Motorsport News Issue 404 - February 2011

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LIFTOUT:2011 Castro!Racing Calendar Incorporating MOTOR RACING AUSTRALIA

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EXCLUSIVE: Why Ambrose risked it ell to get beck into e Ford %

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1000 WORDS D&kar Rally wlimers Nasser al Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk pound their VW Race Touareg 3through the Chilean deserts betm/een Calama and Iquique.

Uhls wasthe fiiUth stage ofthe event. day six of 17,

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NEWS

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THIS MONTH’S FEATURES Unusual Suspects

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He may have been racing Toyotas in the recent past, but Marcos Ambrose used his chat with MNews Ed Phil Branagan to reinforce the fact that he bleeds blue - Ford Racing Blue, to be precise.

THE DEVIL & THE KING Marcos Ambrose is about to take the biggest step ofhis career- with Richard Petty Motorsport. He told MNews all about it.

1 When we need someone to go and take gorgeous photos ofgorgeous cars, we turn to Andrew Hall. For this issue of MNews,Andrew'sjob was to shoot the Porsche Museum in Germany. Tough gig.

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BACK IN BLACK Three seasons have passed since Steve Owen had a fulltime ride in the main series. but thanks to Paul Morris Motorsport, he's back.

John Booth and his Manor Motorsportsquad have been successful in many different categories, and under the Virgin Racing banner, the next frontier to conquer is Formula 1. He spoke to us for this issue.

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VIRGIN ON SUICCE^^^ Here at MNews HQ, we think our Sydney-based cover designer Chris Currie is a dead ringer for Mark Skaife. He doesn'tsee it. Do you?

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NATIONAL FEATURES AfEMS

Editorial Executive Editor Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au Assistant Editor Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Special Projects Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au National Editor Mitchell Adam mitchell@mnews.com.au

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Victorian Publisher Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

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Editorial Enquiries

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Photography

Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Andrew Hall, James Smith, Peter Bury, Ash Budd Cover Design; Chris Currie

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The man who launched a thousand careers You have probably never heard ofPaul Mulhearn,and that's how he likes it

66

Living the Hi Life Hi-Tech is the team to beat in the V8 Utes. We spoke to its leader,John Pachos

74

I'm big in Eastern Europe ... really!

After an amazing Speedway GP career in Poland, Leigh Adams is back in Mildura

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Joey Saldana: Supercharged Outlaw Before he tries to win an elusive World of Outlaws crown,Joey has been Down Under

86

Merry Quizmas All the answers to last issue's famous MNews Xmas quiz

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HERE has been a fair bit of discussion in recent times about motor racing commentary.

The news from the BBC, of a change in the lineup of its Formula 1 talking heads, has caused something of a ruckus, and was not unexpected.

Martin Brundle has filled the 'comments' role for years, brilliantly, and his close friend and former competitor David Coulthard has developed a professional, informative style in a short time.

The negatives that some have expressed surround the notion of having two ex-drivers on the microphones, rather than a presenter (think, Murray Walker) and an expert (James Hunt).The fascinating part of this is that the usually conservative BBC has retained its 'racing guys'while the'BBC guy', Jonathan Legard, has been thanked for his years of effort, and shown the door.

There are parallels with what we see here, with V8 Supercars.

The Heads we hear are one TV guy. Matt White, and a pair of former drivers, Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife, and one of each

in the pitlane, Mark Larkham and Mark Beretta.

There are obvious comparisons to be drawn between Brundle and Crompton, both former drivers whose lack of wins at the highest level do scant justice to their abilities and careers. Both are capable of filling either role, so it will be interesting to see if any evolution occurs in the V8 Supercar broadcasts in the coming season, as it will in FI. Brundle's move is a clever one, for he faces the same situation Crompton does. In their respective careers, Coulthard and Skaife both have had more success, and more recently, than the men alongside them, so their insights into the current state of play could be seen to be more relevant by the viewers.

In fact, V8 Supercars had a champagne year; at Sandown in November, with Beretta elsewhere, Cameron McConville joined the commentary team, giving theTV audience the views of two 2011 V8 Supercar winners.

Brundle now faces a long future as a'TV guy',1n much the same way as some younger viewers wonder if that nice Mr

Benaud ever played cricket...

The roles seem to be universal.

On the other side of the pond, NASCAR still has a wide audience (though less wide than it used to be) and again, it is former champion drivers who provide the insights on TV - Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace. It's a little more country and western than we may be used to here, but both do their jobs expertly. The role seems a natural one for a media-savvy and popular driver; one wonders whether the next man to follow in DW's footsteps, and those laid even before him by the late Benny Parsons, might be named Earnhardt.

And you can hardly walk around a Grand Prix paddock without bumping into a Who's Who of retired, microphonewielding drivers, like Niki Lauda, Hans Stuck, Jacques Lafitte, Marc Surer, Christian Danner, Ivan Capelli etal.

All this is happening parallel to a revolution in TV technology that is bringing the sport into our lounge rooms, on ever-larger flat screens, in high definition.

Once the news broke that Flin-HD was available, it became a rush for the networks to sign up, and it cannot be long before the demand from viewers means

that all motor racing follows the rest of sport down the HD route.

Motor racing fans are not unlike those of most sports'fans; we take the sport personally.

That is good; we should take the sport personally. The voices coming into our lounge-rooms, day and night, should be giving us informative and interesting information. Heaven knows that is not always what we get from the networks'news services and 'Public Affairs' programs, which show more and more items designed to evoke emotional responses from us, from either end of the scale, disguised as 'News', than news itself.

In Motorsport eNews, we pick at the broadcasters'faults, and we should do so, but that process of spotting negatives is getting more difficult. In the main, we are well-served by the broadcasts of Formula 1, V8 Supercars, NASCAR and MotoGP, we had some marvellous viewing in 2010.

It's a big ask, but the relentless nature of the sport demands that we get not the same as we did last year, but even more.

Providing the standard of the product remains high, the viewers should continue to keep coming back after this break.

Bmnillle now faces a long future as a 'TV guy', in much the same way as some younger viewers wonder if that nice Mr Benaud ever played cricket... motorsport news

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EClSIONS finalised over the next weeks and months will have a significant impact on the future of V8 Supercars.

The Car of the Future,the mono-chassied creation of the V8 Supercars Australia sub committee, headed by Mark Skaife, set up to oversee the project will, in my view, in fact determine the future of V8 Supercars, period.

While recent delays in the appearance of a CoF'prototype' may have had some observers shaking their heads amid mutterings of abiiity to organise piss-ups in breweries, delays in this case aren't actually a bad thing - if it ultimately leads to the right decisions being made.

As its name suggests,the Car of the Future will define the future forV8 Supercars. Period.

The recent decision to delay the final introduction of the new car until 2013(a transition 'combination of new and old' year had been planned in 2012) is a plus. It was never going to work; parity would have been a nightmare. Jan 1 st 2013, clean sheet, perfect.

Also confirmed recently is a defining decision to abandon the traditional Holinger gearbox/spool differential combination. It had become apparent that the desire to ^ move to an independent rear suspension with the new car brought with it issues in cost and actually'fitting it all in'.

The answer was, virtually, . under VSSA's nose. For the first time,ever, Australian touring cars will switch to an all-in-one'transaxle'assembly, which combines gearbox and differential assemblies into one. It is, of course mounted where the rear axles are - at the back.There are suitable 'ready-to-go'options available, including tried-and-tested Australian-made.

It is the most significant change to the touring car concept for decades and, once and for all, separates the racecar from any remote technicaj

resemblance - other than body shape-to the road car.The drift towards the purpose-built race platform is already entrenched - CoF will Just simplify it further.

There'll be one base chassis, emanating from one source - in this case respected engineer Paul Ceprnich's Gold Coastbased Pace Innovations.

That much is locked in, while tenders are being called for supply of any number of the crucial add-on components.

That is where decision-making becomes crucial if the CoF is indeed to be a solid step forward. Its prime focus is cost containment, reduction even.

A secondary aim is to ease the path for other manufacturers to Join in ... but we'll leave that for now.

Cost containment has been a buzz-word in V8 Supercars for ... geez... at least a decade.To a fair degree, despite efforts from some quarters, its almost been lip service. There are even those who suggest that the'top end of. town'- ie the big teams - don't really want it.(Cheap cars means

more up-front contenders, you strong decisions aren't made. see).

They're going down exactly the Be that as it may,there have same path (indeed,their Car of certainiy been 'cost-containment' Tomorrow base chassis is being initiatives but,frankly, some of made in the same workshop them just haven't worked out as - is that a lost co-operation they should. Did you know that, opportunity?), but an intense despite a 'control' brake package, desire to cap overall cost should many serious teams currently see a ready-to-go racer for under *■ NZ$200k-that's around A$160k. change their brake discs for every race? Should not a control From what I hear, despite an brake package be able to run for initial target of $250k, Australia 's half a season? Throw in a set of CoF may well blow out to well over $300k. Well over. pads between race meetings?

Surely? So braking distances The NZ prototype is set to run for the first time in March. aren't quite as short. So what? A classic decision stuff-up.

The issue is straightforward.

With a blank sheet of Like it or not, the Aussie V8 race car is headed towards the paper, this is the time to get it NASCAR model - common right, to put aside the almost egomaniacal urge to make the chassis with sheet-metal draped onto it. In our case it will at least cars 'works of art', for, up-close, still be manufacturer-based that's what the current cars, in sheet-metal rather than NASCAR many respects, are. Technical works of art. uni-clothing with stickers only Ifthe racing, the show differentiating the brands.

In NASCAR-land, car costs are provided to the public, is what it is all about (and, heavens a much smaller percentage of overall team budgets - that's above, it really should be) then this is the time to slash the why teams can have up to a base car cost - and it's the boltdozen cars in their pool, running in rotation; that's why they can ons which can make a huge difference. afford to 'tear up'the odd car There's potential for our or two along the way. That's cousins across the Tasman to why they can go racing - racing where there's some good oldshow us up in this area if some fashioned physicality.

The public is growing weary of racing where anything other than the simplest incidental contact can mean a trip down pit lane or a Stewards inquiry. It's the same in FI. Pressed recently on the lack of overtaking these days, Fernando Alonso retorted that the public should simply be happy, grateful even, to pay to see fast cars being driven around by talented drivers!

If NZ can build cars - which I hear are going to look almost identical to the Australian CoF for A$160k, why can't we?

This is a time for 1 change - but it needs to^*●* be grabbed with both hands.

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BITS & PIECES

Coming Attraction Who’s the next big thing?

Mathew Hart - AUSTRALIAN FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP

What is he currently doing?

Mathew Hart will start the 2011 Australian Formula Ford Championship as one of the favourites for two reasons.

The first is that he is obviously naturally gifted; anyone who watched any Victorian state Formula Ford this year knows that. Secondly, he has made a last-minute switch to Synergy Motorsport,the Spectrum-backed team that won the AFFC with Paul Laskazeski in 2008,and backed it up with Chaz Mostert in 2010. In other words,there are no dramas with the hardware or the team's ability to tune a fast, reliable racing car.

Let's go back a iittle bit; Hart's karting career offers a handy little glimpse into his potential as a race driver. He won 15 state karting titles between 2002 and the end of 2009, having joined forces with Arrow along the way. He Joined rookie squad Evans Motorsport Group for the Victorian FFord series last year, as well as the odd AFFC appearance.That too had a swift start, with Hart winning his first round, at Winton. Not a bad debut!

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I am worried about the sound, which in Formula 1 has been so unique ... hopefully there will be more than a faint hum.

Niki Lauda on the 1600cc engines that will come into Grand Prix racing in 2013.

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Where does he want to go?

Hart is from Canberra, and another man from Canberra {or near enough)is Mark Webber.

Naturally, Formula 1 is where Hart is aiming.

He'll turn 17 during this season,so Europe is calling in the not too distant future if FI is a realistic goal.

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QUICK QUIZ 1

Before Marcos Ambrose was a racing car driver, his father Ross was involved in the sport. In what capacity is he most famous?

2

What feat did Ambrose achieve when he made his V8 Supercar debut at the Australian Grand Prix in 2001?

3 Which category did Steve Owen step back to from V8 Supercars in 2004? And where did he finish in that title race?

4 5

In which year did Porsche move from Formula 2to Formula 1?

And in which year did Porsche win its only Formula 1 Grand Prix as a car constructor? Bonus point; at which GP?

72

motorsport news

eNews of the Month DRIVERS SET TO BE ANNOUNCED By the time this issue of Motorsport News hits the shelves, Greg Murphy will have been announced as the driver of the Pepsi Max-backed third car at Kelly Racing.

The official announcement was due to happen on January 27 in Sydney, with the team to be known as the'Pepsi Max Crew'. Murphy will replace Jason Bargwanna, who is likely to in turn replace Jason Richards at Team BOC. Richards is currently recovering from surgery.

As MNews went to press, James Moffat was about to be announced as the second driver at Dick Johnson Racing.

Moffat will join Steve Johnson at The Team, giving it two second-generation racers. Will Davison has also been announced as a Ford Performance Racing driver, and Steve Owen as the driver of the #67 Paul Morris Motorsport car.

HOLLINGERS TAKE A HOLIDAY The Flollinger gearbox will not be part of V8 Supercar's Car of the Future.

The six-speed gearbox has become a standard part of a modern V8 Supercar, however the COTF will feature a transaxie - an all-in-one transmission and differential set-up,commonly used on open-wheelers and Sports Sedans.

Apparently,the tender target to build the transaxle will be $25,000... approximately $10,000 less than the current gearbox/ diff set-up.

TDR BECOMES WSR Wilson Security Racing will have its third home in three years in 2011 -Tony D'Alberto Racing.

Flaving supported Paul Cruickshank Racing in 2009,and the James Rosenberg Racing/Stone Brothers Racing alliance in 2010,Wilson Security will throw its cash at TDR in 2011.

The support from Wilson means TDR will drop the Centaur Racing moniker it used in 2010.

Feb 9

Narain Karthikeyan will be back in Formula 1 in 2011, after signing a deal to drive for Hispania Racing Team.

The Indian driver is the first, and so far only, driver to be named as part of FIRT's 2011 squad. Fle last raced in Formula 1 in 2005,for Jordan,and has since been a test driver for Williams FI and raced an Audi at Le Mans.

Karthikeyan also spent part of his break from FI in the A1GP series.

WIN:OH,WHATA FEELING! February 23 and you will, seriously, be in the draw to win a superb $30,000Toyota Corolla Levin ZR! And guess what - there's more good news. Coinciding with the promotion is a new,increased-discount set of prices for Motorsport News magazine and MN/ eNews combination subscriptions.

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Februarif World Series Sprintcars R13 Kalgoorlie Int’l Speedway, Kalgoorlie, WA

Feb 11-12 World Series Sprintcars R14 Bunbury City Speedway Speedway, Bunbury, WA Feb 12

NASCAR Sprint Cup NC Budweiser Shootout, Daytona, FI

Feb 10-12 V8 Supercars Championship R1 Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi Feb 11-13 World Rally Championship R1 Rally Sweden, Varmland, Sweden Feb 15

World Series Sprintcars R15 Manjimup Speedway, Manjimup, WA

Feb 12

NASCAR Sprint Cup NC Gatorade Duel, Daytona, FI

Feb 18-19 World Series Sprintcars R16 Perth Motorplex, Kwinana, WA Feb 20

NASCAR Sprint Cup R1 Daytona 500, Daytona, FI

Feb 27

World Superbike Championship R1 Phillip Island, Vic

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NASCAR Sprint Cup R2 Phoenix, Az

HERE COMES NARAIN AGAIN

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AUSTTiAUA

TOURS In other COTF news,the introduction of the new-spec car has been delayed until 2013.

"Car of the Future is incredibly important to the future direction of V8 Supercars,"said Martin Whitaker, CEO of V8 Supercars.

"And as such, it is vital that we get the product and its introduction absolutely right. We have complete support from all the teams and manufacturers in this decision."

Motorsport eNews available 8pm Mondays.

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WINDING BACK the year that was...

HE great British designer Derek Gardner passed away last month and, in spite of designing, in a remarkably short time,cars that won Formula 1 championships, he will probably always be remembered for perhaps the sport's most unusual car.

Tyrrell stunned the motor racing world when it launched its 1976 racer. A sheet was lifted to reveal a Cosworth DFV engine, a conventional aluminium monocoque and four tiny wheels at the front, where there are normally only two. Gardner had realised that the British V8 powering many of the goragiste teams was down on power compared to some of the 12-cylinder motors from the continental teams, and the best way to fight back was with superior aerodynamics.

With four 10-inch wheels and small, purpose-built Goodyear tyres behind a full-width 'Tyrrell' 14

nose,the P34 sliced through the air with great efficiency. And in spite of the gasps of the media, and the bemusement of the opposition,the concept worked, up to a point.

Tyrrell started the '76 season with its older,four-wheeled 007s, which still had pace. Patrick Depailler and Jody Schecker both scored points in the season opening race in Brazil, Scheckter was fourth in South Africa and Depailler was third in Long Beach's maiden FI race, after qualifying on the front row.The P34 was being tested, and once Jody Scheckter and Depailler adjusted to driving inside a cockpit that featured windows so that the drivers could spot the otherwise unsighted small front wheels,the car was on the pace, pretty well, straight away.

Depailler debuted a single six wheeler at Jarama in Spain. He qualified third, but overheating brakes caused him to spin out of

outstanding drivers, but the the race. Scheckter got a P34 for the next race at Zolder, where brand-new,groundbreaking cars both cars looked to be in for a were right in the hunt for both points finish until the Frenchman titles by the season's mid-point.

