Motorsport News Issue 308 - May 4-17, 2005

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No. 308 May 4-17 2005 Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST

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ISSN 1320-9744

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WARNING: Australian motorsport’s biggest CON-MAN EXPOSED

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SO Close and a Cigar Alonso holds on but Michael and Ferrari are back in town 58 Ouvrez cette Can de Woop Ass Loeb thrashes the WRC regulars in Sardinia 6SSS' 60 Diff’rent Strokes Subaru dominates Rally of Canberra - but then the fun started r BAD TAIIXO TM6 WBOHT TEST

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Photos; Cover: Geoff Ridden Contents: sutton-images.com

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Marketplace 3

Guilty - but some quo DumbreSI ffned cash and points, summoned for media transgression; Gore fined for abuse PAUL Dumbrell was last week found guilty of reckless driving b y a CAMS Stewards Hearing,in the aftermath of the major incident late in the third V8 race at

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i Pukekohe two weeks ago. /' While there remains widespread debate about the Castrol Team driver's culpabUity or degree of culpability, in the incident, the fact remains that- after viewing in-car footage and data - the Stewards fined Dumbrell $15,000 and took away 75 championship

points.

Under the new AVESCO rules, a driver is required to represent himself at a Stewards Hearing O' with assistance from one nominated team official. In DumbreU's case, that should have been team manager Joe Bremner, but in the end the hearing allowed Larry Perkins to assist.

The case against Dumbrell was made

by Investigating

and Prosecuting Officer(IPO) Peter Wollerman.

In the end,in-car footage, and data, which showed the other driver, Craig Baird,lifting briefly and moving to the right(to avoid potential drama witli Jamie Whincup's Commodore sliding wide and coming back onto the road) and Dumbrell remaining on full throttle, aiming tight down the inside. The closing speed at impact was, we hear, between 20 and

30kmh.

The IPO's case was that Dumbrell had the option to lift briefly but,in not doing so, exhibited reckless driving.

According to Wollerman,to whom MNews spoke this week, the hearing could have gone as far as suspending DumbreU's licence, but the fact that it chose not to could be seen as allowing the driver some leeway.

Interestingly, Baird was not summoned to the initial IPO

"It's disappointing, but we just have to get on with it," is all he would say.

DumbreU's troubles don't quite end there.

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A further charge, relating to AVESCO's 'sub-judice' rules, has been laid, following DumbreU's comments on the incident in the last issue of MNews,prior to the hearing.

However,according to IPO Wollerman,Dumbrell is likely to escape with a reprimand when the hearing is held, in Perth, this weekend.

Less lucky has been Baird's WPS team owner, the ebuUient Craig Gore.

He has subsequently accepted a charge of use of abusive language.

inquiry, nor was he asked, by either the Stewards or the IPO, or Dumbrell, to appear at the hearing.

The hearing finished late in the evening and a clearly frustrated Perkins simply acknowledged the decision and declined the opportunity for Dumbrell to lodge an appeal.

Dumbrell switches; W Dirk Klynsmil

Brocks split

WITH his Castrol Commodore still undergoing repairs, Paul Dumbrell will switch to the Autobarn-liveried Team Perkins car for Perth.

With limited time to rebuild the damaged car, the team has neatly overcome its three-intotwo entry problem by allocating Dumbrell to the 'third' car.

In the meantime, Craig Gore's WPS team has pulled together to complete a massive rebuild of Craig Baird's shattered car in time to head west for this weekend.

Some of the crew stayed on in Auckland for a few days to complete preliminary work, following which the remains of

PETER and Bev Brock have announced their separation.

A brief satement was released to the media on Monday, reading: "It is with great difficulty and sadness that, after 28 years, Peter and Bev Brock have advised their separation.

"As a result of the continual demands on his life in the public eye, Peter finds that he is in need of time on his own.

"This is not an easy decision for Bev to accept, although she recognises and supports Peter's need to take this step.

"Both intend to maintain a mutually respectful and amicable friendship in the future.

"Please respect the privacy of both parties and that of their family at this time."

4

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Ambrose/Larko Racing?

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Opinion — by CHRIS LAIvIBDEN following his impromptu pit visit to the Castrol team immediately following the incident.

The fine is $15,000 - discoimted by 25 percent to $11,250 for not having faced a similar charge in the preceding 12 months.

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PS rebuilds the car were air-freighted back to Queensland for work to start in earnest.

The primary rebuild of the chassis was completed last Tuesday and the complete rebuild and rewire of the car by Friday evening, in time to load up for the trip to WA. Impressive stuff.

4 May 2005

If the opinion of a number of top drivers I've 'straw^poHed' counts for anything, Paul Dumbrell can count himself a bit stiff to cop the wrong end;of the Stewards' decision on the Pukekohe shunt.

The Stewards concluded (if I read it right), with the aid of frame-by-frame in-car footage and throttle data that Dumbrell could and should have lifted off the throttle in attempting to avoid contact with Craig Baird's WPS Falcon, which was itself braking and moving right to avoid potential involvement in Jamie Whincup's'moment' off to the left.

That's their view. It's the one that counts. But I still think Dumbrell was hard done by.

Unlike the stewards, with freeze-frame and all the time in the world, Dumbrell had only a few tenths of a second to make a decision. And with an incident 'forming' off to the left, a legitimate option for a driver is to try and get past an incident before it involves him. Yes, braking is an option too, but under those conditions (damp, darkening and at speed), you can just as easily destabilise your own car and get sucked into the incident as well.

Dumbrell tried to get through. The Stewards thought he shouldn't have. OK. But reckless? Don't think so.

It was, as MNews opined initially, one of those racing incidents.

Whether anyone agrees or disagrees entirely with that analysis is neither here nor there, but fd suggest there's enough reasonable doubt to have given Dumbrell the benefit of it.

Someone suggested to me that our officials seem to come down harder when an incident results in mega-damage and ' big TV news exposure. Like Clipsal last year; like Surfers last year (Rick Kelly). Would Dumbrell have copped quite so much heat if both cars had simply spun along the road, onto the grass, and continued on? Interesting thought.

The new justice system is getting,from all reports, a fairly reasonable tick from most drivers. The concept, like footy, of taking a plea and a lesser penalty before opting for a full stewards' hearing is a good one.

The tricky bit for the IPO is deciding which incidents to pursue. People have been asking why there was no action over either of the Ambrose/Lowndes clashes at Pukekohe. I hear it was because the IPO and Driving Standards Observer, Colin Bond, couldn't agree on the need.

Something to address there, perhaps?

And, I have to say, the idea of an initial and then subsequent hearing, without the other relevant driver (Craig Baird) present, is a bit like a murder trial without a body.

That Dumbrell has also been pinged for offering his viewpoint to MNews is ... well, don't start me ... Craig Gore also had a bit to say post-Pukekohe (in MNews tool) and there's no sign of a charge there ...

Still, as one footy caller reminded us over the weekend, that's the glorious unpredictability of sport, isn't it.

INTERESTING rumour of the week: totally unconfirmed, but as we closed for press, a couple of good sources were suggesting that, among those negotiating with Mark Larkham to potentially take a share In Larkham Motorsport is none other than Ross Ambrose, the Champ's dad.

Makes sense when you look at the family oonnections/ownership at Tasman (Kevin Murphy) and Britek (Jason Bright).

According to our industry mole, Ross has both the resources and business acumen to make an impact.

Worth watching... n As predicted in MNews last issue, DJR has confirmed that Will Davison will join the team for the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst later this year.

Davison will have his first test with the team at Queensland Raceway on May 20.

"I'm really looking fonward to it," Davison said. "I can't wait to get back behind the wheel again, and it's especially great to be doing with such an established and professional team."

MNews also believes that the team is considering entering Davison in at least one Development Series round, possibly at the Paperclip in late July. If this was to go ahead, it would mean that DJR would be running a total of five V8 Supercars over the course of the weekend.

And most teams shudder at the thought of four... n Alex Trotman has passed away.

Lord Trotman of Osmtherly was the man who took the Ford Motor Company into Formula 1 in a serious way in the 1990s, when he decided to back Jackie Stewart's plans to enter Formula 1 in 1997. n McLaren will go into this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix with high spirits after Pedro de la Rosa came within a whisker of the Jerez track record during testing last week.

The 1 ml 5.651 s posted by de la Rosa's modified MP4-20 was just 0,001 s shy of Michael Schumacher's unofficial record, set in 2004.

Completing the good news for the team, Kimi Raikkonen was secondquickest.

Points leader Fernando Alonso was 0.5s adrift of the McLarens, but of greater concern for Renault was the exploding B-spec engine in Franck Montagny's car, which sent flames several feet into the air and burnt sections of the bodywork. The team now has to decide whether to risk the B-spec engine in Spain, or opt for the slightly slower, but safer, A-spec powerplant.

5

Problem Found, not Fixed

"THERE'S good news, and there's bad news".

That was the message delivered by Sauber to its drivers following the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks ago.

According to Autosport.com, Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa have been told that the team has identified the main problem with the current C24 - but they were also informed that it is unlikely that it will be fixed, purely because of the costs involved.

Team owner Peter Sauber says that the car was designed before the team had a complete understanding of the characteristics of the Michelin tyres (having run Bridgestones

different settings of the suspension, which ultimately would lead to another gearbox. All that, given our financial background, is simply not possible to do with the C24."

» for the past few seasons).

"The Michelin tyre needs more weight on the front end of the car, so you would design a car with the engine moved forward and with a longer gearbox," he said.

"Michelin tyres also require

I I I 3 ®

Sauber is running on a tighter budget than in recent. years due to the loss of major sponsor Red Bull during the off-season, coupled with the fact that it has to pay Michelin for its tyres.

Sauber is pegging its future hopes on being able to strike an engine deal with BMW, however it has been rumoured that an extremely competitive offer from Mercedes-Benz is also on the table.

- MARK GLENDEIMIMING

Toyota: No Appeal

THE Panasonic Toyota team has decided not to push ahead with its appeal against Ralf Schumacher's penalty of 25 seconds at the end of the San Marino Grand Prix.

The penalty, which was given for the German being directed to leave his pit straight into the path of Nick Heidfeld, causing the Williams driver to brake heavily, meant that Ralf was dropped from eighth to 11th.

Heidfeld moved up to eighth, Mark Webber to ninth and Vitantonio Liuzzi to 10th.

The Toyota team said that it lodged its appeal because it "wanted the opportunity to undertake a detailed analysis of the incident" and having done that concluded that it does not have enough evidence to make a conclusive case against the penalty and so will not pursue the appeal.

The team says that it will work with the other teams and the FIA to further clarify what constitutes the "safe release" of the car during a pit stop.

Withdrawing the appeal is probably a smart move, as it means that there will be no further repercussions as a result of the Imola problem. The FIA Court of Appeal does have the right to sanction anyone who asks for an appeal which is judged to be frivolous.

-JOESAWARD 6

BAR-HONDA goes to the FIA International Court of Appeal this week to argue that Jenson Button's car was legal at the San Marino Grand Prix.

The car was weighed after the race at Imola and apparently weighed 606.1 kg. The fuel was then drained from the car and it appears that it weighed 594.6kg. The FIA rules state that a car must weigh "no less than 600kg at all times during the event".

This is impossible to measure because the cars are racing, and in the past there have often been suggestions that some teams may have been filling up the cars with extra fuel at the end of the races in order to ensure that the car is above ●the weight,Jintit. This means that the cars can be run undervyeighf'i’f someone sets out to break the rules.

BAR successfully convinced the FLA stewards that the car had'been legal at all times and after a six-hour period, during which the stewards presumably went through the data available, it was announced that the car was legal. The FIA then decided the following day that it would appeal the decision.

"BAR'-Honda will provide the same rigorous data presented^.tojtjie stewards and is confident that it can prove once again that the car waa^rfj fully compliant with the FIA||^|^MH

FERNANDO Alonso heads home to Spain this weekend with a new engine in the back of his Renault but we are not certain with which version of the engine he will race.

Renault introduced a 'B' spec of its two-race 72-degree VIO at Imola, with Giancarlo Fisichella running the unit while Alonso ran a second race on the unit with which he won in Bahrain. However, FisicheUa retired on lap six with a suspension failure.

Because of this, Fisi will run the same unit in Barcelona.

However, Alonso's choice may be made by the fact that Renault has suffered some engine problems in recent testing. At Jerez last week, test driver Franck Montagny had two engine problems, one of which saw the rear of his R25 explode in a fireball.

Just to add to the fun, Renault FI Technical Director Pat Symonds has revealed that Alonso's defence of his lead at Imola was conducted with a compromised engine. The motor was

damaged in Bahrain and, with the team unwilling to change it and cop a 10-spot grid penalty at hard-to-pass Imola, Alonso had no choice but to nurse his engine all weekend.

"We didn't do many laps in practice," said Symonds. "There was some damage done to Fernando's engine in Bahrain. We didn't run everything flat out this weekend. It obviously has some effect in terms of time, but it's not huge.

"The fact that Fernando's qualifying lap was his 11th timed lap of the weekend ... how do you quantify what that's worth? It's probably quite a lot. So I wouldn't say we were as well prepared as normal this weekend.

"We had to set lower limits, and we couldn't change them."

So Renault's engine has power, great fuel consumption and it can fight while wounded. 'A' sounds like it has an awful lot to give up until the 'B' spec engine is this good ...

- BRANAGAN/COOPER

The Myst

THE matter of Jenson Button's BAR-Honda following the San Marino GP is a complicated one.

At first glance, the fact that the car carried what appeared to be 11.5kg of fuel as 'ballast' is not that significant. After all, why is it that important if the weight was only in the car in the final stint of the race?

But the post-2004 regulation, that states that the car must carry the fuel with which it will start the race in qualifying, means that the effect that the fuel has is felt not just throughout the race but in qualifying as well. If we assume that BAR had the opportunity to

moiorsportnews

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igal OP Clever?

Technical Regulations throughout the San Marino Grand Prix," said team boss Nick Frv. There was much talk of extra fuel tank.s, but this in itself is not illegal so long as everything is contained within the .same .safety 'bladder'. If there were extra tanks they were inside the main tank, and there is nothing in the rules which have been published that says that teams ●“ cannot have tanks within tanks within tanks. If engine designers feel this is necessarv to ensure a proper flow of fuel to the engine, then there is nothing that stops the team doing this.

Nor is there any reason why this inforniation would be imparted to the FIA. The rules state that "should a competitor feel that any aspect of the.se regulations is unclear, clarification may be sought from the FIA Formula 1 Technical Department. If clarification relates to any new design or system, correspondence must include: a full description of the design or system and drawings or schematics where appropriate".

This does not mean that if the FIA has seen drawings of a system and finds out later that a system is

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Lfifft'ivnl that the team ha.s been

cheating. It simply means that the team did not feel the need to ask for a clarification.

An FIA appeal against its own appointees will inevitably cast someone in a bad light. One must assume that the FIA technical people presented the stewards with all the facts that were known and that the decision was made based on this information. If this is not the case, then the officials involved will be in trouble either for not revealing everything or not being competent.

There are, ine\ itably, going to be suggestions that there is a different agenda in\'olved because 13ARITonda is one of the seven teams that has made it clear that it is siding with the teams and manufacturers in the current fight over the future of the sport. The FIA says that this is not the case, but it is logical that any 'rebel' team Would have to be very stupid to risk deliberate cheating in the current political climate.

The staff at BAR are seen in the F'l as being more likely to have found an advantage by using the rules cleverly, as they all have good reputations and their integrity has not been c|uestioned in the past.

-JOESAWARD

J

erious case of 007 run the car 'light', it affected all the laps except for those after the fi nal stop.

With the fuel burn at Imola of 3kg/lap, a car 10kg underweight has the potential to be 0.3s a lap quicker; almost 15 seconds over the course of the opening two stints of the race.

It appears that the extraordinarily detailed examination of the car was planned well in advance but the team's double DNFs at Melbourne and KL mean that the FIA had no opportunity to look at the car of Button's until the end of the race in Italy.

Oddly, there was no examination of the sister 007 of 4 May 2005

Takuma Sato, which finished fifth.

As Saward points out, it is extremely unusual for the FIA to appeal, in effect, its 'own' decision. Clearly, there is an opinion in Paris that its own people did not execute their duties properly at Imola, that the team escaped via a loophole that can quickly be closed or that BAR and Honda, which has visibly sided with the manufacturers in recent times, can be easily picked off and taught a lesson.

Whatever happens, the outcome of the appeal in Paris will be worth reading ...

- PHIL BRA1\IAGAN

Prancing Bulls Ferrari V8s for RBR

THE reason for Red Bull Racing's appearance at the recent FIA meeting in Paris became apparent at Imola on Saturday when the team announced that it has secured a supply of Ferrari V8 engines for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

This will give Red Bull competitive engines, while also helping Ferrari to generate income at a time when the team is keen to find more money for the years ahead. The big question in the deal is whether or not owner Dietrich Mateschitz has been willing to sacrifice any of the team's independence in political matters. This appears to have been a prequisite for Sauber (at least in technical matters), with Peter Sauber agreeing to vote with Ferrari as part of the deal.

This is hardly in keeping with Red Bull's desire to be seen as a free-thinking operation with new ideas, although Ferrari's isolated position in FI politics may have meant that the team was willing to do the deal without insisting on control of Red Bull's vote in such matters.

It may be that Ferrari will try to do another deal with the Midland FI team, as the new engine supply rules means that the team probably has the production capacity to supply a third team and can increase its budget by relieving Alex Shnaider of a large sum of his money. This would give the FIA and FOM a solid third team in its al liance against the manufacturers and others.

The seven other teams made it quite clear in Imola that Red Bull Racing and Jordan are no longer welcome at the planning meetings for 2008 as they are clearly not committed to the idea. Both will, however, be able to join up as and when (and if) the planning of the rules package is completed.

The defection of the two renegade teams will not affect the manufacturer domination of the FI Commission, and with Sauber and Minardi very obviously on the side of the five big teams, it seems that the battle lines are now drawn.

- JOE SAWARD

JPM back for Barcelona?

JUAN Pablo Montoya is hopeful, but not certain, that he will be back behind the wheel of his McLaren at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

"I think I still have to wait a little bit to make the decision," he said.

"At the moment things are looking pretty good to be in Barcelona, but I'm going to spend a couple of days in the factory, doing some work there, to see if I can accommodate in the car comfortably to drive in the race.

"At the moment the plan is to be in the car in Barcelona, that's the idea. You know, the idea was to be there last race but I hadn't healed enough. I think, by the time of Barcelona, I should be OK. if not, Alex (Wurz) will probably drive the car.

Montoya missed the Bahrain and San Marino Grands Prix after injuring his shoulder over the Easter weekend.

■ Renault has announced that Flavio Briatore will stay on with the FI team for another one year.

This is not altogether unexpected given that the French team does not want to disrupt what has become a successful team but at the same time the fact that the extension is for only one year is hardly a long-term commitment on either side.

■ We hear that former FI driver Alex Zanardi may be seen testing a Williams-BMW at Indianapolis Motor Speedway af this year's United States Grand Prix.

The test will require the car to be fitted with a special braking system, which would allow Zanardi to use the pedals. The Italian is a big star in America and has inspired many with his recovery from losing both his legs in a Champ Car accident in 2001.

Fie is now racing for BMW in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

■ The Midland Group has bought the Jordan windtunnel at Brackley, which was obviously not part of the original purchase deal between the Russian group and Eddie Jordan.

The team says that it will now upgrade the tunnel to deal with 50 percent scale models. The move does not change the team's contractual situation with Dallara, which is going to build a car for the team for the 2006 season.

Dallara has two windtunnels in Italy: a 40 percent facility and a 50 percent one. These are overseen by Dialma Zinelli, Dallara's head aerodynamicist.

There is much demand for the windtunnels because of Dallara's range of products, including the lucrative Formula 3 market; the Indy Racing League and GP2, -STAFF/JOE SAWARD 7

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1 VROPEAH AVUnOM

. umm A MELBOURNE man with a history of bogus sponsorship deals and bounced cheques is back in town.

Paul Fauth, who as far back as 1993 led the Williams FI team up a costly blind alley in relation to a US$2.1 million secondary sponsorship, promised Craig Lowndes a fully-funded Euro-career, who left Larry Perkins (among others) with a big bounced cheque, and who has duped a number of FI teams as recently as this year, was caught out last week.

Young Melbourne racer Michael Sam Abay became suspicious when the 'Walter Mitty' motorsport benefactor was introduced to him and spoke of a European campaign and millions of dollars of backing - yet focussed on a category of motorsport which has been defunct for some years.

MNews understands that the police subsequently became involved, interviewing Fauth at a hotel at which he was staying (at Abay's expense).

The Paul Fauth story is a fascinating and outrageous tale of a man getting his thrills by flying with the motorsport high-rollers, but never following through when the time came to sign on the dotted line or pay.

It's an MNews exclusive. We know, because we were there.

And it's truly bizarre. See page 32.

DARWIN'S Hidden Valley circuit is to get a significant improvement of its infrastructure.

Darwin's local newspaper, the Northern Territory Times, has reported that the NT Government will announce the spend, reportedly valued at $4 million dollars, in its annual budget, to be announced this week.

NT Major Events general manager Paul Cattermole told the paper that further spending was needed on facilities at the circuit for the Northern Territory to be sure of securing the event's future beyond 2012.

A major aspect of the development will be the improvement of pit lane facilities, making it possible for 35 cars to attend the race, all in permanent lock-up garages.

Currently, only 25 garages are present at Hidden Valley. _ Other plans seen as essential in the development include a permanent medical ' unit, permanent media centre capable of seating 50 journalists and a more extensive network of permanent toilet facilities.

A reported $3.7 million dollars is to be allocated to the above works, with a further $1.89 million to be spent of circuit safety upgrades and general maintenance.

WITH just five weeks to go until blast-off, now is the last chance to join the MNews Tour to the Shanghai V8 Supercar round.

The basic six-day tour, designed to accommodate the budget-conscious race fan, departs Wednesday June 8, arriving in Shanghai in time for a Thursday tour of the city before getting down to business for the weekend.

Post-race you can either head home, or stay on for the additional Beijing Stopover, exploring the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City.

Tour organisers Ticket2Ride Global Adventures advise that there are seats still available, although Chinese visa processing etc means that now is the moment to decide to gol They can be contacted on www.ticket2ride-is.us T or 03 5971 2700. j Tour prices start from just I $2875 per head.

Panasonic Panasonc^Panasom Panaso^c Panam'c

Last Chance! II

JOIN MNEWS IN SHANGHA 8

motorsport news

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Rosberg gets the nod at Williams THE BMW WilliamsTeam has confirmed that Nico Rosberg will be the team's second test driver for 2005.

The 19-year-old Finn will work alongside Antonio Pizzonia, although it is not expected that he will do much testing as the testing limitations this year mean that the race drivers want to spend as much time as possible in the cars.

Rosberg is also racing in GP2 with Nicolas Todt's ART team. European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx will continue to do work for Williams on promotional days. n Bernie Ecclestone is reported to have done a new deal with SAGIS, the company that promotes the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, to keep the event going until 2009.

Like many European promoters SAGIS, a subsidiary of the Automobile Club di Bologna, has been struggling to find the money to upgrade the circuit facilities.

However, Italian Minister of Infrastructure Pietro Lunardi has agreed to provide around US$13m to help fund the construction of a new paddock at the Autodromo Ferrari.

The event has struggled in recent years with falling attendances.

-JOESAWARD

at Surfers Like it?

MarshnU L.tas

THE V8 Supercar brains trust has often joked that the Champ Cars are a V8 support event at the Gold Coast each year, but now it seems that they are right.

AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane, together with Lexmark Indy 300 General Manager James O'Brien, has annoimced a revamped race program for this year's event that will see a third V8 race added on Sunday.

Under the new format, the Supercars will run a 140km Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge on Saturday,followed by a 'Super Sunday' programme featuring two 100km races - the final of which will start after the Champ Car race. The Champ Cars wiU now begin racing at l;15pm,an hour earlier tlian previous years, but will still run the standard 57 laps.

Other changes to the weekend will see all of qualifying run on Friday, with the Top 10 Shootout scheduled to start just 15 minutes after the completion of qualifying.

"This year's Indy race programme provides a complete V8 Supercar package for fans, and that is what we endeavoured with the modification of a few of our rules," said Cochrane.

"Thursday is fan day, Friday sees a new one-day qualifying package, Saturday pits the V8 Supercars in a 140km race, while Simday's two V8 Supercar races really cements the day as something unique for the fans."

Given the massive difference in time zones between Australia and the USA, the shuffle of the Champ Car slot is expected to have a minimal impact upon the Stateside television audience.

The Lexmark Indy 300 will be held on the Gold Coast from October 20-23, and will be the 11th round of the V8 Supercar series and round 13 of the Champ Car World Series.

Come along on the trip of a lifetime when V8 Supercars hit China, in June - tours start from just $2875 per head.

For details: Ticket2Ride (03)5971 2700 or www.ticket2ride-is.us 4 May 2005

Then make sure you get it regularly!

How? You can: (a) subscribe, or (b) place a permanent order at your newsagent for home delivery!

To subscribe EITHER check out our website ww.mnews.com.au - or see page 82 for costs and how to subscribe.

OR Just ask your newsagent to place a regular order for you. It can be delivered straight to your door...

Whatever suits you best, make sure you get your fortnightly fix of Australia's number one motorsport magazine!

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A-Grade Student

MARCOS Ambrose has returned to Australia after his first experience in driving a NASCAR in the USA. The two-time V8 Supercar Champion drove cars owned by The Richard Petty Driving Experience at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Charlotte, North Carolina, Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas in Nevada.

Ambrose spent five days in the cars, which are detuned versions of those raced in the Nextel Cup and Busch Series, under the guidance of Australian Barry Graham, who runs the program.

“The job was to get me up to speed as quickly as they could,” said Ambrose on Monday. “We crept up on it, and I went as fast as I felt comfortable every time I got in the car. In the end, we were flat out and I had the very best people there to learn from. I was given free rein and that is a unique chance.”

Ambrose returned to Queensland last Friday in order to prepare for this weekend’s third round of the V8SCS at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth.

No Cha THERE will be no changes to the V8 Supercar Championship Series test limits in the near future - and some teams are not happy about it.

A forum of team principals last week discussed the matter and, despite what appeared to be support for change when discussed informally, the near even vote means that the current limit of six testing days for the season will remain in place.

One proposal had been for teams to have as many as three extra days testing to be conducted at the teams' nominated test track, provided that the regular drivers were not in the cars. In this way, teams would have been able to test co drivers from other categories, or

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For more on Ambrose, see 5 Minutes, Page 28-29

NETWORK 10 has won its second consecutive Logie Award for its coverage of the Bathurst 1000.

The network took the award in Melbourne last Sunday. Other events nominated for the award were Seven's coverage of the Athens Olympic Games and the Melbourne Cup, Nine's State of Origin League and 10's AFL Grand Final.

The coverage of the race last year had many innovations, including the introduction of the pit lane 'fly cam' and state-of-the-art graphics.

Ironically, the award comes at a time when discussions regarding the future broadcasting of the sport are taking place.

AVESCO's deal with Network 10 continues until the end of the season and there have been suggestions that AVESCO would be content to have the broadcasts confined to Pay-TV, rather than its current free-to-air deal.

Ten has broadcast V8 Supercars since 1997 and also shows Formula One, the World Rally Championship, the Australian Rally Championship, Champ Cars and MotoGP. 10

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AMRS Slas

THE Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) has promised fans a better deal at the fourth round of the championship at Phillip Island, which will be run on May 21-22.

After copping flack for high admission prices at the second round at Mallala three weeks ago, the AMRS and Phillip Island Auto Racing Club have confirmed entry into the Grand Prix circuit will be set at $20. This will get you through the gate for the whole weekend, and it includes unlimited pit entry.

Pensioners and students get in for $15 and children under 16 are admitted free of charge.

The Phillip Island round will moiorsportnews

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nge to Testing Regs internationals, without burning up test days for the race drivers.

"When it came to the vote, it was split down the middle," said one disgruntled team owner. "We are still stuck with six days."

Another team principal, who preferred not to be named, said that the six-day limited was "false economy".

"In real terms, a couple of extra days' testing costs almost nothing," he said.

"Track hire can be split among teams, you already have tyres in the tyre bank and you can be there and back in a day. As it is, if you want to run drivers you need to have a Development program or a Ride Car. It's ridiculous."

I

Speak Freely!

Phil Williarm

;hes Pnces feature the best seven categories that the AMRS has to offer, which includes Formula 3, Superkarts, Formula 4000,Porsche Drivers Challenge, the Touring Car Challenge, Commodore Cup,and TranZam Sports Sedans.

