driving the team's ex-Menu Motorsport Dallara F304 in a potent four-pronged driver line-up that consists of 2003 Trophy Class Champion Nic Jordan, race winner Tim Slade and young kiwi debutant Marc Williams.

Barton Mawer will also be running at the Australian Grand Prix with BRM, running the team's Asian F3 Series car. The team tested all there drivers at Mallala last week in preparation for the opening round this weekend at Wakefield Park. n Young Victorian driver Sam Abay will make his Formula 3 debut at the Australian Grand Prix this March, driving for Astuti Competition in the same Dallara F301 Ian Dyk used in last year's Championship.

Abay made his car racing debut at the Sandown Victorian State Circuit racing series round late last year in the one-make Porsche 944 challenge series. He won the recent Mallala round in what was only his second race meeting the car.

As well as competing at the Grand Prix for Astuti, Abay will complete the full 944 series as well as the KartStars Karting series in 2005, n Former F2 driver Piercarlo Ghinzani has pulled his team out of the F3 Euroseries, blaming the attitude of Mercedes as the reason.

"Every driver wanted them and if you didn't have Mercedes engines, they weren't interested in driving for you.

It is thought that Ghinzani could be the first of many team bosses to walk away from the series.

- SPURRIIMG/CRAILL/ADDISON

Competition Preparation & Fabrication 3 pre-season servicing 3 race by race service and set-up 3 new car builds 3 connponent manufacturing 3 restorations 3 project management

Cail in and visit Marty at 2/20 Decor Drive Hallam VIC 3803.

Ph 03 97031207 l Fax 03 97031209

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INDEPENDENT RACE CARS AUSTRALIA

independentracecars@bigpond .com 23 February 2005

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The Rally War Fabian Indy ARCom has announced that Bathurst Regional Council has taken over as the promoter of the NSW round of the ARC,and former promoter Kirk Marks is crying foul over the way the decision was handled.

to stage at least two significant motorsport events at Mt Panorama each year to honour its commitments tied to the funding of the new facilities at the famous circuit.

"I've made a substantial financial commitment to this event in terms of

Marks, who has promoted the event on the Central Coast for the

infrastructure, equipment, promotion and so on, and now we are just slapped in the face. I was prepared to continue to carry the risk, but now the people of Bathurst will be carrying the risk which,in these days of private enterprise, seems strange to me."

The move to Batliurst was

past two years,says he received no formal notification that his organisation had been dumped,and alleges he has been duped by Bathurst Regional CouncU. "I received an SMS telling me to check my email on Saturday, and there was the press statement from CAMS," said Marks.

"It leaves a bad taste in your mouth, given we supplied Bathurst Council with every scrap of information about the event on the basis that it was looking to provide backing for the rally.

"For them to turn around and use that Information to bid against us is extremely imethical and makes a joke out of the entire process."

Marks says he believes the process has been accelerated in the last few weeks by public servants at the council, so that they could rush approval for the rally through before the local government elections on Saturday week.

"The coimcil officers know that there is a chance that some of the new councillors may not approve of the council being the promoter, and they are trying to have the deal done before the elections," said Marks, Marks says that the move may be driven by the Bathurst coimcil's need

signalled by ARCom late last year after it was realised that running in the Central Coast forests had little future, given the growing pressures from government agencies and local residents.

While Bathurst council will promote the rally at this stage, former Rally of Canberra Clerk of Course Mike BeU has been hired to run the sporting side of the event, which will be the final roimd of this year's Driver's Championship.

According to the press release issued by ARCom,the agreement with the Council commits the event to the Bathurst region for a three-year period,subject to the council completing the necessary Sanction Agreement with commercial rights holder Rallycorp.

In the statement, Connelly described the decision as an important move forward in the development of the Australian Rally Championship.

-JON THOMSON

Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Offer for Sale

2004 Australian Cup Rally winning Magna’s

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ii"; 2004 AUSTRALIAN Carrera Cup Rookie of the Year Fabian Coulthard will be driving at the Michelin Porsche Supercup round at Indianapolis, supporting the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix on June 17-19.

Coulthard, right, will head to Budapest after Round 2 of the Australian series at the Clipsal 500, for two test days at the Hungaroring on March 31 and April 1.

In other Carrera Cup news, former Australian Formula 3 front-runner Ian Dyk has been confirmed as the third driver for Greg Murphy Racing's youthful attack on the championship, after GMR won the 2004 series with Alex Davison.

Dyk will partner Coulthard and Alan Gurr, with all cars running in Glenfords Tool Centre colours, but with each car also supported by DeWalt (Dyk), Hitachi (Gurr) and Makita (Coulthard).

Other plans confirmed include Bryce Washington's Adradbacked Britek car (see Bhtek

I FpOtYGlAZE

Give me my Makita back, Fabian!

Greg Murpby Racing will run three 'same but different'car liveries in the 2005 Carrera Cup Championship.

Coulthard (Makita, above main), Dyk (DeWalt, above) and Gurr (Hitachi, below).

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story page 12), Porsche stalwart Peter Fitzgerald returning for another year and Dean Grant returning, his car to be run by Jim Richards's team. Richards will also be back and will undoubtedly be a favourite for his second Carrera Cup crown, with the likes of Coulthard and

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Luke Youlden of the VIP Petfoods team other title contenders. Youlden will be joined in the VIP team by Tony and Klark Quinn.

James and Theo Koundouris will undertake a full season in the series with Supabarn Supermarket signage, while Paul Freestone, Stephen Borness and Ash Samadi will also be back. New Zealanders Shane McKillen and Mike Morton will be the line-up for International Motorsport, with another driver yet to be confirmed.

THE Formula Ford ranks have swelled in the past weeks, with 30 entries confirmed for the first round of the championship at Adelaide’s Clipsal 500.

Heading the list of likely contenders for the championship is Lee Holdsworth, who drove for Smiths Trucks Racing in the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship last year.

Holdsworth, 20, will drive for Project Motor Sports, which ran Steve Owen alongside Mike Borland’s factory Spectrum team last year, above.

“I can’t wait to get into it,” he said.

“I want to be in a car that can win the championship and I have the opportunity to do it in this. I drove at Clipsal last year so I’ll have an advantage over some of the others out there.”

The Queenslander has never driven a Formula Ford before, but will have a test at Mallala later this week in preparation for

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his new open-wheel career. The car will feature sponsorship from the TTM Group.

Holdsworth will also contest a couple of rounds of the Development series this year with Smiths Trucks.

Fastlane Racing has confirmed a line-up of Nathan Caratti and Sprint Kart star Daniel Elliott, while Jack Perkins will make his national Formula Ford debut at the wheel of his own Van Diemen.

CAMS Rising Star driver Brett Hobson will be a regular in the series, as will Grant Doulman, who has bought the ex-Neil McFadyen Van Diemen that won the championship in 2003.

Add to this list the potent Sonic squad of David Sieders and Dean Fiore plus Spectrum’s Anthony Preston, Andrew Thompson and Shane Price and you’ve got yourself one crackin’ field of FFords ...

- GRANT ROWLEY

VS SUPERCAR POR SALE

VOLKSWAGEN Racing has withdrawn from the Australian Performance Car Championship.

Team owner Greg Siddle confirmed the Golf R32s would not compete, at least in the first half of this year, after VW Australia reshuffled their marketing strategies over the summer months.

"I'm not going to sell the cars," he told MNews on Monday.

"I'll be keeping the cars but I've already sold the trailer. We’ll see what happens in the next six to nine months, but the cars won't be racing to start with." n Shane Price is confirmed as the second factory Spectrum driver for Borland Racing's Ford Racing Australian Formula Ford Series campaign.

Price will partner Anthony Preston, and while Preston's car will carry backing from Bosch and Caltex, Price is still in negotiations pertaining to what will adorn his Spectrum 010.

Price will endeavour to get in as much V8 Supercar testing as possible with V8 Development teams this year, but at this stage will concentrate his racing commitments solely on Formula Ford., n The 2MB agency, established by former FI drivers turned TV pundits Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell, has signed two rising stars of British motor racing.

Tim Bridgman (19) and Sam Bird (18) are both keen to use 2MB's experience and connections to make it to Formula 1. Bridgman won the Formula BMW championship in Britain last year and moves to British F3 this year with Hitech Racing, while Bird will aim for the British Formula BMW title with Fortec.

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First Strike to Gordon

AN audacious late-race pass on Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw Jeff Gordon take victory in last weekend's Daytona 500.

Gordon made his move just prior to the 11th and final caution period, and then withstood attacks from Little E and Kurt Busch over the final two laps to secure the win.

"I was trying to pass so many cars at the end," said Gordon.

"I thought Tony Stewart was going to be the guy,he held us off for so long. 1 had two shots at him; he drove a great race, it was fun racing

him.

"Dale Jr. came out of nowhere, he'd been hanging back there until it really counted and I was worried. He pushed me a few times and I thought there was no way I would be able to keep him behind me.

"When he got the lead,I thought it was aU over. I got a run and I was

shocked,I got to the quarter panel, and when I did it just carried my momentum and I got in front of him.

"Then the caution came out and I was like'no I don't want a green and white chequered!"'

Detonated engines sidelined Matt Kenseth and Bobby Labonte, while two-time 500 winner Michael Waltrip's engine let loose with 40 laps remammg.

The first of two late-race incidents occurred with 18 laps to run when Greg Biffle slid into Scott Riggs, damaging around 10 cars.

Scott Wimmer flipped several times, while others involved were Kevin Harvick,Jamie McMurray and Jeremy Mayfield; the latter also suffering two speeding infractions with the new electronic pit road timing system that caught many out, including front row starters Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson.

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On the penultimate restart, an accordion effect developed in the top three, with several drivers checking up and lOth-placed Mike Skinner getting into the back of Ryan Newman.

He was then knocked into the wall

by rookie Travis Kvapil, who had nowhere to go. This left a six-lap shoot-out as Stewart, Earnhardt, Gordon,Johnson and Busch battled up front as debris flew off Kasey Kahne's previously-repaired Dodge to air the final yellow flag, with Earnhardt leading.

Scoring reverted back to the last scoring loop, however, and had Gordon out front for the final run.

Veterans Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace, both competing in their final 500,finished sixth and 10th respectively, while a mention must go out to Kevin Lepage, who finished an amazing ninth after qualifying eighth

with his nine member,self-run team and a used Ganassi Dodge.

Sophomore Scott Riggs also put up a good showing in his Hendrickpowered MBV Chev with a fine fourth placing.

Frustration set in for Tony Stewart (who had led most of the event) post race and he got into a fender-banging session with Jimmie Johnson.

"After the chequers fell, he came up alongside me",said Johnson.

"We touched wheels and he almost spun me out and I smacked back in the side of him. He may be frustrated, but I was blocking him at the end of the race just like you're supposed to do."

- MARTIN D CLARK Final result; J Gordon (Chevy), Busch (Ford), Earnhardt Jr.,(Chevy), Riggs(Chevy),Johnson (Chevy), Martin (Ford), Stewart(Chevy), Marlin (Dodge),Lepage (Dodge),R Wallace (Dodge).

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GOODYEAR pulled about 300 right-side tyres from its inventory at Daytona when it was discovered that moulds from the same batch numbers came apart on the Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joe Nemechek Chevys.

A few days later, tread was separating in the same way on five more cars and the Nemechek car again, so 600 more tyres were recalled.

“If it’s a set-up issue then I have a lot of searching to do," said Nemechek crew chief Ryan Pemberton.

Apparently the problem was put down to a lower level of adhesion between the top fabric and ply on the tyres, but apparently the new compound doesn’t stick as well to the track.

“The tyres just got real terrible after about 20 laps,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr after his Duel race. “They went away real bad, and real fast.”

- MARTIN D CLARK

A SLIGHT change in format was seen this year in the qualifying races for the Daytona 500.

Previously called the Gatorade Twin 125s, they are now the Gatorade Duel's and have been extended from 125 miles to 150.

As per usual though, the front row is locked in through qualifying, and the remainder of the field set by finishing positions in the Duels, car owner points from the top 35 in 2004, fast laps during qualifying and two entrants from each Duel that is not in the top 35. Yes it's confusing!

Dale Jarrett won pole with Jimmie Johnson starting to his outside. By winning the first Duel, Michael Waltrip lined up tlrird with second Duel winner Tony Stewart fourth.

Waltrip and team-mate Dale Earnliardt Jr. qualified 33rd and 39th respectively, and for a while it looked like the restrictor plate dominance had gone from DEI. But the pair forged to the front when it mattered and finished one-two.

The second Duel was far more controversial, with a seven-car wreck that had everyone's finger pointing at Kevin Harvick, who hit race leader Jimmie Johnson exiting turn two on lap 36 of 60, creating a wild melee

among the front-runners and seriously damaging the cars of Harvick,Joe Nemechek,above, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.

Johnson got away with minimal damage, however Martin's Roush crew spent hours repairing his primary car as he felt the back-up was not such a good piece, while the remainder were forced to unload back-up cars.

"We were just going along and he (Harvick) pulls his head off his shoulders and starts bump drafting in the centre of the corners," ’ remarked an irate Jolinson.

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STATESIDE

I facelift One of those days ROBBY Gordon is likely to see a heavy fine after Daytona for his self-owned race team following NASCAR's detection of an illegal modification in the the Menard engine's intake manifold.

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The team's spare manifold at Daytona was identical, so a lastminute engine manufacturer change was instigated, with the team switching to DEI horsepower for qualifying and their qualifying race.

4

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To make matters worse for Gordon, his Menard engine was confiscated as NASCAR deemed the change 'unapproved'.

Although he finished fifth in his qualifying race, Gordon was bumped from the field by NASCAR's new qualifying format, which allows only two cars from each race to advance along with the guaranteed starters. Thus, Kevin Lepage and Martin Truex Jr., who finished in front of Gordon, made the field. Kenny Wallace and Mike Skinner made it into the field through the first race.

- MARTIN D CLARK

i

if Clark

"I hope Childress fires him or NASCAR does something because tills is ridiculous. He's a total idiot."

Harvick, meanwhile,saw it differently; "I just got up to him, and he checked up."

Nemechek, who had been fast all week, was also mad,throwing a water bottle at Harvick in the garage area.

Lost in Transmission NASCAR confiscated the transmission from Dale Earnhardt Jr's DEI Chev on February 11 when they discovered that it was the wrong gear ratio for the restrictor plate track.

NASCAR also imposed a new ruling for this year restricting the amount of RPMs an engine can turn in an effort to curb costs. The information is collected by data loggers provided by NASCAR for each team, and will be restricted

by NASCAR determined gear ratios at each event.

The DEI team will likely face a penalty after Daytona. n Long-time Hendrick Motorsports employee Eddie Dickerson, who headed up the fabrication and chassis department, resigned from the company on February 15 after being arrested in the early hours of the previous morning in Daytona for drunken and disorderly conduct.

Dickerson was picked up wandering along the beach road A1A wearing nothing but a towel!

- MARTIN D CLARK

"He just drives stupid," said Nemechek."He'll get it back. It was just totally uncalled for, what happened out there."

- MARTIN D CLARK

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21

Beware The Intruder!

TROY Bayliss feels like an intruderbut he is looking for wins on his Pramac Camel Honda.

The 35-year-old Aussie is in the middle of an exhaustive pre-season testing program with the team and says that, after years with Ducati, he is still finding his feet with the Japanese racing powerhouse.

"I was a little worried about which way it was going to go and now I am with Honda," he said in Melbourne last week.

"I kind of landed on my feet! I was a little surprised; I have never had anything to do with Honda in the past.

A Honda was my first bike and, after that, we never spoke, there was no relationship with Honda at all. Now that I am here,I feel like an intruder. It is all new to me.

"My career has been about Ducati versus Honda in the past and now I am with Honda! I know that the Honda is a great bike; Honda has won the championship in the past. They have always been very strong and it is nice to be a part of Honda now.

"The Honda is a different bike and it feels a little strange to me, after being on a Ducati for so long. But I like it.

"The Ducati suited me. It was a physical bike to ride and I am an

aggressive rider. The Honda suits me less; that is a problem I am having, I tend to try very hard - sometimes too hard! That tends not to work on this bike. It will take time for me to feel comfortable on this bike."

As grateful as he is to have the ride, Bayliss wants to repay the faith shown in him with wins.

"There are so many young,fast Italian and Spanish riders out there with a lot of backing behind them. I was surprised to get it; this year I am 36 and that is not that old! But it is starting to get up there in racing. There is a push for young European guys but I am glad to be here, "I am here to win races - this year.

The bike is capable of winning races and I think that I am too. It wiU be a hard year; we have seven Hondas and they are all equal bikes. Ducati will be strong this year, Yamaha are strong and Suzuki will be. This wiU be the best year of MotoGP." He also hinted that his deal with the team, which is for one year with an option for another, may be his last try at MotoGP. "I am on a good bike now,so I want to make the best of it this year and next year and I think that then, it will be pretty close to the end of me."

- PHIL BRANAGAN

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BIKE NEWS

Same Old Same Old IT'S a New Year and there are plenty of new bikes in MotoGP - but Valentino Rossi still rules the world.

The Italian topped last week's three-day test at Phillip Island but there are signs that Honda and Ducati are close to The Doctor's pace. Rossi blazed around the track in 1m29.68s, well inside the lap record, but Nicky Hayden, Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi also dipped under the ImSOs barrier.

"This morning we tried some different settings from yesterday and they worked

better," said Rossi after his dazzling time."We found more agility in the bike. Then we continued testing tyres for Michelin, which were good.

The test has been quite positive and we have collected some useful information which we'll continue to work with when we return here soon."

Loris Capirossi was fifth fastest, followed by Yamaha's Colin Edwards, Alex Barros (Honda), John Hopkins (Suzuki) and Troy Bayliss, who had his best test yet on the Camel Honda.

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Desert Stormers THE World Superbike Championship looks like being a cracker, following the latest test at Qatar.

The Suzuki pairing of Yukio Kagayama and Troy Corser topped the three-day session, with the Yamaha of Jose Luis Cardoso(who led Day 2) and Reggie Laconi's works Ducati following closely. Also fast were the Yamahas of Sebastien GImbert and Alberola Silva, so a makes battle looms large.

Other Aussles had mixed fortunes.

Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggerldge were both battling with the flu so their Ten Kate Hondas was down in the 16th and 17th on the final day.

In Foggy Land, Steve Martin and Garry McCoy had a tough time against the more powerful lOOOcc machines, taking their 900cc machines to only 24th and 27th places. World Champ James Toseland fell heavily on Day 3 so he missed out the fastest laps of the day, while SBK rookie Fonsi Nieto also tumbled off his Ducati, n Network Ten will show the SBK series for the next two seasons. The network, which dropped coverage of the category at the end of 2003, will show delayed highlights of all events, while live coverage of the races will continue to be broadcast by pay-TV network Fox Sports.

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OPINION

fames Smith

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WAS yakking to a frier recently about movies somehow, I happened to say that I had seen Blade Runner more than 40 times.

Right up to the point when I mentioned that, it did not really seem that strange to me. After all, the 1982 Ridley Scott directed sci-fi/film noir classic is considered one of the seminal works of the genre and, without wanting to sound too much like David Stratton (or worse, Margaret Pomeranz), it stands up pretty well after all this time. Maybe seeing it that many times is more about me than the movie, but hell. I'll still give it 4.5 stars.

One of the neat scenes in the films is where Gaff(the moody cop, played by Edward James Olmos) drops an origami Unicorn on the floor outside Deckard's apartment. That gesture is debated by loonies like me to this day; did it simply mean that Rachel was a one-off or does it indicate that Deckard himself is a not a man but a replicant?

I cannot fold paper with anything like the skill required for the ancient Japanese art but, if I could, I would make a unicorn and give it to Anthony Tratt. I am not suggesting that the Toll Racing driver is a robot, or anything like that.

I know that the Pauls Morris and Radisich are regarded as 'singles' but they are operating from the same garage. Alex Davison's Autobarn entry has a link to the Castrol Perkins

23 February 2005

Jjjiili

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troops. Everyone else on the grid at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide next month will have a team-mate in one form or another but, just as he did in the days when he raced a Ford, above, Tratty will be the only driver going 'solo'.

I

f we go back to Adelaide only four years ago, things looked much different.

There were multiple entries from HRT, Johnson, Perkins, K Mart, Ford Tickford, SBR, GRM, Team Kiwi and Gibson Motorsport. The other 19 cars on the grid were single-car entries. As much as there have been a ton of changes in those four years, perhaps this one is the most significant evolution in V8 Supercar racing's recent history.

That thought occurred to me at the launch of Britek last week in Melbourne. Ford Racing's boss Stephen Kruk pointed to the Ford signage on the team's two 'main game' BAs and, with the insinuated backing involved, affirmed that this was part of the blue oval's plan for the category all along.

In reality, the game has always been about the bigger teams. Apart from Paul Morris’ at Calder and Steve Ellery at

11'ifiJ33 i0)]‘ n n

Sandown, in recent times, the races have all been won by the bigger teams. Craig Baird and TK deserve an honourable mention for pole at Winton last year but, apart from that, it appears that size is important.

Times change. The days of someone labouring over a car through the winter and rolling it out for only Sandown and Bathurst have long been relegated to the history books.

Now the game is all about showing up, and going fast, at a//the races; even the recent (and farcical) practice of having a driver lob with a #24 or a #43 on the car, running a few laps in qualifying - or even the race - and then parking for the rest of the weekend are, thankfully, gone.

People can debate the merits of multi-car entries and the demise of the little team in V8 Supercars long into the future.

But the Brave New World is here and it does not look like disappearing any time soon.

There are mixed reactions the V8 Supercar Series to launch in Sydney last weekend.

Reports say that there were plenty of people in attendance but some of those people were heard to mention that the event

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looked more like a truck show than a motor racing function.

There were also a number of teams who failed to attend, including DJR, Kelly and Toll, and that may have disappointed some fans.

While I am not keen to open the whole why-do-this-inSydney argument again, why do this on the same weekend as the Australian Motorsport Show in Melbourne? 1 realise that AVESCO is not bound to support the AMS but, if something like this is ever going to succeed, it does seem to me that splitting the V8 Supercars and the sport's stars between two separate gigs in different cities on the same weekend does no-one any favours - particularly the fans.

Separate dates in 2006 would improve the situation. It might even help the sport - the whole sport.

25

France and the F The with BoxJoeSeat Saward

"Now Spain is FI's biggest boom marketaithough it wiii fade to nothingness it the Indians wake up to Narain Karthikeyan

Ofcourse I am French! Why do you think I have this outrageous accent?

'Twas a time when many things in Formula 1 were French, like Jean Pierre Jabouille and Rene^rnoux, above, their Stand 21 suits, Renault's RE20B, main pic, MicheJin, Elf and Facom. Plus ca change, plus ca ... change.

ORMULA ONE is a everchanging world - which is one of its charms.

The drivers come and go but until recently the team bosses were a solid and ageing lot.

Suddenly we have some new blood in Christian Horner, Nick Fry and Trevor Carlin. There are new Grands Prix in new places and even the press corps is thinning out as the old boys from the 1960s are put out to grass.

But while everything changes, there are some things that have always been accepted as realities.

There have always been French drivers. Ferrari has always been there. But not any longer. Ferrari's future in the sport is much disputed in FI circles and it is clear that it is not easy for a small firm to pay the bills. Ferrari has not handled things very well by trying to push the other teams around (with the help of the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone) but that is not working now and people are even beginning to say that the sport would be better off without Ferrari.

Gulp.

A

And that has not happened since 1966. Ferrari might have a French team boss but no-one cares about that. The Renault team may have a French engine in the back of the car but, to all intents and purposes, it is a British team these days and does not feel the need to use Franck Montagny when Giancarlo Fisichella is available to drive.

Even so it is a blow for the French and Jacques Regis, the president of the Federation Francaise du Sport Automobile, the promoter of the French Grand Prix, was quick to mention this at a recent press conference in Paris to launch this year's Grand Prix.

"Not having a French driver is not helping us," he said. "All we have got is two drivers who learned to race in France. I talked to the teams and to Bernie Ecclestone and I explained that we need to have a French driver in FI but what can I do? We can

nd, on top of that, there is no French driver in the sport. ?

-S >

motorsnort news

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FORMULA 1

New VIAiPlil Ordep continue to help young drivers with talent but it is not easy to get them into FI." Having a driver in FI is usually what makes the big difference in the popularity of the sport in a country. Before Michael Schumacher came along, Germans were into soccer.

Before Nigel Mansell was a hero, British fans were busy punching each other at cricket matches.

However this fine thesis does not appear to work when it comes to Australia where the existence of Mark Webber is forgotten for 11 months of each year and the fact that there is an Australian-owned team is utterly irrelevant to the man in the bottle shop.