But Sweden turned out to stopped with a blown engine. At Monaco, nobody had any answer be the high point of the P34's career. As the season progressed, for the pace of Niki Lauda, who cruised to a win in Ferrari's 312T2, the car's raison d'etre became its Achilles' heel.The tiny Goodyear but theTyrrells were the best of the rest and finished 2-3. tyres were fine when they first Then came Sweden.The appeared, but every other car in the field was starting to benefit twisting 4km circuit at from the development the tyre Anderstorp was perfect for the makers were making with their Tyrrells, and Scheckter beat Mario Andretti's Lotus 77 to pole 13 inch tyres as the season went position.The American rocketed on.Tyrrell's bespoke tyres were stuck in a time capsule, with no away from the start, and copped development, and it was starting a penalty for a jumped start, to show. but all that came to nothing There were podium finishes when he blew his engine.The six-wheelers took over and at Silverstone, Paul Ricard, the bounded to a 1-2 finish, well Nurburgring (the last-ever race on the Nordschleife), Canada, ahead of Lauda. It was history in Watkins Glen and Mt Fuji, but the the making. writing was on the wall. Mario The cars worked.Yes, they Andretti and Colin Chapman's were odd-looking, but at the Lotus 77 won the Japanese race, same time,they were graceful. It and was about to change FI helped that the team had two motorsport news

Fifty percent more wheels: Jody Scheckter put the writing on the wall at Monaco In 1976, when both P34s finished on the podium behind the fleeing Niki Lauda Ferrari. Patrick Depailler, Ken Tyrrell and Derek Gardner made sure that the car was a force to be reckoned with, the team developing the car in a remarkably short period of time. Ronnie Petersen, below, got to feel the Joy ofSix in 1977.

Depailler gave the car a great last hurrah when he took third at Mt Fuji in the car's final GP, bottom.

forever. In its second GP season, the P34 would struggle.

Scheckter left to join the new Wolf team at the end of the year, and Ronnie Petersen arrived to join Depailier in P34Bs.The results were few in '77;the new generation cars were coming on strong, and there were only four podium finishes, and a rash of retirements. By the middle of the season,the decision had been made the next Tyrrell, the 008, would have four wheels.

But the P34 was an exciting development, and a great example of what designers can do when they think outside the square. When a couple of P34s were restored, and Avon agreed to make 10 inch racing tyres for them,they began to reappear, in historic FI events in Britain and Europe.

Wacky or not, and more than three decades after it shocked the world,Tyrrell's P34 still draws a crowd. www.mnews.com.au

An Englishman and his shed IT seems a crazy notion today, but Derek Gardner built his first Tyrrell GP car, the 001,in his garage.

Gardner was a design engineer specialising in transmissions, working with Harry Ferguson Research (the company that developed a 4WD Jenson Interceptor, among other projects). Matra wanted to develop an allwheel-drive version of its GP cars, and the link between the French company and Tyrreil ied Gardner to where he achieved ' his greatest successes.

Having seen its chassis win the '69 title, Matra wanted Ken Tyrrell to remove Cosworth's V8 and run its VI2 engines in his cars.Tyrrell refused, leaving World champion Jackie Stewart to defend his title in a March customer car. Big Ken knew he needed his own car, and

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instructed Gardner to built it.

His budget was £22,000.

The Tyrrell 001, designed with an amazing level of secrecy, was not a success, but it did lead to the 003. In 1971, Stewart drove the blue car to his second title, and team-mate Francois Cevert finished the season in third.Tyrrell cantered to the Constructor's title.Two years later, Stewart did it again, in Gardner's 006.

The 008 was the last GP car Gardner designed. Maurice Philippe took over theTyrrell role, and Gardner moved back to transmissions,joining Borg Warner. In his iatter years he spent some time advising P34 owner and historic racer Martin Stretton and worked on other projects, including building microlight aircraft.

Gardner died in Warwickshire on January 7, aged 79.

/ had a nice dinner with my familyI'aAmbrosia said. // "And I must admit that/ dumped a bottle ofchampagne over my own head.

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T'S comforting to know that being a the reserves play a couple of hours before the Formula 1 driver, with all of the perks that main match (you used to when 1 was a kid, but it is supposed to bring, doesn't make you presumably someone decided that too much immune from occasionaily being uncooi. value for money was dangerous).

This shouid be seif-evident to anyone who has I've banged on about my bewilderment seen some of Michaei Schumacher's shirts, but that more people - and journos in particular i'm ignoring those for the sake of convenience. - don't pay more attention to GP2 when it is A couple of weeks ago, I had Jerome right on their doorstep,so i won't do it again here. But those who had watched d'Ambrosio d'Ambrosio on the phone chatting about his new status as an FI race driver with Virgin. For will know what we're in for. Flatly, he's not most fans, d'Ambrosio arrives into the sport a world champion, but he's better than you largely as an unknown,and the Belgian - the might think. He was a good match for Kamui first with that particuiar passport to race Kobayashi during the two years that the pair fuii-time in Formuia 1 since Thierry Boutsen spent as DAMS team-mates,and he's hyperhas probabiy aiready been written off in the intelligent(think of a blue-eyed Lucas di minds of many as a bottom-feeding pay driver. Grass!, but with perhaps an even more frantic work ethic).

He's a iittle better than that, but we'li get to that in a moment.

The most impressive,thipg about him Any driver who makes it into FI,including though,is his resilience under pressure. those who pay,achieve something that Last year, with DAMS wallowing mid they have spent the vast majority of their table, management group Gravity pulled d'Ambrosio out of the car for the weekend at lives dreaming about and being committed towards,despite knowing that the odds Hockenheim and replaced him with Remain overwheimingiy point to their efforts ending Grosjean to see whether the problem was the team or the driver. in disappointment at best, and crippiing debt at worst. With that in mind, I asked d'Ambrosio D'Ambrosio watched unhappily as a car what he did on the evening that he signed the that had been resolutely average all season contract. How on earth do you commemorate suddenly started mixing it at the front with someone else behind th'e wheel. He was back a milestone that an unfathomable minority of people ever reach? in the car the following weekend,having "I had a nice dinner at home with my famiiy," been told that he had three races to prove he said. OK,that made sense. A bit boring that he deserved to be there.The strength of perhaps, but it's not unreasonable to want to his response played a significant part in his mark such an occasion with those that have landing the Friday drives with Virgin. supported you all the way there.

Then there were the Friday sessions "And I must admit that I dumped a bottle of themselves. How's thjs for a challenge: his first champagne over my own head."

Friday with Virgin was at Singapore - a street Now that's more like it. Yes, it's the track he'd never been to, a car he'd never sat in with the engine running,a night race,and racing driver equivalent of singing into the it was raining. He only had 90 minutes of track mirror with a can of hairspray serving as a microphone, but it's endearing at the same time available to him,and damaging the car was,in his words,"forbidden", because di time. I'm reasonably certain that I'm not going to make it into FI as a driver(being in my mid- Grass! needed it shortly afterwards.Viewed 30s and not having done any real racing, i'd in that light,the idea having your first run with a potential new employer at somewhere certainiy be breaking down some barriers), like Abu Dhabi on a Tuesday seems about as but it's comforting to know that someone eise has celebrated as dorkily as I would have done, daunting as a trip to the shops.

It's interesting to see that d'Ambrosio is One of the great things about F1 is that there are stories all along the grid. I could aiready being written off in some quarters of the media, presumabiy on the basis that just as easily have written about FI returnee and d'Ambrosio's'partner in mild underratedif you're in the second Virgin car, then by ness'Narain Karthikeyan, who is almost definition, you probabiy aren't much good. as embarrassed about the circumstances The frustrating thing here is that if a lot of these Journalists took the odd moment to look surrounding his best-ever FI finish as he is about how he managed to break his outside the paddock fence,they'd aiready collarbone just before the start of Le Mans in know how good d'Ambrosio is because he's 2009(he slipped off the pitwall while dashing been racing under their noses for the past to the paddock for a last-minute pee). But three years. F1 is a rarity among professional then you wouldn't have any reason to seek sports in that the main feeder ciass plays out at the same location on the same weekend. him out yourself when he gets to Melbourne in a couple of months.

When you go to the AFL, you don't get to see

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OTORSPORT NEWS: Let's start with Richard Petty Motorsport; a new team,a new season,.a new challenge, MARCOS AMBROSE: it sure is. i have had two years at Cup ievei and it has been a great time with JTG [Daugherty Racing]. But, coming to a new team and meeting new people puts a new wave of expectation on your shouiders. it is quite refreshing, it is intimidating too. We have a great team and a fantastic sponsor, who is fuiiy committed to racing globaiiy. This is, probabiy, my biggest chance to make it here in the Cup Series, as a race winner and to estabiish myseif as a major contender. Out of ail the racing that I have done around the world, this is probabiy the most exciting pre season that I have ever had,simpiy because of the opportunity that lies in front of me.

Was there a degree of inevitability in the move? Single-car teams in NASCAR have become a bit of an endangered species.

For sure. There were obvious limitations with the team i was with,just because of the 20

nature of the business. For a one-car entity, trying to survive and compete at the top level of NASCAR,competition is realiy, really hard. It was a combination of those factors.

We had a great association with Michael Waltrip Racing,so we didn't act like a one-car team,or like a three-car team either, i just felt like it was time for a change.You measure yourself and you need to keep pushing yourself, and I had a great deal of security over there, i was good friends with the team owners and the sponsors, and the like, but that is not what i am here for. I am here to try to win races and i just felt like I needed to make a change,to extend myseif.

How difficult was the decision to leave? it is obvious from this distance that you and the Geshickters[JTG team co-owners] were close, and you did have a year to go on your contract.That must have been a big call.

It was a big cali. Obviousiy,there was a great deai that we had to work through.

There was, how do we get out of this the

right way? How do we wind this down so that JTG can prosper once I am gone? How could I make the most of the remaining time in my driving career? There were a iot of issues in piay.

This did not come about ali at once. It was years in the making, i had been with JTG for five years - we went from the Truck Series ali the way through to the Cup Series, and it was a good partnership together, it takes time to get out of that and it takes a lot of effort, to do it the right way. It would have been easy for the Geshickter family to get mad and to try to enforce contracts, and it would have been easy for me to sit tight and then walk away.

But, we worked it out and it was very amicable. I wish them the very best - I am sure that they wish me the best too. it is hard work to run a professional motorsport team. Not every day is a good day; not every season is a good season.You have to make your choices and stick to your end goais. My focus is clear; I have come to NASCAR to win and I have to do everything motorsport news

Different directions:Ambrose had a spirited battle with KaseyKahne at Michigan last year. The two drivers are heading in opposite paths, the Aussie into RPM's #9Ford entry and Kahne to Toyota with Red Bull Racing.

I can to put myself in the best position possible to do that.

The question to ask as a follow up to that is, there have been times in the last two seasons when you were in a position to score your first win in the Sprint Cup and it did not happen. How much did that factor in your thinking about the move to Petty's?

It has been brewing for a long time. I knew at the end of the 2009 season that we had had a great first year in the Cup Series. It was really going to be hard to go any better than that, and 2010 proved that.

We hit a slump. It is natural for that to happen. You need to keep moving forward, to try to advance. If you finish 20th in the championship and you do not make any changes, you are not going to finish 20th the next year - you are going to drop.

For me, I felt that at the end of 2009, we had a great outcome. We were top 20 in our first year, and i felt like the momentum at that point slowed. I was looking at options; even before the 2010 season started, I was www.mnews.com.au

I WAS GOOD reiENDS WITH IHE TEAM OWNERS AND IHE SPONSORS BUT IHAT IS NOT WHA'I I AM HERE FOR. I AM HERE TO FRY TO WIN RACES AMBROSE ON ENDING HIS DEAL WTIH JTD CO-OWNER TAD GESHICKTER

thinking that I had to think about myself, and what I needed to do to give myself the very best chance that I can.

Was Ford a strong motivation? You didn't make a decision to drive a Toyota;the team you were with became a Toyota team. So how much was Ford a factor?

I always remember the people who helped me to get to where I am today. No doubt, the Ford Racing family have been great supporters of mine.

I enjoyed my time with Toyota. We had a good partnership and I definitely enjoyed working with them.

But it was definitely a factor. I am not going to be here forever, and when I come back (to Australia), I would still like to be known as a Ford driver, if I could!This really helps to cement my plans for the next five or 10 years. I am going to rekindle the relationship with Ford and, hopefully, go to the winner's circle with them. I want to go to the next stage of my career and set up, not a dynasty, but something to remember.

I was a Ford driver when I left Australia. I want to be a Ford driver when I get back.

I can see an Ambrose Ford dealership in your future, Marcos...

I would have to buy Tim Leahey out!

You are aware of the passion that runs in this country for Ford and Holden in V8 Supercar competition. Give us a little insight in how that compares to the USA. It is actually different.

When I first came here,there were three things that fans cheered for; the drivers; the manufacturers; and the teams. When the Car ofTomorrow came out, every car pretty much looked the same, and the manufacturers got upset about it because... because the cars looked the same! Fans got confused.

So there is a balance here between what the fans are really cheering for and I think that the drivers here in the USA are number one.The teams are equal with the manufacturer. A Hendrick supporter 21

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supports all their cars; they would like Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and [Dale Earnhardt] Junior to win. If you are a Junior fan, you are a Hendrick fan.

If Junior can't win, you want one of his team mates to win.

That has a lot of momentum and a lot of history behind it. These teams have been in the sport for a long time and they have a lot of loyal supporters. The manufacturers do, too.

But I think that in Australia, the Ford versus Holden parochialism is probably stronger.That is because there are only two, and in the USA, there is more breakup across the industry.

You left out the fourth thing; Everybody boos Kyle [Busch]! [/.aug/rsjThat's true!

The reason I asked is because of the fact that the recent move by James Courtney, after winning the championship in a Ford and then moving to HRT, has caused a lot of ripples here. But drivers like Tony Stewart changed cars and back again, and it does not seem to motorsport news

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New York State ofMind:Ambrose's wins in the USA have been restricted to three straight Nationwide races at Watkins Gien,ieft, a far cry from his V8 Supercar tide days with Stone Brothers Racing,above. l

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I KNEW IHAT THERE WERE ISSUES 'I'O BE CONFRONTED. I AM NO'I A GAMBLER BU'I I AM NO'I AFRAID rO FAKE A SHO'F AMBROSE KNEW 'IHA'r THE FU'RJRE OF RRM WAS IN DOUBT WHEN HE LEPI J'l G cause quite as much commotion over there.

No. I thinkthat people realise that racing is different and the power of the driver is the dominating factor of what fans follow. The majority of fans align themselves to a driver before a manufacturer.

A lot of that comes back to the driver, too.

But that is not my attitude.The people who got me here, and my friends in the Ford family... I can't wait to get back to them and enjoy our success together. You have to remember who got you to where you are. At the end of the day, you are going to come back down that slope, somewhere!

At the time we learned of the link between you and RPM, it was not even certain then that there was even going to be an RPM. The team's difficulties have been welldocumented. How much of a risk did you see it as?

I knew that there was risk from the very first moment I started talking to them.

There was some uncertainty about the financial stability of the Gillett family. They www.mnews.com.au

are a sporting dynasty and they had some great assets at the time, like the Liverpool Football Club, the Montreal Canadians of the NFIL, and a motorsport team with four cars in the Cup Series. On the outside, it looked solid. But I knew that there were issues to be confronted.

I am not a gambler, but I am not afraid to take a shot. I felt that this was my best chance to align myself with a premier brand in Stanley-DeWalt, and to be associated with The King. It looked like there was some security there, even if it all fell over.

In the end, it did fall over.The potential was there for it to be resurrected, and not only did it regroup, it looks like it may prosper. I liked the opportunity; it was a risk to take, and I knew that there was trouble on the horizon. But I don't think that anyone thought that it would come on so fast, like it did.

The upside is this; a two-car team now, you and AJ Allmendinger in competitive cars, and good news on the sponsorship front. A

full program for you. Best Buy has weighed in for the #43. It looks pretty good.

We have a great situation in front of us. We have been able to reduce from four cars to two, and keep some really good people.

When you have to lose 70 to 80 people, you can cherry pick and I feel like we have some really good guys back at the workshop, to help us extend the performances that the team showed at the end of last year.

We have a great relationship with Roush Fenway. They are right across the street, our car are supplied by Roush and our engines are supplied by Roush Yates. We have a technical partnership with them, and we have a lot of depth and strength. Flopefully that will play a part in our success.

There are no guarantees, and we are a twocar team that wants to stay as independent as we can. We have some great resources to tap into. My car is going to be the Stanley/ Black and Decker/DeWalt machine through the course of the whole 2011-12 seasons.

That is very unusual; I think that there are only two or three teams that iii^ 23

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Blue Badge: Ambrose got his first result in a Cup car in 2008, taking the Wood Bros Fusion to third at Watkins Glen after starting 43rd! Of course, two V8 Supercar titles in Fords came much earlier than that.

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have that sponsorship through the whole year. They are a great global brand, they are investing in racing and this is a great opportunity for me.

You are also in the odd position of having raced a Toyota last year, you are about to step back into a Ford but you also drove a Chevy during 2010. Can you talk about that?

Jeff Gordon's car? First of all, I am a professional racecar driver, and I got a real thrill out of driving Jeff Gordon's car. If I got a thrill out of that, there must be at least a million people who wish that they could do the same thing!

I was able to jump into his seat, which was pretty uncomfortable - he has much smaller 24

, I WAS A FX>RD A DRIVER WHEN I LEPl AUSTRALIA. I WANT TO BE A FORD .

DRIVER WHF3V I GPF BACK YOU WOULD HAVE TO BEUEVE 'FHAT AMBROSE HAS BLUE BLOOD IN HIS VEINS

hips than I have! It was great to sample his car, his crew chief Steve Letarte is a great guy and I hope they got something out of it. I certainly did and that is something that I will remember for a long time.

Racing with him is great and I am striving for a lot more. But when you get a chance to jump into a legend's car and drive it around a racetrack, because you get asked for some assistance, that is pretty cool.

Speaking of wins... Carl Edwards had two of those, in the last two races of 2010 in a a Roush Ford. Roush Fenway's hardware looks top-rate. These is no reason to assume that your cars are going to be anything but top-notch, is there?

No. I am really excited about that. The program that they have got, with the new engine that they brought out, is great. The development has just started but it is already reliable, it already has great horsepower. We will have an opportunity to exploit that.

We have a lot of depth. Now, it is a matter of gelling it together. We need to make it work as a coherent team.

That is the unknown; how am I going to blend in with [new crew chief] Todd Parrott?

How will I blend in with the new team? How will I get on with the sponsors?

There is some anxiety, i want to get started with these guys. I am sure that we will find out how good the stuff is in pretty short order.

1..^ motorsport news

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MOTORSPORTNEWS:Once I gotan emailfrom Leigh Diffey, after the Daytona 24 Hour race a few years ago.

He was doing commentary when Richard Petty walked into the box. Diffwas speechless-and that takes some doing!

Whatis Petty like?

MARCOS AMBROSE: Richard is an incredible person.