The Phillip Island round will also feature the debut of the newlyformed Australian GT Championship, which gives eligible Porsches, Ferraris and Vipers that live in Australia a chance to compete The AMRS last weekend ran their third round,featuring the first round of the Super Trucks, which enticed close to 5000 punters.

- GRANT ROWLEY 4 May 2005

TIRED of hearing V8 Supercar drivers trotting out the same old lines?

"The team did a great job," maybe? Or, "The most important thing is that we came away with a few points"? How about this old chestnut: "I was just taking the normal racing line, and he drove straight into me"?

Well, help could be on the way. A small-ish contingent of drivers and PR operatives were amassed in Sydney last week for a rundown on the finer points of 'media friendliness'.

Our spies tell us that the drivers were encouraged to express themselves more when being interviewed in the press or on TV. When some replied that self-expression had a recent history of leading to charges of bringing the sport into disrepute, they were apparently reassured by AVESCO that things would be more lenient in that regard from now on. Rick Kelly's outburst on television at last year's Grand Prix, which earned him a $5000 fine, was reportedly used as an example of an incident that would now be left unpunished.

More freedom to speak, less robotic drivers ... sounds good to us. Although we bet that Rick would sure like his $5k back.

- MARK GLENDENNING

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Lance ditches bike for buggy AMERICAN cyclist Lance Armstrong will have a lot of time on his hands when he retires after going for an unprecedented seventh Tour de France win in Juiy - and there's a chance that he might fill some of it behind the wheel of a rally car.

Armstrong, who rides for the Discovery Channel team, told French cycling magazine Velo that an offer to drive in next year's Dakar Raily was on the cards.

"I received an emaii from Robby Gordon two months ago offering me a chance to drive the number three car in the next Paris-Dakar," he said.

"I get propositions like this all the time, and it could be an interesting programme for Discovery." n For those of you wondering, what ever happened to The Panelbeatersl Well, it seems that Neil Crompton, Greg Rust and Brad Jones are now on the internet. As part of the seven hours of coverage of each V8 Supercar Championship Series round, Telstra BigPond users will be able to listen each Friday evening between 6:00 and 8:00pm.

As well, at Barbagallo, Flidden Valley, Bathurst and Phillip island BigPond will introduce PanelBeaters Live, where 100 lucky fans will be invited to attend the actual webcast of the show. Vision of the show will be on the BigPond website and audio will be carried on the AVESCO website, www.v8supercar.com.au. n Cody Leibel celebrated ANZAC Day by passing his Menards Infiniti Pro Series rookie test at Kentucky Speedway.

The Canadian, a regular in the Australian F3 Championship, was one of two drivers to pass the test, in company with German Quiroga Jr, who competes in Formula Renault 2000. Leibel intends to race in the series in the second half of the year, but could compete in the Indy 500 support event next month. No word on whether Paris Flilton will sing the national anthem ... n The British Racing Drivers' Club is to have an Extraordinary General Meeting on May 12 to who will run the club in the future.

The BRDC owns Silverstone and promotes the British Grand Prix. A number of club members have demanded that Sir Jackie Stewart stand down as president following a board room battle in January when Stewart and chairman Ray Bellm got into a showdown and the board voted, by a narrow majority, that the club should no longer have a chairman. Stewart was later quoted as saying that a lot of companies are headed by a chairman but that "the BRDC is different - the president leads the company".

-STAFF/JOE SAWARD 11

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Euro-bound LIFE for a lot of the Australian Formula 3 Championship frontrunners is about to get a whole lot easier, with 2003 champion Michael Caruso confirming that he will miss at least two rounds and travel to Europe.

Caruso, who starred at the last round at Mallala, will be absent from Phillip Island later this month, and possibly also Queensland Raceway in early July.

“It's all going to be pretty low-key,” said Caruso. “I’m going to visit some family in Brescia (Italy) for a couple of months, and while I’m over there I will have a bit of a look around at a few different series. But at the moment I am not going over with anything specific lined up.”

This will be the second European sojourn for the Sydney driver, who tested a F3000 with Coloni Motorsport at Magione in late 2003.

- MARK GLENDENNING

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u uvra AFTER a horror start to the season, David Reynolds will be on the grid at the second round of the Wright Patton Shakesphere Carrera Cup series at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

The reigning Australian Formula Ford Champion has endured two costly crashes that has not only damaged the budget, but reduced his learning time behind the wheel.

Reynolds crashed his Sonic Motor Racingprepared GTS at both the Grand Prix support race and the Clipsal 500, but is focusing on track time and race finishes in Western Australia.

"I've actually only done a handful of laps in testing in the car away from a race meeting," he admitted.

"At the Grand Prix we only did six laps and we haven't

been able to test after the accident at Adelaide. Yes, it's been a rough learning curve and I'll be approaching the weekend with the aim of bringing the car home."

Reynolds will have his first proper test day with the Sonic squad before the third round at Eastern Creek; In other pre-Barbagallo news, grid numbers will be boosted by two class winners from last season's Porsche Drivers Challenge.

Sydney restaurateur Greg Doyle and Andrew Luxstone will both make their 2005 debut.

Doyle won Class C in the Porsche Drivers Challenge last year, while Luxstone claimed Class B and second outright.

The WPS Carrera Cup series has 23 entries for the Western Australian round.

- GRANT ROWLEY

BIG changes will be announced this week at McLaren-Mercedes, with a reshuffling of the technical teams at Woking and at Mercedes llmor in Brixworth.

In both cases the technical directors will have smaller roles, with Adrian Newey passing on much of the dayto-day work to Paddy Lowe and Nicholas Tombazis.

Newey will remain at McLaren, ostensibly in the long term, but will have a

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COSWORTH Engineering was hoping to convince Red Bull Racing to continue to use its engines in 2006, and Cosworth owner Kevin Kalkhoven flew into Imola on Saturday to have a meeting with Dietrich Mateschitz on the subject only to find that Mateschitz has just issued a press statement aimouncing a two-year deal with Ferrari.

This means that Cosworth wiU

players would either do it themselves or are too weak to make such an investment.

have to rely on just Minardi,and that is probably not a viable option with a new V8. The FIA left open the posssibihty to run restricted VIO engines rather than V8s,and Minardi could do a deal with

get back in to FI after losing the good people currently employed tliere.

Ihere is no problem with V8 technology, as Cosworth has long been a market leader. It is

Cosworth to go down this route.

The other option would be for Cosworth to find another customer (in theory, deals could be possible with Jordan and Sauber) or it could ,try to find an automobile manufacturer which would be

Funding a V8 design programme is not a problem,but going into production and then development phases is where the money will be eaten up.The problem is that if Cosworth does not do an FI project there would have to be job losses, and it would be hard for the firm to

anticipated that Sauber will have a BMW deal. Jordan and Toyota are not thought likely to continue together, and the obvious engine supplier for Midland FI is Ferrari.

Mercedes-Benz may do a deal with a second team,but if this happens the Team Dubai FI operation will be little more than a McLaren offshoot.

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-JOESAWARD

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much more consultative role.

Lowe will become engineering director overseeing vehicle design, aerodynamics, simulation and race engineering, while Tombazis will become vehicle project director, which means that he will be leading the design team, although it seems that chief designer Mike Goughian will stay on in that role.

We also hear that the team will continue to employ Neil

Cos-worth Nothing?

willing to imderwrite the FI,using Cosworth technology.

There are possibOities in Asia, although the old world of car-making in Europe and America offers

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Team Murph on a screen near you LIKE it or not, you are about to see a lot more of Carrara Cup team Glenfords Racing on your television.

All three drivers (Fabian Coulthard, Alan Gurr and Ian Dyk) recently attended a TV commercial and photo shoot, which will feature in the new Glenford Tool Centre advertisments and brochures. Glenfords has its tool centres in every capital city except Melbourne, although they are moving south soon.

Bshuffie Loomino

n Glenn Seton reaches a milestone tomorrow (Thursday) when he turns 40. The Westpoint Racing driver is contesting his 191st touring car race this weekend at Barbagallo, which is one of very few circuits on which the Queensland resident has never won a round.

Barbagallo was the scene of Seton's highest qualifying performance last year where he placed ninth. The weekend turned sour for Seto though when his thenFord Performance Racing team destroyed all of its engines.

Newey to pass on responsibility-and new contract close

Oatley. The team says that there is a new contract with Newey, but it is not clear what the terms of this contract will be. It may well be that he will not have much of an involvement in FI and will be paid by McLaren not to work for another team.

Up at Brixworth there is also a major change, with Mario lllen handing over control of much of his work to a new engineering director from DaimlerChrysier. He is Markus

Duesmann (35), who joins Mercedes llmor from his position as senior manager of new diesel engine projects.

His new role will give him the responsibility for engine design, materials, development, simulation and advanced engine developments. We hear that long-time llmor engineer Stuart Groves may also be on the move but that the current chief designers(who work on alternating projects)

will remain.

The company has also confirmed that Mario lllien's contract terminates at the end of this year, and at the moment there is no decision as to his future. The llmor buy-out by DaimlerChrysier will be completed by September and lllen will remain as technical director until the end of the year, but neither party has yet made a decision about the future.

- JOE SAWARD T

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,o FORMULA One teams remain in denial over the question of tobacco sponsorship,and are talking about seeking clarification from the British government about the new anti-smoking legislation which arrives at the end of July when the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act of 2002 and its transtional provisions take effect.

The law states that "a person who is party to a sponsorship agreement is guilty of an offence if the purpose or effect of anything done as a result of the agreement is to promote a tobacco product in the United Kingdom". This applies to TV coverage produced anywhere in the world. And the punishment is not just a fine. Those involved can go to prison for two years.

This applies to anyone who knowingly assisted in the production of tobacco images on British TV, and that could include cameramen,editors, satellite companies, race promoters,lawyers who drafted contracts,racing teams and even the man who puts the stickers on the side of a Formula 1 car. Anyone who is aware of the law is also liable.

The tobacco teams say that this was not what the law 4 May 2005

intended and that are asking for clarification, but this is election time in Britain and the Labour Party is not going anywhere near anything to do with tobacco and FI until the votes have been cast. It is unlikely that the new goverrunent(which will probably still be Labour) will touch the problem because of the 1997 scandal involving Prime Minister Tony Blair and a contribution to party funds from FI boss Bernie Ecclestone. And even if the government did decide to turn a blind eye to legislation, Britain's hyperactive anti-smoking lobby will be off to court immediately they see a tobacco image on a car on TV in the UK. In France, the Comite Nationale Centre le Tabagisme, a French anti-smoking body, was very effective in its efforts to ensure that slippery French politicians were not allowed to forget Loi Evin, which banned tobacco advertising there. For years the country had been completely devoid of tobacco advertising. Ironically the French Grand Prix has just announced a new idea to promote its race using the vast network of French tobacconists to sell FI tickets from their stalls around the country. Tlie tobacconists involved will get a commission on every ticket sold.

n This might sound like a tough gig, but if you concentrate, dig deep and believe in yourself, you might become a winner.

Orrcon Racing has launched an interactive competition called 'Pic with an ALLGAL'. All you have to do is lob to a V8 Supercar meeting (which you're already doing this weekend at Barbagallo, right?), pose smartly with the ALLGAL girls, then keep an eye on the Orrcon Racing website to see if you are a winner.

Five lucky fans will have their photo displayed on the team's website after each meeting. If your face gets published, then you've just won some signed stuff, and then you go in the draw to score a hot lap with either Bargs or Frosty. n It won't be just the drivers that will win the prizes in the Formula Ford championship this year. Race engineers will now be in the running to win the 'King's Safetywear Boots Award', which offers the a pair of high quality King's Safety Boots to the engineer of the vehicle which gains the most positions over the three races from its qualifying position.

Eligibility for the award is dependant on the race car carrying the Totally Workwear or King's logo on the bodywork. n And while were talking about clothing give-aways, all of Tasman Motorsport's 'Search for a Superstar' competition entrants have been decked out in Stubbie Workwear's latest range of formal and casual attire. The Formula Ford competition, based in New South Wales, is benefiting from Stubbies increased support of the series.

13

GP2

Years of planning

Speed to burn: Will Power showed speed but was out ofluck in the Renault World Series opener at Zolder.

Pace^ no points

by MARK GLENDENNING WILL Power endured a frustrating start to his World Series by Renault career at Zolder last weekend, with an assortment of misfortunes preventing the Queenslander from translating his speed into results.

Power shone in qualifying for the first-ever round of the revamped series, putting his Carlin onto the second row for the first race and pole for the final. But his luck ended there.

A driveshaft failure while setting out on the warm-up lap prevented Power from making the grid for the first race. He made it back to the garage, where the problem was fixed, and returned to the track, setting the fastest time of the race. However,the two bonus points for fastest lap went out the window when he was blackflagged for receiving outside assistance.

Despite a bad start in Race 2, Power was second into the first comer and applying pressure to leader Enrico Toccacelo (winner of the previous day's race). But on the seventh lap, he speared off the track and was unable to get the car restarted.

"I was distracted at the start, because my dash was telling me that I had a gear failure," Power said.

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"So I blew the start. But I kept second and was chasing Tocacello, and he was holding me up -I kept almost touching him in the chicane.

Then, on lap seven,I had been having problems with the downshift, and right at the apex of the fastest comer it suddenly grabbed the gear and I spun off.

"It's really frustrating after having such a good start to the weekend,but

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at least our speed was encouraging.

You drop your worst two races in this series, so I guess I'll be dropping those two."

The incident-filled second race was won by Robert Kubica.

Power will have his next chance to get some points under his belt when the World Series by Renault moves to the streets of Monaco for round two on May 21-22.

//,/-;/

THE GP2 series kicked off in Imola with a race that left bemused observers wondering what on earth is going on in motor racing.

The racing was the usual blend of wild young men versus undertalented pay-drivers - but the big problem was the format.

Things did not get off to a very auspicious start on Friday when 16 of the 24 cars broke down in the course of the first session.

The result of this was that Bernie Ecclestone was seen berating series organiser Bruno Michel in pare ferme. As a result of the problems, it was decided that the race should start with a rolling start to avoid a situation in which

FBMW St! NATHAN Antunes has scored another podium result in the Formula BMW UK Championship, with a third place in Race 2 at Thruxton held last weekend.

Race 1 was not quite as kind to Antunes, finishing sixth, after qualifuying dramas forced the young Aussie to start his Motaworld Racing car from 17th on the grid.

The Formula BMW United States Championship had its I When Antunes met Webber: |. "So tell me, mate, what the hell should I do to be successful? // "Keep trying Mark, keep trying. moiorsportnews

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What a Mess!

lead to a small grid of overpriced, unreliable heaps

AIGP Team NZ to be WSR-run THE New Zealand A1 GP franchise consortium has announced a deal with British-based West Surrey Racing, concerning the preparation and maintenance of the team's cars.

WSR has had open-wheel success in the past in British Formula 3, having run drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. n Drivers at the second round of the FIA GT Championship at Magny Cours gathered on the grid to wish all the best for fellow competitior Walter Lechner Jr, who has been forced to withdraw from this year's championship after being diagnosed with Leukemia.

a lot of cars would be left sitting on the grid with broken transmissions.

The man on pole position disappeared immediately, Nicolas Lapierre suffering a mechanical failure of some sort. At the end of the first lap, a whole group of cars headed into the pits to get one of their two compuisory pit stops out of the way.

And from then on, it was simply a question of a lot of cars going around on different strategies before finally everyone had completed the necessary number I of stops - which generally were not very exciting as they did not § feature tyre changes, i The FI media watched open-

mouthed as these pointless exercises mixed up the good guys with the tonks and created overtaking. The people in the grandstands would have been lucky to understand anything that was going on.

The budgets have nearly doubled this year in comparison to last year and the equipment is under-tested and unreliable. The format is a mess.

It is sad that the sport has come to this.

For the record, Briton Adam Carroll, pictured with manager Greg Siddle, and Heikki Kovalainen shared the wins in the two races.

-JOE SAWARD

II in Tune Gerry Marshall 1941-2005 opening round, also last weekend, with James Davison finishing with a pair of fifth place finishes for HBR Motorsport to end the weekend equal fifth in the championship standings.

Australia's third Formula BMW driver Michael Patrizi has his second round in two weeks time at Sepang in Malaysia.

In the meantime, Patrizi raced a kart back home in Perth for the first time since competing in the 2003 Formula A World Championships last weekend, to keep him fit and sharp while the Formula BMW Asia series test ban is in place.

4 May 2005

BRITISH motor sport legend Gerry Marshall passed away last week of a suspected heart attack whilst driving an ex-Richard Petty Chevrolet Camaro at a Silverstone test day.

Marshall, who was 63, had suffered from ill health for a number of seasons, firstly with spinal cancer brought on, he claimed, after an accident in 1979. Whilst battling with Tom Walkinshaw, the pair collided and Marshall's Triumph Dolomite Sprint barrel-rolled. In addition to his back trouble, Gerry had a quadruple heart bypass and knee and hip replacement but remained competitive in whatever he drove.

It was in the 1970s that he had

his glory days as part of Dealer Team Vauxhall in a string of cars in Super Saloon racing, Britain's long-lost equivalent to Sports Sedans. In a Holden-engined Vauxhall Ventora, dubbed Big Bertha, and Baby Bertha, a Vauxhall Firenza, he racked up countless wins, and teamed up with Peter Brock to take second place in the Spa 24 Hours.

He came to Bathurst to share a car with Basil van Rooyen, but was none too impressed with his treatment by Brock - and would tell anyone who cared to listen exactly why!

His career spanned over five decades and he leaves a massive gap, and a fund of memories.

- DAVID ADDISON

n What's red, white and blue, and orange all over? Elton Julian. The 30-year-old American will make his return to international motorsport at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race driving an LMP900class Dome SI 01-Judd entered by Jan Lammers's Racing for Holland team. Julian had his first outing with the team at last week's Dunlop tyre test at Paul Ricard in preparation for the official Le Mans test day on June 5 and race on June 18-19. n The BTCC is still struggling for numbers, despite hopes that entries would pick up for round two at Thruxton. A second Lexus for Ian Curley was planned, and Tom Chilton was plannirig a one-off outing in a Honda Civic run under his own name, but engineered by Arena International. An Alfa Romeo for Jamie Spence is expected for Brands Hatch in June. n Fans of the British F3 and GT Championships can listen to live commentary on the races via the Internet. Available through dailysportscar.com, britishf3gt.com or embassyracing.com the live ontrack race commentary will be available for those on the 'wrong' side of the world. n There is an interesting development rumoured to be on the way in NASCAR, with Toyota apparently planning to handle all driver contracts, rather than leaving that job to the team owners using Toyota products.

Toyota is expected to enter the Nextel Cup in 2007 with a big effort and it is thought likely that the Japanese firm is going to open its chequebook to get some of the top driver talent on offer. The word is that there will be at least six big drives on offer, and that is likely to lead to inflation in NASCAR salaries as Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler seek to hold on their stars.

- STAFF/ADDISON/SAWARD 15

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BMW-fest

BMW's Jorg Muller has dominated the second round of the World Touring Car Championship at Magny Cours in France.

Muller made the best of the Race 1 start to lead away from pole, never to relinquish the lead.

Starting from fourth, Andy Priaulx was past the Seat of Rickard Rydell and the Alfa Romeo of Augusto Farfus by the first corner, keeping Rydell at bay to maintain second in Race 1.

Jorg Muller also won Race 2, in another BMW romp, but his second win came after starting

from the fourth row of the grid.

A three-way battle for the lead developed between Dirk and Jorg Muller and fellow BMW driver Antonio Garcia.

Priaulx managed to bridge the gap to the lead trio and take third from Garcia. Priaulx spun after the finish line and was collected

by Farfus, who placed fifth, the best non-BMW. "When we tested in March we discovered a great set-up which is particularly effective here at Magny-Cours," said Jorg.

"I had an old set of tyres in the first race and managed to keep the others behind me, so I was sure that with a new set of tyres in the second I could do even better."

Ford Focus driver Frank Diefenbacher will miss up to two months after a heavy crash in qualifying, pictured left.

Brake failure led to a 125kmh head-on impact with a tyre wall, leaving Diefenbacher with a fracture to the L2 lumbar vertebra.

Points: Dirk Muller 29, Jorg Muller 25, Priaulx 23, Garcia 19, Gabriele Tarquini 14, James Thompson 12, Farfus 11.

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Two FI World Championships, six Le Mans wins, and one happy winner: L-R, Kristensen, Paffett and Hakkinen enjoy the view from the podium.

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DAN Eaves has completed a clean sweep of the second round of the British Touring Car Championship, aboard the Team Halfords Honda Integra.

Eaves won all three races at the Thruxton circuit, taking the championship iead from team mate Matt Neal in the process, with Neai oniy able to manage a sixth, second and fourth placings.

Eaves’s car the fastest ail weekend in a year where the Integras have, thus far, been clearly the quickest. Despite success ballast and the reverse top 10 grid for the final race.

Eaves still managed to win.

'Three wins and the championship lead ... its just a dream come true but it’s also the result of a great team and a great car,” said Eaves. motorsporinews

his bit!

MERCEDES has maintained its firm

grip on the 2005 DTM Championship, with Briton Gary Paffett winning Round 2 at EuroSpeedway, Lausitz in Germany.

The win went some way to curing the disappointment of 2004, when Paffett was disqualified after taking the chequered flag at the same venue.

"It was a great race," said Paffett.

"To once again have made it to the highest step of the podium, here, is something very special. And this time I am allowed to keep my points and to celebrate my victory!"

Polesitter Paffett was joined on the podium by two-time FI world champion and fellow Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen.

Defending Champion Audi was able to save face, with Sportscar great Tom Rristensen in second and reigning Champ Mattias Ekstrom fourth.

Paffett led the field away at the start, followed by Hakkinen,leaving Jamie Green, who started from second, to defend the challenges of Ekstrom. On lap 12, Ekstrom made a dive on Green,sending the young Mercedes driver into the gravel and earning Ekstrom a drive-though penalty.

Halddnen briefly led the race during the flurry of compulsory pitstops, which saw many teams experience problems. Jean Alesi left the pit-lane still with a fuel can attached to his Mercedes, while Hakkinen lost time when his air-jacks failed to retract. This allowed Kristensen's Audi into second, holding out the charging Hakkinen until the end of the 48-lap race.

The Mercedes cars will now take

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lEetJHatTwStniLraMmCamtJetitian Name_ Seat’s Jason Plato and Vauxhall’s Yvan Muller continued their rivalry, colliding in Race 2 in spectacular fashion, although both continued. Then in Race 3, Plato was handed a drivethough penalty for passing Muller under Safety Car conditions, allowing Muller to finish behind Triple 8 team-mate Colin Turkington in third.

4 May 2005

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DAN Wheldon defended his title as the man to beat at the Twin Ring at Motegi but the race could have been much, much different.

The Briton led another Honda rout on its home turf, the local Team'taking the top six places in the Indy Japan 300.

Wheldon's Andretti/Green entry led Scott Sharp's Fernandez car home by 3.4612s.

But it could have been otherwise and,for Honda, a major embarrassment. With two laps to go, Tomas Scheckter looked to be heading to Chevrolet's first win in three seasons but his Panther car ran dry and the South African was forced to coast home in 10th place.

At the start of the race it was a rookie who led the race Danica Patrick. After qualifying second,the Rahal Letterman rounded up poleman Sarri Hornish and danced off into the lead for 18 laps. She later led another 14 through the fuel cycles and rallied for fourth at the flag, short-shifting her Honda to save fuel.

"The start was pretty exciting for me," Patrick said. "We had a really good car today. I'm a little upset at the end because we had to save so much fuel, but that was the right decision because //it got us to the end of the race.

The other contender for the win was Dario Franchitti. The Scot led a race-high 67 laps in the 200-lap event, but crashed on the 123rd and didn't finish.

I personally think it would have been hard to pass Dario, Wheldon said. n But you don't necessarily have to have the fastest car to win. You have make the best of

Make yourself at home: Dan Wheldon took his second straight win at Motegi, above, but Danica Patrick is closing in on her first win fast, below.

I a

what you have."

Former Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice was third while, behind Patrick came Bryan Herta, Tony Kanaan and Hornish. Darren Manning was eighth, while Ryan Briscoe scored his first Indy Car finish with 12th place, despite fuel surge and a short sixth gear,

which left him vulnerable on the straights.

Team-mate Scott Dixon, running a Dallara chassis for the first time, spent most of the race as a spectator after a lap 1 incident.

WE don't get to watch the Monarp honking around in Nations Cup anymore, but this doesn't look like a bad substitute.

GM Racing in the US has confirmed that the first two of its Monaro-bred GTO.R race cars will be run by Kevin Buckler's The Racer's Group in the GT class of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series.

The cars, one of which will be

shared by Jan Magnussen and Paul Edwards, and the other by Marc Bunting and Andy Lally, have spent the past four months being developed and tested by GM Racing.

The 6-litre V8-powered cars will be delivered to their new home in late May ahead of an anticipated debut for at least one of the cars in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona on June 30.

Points: Wheldon 184,138, Hornish Jr. 131, Herta 104, Castroneves 101, Sharp 99, Manning 98, Meira 96, Franchitti 95.

GT Oh! Behave!

II

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Gordon

Busch League

: KUiRT Busch led the first and last laps at Phoenix Raceway on April 23, taking the lead from pole-sitter Jeff Gordon on lap one and racing under Michael Waltrip for the final time with 43 laps remaining.

‘This is one of our biggest wins as a team,” said Busch.

“To sit up on the front row and win here where I sat up in the grandstands as a kid watching races with my father is awesome.”

Waltrip overdrove his car in an effort to close the gap on Busch in the very same car and crew driven to victory by Dale : Earnhardt Jr. at the oval last year.

“We had a great car,” said Waltrip. “You had to be smart for a long time, but I ran out of brains there with: about five to go and I hit the wall a couple of times. I was driving as hard as I could.”

Tony Stewart was again in the wars. This time, he was punted by an aggressive Jimmie Johnson, and veterans Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader and Ricky Rudd were swept into the carnage along with Dave Blaney.

“He starts flipping me off and running me all over the place," said Johnson of Stewart. "He went into the turn and stood on the brakes to mess with me. I ran out of room and got into the back of him. I don’t know why he gets so irate whenever I’m around him.”

Stewart confirmed that Johnson had spun him. “The only way you spin out like is when a guy jacks you up; I don’t know what was wrong with him tonight.”

Previous week’s winner Greg Biffle was also triumphant in the prior evening’s Phoenix Busch race, and qualified third for the 20

JEFF Gordon totally dominated at Talladega last Sunday,and by keeping in front for the majority of the race he avoided the carnage so often seen at the 2.6 mile super speedway.

"Today would have been Randy Dorton's birthday," said Gordon,right, I of the late head of FJendrick Engines. |. "I think he was riding under there I with me today. I have never had such 8 a strong car. To be able to pass cars the way I did was just incredible."

The infamous restrictor plate 'big one'occurred when Jimmie Johnson appeared to moved up the track, making slight contact with the right front fender of Mike Wallace, who in turn slammed into Scott Riggs.

Somewhere between 22 to 25 cars were left with various degrees of damage,triggering a 43-minute red flag with 55 laps remaining.

Thankfully, there were no injuries.

"The drivers did such an incredible job," said Mark Martin, who was one of those involved. "It's not the driver's fault. The later in the race you get the more unique it becomes, and you can't blame the drivers for this."

Cup event run under the desert lights for the first time. Although he led early on, he was not a factor after a bump with Mike Bliss on pit road caused a broken radiator.

As is usually the case a pair of Hendrick cars finished in the top 10. However, this time it wasn’t the Jeff Gordon and Johnson duo, but sophomore Brian Vickers and rookie Kyle Busch, who ended his day eighth.

Gordon came home 12th, and Johnson 15th.

Kurt and his Roush team-mate Carl Edwards were the only Fords in the top 10, with Johnny Sauter in the Phoenix Racing Charger the only Dodge to make the first 10. Finally, Bobby Labonte recorded his first top 10 of the year.

- MARTIN D CLARK

Gordon had led 90 laps to that point and he continued to head the fray through a couple more yellow flags, the latter leaving an 18 lap run to the chequers and a brief challenge from Michael Waltrip, who eased himself to the outside of Gordon with help from Harvick. He led just one

lap before Gordon shot back around him with three circuits remaining, just before a second multi-car wreck occurred with two laps to run. This time,it was apparently triggered by contact between Jimmie Johnson and Harvick. Both sustained damage, along with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and the previous day's Busch race winner Martin Truex, all of whom were running on the lead lap.