The French are worried and are looking at new ways to attract foreign spectators to keep FI alive until they can get another driver in to soup things up a bit. They have made the French Grand Prix the cheapest race in the world and even resorted to using tourist symbols to bring in the fans. The FFSA held its press conference in the Palais de Chaillot at the Trocadero. Outside a Renault FI car was posed on the terrace where Josef Goebbels lined up Adolf Hitler in 1940, to get the

\

23 FeuruaryzOtL

point across. Look folks, there is FI in France!

But what's wrong with that?

The Australians are up to the same thing with Mark Webber and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

And if there was a famous building in Finland, Kimi Raikkonen would soon be posing for photos in front of it.

T

he French seem bemused that such places as Portugal, Holland, Scotland and "Merde alors! Australie!" can have FI drivers, while they, the country where the sport was born, cannot dredge up anyone who can make it in the big time.[ED: Like England and cricket?]

And how is it that there are two Austrians? The answer is very simple. Money. The two Austrians have both come through the ranks thanks to the efforts of Red Bull, an Austrian company. Red Bull is now keen on getting an American into FI and I am sure that will happen within two or three years. Red Bull wants to sell its tin cans in America. And that is the point.

There are three Germans these days because Mercedes-Benz decided back in the 1980s that it wanted some youngsters in FI.

One of them happened to be Michael Schumacher and, like a mother duck, he has a flurry of ducklings following behind him.

That is how it works.

The constant stream of Brazilians owes much to the late Ayrton Senna and he owed much to Emerson Fittipaldi. The followers of Nigel Mansell are still giving Britain a presence in FI and the Brits must hope that before long there will be a wave of Jenson fans to wave the Union Jack. The Finns come from the tradition created by Keke Rosberg that will soon, no doubt, include Keke's own son.

Spain has no tradition in FI but Telefonica sponsorship a few years ago worked wonders for the sport and the result is Fernando Alonso. Now Spain is FTs biggest boom marketalthough it will fade to nothingness if the Indians wake up to Narain Karthikeyan (and he is able to do something exciting).

The danger is that he will go the way of Alex Yoong, a trendsetter who was not quite good enough to breakthrough into the big time. That was the story years ago with Satoru Nakajima, and ever since, we have waited for a Japanese

winner. Now we may get one thanks to Takuma Sato and the efforts of Nakajima and Aguri Suzuki to promote their own countrymen.

I

f the French want to go back to the heyday when France boasted as many as a dozen FI drivers each year, they need the help of a big company. The original boom was created in the 1960s by Alpine, Matra and Elf (mainly the latter) which created a system which popped out a new French FI driver every year until Alain Prost finally showed ^ that a Frenchman could win the'‘‘® World Championship. After Elf went away and the French banned tobacco and alcohol sponsorships the money dried up and the good drivers ended up going nowhere.

One can say that Formula 1 is becoming more international with the arrival of the likes of Karthikeyan but, as we saw with Yoong and with Tomas Enge of the Czech Republic, the big test is not to get a driver into the sport. The big test is to get one who makes the grade.

Let us hope Australia follows the trend if Webber does, one day, win a Grand Prix.

Five minutes with...

ammaianls

The Chairman ofPnoUrive and FoniiPerformance Racing is sick of excuses. Whife here in Austraiia, he spoke with CHRiS JORDAK on his pians to iift the factory Font team QUESTION: What exactly have you been doing while you have been out here?

DAVID RICHARDS: The whole purpose of coming out here was really to understand the situation here and to understand what the issues were.

Clearly, this is a very specialised series over here and like any unique national series anywhere in the world, it requires its own very particular approach.

No hiding the fact that we have under-performed here the last couple of years and we need to get our act together. So with me having a bit more spare time on my hands, it was a good opportunity to come out and have a few weeks over here and to try and understand it a bit better and see what we can do.

So I've brought the family over and they're all here and we've spent some time at the St Kilda Festival and down the Great Ocean Road and down at the vineyards.

Q: What is your view at this stage of the operation after having had a closer look around it?

DR: It's so often the case - and I've seen this on a number of occasions before, so it is not just here, so this is not totally alien to me - we've got some very talented people here working extremely hard, but they have been lacking some direction and leadership, to try and prioritise the issues and create a clear plan.

Hopefully by the time I leave here by the end of the week, I will have a starting point for that and a clear framework to work within.

One of the issues here for me is to try and get everyone to understand their role In the organisation, understand that they are accountable for that and how they are going to be measured in that as well. So that has been the principle priority of my tasks.

28

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Too many excuses,too many reasons to fail; I don't want rr reasons any more.

-Richards on his Chief Engineer’s resignation

Q: There have been some staff changes as a part of all that.

DR: Yes, there has only been one staff change. John [Russell] decided that he was going to resign.

The design of the car was well behind schedule and we had to make some fairly clear decisions on that and how we move forward on that and John decided, in the light of my observations and my view of things, that he was going to resign his position as Chief Designer.

Q; So it was John's decision?

DR: Principally, yes. I let everyone make their own decisions within the frameworks that I am setting up.

In the end, I hold everybody accountable for what they are supposed to do. If somebody is supposed to design a car and get a car ready for the first race and it isn't ready then, you know, that person has to be held accountable for that. He can't blame everybody else around him.

It'll be the same with everybody else in the organisation. They have got responsibilities for a particular area of activity, so I will give them the tools and resources to do it with but I don't expect any excuses after that.

Q: So he had been here for two years and you decided now was the time for him to be accountable?

DR: I think it has always been time for people to be accountable. I think nobody has really held people to task and we haven't been structured here in such a way that is definable.

I think there have been too many reasons why we haven't

performed well: we are just acquiring a new operation, it's all down the far side of town at Glenn's [Seton] old operation, we are using the old cars, ohhh we are moving facilities, ohhh we are setting the whole place up.

Too many excuses, too many reasons to fail; I don't want reasons any more.

Q: Will John Russell be replaced as Chief Engineer or will their be a management re shuffle to take care of his previous roles?

DR: I've reorganised the team internally now and I felt that we have got enough young talent within the team to fill those roles.

Fundamentally, the change I have instigated in the last week is that the team was rather 'design led' until now, believing that this could be won on the technical challenges of the championship, and I don't think that that's quite correct. So I have turned that around to be met by the demands and the requirements of the race team itself, and what we need to do at the track to succeed.

Q: What are your expectations of the team in 2005?

DR: I think reliability needs to be one of the key issues for us, because clearly the points system in this championship and the way this championship is structured, it favours reliability and we've got a new car - so that is never going to be easy - but there is no excuse why the old car, which I expect Jason [Bright] to use for the first four to six races, will be reliable and we have got to make sure that happens.

And then we have to ensure that reliability comes into the new

car and then we've obviously got to look for performance.

I can't see any logic why we cannot be regular podium contenders right from the outset, and if the team starts where it left off last year, I don't think many people will dispute that either.

Q: What about engines? Are you putting more resources into getting more engine reliability?

DR: Yes, we have done a lot of that over the summer now.

There is a new dyno now that has been installed. Rob Benson has joined us now and restructured the engine shop quite significantly. There is a new specification engine, which is already being developed on the dyno this week and so far, from the way it is going together, that is looking very sound.

We are not trying to reinvent the wheel here, to start with.

We are trying to get some base engine specification and then we can work from there.

I think the main thing is that we need a little bit of stability here.

We need to draw a line in the sand and have no more reinventing everything here. Let's start with a baseline and make sure the cars start with the same specification and let's have the engine the same spec, all the spare parts are brought up to speed and let's make sure we have back-filled everything and everything Is documented properly, and then we can m'ove forward. Only when we have got to that point can we start to move forward.

This is not something extraordinary. This is something quite normal when you put a new team of people together and you start from a fresh sheet of paper.

I've seen it on a grand scale at BAR, I've seen it on a lesser scale in other organisations and you know, this is not as bad as I've ever seen it.

motorsport news

Hit oil

23FeDniaryzoi

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Five minutes with

Carrying We hopes of a natmn is a tough ask for anyone. But what about when it is a nation of 1,085,000^0? MARK GimmiHG m^beif hufia's first FI Unverjust prior to his Uehut test at SilvesWne

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Your stated ambition has always been to be the first Indian in Formula One,so it must be a great feeling to have finally made it?

NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN; Oh, it's a great feeling. To be the first Indian is a very special thing, and the whole country is proud of it.

Motorsport back home is going to a whole different level now.

MN: You first tested an FI car in 2001 - it has been a long road, hasn't it?

NK: Yes. Getting somewhere in Formula One is about having the right contacts, and you need some commercial deals as well.

We had the right opportunity to do it with Jordan this year, so that is what made it possible.

MN: Were there times when you thought it wouldn't happen?

NK: I knew that I was the best Indian out there. Nobody else from India has even won a race in F3 before, so I knew I had the best opportunity. I just needed to keep going at it. I started late with my career, but I am here and that is the most important thing.

MN: You said that everybody was very excited back home.

Can you tell me a bit more about what the reaction has been like?

NK: It has been on the front page of every newpaper, magazine ... everything you can imagine. It's been on all the news and everything, I was already popular in India, but now it is ... you know, very close to the popularity of the cricketer.

MN: So are we talking about Tendulkar levels of hysteria?

NK: Tendulkar is my very good friend! Flis level is different. But apart from Tendulkar, I think that the rest of the cricketers should be no problem. I should be as popular as them.

MN:So will you signing up with Jordan will do a lot to help FTs profile in India?

NK: Yes, for sure. More and more 30

and tennis player Sania Mirza as signs that India is finally on the verge of having global sports stars who are not cricketers. Is India ready to embrace different sports at that level?

NK: For sure. I think it will change a lot of things in India now - the way that corporations have been looking at things.

With me, and Sania as well to an extent, we are up there and in our respective fields we are at the top.

I think it will change, for sure. And cricket is getting boring.

kids will look up to it.

There is a good karting championship that has come up in the past few years, the Rotax Max Challenge. So karting has come up in a big way, and that will- help kids come into it. It is looking good at the moment. As long as the corporations keep pushing it, it should be OK. MN: Once drivers get out of karting, is there much circuit racing in India? My understanding was that it is mostly rallying over there.

NK: There are two circuits in India now. They are not great, but something is better than nothing.

The cars are very basic - they have an SOOcc, 40bhp engine and the next one is a 90bhp engine.

They need a better formula, I think, in India. It will happen, but it costs money, you know, so it will take some time.

MN; Are these cars like those Formula India cars that they were running in the 1980s?

NK: Yeah, they were made in the late-1980s. Unfortunately, motor racing is such an expensive sport that they haven't evolved from that.

But a lot of multi-nationals are coming in, and they have me in Formula One now, so maybe things will change.

MN:So it has obviously been

quite hard in the past to get the corporate backing that you needed in India?

NK: Yes. But 1 think now that more and more corporations are going to come into it.

MN: Why now? What has changed in the past year or so?

NK: My backers, Tata, have been backing me since 1999. Now we have Speed Petroleum, which is a big national petroleum company.

They are in Formula One now with me as well, I think they were waiting for a good opportunity. And Formula One TV viewership has gone up, and I think they've seen ail that.

We presented a good case, and they will get good returns on their investment, so I think that's why they have come into it finally.

MN: It's impressive that you managed to pull it off - Mark Webber tried to get money out of Australia for years, but never had a lot of success.

NK: I know. But everything has finally come together. Now, my objective is firstly to finish the races, and then to try to pick up the odd points here and there.

As you know, Jordan is not capable of running at the front, so we'll just make the best with what we have.

MN: I read an article by Harsha Bhogle, and he identified yourself

MN; Does all of this focus on you bring extra pressure to do well?

NK: No. I have always had pressure, because I was the only Indian, The pressure is bigger in a way, but I just need to concentrate on doing what I do best, and it should be OK. MN: One good thing for you is the involvement of Trevor Carlin, with whom you have worked for a few years. Having that relationship already in place must make things easier.

NK: Yes. Trevor has helped me in a big way with the whole deal. I think he kind of pushed for it as well.

There are a lot of Carlin boys here, so on the whole it is much better than going to a new team that I don't know. Flere, it's like I am already accepted.

MN:So what's the plan for the last couple of weeks before Australia?

NK; I'm in the car for the next three days. The weather is bad in England, so next week we are going to Barcelona and hopefully we will have some dry running there.

MN; On top of everything else, I guess a lot of the team needs these next few weeks to get to know each other - everything happened very late.

NK: Yes, that's right. There are so many new people, and everything was done at the last minute. So there is a lot of work to do. But we are up to it, and we are going to do the best we can.

motorsport news

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RI'K’S

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stepping inside the

The driver moves are made; the fresh paintwork is dry; it’s time to go racing! MOTORS its inside view on what promises to be the best season in the history of the sport

L

OOKING ahead to the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series, one thing more than any other stands out as the key issue of the series - pressure.

We have had one of the busiest off seasons in memory, with 14 drivers swapping seats during the summer. That means that the new driver and team combinations are still in flux - some will gel soon, some will gel later and some might never be 100 percent right.

Even the teams that go into the new season with the same line-up as last year have changes to deal with. For instance, Brad Jones and John Bowe are still an item but they have a new look-which means expanded responsibilities with BOC Gases. And they have to allow for the departure of long-time engineer Phil Curtis from their squad.

Two men who, seemingly, face the least change are Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall, with the Stone Brothers Racing lineup pretty well identical to the team that went 1-2 in the championship last season. But, with the improvement in other teams, and a plethora of changes in the opposition to contend with, how will SBR's dynamic due respond?

Holden Racing Team and Ford Performance Racing have to put their nightmare 2004 seasons behind them, with two owner/drivers (and former team mates) Mark Skaife and Jason Bright looking for a title. One owns the team he races for while the other will be in the 32

spotlight on V8 Supercars burns unusual position of driving for one team brighter than ever. If you are a V8 and owning the 'opposition'. How will that work? race fan, 2005 is the year you have been waiting for.

Kelly Racing faces the prospect of But, wait no more; the having No Murf as team leader - will it be season is almost Garth or Rick who grabs the chance to here. Just turn step up? How will Garry Rogers Motorsport cope without its long-time the page ... driver?

Will Glenn Seton rediscover his winning ways at Dick Johnson's team? And, after /i four years of patience, will this be the year that Ford fans get to witness.Craig Lowndes as a serious contender in a Falcon?

Every year, we say that this is the strongest lineup in the history of touring car racing in Australia - but this time, we can back it up with liii statistics. There are five ATCC or V8 Supercar titleists in the field and 10 Bathurst 1000 winners. Of the 34 full time drivers, only 12 are yet to win a V8 Supercar race and, in that dozen, there are three winners of the V8 Supercar Development championship and three drivers with other national road racing titles. Like never TlOtu ^ before, just about every driver on the i grid deserves to be there.

There is more money in the sport than ever before. The

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Seasons Greet Only a bit complex IF you are confused! as to why some cars won't be at all the race meeting this year, don't get flustered - we are here to help.

Here is the basic theory. In the V8 paddock, 34 licences are owned by various team owners/drivers/businessmen.

At most tracks, all 34 are allowed to play, but at others, the track density is smaller. So to combat this, the top 30 'licences' from last year's championship are guaranteed a start for the first half of this season, which leaves two 'wildcard' entries (to be chosen at the discretion of Wayne Cattach, AVESCO CEO), see list below.

For the second half of 2005, the top 30 in the championship will get automatic entry from there on.

Cattach has stated previously that Steven Richards, who will use a licence which was ranked outside the top 30 in 2004, will get one of the wildcards, leaving Will Davison, Paul Dumbrell and Steve Owen in the new Britek-Ford entry to squabble over the last spot.

All three drivers steer for teams with multiple entries. All three are here to make a mark in the sport.

All three will have their fingers crossed come Pukekohe ...

2005 V8 Supercar Series Calendar NC Rdl Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9 RdIO Rdll Rdl2 Rd13

* 32 cars only ** Endurance races

34

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AGP, Albert Park* Clipsal 500 Pukekohe, NZ* Barbagallo* Eastern Creek Shanghai* Hidden Valley* Queensland Raceway Oran Park Sandown 500 Bathurst 1000** Gold Coast* Symmons Plains* Phillip Island

1

' 'THE gamie’^Sf sdaif-swappihg*^^’^^^^nsuiping'si'HiinHs^nnmcke'eir ■^-^^hawging-teanihs', ibwit"willliil!)g lusuariy makes fbP gp^^ any FT season oEre'cord. 'a tTfatter^of-how q,uicl«lylRe^' I reading: during the sum Fourteen drivers swapped can settle into their new environments as to whether But by the time Santa had their way into fresh outfits, they will factor in this year's visited last year, all the major which includes some heavyseats in Supercar-land were hitters like former Bathurst championship. gone. winners Greg Murphy, Garth Testing will prove important and most teams have, or are Tander and Jason Bright.

The silly season started in scheduled to have, hit-outs And the major question will July when Craig Lowndes and be: can a new combination before the Grand Prix. The Ford announced that Craig beat the well-established duo quicker the drivers can get in would depart Ford of Marcos Ambrose and the the swing, the more chance Peformance Racing for a Stones? Each individual they'll have of taking it to 'Betta' deal at Triple 8. driver's desire for better race established and settled teams Once CL was sorted, the like SBR and HRT. rest started shopping, and the results is the prime reason for

Change for change

JUST to keep the teams (and everyone else) on their toes, TEG A has thrown in some rule changes to the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship.

Besides the points system tweak, there are some other curly rule adjustments that wiU sort the 'switched-on' teams from the sleepers.

Starting at the beginning of a race weekend: Practice will now be a two hour session, with each car allowed 50 minutes worth of track time, limited by a number of laps.

It will be vital that this session is maximised, as there will no longer be warm-up sessions before races.

Couple this with no more formation

laps (when drivers were able to slip through the pit lane), and the series is getting harder for newcomers as track time on race weekends is culled.

At sprint race rounds, only two rattle guns wOl be allowed for tyre changes. But the number of personnel allowed has not changed, so watch for guns being swapped (thrown) between the tyre changers.

When it comes to the Shootout, every roimd will include a 10-car run off. 'What will be different, however, is that the order of the Shootout will be drawn randomly amongst the 10 fastest qualifiers. In a flashback to the days of the Peter Jackson Dash, we

hope to see novelty-sized envelopes.

Shootouts will be held 15 minutes

after qualifying, meaning cars will have to carjry largely the same set-up from qualifying.

The HANS Device was widely used last year, but is now a compulsory item for all drivers. It might not seem such a change, but it remains to be seen how this affects driver changes in the endurance races.

And while some pundits had been doing this all along, there will now be a Teams Championship, with an award to be given to two-car and one-car teams with the most points.

motorsportnews

V8 PBEVIEW

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On your marks,get set, GO!GO!GO!A brand-new V8 Supercar season is upon us and there are a number offactors likely to play their part in deciding who wins the 2005 title. GRANT ROWLEY and CHRIS JORDAN suss out the playing conditions 1^ f'"

BLUE V RED

Point yet proven

BEFORE we start here,the concept of changing the Australian Touring Car ChampionshipAfS Supercar Series points system isn’t new - 2005 will be the 15th time the points allocation has been rearranged in the past 14 years.

2005 will again see a new system implemented, although the same scale of points that has been used since 2003 will be retained. 192 points will be awarded to the winner of each round, second place gets 186, and the points continue to fall by six from there. Again, consistency will reward you with a championship.

The dreaded ‘drop your worst round’ comes back into play, but sensibly, a driver will only drop his worst score up to and including Bathurst. This means that all points will count at the final threee rounds - Indy, Symmons Plains and Phillip Island.

... but the flow-on effect has a twist Can Ambrose and SBR rise to the occasion -again?

"IF they are off the pace when they arrive, they are off the pace by a tiny amount and then they sort it out very quickly."

Marcos Ambrose said that to Motorsport News at the beginning of 2002, regarding the Holden Racing Team's domination of his rookie season the preceding year.

At that time there seemed no end to the Red's domination of the sport.

They were professional, polished, had a stable and structured management and it showed,on and

Another change: There are more changes in the V8 Supercar ranks this year than you can poke a stick at. Above, Morris displays his new #67 after abandoning #29.

23 February 2005

off the track. When they were not the fastest, they were not far from the front and not far from getting back there.

But times change. HRT has lost its mantle, taken over by Ambrose and Stone Brothers Racing. Now they have all the attributes:of stability and consistent success that we used to associate with HRT. So, who can topple SBR? We often focus on Ambrose, and rightly so, but the next-best driver of last year was RusseU Ingall, providing a team 1-2, a feat that even HRT never achieved.

It looks a tough task - because it is.

So how did the Ambrose/SBR combination topple HRT? Stability and pressure. Ambrose often used to suggest that pressure was HRT's weakness and it was how he saw their demise coming about. True. In turn, it may well also be his own achiUes heel. It's tough at the top.

So who is there to provide pressure and challenge SBR's reign? Looking at any area of the pitlane, let alone the pointy end, a Idgh number of teams have had some sort of major change over the summer. If they take more than a moment or two to adjust, SBR may well be looking at championship number three, and the only question may lie in whether Russell Ingall can improve his quahfying speed sufficiently to defeat his team-mate.

THE long-distance driver pairing scenario potentially takes on a new look this season, with the revamped points system (above) allowing for a round to be dropped only up to and including the two two-driver races. _^ While the compulsory counting of the final three rounds creates a slightly NASCAR Chase-style end to the season, it will mean that if a driver’s championship has gone well (ie no major DNFs)leading up to the 5 endurance races, risks will be more easily justified in the two-driver per car races.

Whether that means that a team is prepared to put all its eggs in one basket by pairing its two regulars in an all-out Bathurst bid, or splits them with potentially fast-but-fragile co-drivers is a ^ debatable point and a difficult choice faced by most teams.

The one team not facing that choice will be Stone Brothers Racing, whose differing cars sponsors ensure it does not pair its regular drivers together.

But, unlike a few years ago when co-drivers were often sought mid-season, SBR has led the move to early long-distance driver signings, securing Warren Luff and Luke Youlden well before the season has begun. This will allow both to attend all test days over the year for some seat time, as well as turning lap-after-lap in the team’s new three seater ride car.

It remains to be seen how many of the other teams will split their regular drivers. Don’t expect too many. The endures are now driven at such a frantic pace that you cannot afford a ‘lunchtime’ co driver any more. A conservative choice of number two, who will drive it safely at about 'eight-tenths’, simply to keep it on the island for the change back to the lead driver, is no longer an option. By the time the lead driver gets back in, he could be a lap down ...

WESTPOINTa ;

Ready to break the hoodoo?

Glenn Seton, above, and Junior J could be a fast enduro combo.

35

We could tell you who in V8 Supercars we think will be under pressure in 2005- or we couldJust go and ask those concerned what they think.

MARK GLENDENNING did, and this is what they said...

P

RESSURE is a weird thing.

Most people in motorsport are under it; rarely, though, will they admit it.

Part of the reason for this is that a lot of people forget that pressure comes in two forms that which someone puts on themselves, and that created out of the expectations of others, be it the team, the media, the sponsors, the fans, or whoever.

But to the guys at the coalface, it is a vital distinction.

"You have to focus with things that are within your power," said Craig Lowndes.

"There are always people who want to talk about you, whether it is to knock you down or to put you on a pedestal. That is fine but you know what your ability is; you know what you can do."

Lowndes is one person on the official MNews list of guys who are 'under the pump' in 2005.

Four years into his switch to Ford, he has still not been in a position to deliver the kind of butt-kickings that the Blue Oval hired him for.

But with the Eights, that looks like being a different story.

According to Lowndes though, recalibrating his brain from 'let's get this thing home before it blows up' mode to 'win' mode is not a daunting prospect.

"Half-way through last year, our championship hopes were gone and we were focused on having a strong result at Bathurst, which ultimately, we did. We did change our way of thinking half-way through the season," he explained.

"Sitting on the grid at Bathurst, at that stage Robbie Benson had built us a better engine, which was reliable, had more horsepower than we had been using.

"That gave me confidence going to the race and I knew I could race the people up the front. But that is not pressure; it. is confidence.

"The only thing I focus on is what I want to achieve, not what everyone else wants me to achieve.

"I get pissed off with myself if I make a mistake. If I run off the track and the media wants to say that I had a lapse in concentration or I made a

mistake under brakes, they will write whatever they want to write.

"I would know what went on and I can make sure that it does not happen again because, at the end of the day, championships are about consistency."

A

fter HRT's annus hornbiIis in 2004, the spotlight is also on Mark Skaife. Five-time champions who drive for works teams do not like seeing a season go past without a round win; nor do their team owners.

Given that Skaife wears both hats, one could be forgiven for expecting his blood pressure to have reached new and magical heights in the past few months.

Yet Skaife himself says that he will be approaching 2005 like any other year.

"To be honest, I don't feel any more pressure going into this year than I have ever felt, because as the lead driver of a factory team for many years, there has been lots of pressure," Skaife reflected.

