Motorsport News Issue 418 - April 2012

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'BAND MIRRORS BEHIND THESCENES ATFI TESTING

Australian

Australia $7.95 NZ $8.50 inc GST

No.418 April 2012

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Australian

THIS MONTH’S FEATURES Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au Assistant Editor Mitchell Adam mitchell@mnews.com.au

The Grid

Unusual Suspects T

'r-J

%

Editorial Enquiries

Chevron Publishing Level 6,207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555,St Leonards, NSW 1590 admin@mnews.com.au

Afterspending the last two years racing in Europe and America respectively,Scott Pye

and George Miedecke are back

;iNc.

Contributing Writers

Phil Branagan, Andrew van Leeuwen, Bruce Moxon, Mark Glendenning, Paul Carruthers

in Australia in 2012,tackling the Dunlop Series. We checked in after their first round

ife is many things 's, including busy, agan tracked him

Photography

Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Andrew Hall, James Smith, Geoff Grade, Phil Williams, Peter Bury, Michael Vettas, Joel Strickland, Paul Carruthers, Rob Lang, Clay Cross

A

Art Director Chris Currie

60

It’s got a nice Sebring to it \Ne look at the opener of the new World Endurance Championship in pictures

64

Prototypes on pause MNews sits down with Prodrive's David Richards to talk Aston Martin sportscars

70

Getting stuck into G2 Honda has embraced the Australian Rally Championship's new two-wheel-drive format

Advertising Advertising Director Chris West cwest@chevron.com.au P 02 9901 6376 M0416125'252

What goes through the head ofa driver making their fulltime V8 Supercar debut?

We shadowed Taz Douglas to find out

National Sales Manager Luke Finn lfinn@chevron.com.au P 02 9901 6368 M 0423 665 384

76

Knight racing specialist Meet Terry Knight. Since it started, he's never missed a Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge event

80

Going out East Drag racer Debbie O'Rourke talks Top Alcohol and moving from Perth to Brisbane

84

Sharing the Energy Former karting prodigy Adam Graham is giving back to the sport with his new team

A Chairman, Chevron: Ray Berghouse Circulation Director: Carole Jones

Subscriptions: www.mnews.com.au

BEHIND THE TIMES

a division of nextmedia Pty Ltd.

Level 6,207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590 Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport News is published by nextmedia Ply Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 6, 207 Pacific Highway,St Leonards NSW 2065 C 2012.

All rights reserved. Motorsport News is printed by CaxtonWeb, distributed by Network Distribution. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher, The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage.

Privacy Policy We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of Motorsport News, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines.Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose.In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products,services and events our company has to offer.

We may also give your Information to other organisations which may use it to Inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so, You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting In touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia. Locked Bag 5555,5t Leonards, NSW 1590.

www.mnews.com.au

Former MNews Assistant Ed Andrew van Leeuwen is up and about in Europe. But it's not all beer and Bundesllga -he got the lowdown on El testing in Barcelona and spoke to David Richards in Geneva.

REGULARS

\

^^chevron PUBLISHING GROUP /

Taz Douglas'first solo V8 race didn't go to plan, getting caught up in a Turn 8 accident in Adelaide. His Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport crew had to do an all-nighter to fix the car, but Taz made sure they knew he appreciated it. Good rnan.

l .'M

r.

Formula 1 testing is secretive stuff. But thanks to some help from current driver, we look at what it all means

6

The Front Row

8

Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan

10

The Scoop with Steve Normoyle

12

On The Limiter with Chris Lambden

14

Box Seat

16

United States of Origin

I. Anotherjet-setting Andrew, Andrew Hall hit up the Sebring 12 Hour last month. Naturally, we told him to send us pictures from his adventure.

?-

After time in open wheelers.

Jeroen Bleekemolen is a sportscar gun for hire. We caught up with him

A motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

18

Winding Back

52

The Second Row

88

Model Behaviour

92

Trade

96

Classifieds

98

The Final Word with Paul Cruickshank

Eli Evans and Mark Redder are part offamous families in Australian rallying. They're now team-mates,in the thick of the ever-changing ARC driving new, two-wheel-drive Hondas.

k.

5

Australian

THIS MONTH’S FEATURES Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au Assistant Editor Mitchell Adam mitchell@mnews.com.au

The Grid

Unusual Suspects T

'r-J

%

Editorial Enquiries

Chevron Publishing Level 6,207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555,St Leonards, NSW 1590 admin@mnews.com.au

Afterspending the last two years racing in Europe and America respectively,Scott Pye

and George Miedecke are back

;iNc.