- MARTIN D CLARK Final result;/ Gordon (Chevy), Stewart(Chevy), Waltrip (Chevy), Mayfield (Dodge), McMurray (Dodge),Sadler(Ford), Kurt Busch (Ford), Schrader(Dodge),Jarrett(Ford), Burton (Chevy).

Point standings:Johnson 1368, Busch 1238, J Gordon 1217, Biffle 1181, Sadler 1164, Stewart 1088,Jarrett, 1085, Harvick 1083, Earnhardt Jr. 1070, McMurray 1067.

Join The Club

EXPECT Toyota to announce soon that it will field cars in the Busch Series for the 2006 season.

NASCAR has a deadline each year of July 1 for any manufacturer wishing to submit new car models, so a decision has to be made before that date. The car of choice will more than likely be the Toyota Solara, a two-door coupe based on the best selling Camry platform. It has already undergone wind tunnel testing with help from tN^I Davis Racing, which has a strong Toyota . bond through its truck program. ''.-Tk ' - MARTIN D CLARK u.

Final result; Kurt Busch (Ford), Waltrip (Chevy), J Burton (Chevy), Earnhardt Jr.(Chevy), Vickers(Chevy), Labonte (Chevy), Edwards(Ford), Kyle Busch (Chevy), Sauter(Dodge), Nemechek (Chevy).

motorsporinews

In Command

STATESIDE

Window Of Opportunity FIVE teams had window nets confiscated prior to the Talladega event, not due to safety, but because the holes in the net were too small, thereby aiding the car aerodynamically.

Those caught were the two Roush Fords of Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, Jason Leffier's Joe Gibbs Chevrolet, the Mike Bliss Haas Chevy and Jeremy Mayfield's Evernham Dodge. n Ricky Rudd may not be back with the Wood Bros in 2006 after a bumpy start to this season.

Rudd's contract with the veteran team is up at the year's end, and it's possible that the 48 year-old could end his career there if a competitive ride does not open up for the Virginia native. n After a string of poor results, Robby Gordon has released his crew chief. Bob Temple. The pair had a iong-standing relationship that dated back to Gordon's days in openwheelers. Temple has been replaced by former Ganassi and Richard Childress Racing engineer Greg Erwin, who also has an open wheeler background.

- MARTIN D CLARK

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CorseKs Domination AUSSIE Troy Corser is threatening to turn the 2005 World Superbike Championship into a one-man show.

The former champion was in stunning form at Valencia late last month, taking pole and Superpole and leading all but two laps of the races. He has now won five of the six races held this year on his Alstare Suzuki.

Corser described the round as "just about perfect".

"The bike worked like a dream and although there were grip problems for all of us, due to the changing conditions,I was still able to control both races," Corser said.

"We had done our homework in the two days of qualifying,so we were well-prepared for the changing track conditions.

"I made a good start in Race 1 and pretty much controlled things from the front."

The only man to head Corser all weekend was Andrew Pitt, who led Race 2 early on his Yamaha before he fell back to fifth.

Chris Vermeulen returned to form with two second place finishes on his Ten Kate Honda, while Corser's team-mate Yukio Kagayama and Kawasaki's Chris Walker shared the third place finishes.

Pitt feu in Race 1, while fellow Aussies Steve Martin and Garry McCoy had a myriad of dramas on the Foggy-Petronas FPls. Karl Muggeridge feU early in Race 1 after running off to avoid Max Neukirchner and then dropped his Honda in Race 2.

Points; Corser 141, Kagayama 110, Vermeulen 90, Laconi 54, Abe 44, Neukirchner 41, Haga 40,Pitt 39, Walker 38, Toseland 30.

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BIKE NEWS

Casey and the Sunshine Banned

Successive 250 wins for Apriiia's Aussie

CASEY Stoner took his second successive victory in the 250cc class after a close battle with Andrea Dovizioso.

Stoner made a poor start from pole position but recovered to take the lead by the end of the opening lap and never looked back.

Dovizioso's Honda stalked the Australian's Aprilia all the way to the line but was happy to settle for a second place finish that lifts him above Dani Pedrosa to the top of the championship standings.

Stoner is the first Aussie to win successive 250cc GPs since Gregg Hansford did it in 1978.

Stoner has moved ahead of Pedrosa to second place overall, the defending World Champion dropping to third after taking sixth place, his first finish outside the top four in 16 races.

Pedrosa's team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama clinched his first podium of the season in third after Randy De Puniet retired with a technical problem. Alex de Angelis and Sebastian Porto completed the top five.

Points: Dovizioso 53,Stoner 50, Pedrosa 48, De Angelis 40, Porto 38, Aoyama 26, Barbera 25, Lorenzo 23.

Rossi Reigns

FROM sixth place on the grid, Valentino Rossi took control of the Chinese MotoGP on the fifth lap, passing early leader Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and opening up a clear gap over the chasing pack.

The World Champion held his concentration for the next 17 laps despite the attentions of surprise challenger Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki),riding in place of the injured Alex Hofmann. Jacque passed Sete Gibernau(Honda)for second place with seven laps to go and closed in on Rossi at the front, but was unable to seriously threaten the Italian's charge to his second victory from the opening three rounds of the championship.

With Marco Melandri(Honda) eventually passing Gibernau on the final lap to snatch third place, Rossi's advantage at the top of the World 4 May ZOOS

Championship now stands at 25 points over his Italian compatriot.

Points: Rossi 70, Melandri 45, Barros 43, Biaggi 36, Gibemau 33, Edwards 25, Jacque 20, Nakano 19, Checa 18, Hayden 16.

MATTIA Pasini clinched his first victory in a 125cc GP delayed for half an hour by standing water on the track surface.

Pasini led for the majority of the race in a close battle with fellow Italian Fabrizio Lai, taking the flag by just 0.065 seconds after overtaking his compatriot in the final corner.

Gabor Talmacsi took his first

THf TARMJKlfciWf KIRCLASSJC ANp libraili CARS

podium in third while 11th place for his KTM team-mate Mika Kallio was enough to maintain the championship lead by a single point from Lai. Points: Kallio 50, Lai 49, Pasini 46, Simoncelli 41, Faubel 30, Luthi 29, Talmacsi 27, Poggiali 25.

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T

HIS weekend ait Banbagllo Raceway liiiiarks my liOOth Australian touring car race start, so I think 'The Kid'tag has sort of worn off now.

It was nice when I started racing iin the V8s, but now I'm much older. I guess it runs along the same lines as when people caili Gilenn Seton the 'baby-faced assassin'. He's still got a baiby face, but he's a lot older. He's actually 40 this week,the old fart!

But hopefully I'm going to be around long enough to get my next 100! I missed a year in 1997 being overseas, so that cost my tally. With the younger generation coming through the ranks now, it's going to make it tougher and harder to stay in the game. I always believe that in the future, you won't see many people steering cars when they are over 50. They'll be getting out when they are younger to allow other drivers a chance. But to be honest, I hope I'm around long enough to get 200 races under my belt.

I

guess I've had a lot of great memories over the past 10 years.

In the 99 starts I've had, there's a few races which stick out the most. I really enjoyed the first Adelaide V8 street race in 1999. They penalised me for hitting Danny Osborne 4i

and sent me to the back of the grid for Race 2. The charge through the field was just great, and I had to do that again this year after getting involved in a clash with Steven Richards at the first turn of Race 2. We didn't quite get the win this year, but second was a top comeback. Those sort of races I really enjoy-the battle of passing people, the strategies you use to get back up front and working with the team to get the pit stops right.

They are the most satisfying for me.

1999 also saw one of my worst memories. The Calder Park crash was a shocker, really. I was almost an innocent bystander and got caught up in other people's accidents and destroyed a race car. Some people say six, some people say seven rolls, but either way, it was a lot. It all happened pretty quick.

In hindsight, if I'd braced my

left leg, I would have walked out of the crash with nothing no broken bones or torn ligament or anything.

It was really frustrating at the time but I was damn lucky that I was able to get away with simply a knee reconstruction. It could have been much worse. It proved that the cars we race are strong, and they are even stronger these days.

Pukekohe washave a case of If 'what might been.' you deduct your worst score, we are second or third in the points, so it's not all bad. We proved a point that the team is capable of pole positions, and we got the best out of the car on the race weekend, but it didn't transfer to victories.

The incident in the first race forced us to start from the back of the grid and make me work through the field. I know I said I enjoy those types of

Motf sflouth

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races, but that was an unfortunate one. The stewards had a look at it and deemed it to be a racing incident so you just have to get on with life and deal with it. Sometimes incidents like that go your way, and sometimes they don't.

That one.certainly wasn't in our favour.

And the electrical problems in both the Triple 8 cars at the restart of Race 3 were frustrating. It was a coincidence and plain old bad luck that both cars had issues. Mine was a cell in the battery that collapsed, while Steve was more of a switch or contact problem.

The team took it harder than what I did, but it's a case of pressing on to what's ahead.

They took it to heart, but it was just one of those things that could happen anywhere.

W

we HATag had in Imota, nice it was to see defensive driving of such calibre rather than the intimidation and deliberate fouls as we have seen so often in recent years in similar situations.

Wouldn't it have been great, I thought, as I watched this, if we had seen a battle of this calibre at Jerez in 1997 when the World Championship needed to be settled, rather than a clumsy nerf and then screams of innocence. It was a total pleasure to watch Fernando Alonso in action, illustrating to Michael Schumacher with each passing corner that he is not only cooler than a cucumber, bet also very smart.

To be brutally honest, I never thought Schumacher would get ahead and, because he had nothing to gain from crashing, I did not expect him to do anything too stupid. Second place is good enough when you have nothing much in the points bank.

But that did not detract from the enjoyment of the duel. It was splendid. Afterwards,the paddock was buzzing until a waspish noise buzzed into the

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press office to say that there were things happening down in the scrutineering bay. There were lots of rumours flying about in the days that followed, most of them deliberately created to stir up trouble by interested parties.

There were a lot of breathtakingly stupid assumptions being made: BAR must have been cheating because they had a second fuel tank! The car was underweight! And all the rest of it.

The most important thing to understand is that second (and even third) fuel tanks are not unusual in FI cars today.

But they are all inside the main tank and so do not contravene the rule that exists about fuel tanks being inside the same rubber fuel bag.

Thus, extra fuel tanks are not by definition illegal. Nor does the FIA need to know about them because there is no need for a team to show drawings to the FIA unless the team is seeking clarification. If the team is confident that a change is legal, it can do it. So if the FIA found a tank it did not expect to find (as the rumours suggest)there is nothing illegal in that.

-4'

As I understan Jit, on Sunday night BAR presented the stewards with a list of each lap and the amount of fuel in the car at that time. With the necessary data, it could be proved conclusively (mathematically) that the car had never been under the 600kg limit. But when the car was completely drained of every dreg of fuel, it was underweight. True enough.

But what would have

can it be illegal? In order to race, fuel must be added and,' guess what,that adds weight and takes the car up to the minimum weight limit.

At best, the argument is a question of interpretation of the rules but that does not make it a crime. If BAR has gained an advantage because of the way the rule is written it is clever. The fault, if there is one, surely lies in the lack of forethought of the rule-making people?

What is odd is that we are being dragged into a legal argument that will do nothing

.-vT,

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27

Five minutes with

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Marcos Ambrose

The ate of the reigning V8Supercar Champion is inuariahiy a busy one, but Marcos Ambrose stiiifoumi hme to have his first tasw ofa NASCAR in the USiast week. He toU PHiL BRANAGAN about it MOTORSPORT NEWS; You are back from the USA after a few weeks looking around, what are your impressions of the NASCAR scene as a potential driver?

MARCOS AMBROSE: Everything is as I expected it to be. It has been a long, drawn-out process to make the decision that I did. I knew what I was in for and it met my expectations. I have made the right decision. iVlN: How does a professional racing driver, with two championships in two years under his belt, approach an experience like this?

MA: You have to approach it humbly. I am a pretty small fish over there and to get across there and have a chance to prove myself, before I get carried away with anything, is what I have to do. I understand that.

I am starting again. I have to do the hard yards and work on it, focus on it. There are opportunities coming and I have to make the most of them as they come.

MN:The Richard Petty Driving Experience provided the cars that you drove. How long did you drive the cars for, and where?

MA: I did five or six different days with them, at Charlotte, Phoenix and Las Vegas. It was nothing more than an evaluation of what I can expect, to try and get a head start on my familiarisation of driving a NASCAR-style vehicle; they are school cars, they are not racecars.

We had to sit around and do the racing school program before we got into the school cars; that was part of the learning process.

It was not the most enjoyable thing to do but it was essential. I have to be prepared and I think that we will be.

28

they could. We crept up on it, and I went as fast as I felt comfortable every time I got in the car. In the end, we were flat out and I had the very best people there to learn from. I was given free rein and that is a unique chance.

MN: What about somewhere to live?

MA: I scoped that out and it is not an issue. We are ready to move as soon as we get the green light. We will live near Cornelius somewhere, or Mooresville.

MN: This is the part where you say what a great thing your Stone Brothers/Pirtek Falcon is ...

MA: We did that part when I drove the Porsche at Daytona I I can't say that again,

MN: Perth this weekend.

Looking for more good points, obviously.

MA: We are looking to bounce back from a tough weekend at Pukekohe. We want to make amends for a less-than-stellar performance; vve came away with some points but it was tough.

I came back early from the States to make sure I was over the jetlag and to focus on the event. It is going to be a tough battle.

I have said all the way through that this season is going to be about being consistent and taking points when they are available. So far, that is proving to be the case; we did not have a great weekend in New Zealand, by the team's standards, but we came away with points. We fought hard and I think that showed.

MN: Walk us through the process a little. I mean,a twotime Touring Car Champion showing up to have a steer is a little different to,say, a fat journalist.

MA: It was my own specific, individual training program, using Barry Graham's experience and resources. The job was to get me up to speed as quickly as

MN; Have you managed to identify what the drama was in the car in New Zealand?

MA: I think that it was a combination of things. The weekend did not go our way and a couple of off-track excursions does not help the chassis either, to be honest. We will have it fixed for this weekend, no doubt about it.

"We had to sit around and do the racing school program before we got into the school cars; that was part of the learning process. It was not the most enjoyable thing to do but it was essential. I have to be prepared and I think that we will be If

-Ambrose on what it is iike to go to ‘NASCAR schooi’ Barry Graham has become a big supporter of mine and he has been fantastic. I really appreciate the opportunities he has given me to drive his cars and I would do it again.

MN:The Petty School offers all sort of levels of experience to all sorts of people - in all sorts of cars. Does that mean you drove cars other than Fords, Marcos?

MA; I could not talk about thatl I would have to say that the Ford Taurus I drove was better than all the hire cars that 1 had ...

Look, we did some fast laps in many different cars. NASCARs are unlike V8 Supercars, where there is a silhouette chassis underneath and the body is changed to suit. So, in that

respect, it mattered less what 'cover' was on it. It was still the same vehicle,

motorsportnews

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29

five minutes with...

Tonio Liuni

The exciting Italian got his tinst hit-out as a FI driven ion Red Bull Racing atImola. Passing MichaelSchumacher on the lirst lap el your lirst Grand Prix is ad in a day's worn,he told JOESAWARD IViOTORSPORT NEWS; That was a pretty good result for a new kid on the Formula 1 block?

TONIO LIUZZI: Well, sure, 1 am happy with that. I am reasonably happy with everything.

Unfortunately, we did not score points today. That would have been good, but it was quite difficult to keep the car on the track because it was sliding about a lot. At the start of the race, the car was quite good. The balance was good but there just wasn't enough speed.

I did quite a good start and I was able to pass David (Coulthard) and then I overtook Michael Schumacher going down into Tosa.

MN: You overtook Michael Schumacher?

TL: Sure. We were going down to Tosa on the first lap and he went a bit wide at the corner, so I went down the inside and overtook him. Then we went up the hill and I was pushing a bit hard, so I went wide at Piratella and so he passed me back on the inside, so I gave the place back to him. I think he was too quick for me today.

After that I was trying to push as hard as 1 could, because I was going a bit further than most of the other drivers because I did not stop until lap 27, so that meant that after Mark Webber had had his first stop he came out in front of me.

I was right with him and I was going faster because he had fuel onboard. I tried to pass him, but he shut the door and so I thought I would do something really crazy and see if it would work.

I did get ahead of him, but I pushed a bit too hard and went a bit wide on the kerbs and then went off on the grass and so he took me back again.

Anyway, I tried it because I have a lot of things to learn and M

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"\ thought I would do something really crazy and see 11 it would work... I tried it because I have a lot to learn and the beginning is a good time to start learning!

It

-LIuzzi does not subscribe to tbe idea of easing bis way in FI siowiy the beginning is a good time to start learning!

MINI: David Coulthard was behind you all the way?

TL: Yes, I overtook him at the start, but you know he did not have a very good weekend with the car.

We were both struggling quite a lot with the set-up in qualifying.

I was a bit unlucky on Saturday because I was the first driver to go out in the first qualifying session, so the track was not good.

And then in the second session on Sunday, the weather conditions meant that the track was improving all the time, so I could have gone faster if I had been higher up the order. But we had trouble with the set-up. We need to work harder.

Overall it was a decent weekend for a first race and I finished, so that is good. I thought the race would be difficult for me because of fitness, but I have to say that I feel pretty OK. It feels great to have done my first FI race.

MINI: And nice to do in front of the home crowd?

TL: That was really great, and I really appreciate the support I had from all the fans.

Unfortunately I did not bring back points to give them something back and make it a bit more special, but we will work hard to improve our qualifying speed and see what we can do in Barcelona.

And I am really looking forward to going to Monaco, because over there it is not so much about the car. motorsportnews

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An Australian claiming to want to sponsor FI teams and young Australian drivers has been conning people for over 10 years - and last week he got sprung trying it on again.

Motorsport News helped save one of his early victims - the Williams FI team -from embarrassment CHRIS LAMBDEN recounts an almost unbelievable story

I

T'S November 1993. The Williams FI team is a couple of months away from unveiling the Rothmans-liveried FW16 that it will

debut in the hands of its superstar signing, Ayrton Seima. No-one outside of Williams has seen the new blue colours.

Yet standing in the offices of Motorsport News(just four months old and based in South Melbourne at the time)is a businessman by the name of Paul Fauth, with a polaroid photo of a fully-liveried Rothmans Williams, taken in Frank's 'top secret' back room. Also, clearly visible, is secondary sponsorship -front of the side-pods, cockpit surrounds -from Berlin-based BETA Systems AG,of which Fauth claims to be Chairman and CEO. This man is going to be the number two sponsor of one of the world's top FI teams,at the time when Ayrton Serma is arriving? Fascinating!

We believe him. Wouldn't you? He had the polaroid. He promises us the 'exclusive' when it's signed off.

He tells us he's been trying to sponsor an FI team for some time, without luck. Indeed another Aussie magazine has already published a story about his bid to get into FI; about how he's approached several teams and they've simply not followed through.

He has reams of fax correspondence with Lotus, Minardi, Larrouse, Ligier and Sauber which he briefly shows us. He's also, it seems, been involved in trying to become a part-owner in what was eventually a stillborn Amsterdam-based FI project, known as Vortex Motorsport(which was to race a Reynard-produced car).

32

More correspondence -including a picture of the wind-tunnel model, with ID from his Melbourne-based 'holding company',The Binary Group,on the side-pods.

(When examined closely - as we were later able to do - all the paperwork is the same,characterised by each team wondering,in the end, why Fauth never seems to be able to get to a meeting to formalise anything - for reasons, he says, ranging from family health to, wait for it, bushfires in Melbourne!)

All not happening - but the Williams deal is, he says. Latest negotiations centre around a US$2.1m deal for signage as per the Polaroid. Wow. In the meantime, though,he's put together a sponsorship package with Larry Perkins, who in '93 is in his first year of what will become a long-term naming rights deal with Castrol. LP's car first appeared in Tassie with Fauth's company's'owT logo on the bonnet and front flanks.

(The detail also calls for the appointment of a professional PR more on that later!)

But there's more.

Fauth wants to foster young Australian talent overseas. He asks MNews editor David Hassall who the next'big thing' is. Correctly, as it turns out, Hassall suggests Craig Lowndes(at that point heading for the Formula Ford title).

He arranges for Craig and his dad to meet Fauth. There are several meetings in a pub just around the comer from the office. Fauth is talking big. He's going to take Craig to Europe, base him in Germany (near BETA'S head office, of course), and

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"I did some checking and spoke with the hankthere was $13.60 in the account. The guy is a compiete shonk" -Larry Perkins tackle the Vauxhall-Lotus series. This looks like Craig's opportunity.

This is amazing stuff.

A couple of weeks later it crumbles, YAwhen MNews tech editor Tony Glynn happens to mention it in passing to Perkins, who takes him into his office and shows him a cheque pinned to the wall,for $US187,000.

"Never got a cent," he says."It was drawn on a Honolulu bank account and after it bounced,I did some checking and spoke with the bank -

there was $13.60 in the account. The guy is a complete shonk."

LP was emphatic-have nothing to do with him.

(As an intriguing, coincidental aside, Fauth's contract with LP that called for Fauth to provide a media liaison officer leads him to thenfuture MNews editor Phil Branagan.

But after doing some preliminary work,Branners walks away when Fauth isn't contactable when a print company asks for payment before it win start supplying PR material...)

The Binary Group's corporate address (in all the FI team correspondence) was given as 22/6 Avondale Road,Armadale. Number sk Avondale Road is, and always was,a long-established, single large residential house...

What to do? It was depressing enough for David Hassall to have to let Frank Lowndes know that all was not well, but what about Williams FI?

motorsport news

SPONSORSHIP Teal‘s Lot'is

3 /

Still Smiling: Paul Fauth, left, showed up on the motor racing radar again last week, a decade after a series of'failed'negotiations with teams like Ligier, Minardi, Sauher and Lotus, above. He was said to be a potential partner and sponsor of the stillborn Vortex Grand Prix team; note the Binary Croup signage on the mockup of the car, below. In 2001, new Minardi owner Paul Stoddart was justifiably proud to have an Aussie sponsor for the AGP on the cars of Tarso Marques and Fernando Alonso, opposite, but no money ever showed up from The Fauth Estate.

"It cost Bargs several thousand dollars and taught him a hard lesson"

In the end, we took a deep breath and Hassall rang long-standing Williams Commercial Manager Richard West.

Yes, he's dealing with Mr Fauth and BETA. Yes, they have of course done some company checks. We mention Larry Perkins'experience and he promises to re-che^ and come back to us. Two days later he doesand he's extraordinarily grateful. Yes, BETA checked out, but they don't have a Mr Fauth ...

It's been a massive con. At one point, apparently, Fauth has rung West at Williams to say he's heading for New York and they must talk,in person,imv,to sort out some details.

West has hopped into the corporate jet and headed to New York, only to get there and get a call from Fauth saying he's had to get off the plane in Hong Kong for specialist hospital treatment for a back injury sustained when his airline seat collapsed!

4 May 2005

West turns aroimd and flies home supporters had to try and come up !with the cash. It cost Bargs several ... at great expense to the Williams thousand dollars and taught him a management. hard lesson.

The next contact between Fauth Remember when Paul Stoddart and West must have been good. A few bought Minardi six weeks before the days later Fauth rings Hassall and AGP in 2001? The cars appeared at downloads big-time. Hassall Albert Park with signage from 'The responds in kind. That's it.

Fauth Estate', which was,supposedly, By a quirk of timing,Fauth has left an Aussie wine company. We can find his files - all the correspondence with no record of any such company. The Minardi, Ligier, Sauber etc - with Hassall. He still has them. team entertained Fauth and his party through Friday and Saturday,but the end Fauth(and the promised cheque) '^hat might well have been J. of it. But Fauth boimced 1back. , never turned up on Sunday.

Fast forward to March this year.

Remember Australia's entry in the Fauth was entertained at the AGP by GM-Lotus Nations Cup in 1995? the new Midland (Jordan)FI team Jason Bargwarma and Dugal and, we hear,flown to Bahrain too McDougaU represented Australia at no doubt all part of a sponsorship Magny Cours. A deal was done with negotiation. Fauth may live to regret former FI driver Martin Donnelly to this one; the head of the Midland run the pair. It was to be underwritten team is Alex Schnaider, a billionaire by ... Paul Fauth. With two weeks to Russian businessman with strong go, Fauth was nowhere to be seen,so connections world-wide...

Bargwarma and some friends and

And then just recently, a third party introduced young Melbourne racer Michael Sam Abay to Fauth. And yes, just two weeks ago,they put him up in a hotel in.Melboume,at their expense, while he spoke of multi million doUar deals to race in Europe and of his friendship with Keke Rosberg. Only this time, Fauth slipped up. He spoke of Formula Vauxhall-Lotus- which has been defunct for some years.

Abay became suspicious and,after freelance writer Steve Nally phoned a couple of FI contacts in the midst of the Imola GP and came back with a 'shonky' verdict, the Abays contacted the police, who burst into Fauth's hotel room. It seems Mr Fauth may have already been of interest to the boys in relation to other matters ...

And that's where we should,and will,leave it.

Why do we tell you all this? We've been meaning to for a long time-and I guess we took the view that FI teams really should be able to look after themselves.

But when genuine young racerslike Lowndes 12 years ago and Abay last week -faU prey to this bizarre thriU-seeker, then a warning is in order.

There may well be other Paul Fauths out there -but we reckon this one is a real hum-dinger ...

33

118 SUPERCARS

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LOT can happen in 12 months.

This time last year,Jamie VVhincup was sitting on the couch contemplating life as an ex-V8 Supercar driver at the ripe old age of 21.

A debut season with GRM had ended with team owner Garry Rogers 'forgetting' to renew Whincup's contract, leaving the Victorian on the sidelines facing the daunting prospect of having to dig around for a rare second chance.

Fast-forward to April 2005, and Whincup has been one of the season's quiet revelations. He found a home in the second car run by the heavily revamped Tasman Motorsport, and has already repaid their faith with incursions into the top 10, and sits 13th in the championship ahead of this weekend's round in Perth.

And right at this moment, he is about 30 feet up in the air dangling from a fake nubble of rock, while MNews is down at ground level wondering how much one of the several highly capable but unemployed V8 Supercar aspirants would pay us to let go of the rope.

We're at an indoor rock climbing centre in suburban Melbourne. It's not the kind of place that we routinely pick to conduct interviews, but sometimes you can learn more about somebody by taking them away from their comfort zone. And at the moment, we're getting a demonstration of Whincup's sheer competitiveness.

The climbs at centres like these are graded, and having clambered, monkey-style, up a series of walls rated in the mid-teens, he is hell-bent on getting to the top of this Grade 17. If only he could figure out how to get around that little overhanging bit twothirds of the way up.

Overcoming difficult situations, however, is something that Whincup has had some experience of in the past 18 months.

"After missing out on my drive in

2003, 1 worked very, very hard last year, and also at the start of this year, to secure a full-time position," Whincup said.

"I think that my position in the championship to date is just a reflection of the hard work that I have put in over the last 18 months. I think that the results that we've got so far have been reasonable.

"2004 was a tough year. It's very depressing watching 35 other guys going around the track enjoying what they do while I'm sitting on the sidelines. It's tough. I love my racing, and I want to get involved in it as much as I can. I started racing in karts when I was seven, and ! have had some sort of involvement in motorsport pretty much every weekend since then. So to have a year off was pretty disappointing, but it gave me great motivation to come back again bigger and better."

these can also carry a danger of distracting focus from the main aim.

From the outside, it might have seemed logical for a driver in the sort of position that Whincup found himself in last year to look at the V8 Development Series or Carrera Cup, both of which offer good machinery and tight competition at the sharp end of the field.

Instead,the only race car that he went near all year was the third Castrol Perkins Commodore that he shared with Alex Davison for the endurance races. Despite Whincup's lack of recent seat time and Davison's unfamiliarity with Supercars,they finished ninth at Bathurst.

"There were a few (non-V8 Supercar) options that were presented to me at the start of 2004," Whincup reflected.

"But 1 decided to take an educated risk and not get involved in another category, or even the Development Series, and just put all of my efforts into securing a drive in the 2005 championship, and making the most of that year."

From his position now, it was an 'educated risk' that clearly paid off. Yet when he talks about the recipe for his comeback, he makes it all sound rather simple.

"Hard work - which is a fairly broad subject," he explained.

"It isn't just being on the "It'S very depressing watching running track, or out on the bike or anything like that. It is getting a 35 other guys going around the clear direction, a clear plan, about track whiie I'm sitting on the how to be a more complete driver.

And there are several areas that I sidelinesrr have worked on over the last 18 months to become more complete.