"So I don't think that that

w

The only thing I focus on is what I want to achieve, not what everyone eise wants me to achieve.n - Craig Lowndes

An

36

Me really has changed.

"But having a lot of the work done now as we've tried to get ourselves back into a position of domination; you know, I think for me it has alleviated a large weight from my shoulders. It has taken a lot of that feeling of onerous management and administration that I was involved with, and I know that that will serve me well going into the year.

"I would have though that over the years my track performances have probably demonstrated that pressure is something that I have handled pretty well.

"But ... also, without sounding over-confident with those things, you know that sometimes you are only human and that if the overall exertion is so high and the pressure is such that you can't cope with it well enough, then things detract.

"And throughout early parts of last year I thought I was over driving, I was at 11-10ths, I was too desperate - I so badly wanted to win. It was like I was 25, rather than 35.

"But in context, later in the year, I thought my performances were much better - there were some really good drives.

"So the last four or five rounds of the year were a lot close to motorsport news

Oirk Klynsimth

"Sometimes you are only human and if the pressure is such that you can't cope with it well enough, then things detract" lark Skaife

what Mark Skaife would accept

I as being a normal performance. a

While the HRT ship needs steadying, they can take some solace from the fact that the other factory team is in a similar situation.

It's unfair to say that over the past two years FPR has written the book on how not to go V8 Supercar racing - but they certainly flicked through a copy that they found at the library.

Things began to turn around last year, and the appointment of the likes of engine guru Rob Benson and team manager Dave Ward have been positive steps.

None of it happened fast enough to keep Lowndes or Glenn Seton on board, but Jason Bright and Greg Ritter are hardly booby-prizes.

There's no hiding from the fact that the team must perform this

Quick, while he's not looking: This is the closest that anyone came to posing a real threat to Marcos Ambrose last year. But a lot of people are out to make 2005 a different story that he owns. year, and the drivers, too, would Despite having his own little appear to have small weights around their necks. Both, baby in the form of the Britek team on the grid, he says that it however, say that they are will not distract him from the taking a relatively carefree task at hand with FPR. approach to 2005.

"The idea has always been to "I don't necessarily (feel like I get the right people to run that have been thrown into the deep so that I can continue to be a end)", said Ritter, who is finally driver," Bright pointed out. getting a real shot at V8 "Whether I was driving for Supercars after years of bashing on the door. that team or for a different team, the purpose was going and "I think that not only the new getting the right people to run car needs to be proved, I guess that team for me, so that if I'm you could say that I need to be as well. driver there. I'm not having to look after their shoulder and run "Obviously there are going to things for them and everything is be a few teething problems and issues with that and I'm more in place there and everyone has their roles to be accountable for than happy to help the team sort to. that and get it heading up the "So whether I'm here or right track."

Bright, meanwhile, joins Skaife there. I'm concentrating on the as a driver and team-owner this driving, which is the most important part of my career at year. Unlike Skaife, however. the moment," Bright will not drive for the team

Aircon Racing Announces It's 2005 Australian Formula 3 Program.

Aircon Racing announce their two car entry into the full 2005 Australian Formula 3 Championship. Based in Melbourne, the team will apply it's the proven engineering experience from the last six seasons to it's next challenge, the 2005 Australian F3 Championship and Gold Star Award.

Information about the full season program is still available by contacting: T +613-9786-6600 E racing@compsystems.com.au

23Fedniary2005

37

Great

Expectations c

For possibly the first time since he left Holden, Craig Lowndes looks to have all the pieces of the puzzle in place with Betta Electrical Racing. What does he expect in 2005? PHIL BRANAGAN asked the question

RAIG Lowndes makes the art of being Craig Lowndes look so easy.

Some things look pretty much unchanged from the Formula Ford driver that appeared half his lifetime ago. The grin is the same; the enthusiasm for racing is undimmed.

His genuine affection for people of all kinds is still there, even if everyone else now (undersfandably) has to take a back seat from time to time to his family - wife Natalie, son Levi and, as C. Montgomery Burns might put it, "Expecting".

The hair is now specked with silver and the odd furrow on the

brow is starting to appear. But Craig is still Craig.

When Lowndes appeared on Planet V8 Supercar as a 19-year-old, it did look easy; show up,leap into Holden Racing Team Commodore, kick everyone in the nether regions, visit podium (for the trademark trophy-and-garland clean and jerk) and beam that wide-as-Uluru smile

understandably had one foot out the door,soon followed by Glenn Seton.

Lowndes/Ford Mk IV is Triple 8's Betta Electrical Racing squad and 'The Kid'is looking forward to starting over.

"I think that Triple 8 team is highly organised," says Lowndes.

"I think that they are only the second Ford team to build their own cars from scratch, besides Stone Brothers. When I first walked in to the workshop, there were five-and-ahalf cars sitting on the floor. They had the two older cars, which have been sold to Howard Racing, we have my brand-new cars, which was half-finished then. Max [Wilson] debuted a new car at the end of last season and they had the cars they

were using. Really, they are highly organised; no-one is chasing their tails in that respect. They get down to business."

Lowndes hesitates to make vocal comparisons between his teams so he is not about to denigrate FPR. "Inside Triple 8, the team is always striving for faster pitstops, better ways to build cars and making them go faster so, for me,it is a tight family. The team works together and everyone has the same goal.

"The boys at FPR were no different. They wanted to win races and were willing to do anything they could to make that happen. They did

r

i Looking Forward: Lowndes unveiled his new look to the public in Sydney last Saturday, above. He is determined to do well this season after two seasons of frustration with the underperforming Ford Performance Racing, below.

continued on page 40

and go home.

But all that changed at the end of 2000. He stepped out of the HRT Commodore at Bathurst, handing the car(and effectively, the title) to Mark Skaife. A few months later, he was officially a Ford man in a deal that rocked the sport and kick-started the Blue Oval's resurgence as a Player. It all looked so promising.

It wasn't. Lowndes/Ford Mk I, Gibson Motorsport,looked to have everything it needed to succeed, except a second chance. Mk n,00 Motorsport, soon floundered and was on life support. Mk III, Ford Performance Racing, was a race team that looked hell-bent on ticking off all the things it should not do before getting to the ones it should. By the time Ford's Ship of State had turned around,its star driver 38

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39

continued from page 38 long hours in the shop and that meant that sometimes, they were a little burnt-out by the time tliat they got to a race weekend.

"Half-way through last year, the biggest change for FPR was that Robbie Benson came on board and really cleaned up the engine department, in a lot of ways. The biggest gain was in reliability; that was something that we were struggling with.

"And I know that Robbie can build better engines than what he did last year but time and the resources he had last year were against him. At Bathurst, we were second with Glenn and the car was strong and reliable all day. Tliere is no doubt that FPR's cars should be better this year than it was in 2004."

The inference is clear; Lowndes decided to leave FPR in the midst of its technical dead-ends, organisational chaos and roller coaster morale. Recent changes within that team have underlined

The Way We Were: Lowndes scampered away from HRT team-mate Mark Skaife, above, and everyone else, on the way to another win in Perth in 1999.

just how drastic the problems have been (see news pages).

But already, after one of T8's 2005 test days (in between six days of sponsor appearances) Lowndes sounds confident about his new mount.

way at times. I think we are in that position.

My confidence will grow as the races go on, with the car and with the team. I think that will result in

"It is hard to compare different circuits ... but the Triple 8 car reacted to every change we made to it. I am confident that the car can be at the front of the field.

"The bonus for me,in signing with Triple 8, was the joint venture in the Stone Brothers/Triple 8 engine program. That is fantastic for me; arguably, Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall had the best engines out there last season."

So, with aU the recent problems, how does Lowndes judge his own recent performances?

"In a way, it is hard to judge but you have to go out every time and give it 110 percent. If that means you have to run around on three wheels for half the race, you give it the best you have got. For me, aU I could ever wish for was to give that 110 percent.

"If I got out of the car at any time last year - which I didn't- and felt that I should have done more, pulled off a pass, qualified better, I would have been disappointed within myself, and I am sure that the team would have been disappointed. I do think that we gave it our all last year and did the best with what we had."

So does that mean that, at 30, he still feels like he is performing as well as he did in the three-titles-inthree-attempts 1990s?

"I think that I am. Honestly, when I first moved over to Ford there were times when I over-drove the car. That created some of the mistakes I made.

Now I believe that I am driving 40

more consistent lap times, which has been a bit of an issue for me.I think

HI got out of the cap at any time last year - which I didn'tand felt that I should have done more, pulled oft a pass, qualiried better, I would have been disappointed within myseir

-Lowndes makes it clear about his time with FPR

within the boundaries of the car and getting the best out of what we have."

One thing that is standard in motor racing is momentum. Success breeds success and misery loves company and one of the hardest things in the sport is to turn things around. As someone who was used to winning - a lot - how does Lowndes cope with losing?

"At first, it was something that I was frustrated with and I think that was why I over-drove the car," he admits. "I was trying to overcome deficiencies in the car but you grow older and wiser and smarter. You learn to adapt. When success comes around again, you appreciate it more.

"I have had a lot of ups and downs and I have learned how to deal with them. That makes you a better person. You can only control

the things that are in your power; if an engine expires, that is outside your power. There is nothing you can do, you get on with it and look forward to the next race in the championship. If I missed and gear and buzz the engine, and that causes the engine to explode, I have to look at myself. Sometimes, things happen outside your power."

Does that mean that Lowndes is setting higher goals for himself this year?

"Not really. I have not got any more pressure on me than what I normally have. I have my own goals and agendas and things I want to achieve throughout the season.

"I have always wanted to win races and championships and I strive to try to achieve that. I think that you need to be in a good team with the right people around you and you need to have a little luck go your

that I am still the same person that I was.

And how does he look back on the Wonder Years and those three titles?

We were in a good car at the right time and won championships. That is no different today. I still like to think that I am in the top six in the category. It was a big decision to change manufacturers and you have to get into a position to continue your success.

"I think that, with our association with the Stones on the engine side, that will give us a step up. I think that we will be on par with the Stones. That means that the Holden teams will not have it their own way but neither will the Ford teams. It will be tough but we want to give the Ford fans more to cheer for than just one team."

Lowndes's assessment of himself as one of the top six drivers in the V8 Supercar business might seem a little modest. Many,including some of the key people inside T8, rate him much more highly than that and it is clear that getting Lowndes for 2005 was one of team principal Roland Dane's missions from Day 1.

Dane is a man noted for getting what he wants. He got Lowndes and Craig may now,finally, have the car for which he was spent four years waiting - a race-winning Ford.

Win or lose, expect to see than famous grin again ...

motorsportnews

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MOTORSPORT NEWS: When you come off a season tike last year, do you spend all summer picking over it trying to work out what happened, or do you put it to one side and say, 'what's done is done, let's get on with 2005'?

MARK SKAliFE: A tittle bit of both. It's healthy, I thiiink, to analyse things to a certain extent, and unhealthy to overanalyse it.

I think, when you analyse it, it's important to be brutally frank and honest about how those things are. I did a lot of my own self-assessment with that, and I know that the guys did a lot of that too. We had some real truth serum sessions prior to Christmas and when we came back.

And a lot of that is very positive, in that you've got to recognise that some of the things that we did last year were cleairly not good enough, and other areas were good enough. Then you can dedicate your time and energy on focusing on the things that need to improve.

I think that that's been a pretty positive approach for us as business, but as a team it has brought to the surface a lot of issues that are not easily fixed when you have a complex business like ours.

We spoke about having a 100-poiint plan at the start of last year. And the 100-point plan, it's basically all those things now that are in place.

Because you can't just do that immediately; you can't turn the tap on and off.

I've come back this year from hanging around on the beach with (only) 10 things on my page. I knew that we had got so much of the 100-point part of it done.

MN: From the late 1990s through to 2002, HRT as a team was basically the best racing team in the southern hemisphere. How different is the landscape now,and how does the current team match up to that of four years ago?

MS: There are significant things. There were a lot of ownership dramas and the restructuring of the business, and the way that the TWR collapse affected our race team here.

What also happened at the same time was that there were new car introductions, new engine introductions, there was Project Blueprint, and there was a Ford commitment to go better in motorsport.

They spent more money and did more things; they were embarking on a more competitive approach to it.

So if you said,'Are we doing the same things now as we were in 2002?', there's no way we are. We are a much superior race team than what we were in 2002, but that won't show until all of the things that we want to do actually are done.

And I've got to say that a lot of that has been a real objective for us in terms of how we regrouped and restructured ourselves and get on with business. That has

been a pretty positive thing for us, no doubt about it.

MN:I presume that you are now looking at the last two years as transitional years, but is that how you aw it at the time,or is it only in retrospect?

MS: Probably more in retrospect. Retrospectively, you see the results and you know that they are not good enough, so you say OK,these are all the things that we wanted to do, and how we go about them now in terms of the execution is important to get that stuff done.

I reckon that when you walk around our pit and you see the people and you know the vibe and you get a bit of a gauge on what the atmosphere is like, it's an exciting place to be, because there are lots of really good things to look forward to.

Not just in engineering-land, but in the way that we have organised ourselves,the way we look ... the overall complexity of the business means that you can't just be good in one area. It's about being good on and off the track, and that's where we are headed.

MN: It's also about finding a balance, too, so that the offfield stuff doesn't have an impact on the on-track performances.

MS: No doubt. For me, my overall workload and my overall ability to cope with that demand has been difficult.

There is no doubt that I am not a great delegator, and I probably wanted to be too

MOTORSPORT

SP73R

DZ86R

(feint

42

close to most things. As time has gone by, I have been able to have confidence in ... I mean, I have always had confidence in the guys that are engineering, in a technical sense and a racing sense.

But I have probably struggled in terms of how the business needed to be run in making sure that a lot of those things in the 100-point plan were actually being actioned.

Now,they are.

Our 2005 launch was a.great example - I had very little to do with it. I was involved in the brief on how it should run fromTtne.stact, but other than that everyone else has executed it.'

And that is a great example of where we are headed. That shows that Mark Skaife doesn't need to be involved in a lot of the day-to-day stuff because there are capable people around who can do those things.

MlSi: Were"all of your extra responsibilities to the detriniiei1t> of your driving last year?

MS: Look, it was. I can't quantify it - I don't know whether it was one tenth of a second, or the difference between a good result and a bad result.

I mean, I have never worked harder. In the last 18 months, I have never worked harder, and please don't take me the wrong way, I am not adverse to that and I love being 100 percent committed to stuff.

But I know that I often wasn't as race-prepared as I should

SP85R

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V8

I to Engage

Mark Skaife admits that HRTs 2004 results were not good enough. But 2005 will be a different story.

He told MARK GLENDENNING why

have been, I didn't have enough of the shut-out periods and the time-outs that I needed to have to get my balance right. And even just family time, where you need to be away from motor racing, you've got to be in a position to take time out, and last year I wasn't.

If you have a look at my diary, there are plenty of black out days this year, I can tell you. Which is a great sign that we've got it right.

MIM: It's one thing to have them blacked-out now, but the tricky thing is keeping them that way ...

MS: No no no! That's it. But that's what happens,the demand from everyone outside comes in, and all of a sudden you've got to do an appearance wherever it is, and a speaking thing there, or you're asked to do something for TEGA or AVESCO or whatever. So a lot of that does encroach.

Probably last year, you know, when you try to be all things to all people, that's not always conducive to doing one thing as well as you need to do it. Now I am confident that there is a bit of a better policy in place.

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

MN: You've talked in the past about the team's culture of success. But over the last couple of years, have you learned to lose 'constructively'?

MS: Yes. It leaves a bitter taste.

It's like playing footy and you get belted in the dial and you've got a bit of blood running.

You know that this hasn't worked today like I wanted it to work out.

And when you've got that taste, and you don't like it... I totally agree, I reckon that's a real necessary step in everyone getting on to that winning trail.

The guys - I don't need to explain to them that things haven't been good enough.

But also, to be fair, if people knew how hard they've worked ... in the time that I've been at HRT, we have worked harder in the last two years than we have in our history. At any point.

And people on the outside don't understand that. So you can be critical from the outside, but unless you understand the circumstances, and the things that the team has had to deal with internally, it's probably a bit unfair.

23 February 2005

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HOEVER,Russell Ingall aside, expects to be a championship contender in 2005 will have to overcome a solid, consistent team, which is one of a few not to undergo major upheaval over the summer months.

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IngaU is part of that very establishment.Stone Brothers Racing,so his mission is much simpler - he just has to match his team-mate in skill, daring, application... and luck. Under a points system which stubbornly still refuses to reward outright winners, getting the mix of those ingredients right is tricky. The odds, however,suggest that a three-peat for Marcos Ambrose, avoiding a points disaster (especially at the final three 'nondroppable' rounds)is a tough assignment.

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couple - but they are both untested combinations: Lowndes

and behind-the-scenes, and there's more to come. Don't

at Triple 8 and Bright, in Craig's old spot, at FPR. Last week's Triple 8 test day produced a smiling Lowndes.

Yes, we know,he always smiles ... but this was a positively huge grin. Best car he's ever driven, he reported. Triple 8 has done its homework and assembled a

forget that at the end of'04 it was Lowndes in the FPR Falcon who was running at the front at Eastern Creek. Bright? Finished third last year with PWR and should be considered a dark

strong package-chief engineer Campbell Little, SBR engines, and now 'The Man Formerly Known As The Kid'at the wheel.

It's a strong combo and the testing confirms it.

Jason Bright is as street smart as anyone out there, but there were those who thought his move to FPR foolish. But he was moving anyway - originally to his own Britek team. Then the FPR gig came up and ... well... it might end up being a classic case of good timing. Team owner Dave Richards understands this is it - no more excuses. That's why he's been wielding the axe, both publicly

horse, but don't be surprised.

Closest to SBR on a consistent basis last year was John Bowe.

BJR now has a different look, above, a new major sponsor,and has lost JB's race engineer, but with a moderate budget in the bank represents the best bang for your buck among V8 teams in general. Championship contenders? Unlikely. Podium or two? You bet.

The same goes for Westpoint, nee DJR. By Dick's own admission,2005 is all about getting back into the top 10 with some regularity. These days, that's no mean feat.

Bargs too started to run well inside the top 10 late last year.

Outlining the fact that Ford does have quite a list of potentially strong teams,it's time for a podium or two for the little guy at Larkham Motor Sport!

Across the fence in Red Land, the likely championship challengers come from three sources: HRT,Team Perkins and Super Cheap (nee PWR), with dark horses in the form of Team Kelly(once was Kmart Racing) and Garry Rogers Motorpsort.

Mark Skaife was stung by his failure in 2004. Love him or not (and there's a healthy split), you can't fault his application. Time management,delegation and thus race focus could be up for I discussion - and he knows it.

I; Once he gets that balance right, f. he and HRT wiU be back. Look

molorsportnews

US PREUiElWf

iner is

mi'.

With so many quality teams and drivers in the field, CHRIS LAMBDEN took time to sort the quick from the quicker...

»«UJCWSCO )ohn Morris/Mpix

V8 Supercar Championship Series

Driver and Team line-up

Change and consistency: Brad Jones and John Bowe have a new look, above. Mark Skaife, right, will have a fast car in 2005.

Off-track responsibilities affected his performances last year, but MS offers no excuses.

for more form Team Red in '05.

Steven Richards was in the hunt for most of 2004. hr the end, one bad race meeting took him out. Until then, consistency, if not quite regular race-winning pace, was his forte.

Expect the same in '05.

Greg Murphy's move to Kees Weeks team may be the inspired move of the year. There's a feeling that this is a team getting it together in a hurry. After all, Jason Bright was a title contender for most of'04. wasn't he? If these guys gel,look out.

Team Kelly is the most likely of the dark horses. Two talented young drivers and a relatively stable team; but as this is written no big news on the sponsor front. More than any of the other HMS teams, the shadow of

\

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'asupra<rv\Rs.

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Tom Walkinshaw and right-handman John Crennan loom large over this team. Both want back in to V8 Supercars, both want success and with Skaife unwilling to hand back the reins at HRT - this could be their means.

This could be the really interesting story of the 2005 V8 Supercar season. Don't miss one exciting episode!

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2005 Kumho Tyres Australian F Competing for the Australian Drivers Championship Round 1 - Wakefield Park NSW, February 26-27 Non-Championship - Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park VIC, March 3-6 Round 2 - Mallala SA, April 16-17 Round 3 - Phillip island VIC, May 21-22 Round 4 - Queensland Raceway QLD,July 2-3 Round 5 - Eastern Creek NSW,July 23-24 Round 6 - Phillip Island VIC, August 20-21 Round 7 - TBA Round 8 - Eastern Creek NSW, December 3-4

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moiorsponnews

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. '> THE testing is over,the drivers are packing their bags and the 2005 Formula One season is about to hit top speed.

Albert Park's season-opener always answers many questions but, this season,the massive list of changes mean that there will be even more to watch in Melbourne than ever before.

Some FI insiders have said that the new 2005 technical regulations are the most significant in the history of the sport and wind tunnels and dynos have been running around the clock to claw back some of the speed and reliability lost since 2004 ended.

How will McLaren's fire-and-ice combination of Juan Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen get on? Is this the year that Toyota will finally get some return on its massive FI investment? Renault's new R25 looks swift - but can it go the distance? Was 2004 a high point for BAR-Honda or is 23february2005

the best yet to come? Is swapping a Jaguar for a [Red] Bull anything more than just paint?

Will Mark Webber continue to impress, now that he is in a team with a winning heritage? Don't forget Nick Heidfeld; the experienced German is the bestcredentialled team-mate ever to take the seat alongside the man from Queanbeyan.

And, above all this sits Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

The seven-time World Champion leaves nothing to chance and even in an 'updated'2004 car, is likely to continue to be the one setting the agenda on motor racing's biggest stage.

As usual, there is much to see in the opening race of the year. For our unique perspective on what to watch and what may happen, Motorsport News invites you to turn the page and step into the world of Formula One ...

49

No P ace like

T

ESTING,they correctly say, should never be taken as a complete form guide to the forthcoming FI season.

There have been classic cases of teams running constantly light to impress Sponsors and, conversely, running continuously heavy to lure the opposition into a false sense of security.

But, iif you want a clear indication of the state of play, the drivers have a fairly realistic view. They are om track with each other and can generalHy see what their opponents' cars are doing.

So when the 'word' coming out of Barcelona is suggesting Renauit, Ferrari and McLaren as the form horses going into the season-opener,that sounds like bad news for Mairk Webber, although you won't hear it from hiiim:. Not puiblicly.

The fact is, the FW27 Williams hasn't come out of the box quite as well as had been expected. After the walrus-nose disaster of last season, Australian hopes have been resting on the theory that such a well-renowned and resourced team couldn't produce three 'duds' in a row. But so far,the FW27 hasn't set the world on fire.

From what Mark does say, most mechanical aspects of the car are fine: "The early testing has been focussed on reliabiiiiity - that's the cornerstone on which everything else is built - and tyres," he told us. "Engine-wise, with the two-race requirement, it's been important to work out when and where we can use the engine aggressively and where we can save it a bit - we've done a lot of simulation work there.

"Cooling, especially as it affects and is affected by the aerodynamies, is quite a tricky thing, and they've done a superb job there. All the weight targets have been met. The car is very detailed under the skin.

"They're the positives, and I think it is one of the most reliable cars out there at the moment- and that could be a big plus in Melbourne.

"We'll find out the long and short of where we are - or aren't - when we get to Melbourne. Clearly, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari are looking like they are the strongest at the moment. Anything after that is a guess, really.

"Everyone will learn a lot in Melbourne, which is one of the things which make it such a fascinating race. Most of the testing has been done in very cold conditions, so it'll be a little bit of a new ball-game."

The short-fall, according to observers, is in the aero - which has of course been subject to substantial regulatory change since 2004.

"The aero package is probably the most important element of the car in terms of outright lap times, along with tyre management and engine performance, in that order. We're certainly not on top of the aero just yet...

"But it (the world championship) is a marathon, not a sprint race, and Melbourne is just the first of 19 races but it's here now and we have to do the best we can."

"We've done a lot of mileage - you always want more - but in terms of the pace of the car, we're not exactly where we want to be."

That's as close as you'll get to criticism from Webber. Behind closed doors it may be different, but one of the things that Frank Williams hired him for is his history of motivating the team around him.

Where will the 'fix' - if there is one come from?

"It's purely down to getting the runs in the wind tunnel; getting the work through.

We have some very clever guys there and I'm confident they'll get on top of it.

"I wouldn't be pointing any fingers, at all. It's purely a matter of getting the runs done in the tunnel and translating their work through onto the racecar. It's the old problem - time is the thing you're always short of in FI. We can't press the 'Pause'

button, we just have to get on and do the best we can."