Contributing Writers

Phil Branagan, Andrew van Leeuwen, Bruce Moxon, Mark Glendenning, Paul Carruthers

in Australia in 2012,tackling the Dunlop Series. We checked in after their first round

ife is many things 's, including busy, agan tracked him

Photography

Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Andrew Hall, James Smith, Geoff Grade, Phil Williams, Peter Bury, Michael Vettas, Joel Strickland, Paul Carruthers, Rob Lang, Clay Cross

A

Art Director Chris Currie

60

It’s got a nice Sebring to it \Ne look at the opener of the new World Endurance Championship in pictures

64

Prototypes on pause MNews sits down with Prodrive's David Richards to talk Aston Martin sportscars

70

Getting stuck into G2 Honda has embraced the Australian Rally Championship's new two-wheel-drive format

Advertising Advertising Director Chris West cwest@chevron.com.au P 02 9901 6376 M0416125'252

What goes through the head ofa driver making their fulltime V8 Supercar debut?

We shadowed Taz Douglas to find out

National Sales Manager Luke Finn lfinn@chevron.com.au P 02 9901 6368 M 0423 665 384

76

Knight racing specialist Meet Terry Knight. Since it started, he's never missed a Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge event

80

Going out East Drag racer Debbie O'Rourke talks Top Alcohol and moving from Perth to Brisbane

84

Sharing the Energy Former karting prodigy Adam Graham is giving back to the sport with his new team

A Chairman, Chevron: Ray Berghouse Circulation Director: Carole Jones

Subscriptions: www.mnews.com.au

BEHIND THE TIMES

a division of nextmedia Pty Ltd.

Level 6,207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590 Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport News is published by nextmedia Ply Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 6, 207 Pacific Highway,St Leonards NSW 2065 C 2012.

All rights reserved. Motorsport News is printed by CaxtonWeb, distributed by Network Distribution. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher, The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage.

Privacy Policy We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of Motorsport News, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines.Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose.In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products,services and events our company has to offer.

We may also give your Information to other organisations which may use it to Inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so, You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting In touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia. Locked Bag 5555,5t Leonards, NSW 1590.

www.mnews.com.au

Former MNews Assistant Ed Andrew van Leeuwen is up and about in Europe. But it's not all beer and Bundesllga -he got the lowdown on El testing in Barcelona and spoke to David Richards in Geneva.

REGULARS

\

^^chevron PUBLISHING GROUP /

Taz Douglas'first solo V8 race didn't go to plan, getting caught up in a Turn 8 accident in Adelaide. His Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport crew had to do an all-nighter to fix the car, but Taz made sure they knew he appreciated it. Good rnan.

l .'M

r.

Formula 1 testing is secretive stuff. But thanks to some help from current driver, we look at what it all means

6

The Front Row

8

Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan

10

The Scoop with Steve Normoyle

12

On The Limiter with Chris Lambden

14

Box Seat

16

United States of Origin

I. Anotherjet-setting Andrew, Andrew Hall hit up the Sebring 12 Hour last month. Naturally, we told him to send us pictures from his adventure.

?-

After time in open wheelers.

Jeroen Bleekemolen is a sportscar gun for hire. We caught up with him

A motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

18

Winding Back

52

The Second Row

88

Model Behaviour

92

Trade

96

Classifieds

98

The Final Word with Paul Cruickshank

Eli Evans and Mark Redder are part offamous families in Australian rallying. They're now team-mates,in the thick of the ever-changing ARC driving new, two-wheel-drive Hondas.

k.

5

THE FRONT ROW since we last met

NEWS OF THE MONTH TRIPLE EIGHT LOCKS IN DRIVERS 3

WORLD RALLY C’SHIP

FORMULA 1 After all of the pre-season testing, talk and analysis, Jenson Button won the opening round of the 2012 Formula 1 season, the QANTAS Australian Grand Prix.

While his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole. Button got the jump and was never troubled. A Safety Car period helped Sebastian Vettel jump Hamilton but even he couldn't touch Button, who claimed his third Albert Park victory.

Hamilton held off a late challenge by Mark Webber to secure the final podium position, while Daniel Ricciardo jumped from 12th to ninth on a chaotic final lap to score his first FI points in his first home race.