You've just got to try to understand Getting into V8 Supercars is hard. what it takes to become a complete Getting back in after being benched is driver. And as soon as you find out even harder. There are any number of what you need to do to pursue that. options available that will allow a driver to keep their racing wits continued on page 36 sharpened and their profile up, but

This time last year, Jamie Whincup's career was balancing on a tightrope.

But after a season on the sidelines, he is back with Tasman Motorsport and more determined than ever. MARK GLENDENNING spoke to him

I

J

r

i.

j,

J 35

continued from page 35

"I have never seen a team situation with such good moraie, and where everyone is so comfortabie with each otherrr -According to Whincup, iife is good on Planet Tasman

36

you put a plan in place, you make sure you keep it up, and make sure it works.

"If it doesn't, then you have a look at that plan again. And obviously, as the year goes on, you keep adding to that and just become a better driver."

Whincup side-stepped almost all of the conventional stepping-stones on his route to Supercars.

After a successful career in karts, he spent the bare minimum amount of time needed in Formula Ford (one season to learn the ropes, and one to win the title) before leaping straight into a GRM Valvoline VX Commodore.

Nothing like jumping in at the deep end ...

"If I look back at the Grand Prix in 2003, 1 was giving it 100 percent and driving as hard as I possibly could, but at the same time, I was lacking a few qualities in terms of understanding the car and having the ability to set it up," Whincup admitted.

"And also driving, the technique in getting a V8 Supercar around the track fast, and being kind to the tyres. I was lacking a few of those

qualities, but I picked them up three or four rounds into the '03 championship, and from then on I have just been running the same approach, the same driving style. Which, as everyone says, is quite unique to the V8 Supercars.

"Then, in '04, having that year off, I sort of fell slightly back into the FFord style of things; the natural style for me after coming out of karts and Formula Fords. I fell back into that slightly, but was able to correct myself quite quickly

and drive the car the way it should be driven.

"Every kart and car that I have driven, I used a similar style. But V8s need something totally different to that, so it is something that I had to work on.

"But I think, especially now, that it is coming more naturally to me. I don't have to think about it as much as I used to, and I am a lot more confident with the car and in my ability.

"I was reasonably happy with my performance in 2003," he continued.

"I did the best job I could at the time. Obviously my plan back then wasn't as detailed as it is now, but the hard work that I put in over the '03 season was substantial. It was the best that I could do.

"I tried very hard, and I had some reasonably good results along the way, so as a driver I was very happy with the '03 championship.

"I expected it to be tough, and without doubt, it was. The field now is unbelievable, there are so many guys out there that can win races. I don't think that anyone could confidently say that they are going to get a top five in any race meeting. That's how tough it is. It's great."

Which brings us to Whincup circa-2005, with a new opportunity and a dramatically revamped team. He diplomatically side-steps queries about his old employer, but he's more than willing to wax lyrical about the Tasman-ites.

"I have never seen a team situation with such good morale, and where everyone is so comfortable with each other. It's a great place to be around," he enthused.

tnoiorspori news

I

"They've made an unbelievable step up from last year; becoming a two-car team, moving to Melbourne, all of those things that have been discussed over the last few months.

"But I'm happy with the results of the car and the team, they are a great bunch of blokes. And more importantly, I am enjoying my racing this year more than I ever have.

"I can't wait for the next race

i ^

meeting, just to get away to a track somewhere and drive the car as fast as I can. I've never been so keen and so hungry and so enthusiastic to get onto the track and have good fun."

Fun it may be, but the cold, hard fact remains that Whincup is on a one-year deal, and thus has until November to prove that he deserves to be part of what all signs are indicating will be a promising future for Tasman Motorsport.

Whincup, however, seems unfazed.

"I don't look at results," he says flatly. "I don't look at championship points. I don't really have any statistics about my driving. I just stick to my plan, and keep working as hard as I can.

"I believe that I will be able to improve within myself, I am confident that the team is going to improve, and where we lie at the end of the

championship is where we lie.

No-one will have any regrets.

That will be the best that 1 could have done for the year."

So by the sound of things, the 'Whincup approach'- to racing, to his career, to everything - is all about taking things one bit at a time, picking your lines, and not making any rash moves. Kind of like rock climbing.

No wonder he's almost made it to the top of that wall.

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Race) 37

Ifs Just Like McLaren tester Alex Wurz was in fine form at Imola, taking fnurth in his first race for almost five years. Afterwards he told ADAM COOPER a pretty calm story of his weekend WIOTORSPORT NEWS: You were caught in a group of cars for a long time before you were able to made progress.

How did the race go for you?

ALEX WURZ: I had a very good start, but decided not to do something crazy. I got stuck behind the train of [Jarno] Trulli, [Mark] Webber and [Takuma] Sato. Trulli and Webber were quite slow, so they were holding us up, which was a shame, because my speed would have been good enough to catch [Jenson] Button.

The only thing I could do was save fuel. I tried very hard to save enough fuel behind this train, because I knew if I could do a lap longer I could just get them. The team told me I had to find 1.5s in one lap, and 1 did

that. That brought me ahead of Sato, but then the train was gone at the front, and Michael [Schumacher] was unbelievably quick. There was nothing I could have done about that.

MN: You gained a lot of places by stopping late. Did everything go to plan?

AW: This was our strategy, you know. We tried to stay out, and I could save additional fuel because I was quicker than the guys in front of me, and then you save the fuel for extra laps.

It's not that easy to do, but I did it. So really thanks to the team, because they advised me on the radio what I could do very well.

And I responded to what they wanted, so I'm very happy with that.

MN: How strange was it sitting on the grid after nearly five years away?

AW: Not strange at all. It wasn't like there was four years in between, honestly. It's something you picture in your brain, and you don't forget to do it. It's like riding a bike.

MN: But what was it like to suddenly be fighting other cars?

AW: I didn't consider that a problem, you know. 1 didn't look at the positions, 1 didn't go crazy.

So many people told me I should pull a show-off, but I know this is not the track to pull a show-off.

As you saw, Michael was a second quicker, and he couldn't get past [Fernando] Alonso. 1 knew my chance was only in

driving a tactical race and going ahead at the pit stops, and that's what 1 did.

MN: Were you happy with your speed?

AW: The Ferrari pace was a bit shocking to be honest, they were very, very quick. I looked after my tyres at the same time I saved the fuel, so I had no problem to push when the guys were gone ahead of me.

Generally my car was a bit oversteery through the race, otherwise my pace could have been a bit quicker.

At the same time I have to say Kimi was in magic form this weekend, he was really, really pushing hard. It was nice for me to be alongside him. continued on page 40

moiorsportnews

continued from page 38

iViN: How much was your weekend compromised by going out early in Saturday qualifying?

AW: I had this qualifying problem, which Pedro had in Bahrain, and I had here. It really jeopardises you. He and me could have come on the podium if we didn't have this crazy rule. I had to take the used engine from the guy before, but I can't take his qualifying position.

Why on earth does it go against the driver in this case?

It's not good for the sport and it's a bit unfair, but that's the way it is. I can't have a new engine, so I can only take the negatives, and not the positives, which is the starting grid. It could be a bit fairer, but anyway, that's racing.

MN; Ron Dennis says Kimi would have won. Is that how you see it?

AW: Yes. He pulled away at the beginning, and the way our tyres worked he was just starting to recover when he had his failure.

I think he would have been in a super-strong situation.

I r

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Get thee behind me:

I'm ambitious, and I always want more! Considering the n situation and everything, I'm absolutely happy

Wurz keeps Sato's BAR-Honda back at Imola last month.

- Wurzsounds modest to us...

MN: Overall, you must be really happy to have made your statement and done even better than Pedro...

AW: Yes, but I'm ambitious, and I always want more! Considering the situation and everything. I'm absolutely happy.

at McLaren is better than many race teams. Just because we are now testing for a little bit doesn't mean we forgot how to do it. We're actually better than many guys. Certainly I can speak for Pedro and myself, we are fast, and we would, definitely deserve a fixed race drive.

MN: We know that there have been opportunities for you to go back racing which didn't come off. Do you think it was important to remind people that you are a racing driver?

AW: Yes, because some people are getting used to the fact that guys are quick in testing. Pedro says it and I say it, the test team

MN: The car hasn't been good over one lap qualifying. Has that been solved partly because of work you were doing last week?

AW: Yes. There's one thing I can't mention we are very, very satisfied with. I had an idea and it worked for the car. This is not the cure for the qualifying, it's

Mercedes is doing a great job at the moment. It's going up in the right way.

something else. All our work is important. This is something no one sees, and maybe people read about, but not too many unfortunately recognise it. It's terribly important, what the test drivers are doing.

MN: Adrian Newey said that the thing about Imola is that it doesn't have slow hairpins, and that's where the car has been losing out. Is that right?

AW: I know;why he tells you that, he's absolutely right. I've got nothing to add to his comments and don't want to give away too much I

MN: Is there a permanent improvement, or did Imola just suit this car for one lap qualifying?

AW: In a way yes, everything came together. But we have things coming in the pipeline which definitely address some of the issues, and we are all confident that we are going in the right direction. We have engine power coming, because

MN: So are there circuits coming up that won't be so favourable?

AW: Yes, but we have new parts coming, so I think we will improve anyway

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MINICHAM—

Right Time, Wurz Place Wurz off the bench to race? It all seems so familiar...

MISHAPS have played a major part in the FI career of Alex Wurz.

It was Juan Montoya's tennis accident that gave the 1.86m tall Austrian the chaince to take fourth at Imola. Eight years ago, it was a simiilair opportunity that saw hiiim in his maiden GP in Canada.

Benetton veteran Gerhard Berger had been suffering for some time from sinus problems and, after some stubborn resistance, finally gave in to his doctors' wishes. Wurz, the team's 23-year-old test driver, was called in to make his debut in Canada.

The tall rookie, already the youngestever winner of the Le Mans 24 Hour, qiualified well in eighth (ahead of team mate Jean Alesi) but a dodgy transmission forced him out mid-race. A spin ended bis day early in France but

then came the British GP at Silverstone, above.

Wurz again started eighth but soon, the Renault-powered car was making its way through the field. Mika Hakkinen looked to have the race in his pocket until engine failure six laps from the flag while Michael Schumacher's Ferrari stopped with a wheel bearing problem.

Jacques Villeneuve had a similar problem, prompting a long-ish stop but he fought back to win ahead of Jean Alesi. Both Benettons had run a one-stop strategy and right behind the Frenchman was Wurz, a podium finisher in only his third GP. "It was very tough," he admitted, "but it was a very, very good result."

It was- but motor racing is a tough business. By now, Berger was well enough

to race, even though he was grieving his father, killed in an aircraft accident. He somehow managed to put all that out of his mind to star at Hockenheim, with pole position and a dominant win. It was the last of his career, the last for Benetton and the last for Renault until Fernando Alonso , won in Hungary in 2003.

And Wurz was out of a job again. Not for long ; Berger retired at the end of the year and Alex got the seat but, after 49 more GPs, it was back to being a test driver again and waiting for that phone call.

In the meantime, Wurz is loved by all at McLaren and has earned himself an enviable reputation as, probably, FI's best test driver and, certainly, its fittest. As he showed at Imola, he is more than capable of doing the job when called upon.

It all depends on Juan's shoulder...

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PERFORMANCE

lime to

Perform Ford Performance Racing has had a troubled history hut new team manager Tim Edwards is looking only forward. By PHIL BRANAGAN 42

IM Edwards looks comfortable at his new home. Ford Performance Racing.

After 14 years with Jordan Grand Prix, and a brief stint with the Commonwealth Games organisers, he can look out from his surprisingly modest office at the team's Campbellfield HQ and see much of the trappings that successful teams have; a large workshop, and engine shop, composites area (including autoclave). Out the front Is an impressive reception area, which is adjacent to a cafe and a merchandising shop that features all things FPR, from infantwearto luggage.

Well, not quite. The team lacks one thing that successful teams have; actual success.

Over the past two seasons.

Ford's factory outfit has been the whipping boy of the V8 Supercar paddock, despite good drivers, visibly adequate funding and the will of the parent company, which lives 1 km away, to be a winner.

Despite all that, FPR has appeared to be a team of talented people wandering in the desert while the management wondered whether the next circle to be plotted should be clockwise, anti-clockwise or a combination of both.

Even from a distance, and with enough in FI to keep him busy, Edwards was aware of the situation.

"When I came here, it became apparent straight away that the facilities were here, the people

were here and the finances were here to do this right," he says, "It just hadn't had someone putting their arms around the whole thing to get everyone working in the same direction. Everybody was quite receptive to me coming here, I went to Adelaide and stood in the background to watch what was going on. It is not going to be rocket science to turn this thing around; I am not trying to sound cocky, or anything like that, but when you look at what has happened here over the last couple of years, there are some obvious things wrong. If I had come here and thought that everything looked alright, I would be worried about where we were going.

"You can blind yourself with other things but if the basics are not right, you are in trouble."

Things are somewhat smaller in V8 Supercars. After a scaledown in 2001, Jordan had about 200 people on board wl ien Edwards left at the end of last season. At FPR, there are 40 now. At Jordan, he went through the good times, with wins for Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and podiums for drivers like Half Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Then came the slump, which led to the team's current standing of ninth of the 10 teams in GP racing.

"Jordanjs success and then lack-of was directly linked to a lack of manufacturer support and then income support," Edwards explains.

n Toves "It is difficult to keep people motivated when results dry up, especially when you have had some success. It is easier to bring people into an unsuccessful team and build them up than it is to bring in successful people and then run them down.

"At Jordan, around the time we were successful, from '99, we won a few races and had some podiums. If we finished in the top six, we were almost disappointed. It had to be a podium or better.

"So to come to a team like this, which has been unsuccessful and which has had a lot of criticism thrown at it, it is an easier process in my eyes."

A Melbourne lad, he is enthusiastic about a move from the pinnacle of the sport to the home-grown variety.

"For the last decade, there has been no public access to the whole Formula One paddock area. They detach themselves from the public too much whereas, in V8 Supercars, the public is still welcome. 1 think that is what it's all about.

"If I think about going to Adelaide in 1991 with FI, and then going back in 2005 with V8 Supercars, they are reasonably similar. Adelaide was always special anyway; if you ask anyone who has been in FI for more than a decade, they will say it was the best race ever. It was like going into the centre of a small town. In Melbourne, it is a fantastic city but it is just another event."

"Everybody knows that this place was in a complete mess over the last 12 months or more tt

- Edwards is clearly not from the everything is fine because Isay it is”school of management

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Edwards will have the team's key personnel reporting directly to him so that the decision making process is smoothed out. Other changes within the team are still happening, with Edwards and new Commercial Director Rod Barrett moulding the team to a new model and discarding much of the team's baggage.

In a way, Edwards is lucky to be there because, under FPR's old management, he either fell through the cracks, was not considered or was just not wanted.

"In July or August last year, I had made the decision to come

back to Australia," he says.

"I wrote three letters, one to [AGPC Chairman] Ron Walker, one to David Flint and one to an agency I had been talking to. I heard back from Ron Walker and nobody else. So I arranged to come down between China and Japan and meet Ron, we got on well and he set up a couple of meetings with [AGPC CEO]Tm Bamford and [Commonwealth Games CEO] John Flarnden and, shortly after, I got the offer to work at the Commonwealth Games as a Special Adviser. I did not hear from this place at all; I just assumed that there was no need for anybody.

"I arrived in Australia at the beginning of December and started at the Commonwealth Games and I would have been quite happy to stay there until the end of March 2006. It was great to be part of a major event like that.

"Then, after about two and a half months, I was sitting at my desk and I had a phonecall. It was Dave Richards; after he had his tidy-up here, he was rummaging through some of the stuff and he came across my letter. Fie rang Eddie Jordan, he told David that he did not know where to find me except through Ron Walker. Fie made contact, we had breakfast and I spent the next couple of weeks getting a feel for the place. Then I agreed to accept the position."

So, having arrived, what will Edwards do? A lot.

"Everybody knows that this place was in a complete mess over the last 12 months or more. But it is only the team's third season; it took Stone Brothers five years and FIRT eight years to win their first race. I think last year, the engines were the biggest problem.

"I do not underestimate the task here. We are not going to turn this thing around overnight, I keep having to tell myself that Rome was not built in a day. I have been here three weeks and there are so many things that I want to do. And not only was Rome not built in a day but, some time while it was being built, it was burnt to a cinderl"

Happy to be racing: Edwards is pleased to leave the world of FI, above, behind him for a 'racier'role with Greg Ritter and Jason Bright, left.

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MOTORSPORT NEWS:It has been a very busy 12 months for you. A little over 12 months ago you became the Friday driver for Jordan FI. A lot has happened since then ...

TIMO CLOCK:I think it was a Little bit fast in the end because the main

new championship with a completely new car. The problem was at that first CP2 race was that everyone had so many problems. Nicholas Lapierre was the fastest after qualifying but he could not drive the race because the car didn't run.

thing for us was looking at Formula 1.

To do a second year with Jordan was the plan. But when Eddie Jordan)sold the team, the problem was that the new owner was interested in other drivers with more

That is too dangerous, because if you are not in the right team you will have big problems and that was the main reason I jumped over to Champ Car,that and 1 think that Champ Cars are a little closer to Formula 1.

money. We did not have the chance to bring more than $23 million hke Narain Karthikeyan did.

So we realised there was no chance, which was sad because in my first year 1 showed that I had the experience to be in Formula 1, and for us it was not possible to bring so much money.

They put the new drivers in,so 1 said 'tire test driver job is not the right thing for me here'. So we went over to the USA to drive Champ Cars,because it is pretty competitive and you have tire chance to cirive in the top five or top three. That is important for me,because 1 want to be able to race and win races

MN:So, Champ Car was your choice. Any thoughts on the Indy Racing League, where your former F3 rival Ryan Briscoe decided to go?

TG:I think Champ Car is a better step than the IRL is. Definitely, only oval races, except for the few non oval races, is not as good as Champ Car, which is a better way for me because 1 like the road courses and the street courses.

1 have never driven on an oval,so maybe 1 will like it better than a street course, but I think it is better when you jump from Champ Car back into FI.

and fight against other good drivers.

MN:So why the move to America?

What options did you have in Europe? Did you think of GP2?

TG:I thiidc Champ Car was the better option for me. Champ Car is definitely a step back from Formula 1, but it is a small step back and I think GP2 is a bigger step back.

I looked at the first GP2 race and it is difficult to go into a completely

MN:Many of the guys you raced in the F3 Euroseries in 2003 have now gone on to Formula 1 in some form.Is that series the best way to get to FI, because it races on a lot of FI circuits?

TG:I think it is a pretty good. championship. That year with Ryan, Christian Klien and Nico Rosberg it was pretty strong(ED: Clock was third behind Briscoe and Klien in the series).

Now it is also pretty strong, but

"TIk piHAtem was that the new owner was interested in other drivo^ with more moneiiL WS did not have the chance to bring more than $23 miiiion iike Narain n Karthikeyan did.

- Glock on Midland’s ‘driver selection process’

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From seventh on hi^Fl debut to landing a seat in Cham/Car, CHRIS JORDAJ^spoke with 23^ar-oid German Time Clock about FI poiitic/^wjtching Stateside and his planned return to FI everyone is struggling a bit with the money. Now it costs a lot more money to go into F3. But the cars and the championship are still really strong and I think it is the best way to go to FI, through the F3 Euroseries.

MN:Your career has been helped along with some great support from the Deutsche Post Speed Academy.

Could you give us some insight as to what it is all about?

TG: It's a driver academy with six young drivers. We support these guys and they can win up to 300,000 euros in one year but they have to fight for it. They have to do the races and we look how they go in the races and at their results. Last week we had media training and fitness tests and they all have to work for it.

We have six judges and we look at the six guys over five months and decide which drivers will win the money. It is like what Red Bull is doing, but a different way of doing it, for young German drivers.

MN:You say'we look'because as part of your success through the program, you are now a judge.

TG:It is a lot of fun,because I did the championships they are doing right now like Formula BMW and F3 a few years ago,so I have experienced it all.

I can give these guys some information on what to do on a race weekend any time they come and ask me,and I like it. It is a lot of fun working with these guys and it's a funny,funny job!

MN:Your Grand Prix debut in Montreal last year must have been like a dream. When did you realise that you would be driving in

Giorgio Pantano's place?

TG:Pretty late. I saw on the Friday that Giorgio could not drive the free practice. At that moment,it was clear that something was wrong with Giorgio's situation, but nobody from the team told me'you will have to drive in the race on Sunday'.

So on Friday evening Eddie told me that on Saturday I had to come to the track pretty early because it was possible that I would be driving the race. I said 'OK'(laughs).

On Saturday at 7am Eddie called me and said'Hey, you have to come over and drive in the race' and that is the first that I knew of driving in the race. For sure,I saw the problems on Friday, but it was not clear. It was then definitely clear on Saturday morning.

MN:And then the result: Seventh is a fantastic debut. Two points at your first attempt! Another guy called Mark Webber did that on debut.

TG:It was pretty strange because I finished 11th and then two hours later in the hotel Eddie and I were eating together and we got a call from the team saying 'hey,four cars are disqualified and we got in the points!'(laughs).

It was pretty crazy and good fun it was a pretty good party at the end of Sunday! Eddie is definitely the team boss to be around when something good like that happens.

MN:So now you find yourself in Champ Car. How did the ride with Rocketsports come about?

TG:I think it is a pretty strong team, and when I came over to do the first test at Sebring it went well.

I decided that if I was to go over to the US to do Champ Car,I wanted to

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do it with Rocketsports because they did a really good job. The team is good,they are funny guys and a lot of them are really experienced.

Paul Gentilozzi(team owner)is a driver and he understands the driver side of things. My engineer, David Watson, was the engineer at my first test and we work well together and he is really good. So when I came over after the first test I said 'I want to go with Rocketsports'.

Now it is only a question of me learning the circuits and what is going on at the race weekend. It was my first time at Long Beach, and I think we are all going the right way.

MN;Long Beach was a solid debut, with sixth in qualifying and the race. How happy were you with that, considering you beat your much more experienced team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay?

TG:It was a good result, yes. It was made possible by good qualifying. I was fastest on my first set of tyres, but then I touched the wall at the last hairpin and it changed the steering toe, so I couldn't go faster when I put the 'option', qualifying tyres on.

At the end of it all, when I look back, we did a good job. We had some problems with the pit stops and there was too much fuel in the car. There was a lot more possible in that race.

Even top three, maybe, was possible.

MN: What about the series? Do you like or dislike things like the pushto-pass button and the option tyres?

TG: It's all pretty funny really. The first time I went out on option tyres it was obvious it was a pretty good tyre, especially good for qualifying.

In the warm-up I had the first 4 May 2005

chance to use the 'push-to-pass' button and I said 'maybe it's not there', because there was no difference. Maybe I did it wrong.

You would think it would be easy to just press a button and then feel

seriously. Is that one reason you are still based in Germany this year?

TG: I don't know why Sebastien (Bourdais) has never got a chance to go into FI because he is pretty fast and a pretty tough guy. It is difficult to say what is going on and where people are looking, but Champ Car is definitely going hie right way.

We will see what happens in the next one-to-two years, as they are working on things like the TV coverage and the media stuff. I think everyone will be taking a big look at Champ Car.

FI is definitely the top car, but they are difficult to compare. I think they are two different levels of car, but definitely the Champ Car is fun to drive. Definitely better to driver than a Jordan FI car! sutton-images.com

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the Champ Car is fun to drive. Definitely better to drive than a Jordan FI car! ft

MN:How many years is your US plan? Any FI tests for 2005?

TG: It difficult to say, but the plan at the moment is just one year. We have to look at what will happen with.Fl in the next couple of months,but maybe it is possible that I will drive another year in the USA. At the moment I am concentrating on Champ Car, but yeah, it is possible that in the middle of the year or the end of the year I will get the chance to drive a Formula 1 car.

We will see.

-a glowing reference for the Jordan FI car from Block

the extra power,but I didn't feel any in the warm-up.

Then in the race I used it three or four times and used it to overtake (Ronnie) Bremmer and (AJ) Almendinger. At these moments I said 'bloody hell' because there was so much more power! I think its the right way for the cars to be to put on a good show for the fans.

MN;How do you find the Champ Car to drive compared to the FI cars?

TG: It is a little more different because the cars are a lot bigger and in FI you have a lot more aerodynamics. But definitely Champ Car is a little more fun than FI because you have no traction control and all that stuff, so they are a bit funny to drive.

MN:Some guys have gone over to Champ Car and done well and really grabbed the FI paddock's attention, while others have done well but really not been taken

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Christian, you can stay. Ryan and Timo, you are off to America: Not a bad podium at the final of the 2003 F3 Euroseries at Magny Cours.

L-R, Ryan Briscoe, Clock and a happy Christian Klien.

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High

Boom Crash Opera

"THAT is an incredible way to start the race," said thenNetwork 10 commentator Matthew White when Jason Bargwanna performed an amazing pirouette after contact with Greg Murphy, and then the Phillip Island, tyre barrier during Round 2 of the 2002 series.

and shove, Bargwanna was fined for his public display of anger, while Murf was disqualified for the initial contact which sent Bargwanna spearing into the re wall at over 200kmh.

The lads had different views on the incident.

"I was on the right side, The race was immediately there was an overlap and he red flagged, and a disgruntled kept moving over on me," (and slightly shaken) said Mljrphy."'We touched Bargwanna approached and that resulted in a pretty Murphy on the grid to discuss . big accident, matters. After a bit of push "I went and spoke to him, explained Bargs. "1 pushed him as I explained how linhappy.l was about the situation.

Arriazingly, the #35 car was r fixed by the hard-working Garry Rogers crew for the next round of the series at Eastern Creek, which was just two weeks away.

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THERE are decisions you make in life that are clearly defined as right or wrong. Robbing a bank is wrong, but donating money to a charity is right. Using an opponent's slipstream down Conrod is right, ■rcutting across Caltex Chase to pass him is wrong.

Unfortunately, simple decisions like these can't always be made in motor racing. It's a fast sport, there is lots happening aroimd you and thinking quickly and accurately separates the winners from the losers.

When you have 30-odd drivers thinking quickly and reacting just as fast, inevitably, accidents do happen.

We watch in horror as cars spear sideways. We hold our breath as the impact occurs. We watch in awe as the machines take the brunt. We hope and pray that no-one is harmed.

This is one of the reasons we love the sport. The speed, plus the risk.

u WHILE dicing for the race lead of a Carrera Cup race at Sandown in 2003, Marcus Marshall and Matthew Coleman clashed.

Coleman's car launched over the guard rail and into four horrifying end-for-end rolls.

The car had seen better days, but was prepared in time for the next’round at Bathurst.

"We touched and that resaned in a pretty hig accidenr

- Murphy states the obvious

I just held on to the wheel

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. - an emotional Coleman

-tVvro pe ALTHOUGH it was probably the lightest crash in this feature article, it caused one of the biggest outcries in touring car racing, and even led to the judicial procedure being overhauled.

Many believed the incident was unavoidable and unintentional, but Greg Murphy copped a drive-through penalty when he tapped the back of Craig Lowndes's out-of control FPR Falcon in 46

the fast left-hand sweeper at Winton in 2003.

They were racing for third place at the time.

The emotional Murphy completed the race well down in a despondent 14th. Neil Crompton, perhaps, gave the best description of the incident.

"This is one of the worst, if not the worst steward's decision I have ever seen."

RETROSPECTIlfE

ts and Wrongs There have been many controversial crashes and clashes in Australian motorsport.

With the recent Dumbrell/Baird episode fresh in his mind, GRANT ROWLEY looks

equals an addictive thrill, although some (sick) people only watch the sport to see the accidents.

And then, once an incident has happened, we get to hear the driver and teams try and justify their involvment; "1 was already committed"-"1 did my best to avoid it"-"I was past the b-pUlar."

These are common sentiments but

back at some of the doozies of the past decade.

ultimately, it is the job of the referee to decide whether the incident was part of the racing, or if someone is accountable.

With controversial crashes being a hot topic, MNews thought it would be a 'smash'to look back at some of the car-benders, and see the penalties and sentences that were applied and appealed.

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' il S g:^ing!quite dark, ifTs Starting to spit rain, and hell ' is diilout to be Unieashedf Pith 16 laps to go imthe I last race at Pufcekohe two weeks agb, Steven EHerv and Jamie Whineup ran wide over the to:p of the hilU, Cra ig Baird, traveling,close behind,; backed off and drove to the.inside of the track where PaiU!l DumbrelI was also heading. Oumbrell though, wanted;to make a gain out of the situation and stuck to his guns.