He is 70 years old,or thereabouts,and he has as much'pass'ibh'for l-acing now as he had on the day that he sat in a racecar for the first time. He is a really nice man;realiy sharp. great business savvy and a great sport. He is an great spokesperson.

I am learning a lot off him. and I enjoy being around him. I thinkxthat he is a little deaf after being around racecars for so long,so you end up yelling things to him! His hearing and my accent is giving us quite a few issues...

I am enjoying getting to know the family and the team.I have been on his plane a few times and spent some quality time with him. and he is an intimidating character,even today. I am in awe of the guy, he has a lot of presence about him.When you are around Richard, you know that you are around someone who is important. It is pretty cool to be associated with him.

I never thought that I would get a chance to drive. for Richard Petty, i am sure that he never thought that he would get an Australian to drive for him,either!

NotJust an Australian,a Tasmanian...

I have tried to keep that bit quiet! www.mnews.com.au

25

<^111 Is the breakthough win going to come on an oval?

I just want to win,first off! i don't really care where it comes.

I feel like I need to run top 10 on a much more consistent level. I have a single digit number of top 10s from each year that I have competed in Cup, and that is not good enough. I want to be a contender,and you need to string together 15 or 20 top 10s.That is my real goal.

I used to be more consistent. I need to run inside the top 10. If you can do that, then the wins will come.

I do not expect to win a race. Everybody says that they want to win a race, but to me,that does not make for a successful season. Success to me is to blend into the team smoothly in the first quarter of the season,then to build some of the continuity and consistency that you need,then to build that into top 10s through the summer.

Which leads me to ask, is making The Chase a realistic aim in your first year with RPM? We haven't been told what The Chase format is going to be - there are rumours that it may go out to 15 cars [Ed:from the current 12 cars]. It might move around, and right now, I am not too sure what it is.

We would like to do what my catchphrase was last year;'Win a Race, Make The Chase'. We didn't do either! This year, I am a little more cautious, I want to be top 10 when we are on-form. If we can do that, then we can consider race wins and The Chase.

When I was watching the race at Infineon last year, I broke something after it all went wrong [Ed: Ambrose's car was leading the race but would not restart after he switched the engine off to save fuel]. So you have gotta get a win! I can't afford to break too much more stuff!

[Laughs]You can be remorseful but you have to be philosophical. I don't have too many bad feelings about it; the situation was out of my control. We were short on fuel and I was not going to make it to the end of the race unless I was very aggressive on saving fuel. We had issues with consistent carburettors, and I guess I paid the price.

1

Any Nationwide races this year?

We have one locked in - in Montreal.There are few others that may happen, but to be honest, we have been focused on making sure that our Cup program was saved, and anything after that is a bonus.

I would look at opportunities and I have had plenty of offers. I have taken a few down, but I do not want to compromise the Cup program, and I would want to be competitive. It is a difficult environment out there right now,and the sponsorship dollars are still scarce.

If I can get a chance to do something, I will.

EVERYONE SAYS 'ITIAT 'raEY WANT TO WIN A RACE BU'I TO ME.'HIAr DOES NOT MAKE FDR A SUCCESSFUL SEASON 26

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A MOTORSPORT NEWS EXCLUSIVE

CHARLIE SCHWERKOLT

INSIDE OUT

Dick Johnson Racing’s 2010 season was like a soap opera.

While James Courtney was trying to win the underdogs a title, the team was falling apart in the background. A crucial player in the saga was Charlie Schwerkolt, an investor who once saved the team from the brink of extinction, and then failed in his bid to take 100 percent control. He spoke to ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

28

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www.mnews.com.au

motorsport news

I

T all started with a forklift.

Makes sense, really; forklifts have been the centerpiece to Charlie Schwerkolt's success in business. If Waverly Forklifts wasn't the company that it is today,Schwerkolt would never have been in a position to take a major financial stake in a V8 Supercar team. If he hadn't once given a forklift to Dick Johnson Racing, the team may not exist today, let alone be the reigning V8 Supercar Champions.

An arguable point, sure, but Schwerkolt was, after all, instrumental in pulling DJR out of the financial hole it was in just three years ago.

Had he not thrown money into Stapylton, it is possible that the team wouldn't be here.

Before the news broke in the middle of last year of the rift within DJR, most people not on the inside of V8 Supercar racing wouldn't have heard of Charlie Schwerkolt. He was betterknown as'the forklift guy', a behind-the-scenes investor with a hands-off approach.That was never the case, but it wasn't until his failed attempt to take over the whole DJR operation, which was followed by the ugly divorce between he and Johnson,that people on the outside began to realise that Schwerkolt was a real-life V8 Supercar player.

"I've always had a passion for motorsport, ever since Dad took me to speedway meetings when I was four or five years old,"says Schwerkolt.

"I did some karting earlier on,at Oakleigh Kart Club [in Melbourne], and I always just had an interest in motorsport.

"I got involved helping Dick out by giving him a forklift. He offered for me to come along to the races, and see if I could help out. It was like doing an apprenticeship - this was late 2002 and I just watched and took all the information in, and learnt as much as I possibly could."

Even then, before he had a financial stake in the team,Schwerkolt was a hands-on member of the team. In fact, while many see him as being a DJR man from the start of 2008, he only missed two races, both in Bahrain, as part of the DJR team between the start of the 2003 season and the end of the 2010 season.

"I was more of a supporter in the beginning, and then I became a minor sponsor with forklifts and trucks," he adds.

"1 saw the troubled times from the end of'04 when Shell left. Westpoint came on in '05, and then things started to go pear-shaped at the end of that year. I could see that happening, and it was difficult times for DJR. I was just

watching to see where it was going.The First Rock days of'06... they were messy days.

"There was no cash at all, and I knew exactly what Dick was doing; he was trying to get a partner to buy in.There were a couple of names floated around, but they all fell over at the last minute. Dick asked me to come on board and be a partner.

"The place was a really, really sad place.The air-conditioning wasn't working and they couldn't pay the bills to get it fixed.That's how tough it was. I came on board with my people, and to rebuild the team was very, very tough."

It was here, at the start of 2008,that things got a little... complicated. Schwerkolt was drafted into the team as a 50 percent stakeholder, and in the rush to get money into accounts before the bank foreclosed on the business,some of the formalities were overlooked. It was at this point that the foundations for the dramas that unfolded in 2010 were laid, because when Schwerkolt went to take 100 percent control of the team,as he had planned to do, he wasn't contractually safeguarded.

"That was my goal,[to take over the team], he admits.

"Dick and I spoke about it originally, about where it was going to go. We had several meetings about it. It's common knowledge that Dick and I have different business ideas, and I would take it down a different path to where he wanted to take it. Someone had to take the final control.

"The biggest mistake that I made was rushing things.To help Dick out,to get the team out of trouble, we rushed things through very quickly. It was too rushed, but we didn't have a choice. If we didn't rush at the start, the Westpac bank was going to shut the company up in days. Dick was ringing me every single day to see if the money was coming through.

It was the most rushed due diligence on buying a company I've ever done,and I wouldn't do it again."

It wasn't always doom and gloom; in 2008, Will Davison made DJR a winning team again, with a round win at Eastern Creek.Things were finally going in the right direction and, with newTriple Eight hardware on the way for 2009, things were looking even better for the future.

But while most people believe the internal breakdown started in 2010, when it became public, Schwerkolt reveals it started iii^ long before that...

“Late in 2008, when Will Davison was leaving and we were looking to either secure him, or replace him. The friction started way back then.5J www.mnews.com.au

37

IDII

Probably late in 2008, when Will [Davison] was leaving and we were looking to either secure him, or replace him.

The friction started way back then."

Schwerkolt isn't keen to elaborate on what sparked the friction, but it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, and end up with James Courtney. From the moment Courtney joined the team, many in the media could see that he was'Charlie's'driver, while the Johnson family - Dick and Steve - sat on the other side of the garage.There were times when it looked more like two one-car teams, rather than one two-car team.

"1 said all along that James is the whole package,"adds Schwerkolt.

"His driving skills are second to none - he's the best out there. His public relations skills are excellent, and we had a very, very strong relationship - and a strong friendship as well.

"It was a professional and social relationship."

Schwerkolt says'was', not'is', for a very good reason. Even when it became clear that Schwerkolt would be out of DJR by the end of 2010, it appeared the Schwerkolt/Courtney relationship would continue, via a fourth Ford Performance Racing car deal, backed by Pepsi.

When the shock announcement that Courtney had signed for the Holden Racing Team was made, it left Schwerkolt in a complicated position, and as a result, he wasn't even part of the team's celebrations when they wrapped up the title in Sydney.

"Unfortunately... this is where things get complicated," he says, each word carefully chosen.

"Before Bathurst, when I wasn't able to buy Dick out, my share of the business was being purchased by [mining magnate] Nathan Tinkler.

Lots of opportunities were coming up around then, and the big one that everyone knew about was the Pepsi/Ford/FPR relationship.

Unfortunately, at the last minute, it all turned sour. James and his management decided to take another offer, and it all got complicated towards the end. James felt that it was too difficult to give me any recognition [for the title].

"It was so bitter-sweet. 1 was really excited to have won the title, because that was what the goal was three years ago when I first sat down with Adrian (Burgess, DJR's 2010 sporting director) and we looked at what we had to do.

We tried to do it in '09, and when we couldn't, we went for it in 2010. It was so exciting to get that done, but so disappointing to not be able to be directly involved."

Burgess was another person who seemed to be on the'Charlie'side of the DJR garage.The two were clearly close, and Schwerkolt admits that he always had faith in Burgess'ability to take the team to the top. And unlike his relationship with Courtney, it seems the one with Burgess will stand the test of the team's breakdown.

"I'd take Adrian anywhere. He's been the backbone of the team. We have an III! extremely close relationship,to this day.

“At the last minute, it all turned sour.James and his management decided to take another offer, and it all got complicated towards the end.James felt that it was too difhcult to give me any recognition for the title.

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ipii

'He built up a great network of guys well, the pair of us did - around us. It's the staff at DJR that made it successful, right from merchandise people,engine guys and the guys on the floor. But Adrian was instrumental. Without Adrian, it wouldn't have happened."

Another person in the V8 paddock that was always seen as being well supported by Schwerkolt was Davison. Even after he left the team to go to HRT at the end of 2008, Schwerkolt always publicly rated Davison. When it became obvious that Davison was likely to leave HRT at the end of 2010, and before it became obvious that Schwerkolt would be out of DJR by the end of the season, he even tried to lure Davison back to Stapylton,to partner Courtney for 2011.

"I've still got a very close relationship with Will -1 saw him the other day," he says.

"I was very disappointed when Will left the team, but I understand why he did, and I don't begrudge anyone leaving to further their career. I felt that we gave Will a good chance to prove himself, but he was in a tough environment before I came on board. I think I played a part in building him up into a better person.

"You have to remember that he wasn't being paid before I turned up, so things were tough for him too.

I was disappointed when he left, but I still, to this day, have a great relationship with Will."

Despite the train-wreck that the DJR ownership became,and the failed Pepsi/FPR bid, Schwerkolt doesn't talk like a man who has been chewed up and spat out by the sport. In fact, he freely admits that, given a little time to let the wounds heal, he wants to return to V8 Supercar racing.

"The sport as a whole, I think, is in great shape.

There will bean amazing amount of opportunities down the track, and its something that I will miss if i'm not involved. I want to get involved at some point down the track, although I'm a little gun-shy at the moment with everything that's happened. But I still think some amazing opportunities will come up with Car of the Future, and yeah. I'll look at those opportunities. I'll just be a little cautious. But I won't say never.

"You learn by mistakes; if I didn't do that, there'd be something wrong with me. As I said, in the beginning, I rushed into helping Dick out, and my preparation wasn't as good as it should have been.The goal was there - to get in, turn the team around, and win a championship,something that hadn't been done for 15 years - but my position was left a little... out there.

"I'm not lost or anything, because I've got plenty to do, but it will be disappointing not to be in Abu Dhabi,for sure. I did my homework in the beginning, and wanted to have a long-term career in V8 Supercars."

For now,Schwerkolt has closed the first chapter of his involvement in V8 Supercars. One small link with DJR remains - the V8 REC (licence) tuning one of the two cars remains in Charlie's ownership and is being leased back to the team .

But, apart from that,that's it.

"It's been ... challenging, rewarding, and a lot of fun.

Obviously at the end,there were tenuous times. But overall, as an experience, it's been great."

34

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JOST WIEN IT LOOKED LIKE STEVE OWEN WOULD BE BANISBED TO CO-BBIVEB LAND rOK TIE BEST OF HIS 6ABEEB. HIS SEEONB MAIN SEBIES CIAN6E BAS SOME. HE SPOKE 10 ANBBEW VAN LEEOWEN ABOUT DOG HOB. PAHL MOBBIS AND TRIPLE EIGHT

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Three Amigos:Paul Morris, Steve Owen and VIP Petfoods boss Tony Quinn are a team for'11. The #67car was launchedjust before Christmas.

M

OTORSPORT NEWS:Were you ever concerned that you wouldn't get an opportunity like this to break back into the main game on a full-time basis?

STEVE OWEN:There were plenty of opportunities that came up, but I saw myself in a better position if I stayed part-time with a good team, rather than going full-time with a team that wouldn't be competitive.

It wasn't about not getting an opportunity, but I was worried about not getting the right opportunity.

So you obviously see this Paul Morris Motorsport move as the right opportunity.

Yeah, I think the ingredients are there; we just need to make it all work.There will be a betterTriple Eight involvement this year, and that can only be a good thing,so on paper we shouldn't be too far behind the Vodafone cars.

38

You've had an interesting career in V8 Supercars.You've driven for big teams, and you've driven for really small teams.

You once drove for Autobarn Racing, and in the last three years you've been through Dick Johnson Racing, Clayton and TeamVodafone.What have you learnt along the way?

It wasn't until I joined the bigger teams as a co-driver that I realised just how much shit you're pushing up hill with a smaller team.

When I did the couple of years with Autobarn,the whole team would fit in one Tarago - including driver, truck drivers and team manager. You just can't compete with teams like Vodafone who have 50 full-time guys, who are all qualified and very good at theirjob.

So it's been good, but it's also put more of a premium on making sure I'm with the right team,and in the right gear.

At Phillip Island last year, you were very impressive - particularly in qualifying, where you stuck car #1 on pole in front of a heap of regulars. How much does that help the confidence?

That's right, it helps a lot. I've been doing this for a long time, and I've faced a lot of curve balls and ups and downs,and you can't not back yourself. If I didn't back myself, I'd be off doing something else.

But like you said, it's nice to jump in a car like that and do the fastest time of anyone in qualifying. That probably wasn't a surprise for the people who know me well, but it would have been a surprise to a lot of other people. It's all part of the confidence building, and I'm getting quicker and quicker all the time. Working with those bigger teams, and seeing how they go about it, has certainly helped develop me as a driver. motorsport news

Was Jamie Whincup surprised when you were quicker than him, in his own car, at Phillip Island?

Well ... it wasn't that cut and dry, because they were two different qualifying sessions.

We went out earlier than he did, 15 minutes earlier, so it wasn't a clean back-to-back.

Jamie and I came through the ranks together,from karting, and I was his first choice as a co-driver, so he must rate me a little bit. But I don't run around telling people I blew him off because we weren't in the same session.

That experience in a Triple Eight Commodore, how important will that be heading into this season with a team that uses Triple Eight Commodores?

That was part of the plan.The team knows that I know what a Triple Eight car should feel like, so the idea is that we should be able to www.mnews.com.au

turn PMM into more of a Triple Eight-style operation. Last year it was PMM running Triple Eight cars, but with different set-ups and a different philosophy.This year, we've got the team manager and an engineer coming down,a driver coming down,so its about getting theTriple Eight philosophy.

It's not anything radical. A lot of people asked me after what Phillip Island what Triple Eight's secret to success was, and it's nothing, really. It's just that everyone does a good job, and it's all kept very simple and very logical. A lot of the other teams tend to try and reinvent the wheel, whereas these guys just keep things consistent and quick.

There are no ups and downs.

You and Paul Morris seem to be pretty close; at what point did he let you know his intention to get you into one of his Ill cars for this season?

IT WASH T ABOUT NOT GETTINB AN OPPORTUNITY. BUT I WAS WORRIEB ABOUT NOT GETTING THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY 39

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47

I've known Paul since 2003, when I went up there and screwed together Bam Bam, his second chassis, and ran it at Bathurst under the Smiths Trucks banner. I won my first Fujitsu Series title in a PMM car, and the Autobarn car I raced was a sister car to his car as well.

It's been a long process; we've been trying to get this deal across the line for a while now, but as everyone knows,there are commercial realities in motorsport. If it doesn't add up numbers-wise,then it's tough luck. We're lucky that we have a great sponsor in VIP Petfoods this year, and I'm lucky that those guys are already involved in motorsport, so when my name was put forward,they knew who I was!

It's all come together at the right time, with the team getting moreTriple Eight influence, and me having driven forTriple Eight. Also, I'm probably at the best point of my career, because I'm experienced, but I'm still young enough to have speed. It was all pretty logical from the enduros onwards, we just had to make it all make sense commercially.

Are you nervous? Are you feeling the pressure of this being the big chance?

Yes and no. 1 found it more nerve wracking being a co-driver in someone's

championship, because you've got the pressure of being as fast as the other guys, but with the no-crash policy. You're expected to do lap times without a crash, whereas if Jamie comes back with the thing turned upside, well it's his championship, so it's his problem. As a co-driver, you can't put a scratch on it.

This is more of the next point in my career.

Everything is there, we just have to make it all work. So I don't feel a lot of pressure, although there's always pressure, but I feel like it will come together with hard work.

You had a couple of years in the Fujitsu Series and you won the title in both of them. How important was it to be in the Fujitsu Series, rather than sitting at home waiting for someone to offer you a Job? The first time [in 2008] I didn't really want to do it, because I felt like it was a step back. In my career I've had to take a step back to take a step forwards a couple of times. It ended up being a massive help.

By the time I got to Phillip Island this year.

I'd put 12 or 14 sets of new tyres on,and I'd had qualifying runs. If I hadn't had done that, there is no way I would have done that sort of time at Phillip Island, because you need to understand what the new tyre does.

I also do a lot of other driver training stuff.

so I worked out that I'm in a racecar about 80 days a year, which is more than most guys.

That experience, and in different cars, is a huge help. I'm going to try and keep that going as much as possible.