With just a final test, at Valencia to go (as MNews closed for press), the boys back in the Williams aero department are starting to roll out some alternatives as the test team completes its final routine work: "It's still all about ticking the boxes from 'aborted start' procedures, to cooling systems, to tyre management. As a driver, at this stage, it's all about getting the car as much to my liking as possible, so.it will look after the tyres in Melbourne. Valencia is good from that respect. The surface is quite similar to Melbourne.

"In aero terms, there'll be some new things on the car at ValMtia, and probably further new stuff when we get toFriday practice at Melbourne itself. Thihgs can change up until the car goes out of the garage for qualifying on Saturday!"

Regardless, with Melbourne as his home race, there is extra focus - call it pressure if you like - on the local hero, but he's yet to feel the effects: "The good thing is that I don't live out there, so I haven't really got involved in the pre-race hype.il.g,uess it'll hit me a'few days prior to the race when we do get.'*1 II there.

"I'm just going to rock up, do the best job I can,then leave for the next race. For me, that's a positive. It's clear I want to do well for the team, myself, Australia, and the race itself, but dreaming only gets you so far.

"Of course I'd like to be on the podium.

It's an important race: my first one for Williams, my first race with a big team, but I'll do what I've done every other time - come down to enjoy it and do my best.

"I guess 1 want a rewarding result - you can get a 'jammy' result, but whatever it is, you want a result to be genuinely \ v> ●I-

And, what about the opposition?

WEBBER ON:

Renault They've had a huge improvement in their engine department over the last 12 months - a big strength for them. Good pa ckage - engine and car. Going to be very strong.

50

McLaren: Again, usually a pretty sound aerodynamic team, with Adrian Newey there. Nowhere at the start of last year, but did bounce back. Look set to start off a lot stronger this year.

Ferrari: Like last year, only started to show their hand at the last test-doing the same this year. Good at not giving much away. I hope that I'm right this year (I've said it before and been wrong) but I expect this to be the toughest Melbourne BP they've had for a while...

\

BAR: Did a good job last year, but were flattered by the weakness of Williams and McLaren, who didn't perform.

Sound team, never underestimate Honda, but may find a repeat more difficult

^4

You mould think that the widespread expectation ofa §rst-up podium in Meiboume wouid provide added pressure for Mark Webber, especiaiiy as the new Wiiiiams isn't currentiy iooking iike a ^runner. But, as he toid CHRIS LAMBDEN in this exciusive last-minute chat, he's not feeiing it rewardiiingi, whetheir it's MeUbourne or Budapest. Whatever happens, I've got a long career ahead of me,so don't jiudge me on one race in Melbournel Is it a pilius, or a minus, having the 'home' race as the first?

'If you were sittiing,there like Renault or Mclaren at the moment, you'd want IWlelbouirne to be youir first race. As it stands, it migiht be a tough race for us.

We're not sure how tough it's going to be - it's racing, and anything can h appen.

We mlg'ht be over-eoncerned at how tough it miigiht be - it might fall our way when we actuaiy get there.

The good thing about Melbourne is that it is the first race. By mid-season everyone is usually a bit more reliable and the pace is a lot higher, so it's hairder to get points if you're not quick.

It's all swings and roundabouts, but on balance, having the first race, with all the unknowns, as my 'home' race is good.

What can we expect from Webber next week? Is a podium realistic?

While his cautiousness and limiting of expectations is typical, there is no d oubt that the BMW.Williams team will start the year slightly behind the front running aero eight-ball. That in turn is bad news for the round black things especially when you've only got one set. On that basis, it could indeed be a demanding weekend for Webber.

Uncertainties remain until the cars go out to qualify on Saturday,though Heck, it might even rain - and that could tip things upside down!

It's going to be a fascinating weekend.

Vive la difieren

Can the chasers bridge the gap to Ferrari’s ‘interim’ F2004M? MNews FI Tech Editor PAOLO FlUSETTl looks at the varying interpretations of the 2005 regs - particularly the aerodynamics

w

HILE it is the first race which will definitively answer the question as to whether any of the challengers have closed the gap to Ferrari, it is possible to judge the potential of some of the new cars by analysing the solutions they have come up with, be they radical or conservative, as they interpret the 2005 regulations.

The starting point for any discussion has to be Ferrari. Not only because it was the top team in 2004, but also to underline the development which has gone into the interim F2004M - which will contest

the first four races of 2005.

While the F2004 dominated in '04, there were no substantial secrets to the car -just a beautifully balanced unit, both mechanically and aerodynamically. This means that the car was able to perform at every track, be it fast or slow. And thanks to that perfect balance and minimal tyre wear,tyre development evolved toward a very soft tyre compound.

Apart from the requirement to race with a single set of tyres, the reduction in downforce for 2005 adds a degree of difficulty as teams work to avoid excessive tyre degradation.

Traction and general tyre grip is

substantially affected by the aerodynamic load available.

Less downforce produces more sliding, producing increased tyre wear, especially on tracks with faster comers. The effect on slow circuits is much reduced. With traction control assistance and reduced lateral acceleration, stress on tyres is much reduced.

That basic preface is necessary to introduce the concepts behind the F2004M. Even though it is an interim car, it is a deeply revised version of the successful F2004. It has been a

continued on page 54

BAR 007

Renault R25

While the R24 looked to be a ‘visually’ well-designed car, with its deeply sculpted shape, rounded sidepods narrowing downwards like recent Ferraris, it actually had some big problems.

Imperfect weight distribution and aerodynamic balance produced a car which was very nervous on high-speed tracks.

It’s greatest successes, the Monaco win and Hungary, came at atypical, slow tracks, where the problem was at its minimum.

Given the new regs and the need to create a completely new car has afforded the Renault engineers the chance to overcome those problems and they appear to have succeeded.

The R25 is a strong development of the R24, refining

\l 52

●Sf ■

imiljyS PA i

and pushing the aero concept of the older car substantially forward.

This is clear In virtually every section of the new car - from the

2/^

^2,

revised front wing, with very deep central spoon profile (2), to the sidepods (with their slight ‘S’ profile) and simplified wing endplates.

The muchdiscussed mounting of the front suspension units to a vee-shaped ‘keel’ provides cleaner airflow under the car.

While the sidepod profile is very low at the rear, their distinguishing feature is the fullwidth air gill placed on their top, providing better engine cooling while allowing the pods to be narrower at the rear, as well as the big chimneys.

With the 2004 006 being very sharp in its dynamic behaviour, with good aero balance and tyre characteristics in the team’s first ‘Michelin’ year, the new 007 further integrates Michelin into the design process.

The 007’s large front wing with deep spoon central profile is distinctive, but not the most important element. The barge boards, made up of multiple profiles and placed inside the front suspension, are. They work, together with the fins on the bottom of the car (in front of the sidepods) as an efficient integrated air-flow control system.

The sidepods, featuring double inclination radiators, are very narrow at the rear, deeply sculpted at the top. The tightlypacked rear features a shorter.

Williams FW27

After the failed walrus-nose concept, the FW27 is a little more conventional, but not conservative, car.

While the nose is higher and very slim, with a deep spoon centre profile to the wing, what is striking is that the sidepods are, undoubtedly, the lowest on the grid. Their section at the front is very low and they taper strongly to the rear. Chimneys even bigger than those introduced in China cater for sufficient engine cooling, despite the very tightly-packed rear end package.

Small double mid-wings are a feature of the engine cover. moiorsponnews

ce!

McLaren MP4/20

narrower engine cover.

So compact is the car, that wheelbase has been reduced to further aid the basic handling of the car.

As in ’04, the BAR has the only carbon-fibre gearbox case on the

grid - but more compact than before - and a lighter, more compact engine is said by Honda engineers to already have the same power as 2004- although we hear that reliability is still a concern at this late stage.

r

23 February 2005

McLaren’s mid-season 2004 redesign, the MP4/19B included some of the solutions that would be adopted on the 2005 car and, above all, marked the first definitive design input of former Ferrari aerodynamicist Nick Tombasis.

The MP4/19B featured sidepods and the wider nose reflecting that Ferrari heritage, although the physical differences in the radiators. engine and transmission limited just how close that similarity could be. That target, however, has been reached this year with the MP4/20, even if the cars remain quite different.

The wider, drop down nose, first seen at Monza last year, is retained. The front suspension features the most important change, the double keel being virtually abandoned in favour of the single keel concept, still keeping the barge boards inside the front suspension, but with the foremost, lower wishbone pick-up points not separated.

The sidepods are even smaller, thanks to a double inclination of the radiators, first introduced by Ferrari on the F2003GA. It is

here that the Tombasis influence is greatest: large vertical chimneys are atop the pods. which drop away very quickly, while the exhaust chimneys are now much closer to the engine cover. The cover is very narrow, ending (as most other cars do) as a shark-fin, connected to the vertical fences inside the rear wheels by means of an additional profile on the top of the rear axle (another ‘Ferrari’ feature).

The rear wing is fairly conventional, with a slight ‘S’ profile to the main element of the wing.

53

continued from page 52 challenge for Maranello's engineers to retain the good d)mamic features of the F2004. Externally, the result is stunning. Although the car doesn't look substantially different, the detail work is significant- and in FI it is the details that matter.

As aU the other team have tried to do,the F2004M sports a front wing which aims to maximise the downforce generated from the central 50cm section. Ferrari has attacked this quite differently from its rivals.

The deep spoon profile favoured by the others is rejected in favour of an additional double profile 'box' wing (1)- not very pretty but, it seems, very efficient. Our spies are suggesting it has recovered the downforce lost by the raising of the front wing by the regulated 50mm.

At the same time, the nose looks to drop more noticeably (2) and creates a deeper channel underneath for the air flow passing below it and directed into the sidepods.

While the barge boards on the forthcoming F2005 are quite different, the F2004M boards are virtually identical to the F2004 - which confirms that the airflow behaviour is exactly as it was on last year's car and tliat the new laox wing'front is producing a similar result to the F2004.

While the sidepods and crushable structure are the same in most aspects, the car has lost its hot air vent 'gills' in favour of very big chimneys (4). While this provides better cooUng, it also allows efficient air management to the rear of the car.

Following this theme, verhcal endplates have been added to the big flip-ups in front of the rear wheels to provide increased downforce and less turbulence to the rear of the car.

On top of the rear axle an additional wing profile (6)is placed that connects the rearmost point of the very tiny engine cover and the vertical curved fences inside the rear wheels (this element was actually tested at Imola before the start of last season, but never used).

The rear wing endplates have been elongated, as per the new rules, at the front, reaching the level of the rear axle (7), but feature three horizontal curved slits (8) on the front comer similar to those introduced last

Pressure? What

s

O who will be under the pump when things start to get really serious at Albert Park?

In one sense it's almost a pointless question, because every team in FI is under pressure of some kind. But after several seasons of being battered senseless by Ferrari, the time has come for all of the other wouldbe contenders - generally speaking, the manufacturer teams -to step up and fight from the front, rather than starting the year already playing catch-up.

Ferrari, of course, has to deliver, too. The problems with dominating the way that it has is that, a) people start to take more notice of you when things go wrong, and b) the only place left to go from the top is back down.

So far, Ferrari has managed to

defy gravity and remain in charge for an unprecedented number of years, but as anybody within the team will tell you, staying in the number one position is just as hard as getting there ... regardless of how history has made it look.

One reason that we are in for a rockin' FI season is that there are about half a dozen teams that simply cannot afford to fail, and the sheer weight of numbers means that some of them invariably will.

By its own standards, McLaren has more or less been in hibernation for the past two seasons - who would have thought that the last team to beat Michael and Ferrari in the championship would be eligible for a Friday driver this year? But the farce of the stillborn MP4/18 is history now, and early reports are that the new MP4/20 might just be a handy little unit.

In light of Ron Dennis' claim a few years ago that he feels physical pain after his team loses. it's fair to assume that he has worked through a few boxes of aspirin in recent times. And he.

Martin Whitmarsh, Adrian Newey and the rest of the blokes in grey must be heartily sick of the taste of it.

Toyota is in a different boat.

Man and Machine; I Toyota's Mike Gascoyne, left, has a i' large part of his reputation riding inside the TF105s ofJarno Trulli I and RalfSchumacher, below.

BAR proved in the late 1990s that you can't come into FI and buy success but Toyota has tried to do it anyway, and so far it hasn't worked. This year, it has to.

The team has spent the third world debt on developing the new TF105, a decent chunk of which has gone towards paying Technical Director Mike Gascoyne. The Brit has a huge reputation with an ego to match, but his last few cars have failed to stun. Fie argues, quite reasonably, that it is because he has inherited half-baked creations at the last moment and been forced to simply make the most of what he had to work with.

Not this year. The TF105 is Gascoyne's baby-the first real Gascoyne car in years, If it is a rocket, then perhaps his rumoured status as FI's highestpaid Technical Director can be justified. If it is another Trabant, however, then he has some explaining to do.

Gascoyne said recently that development of last year's car was compromised for the benefit of the TF105. Let's hope it was worth it.

Of course, the team's fortunes also rest heavily on two very well renumerated but equally mercurial drivers in Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli. Ralf is super-fast on the right day, and if the right day happens to coincide with a Grand Prix then he can beat just about anyone.

Trulli, meanwhile, has talent to burn, but needs the right environment to harness it.

But the most basic issue for Toyota is this: last year. Jaguar beat it in the Constructors'

season by Toyota and,subsequently, Williams. These slits reduce turbulaence around the inner face of the endplates, thanks to the air flowing through them.

On the opposite corner, where on the opposition cars there is the now standard rounded cut, to reduce the drag caused by the bigger endplates, the F2004M features a very sharp, squared, deep cut.

This then is Ferrari's first attempt at a 2005 car - so, what of the opposition?

54

moiorsportnews

. FI PBElflEW

pressure?

GRAND PRIX WEEK for the dedicated race fan Sunday February 27 - Sam Mark Webber kicks of a big week of promotions, wheelspinning (well, maybe) a Williams FI car across Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Wednesday March 2- 12.30pm The focus switches to Melbourne and a street parade of FI cars including, we hear, Williams, Minardi, Red Bull and Toyota.

Thursday March 3 This is the AGP's 'Free Day'(in terms of general admission).

All the domestic categories (including V8 Supercars) are ontrack, plus the three-way WilliamsF1-V8 Supercar-BMW road car challenge. The day also includes the Minardi team launch, with ceremonies at 11am and 3:30pm in the FI Experience area, adjacent to the golf course.

Man who lurks in shadow: Can McLaren turn its recent slump around with the fire-and-ice combination ofJuan Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen? a lot to do with McLaren and Championship. Another performance like that will be a Williams failing to fire.

Ah, Williams. The team has a catastrophe.

Renault is also feeling the heat, proud heritage - but it last won a but in this case it is more selfchampionship eight years ago. In imposed. We don't know how recent times, it has developed a reliable the new R25 is, but it frustrating habit of starting the year with an undercooked car and gives the impression of being one of the quicker newthen wasting the first five races . generation cars. And it needs to trying to get it right. be - team boss Patrick Faure has Sam Michael is shouldering a said that he will not settle for responsibility that belies his years anything less than wins in 2005 in trying to ensure that it doesn't (and that's 'wins' with a plural). happen again in 2005, and just in There's also pressure from case he misses the point, Mark above, with new Renault Webber will be shaking bushes from here to Grove in his efforts chairman Carlos Ghosn keeping an eye on things to make sure to rally the team into a cohesive battalion. that the team's results justify the investment.

Also on the drivers' side, Nick The R25 is an evolution of the Heidfeld has finally received his elegant but temperamental R24 leg-up into a 'real' car after years that helped Trulli to victory in of humming around in Prosts, Jordans, Saubers and the like. He Monaco last year, and with has to make the most of it - not Giancarlo Fisichella joining least because (like Christian Klien Fernando Alonso for 2005, the at Red Bull), he is on a race-byteam has little to complain about race deal, and has Antonio in the driver department.

Given its meteoric 2004, BAR Pizzonia hanging around the has been rather quiet during the garage waiting for him to trip up.

And don't think that there will off-season. Momentum counts not be slamming of fists on for a lot in motorsport, which will tables from BMW if the chassis help the team this time around, and signs are that the car is a proves to be a few steps behind good unit too - although there the engine, either. The German manufacturer has made little have been question marks over secret of the fact that it is not in reliability. After coming so close to winning races last year though, FI to make up numbers. How much longer is Munich prepared failing to do so this time around to wait for Williams to win will not look good, and will give ammunition to those who another championship?

- MARK GLENDENNIIMG suspect that BAR'S success had 23febniary2005

10:55-11:25 11:40-12:00 12:55-13:15 13:55-14:15 14:30-15:15 16:25-16:45 17:05-17:25 17:45-18:00

V8 Supercar practice.(.Sp, rnins) ' Michelin Carrera Cup Practice (20 mins) Trading Post Formula 3s Qualifying (20 mins) Michelin Carrera Cup Qualifying (20 mins) V8 Supercar Qualifying (45 mins) Michelin Carrera Cup Race 1 (8 Laps) Trading Post Formula 3s Race 1 (8 Laps) Cleanevent V8 Utes Race 1 (6 Laps)

Friday March 4 FI for real! Just how many teams without the benefit of a third car will venture out as they cope with the two-engine rule for the first time? rt-if 11:00-12:00 14:00-15:00 15:30-15:50 16:10-16:25 17:05-17:25 17:40-18:00

Formula Qne Practice Session 1 (60 mins) Formula Qne Practice Session 2(60 mins) V8 Supercars Race 1 (10 Laps) Cleanevent V8 Utes Race 2(6 Laps) Michelin Carrera Cup Race 2(8 Laps) Trading Post Formula 3 Race 2(8 Laps)

Saturday March 5 Qualifying starts in earnest, with the FI cars running low fuel for the only 'official' time over the weekend. These should should- be the fastest laps of the whole week.

09:00-09:45 10:15-11:00 13:00-14:00 14:00-15:10 15:30-15:50 16:30-16:50 17:40-18:00

Formula Qne Practice Session 3(45 mins) Formula One Practice Session 4(45 mins) Formula One Qualifying Session 1 V8 Supercar GP 100 (19 Laps) Michelin Carrera Cup Race 3(8 Laps) Trading Post Formula 3s Race 3(8 Laps) Cleanevent V8 Utes Race 3(8 Laps)

Sunday March 6 The second half of the qualifying session kicks off a huge day, with the cars running in reverse order from Saturday's session.

As well, we see the final V8 Supercar race and the traditional photo session for the FI drivers. After the drivers' parade, take your best vantage points for first GP of the 2005 season.

10:00-11:00 11:20-11:40 12:25-12:30 12:30-12:40 14:00-16:00

Formula One Qualifying Session 2 V8 Supercars Race 3(10 Laps) Formula One Drivers Photo Formula One Drivers Parade 2005 FORMULA 1™ Foster's Australian GP 58 Laps (Approx 1hr40mins) 55

Change of

The 2005 season sees IMick Heidfelil moving from also-ran teams to a contender at Williams and David Coulthard taking the opposite path from McLaren to ^ Red Bull. ADAM COOPER spoke to both men MOTORSPORT NEWS: You left Brazil last year not really knowing what your future was. How did things develop?

NICK HEIDFELD: In the beginning it was all waiting.

After the season I was hoping to get a phone call telling me I had a chance to test. I had to wait for that for a couple of weeks. When I got the first cal!

I thought, OK, it's my big chance now.

I was pretty happy already with how the tests went in December. After that the team said I could so some more tests at the beginning of this year, and they would decide afterwards who gets the drive.

I just tried to keep on doing my best j;oib. It was an interim cair, rtnaiinily last year's car with this year's spec on it, the engine and gearbox.

MN: Was BMW really pushing for you?

NiH: To be honest I don't know how miuch they pushed with Wiilliams. I've no idea. I just know that they were happy with what 1 did, but the same goes for Wiliams. I don't really know how much they are pushing.

MN: What was it like getting the decision in Valencia?

NH; I just got nervous the night before! Antonio went in first. He didn't say anything when he came out, so I couldn't tell. really couldn't tell. Actually, when Frank told me I had the job, beforehand I thought I would jump up in the air and go crazy and all that.

But for some reason it didn't happen. think it was more like pressure dropping away, as I'd been fighting with Antonio for quite a long time. I just drove a few hours later with the new car.

MN: Has it sunk in that you might finally have a winning car?

NH: I hope we have a winning car. We will see in Melbourne!

The tests so far have been going well, especially the reliability of the car, which has been great. I think Mark has had one or two small issues. but I've nearly had no problems on the car. I'm sure that's going to be important at the beginning of the season. continued on paae 5S

Uia

Direction MOTORSPORT NEWS: Was there a time in the winter where you really did think,Tm not going to have a drive next year and might have to sit it out until 2006'?

find out if I enjoyed the experience and got along with the team.I kept feedback and information very briefthe car's got oversteer, the car's got understeer -and concentrated on

DAVID COULTHARD:It's easy to sit here now with a contract for the season and say no,but... No!I didn't really. I was working through a process of discovery for both going racing and remaining involved behind the wheel in a non-racing capacity.

And to a much smaller extent what I would do if I decided that I wouldn't drive,but look towards the future in racing. It was quite clear that I wasn't going to do another form of racing in 2005,if FI wasn't available. That was one decision that

what I needed to achieve on that day.

I didn't pay any attention to the time.

I went away and decided, yes,I think I can enjoy the challenge. And we took it from there.

we clearly made,so that takes away the process of trying to test the water in other racing formulas.

MN:How did things develop?

DC;Jaguar had done a couple of tests with Tonio [Liuzzi] and Christian [Klien] and then I came along and did the test at Jerez. I didn't sign a

MN:Some people,including retired drivers,say that you are in for a shock in stepping back to a midfield team...

DC: Lots of people say lots of things.

The reality is that very few of the people who are saying anything have any foundation on which to give that opinion. They may have been through a similar situation, but they've not been in the exact situation. It's inevitable that people are going to have an opinion.

MN:Christian Homer says you are the biggest asset the team has this year. What do you think of that?

DC:I've gone into this season and

FORMULAE "

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continued from page 56 MN: Being,in a top teani, are you looking;ahead^ to this season'in:a completely different way to theipast?

NiNi Yeah, but there are two things, ill think ill wil ireallly staiit to feeli that when'!l aim!in.

Meltbouime,andi the other .thing is you're never ihappy, you always try to iimiprove. Even if you have a car as goo# as the Wiiiams you're not iruinimiingi around!smiiing:the whole day, beGause there% alwa.ys something!,t@ impirove.

MN:iBo youirealise that you%e actually driving!for the team that won:the last r<ac0 NiH: It's great for the team., win niihgi the last raGe, but J! don't realllly think it Says a lot for this year, ilt jiusl shows thiat the'team'Gan:tuimi thiings arouindi,,beGaiuse III dOin't thiiinik they were too haippy earliier in the year, but they managed to build up and: iirn the last three or four races,they were very, very strong.

MN: Youi've tested!for McLaren !beforev but what's it tike going straight.froni! a Jordan to this?

NH: it's different in every way, the professionalism,the manpower, diriving:the ca r itself, iverything is dfifferent. 1! saw it aliready testing: last year's ear in Oecemiber. il think people reailise from!the TV footage that the iordani and IWIinardi' drivers have to work so ihardi ©n the steering: wheel!

It's aHot better with a quieker car. I followed'a JPrdan at Jerez at the end Of last year. He was fighting and!i|l.just eruised past.

MN: You%e known for being a smooth driver. Will that help with this yearns tyre situation?

NlHc Yes,!|i thiiink if anythiiing, that goes iin my favoap. I've never ha# a team-m ate who was easiier o® the tyre than ll was, and:that wjilll be helpful this yeair.

MN:What do you think Of Mark Webber so far?

NiH. So far we have a very good relationshiip, and H'm very suire that we win work together fine to help the team progireSs. You always try to beat youir team-mate, but at the same time, you' have to work together.

MN: What about Sir Frank?

NIH: We've tailiked together quite a 'lot on:the phone,I call him reguiliairly, and I get on very well with hiim. The only thing I have to say, especially before the deGision was made |l didn't get any impression out of hiim if I was Jin favo u r Or not.

With most of the other people in the team f knew, OK, it's very positive -or not! But with fra nlk !jiust didin't get it anyway.

MN: From what you've seen, do you think it's going to be an interesting season?

NH: I'm sure it's going to be mone iinteresting than! last year. I! thiiinik last yea r was outstainding from Ferrari, even for their standards. Of course I hope that they will not win everything again. Just watching everybody in testing, the Renault seems very quick.

I'm sure the FIA will not achieve What it piannad on cutting speeds!

continued from page 57

Coulthard

this relationship quite clear on where the performance of the car was relative to the last McLaren 1 drove. 1 can validate against what they have, where the car responds reasonably well, where the car is a distance away, and where the car has some positives, some things that are better than what I've experienced.