The pair clashed, sending

DuraBr#!; reft and initp.'a.iPAtipofe'Ji^Jhe adjacent horse raciingjicouKse. limmediately alterrthe incident, WPS tearn!owner Craig Gore launehedia j , scathing; attack on Surnbiiell. in turrt, the officials charged the Castrdt nhan with reckless driving, which was adjourned and the case was heard last week iini an extraordinafy mid-week hearing,. Dumbrel'l was found giuilty of reckless driving.

The Castrol car will be rested for the round at

Barbagallo this week and DumbrelI wi11 drive the Autobahn machine. Baird,'s; WPS car has been given a 'top;and tail' and will # compete In WA. '

Blunder

Marshall Cass

4 May 2005

ONE of the more bizarre incidents Australian racing has seen was in 2002 at Phillip Island when Paul Romano rammed the handicapped Falcon of Rodney Forbes.

On the opening lap of the final heat, Forbes lost control of his car at Honda and hit Romano. Forbes hobbled very slowly for a moment until Romano drove into the side of him, Days of Thunder-sty\e\

Devins'"

Besides the large penalty, Romano was also found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute and for causing damage to property.

Forbes wasreprimanded for failing

to exercise reasonable care.

Romano finished the season (and his V8 career) with his championship point score in the negative.

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Indy wall defeats Commodore PROBABLY the hardest hit of 2004.

Quiet simply, Rick hit Jason, Jason hit wall, Jason very sore. It was bad for a number of reasons, but none more so than the fact that the incident pretty well destroyed both driver's championship hopes - not to mention the PWR car, which still lives at the back of PWR's Dandenong shop. Bright was forced to use the team's spare in the next round of the championship.

"The fine was no surprise, but I was a bit surprised about the points," Kelly said after his hearing. ~ Sfev'e C/ieefh^

(BamQaiDDQ (BDoams Q1]d©©[PS7 CRAIG Lowndes accepted full responsibility for his clash with Wayne Gardner approaching Murray's Corner during the championship round of the Touring Car Series at Bathurst in 1996.

"It was my fault entirely, I just stuffed up," said

Rough Play "I'D do it again," was the headline to MNews in July 2000. On the last lap of the first race at Queensland Raceway, Russell Ingall blatantly turned the lapped Mike Imrie into the wall on pit straight.

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Ingall was in third place, closely followed by Mark Larkham on the final lap at the final corner. Imrie stayed to the right down the back straight, but Ingall misread Imrie's intentions. Larkham was able to pass both of them, which left Ingall seething. Ingall then took matters into his own hands and turned Imrie into the wall.

Ironically, Ingall'steam boss Larry Perkins nearly collected Imrie's stranded car on pit straight....

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Lowndes, 21 at the time and in his first full year of Touring Car racing.

"Wayne missed a gear out of the Chase, I got alongside and just came across on him far too soon."

Gardner, who was in the midst of one of his best performances in the category,

accepted Lowndes's apology, but was believed to have given him a stern warning about the consequences of a repeat performance.

Something about knocking his block off...

Dumbrell:Proven innocent HERE is a classic case when the stewards simply got it wrong.

The notorious Turn 8 at Adelaide claimed just about everyone in 2004's Race 2.

Dumbrell tapped Cameron McConville and the resultant carnage saw Mark Winterbottom, Steven Johnson and Brad Jones all suffer severe damage to their Falcons. . Dumbrell was handed a $10,000 fine and a 75 point penalty for his part in the pile-up, but was later found not guilty after the V8 Supercar Court of Appeal

judged that the Stewards had overlooked evidence from the incident. The case virtually came down to the fact that the Perkins team were able to prove its driver was past the B-pillar of McConville's car, see diagram above.

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RETROSPECTIVE

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!AFTER the most spectacular V8 I Supercar crash ever seen, CAMS IT I Motorsport manager Tim I Schenken called on all drivers to j take some responsibility for I cleaning up their act.

I A number of leading drivers, j including Greg Murphy and Neil I Crompton who watched the incident J at Caider in 1999 unfold, said that 'some over-exuberance amongst ' the V8 ranks needed to be kerbed.

"It's beyond a joke now," said ■M Murph after the crash. "It's so _ close and there are drivers out \ ■t- there who simply won't compromise. They're simply not prepared to give way at all - and ●J that's what can happen." i Crompton echoed his ' sentiments, saying; "guerrilla J tactics employed by some, with no ■ thought for the consequences."

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Adelaide Impact WHILE lapping the Colourscan Falcon of Danny Osborne in the first leg of the 1999 Adelaide 500, Craig Lowndes hit the rear of the Osborne's car, spearing it into the concrete wall.

Osborne's car was written off, while Lowndes cruised to victory lane.

After the race, Lowndes was excluded from the results and sent to the back of the grid (from where he memorably stormed through the pack the next day and won the race). Lowndes won an appeal against the severity of the sentence, where the National CAMS Appeal Tribunal reinstated

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Race

the then-factory Flolden driver's race results and $40,000 prizemoney.

"I felt I didn't get a proper hearing from the stewards in Adelaide and that's why I

appealed," Lowndes said after the incident, "Our data showed I lifted off the throttle ... I couldn't have done anymore to avoid him."

Osborne's team manager Jeff Osborne had a different opinion.

"Fining an outfit like Lowndes and FIRT $10,000 is like fining Kerry Packer $10,000 . . . it's small change."

Ding, Ding!

Faults.

UP until the third round of the Australian Manufacturers Championship at Winton in 1994, the series had received little or no valuable coverage. But that all changed when Tony Longhurst and team-mate Paul Morris clashed while dicing for the lead.

The incident would have pretty much gone unnoticed, had Longhurst not got out of the car, rushed over to Morris's driver side window and thrown a couple of quick jabs the way of the bemused driver.

Longhurst was condemned for his actions and received the appropriate punishment.

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exclude

YOU could make a two-part mini-series out of this one, but why waste such a good script... let's take it to Broadway!

Standing on the side of the raceway after the controversial final round clash at Eastern Creek in 2003, Skaife, fist in air. evidently displayed his thoughts of Ingall's driving standards.

Ingali was fined for driving.his car towards a person proximate to the racing surface, while Skaife copped a knuckle wrap for giving Jhe sport the most publicity it has had in years.

Oh yeah, and bringing the sport into disrepute ... Fantastic theatre, but not the behaviour we need to display in front of

the kiddies.

6 April 2005

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The and The Werld's Fastest

Tortoise

There is only one thing to be said about the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix - we want more.

JOE SAWARD reports on a stunning race at Imola

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n Britain on the Sunday afternoon of the San Marino Grand Prix, the ITV switchboard suddenly with berserk with irate callers, all screaming abuse into their telephones because the producers had decided to cut away from the action at Imola.

The TV station had delayed airing any advertising, hoping that the battle for tire lead would end but it just went on and on and, with five minutes to go, there was no choice.

The fans went nuts because for three minutes, as Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher diced for victory, they were watching advertising.

For those who were lucky enough to see the whole show, it was nailbiting shiff. At the final pit stops Schumacher had gone longer than his rivals, but he had a huge gap to close because while Alonso had been able to build up a lead over the others, Michael had been caught in the midfield, trucking around his brother Ralf. It was Michael's fault that he was down there and afterwards he was stiU kicking himself about skating off during the final

qualifying.

As the race unfolded, it was easy to see why he had fallen off. Flis Ferrari was carrying a big load of fuel, enough to run for 27 laps, while others started pitting on lap 21. Thus in those early laps, Michael could not

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use the speed that the Ferrari obviously had. The advantage was that as those alaead stopped, so Michael was able to make up places and speed up.

Ahead of him in the queue were a number of drivers who had been struggling behind Jarno TruUi. Thanks to their mistakes and his speed combined, Michael was able to leap-frog the entire group at the first stop and emerged in third place. With the road clear ahead of him, he put the hammer down and closed up dramatically on Jenson Button, taking 20s from the BAR in just 13 laps.

The two cars then ran together, the Ferrari obviously quicker but unable to overtake. This fight would become a battle for the lead soon afterwards when Alonso stopped for his second refill but we knew that Michael and Jenson would both have to pit.

Schumacher's pressure was relentless and, in the end, some dust thrown up by tire two Williams cars that he was coming up behind and preparing to lap did in Button. Jenson lost a little traction in the Acque Minerale chicane and in the run across the top of the hOl Michael was able to draw alongside on the inside line.

And that was that. Jenson could not keep up the pace and dropped quickly away, and both men headed into the pits for their second stops.

Button and Michael stayed out a little longer and then rushed for the

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pitlane. Michael came out quickly but it was not quick enough to get him ahead of Alonso.

And so the final phase of the race began. Michael was quickly on Fernando's tail, but those who thought that the Spaniard would crumble would have to have another tliink as he protected his position in a brilliant game with the Ferrari. Yes, the Ferrari was faster but that was no good because Michael could never work a way tlirough.

The measure of Alonso's genius was the way in which he carefully slowed Schumacher enough to avoid getting involved with a battle ahead between Vitantonio Liuzzi and Mark Webber. Liuzzi was moving pretty fast, setting the seventh fastest lap of the race (ahead of a lot of hotshoes), but Alonso did not want to be in a dice with Michael with other cars about. That was a wise decision.

For 12 laps the battle went on, the tension putting everyone on the edge of their seats and, when the two cars flashed across the line, there was a huge cheer in the Media Centre (and presumably around the world as well) in celebration of what had been a splendid race. The best for years.

At the end of the day, Michael's fastest lap was seven-tenths faster than Button's best while the rest were another four-tenths behind and all grouped together closely. That may not be as significant as it sounds.

_■

motorsporinews

. .●

Pressure Cooker: Fernando Alonso took the lead from the stricken Kimi Raikkonen, right, and went on to fight off Michael Schumacher all the way to the flag, above.

because trying to judge outright performance is difficult. The situation will no doubt ebb and flow depending on the circuit, the temperature and the tyre choices.

We will have different winners this year. Could we ask for more than that?

Itdemonstration was a great race of what and a Formula wonderful 1 should be like. At least four of the cars might have won because McLaren, Renault, BAR and Ferrari aU seemed to have cars which would have been capable of victory if they had been on pole position. Track position these days in FI is so important because overtaking is so tough.

4 May 2005

.●A

In the early laps we thought that Kimi Raikkonen was running with a light tank of fuel but, after an initial burst the pace slowed and Raikkonen began to draw away from the opposition (led by Alonso). He retired with a driveshaft failure, but it later emerged that the Finn was not going to stop before lap 25. And if that had been the case, he would have walked the race.

What was clear at Imola was that before Imola there was really only one winner: Renault. Now there seem to be more. Ferrari had made a major step forward. So has BAR. McLaren seems more solid. Williams and Toyota seem to have made the least progress, but neither car was really suited to Imola. Having said that, the cars caught behind Trulli in the first stmt were not really able to show

their best abilities in race trim.

The man who was seeing most of the back end of the Toyota was Webber in the Williams. He had had a lively first lap, being beaten away

by Trulli and Sato but he then pulled a lovely move on the Japanese star and went around the outside of the BAR at Piratella (a brave move). But try as he might after that, he could not get Trulli and because he was running so close to Jarno, Webber soon lost the performance of his tyres. As the rubber declined, so Webber had to work harder and harder and in the end he made a mistake and Sato jumped him, just before the first stops.

The delays meant that the fast men behind him were all able to get ahead during the pit sequence and then, to his horror, Webber came out of the pits right behind Trulli again. The pattern would be repeated in the second stint with Mark ending up going wide at one corner and being jumped by Jacques Villeneuve. By the end he was fighting with Liuzzi's Red Bull.

A sad end to an imperfect day.

51

-7

Kimrs Revenge

F

OR a lot of practice at Imola, BAR-Honda looked like it was the team that had the fastest car.

On Friday Jenson Button seemed at ease, while the likes of Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher all seemed to be having to push the cars really hard to get close to the pace, the Ferrari In particular being made to dance by the World Champion as it swooped from chicane to chicane at the Autodromo Ferrari. It seemed incomprehensible that a Ferrari could be driven like that for more than a lap or two at a time and Button's car seemed to corner as if on rails. It was almost as if he was cruising.

But understanding qualifying is no easy thing these days and we had the changeable European weather to take into account, not to mention the fact that the running order of the cars is absolutely vital because the track gets better with each passing car leaving an extra hint of rubber on the road.

At the end of the first qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, we were really none the wiser, Kimi Raikkonen had set a lap of 1 ml 9.886s. Alonso was just a few ten-thousandths

slower. The lap times were right up there with last year's pole position of 1 ml 9.753s. What was impressive was that the top seven cars came from different teams, with McLaren, Renault, Ferrari, Williams, BAR, Toyota and Sauber all represented, and all were covered by six-tenths of a second. The big surprise was probably Mark Webber who had not shown any great pace up to that point but banged in a lap that was very quick. The Williams is a good car on low fuel, it just does not seem to like carrying a skinful of juice.

"I didn't make any mistakes across the lap, but I could have done better in the first sector because I feel I braked too early for Turn One," said Webber. "I had a very good last sector, which balanced the lap."

Sunday morning qualifying did nothing to blow away the fog that surrounds the qualifying process. Michael Schumacher l was very quick until he skated off the track at the Rivazza turn.

Fie had been travelling very fast and perhaps his juggling with a big fuel load had been the cause.

Or perhaps he had been fast because he was not carrying much fuel.

The current qualifying rules provide endless possibilities for

QUmiFYING Son linoriNO

DRIVER NAT F Kimi Raikkonen 2 Fernando Alonso E 3 Jenson Button GB 4 Mark Webber AUS 5 JarnoTrulli 6 Takuma Sato J 7 Alexander Wurz AUT BR Felipe Massa D 9 Nick Heidfeld 10 Rubens Barrichello BR 11 Ralf Schumacher D 12 Jacques Villeneuve CAN 13 Giancarlo Fisichella I 14 Michael Schumacher D 15 David Coulthard GB 16 Vitantonio Liuzzi I 17 Narain Karthikeyan IND P 18 Tiago Monteiro 19 Patrick Friesacher AUT N 20 Christijan Albers 92

CAR TYRE a I McLaren-Mercedes M 1:19.886 Renault M 1:19.889 BAR-Honda M 1:20.464 Williams-BMW M 1:20.442 M 1:20.492 Toyota BAR-Honda M 1:20.851 McLaren-Mercedes M 1:20.632 Sauber-Petronas M 1:20.593 Williams-BMW M 1:20.807 Ferrari B 1:20.892 M 1:20.994 Toyota Sauber-Petronas M 1:20.999 Renault M 1:21.708 B 1:20.260 Ferrari Red Bull-Cosworh M 1:21.632 Red Bull-Cosworth M 1:21.804 B 1:23.123 Jordan-Toyota B 1:25.100 Jordan-Toyota Minardi-Cosworth B 1:26.484 Minardi-Cosworth B 1:25.921

TOTAL Q2 1:22.994 2:42.880 1:23.552 2:43.441 1:23.641 2:44.105 1:24,069 2:44.511 1:24.026 2:44.518 1:23.807 2:44.658 1:24.057 2:44.689 1:24.337 2:44,930 1:24,389 2:45.196 1:24.351 2:45.243 1:24.422 2:45.416 1:25,260 2:46.259 1:25,002 2:46.710 1:26,984 2:47.244 1:26.438 2:48,070 1:26.351 2:48.155 1:28.976 2:52.099 1:29.152 2:54.252 1:30.564 2:57.048 NoTme No Time

stRiK: r Looks can be deceiving: Jenson Button looked the man likely for pole but Kimi Raikkonen, right, came through when it counted. brilliant theories but little in the way of hard evidence. If Kimi Raikkonen was really six-tenths faster than everyone else, we reasoned, then the McLaren must have a light fuel load. We know the car is fast but is it really that fast? What would Michael have achieved if he had not gone off? And perhaps, more importantly, what could he achieve when starting down amongst the Jordans on a track where overtaking is famously difficult. On Sunday morning, Webber's Williams was way down the time sheet, even if he did manage to hold on to fourth on the grid. Would Mark be struggling in the race?

Most important, however, was the subject of track position because you can have the fastest car in FI these days and' be unable to use it because the people ahead can keep you behind for many laps, even if their cars are appreciably slower.

The FI team bosses are now talking of changing the qualifying format, almost everyone agreeing that they do not like things as they are. This is a good idea.

The line-up was pretty much as expected, although Rubens Barrichello and Giancarlo Fisichella both seemed to be much further back than one would expect to see, Fisichella made a mistake on his qualifying run but Barrichello's lack of pace was odd. The word down in the Ferrari pit was that the Brazilian is none too happy with the new tyres that Bridgestone have developed. Michael Schumacher likes them and can drive them without a problem (some say

they were designed for him) but Rubens hates them.

"On new tyres for qualifying I was not as happy with the balance of the car as I was this morning with old ones," Rubens explained on Saturday.

Worthy of note was the performance of Alexander Wurz, who qualified seventh in his McLaren, while Felipe Massa was going well in the muchimproved Sauber, although his chances would be hobbled by the need to change an engine.

The Red Bulls were off the pace, having not had any significant development work since before: Melbourne but perhaps more significant was the fact that FI debutant Tonio Liuzzi did a good job on Saturday, despite having a distinct disadvantage as he was the first man to run in qualifying.

In the second qualifying session it did not show up much on the time sheets but he lapped quicker than David Coulthard.

The youngster was already up to pace with the veteran.

The new Minardi was a disappointment but down in the bottom garage, they cautioned about Jordan making fun of them.

"It is impressive that we have two cars here," explained an engineer. "We have been working flat out and we have got lots of parts still to come. We are using wings from the old PS04 and we have not really started developing the car and we are already a lot closer than we were. When we have done a bit more testing and have all the new.parts we will be a lot better." motorsport news

F@CUS ON WEBBER

Dog Day Afternoon A HALF a car's length at the start would have made the Imola Grand Prix a fairly different race for Mark Webber - such are the massive differences one small shortfall can make in Formula 1,2005style.

As it was,the Toyota of Jarno Trulli got off the line fractionally better, came out of the first lap melee ahead, and provided a mobile barrier for two-thirds of the race.

Despite having spent a full day at Silverstone, doing nothing but starts, the week before, the Williams technology - starting from grid 4- wasn't enough to keep Trulli (or a fast starting Takuma Sato) at bay.

Mark went aggressively around the outside of the BAR as they swooped through the Piratella, but there was nothing that could be done about Trulli.

The cost? About threequarters of a second a lap.

So, instead of peeling in to the pits on lap 22, most likely some 12-15 seconds ahead of the Toyota (and in clear air), a frustrated Webber could only hope that he had enough fuel to go that vital lap further than the Toyota and thus 'jump'the Italian at the first stop.

His heart sank, just a little, when the red and white car

It was one of those days when virtually nothing went rightbut it could have been quite different. CHRIS LAMBDEN spoke to a philosophical Mark Webber Because I'd been the one immediately behind Jarno, working the tyres that iittie bit more,they were on the way out,so things slipped away from there II

- Webber explains what happenetl at Imola failed to pull in at the end of lap 21: "We had to come in at the end of lap 22, so that was the last opportunity to jump him," Webber reported.

Frustratingly, Trulli pulled in that lap later, at the same time as the Williams, and emerged in front.

"We short-filled a little to try and get him that way, but it didn't work either."

Further up the pit lane, Ferrari was showing how it should be done. Michael Schumacher had been stranded for the entire first stint, way back in the queue, behind his brother, as unable as anyone else to pass on this twisty circuit. ButTerrari had an ace up its sleeve; Michael was fuelled for 27 laps.

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With the bulk of the field pitting in the lap 21-24 zone, Michael just mowed them down over those three or so extra laps and emerged in third. The rest is history.

So why didn't Williams - and others - run longer? That's another story (see opposite page)...

Back in Williams number 7, things weren't improving.

"I guess I could have just sat there, behind Jarno, and seen the race out in about seventh, but that's not my style," says Webber.

"I decided to have a go at him and tried it on into the far chicane. It didn't work out, and that let Jacques through.

"By now, because I'd been the one immediately behind

Jarno, working the tyres that little bit more,they were on the way out, so things slipped away from there ..."

In the end, Webber's record of never finishing a race behind a team-mate also went. Nick Heidfeld had hung off the back of the pack early on and, going into the third stint, had a fresher car in both tyre and engine terms and used it well.

Although Webber won't say as much, 2005 is starting to look frighteningly like 2003 and 2004 at Jaguar; a car that frustrating few tenths off in sheer outright race pace, masked a little by strong qualifying performances, but ultimately a disheartening drift backwards over 90 minutes.

At least the experienced Williams regime is, theoretically, better-placed to respond to the challenge than the under-funded Jaguar team was. Is there a short-term fix?

That's the big question. Aussie FI fans - and Mark Webber are desperately hoping so ...

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COULD the late appearance of the 2005-spec Ferrari have allowed the Scnderia to pull a tacHcal, cham^n^p-winriing mastaStroke?

Imola, more than anywhere,illustrated the necessity -imder the new,oneset-of-tyres rule - of being able to 'go long' in the first stint, especially if you are caught in the mid-field ruck.

The 2005 cars which were designed and debuted early - Toyota, WOliams, Renault - all pulled in at just over one-third (21 laps) distance.; laps 22,23, 24. They were clearly designed with fuel tanks just sufficient to cope,to keep the overall car package as small as possible. The downside, however,is limited strategy flexibility in terms of fuel stops.

And then there was Michael. Twenty-seven laps. Yes,27. That's a substantial difference in fuel capacity. It means a bigger car, but heck,'going long'is what it looks like it's going to be aU about in '05-especially at tracks where passing is difficult.

The question has to be asked: did the late release of the F2005 allow Ferrari to observe the winter tyre testing and identify the essential 'going long' strategy before the F2005 design was completely finalised?

If so, it could well be the championship-winning master-troke, notwithstanding the brilliant additional input by Bridgestone, whose consistency and speed at Imola was stunning, even if Rubens Barrichello did not care for the new tyres''feel'. Clearly the hot weather performance at Malaysia and Bahrain was a small glitch.

How will the 'small-tank' teams react? What can they do? Despite Renault's early impressive results, that's the key to stopping potential Ferrari domination. McLaren, it seems, may be the closest in fuel capacity - will it be - CHRIS LAMBDEN enough?

4 May 2005

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Mamex

No Place Like Europe When FI’s circus returned after three flyaway events, MNews Technical Editor drag at high speed. This makes the PAOLO FILISETTl was waiting for them wing closely resemble Renault's R25

SAN Marino may not be that significant as a country but, in terms of the FI World Championship,its Grand Prix is usually crucial.

The timing of the race, after three fly-away races, means that the teams come to Italy on the crest of a testing wave with new parts produced in a short time.

The traditional track is a

one, even if the two cars' concepts are completely different.

After a brief shakedown, Minardi introduced its new PS05 at the race.

This car is radically different from the previous models and sports details seen on other cars,following the very common fashion of sidepods narrow at the bottom and a very tiny rear ends. All tire concept of the car looks very clean and well refined.

The car's rushed final development meant that the wing package was based on the modified PS04's, but look for a 'dedicated' PS05 aero kit in Spain.

After recent complaints from several teams, the FIA has put in place some more stringent rules related to the static testing of wing flexibility.

A new test places a load of 50 kilos on three different locations on the rearmost edge of the rear wing. It is a very stringent test, considering the very thin thickness of the wing profile in its rearmost edge.

demanding one, particularly in terms of brakes, wliile recent rule changes mean that most of the teams come to the track with their wings turned flat for maximum speed.

After three wins on the road, Renault arrived with a new aero package, with a very particular front wing sporting two additional flaps, placed in a biplane configuration over the main wing profile. This provides a huge increase in downforce without a massive drag penalty so look for copied versions in upcoming races.

Ferrari adapted the aero configuration of the F2005, with a square cut on the top rearmost edge of the rear wing, obviously to reduce

Grand Prix of San Marino

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STARTING 17th arid finishing 14th in your fourth Grand Prix is not too bad but, honestly, it is hardly the kind of thing that is going to have Ron Dennis or Frank Williams banging the door down.

But even so, what Narain Karthikeyan did at Imola is worthy of a nnention. The Indian driver, who started the season somewhat unfairly accused by some of being out of his league, stayed out of trouble and, despite screwing up his second pitstop, finished a lap down. He was 17 seconds behind the closest car, that of Red Bull

motorsportnews

FORMULA ONE

Minardi

PREVIOUS —]

's no Cowboy!

RESUITS Saai Marliio/lraiplst veteran David Coulthard.

If that sounds promising, consider the fastest laps. As already mentioned, Michael was in a league of his own on the front, followed by Button and Wurz. Racewinner Alonso was fourth while probable racewinner Raikkonen was fifth fastest, Karthikeyan was 10th. Fie was faster over a lap than Webber, Ralf Schumacher DC and within a tenth of Villeneuve and Trulli, While Narain is not a no-hoper in a GP, the Jordan-Toyota is, at best, a grid-filler, at least until some of the Russian money starts allowing the team to do 4 May 2005

! something constructive, like go testing.

What Karthikeyan's speed does demonstrate that Bridgestone's progress has been, in the short-term, spectacular. From an embarassing showing at KL, where Michael lost 80s to Alonso in 56 laps, to almost winning in Italy is one thing. But to put a Jordan on the same pace as some of the big lads in the FI pit lane is another.

Minardi's 'Bridgestoned' PS05 looks like a better thing than its predecessors. What next, Minardis passing Saubers?

Pos Driver 1 Fernando Alonso 2 Michael Schumacher 3 Jenson Button Alexander Wurz 4 Takuma Sato 5 6 Jacques Villeneuve 7 JarnoTrulli Nick Heldfeld 9 Mark Webber 10 Vltantonio Liuzzi 11 Ralf Schumacher 12 Felipe Massa T3 David Coluthard 14 Narain Karthikeyan 15 Tiago Monteiro

Car Renault Ferrari BAR-Honda McLaren-Mercedes BAR-Honda Sauber-Petronas Toyota Williams-BMW Williams-BMW Red Bull-Cosworth Toyota Sauber-Petronas Red Bull-Cosworth Jordan-Toyota Jordan-Toyota

Laps 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 61 61 61 60

Time Ih27m41.921 0.215 10.481 27.554 34.783 lm04,442 1ml0.258 lmll.282 1m23.297 lm23.764 lm35.841 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 2 Laps

Gearbox 20 Minardi-Cosworth R Christijan Albers Electrical 18 Ferrari R Rubens Barrichello Driveshaft 9 Mclaren-Mercedes R Kimi Raikkonen Gearbox Minardi-Cosworth R Patrick Freisacher 5 Accident Renault R Oiancarlo Fisischella Ralf Schumacher's race time includes a 25s time penalty applied post-race

On F/Lap lm23.133 22 lm21,858 48 lm22,604 22 1m23.023 24 lm23.368 23 1m24,017 45 1m24,022 44 lm23.917 54 lm24.419 17 lm23.488 46 lm24.230 19 lm23.602 37 lm24,641 22 lm24,094 20 1m24,719 19 lm27.420 lm24.435 lm23,296 lm28.334 lm25.665

18 13 8 5 4

Drivers' Championship Points: Alonso 36, Trulli 18, Fisichella 10, M. Schumacher 10, R. Schumacher, Barrmhelklo, Juan Montoya (McLarenI and Coullhard 9, Raikkonen, Webber and Heidfeld 7, Button 6, Wurz 5, De La Rosa and Sato 4, Klien and Villeneuve 3, Massa 2.

Constructors' Points, Renault 46, Toyota 27, McLaren-Mercedes 24, Ferrari 18, Williams-BMW 14, Rad Bull-Cosworth 12, BAR-Honda 10, Sauber-Petronas 5.

57

Loeb on the Offensive R

EIGNING World Champion Sebastien Loeb proved again that he is a true master of the sport after another flawless performance to win the Rally d'ltalia in tough and testing conditions on Sardinia.

The combination of the rapidlyimproving Citroen Xsara, Michelin's latest rally rubber and Loeb proved too much for his opponents. Only Fetter Solberg remained remotely in touch vidth the hard-charging Frenchman.

There was a time not too long ago when the rally world looked on Loeb as a tarmac specialist, but the former aaobat continues to show his

Solberg finished 55.8s behind Loeb in a frustrating chase that may have borne fruit had he not lost so much

flexibility and skill in any conditions.

While the tough Sardinian WRC qualifier eliminated virtually half the factory entries, Loeb won with speed and sWll and not a single problem to slow his progress.

time on the first day of the rally with hydraulics problems.

Australian Chris Atkinson showed once more that he has the speed to challenge but again saw his hopes dashed on a rock. The young Subaru driver was third after the opening two tests but a large rock, which also caught out Mitsubishi's Gigi GaUi, tore the right rear wheel from the car and sidelined him.

Atkinson returned l on Day 2but again suffered terminal suspension damage retiring to try.one last time on the final leg.