Do you own a dog?

Yeah, I do actually. A Blue Heeler.

So it'll be a well fed dog this year!

That's true! She'll be coming up to Queensland with me. It's great to have VIP on board. I met with a few sponsors with regard to next year, and some of them are hard work, because they don't put the right money in, but they want the right result.

With these guys,they are a racing family, and they know what it's all about. It couldn't have worked out better.

Are you excited?

Yeah, absolutely. I can't wait to get to the first round. It will be busy, but that's what it's all about.

It will be different to the last couple of years, because I'll have my own car all year. I remember what it was like with the Autobarn car; when you're in the same car the whole time, you keep getting quicker and quicker.

lY THE TIME I 60T TO PHILLIP ISLAND. I D PDT 12 OR U SETS OF NEW TYRES ON. AND TO HAD Q0ALIFYIN6 RONS. IF I HADN T RAD DONE THE FOJITSO SERIES. THERE IS NO WAY I WOOLD RAVE DONE THAT SORT OF TIME AT PHILLIP ISLAND. Making an impression:Owen and his new boss Paul Morris went head-to-head in the 2010 Fujitsu Series.

42

motorsport news

Steve Owen

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AS ONE OF FORMULA fS NEW KDSON THE BLOCK,2010 WASN'T EXACTLY BEER AND SKITTLES FOR VRON RAONO BUT,AS MAT COCH FOUND OUT.THEY'VE GOT SOME HANDY ilGREDCNTS AND ARE DETERMRED TO MOVE UP THEGRD

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RAND-NEW Formula 1 teams are a rarity in the modern era.

On paper, Force India made their debut in 2008 and Mercedes GP in 2010, but both teams are examples of existing teams changing hands and identities.

Super Aguri was Honda's BTeam,with some stop-gap scraps from the ashes of Arrows, so to find the last, legitimately'new' Formula 1 team created from scratch, you have to go back to Toyota in 2002.

Aside from short term-efforts from teams like Forti and the www.mnews.com.au-

Lola disaster in the 1990s, you then go back to Sauber,formed in 1993,and Jordan(now Force India), which debuted in 1991.

So when Formula 1 announced it would welcome three start up operations in 2010,it would be the biggest single influx of new teams for decades. Of the successful bidders, USF1 never turned a wheel and Campos Meta was bailed out to become Hispania Racing Team,leaving only Manor Motorsport to carry on and race in their initial guise,^ while Lotus Racing was granted' their licence later in the piece.

When Manor was named

as a new team in mid-2009, there were a lot of people left scratching their heads. Here was an outfit few outside of British motorsport had heard of, that had somehow won a ticket to the greatest stage the sport has to offer.

The outfit has pedigree, though. Established in 1990

by John Booth, Manor ran Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen as the pair served their apprenticeships en-route to Formula 1 World Championships.

Even current Red Bull boss Christian Horner won a Formula Renault race for Manor in 1992.

That experience,together with a spot in Formula 1, was enough to entice Richard Branson to pull his Virgin stock from the former Brawn team, which was sold to Mercedes,and throw it into the South Yorkshire based squad.

Moving from a team who'd just won the championship to one with little hope other than propping up the time sheets seemed a strange move. Branson, however, is a canny man. After all, he started his empire selling records from the boot of his car during the 1970s.

What the billionaire realised was that the

2009 season with Brawn, in which it won both the drivers and constructors titles, was a fairytale that couldn't last.The opportunity to brand an entire team for much the same money as was spent with Brawn was therefore appealing,so the Virgin dollars ended up at Manor, which became Virgin Racing.

Despite common belief.

Branson didn't buy the team, he merely invested a sum and took a small slice of the overall pie. While some may see it to be a half-hearted approach from Virgin's perspective, in reality the move protected Branson's interest while giving the team credibility in the business world.

In doing so, Branson opened doors to other companies looking to strike up a relationship with Virgin through the racing team that bore its name.

"The Virgin brand is attractive and appealing for a lot of companies,"explained Virgin Racing Marketing Director Jim Wright,"and there are certainly companies we speak to on a regular basis that would only be coming into Formula 1 because they want to be associated with, and working with. Virgin."

"These days,sponsorship is not based on - or not usually based on - buying media airtime,"he added.

"If you want to buy media airtime,there are far more efficient ways to do it. Effectively, sponsorship these days are very, very complex business plans where the branding within the teams is only a platform around which business to business relationships are built." ^111

Even with money from Virgin 2010, was always going to be a rough ride. Regulation changes had meant the anticipated budget cap under which the team had applied for its spot on the grid never eventuated, leaving the team to fight established players like Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull on the bigger teams'terms.

The best the team could hope for was to become the best of the new teams, plodding around the rear of the field, hoping to scratch through for a point if circumstances fell in their favour. By seasons end the best they'd achieved were two 14th places, leaving them 11th in the championship(see breakout).

It was a learning experience for the team,led on track by Toyota refugee Timo Clock.

"He can be a pain the arse,Timo," Team Principal John Booth jests, "but I know every time he steps in the car he's given 100 percent.

"Time's 100 percent is pretty impressive. I've always rated him but to actually work with him you see how good he is.'"

So good the team announced in December plans to retain him for the forthcoming season, though in reality his future was secure by last year's final round in Abu Dhabi, when Motorsport News sat down with Booth.

When asked who would be in the car for 2011,Booth yelled out across the room to a table where Clock sat chatting."Who are you driving for next season?"Booth enquired."Virgin,"came Clock's response, with just a hint of'you know very well who I'm driving for, what are you asking me for

now?'about it.

Having driven for Jordan and Toyota,the move to Virgin was,at first, a bitter pill to swallow. Points finishes were a distant dream,let alone a podium or a win.That's not to say Clock's resolve changed, nor did his approach;the 2010 season maturing the young Cerman who put in some stellar performances,even if at the wrong end of the field.

"He knew It from day one," said Booth of a 2010 campaign which can best be described as character building.

"We never tried to pull the wool over his eyes,and he wanted to be a part of what we're building ... It must have seemed like the foundations were pretty shaky in the first six months but I think he sees now we're making good progress."

While impressed with Clock, the team was less flattering of Lucas di Crassi.The rookie, who piloted the second car throughout 2010, was dumped at the end of the year, having failed to learn some of the critical lessons needed to survive in Formula 1.

Still, it was a mighty effort for a team believed to be operating with a fraction of the budget even their fellow newcomers.

More Impressive still was the simple fact the outfit didn't exist before June 2009.

Part of the fact Virgin Racing survived was due to intelligent management ofthe team,with a large portion down to the fact they were able to develop their car at a significantly reduced cost.

Technical Director Nick Wirth-^ -

employed a new approach to the design of the VR01,doing away with traditional wind tunnel development.

Wirth has been Involved in Formula 1 before. He was the owner of the failed Simtekteam that employed David Brabham in the mid-90's,and before that worked with Adrian Newey at March. Since then, however, Wirth had been working with his own company,Wirth Research, developing Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)for applications within the automotive industry.

Specifically, he'd been in America transforming Acura sports cars from competitive racers into championship winners.

Since the early'90s, all Formula 1 cars have been designed on computer before scale models are painstakingly created and rup in a wind tunnel. It's a time cohsLifnihg;expensive and wasteful process, which Wirth decided had room for improvement.

Wirth opted to eliminate the wind tunnel altogether and,in doing so, release resources which had otherwise been tied up building wind tunnel models.

"There's actually quite a lot of design tOimapgfacture,and manufacturing to manufacture, a componentfor a model,"Wirth explained.

"Sometimes wing sections that might be carbon fibre on the real car will be manufactured in aluminum,or steel) machined from solid.%you take a lump df metal and you machine it out and you end up with a small profile or suspension component or whatever. „

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"All these parts are built for a model.So you have a model design department which is like, essentially, a scaled version of the real design office that manufactures real parts."

Rather than employing a model making department, Wirth Research instead transfers the computer models into a supercomputer which,according to Wirth, is able to simulate and analyse the design more efficiently than a wind tunnel.

This has a number of benefits, one of which being that they can use full-scale designs, where wind tunnel testing is limited by the regulations to 60 percent at best,as well as a significant cost saving.

While other teams use CFD to test or confirm various findings Virgin Racing, was the first to design and develop an entire car using the technology.

'We don't use wind tunnels at all,"Wirth stated.

'Your development is more efficient, more financially efficient and more performance efficient to do your - what we call heavy lifting development iin'CFP. 'Any technology born in the white heat of battle is developed far quicker than normai; industry.

ThatS true im war time; youi think of what came out of the World Wars ilfttermsiof engineering'.

There are .tichnologies that'Game out of the space race lin, terms of the Apolio'teehno'lbgies"' that's not #/say''the Virgini Racing VR0il! signaleditheond for the wind .tunnel' testing, Wirth ibeliewingi that while there is no

Kliiirace^gt HthiiilfJif'raifgly

Team boss John Booth,above, and Technical Boss Nick Wirth, below,are the keys behind the scenes, while Timo Clock, bottom,leads Virgin on track

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any ofthi'ffiew teamS>,a'liW|) i withimillions Of dpildrsfhrtra 'earsitjblyibi&eiiiiiiib r-f' . ; money; The private battle'enjoyed, ffn||pii|hWaSjkihi!^0f:' i ibythethree teams who made ihnsii|affi'Ci|en«0|-,wh0.-tilai^^^^^ return, after,four I the grid, having,won-their:entry/ _ llisJiiiiiS iintoFonmulaSj/theipregeliing. T.-iriPfr4#|f#l'!reifiMesj^h|^-b year, had the haMmarks-ofthe ;. ^ ,.with.i|H^nKtaking0,vefil!tmt- - » fo'lin Chapmahfrophy ©fsT987^.,. an;iir:S'a’k0n,Yama^ot^iiiiiftii5: AttheiheightOfthetuKbO'era, .1.

"■ " ■ : p 'dfeclmatediteamsmatit^up* the normally-aspiratediteams '. |ennajin^qualiiying,,wi|h:t%ii5^ more than, a second faster thah ' competed for a division two iChampionship,:in',affect, with; itheillagflittS/.iKIRflseasdti! )'. _i Tyrrell' running out vietofe..While ' 4h'Ow§ye%'WaiidO|fldlb|' there was no such competition jr|imfJn|?SUrr©undln|; the team's. ■ . jin 2O|0,itotu&RaGing^Wirgin: iacinguandiyispania Jaclnf __ ^ Team may, as welf have been ●V 'facing'ih\a class of their Own. ' ■ _ iLotus'esta'blishedi themselwes; ● /SiSuatilntat'iljlli iiom,p dfto?! as the team most likely throughout 2'0l!.Oi with a couple ■ of 1.3'th place finishes;, onfeea^h' ■’l^nghe€'|mid'tT^ii^.^p^ to Jafh0ijfp]j|i|iijapaiSi.anidi-' Heikki K0valainenin>Austra|i|>!lt 'K . produce a, earifor an,ythingrSawe !left Virgin andfMispaniia aiming; for a j1-2th m Abu. phabiitoilfellll . a 'fe.wpressjri.el.b^e|')tringing]tisu’e them off their .perch. whe~n"the.v:failed;td,'.a'ppear^l^:;S iBa'hrain. While somejinlfhepress:On the whole,,’lsotus enj0,yeii ; a strong "season,"|il!ttljfings." ■ suggested'thpir'|pbtwa^§!;v'.>-> : teonsidered;,andpr0wed;itf.'lbe: ' ib:e'(offeredi'||>tMT0.y0taraididt Stefan’'GRvit was revealeditheyT the most competitive of |hg mew comers. iRormirBEbaren' -t©0ifiad>infg'way of-goingifacing'. .=● B dri.ver, and! racewinnoiiiiikkf fh'b^Gorningi season'sipuTdfibe a/different story. With a full year . [ ‘J Kovalainen made the headlines sin whichfto develop'thbif cars, asM Inth'eilbsingi'Stagesof'the opposedf-t^iithe sixiiifionths, they I 'Singapore-imndriBiiixiwhereiWS); haditoprepare for J0l0)they' \ ■ earibecamea/barbelueiijSiifront; fight on a more level,playing % ollhe Williams pit stand,while lieidlwith'the1ikesof'Ferrari.and' . i earlieriitithei'seasbnirhe'ol&Sheil (Redi’BulL IHo,wfheyperjf0rim’.will * with Mark Webber, catapullingi be a gjaringjiindicatioh as to thg i theAustralian skywards at i fSlinfia;, ' tiiio'S’futures.rPiiosperiandtheyllli : :likelysurwive;;tln0ugh.iifthe.y/ ;.

Virgin; was,iilS/flOSett remai n g,l uedtothe bottom.' ' rivak although;the squad of 'the time sheets, it seems - ultimately finished lastjinithe .unlikely they^JI.enjoy aiongiandl' I ; championship table with01% prosperous future in the sport. I y a couple of T4th places to their -i|VlATl§ii§ i 1; credit. That alone, however.

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place for it in the current Virgin Racing set-up, that could change if regulations allowed the testing offull scale cars.

"There will always be a need to have wind tunnels,"Wirth, who sees the wind tunnel as a good way to confirm findings made by the computer,said.

"I think that the full scale wind tunnel definitely has a future, but in terms of scale model testing, I realised some years ago that I didn't think it was an efficient way of working, and I continue to believe that."

In essence, what it all meant was that when the first car hit the track during winter testing, nobody knew if it would stay on the ground. It did,of course, and while they were some way off the pace of the established teams,they got across the line, which was the best they could hope for throughout their debut season.

Those early days were nervous ones. Booth recalls. Even with a revolutionary design approach.

Virgin money backing the team and decades of experience in motor racing, he was nervous.

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor sport,the top of the heap as it were;for such a young team to be pitted against the best the sport has to offer is a daunting

prospect.

"The first[team principals] meeting in Bernie's office in Malaysia, I felt like we didn't belong.You know,that we weren't an FI team; we didn't deserve to be there and I didn't deserve to be in that office," confessed Booth.

"When we set out on this adventure, we had AlexTai as team principal and that suited me fine, it sort of left me out of the spot light to concentrate on the things I enjoy. Alex left and things were dropped on my lap."

Despite his initial reluctance to take on the Job, Booth rallied the team,and led them to signing a number of key deals in the latter half of 2010 which left them in a stronger position heading into their second season.

One such announcement was the signing of a new driver to partner Clock, di Grass! making way for Belgian youngster Jerome d'Ambrosio. A GP2 graduate, d'Ambrosio won on the streets of Monaco during the support race last season and has been Renault's reserve driver.

The 25-year-old also took part in a number of Friday sessions for Virgin at the back end of last season,though in reality his Junior career has been less than spectacular. d'Ambrosio will need to learn

faster than the man he replaced if he is to secure a future in the category. Booth demonstrating that while willing to take a calculated risk on rookies he still expects a return. Adding to the pressure will be the prospect of being ousted in favour of a Russian driver, with Russian supercar company Marussia the team's new investor.

The Marussia signing was another indication ofthe continued development for Virgin,the company not only buying a share of the team but also naming rights, renaming the team Marussia Virgin Racing for 2011.

The additional funds won't make it to the research and development program,though, with the team confident they can maintain their current development budget and progress up the pecking order.

"We are beating cars which have been designed with wind tunnels and we're doing this in a far,far more cost effective way," contends Wright. "[Team] Lotus are spending considerably more money than us, by millions and millions and millions, and we are absolutely neck and neck with them."

"There are individual engineers in Formula 1 who are paid more than the entire budget of our

R&D,"agrees Wirth.

"It is tiny in comparison to other people but we believe its appropriate to Formula 1. We think we can do a great Job with it.

"For us, 2010 was very much a learning year; understanding how we take and expand the level of CFD and Industrialise it, if you like. It's a commodity now, and we have to compete with the fruit that wind tunnel testing is bearing,so we can't rely on the fact CFD is Just better than wind tunnel testing.

"We have to be able to do as much testing and try as many variations, and thk's the challenge."

Better funded, more mature and with a full term in which to design and develop their second CFD car. Virgin Racing is now an established name in Formula On6.They're'no'longer able to l ' hide behind the'new team'label and in 2011 will be looking to compete on the same terms as their more established rivals.

First on the agenda will be to reach the second phase of qualifying, with points the ambition beyond that.

In 2010,12th and last in the constructors championship was a disappointment, but not a disaster.

In 2011,it would be.

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I FELlWE yE PONT BELONG.YOU KNOW,THAT WE WERENT AN FIJEAM^

Peter Brock loved living on the edge. From raliy driver to nine-times Bathurst winner, Peter loved '\rQ. pushing the boundaries. Many things have been written about Peter and his achievements. Our story covers parts of Peter’s life that are little known. We travel back to his childhood, talk to his family and some old friends that helped him in his early days of racing, from the old tractor on his uncle’s farm to the Austin A 30, then interview some of his more famous racing opponents, culminating with his first Bathurst win in the fantastic Torana XU-1 at Bathurst in 1972. Included are interviews with Harry Firth, Colin Bond, Peter Janson, Bob Jane, Bill Tuckey and Ian Tate (Chief Mechanic for HOT).

This is a fascinating journey, with never before seen stills and family home movies, together with classic Bathurst footage from 1969, 70, 71 and 1972.

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motorsport news

B

EFORE the current building opened in January of 2009,the official Porsche Museum was little more than a plain white rectangular structure out the front of the company's Stuttgart headquarters.

There was no pretence about it - but when your shed has five Porsche 917s lined up along one wall, none is needed, really.

However,the new Porsche Museum, designed by Vienna's Delugan MeissI Associated Architects, is rather more representative of what one might expect from a Porsche Museum.

The design brief was to create an 'an inspiring place in which to display the corporate history'; an impressive museum structure that would be an architectural emblem of the Porsche brand.

It would be hard to argue that they've fallen short of these objectives. Where the old museum was barn-like and cramped,the new one is spacious and spectacular - even without the cars.

The Porsches inside form the centrepiece, of course, but there is so much more to this place.

There is an archive of documents related to Porsche history that occupies 2000 metres of shelf space. It contains more than 2.5 million images, and more than 1,000 hours of video footage.The archive also incorporates a library of more than 3,000 books.

There is even a workshop. Here specialised Porsche mechanics maintain the museum fleet as well as perform restoration jobs on customer Porsche vehicles. Seeing as this is a museum,the whole thing's been designed so that the workshop can be observed through a glass partition from outside of the museum.