Logically if you come from a car that as recently as last year was capable of winning the Belgian GP, that is the most relevant information that you can bring along. I'm not bogged down in issues of budgets, and people and design processes and what have you. It's just, you can be better in this area, work on it, or don't worry about that area, we're in reasonable shape. I understand the job,I have to play my part in guiding the engineers who will ultimately guide the designers.

We'U measure our success on whether we're making progress as the year goes on,not with a particular goal of how many points I'm going to score, or where we're going to finish in the championship.

You cannot know that, you just don't know where the opposition are.

MN:Do you feel that people are really open to your input?

DC: The worst thing I could do is not have an opinion. I do have an opinion,I do have a feeling on things.

Like any opinion, it doesn't mean it's fight or wrong, but I have to pass that on to the engineers, and find out whether we have the resources or knowledge or within the regulations the ability to develop something.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed at McLaren was that out of little conversations, an idea comes.

MN:Is it a strange situation that you were hired by one management,and then there's been a change?

DC: To re-iterate what I've said about

Dave [Pitchforth] and Tony [Purnell], their replacement wasn't a reflection of a failing to have performed. The results were there for everyone to see.

They kept the team together to the point where it could be successfully sold,so they achieved their goal in that respect.

Red Bull aren't just a sponsor, they are the owners of this team, they believe they can take it forward. They are not new to FI,they were majority shareholders in Sauber, although they didn't have a majority say,for many years. They've been around, they understand the business. I tliink it was clear that there would be changes, and the best way to initiate change if you want that to go all the way through the company is at the top.

Christian was known to Red Bull, he knows them. I've known him and his father right back to karting, although we never raced against each other in wheel to wheel combat.

Gunther Steiner is a straight talking guy, which is exactly the way to do business.

It's early days, but I think the changes are working. Time will tell ultimately who stays and who goes.

One more think I want to say is that all of my negotiations and contractual negotiations were with Austria direct, and didn't involve the Milton Keynes management. So I haven't lost someone that was an ally previously.

MN:You are actually older than your team boss. Doesn't that seem a little strange?

DC:It is and it isn't. The age thing is much more of an issue to those who report on it than it is if you're in it.

People talk about salary caps and age limits for second drivers. I think they should have an age limit on journalists, because they become senile, reminiscing on the past! Get some fresh blood in there.

motorsportnews

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IMMIE Johnson has finished runner-up in the last two NASCAR Cup championships, but many are again tipping him to go one better this year.

Johnson's career started off in the stadiums of the west coast, running off-road trucks where he amassed over 25 wins in three racing series and scored a remarkable 100 top three results before moving onto asphalt ovals with the recently-defunct ASA Series.

At 29 years of age, the California native is in the prime of his driving career, but it's obvious from our recent conversation at Daytona, where he finished second in the Rolex 24 Hour event, that his desires are far beyond the NASCAR ranks that he joined through the Busch Series in 1999.

Johnson won his first NASCAR race in 2001 and joined the Cup Series later that year when, after asking Jeff Gordon's advice on driving, Gordon formed a team with Rick Hendrick specifically for

Johnson. He took his first Cup win at California Speedway in April of 2002 after claming pole for the Daytona 500 in just his fourth Cup start.

MOTORSPORT NEWS: First off, congratulations on your eight wins last season and your recent marriage to Chandra. I trust everything went well there?

JIMMIE JOHNSON; Definitely, thank you.

MN: Would you have given up any of those eight wins to become champion last year?

JJ: Every one but the Atlanta win after the tragedy of the plane crash.

Race wins are what we're a after, but at the end of the day want to be a champion and think that's what everybody aspires to be.

MN: You're only three seasons into your Cup career and you've finished bridesmaid on two occasions. Did you and crew chief Chad Knaus set any

kind of timeframe for when you wanted to win the championship?

JJ: No. We thought after finishing second the first time that last year was maybe going to be our year, but the season is so long it's hard to get too confident in your goals. We want to win one as soon as possible, and win another one after that.

Sure we have goals, but our goals are more related to doing the best we can and if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

MN: Like Tony Stewart, you showed flashes of brilliance within the Busch Series, but when you arrived in Cup your success was pretty much instantaneous. Do you put that down to the difference in cars within the two series or the resources available to you atiMencUick Motorsports?

JJ: It's hard to not go to Hendrick and feel that you're going to be in the best equipment out there, but definitely the cars in the Cup Series were a little better.

think a lot of it, though, was really about experience. I had a very limited asphalt background. and it was my first two years seeing those tracks and driving those types of cars. And then, by the third year, I was in Cup and in great equipment and it all started to go right for me then MN:One year in, what's your view on the new points system?

JJ: It's good for the growth of the sport. In my heart I don't totally agree with it, but the big pictur'6 Is We want our sport around in 20 years from now. and I think the Chase idea wi allow that to happen.

MN: After Daytona,the Cup Series is switching to, a smaller rear spoiler and a softer tyre compound. You've had the opportunity to test the new configuration at Las ■Vegas andJ=ontana during the week - do you think it has put

NASCAR

►f King Jimmie the car back at the hands of the driver?

JJ; The cars are more difficult to drive, so it does put some back in the hands of the drivers.

But what it does more than anything is, it makes us have to work harder to put the grip back into the car to get back to where we were.

So I think we'll spend more money to find an advantage over what we were last year, and any time you make a rule we re going to spend money to find a way around it. That's just the evolution of racing.

MN: You came from off-road background. After the success that Robby Gordon had this year on the Dakar Rally, do you have any aspirations to compete in that event?

JJ: I've thought about it in the past, but I had a bad experience in the Baja 1000 and I was out there for a couple of days before anyone got to me after a wreck

After being championship runner-up twice from just three years in the big league, Jimmie Johnson is set on making 2005 his year. MARTIN D CLARK cornered him for a chat

So I'd like to race where I know there is an ambulance close by. 1 make too many mistakes!

MN: Do you think you'll finish you're driving career in Cup, or do you have goals to compete in other racing series?

JJ: be in a Cup car for my professional career. think once I decide to step down from driving a Cup car I would like to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and maybe a rally event. just look at some other fun races in very cool race cars that I may have a chance to drive. I don't know that the opportunity

will be there, but the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I would just love to go compete in that. That's one of the big ones I want to be able to do.

MIM: What about the V8 Supercars from Australia have you seen those on Speed Channel?

JJ: Those are awesome, they are really cool. But there are so many different cars I would like to try. had the chance to go to Paris and drive a World Rally Car and didn't do very well, but 1 had to take a chance. It was in the offseason and timing worked out.

As long as the schedule works out. I'll drive anything!

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61

lUopthc Chris Atkinson and Gienn Macneaii officiaiiy kicked off their Subaru WRC careers in Sweden two weeks ago.

MNews tagged aiong to see what happened...

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T'S not every day that you make your WRC debut with a works team, no less.

We at Motorsport News would never get a good night's sleep again if we let the occasion pass undocumented, so we sent a spy to follow Chris Atkinson and Glenn Macneall around all weekend.

We joined our heroes at the end of the Rally, where the pair are sitting down chatting about the fact that their split time on the third final stage was up on the entire field at the seven kilometre mark by a significant margin.

Macneall points OOTthat-rffcthey could have won d'Sl^ye in their World Rally

Championship debut, but Atkinson is nonplussed; "So who cares?"

Atkinson was simply pleased to have completed the event, and that he had an opportunity to demonstrate the pace he now has to harness to ensure that he can become a star in the WRC. Atkinson put in an amazing performance by any standards, never mind the fact that he had a just 120kms of testing on the Monday prior to the event.

According to the pair, the

final week leading up to the at a shakedown the week prior, big event was the culmination which gave me some of much hard work. indication of what to expect, "It has been a big week, but but it wasn't until I got in the the lead-up to this event has car on the test on Monday before the event that I had a been a lot more than just a week, it has been a month to real feel for the car." six weeks of preparation The pair flew from London learning about the car and to Karlstad via Copenhagen on fitness preparation," said Sunday morning with Subaru Atkinson. bosses David Lapworth and Paul Howarth. While at With the pair training in the gym in almost a religious London's Heathrow airport, campaign they are both the pair were met for a coffee probably the fittest that they

by Media Manager Lee have been in their lives.

Hanatschek, who had missed "We have basically lived at his connecting flight to Oslo. the gym," Atkinson continued. nfc "I got to finally drive the car continued on page 64

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continued from page 63 After arriving at their hotel at about 6:30pm on Sunday night, it was early to bed before rising for a seven o'clock start at the test the following morning. The temperature hovered around minus four degrees the entire day. Welcome to Sweden.

Atkinson admits to being a little apprehensive leading into the test day.

"I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little bit nervous," he said. "But the team have been very supportive ever since we have arrived. They are great." acneall has previously had experience in a WRC car, and passed some words of advice onto Atkinson when they climbed aboard for the first time.

"I simply guided him to be positive with the car," Macneall explained.

"While a Group N car is a good car, this Subaru WRC is an outright race car. He needs to be positive and do his own thing and not copy everyone else, but rather take in all the information from everybody and adapt it to his style, and develop the car to his style so that he is comfortable."

"We started on one road which was a nice fast, flowing piece, but only a couple of kilometers long," said Atkinson.

"Then we went to the other side of the test area where there was a 5km section which was tighter and trickier. We would go down, do a loop and come back, making it a 10km stage.

"This second part of road was more of a real simulation stage. We got the car to a point which we were happy with, and we were happy with 64

Happy blokes: If you had a Subaru Impreza WRC strapped to your backside, you'd probably be smiling too. the times as they were very competitive."

The pair then completed two days of recce over the course around Hagfors on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Recce is the most important part of the week," said Macneall.

"Chris is very precise in his notes, and I think we just about had every rock and dip

Mills. While the co-drivers spent the majority of the evening rewriting pace notes, the drivers went training before all sat down to dinner together.

Shakedown for the pair on

"You could see he was a little disappointed in the times set during shakedown, but the road was fairly dug up and we only had two runs over it as we didn't want to bang up the car," he said.

"When you look at the other times set in people's second run, the times weren't all that bad."

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Some people tried to blame the conditions, but it was n nothing more than my lack of eKperience - Chris Atkinson on the Day 1 accident

noted in our notes. Sometimes it is a mouthful to get it all out!

These precise notes is why Chris is so good over his first pass of a stage."

The uncharacteristic lack of snow in the region was something that Atkinson admitted to being slightly worried about during recce.

"Yeah, there were a lot of uncovered rocks and areas that weren't covered in snow, which looked as though they would wear out our studs very quickly."

During recce, it was just the six drivers and co-drivers with SWRT's fitness manager John

Thursday was minimal due to the lack of snow.

"The road was pretty cut up by the time we got to the road at 9am because all of the priority one cars have been running for an hour," Atkinson said.

"So we only did a couple of funs, as we didn't want to confuse ourselves with set-up after a good test on Monday."

While a little apprehensive, Atkinson put on a brave face entering the opening day.

Macneall, however, believes that his driver was a little deflated by the times set in shakedown.

ith the brief from the team to focus on stage and split times rather than overall results, Atkinson set off at a blistering pace to be amongst the fastest during the first split.

"Apparently our first split was a good one, but just after that it all went wrong," said Atkinson.

"I'll openly admit it was down to experience. Some people tried to blame the conditions, but it was nothing more than my lack of experience, as it was the tightest corner we had come to.

"It was a bit of an eye opener. I thought I was going OK, but you arrive at the corners so fast... maybe for this corner, I arrived a little too fast."

"It probably wasn't the best of starts," agreed Macneall.

"But many people would say it was the best possible start, as it took a lot of the pressure off. But it did dent the confidence a fair bit.

"It didn't matter that we had lost the time, the biggest thing

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was to get back on the road and stay calmed and relaxed.

"For the rest of the stage, he took it easier and built up his confidence. By stage three he was back into it. He was also pretty quick at saying sorry while we were going off the road."

As the weekend went on, the pair begin to gel with the Subaru Impreza WRC and set some really good stage times.

"We could have come here and made no mistakes and run just outside the top 10, but realistically we came away from here learning a lot and set some really good stage

times," said Atkinson.

"Sure we had a couple of moments, including 13 minutes in one (incident), but we came away from Sweden learning a lot more that we could ever have imagined in one weekend.

"Glenn's experience in a World Rally car, and also his overall rallying experience, has so far been great for me.

On the other side of the coin, I think that he has learnt a lot from my training, as well.

"Now we will complete several days testing before Mexico, and I can't wait to get back behind the wheel."

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ETTER Solberg has emerged victorious after a see-sawing battle with Marcus Gronholm to claim his first-ever Rally of Sweden victory two weeks ago.

Solberg and Gronholm swapped the lead no less than seven times over the first two legs before the Finn succumbed to the pressure and rolled his Peugeot out of the rally.

It was Solberg's first win in five rallies and he was clearly elated at what is a significant milestone for him, "It's incredible," said Solberg.

"I have not made a single mistake all rally. Things have been just perfect, and the crew have been incredible. They have put everything up to the next level from the smallest detail and that is very, very important."

While the focus was on the leading pair for much of the rally, the competition raged throughout the top 10 with some outstanding performances on the snow and ice of the Swedish forestry roads.

Much focus was on Subaru recruit Chris Atkinson, who had tongues wagging with an aggressive drive that, while only netting him 19th spot, underlined the Queenslander's immense potential.

Atkinson was as high as ninth at the end of Day 2 and recorded a top four stage time. Two minor offs on the tricky surface saw him lose around 15 minutes, enough to rob him of a point scoring-position on debut.

Atkinson headed his team mate Stephane Sarrazin and all of the Skodas, as well as a number of more experienced drivers before beaching the Impreza on a snow bank for 13 minutes. It certainly won't be long before he features in the points.

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"We tried to pick up the pace, but we came a bit fast into the corner and we had two options," explained the young Australian.

"Go off backwards, or roll. So we went off backwards. But we were here to learn."

Gronholm was sanguine following his second DNF in this year's title.

"It was frustrating, for sure, but what could I do?" said Gronholm. "When you're out, you're out. It was one quite tight corner and I went in and touched on the inside, went wide and rolled. That was it."

Gronholm's failure did not please his team manager Corrado Provera, who had hoped for a better result on what was the veteran competition manager's final event with the French team before his retirement after 45 years.

Provera had stern words for Gronholm after the crash, saying the Finn should have gone for the points and not the glory.

"Let's be clear, he knew that by finishing even second he would have very good points for himself in the driver's classification and for us in the manufacturers, so I am very disappointed, to be honest,"

said Provera.

With a distinct lack of cold weather in the weeks leading up to the rally, event organisers' prayers were answered the day before it got underway, with a dump of snow coming just in time to make the roads suitable for the studded tyres and the traditional Swedish competition.

Failures by Gronholm and the normally bulletproof Citroen of Sebastien Loeb saw new Peugeot recruit Markko Martin edge his way into second place.

"To end up second is a bit of a strange one, because I really struggled with set-up at the beginning and managed to change it quite a bit but still couldn't take full advantage of the car," said a surprised Martin.

The final podium position was taken by Toni Gardemeister, who again proved the pundits wrong and rewarded the faith shown by Ford boss Malcolm Wilson to record his second straight top three finish in the Focus, taking the lead in the Drivers' title as a result.

Italian Gigi Galli underlined the massive leap forward for Mitsubishi this year, recording a fastest stage time and challenging the top three, while

his more highly fancied team mate Flarri Rovanpera struggled for the right set-up in his car over the opening two legs.

Rovanpera got the equation right on the last day and stormed into fourth, taking a fastest stage time in the process.

Solberg fought so hardand thatGronholm they opened a big gap on the rest of the field, and even the man who last year broke the Scandinavian stranglehold on the Swedish rally, Sebastien Loeb, struggled to stay in touch. Like other Michelin-shod drivers, the reigning World Champ was troubled by stud loss when the snow thinned on Day 2, a problem that did not affect the Pirelli runners.

Loeb had bigger problems as the second day drew to a close as his Citroen's engine started overheating and loosing coolant.

Fie had a big enough gap on the pack to nurse the Xsara through most of Day 3 before it finally cried enough on the penultimate test, putting a severe dent in his title defence.

It was an ordinary weekend all round for Citroen, with new recruit Francois Duval coming tnoiorsportnews

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Fetter Solberg got a win on the board, Chris Atkinson starred on debut... aii in ail, the Rally ofSweden was a good place to be part of the Subaru family.

JON THOMSON reports

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Pleasant surprises: Markka Martin, above left, was at a loss to explain how he could spend all weekend struggling with his Pug and still finish second, while Toni Gardemeister, right, is even more shocked to be leading the Championship ...

home in 12th, taking the last manufacturers point after a fraught weekend for the Belgian.

His Xsara had a severe understeer problem on the first leg when he was as high as fifth.

A rock caused a puncture and a time-consuming tyre change on Day 2, and more punctures further handicapped his progress on the final leg.

Sweden's best chance in their home rally was Daniel Carlsson, who posted a strong drive in the semi-works Bozian 307.

Carlsson had a good battle with Atkinson throughout the first two days, but the Swede's better local knowledge enabled him to exploit the attrition rate over the closing stages to take sixth place in another encouraging drive.

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Tuohino was on course to take points in eighth before a late indiscretion saw him knock a wheel off and retire. Jani Paasonen, who wasn't nominated for points, brought his Fabia home in 10th behind Roman Kresta's Ford, while DTM Champ Mattias Ekstrom snared the last of the makes' points in the third Czech machine.

In a thin Production Car field of just nine registered crews, Toshi Arai emerged as the victor in his

Subaru ahead of Stig Blomqvist, the veteran Swede who is a fivetimes outright victor on the Nordic event.

After two tough opening rounds, Gardemeister heads the field as the Championship heads to warmer climes in Mexico in the middle of March. The more established stars will be out to bridge the gap to the consistent Finn, and Atkinson will be back on a more hospitable surface where he might better display his talents.

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J..Hqnkanen 4 FI. Rovanpera R. Pietjlainen 5 FI. Solberg

Fin Fin Mitsubishi Lancer Fin 3hg4mr8.5s Nor Ford Focus RS 3h84m21,9s C. Menkerud Nor 6 D. Carlsson Swe Peugeot 397 I M. Andersson Swe 3hg4m34,6s 7 G.Galli Ita Mitsubishi Lancer 3hg4m56.1s G.P'Ampre Ita Cze Ford Focus RS 8 R. Kresta J. Tomanek Cze 3hg5m3:1.7s Drivers' Points; Gardemeister 14, Martin 13, Loeb 10, P Solberg 10, Rovanpera 7, Panizzi 6, H Solberg 4, Stohl3, Kresta 1.

Manufacturers' Points: Ford 20, Peugeot 17, Mitsubishi 17, Citroen 11, Subaru 10, Skoda 3.

WRC 2 SWEDEN 67

Missed it by that much

WHILE the spotlight was on Chris Atkinson in Sweden last weekend,it was revealed that Subaru Australia number two driver Dean Herridge came close to securing a drive in the Production World Rally Championship at the wheel of a Group N Subaru this year.

Herridge described the possibility as frustratingly close, with the West Australian having just three weeks to pull the deal together at the end of 2004.

"I'd say if we'd had perhaps two or three months it would have fallen into place, but following Rally Australia, 1 had basically three weeks and it just wasn't enough," said Herridge.

"It was extremely frustrating to get so close, but it's given me the incentive to prepare in advance and see if a similar opportunity arises this year.

"I had great support from Subaru Australia

and Possum Bourne Motor Sport and they did their best to help, but we just ran out of time."

Herridge had an enviable record in the three WRC rounds he contested in Production cars last year, winning at Rally NZ, below,finishing third at Rally Japan and going within a few kilometers of a podium in Australia, only to be robbed by a blown engine.

"Honestly, I think I could win the PWRC, based on having experience on three of the events and the remainder being on gravel," Herridge said "At this stage, my aim is to win the Australian Rally Championship and to perform as well on the International events as last year.

I want to win again in New Zealand and also at Rally Australia, and if another opportunity arises in the WRC I'll be ready to grab it with both hands!"

- JON THOMSON

Blickhoam

SUBARU lead driver and winner of the Swedish Rally Petter Solberg reckons Chris Atkinson can become Australia's first World Rally Champion.

Solberg was full of praise for -his young Australian team mate following his debut performance, and believes he has shown enough to indicate he has what it takes to win the WRC. "Chris could easily be Australia's first World Rally Champion, I believe this for sure," said Solberg.

"Of course he will win rallies in the future. Definitely, he has a chance to be world champion

Amvederci,Corrado PEUGEOT said goodbye to its outspoken motor sport chief Corrado Provera at the Raily of Sweden,ending his 45 years with Peugeot and Chrysier of Europe.

It was on the Swedish event that Provera masterminded the Peugeot 206’s maiden WRC win, and the Italian had hoped to go out in a blaze of glory with Gronholm repeating that success. Alas, it was not to be and Gronholm crashed out while chasing Solberg for the lead.

Provera will retire from his position as head of Peugeot Sport and Peugeot Communications at the end of the month, and will be replaced

68

in the motorsport role by his long-term deputy and accomplished former rally driver, Jean Pierre Nicolas.

“I am 64, I’m in good health so I can rest and have a good time while I am still in good shape,” said Provera, right.

“It is time to go now. I have quite a bit of emotion at leaving, but I leave with some very strong achievements and I have been very proud of my time with Peugeot.”

Provera headed Peugeot Sport throughout the highly successful 206 era, but started his career in PR. Born in Turin in 1941, he worked in the PR department of Chrysler Europe until it was sold

to Peugeot, re-named Talbot and absorbed into its new parent company.

Provera was able to use the fact that he had the ear of Peugeot’s top management to the benefit of the company’s rally program, but was a stern critic of the FIA and its constant rule changes, which have arguably contributed to Peugeot’s decision to pull out of the sport.

He established a formidable partnership with Nicolas using the former rally driver’s years of experience with works rally teams to help the company clinch three world titles between 2000 and 2002.

- JON THOMSON

motorsport news

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for the future. Chris has done some very good times here. He looks very good for the future I was quite surprised with him.

"You can see the qualities of his driving. Not yet to win, because I am still there! But for sure in the future."

World Rally Commercial rights holder and Prodrive boss David Richards says that Australians should be careful that they don't over-hype Atkinson and expect too much from him too early.

"Let's take it easy on Chris, give him some breathing space to develop and give him the support he needs," said Richards.

"He reminds me of Colin McRae when he joined our

team in 1993. He made saying he "is the real deal" and mistakes, and learned quickly. that he has a huge future in the WRC, He was given the space to do it, and three seasons later he was Lapworth said he had hoped world champion. that Atkinson might be capable "Chris is very talented, you of top-10 stage times by the only have to look at Rally end of the Swedish rally but he Australia last year, that tipped had surpassed expectations, the balance in his favour when with a fourth fastest time on we chose drivers this year. the longest stage^of the rally.

"Everyone said it was his ^ "I'm as impressed with his home event and he knew the approach as h[s speed," said roads, but he had never done Lapworth.

Rally Australia before and to be "It's all very calm and calculated, what he does. He's fifth in a Group N car, on such a almost like an Australian Loeb, technical event, was an amazing performance."

He's,quietly confident. I think Subaru World Rally Team , some of the stage times he did were amazing." director Dave Lapworth also -JON THOMSON heaped praise on Atkinson,

A Korea move?

: 23 February 2005

FORMER Mitsubishi, Toyota and Ford rally engineer Allan Wilkinson is rumoured to be taking the reigns when Hyundai firms its plans to return to the WRC. This contradicts the Korean company's early statements that indicated it was preparing to set up its own motor sport technical development centre at Russelsheim in Germany.

While the German plan could still be on the agenda, it is believed that the company has already gone a significant way down the track with Wilkinson, who is said to be already doing preliminary work at his base in Milton Keynes in the British Midlands. Ironically, Hyundai's former WRC contractor, MSD,was also based at Milton Keynes prior to being sacked by Hyundai in late 2003.

Hyundai has already incurred a $AUDI.6 million fine from the FIA for missing the final three rounds of 2003, a fine it must pay by next month if it is to meet its obligation to return to the Championship at the start of the 2006 series.

-JON THOMSON

Teams vs FIA, Chapter XVII A NEW roll cage specification has WRC teams openly criticising the FIA again, with many team engineers claiming the new rules will add another large cost increase.

Most engineers are annoyed about the planned changes, which will see an increase in the tube thickness of the cages fitted to World Rally Cars.

The FIA originally specified that from January next year, main hoops should be made from 1.6mm tube, with all other parts of the cage made from 1.2mm diameter tube.

Flowever, the World Council recently amended the proposal to specify that 1.6mm tube be used throughout the entire cage.

The change may not seem great, but team engineers including Mitsubishi's Mario Fornaris say it will add at least 20kgs to the weight of World Rally Cars, increase cost and make the older 2005 models more competitive than the 2006 models, "This decision will send the cost of running the WRC sky-high without any guaranteed safety benefit," said Fornaris.