His persistence was

If you can't beat'em, drown 'em; Fetter Solberg slam dunked Sebastien Loeb on the way to the post-event press conference, left, after chasing the French driver's Citroen, main pic, around Italy for three days, to no avail.

While the eppositien scramhled arounil Sardinia, Sehastien Loeb was serene in taking another WRC win.

JON THOMSON reports

rewarded with another fastest stage time.

"After the final day I got more confidence which should stand us in good stead entering the next group of events," said Atkinson.

"We have three of four tough rallies ahead of us so it is not going to be easy,but we are better prepared for them after the experience we gained here."

Fersistence brought greater rewards for Feugeot's Marcus Gronholm who,despite a massive rollover on Day 1, was able to fight back to take the final place on the podium.

Gronholm had set off at a furious pace, winning the opening stage,but he rolled his Feugeot 307 heavily on the third test and arrived at service with a strut poking through the bonnet. That incident saw the Finn drop nearly two minutes but he drove with enormous tenacity to climb back from seventh to finish third.

Loeb's progress was almost serene, while the carnage around him turned the rally into a battlefield Uttered with broken artillery, the Frenchman glided through the stages unfazed by the conditions.

With the next three gravel rounds in Cyprus,Turkey and Greece

expected to produce similar conditions Loeb's opponents should be just a little bit nervous about their prospects.

"Sure now our car is very good, all the work we have done since last year seems to work well. I expected to fight and the feeling is very good because now we have some more rallies like this coming."

The abrasive gravel stages on the Mediterranean island tore the FireUis apart leaving Solberg, Gronholm and the others on the Italian rubber to walk a tightrope. The FireUi rurmers had to try to balance some useful grip with ensuring they could make it back to the service park on each loop with air still in the tyres.

For Solberg it was a frustrating rally. He had hoped for a more competitive showing and believed he could take the fight to Loeb "Of course we were hoping to be fighting a little bit more with Sebastien but it didn't happen like that," said the Norwegian.

"I'm pleased to be second but it is a little bit boring and I get a little bit angry because I want to fight."

If Solberg was frustrated then the " management at Feugeot must be wondering just what they need to do to turn the troublesome 307 into a rally winner. The car is stiU yet to record a win this year and both Gronholm and team mate Markko Martin are openly hostile toward the machine after finishing fourth.

Both of the Feugeot drivers have had to try a lot harder than their opponents to match times and balance is hard to find compared with the all-conquering 206 it replaced.

"We have to carry the car as well, it is very difficult but at least we have a reliable car, it seems I still have to learn how to drive the 307. I'm doing the best I can," said a downcast Martin.

Even if Gronholm had not lost time with his rollover he would have been

58

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hard pressed to match the winner.

"We were really trying, this result is OK but it is not only the tyres; we have to improve," admitted Gronholm at the end.

Ford had another mediocre

motorsportnews

r

performance after a bright start to the season. The blue oval brought two points scorers home ahead of the many Focus privateers. Toni Gardemeister started slowly and moved up the order only to suffer a loss of oil pressure on the last stage of the second leg. While the problem only cost him five minutes Gardemeister finished fifth and might have fought off Martin to finish higher had it not happened.

Gardemeister was backed up by team-mate Roman Kresta. Coming off the back of his embarrassing shakedown rollover in New Zealand, Kresta was able to take sixth and another reasonable points score for the manufacturer in a solid if unimpressive performance.

Discarded Subaru and Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen was on a mission to prove his speed and worth to his former bosses and went some way toward doing that with a rapid performance on Day 1 and 2.

Driving a two-year-old Focus, Hirvonen showed speed he had failed to reveal in his works drives and was third at the end of day one but went off midway through Day 2 ending his run.

Mitsubishi can take heart from the speed shown by the much maligned Lancer WRC with Gigi Galli mixing it in the top three on Day 1 before tearing a wheel off the car and Harri Rovanpera very nearly pulling off a podium until a small error on the last day put him out of the rally.

Rovanpera was holding off a hard charging Gronholm in the battle for the final podium position, extended his slim advantage on the final day's opening stage until he went off onthe last comer of second test and broke the Mitsubishi's front suspension. Both Galli and Rovanpera will be forces in the coming rallies if they keep their cars on the road Finn Juuso Pykalisto took eighth

place in a private Xsara picking up ; one point despite a gearchange problem which potentially robbed him of a chance at sixth.

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A massive rollover for Belgian ' Francois Duval on Day 1 put him back on the outer with Citroen

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management but he did manage to redeem himself in a small way He was incredibly able to restart after a massive rebuild job and managed to pick up manufacturers' points for Citroen.

Daniel Sordo did a fine job, winning the JWRC class in the Citroen, which now seems to have a match for Suzuki's recentlydominant Ignis.

As the championship moves on to a string of tough Mediterranean gravel rallies, heat dust and rocks will set the agenda for the key protagonists and the Pirelli runners will be praying for something that may put them on an equal footing with Michelin.

1 t:

1 Sebastien Loeb F Daniel Elena Mon 2 Fetter Solberg Phil Mills

;

Citroen Xsara 4:06:33.7

N 6B

Subaru Impreza 4:07:33.3

3 Marcus Gronholm Fin Timo Rautianen Rn 4 Markko Martin Est Michael Park GB 5 Toni Gardemeister Fin Jakke Honkanen Fin 6 Roman Kresta Cze Jan Mozn Cze

Peugeot 307 4:09:41.0 Peugeot 307 4:10:46.0 Ford Focus RS 4:15:03.0 Ford Focus RS 4:16:02.9 Ford Focus RS 4:16:33.5 Citroen Xsara 4:16:54.9

7 Anthony Warmbold D Michael Orr GB 8 Jusso Pykalisto Fin Mika Gvaskainen Rn

Drivers' Points: Loeb 35, Solberg 34, Martin 28, Gronholm 26, Gardemeister 24, Rovanpera 11.

Manufacturers' Points: Peugeot 54, Citroen 43, Subaru 36, Ford 33, Mitsubishi 24, Skoda 5.

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The Subarus won (we think), Mitsubishi struggled, while the Toyotas were Ineligible but fast JON THOMSON watched an intriguing APRC battle in the national capital

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UBARU may have claimed the first four spots on the finish ramp at the Rally of Canberra two weeks ago, but with one Impreza already excluded and the fate of the other three resting with the FIA,it may not turn out to be such a jubilant start to the season for the blue army.

Days of dust and hard work on the rally roads through the desolate,fireravaged hiUs around the national capital rewarded Cody Crocker with a win m the opening Asia-Padfic and Australian Manufacturer's Championship round, however the spectre of exclusion hangs over the team.

Crocker, along with second-placed team-mate Dean Herridge and thirdplaced driver Juha Kangas in the new Subaru satellite team, are awaiting the ruling of the FIA after Australian scrutineers identified "inconsistencies" with the differentials of the three Subarus and referred the matter to the world governing body for determination.

Scrutineers foimd plates in the front diffs which apparently differed from those homologated by Subaru, and a tense wait for the FIA's ruling is now being endured by Subaru and its team. If they are excluded, the results could turn a Subaru benefit to a Mitsubishi trifecta.

Aral, who finished fourth(and first of the APRC runners), was excluded for having bolts in his car's front differential casing welded up, handing top points m the regional title chase to Finn Jussi Vahmaki in his Indian MRF-entered Mitsubishi Lancer.

60

The drama followed a dominant run by the Subarus, with Crocker and Herridge engaged in a time swapping battle across both days with no-one in the main APRC field able to match the times of the leading Australians.

"My smile is getting bigger every day. We won China, we won NZ,and to cap it off in Canberra has been wonderful," said Crocker immediately after the rally.

"We had a really smooth weekend.

We took the approach of driving one corner at a time, and we didn't try to push any stages too hard."

However,Subaru and its drivers were making no comment following post-event scrutineering, when the results were placed in doubt. It wUl be an uncomfortable wait for the team that has dominated Australian rallying for the past nine years.

Scott Redder, making his debut in the Alan Heaphy-run semi-works Mitsubishi team, was closest to the mark early in the rally, but was still not fast enough to put pressure on the blue cars. Two punctures after hitting large rocks slowed Redder on Day 1, dropping him to eighth. While he was able to move back up to fifth by the end of the rally, more pace is needed to match the Subarus and even the Toyotas.

"It's nothing to do with the tyres, or the tyre choice that the team made," said Redder.

"We'd been over rocks 100 times bigger than the one that caused our last puncture, but we just managed to hit it the wrong way."

With the locally-homologated Toyota Group N P Corollas unable to run head-to-head with Subarus in an FIA championship, rally organisers ran a separate event, the Capital Rally, with cars trailing the main rally by 10 minutes, which allowed the Toyotas to score points in the opening ARC manufacturer's round without actually competing against the APRC field.

With only 19 cars entered for the Rally of Canberra,the back-up Capital Rally was essential to ensure a decent field bringing another 29 starters to the event. The Toyotas . posted some seriously fast times and at times would have led the Subarus and the event if included in the main field. As it was,small, niggly problems including punctures, a broken driveshaft and a broken intercooler slowed their progress but not before they showed the competitive potential that the newlyallowed freedoms have unlocked.

Despite the problems,Evans and Bates were pleased to get a strong hitout before the opening ARC drivers' roimd in WA,with the Corollas taking a one-two in the Capital Rally segment.

"The weekend was up and down with the car's mechanicals," Evans said.

"It feels better than ever before and when that happens the driver feels more confident. We're ready for WA, and we want to fight."

Mixed in amongst the Australians was the tiny contingent of competitive APRC runners were

Need more trophy space: Cody Crocker, above, has won a lot of silverware over the past couple of years, and now he has to make room for a bit more after cleaning up in Canberra.

Life's Good: If your car was as quick as the Toyota underneath Simon and Sue Evans, right, you'd be happy too.

simply not in the fight.

The Indian MRF Tyres team had new Finnish recruit Valimaki partnering Katsu Taguchi in a pair of Evo VIII Lancers, while Kiwis Geof Argyle and Brian Green fronted in similar machines with Total and SDverstone backing. Arai was the leading Subaru runner registered for APRC points, while a brace of Kiwi and Japanese runners filed in behind.

APRC regulars such as the Top Run Subaru effort for Nico Caldarola and Karamjit Singh in his Proton were absent in what was one of the most lacklustre fields since the title started in the late 80s.

Herridge had the handicap of starting first car on the road on Day 1, cleaning the gravel for those behind, and finished the opening leg 29 seconds behind his team-mate.

Arai slotted into third ahead of Kangas, who appeared to spend the opening leg learning his new Subaru.

Taguchi had a rally he would

motorsporinews

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Sign here: Herridge, above, again chased Crocker all the way to the final stage, leaving the rest of the field to fight over the scraps.

New beginnings: Scott Redder, above, was hobbled by punctures in his first hit-out with the

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rather forget. The 1999 APR champion was forced out on Saturday morning with a broken diff, and he returned for the second leg only to land badly over a jump.

He limped on for several kilometres before stopping in the stage where both driver and co driver Mark Stacey were treated for minor injuries. They were taken to hospital as a precaution, but later released.

Vahmaki had a brilliant opening heat and took third, out-driving Arai in the last two stages of the day to leapfrog the Japanese diver.

Arai turned the tables on the stages on Day 2 as the Einn took a conservative approach,finishing fifth behind Kangas and Arai, only to be given fourth after Arai's exclusion.

4 May 2005

"We've had a good result heading to round two in New Caledonia and I'm very pleased Arai isn't competing here!" Valimaki joked after the event.

ARC Privateer Cup winner Brad Goldsborough drove the wheels off his Impreza on Day 1 and was in sixth place at the end of the day. It was all shattered when he hit a kangaroo on the early morning transport stage to the opening test on Sunday. The roo damaged the car's radiator and intercooler too badly for the Sydney driver to go on, and he was out of the rally.

The Sydney privateer APRC regular Argyleout-drove on Day 1 in a lacklustre performance from the Kiwi who was,in fairness,looking for a consistent points finish against

his rivals for the regional title.

The rally was also the opening round of the Subaru RS Challenge, and the fight came down to a threeway battle between Eli Evans, Will Orders and Gavan Mosher. Evans led for most of the time swapping times with Orders until becoming beached in a dust hole mid-way through Sunday.

Stuck fast, the luckless Evans was out of the battle, handing the win to Orders, with Mosher taking second in the one-make standings The Subaru team can only sit and wait rmtil the FIA rules on the diffs, a ruling that could alter the course of the 2005 ARC manufacturer's title.

Whatever happenes, it is sure to be a tense and hard-fought opening ARC round in WA mid-way through May.

1 Cody Crocker I PaieWoscatt 2 Dean Herridge Bill Hayes 3 Juba Kangas - Julia Rabbett 4 Toshibiro Arai Tony Sercgmbe 5 Jessie Valimaki MarkoKallible.

6 Scott Redder Glen Weston 7 GeofArgyie GrantMarra 8 Brian Green

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Subaru 2hS5mi:9s Subaru 2fi56mri0,8s Subaru 2bPmM.4s Subaru 2h57m56.2s Mitsubishi 2h58ml5.0s Mitsubishi 3h02ni08.0s Mitsubishi >3h02m3210s Mitsubishi

- Fleuf Oedersen »>?4g3b13.33.8 SUBARU CAPITAL RALLY: Simon Evans/Sue Evans 2h56m32.8s, Neal Bates/Coral Taylor 2h59m23.7s, John Stilling/Frank Brookhouse 3hllm02.4s, Will Orders/Toni Feaver3hllm53.6s.

Results provisional at time ofpublication.

APRC Rally of Canberra 61

Nine Reasons To Be Cheerful MITSUBISHI is aiming to recapture the upper hand in the Production Car category of World Rallying and believes its new rally weapon,the Lancer EVO IX, will be given Group N homologation approval by the FIA in September.

With a variable valve timing MTVEG engine, the new Lancer is expected to be more of a match for the Subaru teams, which have been hard to beat over the past two seasons in Group N. The MIVEC engine will give an increase in low and mid-range torque, while also making the car easier to drive.

Mitsubishi Motor Sports Director Isao Torii says that Group N is an important part of the Mitsubishi mix,but has to deliver more returns for the investment Mitsubishi makes in it.

sutton-images.com ;

WRC at Xmas?

FROM the 'what will they think of next' file, suggestions have been made that the WRC should move to an OctoberMarch format in a move to stay clear of clashes with F1.

Management of TV rights holding company International SportsWorld Communicators has discussed the proposal, and FIA World Rally Commission President Jacques Regis is also said to be willing to consider it.

However, ISC owner David Richards stressed that it was merely a suggestion and that there were no immediate plans for such a radical change. He said that stability was the immediate priority.

"It's just one of a range of things," Richards said.

"It has come up because of a congested summer calendar. You can imagine how long it would take to bring in."

"The key thing for television is to get a condensed calendar," ISC Managing Director Simon Long argued.

"I would firmly argue at the moment that having 16 events over 11 months is not mediafriendly. It does not allow broadcasters to commit to regular schedules, because they are not able to put on a regular, bi-weekly fix.

Straddling two years is only one of the ideas currently in circulation. Promotion and relegation for World Championship rallies is also under consideration.

- JOIN! THOMSON 62

THERE was some keen time watching at the Rally of Canberra, as the Subaru and Mitsubishi teams watched the three works Corollas clock some truly competitive times, only 10 minutes behind the last FIAsanctioned competitor.

With the Group N P Corollas assigned to the. separate national event, they could not compete head-tohead with FIA-homologated Subarus and Mitsubishis.

Many of the leading runners were quick to point out the speed of Simon Evans, Neal

"Mitsubishi management has asked us to consider this as a profit centre, not a cost centre," Torii said.

"I don't want to make a big profit, but at least we want to break even, and at the moment it is not doing that."

The Mitsubishi World Championship rally team,based in Rugby in the UK, is expected to take more of a hand in future technical development.

Meanwhile,in another move aimed at returning the three diamonds to its Group N glory days,long-time Ralliart operative Jun Nakamura will resume control of customer liaison in Japan.

- JONTHOMSON Bates and Ben Barker in the Toyotas at various points during the weekend. Simon Evans would have led the,rally after six stages, and both ' Bates and Barker were in the top halve dozen when compared directly to the top cars in the FIA event.

In fairness, it must be pointed out that with a 10 minute dust gap and some well-swept roads on many stages, Evans enjoyed near-perfect conditions. At others. Bates was slowed to a crawl in blinding dust, while the roads on some stages were more like furrowed paddocks

after 20 cars in front had been I over them.

Let's hope that the freedoms that Toyota has been given will deliver some real competitiveness so that we have a true three-way battle this year.

Subaru and Mitsubishi may be bleating a bit, but they l ●-4 need to remember that with three manufacturers, the whole series is going to give them more profile.

And if they thought Toyota plays hardball, just wait until Ford turns up later this year!

- JON THOMSON

We Have Arrived

Neil Bhickhourn

motorsportnews

RALIYINC

WRC for Ireland?

Turning Japanese

DID you hear the one about the Irish round of the World Rally Championship?

No seriously, it's not a joke. Ireland is preparing to make a bid for a round of the WRC and the campaign has the financial backing of the Irish government.

Irish Minister of Tourism and Sport John O'Donoghue has confirmed that the government will contribute more than $1 million to the inaugural Rally Ireland in October.

This year's event will be a dress rehearsal for 2006, when Motorsport Ireland hopes to have the event observed for World Championship status in 2007.

The all-new rally will be based in Sligo, with a service area in Enniskillen, and will be a mixed event, with tarmac stages in the south and forest tracks across the border in Northern Ireland.

Gronholm looking at Suzuki for 2006

CALL it a final superannuation top up, or a chance to help give a new manufacturer a leg up in the WRC, but word is out that Marcus Gronholm is negotiating to sign with Suzuki for a final year in the WRC in 2006.

Gronholm is a free agent at the end of this season folilowing Peugeot's withdrawal, and has admitted to holding talks with the Japanese manufacturer.

"I have not made any decisions about next year just yet," said Gronholm. "I will be making a decision around the middle of the year.

Gronholm is a good friend of Suzuki Sport Europe's competition chief Risto Laine, who confirmed that the team is interested in Gronholm but that nothing had been signed as yet. j - JON THOMSON

n First there was Allan Grice MR now the good people of Bassendean, an outer Eastern suburb of Perth, are being given the opportunity to elect five-time Australian Rally Champion Ross Dunkerton to the local council.

Dunkerton, who is well known to WA TV audiences through a number of commercials he appears in locally, not to mention his exploits on Channel Seven lifestyle shows in the west, is standing for the council using the slogan 'I won't toy around with the issues'.

Acting as 'team coach' at Alan Heaphy's Mitsubishi team this year, Dunkerston's tilt at local government could be the first step towards political career.His How to Vote card is tagged, 'As my boss at Mitsubishi would say: if you can find a better candidate, vote for them!'

- JON THOMSON

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Rickardsson holds out Aussies and then needed a dramatic last bend

by TONY MILLARD AN injured Tony Rickardsson has defeated the Aussie contingent in the opening Grand Prix of the season at the Olympic Stadium in Wroclaw.

Mildura rider Leigh Adams and defending Champ Jason Crump were second and third respectively,just edging the youngest rider in the field, 19 year-old Brazilian-bom Swede Antonio Lindback, off the podium.

But the performance of the night came from five-times world champion Rickardsson, who produced an amazing performance with seven wins in seven rides to win the event.

Afterwards, he revealed that he almost pulled out before the meeting started. He was in such pain with a back injury two days before that he was prepared to withdraw rather than risk long-term damage.

But after curtailing his practice sessions on Friday, Rickardsson went through the card at

dash round Poland's Jaroslaw Hampel to clinch his place in the final.

"It was a tough night and it is back to the drawing board as far as my gating is concerned," he said."But I do prefer the new system and we got out of jail by getting to the final so I have to be pleased with second place."

Crump was philosophical. po*-AN0 "Maybe this wasn't the perfect way to start the defence of my World title, but I had my worst meeting of 2004 in Wroclaw. Seven wins from seven rides, and with it Wroclaw last year so third isn't so bad."

Young Lindback, who could have become the his 15th Grand Prix victory.

Rickardsson, Adams and Crump all voiced their youngest rider ever to win a GP, did remarkably well to reach the final and looked set for third approval of the new Grand Prix format, which now overall until passed by Crump on the last lap. sees each of the 16 riders having five rides to Melbourne man Ryan Sullivan never settled to qualify for the semi-finals. the track conditions, not finding a win in his five "I am so pleased to have got through the heats and just missing the semis. meeting," said Rickardsson."I was very worried before the start but it is tough having seven rides. I Points: Rickardsson 25, Adams 20, Crump 18,Lindback 16, Greg would not have wanted an eighth!"

Hancock 11, Nicki Pedersen 10, Hampel 10, Andreas Jonsson 8, Sullivan 7,Tomas Gollob 6.

Adams had to battle his way to the semi-finals Pari$(3ati^

fOOTOOMBA'S Andrew scheuerle hadleffectively reftred after last year>,his teamiihad ibeeii'soldi off and ihe had liiffle prospect of drives ibeyondifhe OGcasionail After a controversial night ofTracing last Saturday iheeiaihied:a lOngi awaitedfirst Queensland' Sprintcar Chaniipionship.

The resuJts were disputed 'long: after the event, but eventuaiy RfCky lyiiitchell and' Sydney racer iMairtin Lawes were given'the trophies for second and thiirdt "'Dairrelii (IHodges!)amd' P'obbiei)iPairrie were ipretty decent,'" said'the’new Champ.

"The fiirst .h’ailf of the race we ihadi the car a litfIe tight and we Stpugglled'to Ihaing: with them,then just before 64

they crashed !|' sta rted:to get 0.n th e back of them. linti the last liQ. laps the track reallly came to'US." ; fa tsp andi Hodges hadi ! dentiiliii ated:the race <u hti lap 2'11„when the pair pirouettedi into the infield locked togethe r at th e n ose after ai i brieathtahiing duel. This ;put S'cheue itle iintp ah uintrouibiedi i lead with fO laps to go. : Wahless clrnibed'lihto ' second afte r twice restafting fromi the’ rear, but those two Stall’S subsegiuently had'him dfeguaified. Ihiis pronhoted; Ricky Mitchell; into second' poaitiohi after a'focused diriwe through the chaos, which saw hto wiiiiii the better Of several duels on'the way to the'Chegiuier. ^ MARljE JONES

XXXX Brazier

GARRY Brazier claimed the $10,000 XXXX Bitter Austraiian Sprintcar Open on Aprii 29/30 at Brisbane international Speedway, with a drive that beiied his iack of recent racing, demonstrating once again his and his crew’s abiiity.

Brazier lead home the first local Todd Wanless to his third consecutive second position, with World Series Champion Max Dumesny third. The top three pushed each other hard for most of the event, with Wanless leading for several laps.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Brazier. “It’s always devastating when you’re leading and someone drives past you. I knuckled down and got the elbows up, and we got back past Todd (Wanless).

“From the first lap we turned last night in the heat we got the car rolling around the corner really well. My Dad deserves it, he puts a lot of effort into our race cars.”

After losing an hour to the weather. Brazier launched at the start of the A-Main, with Farr in pursuit. For nine laps Farr pushed Brazier hard until a clash behind the slower car of Farr’s team-mate Drew Kruck ended with Farr’s front axle torn.

A lap later, Wanless had pushed into the lead. For over 10 laps Wanless led until seizing an opportunity. Brazier blasted past down the back chute. The pair, with Dumesny hard behind, spent the majority of the race snapping at each other’s heels until Brazier skipped away with four to go. Jimmy Sills was a lonely fourth ahead of Bell, Scheuerle and Hodges.

-MARK JONES

SPEEDWAY

Aussie Onslaught Aussie Titan team gets first Worid of Outiaws win while Tatneli stars for Rush

AUSTRALIA is being proudly represented in arguably the world's toughest motorsports series, the World of Outlaws Sprintcar Championship, in 2005, with an Australian driver and an Australian team both proving remarkably successful.

Two weeks ago. Reeve Kruck's Ttan Racing team, with Oklahomanative Daryn Pittman at the wheel, claimed its first Outlaws feature win at 81 Speedway, Wichita, Kansas. _ 'They're all good, E but this win ranks probably as high Is as my first one," W said Pittman, who || held out Steve m Kinser in the |l closing stages to B take the win. n Third on the B night was B Australian B Champion Brooke B Tatneli, above

right, who was second to Kinser the week before at Tri-State Speedway.

Since sorting the US Immigration hassles that prevented him from attending early rounds, Tatneli and his Rush: Racing team have been on fire, scoring four top-five feature results from eight rounds. Tatneli was also awarded starting points for the rounds he missed, elevating him to 17th in the standings.

Last weekend at Knoxville Raceway both teams had forgettable weekends, while Kinser again took the feature win, and Danny Lasoski the preliminary feature.

Ryan Farrell Hometown Hero PCR-bound TOP-LINE Sprintcar racing ventured to the red centre two weeks ago, with some of Australia's best teams

journeying to Alice Springs's Arunga Park Speedway for the Alice Springs Sprintcar Championship.

Local young gim Darmy Reidy used his home track knowledge to grab victory in the action packed 20lap final in front a capacity crowd.

Reidy, right, started the feature race along side top points scorer Trevor Green, but at the drop of the flag Reidy pounced around the outside of Green to set the pace and from that point on Reidy managed to open up a handy break over Green and Darwin's Ben Atkinson.

"It was great to win in front of the home crowd,along with the

f

majority of my sponsors," said a satisfied Reidy."Being my home track,I really wanted to put on a strong performance,especially with the Ukes of(Max)Dumesny and Green in town."

-PARIS CHARLES

WEST Australian driver Ryan Farrell looks likely to be a regular starter at Parramatta City Raceway next summer.

The Sprintcar livewire had a taste of PCR action during the recent NSW 41 Del Sprintcar title and but for a mechanical failure, many believe he would have gone on to win.

His father John Is believed to be seriously Investigating establishing an operation In Sydney, where Ryan would commute from Perth to compete at PCR. There may also be an opportunity for Farrell to drive for another operation.

Outlaws Downunder III date set PARRAMATTA City Raceway has confirmed the 19th to the 21st of January 2006 as the date for the third Outlaws Downunder event.

The event will again feature ail of the 'Mean 15' World of Outlaws Sprintcar Series runners, as well as a host of other top American and Australian drivers.

On current interest, PCR owner and promoter Brian Healey expects the 2005 number of 24 American drivers to be broken.

"Everywhere I go in the USA I have teams asking how they too can get over to Australia for our event," said Healey. n Recent clarification of other major Sprintcar events has ensured that no major date clashes are likely at this stage. Warmambool's Grand Annual Classic will run the week after Outlaws on January 27-28 and the Australian Sprintcar Title currently scheduled for Brisbane International Speedway in Queensland on February 3-5. n Max Dumesny has been voted the Driver of the Year in the prestigious Australian Sprintcar Poll held by the National Sprintcar Hall of Fame Museum at the Knoxville Speedway in Iowa, USA. Dumesny beat Robbie Farr, Kerry Madsen, Donny Schatz and Brooke Tatneli to the honour, which is bestowed on the premier Sprintcar driver from the Australian Speedway season past- Dumesny recorded a record sixth World Series Sprintcar crown in 2004/05. Farr's team owner Reeve Kruck was awarded Team Owner of the Year.

World Series Sprintcars CEO Wade Aunger was presented with Promoter of the Year, as well as Media Personality of the Year. Fellow driving force behind WSS Mandy Searle earned an Outstanding Achievement to the Sport, as did West Australian engine builder and team owner Geoff Kendrick. Fellow WA boy Ryan Farrell was fittingly named Wildcard of the Year.

South Australia also featured prominently in the awards, with Maxwill Engine's Peter Morris winning Builder/Manufacturer of the Year, and Dylan Jenkin Rookie of the Year.

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81 Speedway Park 23/04/05 1, 2 3 4 5 6 7.

8 10

.Daryn Pittman . .Steve Kinser .Brooke Tatneli .Jason Meyers . . .Kraig Kinser .Danny Lasoski Paul McMahan .Jason Solwold . .Tim Kaeding .Donny Schatz

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Sammy Swindell ..Craig Dollansky Tim Shaffer ... .Terry McCarl . ...Stevie Smith Jason Sides ●Brandon Wimmer . . .Jesse Hockett . . . .Peter Murphy Joey Saldana

2005 Standings to 23 April 2005 1 Steve Kinser 2 Craig Dollansky 3 Kraig Kinser .

4 Jason Meyers 5 Danny Lasoski 6 Donny Schatz 7 Daryn Pittman 8 Joey Saldana .

9 Tim Kaeding .

10 Paul McMahan

2350 2250 2179 2167 2127 .2117 2021 2005 1989 1968

1961 11 Tim Shaffer .. . 1894 12 Shane Stewart 1842 13 Terry McCarl .