Inside and out, this place is a dazzling spectacle. And for those unable to get themselves to Stuttgart to enjoy it in person. photographer Andrew Hall has kindly obliged with this collection of images.

Stuttgart Stars: It would be worth a visit even if these 917s were the only exhibits(the obscured car just to the left ofthe Gulf machine is also a 917, by the way), main, but the new Porsche Museum has some other Porsches, too.

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www.mnews.com.au

53

Horizontally opposed history: The museum is a complete historical record ofPorsche vehicles, complemented by an enormous rhedia library.

^Wouldn’t find the sports car of

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my dreams, so I built it myse^ C Ferry Porsche

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55

_\

Targa Florio Flyer: The famous arrow-stripe livery on the 908/3 Spyder,top, which Jo Siffert/Brian Redman debuted in the 1970 Targa Florio, was raced on only three other occasions. Its specialfoamreinforced plastic body weighed a mere 12 kg for an all-up mass of545kg. The 908 Bergspyder, below, was a development exercise used in hillclimb events. Design brief was'make it as light as possible', and at only 384kg, the 2.0-litre 202kW flateight engine made short work of the Deutschland Bergs.

56

motorsport news

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I I I 8 I I

OU know the tyi^.

Motor racing can count among its ranks a fair number of businessmen. who have come into the sport. picked a young driver and backed them through the lower ranks of the sport. Maybe they back several drivers, because it is smart to play the percentages.

Then, one of the drivers makes it to the top end of the sport which, naturally enough, can be a lucrative place to be. The businessman who took the risk early on cops a percentage of the driver's earnings for years to come and everyone lives happily ever after.

There is nothing wrong with that.

Happens all the time.

But Paul Mulhearn is not like that, Yes, he is a businessman, and a successful one. But he is not in the sport to make money; sometimes. he does not seem to care, even, if his business gets a mention, or even signage on the car of'his' driver. I cannot tell you the number of people who will contact Motorsport News to insist that nil

●I' rtM.

Fred Muggs does not drive a Commodore, he drives the International Widget Corporation Commodore...

And talking to Mulhearn for this story was... well, it was a pain in the backside. I wanted to talk about him, and he does not like talking about himself. He will tell you about'his'drivers 'til the cows come home,and he Is great company. But you need to keep 'bumping'him back to himself.

And I called him a'patron'.

Not good; he doesn't like that.

He is a sponsor, but more than that; a mentor, but that does not accurately summarise his activities either.

Perhaps this, then; he is a Formula Ford enthusiast, and the boundaries of that enthusiasm are pretty hard to identify. He is a big kid, one who has had a long but somewhat discreet infatuation with racing cars. Let's just say that there are a bunch of drivers who have carried his support for three decades, even if that support has been hard to spot.

Mulhearn's family business is Factory Enterprises, and it has been very successful for a long time. He and son Paul Jr(who is even more low-profile than his father) are life-long fans of motor racing.

"I was born with a silver spoon In my mouth," Paul Sr told me, 'but I decided early on that there was no reason to act like it."

Paul Sr's father didn't want his only son to waste his time racing cars, but when Paul Jr wanted to race in Formula Ford at the end of the 1983,they drove to Melbourne to pick up an exDavid Earle Elfin. He raced the car the following season ("his first race was nothing much"says Sr) and continued to race over the following seasons. But as well as keeping one eye on his son, Paul Sr was looking around at other talents.

"The first winner I ever saw was Tomas Mezera," he says.

"He had a New Zealander sponsoring him, and he shot it to pieces in only six rounds.Then I helped out Warwick Rooklyn in the Michael Quinn car in 1986 ^111

60

Partofthe team: Paul Mulhearn celebrated another FF title with Synergy Motorsport atSandown in November. He rates Chaz Mostert as the best driver he has backed in the category. he had a shocking wet qualifying session at the final race at Adelaide and started 26th, or something. He didn't want to drive, Greg Kentwell talked him into it and he finished sixth and won the championship.

"I followed that with David Roberts,then with Peter Verheyen,and I have been active since then."

Jason Bright got Mulhearn support when he was an FF driver; "Bright gave me good value.

David Ratcliff sponsored Bright with me, but then he went on to Garry Rogers and Valvoline.

We had smaller space on the car, but that didn't matter, and we followed Brighty to America. I helped him with that - Paul and I went across and he almost won the Formula Ford 2000 title at the final race in Las Vegas. He got beaten by half a nose by a bloke who came down from Indy Lights, and who had a good engine in his car..."

And Bright is in no doubt about the role Mulhearn played in his racing.

"I would not have a racing career if not for him," he says.

"He has allowed a lot of people to continue in the sport, and they have done it only because of his support. He has

had a couple of champions in Formula Ford, and it was always because he had a passion for the category. He always wanted to support up-and-coming drivers; he would never sponsor someone in V8 Supercars."

But Mulhearn's longest relationship with a driver, and the most significant by far, was with Justin Cotter. He hit the headlines in a big crash at Calder Park in 1999, only to have them overwritten the next day by Craig Lowndes's shunt in the HRT Commodore,in nearly the same spot. Cotter's passion for Formula Ford remained undented by the accident, and passion is something that Mulhearn recognises.

"Justin rang me up when I had finished with Jason Bright," he says."He had been working as a clerk with QBE Insurance, and he rang me and asked if I had given him any thought. Paul gave him a couple of grand for the AGP and I have been with him ever since."

Cotter stepped out of the cockpit to set up his own Synergy Motorsport team in 2008,and Mulhearn, who describes the rapport the two have as "like father and son", stuck with him.

"Justin wanted me to help with

Paul Laskazewski. He said he was brilliant, but he had lost his CAMS Rising Star support after a driving offence on the road cost him his licence. I helped him along - he is a great kid and he gave me as much pleasure as anyone."

Mulhearn has seen more FFord races than most,so he would be well-placed to pick the stars from the wanna-bes. Despite his record of talented peddlers, he claims that he is no good at being able to pick talent.

However,2010 Champion Chaz Mostert, who had Mulhearn's support for the last two seasons, gets the nod.

"He hasn't got the larrikan that comes across from Craig Lowndes, but he is a personality.

He comes across really well, and I think that he will go a good job with this Miles team [Ed: Miles Racing, which will run Mostert in the Fujitsu Series this year.]

"He has this East Coast Traffic Control business, he is a nice bloke and very enthusiastic.

Young Chaz was the fastest car at Bathurst, and I have been pushing some of the[V8 Supercar] teams to take him."

Many times in the past, Mulhearn has said that he has finished with the sport. Every time,something brings him

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back. But now, health problems may prompt his latest decision to be final.

"I have had enough. I am almost 80, and I am losing my balance.

That is the worst thing; it makes you an old man. I can't get to race meetings - getting to race meetings is too hard now. i worry more about these kids racing than i have done about my own family!"

But then...

"Michael Ritter has young [Cameron]Waters and i think that he will be hard to beat. Justin has a pretty good kid, his name is [Mathew] Hart, but I don't know..."

You get the feeling that even if he himself must watch from a distance, Mulhearn's influence is not going away any time soon.

So, we are back where we started. Not a patron. So, what title then?

"Don't come on too strong and call me a good bloke," he laughs.

"I am just trying to help young kids in the sport."

Let's just say this, then; a few more Paul Mulhearns would be a good - no, great - thing for motorsport.

Welcome Back:Justin Cotter struck problems in the Factory Enterprises car at Bathurst in 7997, but it was his Synergy team that ran Paul Laskazewski to the title in 2008, below.

...

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Victorian Formula Ford Championship 2011 Calendar Track

Date

Winton

12-13 March

Phillip Island 1 Sandown

6-17 April

Sandown

23-24 July

Winton

27-28 August 2-23 October

Phillip Island

14-15 May

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HfiiVINCr QONB 00$B TO WlNNlNCrTHB FORMUU\ 3 WmUfiN OmBH$ CHWION$H!F IN fi^N OU>BK MOOBU CAR, TOM TWBBOIB HA5 SHfFTBO Hl$ FOCUS FROM A CRACK AT BUROFB TO lOCAU TIN TOFS, FIRST UP IS THB FUJITSU SBRfBS, WHICH HB*U^ CONTBST IN m WITH MW MOTORSFOKT. MITCHBIM AOAM SFOKB TO TWBBOIB ABOUT 2010, THB SHIFT ANO BBfONO MOTORSPORT NEWS:When we spoke at the start of last year, you were really just going to see how it went with the'04; at any stage did you think you'd be fighting for the championship right up until the last round?

TOM TWEEDIE: Not really. We were always confident that we'd be up there, but to be leading the championship for four or five rounds was unbelievable.

I had a little bit of luck on my side with Mitch [Evans, who missed Round 2]. But in regards to Ben [Barker] and the other drivers, getting the wins down in Tasmania,that was unbelievable.We thought it might be possible, but to come through and do it, and fight all the way to Sandown, pretty much,was pretty exciting, especially to be in the '04.

One ofthe reasons we didn't go to an '07 was because we still thought we could get more out of the'04 and I think we proved that.

We worked on thingsfrom the year before;the first year(Ed: 2009) was a big learning year, and in the second year we worked on some more, I think we pretty much got the most we could get out of that little car. It was a good year for us.

With the'04,was it almost a case of picking your weekends?

The tracks where the'04 would be more competitive and then acknowledging the other weekends where it wasn't going to be a match for the'07s?

Yeah, it was like that a little bit. We picked the strengths ofthe car and obviously it has its downsides compared to the'07.The'04 is obviously a lot quicker in a straight line, but it doesn't have the aero through the corners,so we tried to analyse each track, work out where the car could be fast,and set it up a little bit to the car's advantage.

Even if we didn't have the outright pace,if I had the car positioned ahead of an '07,they wouldn't be able to pass me.There were a lot of little strategic things we did to try in damage limitation at tracks like Eastern Creek, where the'07s have a massive advantage around the back, but we still managed to get second in the main race.That's just because we tuned the car to suit its strengths, I think.

There were weekends where we were excited about the track, like Symmons Plains and Sandown,Tim [Macrow]showed at Sandown that the'04s were very quick. Morgan Park was a bit of a surprise as well.

So those three tracks,two ofthem we knew the'04 would be suited to, we just looked at focusing on the car's strengths and getting them as far ahead ofthe'07s as possible,so we could make up for the other parts of the track where we were losing out.

Overall,speaking now and even at Sandown when we spoke after the last race, it sounds like you're pretty content with how it all worked out and ending up with third.

We couldn't have hoped for anything more.When Ben was out in that second race, second in the championship was looking like a possibility and that would've been unbelievable, but who would've known there'd be another major accident? The main thing is that all of those guys are OK.

Unfortunately that race had to be Red Flagged but, you know,I think for every guy- Ben, Mitch and myself- there were definitely lucky and unlucky situations for all of us in every race throughout the season. It's Just amazing that it came down to such a tight margin and that we were able to be in the middle of that to stir it up a little bit.

I'm really happy with how the championship went.Of course I wish I'd won it, but coming third is still a top effortfor myself and the team, we're pretty happy.

Talk me through the timeframe and process of deciding,to switch to the Fujitsu Series and aim for V8s,rather than having a crack over in Europe in the European F3 Open Championship.

It was quite a last-minute kind of switch,to be honest. We'd been dealing a lot with Team West-Tec, who I tested for overseas the year before,and it was generally looking like I would head over there for 2011.We had the contract ready and stuff like that, but after Sandown the opportunity came up to test a V8.

We thought we'd give it a go,and we'd thought of V8s and it's not like we hadn't thought of the route, it's just that some of the figures that had been bandied around scared us off a little bit, and we felt that seeing as we were in F3, we might as well make the s!ep to Europe. ‘'wj' I , Once we did the test, it went well. I didn't do a lot of laps, I only did around 25 laps, it was a couple of sessions to get familiar in the car, but they went really well.

1 went over to Macau for the F3 GP and we started to assess what opportunities were available,the age of the drivers that were over there (in Europe),the local knowledge of the tracks and the contacts they have and we looked at the scene we have here and the position I'm at and started to weigh it all up. It started to

That's exactly what it was,it was a huge learning curve for me.After 25 laps in a V8,to be chucked into that track at the end of the season with everyone going all out in the final round and people going for championships,it was a huge learning curve but the experience is invaluable.

I learnt how to start the cars, get them off the line,set them up a bit, it was the first time I worked with Matt and the engineers,those guys were great- it wasjust invaluable for Clipsal. I've gone back from Homebush and analysed a heap of data, photos and videos and I can't wait to get back in the car now,work on my driving of a V8,get that down pat and have a crack at 2011.

What's the plan for testing between now and the start of the season?

We haven't set the dates, but we probably will do at least two full test days before Clipsal. I know Clipsal from my Formula 3 days,so that's a benefit, but having said that, a lot of the guys in the Fujitsu Series are in their second or-third year.

I Just want to work on my driving, get a bit more speed out of myself when I get used to driving the cars, because they're obviously very different to an F3 car, and build it from there.

And see how it all pans out over the course of the season...

Exactly. Going into this year, I've got no huge expectations. I've obviously got some goals of what I want to achieve, but where we end up,we're going to have to wait and see. As long as f do my best,that's . all I can ask for.

◄-■■I

balance out better,that V8s was the better option.

After I tested one, I really don't mind driving the cars.They're obviously a unique driving style, but they're still not bad cars to drive. Obviously the purist in you wants to stay in open-wheels, but realistically, anywhere in the world.Touring Cars are the place to be apartfrom Formula 1. Realistically, at my current age and the backing behind me.Formula 1 would be a really tall order for me.

Matthew White was really good.We spoke to him, he was able to help us out a lot and get us in a car. Doing Homebush was a big part of that, learning for this year.We basically did the deal when we were in Macau, we made the decision there,and spent a lot of time thinking about it, but overall I'm really happy with the decision we've made.

For me,it's where I can see a big future.You can be in V8s or a number of years,there isn't so much an age limit. It's a good scene,so it'd be stupid to not look at it and consider it if you're an up and coming driver.

You described your debut at Homebush as an extended test session.

It would've been handy, and to get the track ticked off for next year.

Are you staying in the same chassis you drove at Homebush?

Yeah,the same car. It's a good car, it's got a good engine,so I'm going to have good equipment under me,there are no excuses there.

In V8s, it's important to have the good machinery underneath you,so that's one thing we don't have fo worry about. Matt's got a lot of data as well, when you're trying to develop yourself and learn how to drive these cars, it's great to have data from front-running guys to look at, compare yourself against and build your driving prij^ And even going into this year, with MW running three cars, you'll have two team-mates whose brains you can pick, which will be a bit different to last year in F3, running the old model out on your own.

Yeah! It's a bit foreign to me, being in a team.

I haven't been in a team for two years now. It's a bit different having team-mates and stuff, but it's got its advantages; obviously you can share data, bounce stuff off each other, compare track conditions and that stuff's all good. But at the end of the day, you're there for yourself, we're all there to win. So it's not like there will be any team orders but we will help each other where we can.

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2010 WAS ANOTHB)HG VEAR FOR V8 UTE TEAM n-TEGH MOTORSPORT, WITH »ii'1BIS GRANT. AND JACK B.K ®:i i TAKING A1-2 ON THE SBOES. MOTGim ADAM SPOKE TO TEAM IKS' PA rHunuo ABOUT RUNNING LOTS OF UTES AND TITLE FIGHTS

B

IG, multi-car teams aren't anything new in motorsport.

You only have to look at NASCAR and V8 Supercars to see teams running three and often four cars.

ButV8 Ute outfit Hi-Tech Motorsport takes it a step further, in the 2010 season,they ran five Utes, often six, and while most teams run a single manufacturer or model, Hi-Tech fields a combination of Ford and Holden Utes. Just to add a degree of difficulty...

It's a complex set-up, requiring plenty of machinery and manpower.

The team's Sydney base has eight Utes all up and four full-time staff, joined by an additional 24 part-timers on race weekends, when two transporters are called into action.

Of the five Hi-Tech entries that contested the full season,two of them, belonging for former series champions Grant Johnson and Jack Elsegood,fought it out for the title. With one in a Holden and one in a Ford, it was eventually Holden driver Johnson who prevailed, winning his second title and Hi-Tech's third, with the team also securing backto-back 1-2 finishes in the series.

While acknowledging that a pair of customers fighting for the title can present its share of interesting moments,team boss John Pachos says the ability and experience of Johnson and Elsegood make his life easier on race weekends.

"I don't have to look after them when they're at the racetrack," Pachos says.

66

"They know where they're going and they know how to do it, so I can concentrate on the other drivers.

"The thing is, with having two front drivers,the saving grace I've got is that there's a Ford and a Holden. If they were both in the same car, one would say'oh, he's got better equipment than me'.

"My company is about making sure we do the best with every car we've got,there's no short change on any car. Every car we've got is the same,and we go out racing."

Between the two title protagonists, Hi-Tech had a car on the podium at each round of the 2010 season, with Johnson taking three round wins and Elsegood leading a Hi-Tech 1-2 at Townsville.

"This year was our best," Pachos said.

"The other time we had a really good year was when Kerry Wade and Grant Johnson were driving together, we had a good year and got a fair few podiums but this year was our dominant year.

"In particular at Townsville,they drove fantastically; they diced, back and forward,they were the only two cars up at the front dicing with each other."

Other than the title fight,the year wasn't without its challenges.

Johnson spent 2010 hopping from round sponsor to round sponsor, but got through to the end of the year to wrap up the title.

"Whatever happened, we planned to do what we had to do this year," Pachos said.

"I said to him'when you get in the car, you have to put it behind you. motorsport news

KXOHMU

yomdhw*! /

If you write the car off, bad luck, we'll find a way to fix it'. You can't get into a car wondering if you can afford to do it. Once you're committed to doing something, you have to stick with it."

The title protagonists were joined by Rhys McNally and Greg Willis as Hi-Tech's fulltime drivers in 2010, with a variety of drivers involved in the fifth and sixth cars. Pachos - utilising the team's two test Utes and their workshop's proximity to Eastern Creek Raceway - runs a dedicated program for his drivers coming up to speed in the cars.

"At the end of the day, my business is about giving success to people that are, say, highly-stressed businessmen who want to go racing on the weekend," he explains.

"We can do a testing plan, because we've got the two level one drivers - Grant and Jack are pretty much the best drivers in the category. When we go testing, they take the drivers around and all of that sort of stuff. It gives the guy that's, maybe coming nowhere,a quicker step-up to the mark and they know'oh,that's how I have to drive the car'.