"For me, there hasn't been enough discussion and this just doesn't answer to any safety point.

Thickness is just one of the parameters: you have diameter and the material. It doesn't make any sense.

"It is a huge cost to implement this. You can't change the roll cage, you just have to scrap all the old body shells. It is crazy to bring this rule in suddenly and without a phased program," n With Mitsubishi's Magna VR-X rally cars up for sale and no intention to run them as factory cars, there is a strong rumour that Holden may enter the Aussie Car Class in 2005 using a former works rally driver with time on his hands.

A Holden CrossS Lite, almost certainly the car driven by Nathan Pretty in the 2004 Australian Safari, may be run with some external backing, possibly from Hella and Yokohama, with an established rally driver at the wheel.

The driver in question has apparently been pulling together a program over the last few weeks and has a proven track record, particularly with the General ... n 2004 Subaru Rally Challenge winner Steve Glenney has bought the Group N Impreza WRX STi that helped Dean Herridge earn class honours at Rally New Zealand and victory in the Rally of Canberra last year.

Glenney will take part in this year's series as a privateer.

- JON THOMSON/STAFF 69

Unbelievable!

The story of Brooke TatnelTs first Australian Sprintcar Title will live on forever. PARIS CHARLES was at Murray Bridge to see it happen

T

HEY say good things come to those who wait and after 17

years of trying, Brooke Tatnell has finally achieved his childhood dream of winning the Australian Sprintcar Championship,at Murray Bridge's Riverview Speedway two weeks ago.

Brooke's 15,000 km,seven-day journey in the lead up and the fairytale ending to the event could not have been scripted any better.

For Tatnell, the 2004/05 Australian Speedway season has been a high speed roller-coaster ride of extreme highs and deep lows.

As the door closed shut on Tatnell's Florida start to the World of Outlaws season, timing would have it that a window of opportunity opened for the second generation star to have a crack at winning his maiden Australian Championship victory,see breakout.

Flyin'Ryan is doing fine: Ryan Farrell, above, has shown be is fast every where, not just in WA, claiming second at the Australian Titles.

The podium they all want to get to: Below for left, Farrell, Tatnell, Green and Gessner.

MURRAY

Such was the lateness of the trip, Tatnell was behind the eight ball from the word 'go', as Brooke had missed the Thursday night practice session and time triaUing.

Brooke claimed the national crown after a series of extraordinary circumstances that unfolded late in the 40-lap marathon A-Main around the tight confines of the 360m Murray Bridge bullring. The track conditions for the final were slick and abrasive; tyre choice and throttle control were a critical factor and in the end, Brooke drove a weU-calculated race to survive the distance.

"1 can't believe this has happened; I'm loving the feeling, but it hasn't sunk in yet," said Tatnell.

"It's been 17 years of trying and tonight has made up for the past."

Max Dumesny earned the right to start from pole after topping the points from the heats; alongside Max was Robbie Farr, keen to defend his national crown for another year.

Dumesny led the charge of the light brigade through the opening lap. Farr was next, with Garry Brazier, Tatnell, Ryan Farrell and Kerry Madsen rounding out the top six as the 16-car field settled into position.

Queensland's Darryl Hodges became the first retiree after detonating his engine on lap five.

As half race distance approached, Madsen started to make his move as the track had began to slicken off, charging by Brazier and Farr on consecutive laps to move into second.

With just under 10 laps remaining, Farr's title defence came to an abrupt end when the right rear tyre on his Titan Maxim delaminated.

The race quickly turned into a game of survival as drivers became concerned with the wear and tear on their right-rear rubber. Trevor Green played it smart on the caution laps, rolling through a puddle on the infield to cool his rubber down.

In a very short period the race was thrown wide open; Madsen used his skill on the slick track to pass Dumesny to claim the lead with only

three laps remaining, but his his run ended soon after as his Bikebiz Cool blew a right rear tyre. One circulation later Brazier spun to a halt in turn 1, allowing Tatnell to dive under and claim second; as this was happening Dumesny's tyre reached breaking point and the Valvoline Maxim retired to the infield with just two laps remaining.

Tatnell headed the field while Brazier went to the rear for the restart. With the remaining competitors all suffering from severe tyre wear, Tatnell managed to hold on to claim his maiden title victory.

As Tatnell crossed the line, the fans erupted into a cheer as everyone in the venue was aware of what he had gone through in the past week.

Farrell was next to cross the line, and rounding out the podium was local Green,from Cameron Gessner who proved to be the biggest mover in the field to come from 12th. This was a great result for Cameron who has had minimal seat time this season.

"I'm very proud of Cam and the guys," said car owner Bill Mann.

In two short laps. Brazier had advanced from eight to fifth and was followed to the chequered flag by Ian Lewis and Adrian Maher as the final classified finisher.

"I knew you could do it" said Tatnell's father George as an emotional Brooke unbuckled from his car.

At the completion of the podium celebrations, Gessner's team lodged a protest on the Adrad Maxim of Green. The protest was upheld and Gessner was elevated to third after a lap scoring fault had incorrectly placed Green ahead on a restart,

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Hang on, I shouldn’t ba here

BROOKE Tatnell’s uncle Joe thought he had retired when the Shell Helix Tatnell team Kenworth returned home after Adelaide’s Smorgen Steel Sprintcar Nationals on Sunday night, February 6.

Brooke Tatnell’s brother in iaw Tim ‘Moth’ Gleeson and others puiled the car apart, oiled down the motor prior to storing it and stripped out the back of the truck in preparation of selling off the whoie outfit.

Brooke boarded a plane and headed off to his new Outlaws ride with the new Rush Motorsports team.

An overzealous and inflexible customs officer prevented Brooke from entering the USA and when it became obvious that the ciearance wouidn’t arrive in time to allow him entry to the USA for last weekend’s Outlaws round in Florida, a sudden change of plan occurred.

Brooke, Moth, Joe, Brooke’s father George and crew then put in a mammoth effort to get the car rebuilt, the truck re-kitted and finally Joe headed off into the night bound for Murray Bridge.

Once there the dramas continued, with more over zeaious officialdom as the car was refused scrutineering until the $400 late nomination fee was paid. With a wailet full of US currency, Brooke was unable to pay and suggested that George would take care of it when he arrived later that day. The officials refused to buckle and then when Brooke rounded up the money and asked for a receipt, he was told he couldn’t be given a receipt until later that day when Viv Lewis, the SCCA secretary arrived.

With all the events up to this point this was the last thing the Tatnells needed.

Thankfully, Brooke and the team were able to get the car on the track where Brooke drove an intelligent and heady race to desenredly finally 23 February 2005

win his first Australian Sprintcar Championship.

“The hard part won’t be to find Brooke a drive for next year in Australia,” stated George. “The hard part will be to go out and find the money to run him in our own car with ‘Australia T on the tail. I suppose I’ll just have to get out and work hard to find the money so that we can run him in our own car.”

The championship win was no surprise for hard working brother in law Tim, who predicted that Brooke would win the title knowing full well that he wouldn’t be a direct part of the winning team, having previously committed to assisting Alice Springs racer Danny Reidy at the Titles.

‘Moth’ still had an influence in constructing the car and then using his bright green hat as a beacon for Brooke whilst on track.

Ironically, according to George, Brooke’s decision to run the Smorgen Steel Sprintcar Nationals was a double-edged sword.

If Brooke had returned to the States straight after the Classic, he would have gone straight through customs. However, as it was, a very recent change in regulations initiated the dramas, that and the fact that Brooke’s wallet with his social security number had been stolen from his truck at Las Vegas late last year.

On the positive side the whole set back led to Brooke finally winning the one race he coveted so much but had never achieved, gaining the elusive Australia #1.

- BRETT SWANSON

4

Spnntcar i round-up DARRELL Hodges took victot7 in Round 6 of the Comp Cams Sprintcar Series at Brisbane Internationai Speedway driving the John Keiiy-owned Maxim, but headlines of the night belonged to the never-ending series of crashes and rollovers that marred racing from the very first lap of the night.

The event began with a five-car pile-up in the first heat, and an estimated 11 top wings were destroyed by the 25-car field. The feature began with two muiti-car accidents which eliminated Andrew Scheuerle, Ben Foster and Wayne Lemon,the latter two rolling spectacularly.

Todd Wanless took third place from Ben Wright at the final restart after having to limp through the entire race with no brakes. Series points leader Darren Jensen was sixth across the line but was moved up to fifth after Phili Foster was penalised for a racing infringement and dropped back to sixth ahead of a season best performance from Anthony Vanderreyden.

Jensen being put above

Foster has allowed him to maintain the points iead, now narrowed to just three points over Clayton Walker with four rounds remaining.

- MARK JONES

Points; Jensen 290, Clayton Walker 287, Wanless 266, Hoffmans 242, Bruce Marshall 223, Craig Stevenson 211.

JAMIE Maiolo has scored a great win in Round 10 of the AHG Sprintcar series at the Kwinana Motorplex two weeks ago.

Maiolo started out of position 12 in the 20-car field and barrelled his way forward and it was only in the late stages of the 25 lap A-Main that Maiolo hit the lead.

In the early stages of the Feature ex-West Coast eagle Troy Wilson and third generation racer Shaun Bradford were battling it out at the head of the field.

“We got the car right at the right time, the team did a great job tonight” said Maiolo, who leads the series from Ryan Farrell and Veronica McCann.

- DARREN SUTTON

10 Mo

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Venues look to follow PCR to host 410ci-engined Sprintcars

by CHRIS JORDAN ONE of the most controversial debates in Australian Speedway may be about to erupt with the news that other circuits are keen hold races for 410 cubic inchengined Sprintcars,following the lead of Parramatta City Raceway three years ago.

The most prominent venue is Speedway City, below, winch is investigating the prospect of holding a race for the 410-powered cars at their Adelaide venue in the 2005/06 season, negotiating with PCR to bring their large contingent over for an event.

Speedway City promoter Wendy Turner was unavailable for comment, but Steven Green, General Manager of PCR, told MNews he is keen to

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First for Kiriser ! AFTER a mediocre start to his World of I Outlaws Sprintcar Championship defence in Australia, Steve Kinser has returned to his winning ways by taking out the first US event of this year's series at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida two weeks ago.

Kinser's win at the Winter Nationals was his first ever event-win at Volusia and also his 514th Outlaws feature win. Kinser dominated the night, also topping qualifying and winning the dash.

Craig Dollansky was able to momentarily take the lead 10 laps into the A-Main, but Kinser soon regained top spot in the stoppage-free race. Dollansky held on for second,followed by Jason Meyers, Fred Rahmer and Kraig Kinser.

Two nights early,Jeff Sheppard upset the regular Outlaws contingent by winning at Volusia, after Donny Schatz was forced to retire out of the lead mid-race during the final.

Steve Kinser was second and Dollansky third.

Vale: Des James THE South Australian Speedway community has been saddened by the loss of one of their true all rounders two weeks ago at the Australian Sprintcar Championship staged at Murray Bridge Speedway.

V6 Sprint competitor Des James, right, died of complications after suffering from a heart attack on Saturday night during one of the support events.

James passed away in the early hours of Sunday February 13, also his 56th birthday, after being airlifted to Adelaide. Just two days prior Des and wife Liz became proud grandparents after their daughter Rebecca 72

gave birth to her first child.

Des's Speedway career started at the now defunct Rowley Park riding a Sidecar, from there the adept steerer has driven a wide range of race machinery including Saloon Cars and Speedcars before moving into the V6 Category, where his highlight was a feature race victory at Waikerie's Sunline Speedway.

The V6 Sprints held their state title over the weekend at Waikerie Speedway. As a sign of respect former V6 competitor and reigning SA Champion Tim Crouch drove the #12 car.

- PARIS CHARLES moiorsportnews

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Classic and Titles date clash

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have other tracks adopt 410s.

"We've talked to a lot of tracks," said Green. "But there is a fear of a backlash for them. It would be nice if

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we could all be on the same page."

The attraction for venues to host 410 races is the possibility of hosting World of Outlaws events in the future.

"That is a possibility down the track," said Green of the chances of Outlaws racing at other Australian venues. PCR owner Brian Healey is currently in Cahfomia in negotiations regarding the Outlaws Downunder event.

Speedway City established a new event, the Smorgon Steel Sprintcar Nationals this year on the weekend prior to the Australian Titles. It may be that this event will be moved closer to the Outlaws Downunder event at PCR, and run 410 configuration, with the intention of later being an Outlaws event.

Rob Harris, General Manager of Sungold Stadium at Warrnambool, home of the Classic, told MNews the venue would not be making an early switch to 410 motors.

"At the end of the day, we'U run what the SCCA (Sprintcar Control Council of Australia) run," said Harris.

"The key to the issue is World Series.

They have done a tremendous amount for speedway over the last few years.

While they remain at 372 engines, we would not want to stuff them."

Harris did leave the door open to hosting future World of Outlaws events at the prestigious speedway.

"Once all the motors are 410s, yes we would (like to host an Outlaws event). You would have to crunch the numbers, because Premier Speedway is a business and we have to run it that way."

New Zealand is also said to be interested in hosting a Outlaws event, and Brisbane International Speedway is also investigating the 410 engine option for its Comp Cams Sprintcar Series.

; REGlENt rains played ; perfeGlily into the hands of ■ reoently^deposed Australian Sprintcar charnpion Robbie I Farr lim the litan ©arages and; Sheds Maxim, by creating a I fast hoOhy race track for the \fictorian Sprintcar I Championship last weekend i just the sort of track iFarr : loves.

Farr lead all 30daps from pole ' after having scored a win and a ' second from his two heats to etch his name into the cuip that I has a long and glorious history.

“ITs great to win this title,” said Farr. “This track sort of ! owes us one.

I “I have to thank Fteevf iKruCk ; (car owner). He gives us great ' equipment andi allows us to race pretty much where we want to.”

I 'iig; mower in the race, ' however, was multi-title winner and‘ crowd favourite Max : Dumesny lira the Walwo'line i Maxim, throughout the heats I ©umesny had; looked: decidedly ordinary, but come the feature ; Dumesny powered: forward i from filth, plaee^on the grid; to be challenging Farr over the I dying; stages, ©umesny wasnt : aided; significantly by caution i periods either as he was i already up to third; before the ! first yellow flag flew. !

(Srabbing; the final podium : position; in what was an entertaining race was West i Aussie iLuch Monte in the ’Monte : Motorsport J&J. Monte had

scored; well’in; the heatswith a J win and a third', as. did! :Mike ¥an; Bremen, ;lan Lewis and ©anny Reidy. Starting::p0SitionS were therefore determined fey fastest 1 lap time from the heats with Van iremen seeuringithe 'outside pole ahead of Lewis, Reidy and ' Monte.

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Reidy Itad ieen i mpressiwe-ML this cesmopolitan. final, hawing i worked; :his way forward'fn: | impressive style and ileoking; extremely solid in* second; place until he faded only slightly | towards the end; to finish fourth.

Completingi'the top five results was Luke liiHin'with Lewis, Grant Anderson, d6fendinf.'chSmpi®nii|Scen Sartori, Wayne :Ro.wei, Phil Johnson and ©aniel; iNewnham eompleting the race. Darren i Mellenoyux,-frevor Green and John Vogels were all casualties of the race feut none ;more s& j than; Vogels Wfho .rode out a wild flip ih'turn three. ■ r " ' “It was just one: Of those things,” said Vogels. ‘Hi was .racing on the outside of Oaniel (iNewnham) and. he went into turn three a bit higher which took me in. even higher and'It ■ j jiiist got Ip: into the wall.” ^ Brett Milburn added; ;tO;his i Victorian Titles ;in ;MinirSprints and V8 Dirt Modifieds to take out the 360ci Bprintcar Title, held on the same night at Warrnambool. iMilburn withstood a late charge from Michael iurfordi with Stephen; :Bell! third; - BRETT SWANSON

THE 2006 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will be held on the last weekend in January, despite rumours the Australian titles could be conducted at the same time.

Premier Speedway manager Rob Harris has stated that regardless of when the Australian titles were held next year the Classic would be conducted on the same weekend as the prestigious feature had been for the past 33 years.

"We have to be very careful how we tread," said Harris. "I'll be following it up in the next few days to find out exactly what the situation is in relation to the Australian titles next year."

"Our official line is that we won't be moving on our Classic date. It's been that way for along time and we have a lot of history behind the last weekend in January." n New Australian Sprintcar Champion Brooke Tatneil had the heavens on his side with his againstthe-odds win. But they deserted him over the weekend.

The Tatneil Motorsports team had their Maxim signwritten with the new Australia #1, ready to run at Round 17 of the PCR Track Championships last Saturday night, taking advantage of the bye weekend in World of Outlaws. But rain intervened and the 57 Sprintcarentry PCR round was cancelled. n Allan Barlee is the new owner of the Eagle chassis used so effectively by Travis Rilat recently.

Barlee recently purchased the long wheelbase Eagle with which Rilat won two World Series Sprintcars rounds and an SRA round at Avalon.

The ex-Chad Kemenah/Bob Hampshire powerplant, one of two used at times by Rilat, has also been sold to Tasmanian Steve Bricknell.

Bricknell will install the engine in the ex-Troy Little Maxim last run at this year's Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic. n Don't be surprised to see a vastly expanded 2005/06 World Series Sprintcars schedule.

The success of WSS has seen interest from promoters reach fever pitch, with requests for rounds including venues in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and New Zealand.

- ROUIMDS/SWANSON/STAFF

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23 February 2005

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And so the story begins SCOTT Kalitta, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Dave Connolly were the first-up winners at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season-opener the 45th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Wintemationals at Pomona last weekend.

Kalitta scored a 4.48s/328mph vnn in Top Fuel after the engine in Doug Herbert's car let go just past half-track and slowed to a 5.37s at 181mph.

Kalitta used a string of 4.49s/328mph, 4.47s/329mph, and 4.45s/331mph passes to defeat Scott Weis, two-time champ Larry Dixon and team-mate David Grubnic to get to the final round. He also became the first driver in history to record four 4.4s passes in every round of eliminations.

Herbert had advanced from qualifying ninth to get past David Baca, reigning series Champion Tony Schumacher and Morgan Lucas, who lost traction at the start.

Une advantage, Connolly motored to 6.71s/204mph win in Pro Stock to defeat Warren Johnson who got out of the groove and recorded a 6.80s/203mph.

Connolly was steady all day, posting three straight 6.71s/205mph passes in wins against Jeg Coughlin, Allen Johnson and Ron Krisher.

Johnson started the day with a win over Ben Watson then used a

couple of holeshot wins to get past Larry Morgan in Round 2 and son Kurt in the semi-finals. His 0.008s reaction time helped him score 6.73s/204mph to defeat Kurt's 6.70s/205mph.

Greg Anderson was surprisingly ousted in the second round by Kurt Johnson. Anderson's 6.78s/203mph was no match for Kurt's low e.t. shot of 6.692s at 205mph.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Schumacher double-stepped the pedal at the start against Herbert and couldn't stop the progression of the clutcli timers which left him stranded in a cloud of tyre smoke, Schumacher, the event's fastest qualifier at 4.447s, did back up his 334.65mph top speed from qualifying to set a new national record.

Johnson returned to the winners' circle in Funny Car for the first time since Las Vegas 2001 with a quick 4.74s/327mph victory over Phil Burkart. Burkart smoked his tyres early in the run and coasted to a 7.06s/123mph. The win was the sixth for Johnson and the 50th for Don Prudhomme as a team owner.

Johnson enjoyed some luck in the first round. He smoked his tyres in the first final but Pedregon hit the top-end timing cones and disqualifed himself. Johnson then recorded a pair of 4.76s passes to claim wins over Bob Gilbertson and Whit Bazemore.

Burkart took out Gary Scelzi in the opening frame with a 4.7s6/315mph to 4.71s/331mph holeshot victory. He then put away his team-mate Del Worsham with a 4.73s/321mph before he disposed Cruz Pedregon, who red-lighted.

After giving up a small starting 74

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Team Force missec

by DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

I JOHN Force's three-car Funny Car team occupied three of the top four spots on the qualifying ladder in Pomona,but were gone after the first round of racing. It marked the first time since the Atlanta race in f 1 2001 that all of Force's cars failed to ■i get out of the opening round at the same race.

Force appeared to be on his way to an easy win until his Castrol Start-Up Mustang started skating around, forcing him to get on and off the throttle several times. The third stab

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Unbeaten in 2005: Doug Kalitta, above and top, was Top Fuel's main man, while 'Aussie' Dave Grubnic, below, qualified well. Tommy Johnson Jr surprised the regulars in Funny Car.

but Cow

ANDREW Cowin qualified inside the quickest Top Fuel field in NHRA history, piloting the Cowin Family dragster to a 4.597 at just 271.35 mph.

Cowin, below during engine warm-up, pushed a head gasket on his first pass of the event and lost traction on his second attempt. Not yet qualified, Cowin hit the throttle and lit the pipes and just made the show, despite tossing a blower belt just before the finish line. The incremental numbers showed that Cowin was on a probable low-4.5s pass

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1 the cut at Pomona

at the pedal backfired the blower, sending the burst panel sailing and allowing Jim Head to motor past for a surprise win.

Eric Medlen red-lighted away a 4.79s/306mph against a tractionless Del Worsham, while new hired gun Robert Right got out toward the wall and lifted and handed Bob Gilbertson the win.

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Don't force it: All three John Force Racing cars, including JF himself, right, did not make the finals at Pomona.

I

in was fast Dupuy cops

r

before the belt exited the car.

In eliminations, Cowin met defending series Champion Tony Schumacher in the opening frame. Cowin once again pushed out a head gasket, recording a 4.68s/266mph, while Schumacher went on to take a 4.45s/331mph win.

The team plans to attend 10 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events, as well as seven events on the IHRA Hooters Drag Racing Series. Additional events are pending.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

When pit bikes get in the way ...

THE NHRA has fined Funny Car driver Bob Gilbertson US$15,000 ($19,000) and placed him on two years probation for an incident that occurred at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on February 4 during a recent testing session.

According to witnesses, Gilbertson ran over a motorised pit bike and continued driving in an attempt to dislodge it.

Trailing a shower of sparks, the bike eventually punctured the car's fuel tank. The car continued, leaving a trail of burning fuel. A passenger bailed out of the car and once stopped, Gilbertson exited the burning vehicle and casually walked away from the scene.

Gilbertson's team had been warned about prior incidents. In addition to the fine and probation, Gilbertson is required to reimburse Las Vegas Motor Speedway for all property damages and direct expenses resulting from this incident.

knuckle rap AMATO Racing crew chief Wayne Dupuy has been fined US$3000($3800) as a result of an incident that took place at Firebird International Raceway during the National Time Trials pre-season testing event two weeks ago.

Dupuy, right, was engaged in a verbal confrontation with an NHRA official, reputedly centred' around track preparation. The result was a public display of unsportsmanlike conduct and slanderous allegations directed towards the official. Dupuy had previously been warned about similar outbursts.

Dupuy also has been placed on probation for a period of one year, through January 30, 2006.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Brady uninjured in wali-banger BRADY Kalivoda, driver of the Bill Miller Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster, was not injured in a wiid first round tag with the wall at Pomona.

During his round one race with Brandon Bernstein, it appeared that Kalivoda’s right rear tyre exploded as the cars approached the finish line. The car turned left toward the wall, and while Kalivoda was abie to get the front end of the car back to the right, the left rear wheel slapped the wall hard. Tyre debris took the right side of the wing off, but only up to the struts. The struts stayed upright and Kalivoda was able to get the car stopped, sliding along the wall.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

23 February 2005

S' I 9

DRAC RACING

n Tony Pedregon became only the second Funny Car driver to run under 4.7s when he recorded a stout 4.681s at 323 mph against his former employer, John Force, who went into the session as top qualifier at 4.697s.

The run was bittersweet for Pedregon, above, as the chutes failed to deploy. The car bounced all the way down the track as he tried to get the car slowed before the sand. The car skipped over the top of the very wet sand for a while before the front dug into the 'quick sand', pitched off the body, and slid sideways to a stop.

Tony quickly unbuckled and stepped out of the car into the kneedeep slop of bog and waded out to the hay bales. The car was buried up to the rims, with the ends ofthe headers fully submerged.

The crew worked all night and into the morning hours to ready the car for the opening round where he took a 4.73s/323mph win over Terry Haddock. The 2003 champion's day ended the following round in a close race with Whit Bazemore, as both drivers recorded passes of 4.78s/321mph.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

75

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Another WSID meeting gets delayed by shower;

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'phn Murris/Mpix fohn Morris/Mpi

HE Summer Nationals at Eastern Creek was well attended by the cream of Australian Drag racing but sadly the weather conspired to ruin the second meeting in a row at the Western Sydney International Dragway last weekend.