1825 14 Brian Paulus . . 1823 15 Jason Solwold 1815 16 Jason Sides .. . 1770 17 Brooke Tatneli 18 Brandon Wimmer.. 1618 19 Sammy Swindell . . .1371 1333 20 Mark Kinser

65

Is*

B

EN Bray stretched his unbeaten victory run to 21 consecutive wins in Top Doorslammer at Willowbank Raceway on the Anzac weekend.

The lone Team Bray entry also wrapped up the 2004-05 Championship with his final round victory over Steve Stanic. In Pro Stock, defending Champion Tony Wedlock won his first round for the season and the Supercharged Outlaws class saw another new first time winner.

Victor Bray sat out his first event in 27 years following doctor's orders, leaving Ben in his Castrol/Super Cheap Auto '57 Chev to take the fight to the Doorslammer pack. Bray

mmiant run of wins continued at WHIowbank

signaled his intentions from the outset with his first qualifying effort, resulting in a wild 6.06s blast at 234mph. He never improved on this time in the remaining two sessions, and was also content to sit out all of

with problems of their own.

Aaron Lynch was the only person on Day 2 to improve, recording his best-ever numbers in his B&L Steel '63 Corvette, going 6.14s/236mph on his second practice run, which gave him a glimmer of hope for his first round confrontation with Bray.

Unfortunately for Lynch,Bray produced a 6.08s/237mph, with the car almost becoming airborne at midtrack! Lynch's 6.78s at 217mph was OK,but never looked like being a threat.

the practice sessions allotted to Day 2.

Gary Pliillips put his Lucas Oils Products Studebaker into the second spot on the qualifying list with a 6.15s/234mph. Stanic followed closely in third with a 6.23s in the Lucky Belleri Camaro and Peter Kapiris showed a glimpse of his old form to round out the top half of the field with his 6.32s/222mph. Brett Stevens only managed fifth best with his 6.42s, while Robin Judd, Maurice Fabietti and Aaron Lynch all dealt

’●Ai

Phillips defeated Maurice Fabietti in his first round race with Kapiris and Stanic also advancing.

Stanic produced a monster holeshot victory over Phillips in the

second round to meet Bray(who defeated Kapiris)in the final.

Stanic put a holeshot on Bray in the final, but his 6.14s/244mph was not quite good enough for Bray's best ET of the event, a 6.03s/237mph.

Wedlock's produced a masterful performance in the final round of Pro Stock to defeat Dave Rogan. Wedlock settled for third spot in qualifying, out-gunned by Jason Grima and Denis Whiting. Rogan qualified fourth.

The first round of eliminations resulted in only one real upset, with Aaron Tremayne taking the win over top qualifier Grima, who jumpstarted.

Other first round winners included Rogan, Wedlock and Whiting.

s

Podium people: Steve Stanic's Camaro, above, was quick, but not fast enough to knock off Ben Bray, top. The Atholwood/Smith Top Fuel team, above right, almost broke into the 4s bracket with its only run of the weekend, while Pro Stock was fought between Wedlock, below, and Rogan, below right.

N & WACKER ■

motorsport news

DRAC RACING

Rain won't stop Kalitta

Rogan ended Tremayne's dream debut in the second round with a classy 7.32s/186mph pass to advance to the final to meet Wedlock, who won a tight race over Whiting in the other semi.

The final was a classic. Both Wedlock and Rogan refused to fully stage their cars, before Rogan finally pulled the full stage beams. Wedlock held out for almost the entire allowable 20s and finally came in to full stage and put the biggest holeshot of eliminations on Rogan,his 0.3s advantage on the start line, and a 7.34s/185mph good enough to hold off Rogan's quicker 7.31s at 187mph.

The Atholwood/Smith Top Fuel team used the event for valuable testing time and surprisingly recorded their best-ever numbers on their one and only trip down the quarter. A 5.01s at 277mph was a great effort by the under-funded team,but damaged slicks and lack of spares prevented them from returning to run their first ever 4s pass.

The Supercharged Outlaws bracket featured two relative newcomers to the class in the final. Russell Mackay in his Sainty-powered '63 Corvette and former Comp Eliminator champion Jon Sting made their way through the rounds defeating all the regulars for an all six second affair in the final.

Sting took the start line advantage over Mackay but broke out of the gate early by just 0.0023s, which handed Mackay the win with a 6.85s/207mph.

Other wirmers at the event include Colin Lloyd in Supercomp, Damian Densmore in Comp Bike, Dave Mullins in Modified, Ricky Steffens in Super Sedan, Matthew McKnight in Super Street, David Rundmarm in Modified Bike, Garreth Butler in Junior Dragster, and John Parker in the Screamin' Eagle Street Harley class.

-KEN FERGUSON 4 May 2005

DOUG Kalitta, Gary Sceizi, and Warren Johnson were victorious at the O'Reiiiy NHRA Thunder Valiey Nationals at a rain-plagued Bristol Dragway last weekend.

Kalitta used a holeshot to close out first-time finalist Rod Fuller to get the Top Fuel win by just fivethousandths of a second. Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster stopped the timers in 4.59s/322mph to defeat the quicker and faster 4.58s/327mph of Fuller.

Kalitta enjoyed his share of luck in the opening round when he lost traction and clocking a 6.87s/148mph pass. Fortunately for Kalitta, opponent Bruce Litton had red-lighted. Fie got another red-light win against team-mate Dave Grubnic in round two before posting a 4.56/322 against surprise semi-finalist Scott Palmer. ‘Aussie’ Grubnic had earlier beaten points leader Tony Schumacher.

Fuller advanced into his first pro final when he beat Mitch King, John Smith, and Scott Weis. Earlier, Smith had upset Scott Kalitta, while

Weis took out Cory McClenathan and low qualifier Brandon Bernstein. Fuller's runner-up effort earned him a spot In the top 10.

Sceizi scored his win over Jeff Arend in the Funny Car final with a 4.81s/329.26mph, the fastest pass ever at Bristol Dragway. The victory moved Sceizi from eighth to fourth place In the standings.

Fle's now just 63 points behind POWERade point leader Whit Bazemore, who was tossed out in the first round along with John Force.

Johnson’s winning run continued with his 800th elimination-round win. He beat round Richie Stevens with a 6.75s/203mph.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Streak Continues TOP Fuel driver Clay Millican extended his amazing winning streak at Rockingham Dragway to eight consectutive wins at the 35th annual IHRA Spring Nationals.

Other Pro category winners included A1 Billes in Pro Modified, Steve Spiess in Pro Stock and Mark Thomas, who earned his third-consecutive Spring Nationals title in Alcohol Funny Car. After defeating Paul Athey and Bobby Lagana in the opening two rounds, Millican, right, recorded his quickest pass of the weekend in the final (4.66s/307mph) on a single after Cooper broke during his burnout.

Billes won in Pro Mod for the second straight time at The Rock, but it was his first IHRA tour victory since teaming with engine builder and car owner Jim Cddy. In the final, Billes recorded a winning 6.16s/230mph in the Summit Racing '53 Corvette to edge the 6.20s/229mph of low qualifier Quain Stott.

Spiess claimed his second IHRA career victory by defeating chassis builder Jerry Haas in the final round.

I 'O007U-

6.43s/214mphto 6.52s/ 214mph.

Five-time series champion Mark Thomas moved into the Alcohol Funny Car points lead, taking advantage of Rob Atchison's rare round one loss. Thomas used a final round pass of 5.85s/240mph to defeat Melinda GreenKing, who shook the tyres.

The Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series continues at Virginia Motorsports Park with the ACDelco Nationals May 26-28.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Splatt unveils new car ‘QUEEN of Speed' Rachelle Splatt will make her return to Top Fuel drag racing at the Snap-On Tools Nitro Championships at the Western Sydney International Dragway on May 13-15.

Splatt's comeback will be behind the wheel of a car which has just landed in Australia. A major sponsor is yet to be signed, but associate support will come from Dragway Performance Engineering, Bob Jane T-Marts, Smart Aluminium, Dickies and The Creative Ones.

Splatt set the drag racing world alight in the early 1990s, winning the Australian Nationals on debut, setting both national and international records, along with also becoming the first female driver in the world to break the 300mph (480km/h) barrier.

n Huntsville Dragway promoter George Howard and Drag Racing Online will host an eighth-mile drag racing extravaganza.

The Rocket City Nationals, slated for July 1-3, will reflect Huntsville, Alabama's connection with NASA and the U.S. space program.

Among those entered thus far for the $101,000-To-win Top Fuel race will be defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Tony 'The Sarge' Schumacher in the U.S. Armysponsored dragster. Team owner Don Schumacher has joined with George Howard to offer free admission for this event to all activeduty military personnel who show a current I.D. card.

IHRA dominator Clay Millican, as well as the Hartman Motorsports dragster driven by John Smith, are also early entrants. n Mike Ashley grabbed the win in the AMS/TLR Pro Mod Challenge at the NHRA Cajun Sports Nationals at No Problem Raceway.

Ashley, the defending AMS/TLR National Champion, defeated Frankie Taylor for his second win in as many weeks with a 6.17s/230mph to 6.20s/228mph.

The win closes the gap between Ashley and point's leader Jay Payne.

Payne went out in Round 1 in a wild ride that took him from one side of the track to the other after getting out of the groove early in the run.

Prior to the final round, Ashley defeated Bill Hill, Chip King, and Perry Herring.

- STAFF/OSTASZEWSKI 67

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Locals win Targa - Garwood grabs close second - weather spoils Richards’ run

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four seconds off the lead at the start

ARGA Tasmania finally fell the way of local pair Jason and John White after a gripping five-day struggle on the Apple Isle.

The Whites were fast, yet cautious over the first four days and even had to contend with a hydraulic problem with their centre diff in Cethana on

the fourth day. But Sunday brought favourably wet conditions, which helped them seal their first Targa. It was a close-run thing though, with only six seconds splitting them from a late and inspired challenge from Greg Garwood and John Allen in a turbo-charged 4WD Porsche 911.

The win broke the 12-year drought of a local victory in the classic rally and after six years of trying themselves,Jason said that it was nice to finally get this one under their belt.

"It was a sweet relief," Jason White said. "We knew we couldn't relax too much today (Sunday) but we had enough of a lead not to take any risks and let the others eat into it a bit.

"Had it been a dry last day, the results would have been different that's why we trust our Nissan to do the job. There is no other car you'd rather be in, in conditions like today."

But the win could have gone to just about any of the leading competitors.

Wet weather at intermittant periods during the rally caught out a number of contenders, including the leading Lamborghini of Paul Stokell. He had his chance at the front of the pack and led at the end of the second day until an incident ruled him out, see breakout.

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of the last stage was terrific.

"If it was dry we would have been a chance. You definitely need a 4WD, we've tried two years in a row with a 2WD and we've been close.

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Top dogs: Stuart Appleby and Rex Broadbent both finished in the top 10.

For the second year in a row, seven-times winners Jim Richards and Barry Oliver were hampered by wet and cold conditions on the final day which saw their chances slip away in the rear-wheel-drive Porsche.

On Saturday night, Richards was a mere four seconds away from the Whites. But the snow, rain and ice which the drivers had to contend with for the irine stages between Burnie and Hobart was bad news for Richards and Oliver.

It has now become apparent that to win Targa, you must be in a four wheel drive, which the Whites use to their advantage and streaked away' for the win. Richards switched to the two-wheel-drive version two years ago and has now suffered two defeats. Is it time to switch back?

Despite the disappointing lose, Richards was as diplomatic as ever.

"Over 45 stages, our losing margin only equates to a second a stage," he calculated. "We knew if it was wet we would struggle, but to be only

Conditions vary so much and we've never had a completely dry Targa Tasmania."

Garwood displaced Richards one further spot on the final day and scored a great second place overall.

In the end, he was very close to winning the event outright, but admitted to leaving his charge too late.

"It's great to finish behind Jason and in front of Jim," Garwood said.

"We left our dash a bit late - we thought we might be quicker in the rain. We're a new team and it's a new car, but we worked together, particularly in the last two days when we had the quickest times on quite a few stages."

Two separate incidents spoiled two of the contender's chances of at least scoring a podium finish - or perhaps even a win. The treacherous Queenstown stage saw the third placed Porsche of Tony Quinn and Keith Wenn fall into a ditch.

Arrowed Mount: Warwick Rooklyn crashed his Mitsubishi Evo VII on the final day while in fifth place.

Shortly after at the Mt Arrowsmith stage, Warwick Rooklyn's Mitsubishi fell into retirement, which saw his co-driver, Linda Long, require some medical attention on the scene.

With Quirm and Rooklyn out of the picture, Victorian Rex Broadbent moved up the field to finish fourth in his Daytona Coupe, with Kevin Weeks a further lml9s behind him in

moiorsportnews

NATIONAL SCENE

The highs and lows of owning a Porsche: Greg Garwood, above, finished runner up,just mere seconds away from Jason White. Below, Tony Quinn's impressive run came to a soggy ending.

Beautiful one day, Tasmania the next: Above, Richards and Oliver finished third after being hampered by the slippery conditions, below, on

Sunday.

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Leader Loser a Porsche 911 GT2.

Queenslander's Scott Juniper and Dan Bowden scored seventh place in their Porsche,followed by Jeff and Nerida Beable in the first Mazda home.Production car racer Ric Shaw teamed with James Parish to finish a hard-earned eighth.

In ninth place was an ecstatic Tony Longhurst, who revelled in the tricky conditions on the final day in his Subaru.

"The event is tougher than I expected,I was hopeful of a top 10 finish, and for us as rally rookies in a stock standard car is a fantastic result," Longhurst said.

In what was both the car and the driver's international race debut, Stuart Appleby and his Lamborghini Gallardo finished an outstanding 10th It's been a fantastic event for me,'

Appleby said."At the start of the week we would have never dreamed

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of a top 10 finish, so this is awesome.

The car was unbelievable,and my navigator Peter Burrey was great."

Bill Pye and Grant Geelan had maintain a solid spot in the Classic competition and were even making some of the modern contenders look average tmtil a late 10 minute speeding penalty saw the win handed to the Escot pair of Michel Conway and Simon Gardiner.

Outright honours in the Targa Tasmania Historic Competition went to Tasmanian husband and wife combo Graham and Pat Kent in their 1936 Ford Coupe.

In the touring classic competition, local driver and co-driver James PoweU-Davies and Nick McShane in their 1977 BMW Alpina trumped the class.

-968

THE modern competition was thrown wide open when Paul Stokell crashed his 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo during TS23 Cygnet Short, on Day 3 of Targa Tasmania.

Leading the event by 23 seconds at the start of the day, Stokell lost control around a fast, narrow right hand corner, rode up the embankment on

the left and crash his $400,000 Gallardo.

"It was a combination of driver error and conditions," Stokell said.

"I didn't think we were pushing that hard, but it was very slippery on that stage and I think it was just one of those occasions when you get caught out," / ■s.

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4 May 2005

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AMRSuccess

BOB Mtna

THE third round of the Australian Motor Racing Series saw a healthy crowd of nearly 5000 attend the Winton Raceway facility.

Jason Kerr won all four races in Formula Vee after swapping the lead with Paul Sexton numerous times.

Gavin Hendrick and David Frith fought out third place honours.

Sam Abay claimed each race in the Porsche 944 races with Kane Rose

A HEALTHY entry list at Malalla last weekend kickstarted the South Australian State Motor Racing Championship, with close to 100 cars fronting for the opening round.

Aidan Zanotto and Graeme Knuckey took two wins apiece in what was a large . and competitive Formula Ford field, above.

Knuckey took the overall points honours after Zanotto was handed a drive-through penalty in Race 1. Nic Percat, Barrie Binder and Shane Wright also figured strongly.

Asher Johnston dominated the tight Formula Vee . competition that ran behind the Formula Ford pack.

It was the Adam Allan and Mark Short show in Improved Production. The two staged a number of intense battles at the front of the field. Allan topped all four races ahead of Short; Anthony Wallis, Shaun Duns and Steve Knight all taking a turn in the minor positions.

Lyn Punshon dominated a small Sports Car field after a number of spirited battles with Carrera Cup driver Bryce Washington, it was a traditional Flolden vs Ford battle in the large Historic Touring Car field, Rob Vanderkamp scoring pole and the first two wins in his monster GT Falcon. XU1 Torana driver Ian Gear levelled the score in the final two heats.

Wayne King took three of the four HQ races ahead of an ever-competitive pack. Alan McFarlane scored a Race 1 win thanks to the lucky ballot qualifying draw which saw King start from the rear of the field.

- RICHARD CRAILL

and Brent Rose finishing second and third. In Race 2,Abay overcame a slow start before storming through the field to take the honours.

Sportscars saw David Stevens again take a clean sweep in his Porsche 996 GT2R after early battles with Luke Youlden in the Sakar SVS GT. Youlden was able to stretch out a long lead in each race but suffered numerous electrical problems late in each race which caused him to slow.

Youlden hung on for a fourth, second and DNF. Mark Eddy finished a strong day with two seconds and a third.

Mario Calgari convincingly won the first two races of Improved Production before mechanical failure struck. Paul Rule finished second in all three races with Tony Floreani also finishing third in all three races.

Rohan Ambrose took advantage of Calgari's DNF to win an exciting final race.

-JAMES SMITH

THE first round of the Australian Super Truck Nationals went the way of Rodney Crick after he won three from three at Winton Raceway last weekend.

Crick's speed,coupled with reliability, saw him topple the Super Truck and Light Truck contenders.

He set the fastest-ever truck lap at Winton (lm45.7517s) and was able to dodge the consistent turn one and two carnage, which saw at least one truck spear into a spin at the start of each race.

Trucking stalwart Bob Middleton put as much pressure on Crick as he could, but ultimately ran out of brakes and tyres and finished second in all three races. Kenworth driver Frank Amoroso fmished third overall.

Jeff Mackin fmished first in the Light Truck category followed by Graham Spencer and Stan Seton.

Volvo driver Colin Lovett was an unlucky participant in the opening comer crash in'Race 2 which produced a red flag and race restart.

Morgan's History Lesson

I 70

Crick, Pick

MORGAN Park Raceway was rocked last weekend by the sights and sounds of the Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland.

Nearly 200 cars gathered, with entries ranging from Formula 2s to Volkswagen Beetles.

Doug Partington brought his 1922 Wikner Ford Special out to play, right. It is thought that the Wikner Ford Special is the earliest surviving racing car that was made in Australia. The machine was built using parts made in 1918 by aircraft designer Geoff Wikner. The car runs a Model T Ford engine block with a RAJO O.H.V conversion, and grip comes through its (not so wide) 3.5 inch tyres.

Also in attendance were a bevy of Formula Junior cars, which were contesting the third round of their national series. Naturally, some of the cars came with excellent pedigrees.

Graham Brown’s 1962 Brabham BT2, only the third Brabham chassis ever made, is an ex-works car and had been raced overseas with success by Australian racing legend Frank Gardner, and later brought in to the country by Gavin Youl. Despite the cars being four decades old, the Formula Junior category provided amazing racing, with a nose separating Don Thallon’s Cooper BMC from Jonathon Williamson’s Lotus 22 over the line.

Another crowd favourite was the brilliantly brushed aluminium 1957 Lotus 11 Le Mans of Peter Yeomans, which won the Group K, L and Formula Junior handicap race.

A Ralt RT4 driven by Chris Farrell was untouchable in Racing Groups M, O, Q and R, and was trailed by a Cheetah Mk8 driven by Russ McBurnie.

In Sports Groups M, O, Q, R and S, Leslie Schwebel came through in a Cicada Ford, and Simon Phillips in his Holden Torana XU1 was a winner in Group N, Division 2.

- DARIUS KOREIS motorsportnews

1

NATIONAL SCENE

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Simon- Phillips won the M-a ppy fliiifthi ¥p©p'hy for ©roup N'Toranas whie Bob ©ox.

Brad' Harris a-nd iRrank Bindi-ng were victors in'the

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Luke loads up Ute STONE Brothers Racing V8 Supercar endurance driver Luke Youlden will drive a Kanga Loader's V8 Ute at Wakefield Park in Round 2 of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series in two weeks time.

Youlden steps into the Kanga Loaders Commodore usually occupied by Gary MacDonald, who'll be concentrating on his HPDC V8 Supercar drive on the same weekend.

It will be the second time Youlden

Rod Wilson secure the inaugural title.

"I had an absolute ball in the

has competed in the Ute series. His debut came at Sandown in the

Championship to race the Coopers Ford at Wakefield Park, which is now fully rebuilt from its Adelaide crash.

categor/s first season, where he helped

4 May 2005

category and can't wait to get back behind the wheel," the VIP Petfoods Carrera Cup driver said.

"Rod is again preparing the ute,so with a full test day behind us and new engines in aU of the Kanga utes, we expect to be right on the money."

Meanwhile,Denmark's Allan Simonsen will fly back from the first two rmmds of the British GT

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HOWARD Racing continued its winning ways in the second and final round of New Zealand's Southern Endurance Championship at Tlmaru International Raceway recently.

Regular HPDC V8 Supercar pilots Adam Macrow and Mark Howard teamed with car-owner Craig Cottle to form a three-driver team that no-one else could match. The car ran faultlessly throughout the race and was only

threatened when Macrow was involved in a late-race clash with a slower rival. The car is an ex-Howard Racing Falcon, below,that now resides in the hands of Cottle in New Zealand.

The win sealed the tworound championship for the team, which was contested by over 30 cars. Competitors ranged from Australian V8 Supercars,to Porsche GT3s and production-based cars, including a Toyota As. Starlet.

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ooo With a V8 test drive on the line and race results being delivered, Formula Fordster John Martin is in a prime position to take his career to the next level. GRANT ROWLEY reports OHM Martin's Formula Ford

jcareer only started three

months ago.

At the beginning of 2005, the Queenslander decided to link up with renowned Aussie chassis constructor Spectrum and contest the New South Wales and Victorian state Formula Ford championships.

Flis first test session came at Winton on the day that Victoria experienced its highest-ever recorded rainfall in a 24 hour period. It wasn't a dry initiation.

The week after, he debuted at Mallala, South Australia, in the first round of the Vic series. The meeting saw him pick up a podium finish and set the fastest race lap of the weekend. Good start.

Now, having contested two rounds of both Vic and NSW, Martin has won six races and been the round victor on three occasions. You might think that these feats aren't much to crow about at state level, but both championships enjoy quality and quantity amongst the ranks.

After only minor success in karting, he has learned the craft

of open wheel racing extremely quickly. Martin himself, though, was not expecting to be in this position.

"1 thought that if we could finish in the top 10, then we'll be doing well," he said modestly.

"We just wanted to learn as much as we could with the intention of entering the National championship next year. There's no doubt we've exceeded our expectations."

The early success has increased Martin's expectations and dragged his career path forward by a couple of years.

Originally, he envisaged a "three or four year" Formula Ford stint, but thanks to his rapid adaptation, new plans need to be made.

"I think I'm too old for FI!" the 20-year-old joked. "But Supercars would be a dream, really. I've always liked open wheel cars though, so maybe Formula 3 would be OK. 'When we went to Eastern Creek (round two of the NSW series), we were blown away with how fast we actually were.

I watched Joel Spychala on

Speedweek absolutely flog them in the last round of last year's NSW championship, so we knew he'd be quick. But yeah, we were very happy to be in front of National runners like Spychala and Brett Flobson."

Flis early success has also encouraged the team to enter him in two National Formula Ford rounds this year. Fie will make his debut at the third round of the series at Eastern Creek, where his first true test will be undertaken.

"It was actually a case of choosing between a test day or do the Eastern Creek round. I went alright at Eastern Creek the last time, so we will choose to do the National race there. I have no real expectation for results, so we'll .see what

few other areas, Martin was also quick to credit the strong results to the efforts of team owner Mike Borland.

"Fle's got that Spectrum going awesome this year. As soon as I hopped in the car on the first day, even though it was very wet, it was fast straight away."

So, with a great car, a fast driver and the results to back it up, Martin is in a great position for the remainder of the year. Fie sits fifth in the Victorian series, and leads both the NSW series and the Tasman Motorsport 'Search for a V8 Superstar' competition. If he maintains this form, his three month Formula Ford career may evolve into a lifetime of professional motor racing ...

tohn Moms/Mptf

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Marshall Cass

Michael Sam Abay is motor racing's version of a decathlete. CHRIS JORDAN asked him about Formula 3, karting, Porsches and anything else with an engine and steering wheel

M

OTORSPORT NEWS: Round 1 of Motorsport News KartStars saw you win both finals after some early problems in qualifying.

Did you expect Geelong to be a good round for you?

MICHAEL SAM ABAY: Weil, generally speaking, I have done quite well at Geelong every time I have been there, so 1 felt pretty confident that I could win.

But even at the tracks I don't know I will always make sure I feel confident, because without confidence, you don't have much. So I felt quite confident going into the first round that I could give it to the other boys.

MN: The top five or so guys in MNews KartStars are all really very accomplished drivers.

What will the winner have to do to stand above the rest and win the championship?

MSA: Endurance. In karting, the set-up of the karts can go off quite quickly. So if you have an endurance set-up and a driver with a bit of endurance in him or her, then that is a key formula for winning races.

MN: It is clear you are very serious about making a career out of motorsport. The prize on offer for MNews KartStars is certainly a step in the right direction.

MSA: Oh, for sure, I think Formula BMW, if I actually win the drive at the end of the championship and beat all the drivers to the prize, would be a great start to a better future.

Formula BMW and Formula 3 certainly, are both very good.

4 May 2005

MN: How do you find jumping from one car to the next? The three cars you are competing in this year are all very different(ED: Besides KartStars, Abay drives in Australian Formula 3 and the Victorian Porsche 944 series).

MSA: I know! The basic principles are the same but they are very different machines.

I have found with the go-kart that because I have driven them for so long that I can jump in it any time, any day and go fast.

Also, with the Porsche, because I have driven it for a year now, I am kind of quite used to that car as well.

The tests I have had in the Formula 3, and the races, have helped me a lot. It is very hard to grasp a Formula 3, but I think it has helped me in other aspects of my racing, in the Porsche and the go-kart, because it is such a raw pinnacle of elite motorsport, except for Formula 1.

I actually like this diverse range of motor racing I have going at the moment. It gives me many challenges.

MN: Do you have a favourite out of the three?

MSA: Formula 3.

MN: Formula 3 is a very serious racing category and a big step for you. How have you found the experience of driving those cars?

MSA: I actually thought it would be worse than it is, funnily enough. I have a PlayStation 2 and I have driven cars on that with aerodynamic downforce

and 1 had already worked out through that, before I got into Formula 3, that the faster you go, the more downforce you have, and therefore, the faster you can comer.

It was very different to how I thought it would be. It was actually better than I thought it would be. I thought it would be harder.

It all first hit me at Wakefield (Park) around this right-hand corner, and the G-forces really built up and I thought 'wow, this thing is awesome. It is such an awesome piece of engineering that it can do this to my body!'

I love the feeling and I don't want to stop doing it.

MN:The Porsche 944s are an unusual place for a young guy to get a start, but the racing is very close and there are a lot of solid drivers there, including a few young ones.

MSA: I like it and I think it is a

good category. I think for an amateur who wants to step up in the ranks of motorsport but not necessarily do open-wheeler stuff.

I think it is a perfect category, because it teaches you to drive a car with weight behind it.

Although they only weigh 1100kg, it is actually quite a heavy car to drive in a sense, because it hasn't got slick tyres and the power it has got for its weight isn't spectacular.

I think it is a great class for youngsters that want to step up and as you said, there are quite a few competitive drivers in there, such as Kane and Brent Rose.

MN: What future direction would you like to take in motorsport? Do you have overseas ambitions?

MSA: For sure overseas, I would love to make it in Europe.

Doing anything paid - if I could get a paid drive in a DTM car, that would be awesome. But I would prefer to be in an open wheeler, like a Formula 3, a Formula Nippon or a Formula Renault, and being paid to do what I love to do. It would be awesome.

I've got dreams of driving Formula 1 one day, and that would be quite an awesome thing to do.

73

J i

NATIONAL SCENE

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Viccy Open goes large

by MARK WICKS

SUNNY Mildura put on a great show for the 2005 HSV Victorian Open Championships two weeks ago, with 266 starters taking green in 14 classes.

Clubman Light was the largest field and required a repechage to whittle the field to the circuit's 32 kart capacity.