"It makes it a bit easier for us, as a team, we show them all of the ropes,then we need to keep them in line - talk to them on the radio, tell them to be patient coming out of the corners. It makes a really big difference when they look at the in-car footage from Grant and Jack, then they can easily learn how to drive the car easier.

"Because Eastern Creek's around the corner from us, it makes it easy.

We're there pretty much once a month. It's the same old sort of thing. www.mnews.com.au

everyone thinks we're cheating, but they don't realise that 24/7, we're working on V8 Utes - we're not working on any other cars."

West Australian McNally was one of Pachos'pet projects in 2010.

Making the switch from State Formula Ford, McNally faced a steep learning curve, but went on to finish the year just outside theTop 10, after a bit of tough love.

"Rhys had a big accident in the first round, in the second round he showed a lot of really good potential then he got to Darwin and just fell to pieces," Pachos recalls.

"I said to him'mate, what's going on? You're not concentrating. If you're not concentrating, I don't care how much money you give me, if you're not going to put the effort in, I'm not interested'. I said 'we're not interested in making millions of dollars, we're just here to make everything happen properly'.

"We sat down, had a bit of a yarn, and then he started putting things together in Townsville but got into a bit of biff and barge, but that's alright.The problem with a lot of people is that they're scared of other drivers.

"But he got it together at the Gold Coast and came along a long way.

It was a bit unfortunate, he was trying a bit too hard at Homebush and he stuffed it in the wall, but I'm happy for him to be trying. If they put it in the wall when they're giving it a go, I don't mind. I hate if they have an accident for no reason. nil "Seeing him in theTop 10 for all of the year, he missed out 67

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right at the end, but that was one of my better achievements on a personal level."

On a'personal level; Pachos exudes enthusiasm about V8 Utes. Having become involved in its early days,the Sydneysider has run many different cars and drivers and seen the category - which celebrated its 10th birthday in 2010 - itself evolve.

"The category has become stronger. It's gotten better and better each year, without doubt," he said.

"It's become a more-controlled environment, it's much better scrutinised and it's progressed each year. I still think it needs more publicity and I don't know why they don't get it, it just needs more awareness.

"But as a category,for someone getting into motorsport I think it's the best... well, look, it depends where you want to go... but if you want to go Australian motorsport and dotheVB Ford and Holden thing, you can't beat the Utes."

Part of the series'growth has seen the level of car preparation and team professionalism rise. Hi-Tech has been part of that shift, and wants to see more of it within the V8 Ute ranks.

"We want to help move the category to the next step and a lot of the other guys don't understand that," he says.

"They turn up and their cars look second-hand.You can't do that. If

you want to be a professional and in the limelight, you need to have everything looking the best of everything.

"There are teams out there who spend six or seven thousand dollars on accommodation for a weekend;forget the accommodation, worry about how fast your car's going to go. I'd sleep on the floor if I have to, so we can save money and go racing,that's how I've been all of my life.

It's a big difference.

"That's the biggest downfall for some of these people.They pull up on a Thursday, pull their car out of the truck, service it and think they're going to race us on Friday and Saturday.

"That's what I want to try and promote,that people need to take it to the next level, you have to get professional people working on the cars.''

Throughout the growth of the category, and increasingly in recent years, success for Hi-Tech Motorsport has been a common theme.

Beyond the success of his business,the success of his cars is what drives Pachos.

"My business, if it makes money or loses money, I don't really care, as long as we've got achievements," he says.

"All of the trophies up in the workshop,that's the only reason I go to work. It's not about making money. It's wrong to think like that, I know, but this is a hobby that's become a business. It's just worked out fantastically."

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OR anyone old enough to have experienced or followed it, the Tasman Series has a legendary status.

Every summer in the second half of the 1960s,some of the best drivers in the world would contest an eight-round series across New Zealand and Australia. And when we say the'best', we mean the best. Drivers the ilk of Jim Clark,Jackie Stewart,Graham Hill and Phil Hill - who all won World Championships during the decade - headed to the region to escape Europe's winter and take on Australasians like Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme.

In fact, of Formula 1 World Champions between 1959 and 1969, only John Surtees(1964)didn't feature in the Tasman Series at some stage. Eventually,though,regulations changed and the Tasman Series' heyday ended,followed by the series itself.

But in recent years, international drivers have started to return to New Zealand through the Toyota Racing Series.The top open-wheel series in New Zealand,TRS is building a reputation as a home for young European drivers looking for racing during their winter, as a warm-up for the year ahead.

Within the five-round 2011 TRS calendar Is a four-round International Championship held over five weeks in January and February, which has attracted significant international interest.

The grid for the season opener atTeretonga on January 15-16 featured drivers from Russia, England,Germany and Japan,alongside Aussies and Kiwis. It's a different crop of drivers from the Tasman days.

World Champions replaced by teenage Formula 1 aspijaQ);s„pefqre the European season kicks off, and while much of the continent is hampered by bad weather,the drivers are notjust in a car, but racing.

This year's crop of internationals- in particular three Russians,two Englishman and a driver each from Germany and Japan - represents a strong haul for organisers as word of the series'worth spreads.

It's the result of plenty of hard work,too,led by Category Manager Barrie Thomlinson.

"It's not a surprise at all,"Thomlinson says of the international participation.

"We've been working,certainly over the last three or four years,to build a reputation in Europe. I guess we expected fo hri&J'be do better earlier, but I guess the hard work has paid off.

"A lot of trips to Europe,a lot of meetings with teams and drivers and managers and I guess the message has eventually filtered through."

Thomlinson made three trips to Europe throughout 2010,spreading the word and looking to build the 2011 Toyota Racing Series field.

Along the way, he's added some handy people to his corner.

"I'm also quite heavily involved with(New Zealand driver) Brendon Hartley,so through my involvement with Brendon, I've got to meet a lot of people as well and that's taken me to Europe a lot," he said.

"I do a lot of standing around and talking.You form relationships with people and there are a lot of people now,fortunately, who recognise who I am and kind ofwhat I doand I suppose that helps.

"There are some good people on the ground,too,(Australian expat) Mick Kouros from (British outfit) Fortec Motorsport, he's long been a supporter of the series and knows what New Zealand can offer to a driver coming out of season. Mick used to come here with Formula Fords many years ago and he's been a big supporter of the series and others as well,that work with us. "(GPS team)Status GP have sent us two drivers down this year and they've been here through A1 GP and they know the series and what it can offer as well."

Drivers have also played a role in promoting the series. Last year, Estonian Sten Pentus finished third in the International Championship and upon his return to Europe,claimed the opening round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship.

"Sten did us a huge amount of good,"Thomlinson said,"I must thank him for that and I have.

"Peter Collins, his manager,is an expat Australian and a wellconnected guy. Peter knows the series a little bit as well and he encouraged Sten to come down here,along with Fortec,and that paid big dividends for us as well."

The 2011 entry list features a group of known and unknown nil

Australian Scott Pye and Kiwi Mitch Evans, who will both tackle Europe in 2011.Young local talent such as Nick Cassidy and Damon Leitch are joined by Australians in Formula Ford drivers Nick Foster and Jordan Skinner,along with Australian teams ETEC Motorsport, who are fielding five cars, and Team BRM,running Kiwi AlastairWootten.

Then there the some less familiar names.Josh Hill may have a familiar surname - as the son of 1996 FI World Champion Damon and grandson of dual World Champion Graham - but his career is Just starting out,the T9-year-old having been Pye's British Formula Ford team-mate in 2010.

He rnost recently contested the Formula Renault UK Winter Series across two weekends in November,finishing ninth. Also doing double duty with the TRS are Winter series winner Alex Lynn from England and Russian Red Bull Junior Daniil Kvyat, who raced Formula BMW in 2010.

Last year was Lynn's first in car racing,contesting the primary Formula Renault UK season, with his trip to New Zealand firmly about preparing for 2011.

'Basically in the last part ofthe racing season last year, we knew we were going to do Formula Renault UK again,"the 16-year-old explains, 'so we were sitting around thinking'what's our best preparation to give ourselves the best opportunity and foundation to go out and win the championship?'

"My engineer, Mick Kouros, ran a lot of Formula Fords in Australia and New Zealand and he said'you need to do two things, you need to do the British Winter Series again and come down to New Zealand and race with them'.

"We managed to win the Winter Series and there were three or four really good guys in there, we managed to beat both the Red Bull guys, that was a real plus, and all of our winter testing has gone really well.

"We've come down here. I'm expecting a tough fight but I want to win races, i want to hopefully win the championship. I know about the other international drivers, I'm not So sure about the locals. I'm aware of Mitch Evans, he's creating a bit of a scene over in Europe,obviously he's very, very talented and he'll be hard to beat, but so will the rest of them."

As a young driver still building racing experience and,indeed, laps in racing cars, Lynn is relishing the opportunity to be in action at the start ofthe year.

"It's great," he enthuses.

"In Europe we wouldn't be testing at all, January and February is a bit of a nothing time. Maybe at the end of February we'd be going to Spain to do a bit of testing again but it's a bit of a waste because it's r/S

at home doing nothing,so it's great to come dOWn-hete and.acti,ially do races.Testing's one thing, but racing's quite another."

Talking to Motorsport News while testing for the season opener,the category- which runs Toyota-powered Tatuus chassis'- had already made a positive impression on Lynn,comparing well to his European experiences.

It's a really, really nice car" he says.

'And bang for your buck-wise,the series is amazing. For the amount you actually get,Toyota have provided an amazing service,even with their hospitality,the running of the cars,they can't do enough for you.

"From that sense, it easily runs on par with the professionalism and support standard of Formula Renault UK, which is widely known as one ofthe major Junior championships in Europe."

As the 201 OToyota Racing Series Champion, Evans is in a unique position. He's a local with #1 on his car, but he's also - like many of the internationals - preparing to go and race in Europe in 2011.

'The whole championship is really benefiting from it, which is good to see,"the 16-year-old - who won the season opener-said of the international presence.

'Some ofthem I've never heard of and some ofthem I know a little bit about their backgrounds. A couple ofthem are rated very highly, so it's good that they've come out here to show us what they've got.

"So far, they're giving us a good run for their money,they're very fast, i'm not sure if it's good or bad from our point of view, but it's going to keep us on our feet and definitely keep us pushing hard."

Having fihished second in the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship in 2010, Evans feels that using the series is ideal preparation for his upcoming move to GP3.

“You can't beat racing,testing is one thing and then racing is another," he said.

"You're getting both ofthem here,so it's the best way to keep your bottom in your seat and keep your mind in it. Over there,they can't really test or anything because the weather is too bad, but in the off season it's good to have a go in the cars here before their season starts."

Pentus,in particular, helped the series attract additional internationals for 2011. When the series is run and won,Thomlinson hopes there'll be a similar flow-on effect for 2012, based on the experiences of Lynn, Kvyat and friends.

"Everyone hopes it will increase for next year," he said.

"We've got to deliver the series that everyone expects and I know we can do that,so we'll wait and see. I know thatfrom our inquiries in 2010, at one stage I was expecting to easily have a 20-car grid [this year], but certain factors came into play and we missed that.

"It could quite easily happen next year for sure."

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Themtemationals experience isn't all about racing, they also get to sample a bit ofNew Zealand's culture,above.

A

Mitch Evans,right, carries #1 after his 2010success,in his last localhitout before heading to Europe.

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AFTER REMARKABLE CAREER, AUSTRALIAN LEIGH ADAMS IS HANGING UP HIS SPEEDWAY GP HELMET. MATT PAYNE SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT HIS CAREER AND RETIREMENT

o

NE of the true greats of Australian motorcycling - Leigh Adams - has hung his helmet up for the final time.

The man who put the bustling Murray River town of Miidura on the map throughout Europe bid farewell to his 22-year international career, in front of a packed crowd at the world famous Olympic Park Speedway on January 5. While he didn't get the fairytale finish he was after Queensland youngsterTroy Batchelor beat him by a mere wheel width in the final - the farewell signified a changing of the guard in Australian speedway.

Considered the consummate professional, Adams'record speaks for itself- 10 times Australian champion,the only man in the history of British Speedway to score over 10,000 points, winner of the prestigious Czech Golden Helmet a record six times; many times World number four. World number three. World number two. World Under-21 Champion,captaining Australia to

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World Cup glory - among countless other achievements in the sport.

Although he never stood on the top step of the Individual World Championship podium,the ambassadorial role he's played for Australian motorcycling and will continue to play in the years to come more than outweighs any titles, money or accolades that can be bestowed on an individual.

Nor does he see it as unfinished business.

"No mate, I have no regrets," he says in his unaffected Australian accent.

"I've had a fantastic career, and have been privileged to race the guys that I've raced, and earned a living from it. if you had said to me when I was an apprentice diesel mechanic at 16 years of age that I'd have 22 years living in England, and could make a living from racing, I don't think I would have believed you."

Such is the jockey-like Adams'standing in his profession, he enticed the greatest speedway rider that ever lived - six times

World Champion Tony Rickardsson - to fly from snowbound Sweden to cut a stylish four laps at the January 5 farewell.

Rickardsson (who dabbles in Scandinavian Porsche Carrera Cup) hadn't been near a bike in four years.

Racing in an era where Rickardsson was dominant,and the likes of fellow Aussies Jason Crump and Nicki Pedersen came to the fore, Adams was always the suave, sponsor conscious rider - as commentator and Adams'confidant. Rod Colquhoun explains: "Jason and Nicki are more focussed on winning", he says.

"They don't care if they have to go around, over, under or through you,they will do whatever it takes. Everything is focused on doing those four laps as fast as possible.

"Whilst I won't say it was a negative, Leigh always took a bigger picture approach, which at times we,as his fans,found a little frustrating. He ensured the sponsors were looked after and there was a good looking hospitality area at each Grand Prix. By contrast, Jason turned up in a Sprinter van with his mechanics and five bikes - ready to get the job done.

"Leigh's drive to ensure everyone around him was looked after may have cost him that elusive world title, but we'll never really know. He's a really good bloke, and perhaps that is just as, or even more important,than being World Champion.

"One hallmark of Leigh's operation is loyalty - the sponsors and people he considers close to him have been with him right the way through. Rival club owners in the UK will echo this. He was with Swindon (UK), Masarna (Sweden)and Leszno for very long periods of time, when he could have possibly earned more money elsewhere.

There aren't many speedway riders that can say that."

When driving into Adams'very private, sprawling property in the heart of the Miidura wine growing district, you could be forgiven for thinking you've entered an English countryside estate. Opening the car door and being assaulted by the unforgiving Miidura heat quickly makes you realise that you couldn't be any further from England.

While his shed boasts the toys nil to have enough fun both in the 75

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rampaging Murray River and across the nearby desert (he regularly wakeboards and rides with Todd and Rick Kelly), the modern day gypsy lifestyle of a speedway rider that Adams' lived throughout his career cannot be underestimated as anything but hard work.

"Usually you'll have a meeting in England on Monday night, then the Swedish League is every Tuesday night. Wednesday night if you were lucky - you'd have a night off before racing in the UK on Thursday. Friday was travelling and Grand Prix practice before the Grand Prix Saturday night.There was no time to celebrate or commiserate about the GP result as you had to be on a plane first thing on Sunday morning to be in Poland that afternoon. And then the mill started again.

"I had bikes that I left in England, some in Poland and others in Sweden - ail in constant rotation around the continent. At the peak, I was doing around 130 meetings per year in Europe, then I'd come back to Australia and compete during our summer."

Obviously it's a full time job for not only the rider, but mechanics (Leigh employed three full-time mechanics in various parts of Europe) and logistics - which was largely handled by his wife, Kylie - his childhood 76

sweetheart from Mildura.

"Kylie was always the one responsible for ensuring flights were booked and I was at the airport on time, she really ran the business side while I could concentrate on racing. I've been very lucky to have good people on board who've supported me over the years. Owen Bros (Leigh's van supplier), for example set a record in British Speedway for our sponsorship - we've been together 18 years.

"Managing the schedules, along with merchandise and having two young kids means it's been a tough, tough road.

"The toughest part of the whole deal was when you'd travel long distances only to have a rainout.They had to be re-scheduled .which always clashed with existing meetings, or when you thought you might get a night off. As you can imagine with the English weather, that happened frequently!

"One of the worst days last year was after the Polish President perished. We were halfway across from England when the captain came on to announce the Polish President had died in a plane crash. That was re-assuring at 36,000 feet!"

Quite apart from the dazzling lights of the Grand Prix circuit and the adulation that being a sporting icon in Eastern Europe

brings, Adams will now opt for the quiet life on the Murray. While his speedway career has come to a close, it won't be the last time you see the name L. Adams on a motorcycle.

"We're really looking forward to having a rest for a while and then seeing where we are at, to be honest," he says.

"I have no plans to go across to England this year. Kylie, Declyn, Casey and I have packed up our house in the UK and we're back here to enjoy Australia.There are several options I'm looking at with junior training schools, and we've been building some junior bikes up,so that will be my focus for a while.

"I love riding dirt bikes, and have an interest in desert racing. I will enter the Hattah desert race and the Finke this year.

Aside from that I plan to spend plenty of time in my boat on the Murray and generally trying to wind down."

When talking of a retired person - whether in sport or in life - one always must look towards the legacy they leave.There are few like Leigh Adams. He forged a path across so many facets of speedway competition for youngsters both here and abroad to aspire to. In retirement, one gets the feeling that the legacy he left as a rider will continue to grow the Adams'legend. motorsport news

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EIGH Adams is a god in Speedwaymad Poland.

While that's a grandiose statement, consider this - the city of Leszno (the club he led for the majority of his Polish career) has erected a statue of Adams,and the town has even named a street after him.

A standard league match (not even top of the table!) can attract 28,000 rabid fans to the speedway stadium on a Sunday afternoon - with the national guard standing by with machine guns should violence break out between the home fans and the away supporters(who sit in their

own barbed wire lined section). Imagine having a quiet beer and a Chris Judd or Darren Lockyer sidled up to the bar next to you - that's how the likes of Adams,Jason Crump and co are considered in the home of vodka and stunning blondes.

While most Polish residents struggle to make ends meet,the very best speedway riders could live comfortably on what they make in Poland alone - some rumoured to be making up to US$15,000 each Sunday afternoon.