Friday began hot and humid for qualifying with the usual suspects heading the time sheets in Top Fuel.

Darren Morgan in the Hadman Dragster stopped the clock with a 4.804s run in the first qualifying session to be fastest followed by Phillip Read and Luke Shepard, who both dipped into the 4-second club for the first time. Terry Sainty had the highest top speed of 295.79mph.

At the completion of qualifying. only a few tenths separated the leading six Fuelers.

The delayed TF final of January's WSID meeting was also contested on Friday afternoon. Darren Morgan came up against Steve Reed and despite a poor reaction time, Morgan took advantage of Reed's mechanical woes to claim a win.

In Top Doorslammer qualifying, Aaron Lynch surprisingly but deservedly upstaged Ben Bray.

Lynch,in the beautifully turned out'63 Corvette, topped the sheets with a 6.222s, marginally quicker

i! than the 6.226s of Ben Bray's Super Cheap Auto '57 Chev. Gary Phillips in the '53 Studebaker wasn't far off the money (6.288s), ahead of Ben's dad, Victor.

Top Alcohol saw Ben Bray run some more impressive numbers against his experienced TA rivals.

Bray ran a 5.731s while Steve Reed was only a breath behind. Garry Phillips and Dean Oakey rounded out the top four.

Bray and Phillips also completed their Top Alcohol final from January's meeting. It was an anticlimax, however, after Bray ran over the centre line at half track.

Troy McLean was the fastest in Top Fuel Bike with a 6.787s. David Rogan took Pro Stock Motorcycle (7.374s)

I,

Morris/Mph

Gee, this thing is louder than my juice blender: Above, Fireman Sam, Paul Dumbrell and Steven Richards watched Friday night's WSID action.

Clockwise from above, Ben Bray, Daniel Peatey, Bob Shephard, Peter Kapiris and jon Andriopolous were all in the thick of the Sydney storms.

76

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motorsportnews

DRAG RACING

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-Austnaiiw^ag racing set for major overhaul lohn Aiorrh/Mpix

ahead of Michael Gilbertson.

At the completion of Friday qualifying the weather began to change. The clear blue sky was replaced by grey cloud and high humidity. The plan was to complete qualifying on Saturday and all was going well until 3.30pm. Then, it rained enough to halt proceedings for around 45 minutes. The jet dryer was brought out and the track dried.

Competitors readied their cars and then the rain came down again ...

And it rained with biblical ferocity.

The event was cancelled with medallions being sent to the fastest qualifiers. There will be no rescheduling for the completion of any competition.

- STAFF/JAMES RYAN

^harts tpifM

23 February 2005

THE structure of drag racing's controlling body in Australia, ANDRA,appears set for a major shift into the 21st century if a document presented to the National Executive Committee in Adelaide recently is accepted.

Written by a working committee of consultants, it is believed the document proposes a board comprised of paid members who are experienced in their chosen and specific fields (such as business, marketing, public relations, legal, etc) be appointed and set the commercial direction for the sport the Australian Football League's commission used as a case study by the working committee - while responsibility for the sporting aspects drag racing be separated and handled internally.

ANDRA CEO Tony Thornton said the growth of the sport in recent years had placed new pressures on the sport, necessitating the need for a review of the body's structure and change.

"The unprecedented growth of ANDRA Championship Drag racing in recent years has placed new pressures on our commercial operation and member services," said Thornton "After going through the structure from top to bottom in recent months ANDRA has identified some hurdles to efficient application of strategic planning outcomes.

"The major thrust revolves around the need

for ANDRA to separate the business, marketing and financial roles from the technical and sporting aspects."

A discussion document using what was presented to the NEC as its basis will now be prepared and presented at divisional level for consideration over the coming months - with a target for full implementation of the overhaul set for August- while ANDRA will also seek advice from the Australian Sports Commission.

"Everyone identifies that to be good in business there is a need to remove all the emotion and we don't disagree with that,' said Thornton.

"But, given that drag racing is a very expensive hobby for the majority of participants, our target is to provide a better balance between the business and sporting side rather than just casting one off.

"It's not rocket science; the process is simple and there's any number of examples. Trying to tailor it all to fit in with traditional drag racing and also the direction which the sport wants to go is where the challenge comes. The understanding is that everyone has to be better off."

Further meetings for ANDRA's restructuring have been planned for April and May. - GERALD McDORNAN

Jackson gets Harley THE Harley-Davidson revolution in Pro Stock Motorcycle is set to spread to Australia with Sydney's Jackson Family Racing last week announcing they are set to land a V-Twin soon.

Team principal Chris Jackson said the team had worked on finding a bike suitable for Australian conditions for some time.

"This was not an overnight task, but with the assistance of our sponsors, Fearsum Thread Wear, we've finally been able to lock the whole deal down," Jackson said of the 160 cubic inch S&S Cycle bike.

"This is the most important Harley-Davidson bike to ever hit Australian drag racing and we're very excited about it."

Jackson says the new bike.

which will be ridden by David Shaw, will debut at Bikefest 2005 at Western Sydney International Dragway on 23 April.

The addition of this bike gives Jackson Family Racing representation in every motorcycle class of ANDRA Championship Drag Racing, the first team to do so.

- GERALD McDORNAN

77

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edited by

Grant Rowley

Pressing Support CIK and KartStars sign naming-rights sponsorship deai PETTARAS Press has been announced as the naming rights sponsor for this year's KartStars and CIK Australian Championship Series. The series will be known as the 2005 Pettaras Press CIK KartStars Championship. The four round series kicks off at Geelong on April 9-10.

The Sydney-based printing company has sponsored several events and individuals in the past, such as the Oceania karting championships and Anthony Preston's 2004 Formula Ford campaign. In fact.

Pettaras' personal support of Preston, plus the Auto Nova Formula FordP^ team, will continue this year.

Pettaras Press owner and

General Manager, Steve Pettaras, said he was looking forward to giving the 2005 series a boost.

"We are keen to get behind the revitalized 2005 CIK Championship in Australia. This year will see many changes to both the format and on track activities, reestablishing it as Australia's premier karting series.

Pettaras will also field a number of drivers in the series through the BRM kart brand that he imports. Joshua Scott will race Junior ICA while Kyle Woods is one of a possible two BRM T25cc InterGontinental C entries.

- P^iARK WIGKS

THE winners of Rotax Light and Rotax Heavy in the IMSW Premier State Cup will each scoop a $10,000 cash prize!

These incredible funds are just part of a $32,000 cash prize pool that DPE has put up for the series. It is expected the series will now attract several gun drivers from interstate, such as former National Champion Matthew Wall. Second in each class is worth $3000 with $1500 for third. With $32K cash in Rotax, two cars up for grabs at the Leopard final, overseas drives and race car tests in KartStars and CIK, plus many other prizes over several state-level series, Australian karting has never before been this prize-rich. The PSC series opens at Wollongong this weekend.

- MARK WICKS

Huge GCPS Opener

A MASSIVE 360 karters turned up at Oakleigh for the opening round of the Victorian Goiden City Power Series recentiy - the largest turnout in the state for some time.

Several olasses were near or at the track capacity and Clubman Light had to be split into two divisions for the qualifying heats to

determine a field for the final. This turned into a showdown between the Sera cousins, David and James. David (Arrow) led the early going as the duo pulled away from the battle for third between Troy Woolston and Matthew Wall.

James(Monaco) had the better pace late in the race and took the win. David got revenge in Leopard Light, recovering from a DNF in the

heats to take an impressive win over Wall (Arrow) and Reif Corbett (Gillard).

Michael Griffiths (Monaco) dominated Leopard Heavy, winning every heat and the final. Leigh Nicolaou was the only double winner taking out Junior Clubman and Junior National Light.

-MARK WICKS

n 5

Sera streaking: David Sera, above right with his father, took the win in Leopard Light. James Sera, right, was one of the front-runners.

78

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Aussie in luii coiour

HERE is the first iook at the two of the newly-liveried Aussie Racing Cars.

The Garry Rogers Motorsport car, below with Andrew Jones, will be driven by Nick Simmons, while the Craig Gore supported car, right in WPS colours, still does not have a driver confirmed.

The season starts at the Clipsal 500 in mid-March.

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Dancing with the (Rising) Stars Jim's 944 "^ wiiiHenaa /,

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by GMRIS JORDAN

JORDIE Lindstrom has been selected as the latest CAMS Rising Star program driver.

The program, supported by the Australian Motor Sport Foundation and the Australian Sports Commission, held a test day for four candidates a week ago at Mallala, South Australia.

Of four candidates (the others being Ashley Walsh, Justin Schneider and Paul Pittam), Lindstrom was selected to join Brett Hobson and Paul Laskazeski, above left, as drivers backed by the CAMS scheme, which supports drivers in Spectrum Formula Fords run by Borland Racing.

"It's really good to get this support," said Lindstrom, above in car.

"The test day was good and I learnt a lot. It was really good to do it with a team like Borland. They

23 February 2005

are so professional and know exactly what to do with the car.

That really helped me out while learning the car and I'm glad they are involved with the program.

Jason Bargwanna was also there to help me."

Lindstrom will campaign an 09 Spectrum in the remaining rounds of the 2005 Victorian Formula Ford Championship. For this year, all the program's drivers will campaign their Formula Ford's in a striking new CAMS colour scheme.

Lindstrom leaves behind a

JIM Richards has been confirmed as the first entry to the 2005 Classic Adelaide Rally.

Richards and long-time co-driver Barry Oliver will again make use of a Porsche 944 Turbo, although the car will have some major improvements for this year’s rally.

"We will have a little more power and the car will be lighter, all within the rules of course," said Richards.

"I intend to keep coming back to Classic Adelaide Rally whether I win Late Classic or not, because I enjoy the event as much as any other I have been in, but a win would be good."

The entry is capped at 300 cars and currently organisers envisage that capacity being filled in the not-too-distant future, with a number of high-profile entries taking part.

successful career in karting, having been Australia's representative and the World Junior Rotax Max Championships in the Canary Island's last month.

Laskazeski will run in both the NSW and Victorian Formula Ford series in an 09 model, with selected National Series appearances, while Hobson will use an 010 Spectrum in a full tilt at the National Formula Ford Championship.

1 nouvB'rtaRIcharts

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THirAustKalianrRrddu^ionjG^^^^ Ghampionshipi'has secured $hanlnoiis llnauFance as category's namingr Sights sponsoF: ' ●.'

After a pefiodi^of ancentaintyijthe; PCAA Prtsjdent Brett iMirAlistef 'said'^fhiis aanounffieif seeiure th©' | Prodlucttoh Car series. foThthe.

■ "It's every exciting timTe for as.’sIC saidiiyicAlister With the start of a new era fo'rthe Austra'lian.''PtoduGtion Car Channpionship about to begin, we are delighted: to welcome Shannons ohiboardi The starting procedure will' have a slight Change to last year. Race Twii be a scratch race, before two heats bn Sunday which feature the ipopular I handiicepped starts. The category have TEonfirmedi that Voko'hamaf wii' supply the control fy rei ~ fhe s hovwrooim-based series wil I h awelhei r first round! at WWafeefieid Pa lifc j this weekend. ; 79

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by GRANT ROWLEY COMPETITORS in the Saloon Cars class could be racing for an Australian Title in 2006.

Les Morrall, boss and founder of the Saloon Car formula, is confident a submission to elevate his 'Ford

Perkins and Blanchard gS^rmula Fording at Vic State’s first round at Mallala THE 2005 Victorian State Circuit Racing series kicked off at South Australia's Mallala Motorsport Park on February 12-13, where two drivers with well-known family names made their race debut.

Jack Perkins, son-of-Larry, debuted in his self-prepared Van Diemen RF92, while Tim Blanchard, son of extouring car racer John, also had his first run with Sonic Motorsport.

Both drivers had varying degrees of success. Jack qualified seventh, while Tim started Race 1 from third place behind Dale Wood and Sonic team-mate Todd Fiore.

Perkins stayed out of trouble in the first two heats opening two races before mechanical dramas sidelined

4 Firh CTur/es

Like father, like son: Top, Jack Perkins and Tim Blanchard, #11 and #41 respectively, mad their racing car debuts at Mallala.

Terrier = Wins: Leanne Ferrier-Tander was quick in Improved Prods, above.

Abay by the rules: Sam Abay, below, surprised Team Rose.

before storming back to claim three impressive top five finishes.

Fiore claimed the final race win, but G-Force Mygale driver Wood won the round with an unrivalled

seasons pacesetters, but unearthed a new star in young talent Sam Abay.

In only his second race car meeting, Abay raced with series stalwarts Kane and Brent Rose in the opening h\'o heats, both of which were taken out by Brent.

Abay's breakthrough came in the twilight race, getting the better of Rose at the start and taking a strong five-second victory. A second race win and the subsequent round victory in Sunday's fourth and final race capped off highly impressive weekend. Brent Rose scored second overall, while Kane had an unusually quiet weekend with third place.

Defending Marque Sports Car Champion Lyndon Punshon kicked off his title defence with pole position and opening race victory, before clutch dramas forced the Cobra driver to withdraw after the second 80

Cars championship will rightfully be awarded a national crown.

Morrall will submit details to the Australian Motor Racing Commision soon before lodging the new technical regulations for 2006, which includes updating the cars from the current EA Falcons and VN Commodores to AU and VT models.

"We are actually going to change our slogan," he explained. "The slogan has always been that Saloon Car racing is an exciting entry level to Australian motorsport, but we aren't entry-level anymore, we've gone right past that.

"Because we've got so many competitiors now, it opens up the

Vies ge

him after the third race on Saturday.

Blanchard had an off in Race 1

balance of speed and consistency.

Minda Motorsport's Taz Douglas claimed second overall in front of Fiore.

The Porsche 944 challenge series fronted without a number of last

versus Holden' category to National status will be successful - and that the eventual winner of the Saloon

Pjri5 Charles

race. Tom Hutchinson eventually took the victory.

The third race, held under lights, saw Perry Spiridis and Brent Bedggood stage an exciting battle at the front of the field in their respective Porsche GT2s. Spiridis eventually came out on top after their race-long dice.

After hovering around the top of the timesheets for most of the meeting, Matthew Turnbull took the fourth heat, as well as the round win, by virtue of the triple points on offer in the final race.

Leanne Ferrier-Tander dominated the Improved Production field. Her Mazda RX7 swept all four races.

Ferrier-Tander, who will chase the full Victorian title this season, was made to work for her wins though a particularly tough race under lights on the Saturday night only saw the RX7 take the lead from Mazda 808

driver Tony Wallis on the last lap.

Wallis's consistency sealed him second overall ahead of Shaun Duns's Mazda RX7.

Rod Smith benefited from a high attrition rate in Sports Sedans. Class pace setters Daniel Tamassi's Calibra (broken axle) and Luke Chambers's RX7 (gearbox) were casualties of the meeting, leaving Smith to score the round victory in his Falcon XR8.

South Australians were the dominant force in Formula Vee. Trent Ulmer scored pole and won all four races by considerable margins.

Fellow local driver Asher Johnston and Victorian Paul Sexton rounded out the podium positions.

Consistency gave Rob Whitwell the win in the MGs, while Rob Black was clearly superior in a small Historic Touring car field.

- RICHARD CRAILL

ROUND 1 of the Victorian Motor Racing Series kicked off at Calder Park Raceway last weekend.

A massive field of 29 HQ Holdens fronted for the opening round of their local series.

Marion Graffiero won the opening race, before Adrian Brown claimed the next three heats. Graffiero got back at him in the final with another tough victory.

Under 2 Litre Sport Sedans saw Ken Hastings bolt into the distance and take the round win.

Red HQs are fasten Brown led the Holden brigade at Calder Park Raceway.

motorsport news

NATIONAL SCENE

n Cars to go National Chriv C

TASCCO pressing CAMS for National recognition in 2006

chance of winning an Australian championship to so many more motor sport competitors. I feel our category deserves the chance to race for a national crowd."

Although Morrall is confident his series can get the green Ught, he remains cautious.

"They might even .knock it back," he conceeded.

"I've applied twice in the past and they've knocked it back. But the difference this time is that in the past they considered us as latemodel HQs,but they see now that that is wrong and we have moved right up the ladder."

Morrall recently registered a new company name for the Saloon Car series - The Australian Saloon Car Company(TASCCO).

One of the issues TASCCO will tackle soon is introduction of a franchise syetem, similar to V8 Supercars. MorraU is also keen to see his cars make more regular appearances on the V8 Supercar support bill.

"Our aim is to be on the AVESCO bill all the time. At the moment, we've got a fast category - nearly the second-fastest sedan category to V8 Supercars. Our top cars at the

t going Anthony Koch won the first race, though, and was the only driver to offer a fight to Hastings.

Frank Marchese overcame a fierce challenge from Phillip Webster and Brian Edhouse in Over 2 Litre Sport Sedans.

Neil Anderson won four of the BMW E30 races. He was only beaten by Geoff Bowles in Race 3.

The open-wheel class saw just three drivers front. John Connelly was the only Formula Ford and went on to win the event.

moment would qualify in the top 10 in Commodore Cup. And our large community of teams are now very serious about their racing. They have got multi-car teams, multi car transporters and there's a B-double that transports all the Western Australian cars toand-from meetings.

"We've also had 12 or 14 drivers who have moved from Saloon Cars to Supercars, and we've even had a few who have come back!"

Work has already begun on the new-for2006 cars with 10 cars already being prepared. The newer-model cars will have their regulations finalised by May. An engine transition period will allow competitors to use their current engines in the new cars before swapping to new donks.

A Trans-Tasman event is also in the pipeline for 2006. New Zealand currently has a class competing called Super Six Saloons, which feature VN and EA-shaped cars. Morrall said he would like to see an Australian versus New Zealand Saloon Car series.

"We have a sponsor that would like to ship at least 12 of our cars over there, but we are still working on that."

I /"7.

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THE 2005 Lotus Trophy will feature two classes competing against each other.

The new race-bred 140Kw Lotus Exige will feature in Class A and are set to run alongside the Lotus Elises, which will compete for Class B honours. The Elises were seen in the 2004 Lotus Trophy.

Currently, 14 of the 20 brand-new Lotus Exiges have been purchased and talks continue with a number of interested drivers for the remaining cars.

The series supports the V8 Supercar Championship Series seven times throughout 2005.

The Class B Elises will miss one of those rounds, however.

Last year's Champion Damien French graduates through Chance of a Lifetime's ranks to join the V8 I Development Series this year.

23 February 2005

Proving its worth: Saloon Cars boast impressive multicar teams, including the ' Woodstock Bourbon outfit, n right. L

DUE to the massive numbers at the opening round, the second and third rounds of the Golden City Power Series have been moved to alternative venues.

Round 2 on April 2-3 will now be held at Puckapunyal (not Morwell) and round 3 on May 14-15 is at Oakleigh (not Bendigo). The VKA made the change due to concerns about scheduling the number of classes and fitting the number of karters into the Morwell and Bendigo venues. n Ben Walter was announced as the 2004 Tasmanian Karter of the Year earlier this month.

The tall Tasmanian picked up his first state title in Rotax Heavy last year and was runner-up at the Nationals in Senior National Heavy. For 2005, Walter intends joining elder brother Sam in a two-car Formula Vee team, although he will still compete in selected karting events. n Derek Cunningham bounced back from a crash last month to win rounds three and four of the Florida Winter Tour.

Cunningham (First Kart) dominated the Senior Rotax Heavy class, winning pole, the pre-final and final for each round at Moroso Motorsports Park.

Paris Charles

He now holds second in the series and will return for the final two rounds at Jacksonville in March.

M Junior MAX has finally got the official green light from the AKA to run as part of the Pettaras Press CIK KartStars Championship. The only engines eligible are those leased from DPE as part of the series entry. n South Australian karters had their first run on the freshly resurfaced Bolivar Raceway in Adelaide earlier this month. It was the opening round of the DPE Rotax / Remo Racing Leopard Series.

Stratton Limberas and Jason Holding won Rotax Light and Heavy respectively while Brett Fortanier picked up the Leopard win. Michael Cross won Clubman Heavy and finished second to Tyson Pearce in Clubman Medium. Brenton Locke was undefeated in Clubman Super Heavy. n Pro-Kart Endurance Racing will hold its first Victorian event at Oakleigh next month.

Commencing at 2pm on Saturday March 12, the enduro will be one of two 24-hour races the group runs this year, the other scheduled for Dubbo in June.

- MARK WICKS 81

NATIONAL SCENE

Hot Racing' Warwick THE Queensland State Championship season opened with the traditional MG Car Club meeting held in scorching February heat for the first time at Morgan Park Raceway.

The largest field belonged to Improved Production, with Adam Uebergang(Mazda RX7) winning both points races ahead of Justin Keys (Mazda RX3). Paui Scott(Mazda RX7) and Steve Draheim (Datsun 1200 turbo) shared the thirds.

Gary Bonwick won two HQ races ahead of Mike McLeod and Justin van Twest who shared the seconds and thirds between them.

Ross Loudon (Bee Cee Jabiru) and Grant Bromley (Jacer F2K4) each had a win and a second in Formula Vee, while Mike Russell (Concept GS82) and Matthew Mackelden (Elfin NG)shared the thirds.

Jake Camileri (Falcon) won the first Saloon car race from Troy Hoey (Commodore) and Troy Norris (Falcon). Norris took the second from Jonathan Beikoff (Falcon) and David Gainer (Commodore) Cameron Wilson and Nick Rangely each took hard-fought Gemini wins, while Shane Bradford (Mazda 323)took both Sports

CRAIG Baird was again a class above in the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup in the sixth round of the summer series at Manfeild last weekend.

The WPS V8 Supercar driver scored pole position plus all three race victories.

"As I've said all the way through this series, it is just nice to keep the race miles going through the off season," Baird said.

"While everyone else has been at

the beach I've been working between the New Zealand series and Daytona."

Matthew Halliday and former series leader Ross Rutherford scored second and third overall, however James Cockerton finished an impressive third in the first race.

Regular Aussie driver Klark Quinn made a start and gradually improved to finish fourth in the last race.

WESTERN Australia's 2005 racing season kicked off last weekend with the SmokeFree Night Masters at Barbagallo Raceway.

Formula Vees saw Steve Armfield show good early pace, bagging pole and a win in Race 1. Jez Hammond won Race 2 before mechanical

Points: Baird 1152, Halliday 991, Rutherford 970, Dean Fulford 804, Rick Armstrong 660.

dramas struck, leaving James Straker to take the win. Race 3 was the race

Hie Baird Man

Sinclair's Slaughter MURRAY Sinclair claimed a clean-sweep of wins at the recent round of the Flexoplas NZ Express 5000 Challenge at Intercargill's Teretonga Park two weeks ago.

Sinclair scored pole position and overcame changing weather conditions to grab the round victory andmaintain his solid series points lead.

Ian Clements finished barely a metre behind Sinclair in Race 1, but struggled to keep pace with the rapid Lola T332 of Sinclair over the remainder of the weekend.

Stan Redmond took third place in three of the races, while Poul Christie was another to grab a podium spot.

Visiting Adelaide driver Aaron Lewis was a non starter after crashing his Matich A50 on Friday. .

BRENDON Hartley made the perfect start to the fourth round of the Toyota Racing Series at Manfeild last weekend.

Hartley scored pole position and a victory in Race 1 over Wade Cunningham and Ben Harford before an incident-packed Race 2. Hartford stalled at the start and a multiple-car incident proceeded to unfold at turn 1. The race was red flagged two times before a result could be found, which eventually went in favour of Hartley again.

It all turned to nought though for Hartley in Race 3 after mechanical problems forced him into the pits.

The ever-present championship leader Brent Collins won the final race, sealed the round victory and extended his impressive series lead.

Points: Collins 758, Hartley 610, Hamilton 602, Gaunt 556, Knight 547, Cunningham 540.

IN the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, John McIntyre claimed the overall win at Manfeild.

Reigning Champion Andy Booth won the last race but was no match for McIntyre during the opening part of the racing weekend.

Championship leader Wade Henshaw finished in the top three of the first two races before dramas dropped him back down the order.

He maintains his outright advantage.

Points: Henshaw 931, Booth 851, McIntyre 740, Kayne Scott 704, Paul Manuell 625.

82

--4

■X ) Sedan wins.

Carlo Chermaz (PVP250) took three of the Superkart wins with Steve Cloake (Stockman MR2 250) winning one. Duncan Crisp (ADE 250) pulled a final corner surprise on Cloake for his first win.

Bruce Dummett (Torana XU1) took both Group N wins with Guy Gibbons (Porsche 911) and Harvey Black

(Ford Escort) filling the podiums.