Sebastien Loeb has made a strong start to his bid for a ninthstraight World Rally Championship, leading the standings after the first three rounds of the 2012 season.

The Citroen driver has scored wins in Monte Carlo and Mexico, and while he was only sixth in Sweden after a crash, he leads new team-mate Mikko Hirvonen by 16 points.

Ford recruit Fetter Solberg is third after a consistent start, two spots upon fellow factory Fiesta driver Jari-Matti Latvala, who won in Sweden but crashed out of Monte Carlo and Mexico.

Aussie Chris Atkinson made his first WRC start since 2009 in Mexico. Running with Ken Block's Ford team, Atkinson won a stage and was running eighth, before a crash on Day 2 and a mechanical problem on Day 3 ened his rally.

BATHURST 12 HOUR Audi's'international'entry splashed to a second-straight Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour victory.

With 2011 winners Christopher Meis and Darryl O'Young joined by Christer Joens,the R8 LMS drivers dominated the race, after rain set in during the early stages. In the end,the team won by 13s over the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Peter Hackett,Tim Slade, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Brett Curtis, with the Ferrari 458 of Craig Baird, Matt Griffin and MokWeng Sun third.

The highly-fancied 458 of Allan Simonsen,John Bowe, Dominik Farnbacher and Peter Edwards didn't disappoint early.

Simonsen broke Mount Panorama's race lap record, but their race eventually ended with electrical dramas.

The local Audi of Craig Lowndes, Warren Luff and Mark Eddy had an early shower,too, after Eddy crashed mid-race.

V8 SUPERCARS

motorsport news

HOLDEN LOCKS IN TEAMS During their ongoing time with TeamVodafone,Whincup and Lowndes will race Holdens. Holden has extended its deals with TeamVodafone and factory squad the Toll Holden Racing Team, ahead of the new Car of the Future era.

"With the Holden Racing Team and TeamVodafone, we have the two very best teams,four championship-winning drivers,and the finest race engineering capabilities," Holden Sponsorship Manager Simon McNamara surmised.

ASTON MARTIN LOOKS AT B12 Could a factory Aston Martin tilt join Audi and Mercedes-Benz at next year's Bathurst 12 Hour?

After ditching their Prototype sportscar campaign,the British manufacturer is focusing on GT racers, including an all-new VI2 Vantage GT3 car. Mount Panorama's enduro runs to GT3 regulations and has piqued Aston Martin's interest.

"It's under discussion," Prodrive chief David Richards told MNews.

"We've had a good look at the event,and we'll certainly give that some consideration."

For more on Aston Martin's program from Richards, see Page 64.

NISSAN ON THE WING Nissan will power the ambitious DeltaWing sportscar project.

Fitted with a 1.6-litre Direct Injection Gasoline -Turbocharged (DIG-T) engine from the Japanese manufacturer,the car has now appeared in public, running across the Sebring 12 Hour weekend with Marino Franchitti and Nissan's Michael Krumm at the wheel.

The DeltaWing will make its race debut in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

RUBENS’ NEW DAWN Rubens Barrichello will race indyCars this year.

After joining pre-season testing, Barrichello has inked a deal to race with KV Racing, alongside close friend Tony Kanaan.The series was set to kick off in St. Petersburg as MNews went to print.

TRULLI SAD FOR JARNO

Ford Performance Racing has started the 2012 V8 Supercar season in fine fashion, with Will Davison winning the Clipsal 500 and Mark Winterbottom dominating the non-championship races at Albert Park.

A week after the death of his father, Jamie Whincup produced a masterful drive to win Adelaide's Saturday race, with fuel economy a major factor. While most drivers elected to gamble on economy to the end, Whincup pitted during a Safety Car period on Lap 66 and sliced his way back through from seventh. He sealed the win with a final-lap pass on Davison, who ran out of fuel but limped home in second.

On Sunday, there was no such heartache for Davison. He dominated the race to take his first win since Bathurst 2009, leading home Winterbottom in an FPR 1 2. He leads Whincup and Tander - third in each race - in the standings.

A fortnight later at Albert Park, Winterbottom won three of the four non-championship races to win the MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge's $100,000 major prize. Shane van Gisbergen won the other race and was second for the weekend, ahead of Tander.

6

Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will race with TeamVodafone in theV8 Supercar Championship Series until at least the end of the 2014 and 2015 seasons respectively.