Current Grand Prix star Chris Holder talks of the Polish fans recognising his race van and following him into McDonald's -

chanting his name and singing club songs while he tried to order a post-race serve of McNuggets. After a League Final some years ago, Ryan Sullivan was pulled from his van and stripped to his underwear,the van rendered useless - and that was by his home supporters!

The adulation and appreciation of the sport is to a level that, in Australia, goes beyond even the popularity of our biggest V8 Supercar star.

As Baseball is to America,Speedway is to Poland. Ironic for a sport that originated in Australia's Hunter Valley back In the 1920s.

- MATT PAYNE

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WORLD OF OUTLAWS STAR JOEV SALDANA LOUES TO WIN. THE BROWNSBURG BULLET’ IS A FULL-THROTTLE. WIDEOPEN RACER, BUT WHILE HE’S ONE OF THE TOP DRIUERS IN THE USA. AN OUTLAWS CROWN AND NNOKUILLE NATIONALS HONOURS HAUE ELUDED Him. GREG BOSCATD SPGKE TG SALDANA DURING HIS TRIP TG AUSTRALIA TO RACE AT TVREPOWER SVDNEV SPEEDWAY ; .motorsport

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Firstly, welcome back. It looked like you might take out the 2010 Outlaws championship, but for that huge crash at Eldora late in the series. Did that affect you?

JOEY SALDANA: It was a huge crash. We had just taken the points lead back from [Jason] Meyers, but even crashing didn't really hurt as much as missing the next race at Lernerville.

The doctors wouldn't let me race, I wanted to but it was a good decision we didn't, because I was in no shape to race. My team was still in it and I think it's pretty sad that the teams don't really get recognised,the championship is really won by the team not by the driver! We still finished second in the points to Meyers it was very close.

I wasn't supposed to race for six weeks. My team did a great Job to finish second in the championship and to have a shot at winning the title. They did everything right, we just got caught up in a couple of crashes. It was the second year in a row that we led most laps, won the most races but didn't win the championship!

Obviously there is more to a championship than winning consistently,just taking races and finishing and that's not what we have been good at!

Until the crash, was last year your best yet?

No,the best was'09 when we won 22 races, and there have only been four other guys who have done that.

We should have a couple of championships by now but we haven't! It's just been stupid things that have taken us out of that situation. We're fast, our cars and team are good,they believe in me and that what matters.

We're going to come back this year, be as strong as we have been in the past five years and that's about winning races, winning is what is important.

You are racing for NASCAR superstar Kasey Kahne, how did that come about?

When I was racing in the All Stars back in the late 90s,'98 motorsport news

and '99, Kasey was back in the Midwest, racing the All Stars and I got to know him as a friend. Then he made it into the big time with the financial backing to have an Outlaws team.

I really didn't have a ride, nothing was going on, I was struggling to make it at the Outlaws level. I had my own car for three years and just trying to make it was so tough. We really had a respectable season but didn't have the money to burn like others. My dad (Joe) wasn't going to let waste by burning my money on racecars so I went and raced for Larry Woodward for a couple of years and had some success.

Kasey just remembered the times when we were both trying to make it, the friendship that was going on with me,and Kasey likes my family, wife and kids. It works out very well; Kasey's a family guy and 1 think he saw that with my family, as 1 was trying to make it in racing.

He gave me the opportunity and it's the best deal I've ever had this past five years.

How much better is it just to be a paid professional driver?

It's a totally different mindset to be just a driver.

When you own the team, you're thinking about the tyre bill, or when to freshen up the engines or you've got to do this or do that. But with Kasey, his demand is to win races and if we do that, he'll be happy.

That's what we do; win races not just to finish. We have to win every race we're in and I think it shows how competitive we are. We have had a few

DNFs, I just put myself into situations that sometimes I shouldn't have!

Any thoughts about moving away from Sprintcars and into pavement racing?

When I started, I raced pavement and now racing for Kasey Kahne, the opportunity is there. I'm happy where I'm at, these racecars in the World of Outlaws are where it's at. Tony Stewart wouldn't be here In Australia if he didn't enjoy it.

I think we may see Kasey back here,Tony is having so much fun and these guys know what racing is about, dirt track racing, and that's why they support it like they do, so I enjoy what I'm doing.

You're a second-generation driver, did your dad Joe help when you started racing?

My dad didn't want me to race, he didn't push me into it.

I didn't start until I was 16 with my first go-kart. It wasn't until I was 17 until I got into a Sprintcar. My dad had his career, he's won the Knoxville Nationals, make it into the Indy 500 three or four times, ran a full CART season, he just didn't push racing onto me. He knew how tough it is to make it racing, but one day I figured I would like to try it.

I just loved it and dad gave me a few years of his financial help and after that I had to find my own ride if I liked it and wanted to continue racing.

How long will you stay racing?

It's a funny thing, dad retired at 40 and to me it's pretty special that a guy should say'I will

retire at 40', but that is so hard to do these days.

To me. Dad was in his prime and he just gave up and quit, but he had other things he wanted to do. I think he wanted to say'I did it my way, it was a success and now I want to do something else'.

Well, I'm almost 40(Ed: 36), but if I didn't have the opportunity to race for Kasey Kahne and his team, I don't know what I would do. I don't want to go backwards and if I got to the point I was released from driving for Kasey, it would be hard to do something else.

Hopefully I'm good enough for Kasey to keep me around for a while so I can finish my career with him.

What are your plans for 2011 ?

The main reason we're down here is to get(team-mate) Cody [Darrah] ready for the Outlaws, and we can call this trip here a success so he can compete with [Donny] Schatz,[Steve] Kinser and Meyers in the 70-80 races this year.

People assume that the Outlaws crown is mine, but I haven't won a championship.

Winning races is exciting, keeps the team motivated and wanting to go racing.

When your career is dwelling down, people look at the championships and I don't have one yet. I might be winning races with pretty elite guys and to me that means a lot, but I'd like to win a championship and a Knoxville Nationals.

I've been so close a number of times, going out and winning races, and if I don't do stupid things and get myself

into hospital, I think we will have a good shot at winning the championship.

After spending the last few summers in New Zealand, you're back in Australia to help your young Outlaws team-mate Cody Darrah, who missed most of last year after a nasty crash. Do you like racing in Australia?

Yes I love it. The only problem for myself; well if I was single I'd be running the World Series [Sprintcars]. When the season is over back home, I'd be racing here for three months.

But I have a family, a sevenyear-old son at school so things are really different when you have a family. Plus our schedule is so big at home you definitely need some time off. Usually when I come here it's for two weeks but this time we are here for four weeks, and that's a long time to be away.

What is your favorite track in Australia?

I've been fortunate to win the 50[thousand dollars to win race] here at Parramatta and the Classic at Warrnambool, two of your biggest races, so they are my favorite tracks.

I've only run World Series once and got to travel around to all the different tracks but I really haven't done enough laps on the other tracks to see what's good or bad for me.

Parramatta is the closest to what I see at home.

While Warrnambool isn't the closest, the Classic is probably the most prestigious race; it's a unique place and definitely a cool track to race on.

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DAVB3 MURCOTT MAX BE ONE OF THREE DAVDS IN

UP WITH THE WORLD SERIES SPRWTCARS POINTS I 82

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HIS SPRINTCAR ROUNDS CAUGHT JEADER www.mnews.com.au

F you were thinking aboutjoining David Murcott's Sprintcarteam, it might be handy if your name was actually David.

The 38-year-old Point Cook resident is one of three Davids in this busy team, who have been ultra-competitive at all the big Sprintcar shows during the past five months.

There's David the driver, David Horell the team owner and David Sharman,crew chief.

While many in the pits of this vast country thinkTeam David are blessed with money and the equipment, Horell is quick to point out that hard work is why they race with the latest gear.

"I work for nine months to go racing for about three solid," Horell said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way,though.

It's what I love and so does everyone on our dedicated team. I mean, really, what is a bloke of 58 years of age meant to do with his money if he can't enjoy it?"

Horell, who lives just 15 minutes from Murcott's house,oversees a successful transport business in Brisbane where he lives'most of the time'.

"Sprintcar racing is a lot different to carting cotton,that's for sure," Horell says, laughing.

Although Murcott lives in Melbourne, he divides his regular driving duties with Horell, with frequent trips to Adelaide to get behind the familiar #97 for the Dowling Brothers, enjoying great success over the past five years.

The hard-charging Murcott is one of the best throttle-stompers in the business, and is having his best season in years.

His supportive wife Sally has been the backbone of his success this season.

She also works in the horsepower business, albeit of a different kind, as a steward with Racing Victoria. Recently, Sally was at Avalon with her son Ryan to witness her husband beat Australia's best to win the World Series Sprintcars round at Geelong's Avalon Raceway.

"I'm lucky I've got a very understanding and very organised wife," David Murcott said.

A pair of earmuffs and some quick thinking from officials made Murcott's maiden 2010-11 World Series Sprintcars (WSS) win on December 30 at Avalon that much more special.

But they almost missed his triumph.

"Ryan was being a bit of a typical two-yearold," Murcott said.

"He doesn't like the noise much and he was being a bit hysterical."

After the first heat, Sally was about to take the toddler home to Point Cook,about 20 minutes down the road. But Avalon Raceway promoter Jeff Drew's family organised for them to sit in a corporate box at the circuit where Murcott is somewhat of a specialist, winning more often there than most.

A pair of earmuffs to cover Ryan's little ears ensured they could stay to see

Murcott claim victory from WSS defending champion BrookeTatnell and South Australian Steve Lines.

"It was really good to have them there," Murcott said.

"Obviously it was good to get a win at our home track and it was our first World Series win for the year."

Murcott's stellar season has him driving an Eagle chassis with a 410 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine putting out a massive 850 horsepower.The Horell Motorsport team has two spare cars and engines, and Horell has spared no expense in the team's quest to capture the biggest Sprintcar events in Australia.

"I think we have a pretty good package coming into these races,"Murcott reckons, 'you've just got to try and make every race a victory.

"Everything is the newest and the best. My job is to really look after all the gear when I'm racing and just keep focussed."

Murcott, a four-time Tasmanian Sprintcar Champion,said the key to winning big races is consistency.

"You need every point and the main aim is to make the show (main race feature) and do the best we can," he said.

As Motorsport News went to print, Murcott was eyeing off the remaining big Sprintcar shows of the 2010-11 season, including the $500,000 World Series Sprintcars Championships, which wraps up at the end of February. Murcott has been in the top two all season with Robert Farr.

"We have so far done everything right and hopefully that carries through until the end of World Series," Murcott said.

"I think the series is pretty strong and I said at the start of the season that I would be very disappointed if we couldn't be in the top three at least or now higher."

He credits 2002 as life-changing for his racing career, when chosen as the KIDD (Knoxville International Driver Development) program participant for that season.

"That was an unbeiievable season," Murcott recalls.

"Talk about being nervous. We rolled around there (Knoxville) pretty good and just tried to get better each time we went out.'

The Devonport native created speedway history in 1997 by winning the Tasmanian Sprintcar Championship,following in the footsteps of his father Ian Murcott, who won the same title in 1984.

Murcott's victory resulted in the first father and son title combination in the Sport's premier division. He has raced everywhere with success and he says his aim now is to keep racing for as long as he can and achieve wins in some of the big events.

"That's why we all race, to win the big shows," he says.

83

MING into the 2010/2011 ANDRA Pro Series, not many people would have predicted New South Wales driver Mark Belleri to be leading theTop Doorslammer points as it nears its midway point.

Even for the 28-year-old himself, it has come as a shock to be ahead of such fancied names as Robin Judd, Maurice Fabietti and John Zappia. it was a bonus points win at the Goldenstates round of the championship in Perth that saw Belleri accelerate up the rankings.

"It came as a shock," he said of the win, 'we were Just going over to Perth to qualify first of all, and going a round or two would have made us really happy."

Belleri showed superior consistency, finding a reliable high five-second tune up that was getting the Narrabeen Smash Repairs Camaro down the strip each time, as many other teams struggled to find the sweet spot.

"You need to be consistent,first of all, and get down the track. We utilised the track conditions well," he said.

He defeated Gary Phillips and Daniel Gregorini to book a spot in the final.

A cautious approach in the last blast, where rain had cooled the track and left it a bit tricky, paid dividends as Zappia needed to pedal while Belleri gunned it to the finish line to take the win.

"The track was fine for the final," Belleri 84

recalled.

'We left it a bit soft, the car would have gone a five in the final probably but we backed it down just a little bit and short shifted. We didn't want to lose it on the start line, we kept it soft and got it down there.John would have to beat us with a fast run."

There is a saying in Drag Racing, and indeed car ownership in general,that you can pick just two out of three qualities for a car:fast, cheap or reliable.

ATop Doorslammer is not a cheap proposition by any means, but the Belleri team is producing times that are enough to be competitive, while keeping the engine tame to keep the budget in check. !

Belleri says he felt the tune up had finally come around for the team. It didn't come without some level of wild runs, with the team spending a bit of time with the nose of the Camaro high up in the air.

"It has slowly come to us, we are slowly perfecting it," he said.

"Without major backing we can't turn the wick up on it, so we are just trying to find a happy tune up. It's just getting the car set up right, we've been experimenting {above right) with the big wheelstands, now we've found something that's working for us."

Being conscious of the car as a whole rather than just the engine bay has

been especially helpful, a secret many teams have been discovering is needed to go quick. "(Chassis builder) Murray Anderson has helped us with the geometry of the car, we've got the rear end right," Belleri said.

Despite having his name up in lights currently, Belleri and his team,owned by his father Lucky, are trying to keep a level head.The championship was the least of their concerns coming into the season and they are attempting to keep it that way.

"We arejaking each round as it comes, we will keep chasing the series, but the championship is furthest from our mind.

We're happy to go and qualify," he said.

"Of course we'd like to win every race, butjust to qualify is good enough."

This has been Belleri's first full season in Top Doorslammer,though he did attend some rounds last season as he got comfortable in the car,formerly driven to a championship by Steve Stanic. Amazingly it is the first car Belleri drove down a drag strip.

"I've been wanting to do it for a long time, I've proven I can step up and drive," he said.

"I respected the car, you have to respect it when you drive it - it can come back and bite you if you are too cocky."

Stanic was important in getting motorsport news

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LEADIf^G THE TOP DOORSLAMHER STAMD8MGS IS TOUGH ENOUGH,LET ALONE IN YOUR FIRST FULL SEASON.BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT MARK BELLERI IS DOING.LUKE NIEUWHOF SPOKE TO THE SURPRISE PACKET

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Belleri's driving up to scratch for top level competition and retains a key role in the team as the crew chief, calling the shots on the tune up.

"Steve drove the car, he showed what it can do, it won the championship with him driving," Belled said.

"He set it up for me and made sure it is driving right. Now I just have to prove i can drive it."

While Stanic was able to provide plenty of advice, Belleri said that only goes so far, and you need to rely on building your own experiences to understand how to drive.

"He told me what to do when it does what it does, but you need to drive by feel, you can get so much advice and once you get in you are the one behind the wheel and you need to drive it how you think.The more experience you get, the more you feel the car and learn what it does," he said.

"Every time you get in it it's a new learning curve, every pass is never a copy."

Running as privateers, Belleri said they would love to sign a major sponsor and hopes the recent achievements they have made will help.

"With the car running fives and winning a meeting, we have a little bit of a foundation now, if we could land a sponsor it would be great," he said.

"We're just trying to find the right www.mnews.com.au

avenues to go down.The OneHD [television] coverage is definitely helping us now."

Belleri said there is more performance in the car if the team needs it.

"The car is capable of running a 5.80 [second pass], it's gone 249 miles per hour,so it's definitely got more in it, but it comes down to what the budget will allow," he said.

The team has to restrict the engine to keep it safe, as one wrong move would leave them both out of pocket and out of an event.

"If we had an endless stream of money we could put it on kill every pass but if we hurt an engine, it is the end of the meeting for us - we don't have a spare," he conceded.

"We want to keep running a consistent 90 with a good reaction time to push the others to have to run 80s."

Reaction times have been one of Belleri's strengths, giving him a jump on the start line that forces other teams to do the chasing.

"I'm fairly good with reaction times, I think I was ranked number one last season. It's a bit of both driver and car set up," he said.

His next opportunity to outgun rivals off the line comes at the Westernationals in early March, when Belleri returns to the scene of his Perth win.

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Al.True, Jerry Unserdid go over the banking at Indy; it happened in 1958. Sadly, he died of burns when practising for the 1959 event.

A2. Woolf Barnato beat the Blue Train in a Bentley.

A3. Clive Benson-Brown was the Rookie of the Year at Bathurst in '81.

A4. Bill Elliott was known as'Awesome Bill from Dawesonville'. He was being followed

by Mark Martin.

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A5. Rob Walker was following Mike Hawthorn when he was killed in 1959.

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A6. Don and Bill Whittington won Le Mans with Klaus Ludwig in 1979.

Al 7. The 1957 German GP was Juan Manuel Fangio's last.

Rally used to start in different European cities.

A7. Frank Gardner was Hope Bartlett's nephew.

Al 8. Jim and Steve Richards crashed into each other at Hell Corner in 2003.

A22. Longford was sometimes known as the Rheims of the South Pacific.

A8. Leila Lombardi was'The Tigress from Turin'.

Al 9. Peter Brock was on pole for all eight rounds of the 1980ATCC.

A9. Norman Leslie Smith was better known as'Wizard'.

A23. At two points, Warwick Farm's car racing track passed over the horse racing track.

A20. Nelson Piquet won the infarrious 1990 Japanese Grand Prix.

A10. Vittorio Brambilla spun off in celebration of his only Grand Prix win.

A21. Yes, competitors in the Monte Carlo

Al 1. Jenson Button won the 2010 Australian Grand Prix.

A12. Midge Bosworth, Harry Firth and Graeme Bailey won Bathurst at their last attempt.

A13. The 1937 AGP was held in'36.

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A14. V8 Supercars went to Canberra three times.

Al 5. Yep, 1976 was David Pearson's only Daytona 500 win.

86

motorsport news

A26. Brands Hatch has a section called Dingle Dell.

A27.Warwick Farm closed in 1973, Amaroo Park in 1998, Catalina Park in 1969, Hume Weir in 1977 and Oran Park in 2010.

A28. Pukekohe, has the fastest average speed in ATCC/V8SSCS history, at 181.03km/h.

A29. Surfers Paradise held 12 Hour races in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

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A30. Road America (Elkhart Lake) is home to Thunder Valley.