Derek Pingel (Lola T87/50) and Trent Usher (Van Diemen RF96) each took a pair of wins in open wheelers, with Peter Saunderson (Radical) taking the Sportscar wins ahead of Grant Watson (Prosport Mulsanne) and Steven Morcombe (Westfield SEi).

-MARK JONES

Captain Night Master

of the day. Straker and Armfield touching several times while battling for the lead. Eventually, the pair both left the track and James McDonald took a great win from Dean WMams.

Kerry Wade continued to set the pace in Street Cars, wirming the first race unchallenged. Race 2 was reverse grid and saw an ugly lose by Wade heading into Barbagallo's short circuit. Wade and Graham Stones almost collided, while Mark Greenham went on to take a surprise win. Wade bounced back in Race 3 ahead of Mathew Cherry.

In Saloon Cars, the BRE team had a good start to the year. Brad Boley and

new team-mate Paul Fiore clinched a 1-2 in the first two races, the second of which was held 'under lights'.

Boley made the trifecta in Race 3, taking the chequered flag from Nathan Callaghan. In the final race, Grant Johnson took the win while Malcolm Niall set a new lap record on his way to second place.

Leigh Turner was the star of the Historic Touring Car grid with his new Mustang. After qualifying second in his debut drive of the car.

Turner bogged down at the start and almost fell to the rear of the field

before staging a spirited comeback to take the Race 1 win. It was a Torana 1-2-3 in the reverse grid Race 2, Peter McClean, Greg Barr and Ron Moller filling the podium. Turner took out Race 3 easily from John Tarr.

Grant Howlett had a great start to the HQ Holden season, grabbing two firsts and a second from the three races. Roger Herkins was the winner of Race 2.

- ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Vale: Lotta Hellberg

THE karting world is in mourning after the death of former driving star and later team manager Lotta Hellberg after a two-year battle with cancer at age 34.

Hellberg was born in Sweden and was one of the true stars of international karting in the 80s and 90s. Racing with the Italian CRG team, she placed fourth at the 1991 World Championships in the premier class of the time, Formula Super A. Soon after, there was talk of Hellberg leaving karting to pursue Formula 1, but her career remained in karting.

Hellberg left CRG in 1997, when the team's world-renowned engine tuner, and also Hellberg's partner, Peter de Bruijn moved to his homeland of Holland to establish his own team with chassis manufacturer Gillard. The team enjoyed immediate success with Finn Kimi Raikkonen successful as one of its first drivers.

Hellberg later married de Bruijn, and drove for the PDB Gillard team for two years, until stepping down in 1999 to focus on a new role as team manager.

motorsportnews

INDUSTRY NEWS

New Heads Stroker Kits GROWER has become a wellknown brand with a reputation for producing high quality racing components.

Grower engineers cranks, camshafts, lifters, pushrods. valves and valve springs to withstand the demands of modern race vehicles.

Now available from Rocket

BARRY Grant's new aluminum three-valve cylinder heads are designed with two inlet valves of 1.4" diameter and a conventionally sized exhaust.

At .500" of lift, the new three-valve arrangement produces a curtain area that is almost 40 percent greater than a 2.02" two-valve design.

In addition, since the inlet valves are much smaller, the valve springs are smaller and lighter. Lighter valve seat pressures allow an engine to rev higher and more reliably.

The new three-valve heads demonstrate excellent cylinder filling with low-lift camshafts in production and mildly tuned engines.

Created for use on conventional small-block Chevy engines, Vortec-headed small

Cuvin

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Increased curtain area not only provides better performance and drivability from mildly tuned engines, but also on engines with high performance and racing components the new "threevalve" outperforms conventional heads.

new thre valve cylinder heads contact VPW on 1300 659 904 or visit www.vpw.com.au I**,-

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is a full range of Crower Stroker Kits and power packages.

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The new heads can be easily retro-fitted to all Chevy smallblock and Vortec engines.

For more information on-the

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Industries is the full range of Grower drive-train racing components including clutches, connecting rods and more.

Also available from Rocket

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current model VY. Best setup available, Motec, adjustable shocks, etc. 9 spare rims and tyres, spare brakes, fuel tank lights, rack, etc. Very quick car. 2003 Procar Austn not. 2004 M combined Touring wins. Urgent Sale. Moving Hup to ex-Konika Supercar. $44,000. Gregory ^0411 724 711.

Campaigned in Production Sports Car Championship and CAMS Supersprint Championship, 40+ podiums, including Class/Category wins. Aluminium flywheel, quad throttle-bodies, adjustable cams, extractors. Microtech ECU & handset. Body in near showroom condition, no dents, full respray, full tonneau. Adjustable ride height, Bilsteins, King Springs, Braided lines. Trailer available $2,500. 17,750 ONO. Ed 0418 573 891.

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VW Beetle Turbo Sports Sedan, Tube frame, coil over suspension. Avon slicks, mounted wets, hot Subaru RS Liberty Quad Cam, Avo Turbo, EMS Management system, 300 BHP, Kombi box, Detroit locker, spares, trailer, hill climb car, very competitive, $20,000 Neg. John 0417 454 305 402. www.my105.com/95122

23 February 2005

1991 Nissan Skyline GTR, Targa/Club Car. Option One: 305kw at wheels, wilwood brakes, mines computer, Bilsteiri shocks, 700cc injectors, many other upgrades NZD$45,000, Option Two: 380kw at wheels, as above with aftermarket cams, pistons, rods etc plus Olin three way adjustable shocks - N2D$65.000. $45,000 - $65,000.

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Rally Winning P3/F2 EVERY NUT/BOLT ALUMINIUM this car has been built by Maximum Motorsport.Selling because we want a group N, WILL TRADE FOR WRX converted rally car. $26 000 Neg. 305 0425798083. www.myl05.com/26476 Rally Cars x2. This is a team package and both cars come with extensive spare part package, 40 wheels and tyres, engines, driveshafts, suspension, call Danny on 0419 800 684 for more info.ldeal entry package Privateers for Australian Rally Championship, one car could be used as a DMA MOTORSPORT car. recce 304 0419800684. www.myl05.eom/34209

Porsche 993RS, Regular class b winner, enter in nat. Porsche series, prof, prepared to win class B, strong motor, uni chip, gonzo exh.,loads of upgrades, lightweight stripped body, big red brakes. Upgrade LSD, 8 x 18” wheels, spare tyres, proflex shocks, data logger, only raced 2 seasons, contact for full list. $75,000 ONO. Russell 0411724176. www.myl O5.com/1836

Suzuki Swift GTI MK1, Swift GTi Mkl. U2 sports sedan. Full cage, race seat, 4 point harness, 4 wheel disc's, koni shocks and adjustable suspension, 14" slicks. Fresh engine, Autronic, LSD, Grp A Drive shafts etc. Plenty of spares, wheels, engine, brakes, standard seats and trim. Reliable and enjoyable first car. $7500 ONO. Steve 304 0404 802 901. www.myl05.com/94843

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Porsche GT3 Cup Car, MY2003 with 2004 update package. 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 for quick sale or swap for MY2002 with 2003 updates. , Stephen 0418 685 575. www.my105.com/19254

Near New GTS Cup Car, Brand new never marked or damaged body, just 3,000kims only competed in 6 events, lncl.2004 upgrade, fully prep, for season 2005.

219,000 inc GST. Russell 0411724176. www.myl05.com/98245

1999 GT3 For Sale, Fastest non Cup Car in Aust. Recent body refresh. Recond Bilstein Shock pkge, rebuilt g/box, diff, brakes.

Upgraded ECU, Motec data logging, extensive spares inci 4 sets of wheels.

Ready for Targa or the Porsche Drivers challenge or Aust GT sports cars. All original GT3 Road parts. Road Reg NSW. 307 $150,000. Tim 0409090932. www.myl05.com/7999

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NC Austin Coopers, As raced by Matt McGrath, lap records at Albert Park Bathurst, OLD Raceway etc, rare factory parts , built and maintained by Yager Performance, cheapest most reliable car in Biante Series, etc. Garry 02 6662 2822 BH. 304 www.myl05.com/66348

Improved Production Suzuki GTI, under 2 litre NSW Champion 2001, 2nd in 2004, new engine, fresh box and paint, finished every race in top 3, race winner, pole and fastest tap setter in 2004, massive amount of spares, $15,000 ONO, Grant 0410 681 305 562.' www.myl05.eom/28021

87

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SAAB 900i 1992, Auto air and steer, full SAAB log book history, very appealing car ABD 73A. $4,350. Barry 0415 683 004. www.myl05.com/62212

SPORTS SEDAN, Chrome/Moly Torque Tube Space Frame, magnes uprights, Koni fully adj, Harrop 4 pot,20B Triple rotor Kim Ledger, Hewland Transaxie FGB 200,slick & wets wheels, spares etc. $60,000 Not Neg, Richard 0412320940.

308 www.myl05.com/75926

2004 QLD No. 1 RX7 FOR SALE, 04 OLD & 03 NSW State Champ, Morgan Pk & Hidden Vly lap records, 04 National heats winner. >$100k in parts alone plus Motec data. OFFERS OVER $40,000. Simon 0733496075 304 www.myl05.com/28426

BMW E36 M3, BMW M3 Coupe in Estrol blue with Black leather interior and all BMW original options. Orginal condition thoughout, no modifications, near new brake rotors, pads & tyres. Always garaged since new. Rego to 6/05. -111,000 KM, Great condition. $60,000 ONO. David 0401 718 762 304 www.myl05.eom/4480

Mitsubishi Mirvac Mirage, Ready to race in Under 2lt Production or Rally. Great condition. . $15,000. Greg 02 9327 6561 / 0414 705 353 304 www.my105.com/21439

Improved Production Datsun IBObsss, 180BSSS Coupe,red/white/blue nat aspirated sr20 wt,5speed,4:1 locked diff,6 point alloy roll cage,koni adjustable front shocks,180SX rotors,hilux calipers,momo race seat & sparco 5 point harness,4 near new A032R tyres,spare shell,cams log booked,ready to race,3rd under 2lt 2004. 6500.00 ONO. Brett 07 38896583.

303 www.myl05.eom/77059

Lancer Improved Production Car, Fresh engine, twin webbers, new headers, full weld in cage, CAMS log book, volvo front brakes/sigma rear with brake bias valve, koni shocks with coil overs, memo seat, willans harness, dry cell battery, alloy fuel cell, 14" wheels A032rs tyres, heaps of spares. $8500 Or Best Offer. Peter 0409 743 491.

303 www.my105.com/97774

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—onr-

Porsche 73 RSR (replica), Reg.M2 class Winner lightweight panels, HUGE brakes, Motec, Individual Throttle bodies 3.0 Carrera engine recent full rebuild of engine, g'box, diff no expense spared.($45K).

Extensive chrome moly cage . Too many extras to mention. Very consistent performer. 3 sets of wheels /tyres.Exceiient Marque sports car. log book. $68,000 Not Neg. michael 97426928 / 0412542910.

307 www.my105.com/17232

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1

For sale or lease 4 Twin Cam Corollas, Troubles Racing offers for sale or lease 4 race ready twincam Corollas, these class winning championship cars are presented in excellent condition, the cars are suitable for Sprints, State Race Series and combined Touring Car Events. Also Endurance drives available. We offer junior development programs and assist in OLTs. To start your 2005 race year contact Michael. 0418 377 372.

303 www.myl05.com/28B23

EVO 7, Race winning car, ready to race the 2005 season with AVESCO. Many spares. .

Garry 0413 879 879 / (02) 9688 3003.

304 www.myl05.eom/28980

Suzuki Swift GTI, This was rebuilt as rally car, suit track aswell, very low k's, mild cams, lightened flywheel, LSD, Adj Bilstein suspension. Half Cage, 15inch Rims, Rego 07/05, RWC, too much too mention, heaps of spares. $6300 Or Best Offer. Ben 0402 229 247.

303 www.myl05.eom/20758

HQ Holden, Probably the best presented HQ in the country, no expense spared. New motor, gearbox, diff and suspension.

Recently upgraded to 2005 specs. Ready to race with heaps of spares. $6,500 Neg. 303 Diego 0402 114 593. www.myl05.eom/92940 Mazda RX7 Improved Production, Jon Waterhouse Built 13B Bridgeport, Ceramic Race Seals, 48IDA Weber Carby . Multiplate Clutch, 2-Piece Tailshaft, Rose Jointed Watts Linkage. Adjustable Strut tops, Lge Diam Bilstein Shocks, Big Brakes, Three sets of wheels and 2 Diffs. Large Radiator and Oil Cooler. $18400 Neg. Michael 0262805972.

303 www.myl05.com/27474

944 Challenge - Must Sell, 944 Challenge.

Clean & straight with recent respray, 10 laps only on fully rebuilt engine, latest mods including blade adjustable rolibar and race radiator. $34,000 must sell. 0418 995 500.

304 $34,000, Geoff 0418 995 500. www.my105.com/98544

QLD Racecars, 1 QLD Gemini Series Car, front runner, fresh engine, great series, $4,000. 1 HQ, front runner, fresh engine, 2 sets wheels (1 set Prostars), $5,000 "Job's On". Cam 0419 768 662.

303 www.my105.com/72179

wayto sell your gear! From lust$25* lustlog on

(*$25 applies to ads entered directly onto my105.com) Advertising can also be supplied using thisform ($10/$15surchage to text only/text ■+ pic advertisements) Advertisements will appear in next possible issue of Motorsport Nevjs PLUS the mv105.com website for three months.

Please read & cross the desired services and calculate the total.

22ZZ7

online classifieds 8 Standard ad and one inlusion into Motorsport News = $35

Category: □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers □ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers

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□ Wanted □ Photographs

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□ Other

□ Jobs

Description: Please keep ads to no more than SOwords, plusupto 6 photos if desired.

□ Plus Photo Processing fee $5 ADDITIONAL OPTIONS:□ Extra issues X $25 per issue □ Feature ad on Motorsport News and my105.com homepage for $75 per issue

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Card Name Forward your classified to: tax 02 96471177 email mnews(®my105.com postal address My105, PO Box 6751 Silverwater NSW 2128.

NOTICE TO AOVERTISERS Please use the form provided and print clearly. Please note we are unable to return photographs supplied for use in classified ads. Ads will appear as soon as possible after receipt. MN/myl 05.com classifieds are for the sale of private goods and vehicles only, not business advertising Photos marked 'proof will not bo used.

motorsport news

CLASSIFIEDS Open Wheelers

Historic Formula 2 Kaditcha Group R, leoocc VW Golf engine and Hewland 5 speed. 2 race meetings since engine rebuild. Comes with light weight enclosed trailer with side annex, nose moulds, spare wheels, spare nose, some spare engine parts and more. Very good package ready to go racing. CofD currently being processed. $27500. Jacob 0417636716. www.my105.com/76441

FA/ee 1600 Elfin NG90, with all 04 updates.

Recent 3rd place at Eastern Creek NSW state championship meeting 02/05/04, Fresh engine, gearbox, full bare chassis rebuild only 6 meetings old. All receipts, Dyno figures, photos etc. Always immaculately presented, only teh best parts, comprehensive spares package, etc. $19,000 Neg. Russell 0404 804 859 (after 305 4pm). www.myl05.eom/75340

Ralt RT20, Large Number of spares, wings, slicks, wets, suspension, body moulds, PI Dash, Ratio's and three sets of Wheels. All Componentry to fit Formula Holden Engine.

Compliant for Historic Racing or hill climb.

303 $27000 Neg. Michael 0262805972. www.myl05.com/94313

Parts

Engines

STOLEn GERR PLEASE CALL LUITH mpo 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.my105.com/86582

For Lease

2C Supersports 4 Hire/Lease, These superquick 2C Supersports lap quicker than an Aussie Race Car and not far off Carrera Cup times. Weil maintained & easy to drive.

Avail for drive days, local sprints, club races up to OLD & NSW State Championship events, www.killa.com.au for more details.

Mike 0418753256.

304 www.myl05.com/69986 Lease Opportunities, available for the 'Touring Car Challenge' and F4000 - 2005 seasons. Super Tourers, Future Tourers, V8 Supercars and Reynard F4000s. Rod 02 6562 7762 / 0412 785 486.

304 www.myl 05.com/48007

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MAI us 1979 automatic, Converted as motorcycle raceteam transporter. Carnes 3 bikes, equipment, with seats. Ideal for motorhome conversion. Recently Serviced.

RVH208. $25,000 ONO. Joanne (03) 9720 1888.

304 www.myl05.eom/35055

TILTING CUSTOM TRANSPORTER, Immaculate tilting transporter built to the highest standards with NO expence spared.

Kitchen, bedding, insulated, generator, compressor, elictric winch, sink, work bench, and heaps of storage and much much more. Travelled less than 5000klm. .More photos available, $POA ONO. Paul 0400933030. www.myl05.com/71359

Transporters/Trailers ■SvnofOT

Two Kart Trailer, Two kart trailer, designed by ex-racer so well thought out and designed, alu sheet over RHS, drop axle, heap of room, 2 front doors and single rear on struts, tows well with low profile. 2950.00 Or Best Offer. Anthony 02 6242 4925 / 0407 407 776. www.myl05.com/83104

Transporter Nissan UD international N1630 Turbo, 6 speed turbo diesel, 5.5mt pan with storage & tire racks, electric winch, 2000kg Hydraulic Tailgate lifter, 2 long range fuel tanks, Air conditioned cabin, CD player & tinted windows, near new tyres, this truck is in excellent condition. $32,000 Or Best Offer. Rod 0419301087 / 0299679555.

304 www.my105.com/31755

www.miri05.com i

/Z2Z^S?6i;l

V8 Supercar Team equipment, V8 Supercar parts, pit equiment, tools, racing helmets, race clothing, hospitality equipment, see items ONO. Jim 304 0412052489. www.myl05.eom/65036

Supra 1 to 1 5th gearbox. Close ratio gearbox, syncro mesh. Full slide on gear set, Albins cut gears. 1 to 1 5th gear, this box was used in winning under 2 litre improved production car for further information please call. 3990.00 Neg, Justin 303 0416 00 88 98. www.myl05.com/86931

Tailgate loader, suit semi or ri dged van.

Complete with platform, hydraulic unit, winch & remote control. Ideal for open wheeler or small sedan. $10,000 ONO. 303 0419 362 479. www.myl05.com/92835

23 February 2005

2 kart trailer, THIS TRAILER HAS BEEN WELL PLANED AND BUILT AND IS EXCELLENT TO PIT OUT OF IT HAS INTERNAL STORAGE COMPARTMENTS IT ALSO HAS A 4INCH DROP AXEL WHICH ALLOWS IT TO SIT MUCH LOWER ITS ALSO VERY GOOD TO TOW, $8500.00 ONO. dave 0413873483. www.myl05.com/78591

V8 Supercar Transporter for sale. Truck only 30k since rebuild, 830k. Three car trailer with hydraulic rear door. Trailer repainted 04. Alioy steers and chrome drives. Excellent condition. Prime Mover $82k Trailer $75k ONO. Jim Morton 304 0412052489. www.myl05.com/47113

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3.2 CARRERA, Complete 3,2 Carrera engine not used since refreshed eariy 2003: standard pistons & cams, 12 plug, optical ignition, multi coil, fully mappable engine computers, race headers. Includes tinware, clutch, flywheel & exhaust. $15,000; Images email on by request. emile@PittwaterStyle.com.au. 15000 Neg. 303 EMILE 0299187800 / 0299187818. www.myl05.eom/16602 DJR Spec V8 Supercar Engine, SVO Heads, DJR Manifold, Cross Ram Fuel Injection, New Isky Springs, Roller Cam Crane, JE Forged Pistons, LA Enterprise Rods, Aus Crank, Full Billet Front, Billet Distributor & Water Pump, Dry Sump Pump.

Engine done under SOOkms since last full rebuild. $15,000.00 ONO. 0424 496 577.

303 www.myl O5.com/15552 Waldock V8 Supercar Engine, Yates Heads, JE Pistons, Krypto Crank, LA Enterprise Rods, SVO Block, Dry Sump, Done very little work. $15,000 ONO. Phillip 0424 496 577.

303 www.my105.com/11141

Motorsport Jobs Experienced Motorsport Personel, GMC Motorsport Services would like to offer the services of a Experienced MC Licenced Driver for Transporter, hospitality, or merchandising vehicle driving for part-time or contract work. We also have available national and internationally experienced mechanics, engineers and team management. Greg 0402406708. GMC 304 Motorsport Services 0402406708. www.myl05.com/72251 Racing Car Driver Required, 2005V8 Development Series, V8 Development Drive available for lease in ex SBR Falcon in 2005 which includes maintenance and preparation of car between rounds and at events, including transportation of car to all rounds from Yatala based workshop. Lease would be for seven rounds including Bathurst, Only serious parties please call 0424 496 577. Phillip 0424 496 577.

303 www.myl05.com/63555

Sponsor Seek www.spoFisorseek.com.au

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and it would be nice to see another Ford team running at the front for a change.

Maybe at least parity for aU the other Ford teams, but not SBR (just

I was so pleased to read that Brands Hatch will finally increase the run-off at Druids

Hairpin in a bid to improve safety at the Kent Circuit (MNews #302).

It might save some other racing careers from ending prematurely against the fence!

(See photo of my major shunt in 1991, below).

Rod Barrett rodbarrett@ozemail.com.au

Third manufacturer should work for it

For some time, there has been a lot of talk about how, why and if a third manufacturer is going to come into V8 Supercar racing. I can not believe that the real answer to the question has not been reported before.

Everyone knows that AVESCO is just a bad copy of NASCAR but they are not copying the right parts. When NASCAR wanted Toyota to get into its series, it did not roU out the welcome mat and admit the Japanese straight into the Winston Cup, it forced Toyota to spend a few years finding its way, first in Craftsman Truck. The next step will be to allow Camrys (or whatever) into Busch racing and then, only after a few years of doing it tough in the lower ranks, can the company take on Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge in the Nextel Cup. So, the obvious answer for Australia is to copy this example.

AVESCO should get into Mitsubishi or Toyota, let them run in the Development series for a, few years and then we can have the three or four manufacturer battle we really want to see in V8 Supercars. There wiU be more funding and more cars on the lower level, the racing will be better and everyone will win.

Am I the only one in step here? Am I the only one to realise this is the way to go? What are the odds that AVESCO will follow through with this?

kidding).

convener Send us your thoughts: mail; PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 www.mnews.com.au "In addition, Tasman Motorsport moves its base from Sydney, where it was the only V8 Supercar operation, to Melbourne, which is the acknowledged mecca of motorsport in Australia."

Thank you for your time.

David Friend Ormond, Victoria

V8 outlook points to SBR success Looks like nothing has changed with V8 Supercars for this, possibly another boring year.

SBR managed to get one-two, but only because the Holdens, which were always quickest in practice, always shot each other and themselves in the foot.

This was perfectly demonstrated when Russell IngaU managed to wrap up second position and 98 (percent) in the Championship.

Yes Ford, well SBR, have won the glory for the last two years, but the parity issue has been around longer

Maybe Holden would have a better chance in the Championship if Fords were fighting Fords as well.

Hey that sounds exciting. Oops, sorry.

Wliy doesn't SBS or Channel Nine give us a delayed telecast of ,, all the NASCAR races, they are the only good thing that comes out of America.

And shame MNews, I really miss the NASCAR crumbs you used to give us.

John Gray Leumeah, New South Wales ED: We take your critisism on board and sincerely apologise that we could not manage more than five pages of NASCAR coverage this issue.

Beware: Tourist Ahead

As an Adelaide resident, a Formula One follower and a long-time objector to having the GP in Melbourne, I must admit that the organisers have got me this time around.

For the first time, I will be making the trip across the DMZ into Victoria for the race, thanks solely to the free admission on Thursday. That means that a retiree tike me can afford to go on Thursday and I will pay for Friday admission before retiring to an old army buddy's place in Melbourne to watch the rest on television.

To all responsible, thanks for the chance to make the trip and Go Webber! (and Port Adelaide!)

Chas Turner West Lakes, SA

Love the magazine, never miss an issue and never buy anything else.

Terry Carter Templestowe, Victoria ED: I am not sure about the first part of your letter Tel but, the answers to your final questions are 'Yes', 'Hell .

Yes' and 'Astronomical'.

Sydney not a V8 town

I stand before you to give evidence of how much love and chemistry does not exist between AVESCO and

$390 $495

Post your cheque/money order to the address above, fax your credit card details (Bankcard, VISA, Mastercard, or Amex) to 03 9596 5030 or email to admin@mnews.com.au

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Brands Hatch run-off a must-do project

Sydney.

My first and only piece of evidence should end all speculation that a marriage between the pair is not feasible. The quote comes from Tasman Motorsport's v/ebsite.

We should do something about that wall: Rod Barrett is pleased that Brands Hatch's Druids Hairpin is getting more run-off. It was the scene of his big accident in 1991, seen above.

motorsport news

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