As usual, it was the Sera cousins who grabbed the headlines. Stumped by a lack of pace in practice (found to be a twisted chassis as a result of the recent DPE truck disaster), David Sera borrowed a kart from David Schulz. He promptly stuck it on pole and won all the races - except for the final. That belonged to James, who started from grid nine start. A redflag stoppage couldn't hold him back

Heading up Creek THE International Karting committee has confirmed the next round of the Pettaras Press CIK / Motorsport News KartStars series will go ahead at Eastern Creek on May 28-29 as originally planned.

The North Shore Kart Club had only weeks ago advised the KC they would not be conducting the event.

The club advised that financial issues and a lack of personnel made the meeting unviable for it.

Other venues,such as Newcastle, were considered before a new package was structured by a consortium of interest parties and approved by the DCC. Competitors' costs have been reduced and there are other changes to the meeting's format. One of these is that the club will be permitted to run a Pro Clubman class on Saturday.

KartStars and the CIK categories will run on both days. The organisers are hoping the meeting's proximity to the V8 Supercars on the car circuit the same weekend will entice people to come and have a look at karting.

74

and James took the win from Matthew Wall and David Sera.

Aaron Rintoul made a welcome return to the winner's dais with victory in Clubman Heavy. CUnt Cathcart qualified pole and finished second, with Jason Hryniuk third.

After dramas in the pre-final, Greg Mattchoss and Ross Gathercole worked their way through the Over 40s field for a one-two.

Jason Holding proved the sleeper in Clubman Super Heavy. Never far off the leaders. Holding left it aU to Scott Simpson and Alan Parkinson in

the preliminary races before coming out and beating both in the final.

Class of the Junior Clubman field was Josh Scott, winning by 5.5s - one of the largest margins at the meeting.

Jono Taylor got up to take second ahead of Leigh Nicolaou, the two continuing their pre-final dice.

Scott was looking for a double-win, but contact in the opening lap of Junior National Heavy saw him retire. Jake Chapman decided it was time to go fast and came off grid six for the win.

Brendan Nelson and Andrew Cash led

most of the way before Chapman forged ahead in the final two laps,but any of top three could have taken it out.

Daniel Rochford won Junior National Light but, as ever, it was close all the way. Leigh Nicolaou, Tyler Greenbury and Chaz Mostert all had goes in the lead.

Paul Pittam had an unchallenged

run to win Formula Australia Light.

After a slow start, Hayden Docking gradually moved up the order witli each race in Midgets and won the final over Matthew Hart and Christopher Hays.

The Rookies field was intensely close. Only one race was decided by more than a tenth of a second - the final. Warren White Jnr beat Max Jonhston by two tenths...

Pre-final winner Wall led the entire Rotax Light final with Bart Price being displaced by Hayden McBride for second just before half distance.

Scott Simpson won Rotax Heavy.

The Senior National Light final saw much swapping for PI between Jason Pringle, Lloyd Billick and Nathan Mills with Mills taking the win. Despite falling to fourth at the start, Daniel Stein won Heavy ahead of Shane Bond.

Premier State of Hryniuk THE Eastern Creek round of the NSW Premier State Cup saw Jason Hryniuk take out his second successive victory in Rotax Light.

The CRG pilot enjoys a healthy points lead as drivers earn their grid positions for the series finale at Newcastle in November where the winner will take home $10,000.

Hayden McBride pushed Hryniuk, right, in the opening laps but had to settle for second.

Queensland’s Geoffrey Grant was third.

Hryniuk had a superlative weekend, also registering wins in Clubman Light and Clubman Heavy ahead of Jake Williams and Corey Lean respectively.

While Hryniuk was the dominant senior driver, BRM’s Joshua Scott scooped the junior classes with wins in Junior Clubman and Junior National Heavy. There were some dramas

at the end of the Junior Clubman pre-final when Richard Rapa and Tommy Quinlan, while battling for second, both backed off approaching the finish line.

Neither wanted the notorious ‘grid 2’ start for the final, but such was their reduction in pace, fourth placed Steel Guiliana had to spin his kart to miss them!

Damien Meyer finished first on the road in Rotax Heavy but the result is under appeal due to an incident in the heats when he lost

the nose cone in traffic. Kel Treseder was second.

Ryan Reynolds took out Junior National Light after a three-way dice with David Stevenson and Jack Rahaley. Mathew Hart and Darcey Kondopirakis were the Midget and Rookie winners. The remaining classes were won by Scott Simpson (Clubman Super Heavy), Aaron Salter (Senior National Heavy) and Nathan Mills (Senior National Light).

-MARK WICKS

moiorsDoitnews

INDUSTRY NEWS /

Wheel Revolution REVOLUTION RACEGEAR announces the arrival of the Sportline Digital Steering Wheel at its nationwide Revolution Racegear centres.

New from Italian steering wheel manufacturer SportUne, the 'Digital' steering wheel features an inbuilt lap timer/stopwatch. Suitable for club/state level racers and those entering relay races, the Sportsline digital steering wheel allows drivers to

i

o

quickly view their lap time immediately following the completion of each lap.

The Sportline Digital Steering Wheel is available now at any of tlie 17 Revolution Racegear outlets nationwide.

CaU 1800 804 778 (toll free) or go to www.revolutionracegear.com.au for details of your nearest outlet.

3 ©oO o .5 o o

Mope Adjustment New Space QAl MOTORSPORTS is proud to introduce its new line of truly doubleadjustable shocks which allow for

T a for the most demanding * .-j) performance vehicles on the drag strip, road course,and ) the street. l Deflective Disc

576 possible combinations.

The entire double-

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adjustable line features 24 positions of compression adjustment and 24 positions of rebound adjustment, providing 576 possible combinations to maximise the

piston with PTFE piston band creates accurate

performance of your vehicle.

QAl Motorsports offers the new doubleadjustable shock for a variety of applications, including stock suspensions,front coilover conversions for muscle cars, as well as four-link and ladder bar type suspensions.

The new line of shocks from QAl Motorsports offers a range of adjustability that has never been possible until now! The QAl Motorsports double adjustable shock is

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4 May 2005

storage for the

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ground, hard chromeplated, solid piston rod I precision surface, H eliminates pistoti rod “ flex, increasing valving consistency. l Forged, machined aluminum body - light weight,stronger than billet. Bright anodized for unmatched durability and great appearance.

QAl l Three Step Sealing System, advanced aerospace material, exclusive double lip seal design and wiper seal eliminate seal drag and dirt intrusion. r/sNi R an.

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WHEN YOUR UFE^\^ g ^^DEPENDSONIT \l Gary's MotorsportTyres Unit 3/13 Penny PI. Arndell Park NSW 21 l.com.au D 02 9676 8655 f 02 9676 5300 l e dunlop@o

Dexion's quality, high-density storage range has been designed to solve just about any automotive storage challenge.

Whether it's

The

traditional shelving and binning products have now m been joined by Dexion-BAC drawer modirles. The modules reduce the floor space required over traditional storage systems.

Improved stock control is achieved as aU items stored are clearly displayed.

As Dexion products are modular the systems grows to meet your needs, today and in the future. Units can be purchased individually as your storage requirements change or grow. The combination of shelving

(Si*EEDirLOW premium Motorsport Hose & Fittings!

Contact your state distributor.,.

Hardimcin Auto Supplies (02) 9771 5877 Motorsport Connections (02) 9838 7272 Victorian Speed Pro (03) 9794 5177 Performance Wholesale (07) 3808 1986 Crane Technologies (08) 8363 5566 (MJgear Racing Services (08)^94^4W^^

binning products with the Dexion-BAC drawer modules will provide quality a high-density storage solution to suit most workshops and applications.

For more information on the Dexion high-density storage range or the location of your nearest storage specialist contact Dexion on 1800 100 050 or visit www.dexion.com.au

1 g^RAIME w^ams^ Roller Lifters Camshafts Roller Rockers Ignition Systems Valve Springs & More!

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RACE SHOP gives you the opportunity to promote your products and services to the widest possible range of motorsport competitors and enthusiasts. Advertising in RACE SHOP costs as little as $75 per issue! Call Brendon Sheridan on 03 0407 007 286 now!

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No Compromise Australia’s largest largest stockist of titanium valves and valve train components!

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Fully CNC Machinea ● 100% Critical Inspection on every piston ● Creates more vacum and

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constant vacum than any other piston ● Less Blowby, More ring seal more Horsepower. ● Used by leading US racers and V8 Supercar teams

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RaeeDeck is garage flooring great for race teams, show car disptays and in the home garage too. la ● Easy to install ● Cost etfective ● Clean and durable ● 10 yr warranty ● UV stable aail!a&[3 o Engineered to withstand tough machanical environments ● SimpI vacuum to clean ● Slip resistant Available from

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7 news

online classifieds

Find hundreds more race vehicles and parts for sale at www.my105.com

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Sedans/Sports Cars

RX7 Sports Sedan, 13B PP. 51ml Webber, turbo 5spd, Hilux diff, AP racing brakes, space frame, Hoosier Slicks, spare wets 9 rims, etc, very quick and reliable. Log book. $20,000 ONO. Russell 0412 872 246.

311 www.myl05.com/92238 IMPROVED PRODUCTION, 2 LITRE FULLY WORKED .HUGE HORESPOWER MOTOR INCLUDING THE BEST OF EVERYTHING KONIS...PORSCHE BREMBO BRAKES ...HOLINGER G/S 5SPEED ..67,s LONG TRACK AT CALDER WITH ROOM TO IMPROVE ... 16500. JOE 309 0419897 217. www.myl05.com/36722

Gp Sb MGB, Ready to race or tarmac rally.

Completely rebuilt for Spa-Francorchamps 6Hr Sep 2004 - Finished 34th. Very competitive car. Professionally built, 5 brg 1840CC engine, 45mm Weber, C/R gearbox, engine dyno 150+hp on pulp, head flows 180hp. Spares available Paul (03) 309 95532670. www.myl O5.com/15491

4LOOKS 4SALE, Best Suzuki as voted by Autosalon 3 years running, Hot 4's Feature car. Immaculate Show/Street car, body kit, chromies, twin exhaust, custom interior lowered, tint, alarm, stereo, memo's, autometer, tribal stripes, engine detailing and upgrades... Plus heaps more, call for all the mods and details... $14900 Neg. Adam 309 0411559332 www.myl05.com/32279

4 May 2005

Escort RS 1600, 1 Tarmac rally car, CK49 body shell, minus engine, Quaife SCCR gearbox, Tranx LSD, Quaife floating axles, Willwood 4 spots, alloy fuel tank, radiator, AOJ front end, antidive, Bilsteins etc, 2 events old, log booked for rally events.

311 POA. John 0418 736 869. www.myl05.com/58295

Datsun Improved Production Car, Race winner, Sr20det w/ best of everything, 320hp, Garret RB Turbo, Motec, Cobra Evolution Seat, Tilton Adj Brake Bias, Alloy cage, Hotbits shocks, Speedflow Fittings throughout. Spares, Tandem Trailer, Log Book, Ready to race, $25,000. $25,000 Neg. Adam MacrowRacing 0418532094.

309 www.myl05.com/36934

xygt falcon. Built from sandblasted shell.

Floater diff, c/r toploader, galaxie brakes, 351 4v clevland. Entered for Winton Histories. Phone 0417112519 for fax sheet. $47 000 ONO. Steve 0417112519.

311 www.mylO5.com/13765

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 lap setter in 2004,0-1600 NSW state champion for 2001 and 2004 and its lap time are 1.09seconds for Wakefield park, 1.20s for oran park, 1.49s for eastern creek.

Massive amount of spares. $12,000 ONO. 310 Grant 0410 681 562. www.myl05.eom/28021

GROUP C GEMINI. Gemini tx coupe 1977. group C car. fully documented history inc log books, came 2nd inclass bathurst 1979, raced 1977>1984. very original inc cage, Detroit locker diff, sway bars, engine, Webbers. TE front fitted to run 1983 series.

Little required for CofD, last driven 1989.

Dean How 0408 867 262. Must Sell Best Offer, dean 0359762011 / 0408867262.

309 www.myl05.com/57979

a FOR SALE 03 CUP CAR, 3750 KLM; 170,000 Best Offer. 03 96906866.

310 www.my105.com/54740

2003 Cup Car, cost new $265,000, perfect condition with, fresh gear box, clutch, brakes and much more. This car has only done 9 races in 03 and 2 in 04. The price of the car is negotiable and a flexible structure will be considered. Trade/swap on a black 996 twin turbo preferred. Genuine enquiries 309 welcome. Dean 0418 507 403. www.my105.com/54759

Hurd/Krause Torana, Chev powered 300KW LX Torana, Freshened Engine. This car has at least 4 National Titles, Numerous State Titles.Times Phillip Island 1.47, Symmons 1.00.39, Baskerville 59.4 This car requires a serious driver. $26000. Mark 309 0408133510 / 0363695416. www.my105.com/49063

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 377 309 372. Mick 0418 377 372. www.my105.com/28823 Ford Cortina MK1 63, 2 door, race prepared engine, twin 45s C/R gearbox, adjustable suspension plus much more.

Rego NSW 31621 H. $15,000. Tony 0411 309 111 857. www.my105.com/13849 jSiKSTil^

HQ Race Car #50 Vic, Raced 2004 season with great results.heaps of spares,full set of wets.new Veto Seat and S/LAS Belts,great looking car.many wins and poles over 5 years. $7900 Neg. Travis 03 97750466 / 03 308 59785665. www.myl05.com/64659

79

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New Future Tourer, seam welded shell, 308 motec injected, Richmond T10 4 speed, Harrop brakes and sway bars. Complete spares package available and assistance if required. Mark 0409 846 717. wwrw.myl05.com/80970

Cooper S, Reliable and fast Group Nb race car.CAMS log book.NSW championship winning car 2000,2001 & 2003. 2 sets wheels and tyres, LSD. Recent fresh engine. Custom made trailer included.

Asking $16,000 Charlie 0418-692850 / 024984 3327. www.my105.com/13239

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, 8x18” wheels, spare tyres, proflex shocks, data logger, only raced 2 seasons, contact for full list. $75,000 ONO. Russell 0411724176.

306 www.myl O5.com/1836

SPORTS SEDAN, Chrome/Moly Torque Tube Space Frame, magnes uprights, Koni fully adj, Harrop 4 pot,20B Triple rotor Kim Ledger, Hewland Transaxle FGB 200,slick & wets wheels, spares etc. $60,000 Not Neg, Richard 0412320940.

308 www.my105.com/75926

Porsche 944 race car, 944 just built.never raced,comes with purpose built tandem trailer, log book, data log dash.sparco touring seat,braided lines ,foam filled fuel celLcarbon dash,engine has only 16000 ks prior to becoming race car no expense spared,everything newl. $42,000 Neg. john 308 94876643 / 95804490.

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.Excellent Marque sports car. log book. $68,000 Not Neg. michael 97426928 / 0412542910.

307 www.my105.com/17232

VT-X 036 Perkins, ex Porter car 111, First Holden home in 2004 Konica Minolta, Complete spare package available. Mark 0409 846 717 or 08 8284 8087, 308 www.myl05.com/79747 MGB GT, recent bare metal respray with retrimed seat and new carpets. Photos.

Great touring car, effortless performance, 17.2 sec 1/4 mile, from 2100 cc engine including head mods for ULP, Extras include 5 speed gearbox, teles all round, d 15 inch supalite mags, 12mths rego, $17,000. Ivan 03 5281 5490.

308

Porsche Carrera, 231 b.h.p model, metallic blue with blue trim, 3 owners since new.

Australian delivered, Porsche Melbourne service history with books. Well maintained daily driver for last 7 years no longer fits the kids in the backi Mark Bisset 0419 332 342. $45,000 Neg. David 03 98657643 / 03 95341426.

306

www.myl O5.com/19627

Rally/Race Skyline R32 GTSt, Imported as a RALLY CAR - can be conditionally registered but CANNOT ever be road registered.,.so DO NOT ASK. Apexi adj SUSP, Recaro seat, 3" exh, all acc work drives excellent, rust and crash free. 7,500.

308 Kerry 0417518660. www.myl05.com/51598

Porsche 73 RSR (replica), Reg,M2 class Winner lightweight panels, HUGE brakes, Motec, Individual Throttle bodies 3.0

www.myl05.com/7964 VS Commodore V8 Supercar, Car built by Perkins Engineering Chassis No;018 Log book with race history Some spares. $45,000.00 Neg. Dean 08 9258 9333 / 0418 927 491.

306 www.myl05.com/59796

Under 2 Lt Corolla, 2Litre, Arias pistons, Argo rods, titanium oversize valves (shim under), Motec M4Pro with lambda & logging, Hiiux disc rear, Alloy 4 spots, hydraulic clutch, A032R’s, Adjustable koni's with coil overs. Log booked, a quick car as is; Great potential in the right hands. $15,000 ONO. Steve 0755606881.

308 www.myl05.com/2257

www.myl05.eom/76502

Near New GT3 Cup Car, Brand new never marked or damaged body, just 3,000klms only competed in 6 events, lncl.2004 upgrade, fully prep, for season 2005. $195,000 inc GST. Russell 04117241.76.

306 www.myl05.com/98245

Honda Integra "Type R", As driven by Adam Beechey to victory in last round of 2004 GT Production Championship at Maiiala: Built by Wayne Park in 2000 from new car. CAMS approved roll cage, proflex shocks, 3 sets of wheels, drybreak fuel system and heaps of spares. Ready to win in 2005 series. $25,900.00 ONO. 308 www.myl05.com/69972

Jlf£'wav to sell your gear! From lust$25* lustlog on

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CLASSIFIEDS Formula 500, Kenser chassis, Rotax 494, 2 speed gearbox, heaps of spares, very good condition, ready to race, $10,000 ono.

Gordon 0417207526 / 02 4680 9328.

309 www.myl05.com/23657

Open Wheelers

Transporters/Trailers

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Parts

1975 ELFIN FORMULA VEE, INCLUDING SPARES IN VERY GOOD CONDITION .

PLEASE PHONE FOR MORE DETAILS. 309 8000 Neg. JOE 0419897 217. www.myl05.com/48418

SJ97 Mygale With Latest Factory Updates, Excellent Condition, Full Pi System Data Logger, Adjustable Shocks, New Stepped Headers and Muffler, 3 sets of Wheels/ Some Spares, Spare Springs New Brakes/new clutch Slave, Fully Maintained Nothing to spend. Set up Information, Great First car for any Sfate Series, Plus More,. $24,000 ONO. Nick percat 0401616956. www.myl05.com/73193

Dallara 398 Formula 3, Well maintained and competitive car with wide track fi tted, Motec dash and ecu, large spares package.

Ideal for Australian F3 Trophy class challenge or for learning the category. $55,000 ONO. mike 0403 046 403.

311 www.myl 05.com/13451

Farrell S/Sports car/trailer, second outright SA Hillclimb Champs, 2003-04 outright sports car record Colingarove 13.1600 record. 16-2000 rec, fast and reliable. $20,000. Andrew 08 8373 2820 (wk) 0438 310 943 799 / 08 8357 6485 (ah), www.myl05.eom/30977

FORMULA VEE, 1977 NIMBUS FORMULA VEE WITH CAMS LOG BOOK. COMPLETE WITH NEW & UNUSED WHEELS & TYRES, GAUGES, BILSTEIN SHIOCK ABSORBERS, BRAKE LINES, DISTRIBUTOR & MUCH MORE. INCLUDES ENCLOSED TRAILER. NEEDS SOME FINISHING. $5,900,00. Carl 03 54414163.

309 www.myl 05.com/17195

Formula Libre Hillclimb/Circuit car.

Current Australian Hillclimb Championship winning car [ 0-1300cc].Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa engine , liquid cooled , fuelinjected , sequential .6 speed , self diagnostic engine management , fully adjustable inboard suspension , vented discs , adjustable brake bias , Isd , new 3” FIA harness , carbon fibre body -, log book , fast/reliable & ready to race. $19800 ono. brett 03 56625400 / 0419566690.

308 www.myl05.eom/89270

Purpose Built Race Trailer, 48FT PURPOSE BUILT RACE TRAILER 4.1m HIGH. FITTED OUT FOR RACE CAR, WALL CABINETS, ROLLER DRAWERS, ■, UNDER BENCH/OVERHEAD ' CUPBOARDS. 3.6m MEZZANINE FLOOR, TYRE RACK, DROP DOWN TAILGATE, COMPRESSOR, 7KVA GENERATOR, LIVING QUARTERS. $100,000.00. Tony 03 5940 2034 / 0419 109 915, www.myl05.com/35594 For Sale, New Mar 04, used four times, cost $2600 with $600 paint job. $1200.00.

Jim 0412052489.

307 www.myl05.eom/65083

Sports Sedan Complete driveline, Lola rear uprights, CAE quick change diff, lots of ratios, Jerico gearbox with ratios, Koni 3012,2way shocks, trippleplate clutch, hydraulic throwout bearing,tailshaft, bigCVs+driveshafts.ali arms,AP4spot callipers+1 spare, will take overSOOHP.Will seperate Wanted HewlandDG300,complete or not. $13200,. Graham 0412351888.

307 www.myl O5.com/13187

«rww.my105.com

VAN DIEMEN RF86, Ground-up restoration, new Ritter engine, one race meeting.

Imported by Van Diemen Australia 1989 used as school oar most of it's life. CAMS Cat 1 Log Book. First FF driven by Mark Webber. Letter of authenticity from VDA. Best RF86 in the country. Some spares.

Ready to race State historic. $25,000,00 312 Not Neg. John 0418 130 600. www.my105.com/73102

4 May 2005

Ford FI 50 XLT for sale. Auto with 0/D. Air con. seats 6 comfortably. Rear seats convert to storage tray. "Roller shutter" lockable lid. 5.4 litre petrol, ual 80 litre tanks. Excellent for towing. Long wheel base and long tray. $37,500 Neg. dean 310 0412 365 029 / 0412 365 029. www.my105.com/42850

For Lease Falcon XR8 Production Car, Falcon XR8 Production car for lease. From Round 3 to 7 inclusive 2005 series. Very competitive car from $2000 / Rnd. Craig 0418613229.

310 www.myl 05.com/43062

Speedway

Mantis Formula/Vee, fresh engine, new pistons, rings, valves, manifold heads, exhaust, dizzy and electronic ignition. All new brakes, 4 x spare 3 piece wheels only 4 races old. Long and short box plenty of spares with trailer and winch. $10,000 Neg. Spiros 0418 536 509 or 03 9749 4026.

311 www.myl05.com/57167

Open Wheeler Transporter, Isuzu Turbo Diesel Brand-new truck. Less than 6,000km.

Hoist - Work Bench - Tyre Rack - No ramps needed. 0407 772 902, www.myl O5.com/18417

Sponsor Seek www.sponsorseek.com.au

A Modified, Brand new XR6 engine, Koni suspension, 9" Dif, Reduction Steering, Top Loader, WOLF computer, Ali Fuel tank.

Storm Covers plus Spares. READY TO GO!!. $9,000 Neg. Doug 0409 422 440.

309 www.my105.com/49582

Street Stock, PREVIOUS NOWRA TITLE HOLDER,JUST BEEN FULLY RESPRAYED IN 2PAC INSIDE AND OUT,NO EXPENSE SPARED VERY QUICK CAR.WON OVER 30 1ST PLACE TROPHY'S NOTHING TO SPEND COMES WITH HEAPS OF SPARES!. $4500.00 Neg. TERRY 0405 308 214038. www.myl05.com/34389

/ am very happy with the service I received. Ail three of the enquiries you forwarded were firm buyers and it was sold on a first come first served basis.

Again thanks.

I. Hills

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Stewards are anti-racing I have just read of Paul Dumbrell's penalty for having a go last weekend.

I'd like to hear the logic of the CAMS stewards behind this decision. No-one wants to see people hurt, but to penalise someone for doing what he's paid to do,ie. pass people, is a bit mystifying.

While they're at it, why not penalise Cam McConviUe, likewise Jamie Whincup,Mark Skaife, Andy Jones and everyone else who got into strife while driving too fast in such dangerous conditions or performing marginal overtaking maneouvres.

Pukekohe 2005 was some of the best racing seen in the category. I hope future races aren't buggered up by people who want to stop drivers doing what they do best - race.

Steve Cook Nambour, Queensland

357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East Vic 3187 (PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186) Ph: 03 9596 5555 Fax: 03 9596 5030 Email: admin@mnews.com.au

Again, no-one understands

CDNTRIDUTORS

Baird crashing.

What the heck were the oficialls watching? How did Dumbrell become the cause of the accident?

FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, Gary Watkins, David Addison US: Phil Morris, Martin D. Clark Speedway: Brett Swanson, Julie Pearce, Geoff Rounds, Tony Millard (UK), Greg Boscato, Darren Sutton Rally: Jon Thomson Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Nick Nicholas, Ken Ferguson National; Mark Wicks, Mark Jones, Daniel Powell, Erin McCowatt Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Burnett, AFl Images, Neil Hammond, Allsport, John Morris/Mpix, Frank Midgley, Peter Bury, Mike Patrick (UK), Chris Carter, James Smith, Paris Charles, Bob Potts Motorsport News is published by Australasian Motorsport News - ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Printed by: Offset Alpine Printing Pty Ltd, Lidcombe, NSW. Distributed by: NDD Ltd Material published by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Australasian Motorsport News does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted. ●Opinions expressed in Motorsport News are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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Whincup went off and was coming back on, Baird moved over to avoid Whincup, braked and moved into the path of Dumbrell.

When driving down a straight the last thing you expect is the car in front to brake and move across in front of you. If anything it is a racing incident.

I am sure someone out there disagrees with that but that is how I saw it. I certainly cannot see how it was Dumbrell's fault. If anyone was to blame - and I still say no-one but the rain is - 'Whincup was the one who went of and then came back on, causing Baird to move over.

Ian Ireland magiUanz@gmail.com

BJR should think outside the square

It's about time Brad Jones Racing started giving their sponsors 100 percent value in exposure terms.

As a fan of V8 Supercars in general

I

i

converter Send us your thoughts: mail; PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 www.mnews.com.au and a keen supporter of teams performing above their perceived status, I for one would like to see BJR finally provide 100 percent exposure for their sponsors, especially BOC Gases, who have come on board in 2005.

The BJR cars have probably spent more time inverted than any other team. I can recall at least three instances in the last three years (Adelaide, Bathurst and now NZ) now I am sure it's not by design and I am also sure that it's hugely expensive as weU. So why are the undersides completely void of sponsors?

If you roll a car its sure to get maximum exposure on the TV and in the press etc, geez you might even be able to get a good dollar rate for the high exposure incident!

Congratulations to all teams for the spectacular racing in NZ. I know it'll cause a few headaches to fix and stretch the finance but that's the racing that we want except with the Fords winning, of course!

John Alderscy Benuick, Victoria

Not all Kiwis are in Murph’s corner Hi guys - love the mag. I read it all the time.

Can I just say that I am really sick of hearing how the whole of New Zealand loves Greg Murphy, and

Jereimj Hallignn jhaUi2@hallmark.com

Gore should keep ‘mum’

It is very disappointing what people with too much money can do to V8 Supercar racing.

Yes, I ant talking about a Gold Coast team' owner who made himself look nothing short of a wanker after the Baird/Dumbrell incident in New Zealand.

I am no big Dumbrell fan and I am also a Kiwi so no favouring Baird, so how can't that idiot turn around and say Dumbrell hit his driver etc etc?

Surely they have both reacted to what was unfolding beside them and have come together?

Sure I would be pissed off with writing off my $500,000 race car too, but damn accidents happen in this type of sport.

■Why doesn't he concentrate on getting his V8 team up to scratch before buying more toys, such as Champ Cars.

Al

Gold Coast Ccoff Ridder

2 years $285

$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

82

Dumbrell has been fined $15,000 and docked 75 points for the incident at Pukekohe that resulted in him and

how he deserves to win a championship.

You guys have said it, and so did the TV commentators, going on about it the whole Pukekohe weekend.

I come from Auckland and have lived here my whole life. My dad and I, and plenty of our mates, are huge Ford fans. Needless to say we love SBR as they are a Kiwi-owned ●„ team and drive the right sort of car.'

Anyway, my point is that not all of New Zealand likes Greg Murphy and certainly not all of New Zealand likes Holden, so stop saying it.

As for Greg Murphy deserving to win a championship, the season he can win more than two rounds in a year, he deserves to win a championship.

The only way he is going to win is when the best driver in the series is in the USA driving a NASCAR, and Greg hates the fact that Ambrose is twice the driver he is.

We'll see how well all his Holden buddies go at the end of this season.

My prediction: Ford 1,2,3. Ambrose, Ingall and Lowndes.

Cheers, love the mag, just wanted to sort that out.

Rough deal: If you can explain the CAMS stewards' decision could you please write in, because we're stumped.

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