A31. The L34 came before the A9X. A32. No. Rear-engined cars made their Indy debut in the race way back in 1939.

A33. Jaguar won the first 24 Hour race in Australia.

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A34. The 1977 ADC winner was a McLaren M23 Leyland.

A35. Mercedes has never won a round of the ATCCA/8SCS. A36. Peter Brock raced a Peugeot in the 1992 Bathurst 12 Hour. r ■'I

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A39. John Bowe made his ATCC debut with Volvo.

A40. Parnelli Jones nearly won the Indy 500 with a turbine engine.

www.mnews.com.au

87

MODEL BEHAVIOUR

Long

Another new year,anotherfresh setofofferingsfrom the modelcar makers. This month the theme is very much long distance racing, with some great upcoming releases ofsome famous Bathurstand Le Mans cars, both old and new. By BRUCE MOXON

I

N 1971 I fell madly, passionately in love with Porsche's 917. Steve McQueen was to blame; his movie Le Mans sparked a deep interest in the race and the car, that abides to this day.

So AutoArt's upcoming 1/18 model of the 1970 race winner(no, it wasn't McQueen's Gulf-Porsche team-mate, but the Hans Herrmann/Richard Attwood car) is something to really look forward to - it's about time this car got modelled in a price range that's accessible to mere mortals like me. I have the McQueen car already in this scale,from this maker, and 88

while it's not of the quality of Classic Carlectables'or Biante's V8 Supercars, it's not bad, with good detail, visible through opening doors, engine cover and even a small panel between the front wheels.

Porsche really scored a goal with this car. All its variants were winners, many were dominant winners and they generally caused a change in rules to get rid of them. Of course,to many, the ultimate development was the 917/30 Can-Am car. Boasting 1100 horsepower,the Mark Donohue-developed car killed the Can-Am series, sweeping all before it.

In a smaller scale (1/43) and rather more local, how about Biante's Motor Racing Legends Moffat/Hansford 1984 Bathurst RX7? I'd expect it to be a popular model,so pre-order with your retailer now,or even direct via www.biante.com.au. We're hoping to give you a sneak preview of it next month.

The RX7 will go nicely with the Brock/Richards 1978 and'79 LXTorana A9X Bathurst winners.

The A9X was a great car, another dominant player (so much so that the Australian Touring Car Championship was nicknamed 'Formula Torana') and the two 05 cars epitomise this dominance.

There's also a 1977 Brock/ Brock Bill Paterson car in stock at Biante - probably one of the most attractive of these cars the clean lines matching nicely with the simple paint job and spare signwriting setting off the car very nicely.

Almost the exact opposite (at least in terms of paint) was Bob Muir's XD Falcon, as raced in 1980 in 81.The Army Reserve car had a most elaborate paint Job, mimicking a camouflaged military vehicle - only in gloss paint, not matte.The Biante release shows the car as it raced at Bathurst in 1981 (to show the nil 1980 car, you'd have to motorsport news

Porsche reallyscored a goal with this car.Allits variants were winners,many were dominant winners and they generally caused a change in rules to getrid ofthem

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89

It will be interesting to see how the Biante Nissan stacks up againstthe similar offeringsfrom Apex Replicas

90

nil have been very quick; the car only did seven laps in the race!).

Sydney's Model Cars Too (hard to find - it's down below street level in Clarence St) is run by old mate Mark Griffin. Anyway, Mark tells me there's a lot of interest in the Army car. Mark opined that this is probably because it's still racing now in histories. so appearing at events like the Muscle Car Masters has created an'Interest.

Biante is only releasing 1000 of this car - again, be quick before the scalpers on eBay starting gouging.

Speaking of gouging, like last year's great XB Falcon Flunt, there's a sequel;the VE Ute Search. Matchbox's VE Commodore looks quite nice,from the photos I've seen.

It's very thin on the ground, however,as evidenced by the number of people scouring toy and department stores looking

GT-R Supercar: Look out next month for various Group A Nissan GT-R reieases, left,from both Biante and Apex.

Car 1 seen here is Apex's version ofthe'92 Bathurst winner; car2is Skaife's championship car,from Biante. Also from Biante is the 2009Jason Richards/Cam McConville enduro Commodore in 1/18, top.

for them and coming up empty.

Rumour is, though,that one or two folk out there have grabbed dozens each somehow or other and they're already on eBay for many times the retail price.This little black duck won't be bothering with such things; sooner or later there will be plenty of them on the hooks.

In the meantime Biante's expanded range of V8 Supercars is starting to filter through, with the release of James Courtney's Jim Beam Racing Falcon from last year.The championship winner comes in endurance trim. which means that striking 'spilt drink'livery that debuted last year at Phillip Island. In addition to this 1 /18 effort is the previous year's Team BOC Commodore, also in Bathurst form - the Richards/McConville car that finished second, in fact.

Biante is also delving into the history of Bathurst with a smattering of 1/43 models. Out soon will be the HRTWIn Percy/ Allan Grice VL Commodore that was victorious in 1990,along with the Jim Richards/Mark Skaife Nissan Skyline that won the following year.

It will be interesting to see how the Biante Nissan stacks up against the similar offerings from Apex Replicas, run by exBiante man Richard Poole.\A/hile nil Biante is doing the '91

motorsport news

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Biante is also delving Into the history ofBathurst with a smattering of 1/43 models.Out soon will be the HRT Win Percy/ Allan Grice VL Commodore mil Bathurst car, the Apex version will reflect the livery the car was in when Richards clinched the championship.

Apex is also doing the '92 Bathurst-winning Richards/ Skaife car. Keep an eye out for these GT-Rs from both makers over the next month or so.

Models 56 has sent out its Chev Corvairs.The Gardner and Grice cars have been very popular (as you'd expect) and now we wait for the next cars; the Pete Geoghegan Monaro, the Peter Brock Austin A30 and a couple of interesting models: a Ford Landau and a reproduction of Lindsay Fox's first truck. Check out www.models56.com.au Automodelli Studio has released the Mobil 1 Peter Brock and Jim Richards BMW MBs. Serious collectors of Brock cars will be keen on these 1/43 resin models, available built or as a kit for those that like to do it themselves. Add to those a few JPS BMW 635s in both Group A and C form.Yum. Getting models of Possum Bourne's Subarus has been difficult. Biante did a 1/18 scale Impreza and that's about it. But now you can get a 1/43 WRX in 1999 form from either the Saxon Safari (Tasmania) or the Rally of Canberra from that 92

HRT of the matter: Biante's upcoming 1990 Percy/Grice Bathurst-winning Commodore,top. Classic Carlectables will soon offer the '90 retro livery HRT car from last year's Bathurst in various scales.

Seen here, centre, are Classic's pre-build drawings for that model along with the Skaife/ Lowndes Bathurst winner. Look out aiso for Ciassics' 1980 Brock/ Richards Bathurst-winning HDT Commodore. year. You'll find them at www. automodellistudio.com Over at Classic Carlectables, it's going to be a bit of a wait, but a wait that's worthwhile. For starters, the great-looking FIRT cars from Bathurst in the livery that celebrated the winning car from 1990. At least the number 2 car is going to be released in 1/18, 1/43 and 1/64, but there's no mention of the second car.

There's also(and this is the really juicy one) a 1/43 twinpack of the first and secondplaced cars from Bathurst - the two Triple Eight Commodores, depicted crossing the line together, a chequered finish line and a back-board with a photo of the form finish.The T8 and FIRT models are all down for a second-quarter release.

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1969 Chevrolet Camaro

Outright Contender nn

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63 MGB Group Sb Historic

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Bob Rowntree built '07-bare shell, new floors, alloy bonnet, alloy fuel tank/windage tray, Koni adj rear shocks, Brembo rotors, SC-CR box & comp 0/D unit, ARP studs, JE forged pistons, Argo rods, mod. Head, baffled sump,Webers, 2 sets Superlites & tyres. Vernier gears, 4.3 & 4.1 Quaife diffs. Enclosed trailer inch 0422 019 933

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Production World Rally Spec - NEW lightweight shell, FIA cage, REIGER struts, Autronic SM4, 6Speed or SSpeed Dogbox, STi diffs, Motec DCCD-PWRC program, Brembos, Prodrive HBrake. 3rd OUTRIGHT TargaTas2008, 2nd OUTRIGHT Mt Alma 2009. Also available in Gravel spec - Will lease for major events.0439 434 591

www.mYi05.com/3470

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-m Lamborghini Gallardo GTs 2008 Model Reiter GT3 Gallardo. As new condition 2500kms since new.

Brand new engine, gearbox upgrade and service, new clutch, rotors, pads.

Spare front and rear bars & front guards and 12 wheels. New slicks and wets.

Gt3 V-Box system, McCall radio system.

Absolutely immaculate and ready to race in GT.0437 957 775

Ex-Team Dynamic VZ, Turn key ready to race with large spares package. PDA.0429 677 255

www.mYi05.com/3454

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Porsche Twinplug Motor & G/Box Porsche3.5LmotorMotecmanagement, new cams, plus 915 gear box, both just o/hauled, only 1 meeting old, still in car hear running. Motor & Gearbox Price $25000 Contact Rick Ph.0418 202 100

www.mYi05.com/3623

www.mYi05.com/3668 I

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Email: info@my105.com Fax:

www.mVl05.com/3408

VZ V8 Supercar

www.mYl05.com/366i

Mail: Myl05,Suite 8,11-21 Underwood Rd, Homebush, NSW,2140

488 cubic inch motor, 250-500 nitrous 1250 holley dominator, 4500 stall, Cowan turbo 350, Mark Williams housing & gun drilled axles, strange centre section, funny car cage, all new sheet metal complete new car. Big money spent on paint and car. Shown twice, won both times. Over 300 man hours spent.0438 341 630

02 96471177

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Holden VE Ute & Franchise

return photos supplied for advertising. Ads will appear as soon as possible after receipt.

MNews/mylOS classifieds are for the sale of private goods and vehicles only. Photos marked'proof'will not be used.

Just completed 3rd year in AV8UR series.

New engine & transmission for 2011 season. Never been structurally bent.

Heaps of spares. Call for more details.

0414 533 378

2009 EVO X RS With Extras This EVO X RS is in showroom condition.

It has had afull roll cage & RaceTech front seats fitted by Williams race services.

This car has been professionally signed with Mitsubishi and the EVO X Series decals. The engine is stock and has not been played with.This car has less than ISOOkmson it. 07 377 3750

www.mYi05.com/3460

Porsche 1978 911RSR Clone 1978 Aust delivered 911 SC. Fully seam welded. I/weight panels & windows.

Built 350+HP at wheels, 3.6 964 motor.

Autronics, modified 915 g/box & Quaife diff. Kevlar clutch 4 pot brakes dry break fuel systems with fabricated 80 litre foam filled tank, coil over shocks.

Stunning driver. 0418 335 385

www.mYio5.com/355i

www.mYio5.com/3663

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FRP Gooseneck Trailer

NO.7 RACECAfi CLASSIFIEDS

VZ PERKINS PE42 V8 SUPERCAR. Would have to be one of if

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3NISSAN

PARTS

Sprintcar Transporter

Jacer F2k3

not the best VZ V8 Supercars in the country. $95,000 (AUD) 0411 207 776

Jacer F2k3, just had brand new engine fitted built by David Cutts,only run in on Dyno, new AIM EV04 PRO digital dash and timing system, 2 sets of wheels & tyres. 100mm longer for large drivers.

0438 390 315

www.myi05.com/3443

www.mYi05.com/3562

Professionally built 11.5m race trailer by Cooks Bodyworks.

Sides made from single sheet of FRP. Aluminium extrusions.

Cantilevered full length awning.

Tri axle FI/D Alko axles, solar cell,

FD Hino. Full new fit out, quad and car. Fields 2 top wings, 2 front wings, 22 shocks, 2 roller cabinets, storage cupboards diff/axle rack. Front area with fridge and cooking, also sitting with flat screen tv. Air cond. in rear. Winch for door and car. 570kms, good tyres.

Set up for m/home rego.0457 746 083

www.mYi05.com/3475

dual winches,cabinets,fridge, sink, water tank, engine gantry, vinyl floor. Many extras and had little use.0418 576 257

www.myi05.com/3649

Porsche Cup 'S' 2008 Porsche Cup S, includes 2009 upgrades of ABS and reartrailing arms.

Approx 20hrs on engine and gearbox.

1700kms on drive shafts and wheel bearings. Maintained to the highest standard. Perfect for Bathurst 12hr and Australian GT. Can be viewed at Porsche Centre Melbourne. Price Neg. 0421 270 298

www.mYio5.com/3438

Dallara F304 Formula 3 NATIONAL CHAMPION Multiple winner 2009/10 mountain ofspares incl. spare engine. Take advantage of 2011 "Rookie" $50K F3 prize. Car is 100% for next season and not expensive to run.

Price includes all spares. More details on www.ibcholdings.com.au/cars or call RobTweedie 0408 162 762 daytime.

I Porsche 997 Cup Car MY09 One season old, new Feb 2010, 10 race meetings, engine 38 hours, maintained to the highest standards perthe Porsche Schedule. Never crashed,finished every race, outright winner Carrera Cup GB 2010,driven by Tim Harvey. Full detailed history available, immac. $155,000 OBO + GST incl spares.0418 320 517

ShafirofF648CI 1300HP Chev Complete Towing Package Aircond/ insulated trailer, towed by Nissan Patrol powered by 6.5ltr turbo diesel. Trailers has full electrics, brakes,

WWW.mYi05.com/3393

WWW.mYi05.com/3440

Workshop

led lights etc. A/C is inverter type, interior lighting, full outside awning, fridge, microwave, bench, storage baskets, warn 90001b winch. New tyres.

Will separate. 0417 341 648

This 1938 Dodge race car is a work of art. Many dollars have been spent on this classic. A 1938 worked 6 cyl side valve engine coupled to a 3 speed close ratio box, hyd brakes, Englebert tyres.

Spares included, engine, axles, clutch, pressure plates, gaskets, g/box, tyres & rims and much more.0488 956 520

www.mYi05.com/3402

sport dyno. Only 30 passes old still like brand new. Is a full custom engine with the best of everything & is turn key ready to go including crank trigger CFE sheet metal intake twin 1150 carbs, to much to list, cali for details.

0439 697 618

WWW.mYi05.com/3593

www.mYi05.com/3639

1938 Dodge Historic Race Car

Custom built Scott Shafiroff race engine 648CI makes 1300HP on C&R motor

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(iiifiiirami!)

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online classmeas

Cosworth YB NA Engine Cosworth yb na engine rebuilt new block, crank, pistons, valves HD sump suit escort. $15,000(AUD)0466 628 442

WWW.mYi05.com/342i-

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M’

TMi FINAL WORD L:

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NEW season brings new hope-as a team owner you hope the changes that have been implemented will be enough to propel the team forward just that little bit required to move into the top tier of teams.

It's always a really interesting time of the year to be involved in a team. Generally, everyone has had a break, so the mind is clear and last year is well forgotten. It's eyes forward.

The entry list will be on the whiteboard, with various comments against each car.This is when you will see maximum optimism, and some secondguessing as to where your cars will sit in the championship.

The Silly Season seemed to never end last year, and by mid season all the moves looked like they had been completed - but there was still plenty to come, and it just kept on changing right until the last few days of the year.

To me,one of the most significant changes in the endof-season merry go round was

the changes in all facets of the business.There are normally a few small movements in drivers, sponsors and team personnel, but from October there have been so many personnel changes in the teams.This shows that teams are putting greater effort in to strengthen all parts of their business, as V8 Supercars becomes more competitive every year.

It will be interesting to see how some of the major changes impact the different team's performances.T he biggest change is Adrian Burgess taking over the day-today running ofTeamVodafone from Roland Dane. Adrian will be walking into a well-oiled machine,so you wouldn't imagine there will be wholesale changes, but with Adrian running the team and Roland running the business it would seem they can continue to take the team to new heights. With the addition of John Russell and Ken Douglas to assist Ludo Lacroix, Peter Jamieson from the marketing department and, you

would imagine, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will be sleeping well pre-season.

The Holden Racing Team has taken Scott Sinclair from Dick Johnson Racing to assist James Courtney's title defence at his new team.The HRT guys will be very interested in theTriple Eight philosophy to building cars, and 1 am sure by now there will have been notes compared between the engineering staff.

James and Scott clearly have a good working relationship - it's a big call to take your engineer to a new team - but it should help James fit in quicker. And he will need to, with Garth Tander as his team-mate,an established Walkinshaw Racing driver who has seen off some good team mates. Good luck, James.

Ford Performance Racing has taken Matt Nilson from WR to head up the engineering department, and to assist Campbell Little in the hunt for that elusive title. FPR has also added a customer with Tony D'Alberto, so they will need some extra resource.The FPR cars don't seem to lack pace, but every time they put themselves in a winning position it's the basics that let them down, with too many mistakes in

DJIR has had a massive staffdrain,and it wiii take time to rebuild their 'list'and get the chemistry and cuiture happening atStapiyton

pit-stops, strategy and car reliability. The team's focus needs to be on rectifying these issues, and focusing on the basic fundamentals of the game.

Stone Brothers Racing has added another engineer(Dan Kroehn from FPR) and let David Stuart concentrate on running the team.This should help them,and it needs to, as Alex Davison and Tim Slade both have important years for their respective careers in 2011.

Paul Morris Motorsport has added Steve Robertson to its team - good move! Steve has been in the background atT8 for the last couple of years, but he is a good man and will install some things that have been missing at PMM for a while.

DJR has had a massive staff drain, and it will take time to rebuild their'Iist'and get the chemistry and culture happening at Staplyton.The team will have to rely somewhat on the systems put in place by the old regime until the new management can put their own signature on things.

Garry Rogers Motorsport seems to have a stable engineering team, with not too many disruptions over the off season,so I would expect them to perform well in the early part of the year. But, like all the teams, they will be hoping they can be genuine contenders.

QUICK QUIZ

Answers 1 - Ross Ambrose was a co owner ofthe Van Diemen racing car factory,famous for making Formula Fords.

2- Marcos Ambrose qualified on pole for the AGP support race in '01 -his V8 debut 3-Steve Owen stepped back to Formula Ford in '04, and finished third.

4-Porsche stepped up to FI in 1961.

5-In 1962,Porsche won the French Grand Prix.

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