The pair - both three-time V8 Supercar champions - have extended their deals with the Brisbane-based outfit.

"With both Jamie and Craig on board I know that we have the strongest driver line-up in the V8 Supercar Championship Series,"T8 Managing Director Roland Dane said.

Like Barrichello, JarnoTrulli is out of Formula 1 in 2012.Trulli was replaced by former Renault driver Vitaly Petrov at Caterham in the lead-up to Albert Park's season opener.

Trulli joined the squad (formerly known as Lotus)for its maiden season in 2010 after stints with Toyota, Renault, Jordan, Prost and Minardi. He's set to finish with 252 GP starts from a 14-year career.

His departure means Italy is without a Formula 1 driver for the first time since 1969.

www.mnews.com.au

7

THE FRONT ROW since we last met

NEWS OF THE MONTH TRIPLE EIGHT LOCKS IN DRIVERS 3

WORLD RALLY C’SHIP

FORMULA 1 After all of the pre-season testing, talk and analysis, Jenson Button won the opening round of the 2012 Formula 1 season, the QANTAS Australian Grand Prix.

While his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole. Button got the jump and was never troubled. A Safety Car period helped Sebastian Vettel jump Hamilton but even he couldn't touch Button, who claimed his third Albert Park victory.

Hamilton held off a late challenge by Mark Webber to secure the final podium position, while Daniel Ricciardo jumped from 12th to ninth on a chaotic final lap to score his first FI points in his first home race.

Sebastien Loeb has made a strong start to his bid for a ninthstraight World Rally Championship, leading the standings after the first three rounds of the 2012 season.

The Citroen driver has scored wins in Monte Carlo and Mexico, and while he was only sixth in Sweden after a crash, he leads new team-mate Mikko Hirvonen by 16 points.

Ford recruit Fetter Solberg is third after a consistent start, two spots upon fellow factory Fiesta driver Jari-Matti Latvala, who won in Sweden but crashed out of Monte Carlo and Mexico.

Aussie Chris Atkinson made his first WRC start since 2009 in Mexico. Running with Ken Block's Ford team, Atkinson won a stage and was running eighth, before a crash on Day 2 and a mechanical problem on Day 3 ened his rally.

BATHURST 12 HOUR Audi's'international'entry splashed to a second-straight Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour victory.

With 2011 winners Christopher Meis and Darryl O'Young joined by Christer Joens,the R8 LMS drivers dominated the race, after rain set in during the early stages. In the end,the team won by 13s over the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Peter Hackett,Tim Slade, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Brett Curtis, with the Ferrari 458 of Craig Baird, Matt Griffin and MokWeng Sun third.

The highly-fancied 458 of Allan Simonsen,John Bowe, Dominik Farnbacher and Peter Edwards didn't disappoint early.

Simonsen broke Mount Panorama's race lap record, but their race eventually ended with electrical dramas.

The local Audi of Craig Lowndes, Warren Luff and Mark Eddy had an early shower,too, after Eddy crashed mid-race.

V8 SUPERCARS

motorsport news

HOLDEN LOCKS IN TEAMS During their ongoing time with TeamVodafone,Whincup and Lowndes will race Holdens. Holden has extended its deals with TeamVodafone and factory squad the Toll Holden Racing Team, ahead of the new Car of the Future era.

"With the Holden Racing Team and TeamVodafone, we have the two very best teams,four championship-winning drivers,and the finest race engineering capabilities," Holden Sponsorship Manager Simon McNamara surmised.

ASTON MARTIN LOOKS AT B12 Could a factory Aston Martin tilt join Audi and Mercedes-Benz at next year's Bathurst 12 Hour?

After ditching their Prototype sportscar campaign,the British manufacturer is focusing on GT racers, including an all-new VI2 Vantage GT3 car. Mount Panorama's enduro runs to GT3 regulations and has piqued Aston Martin's interest.

"It's under discussion," Prodrive chief David Richards told MNews.

"We've had a good look at the event,and we'll certainly give that some consideration."

For more on Aston Martin's program from Richards, see Page 64.

NISSAN ON THE WING Nissan will power the ambitious DeltaWing sportscar project.

Fitted with a 1.6-litre Direct Injection Gasoline -Turbocharged (DIG-T) engine from the Japanese manufacturer,the car has now appeared in public, running across the Sebring 12 Hour weekend with Marino Franchitti and Nissan's Michael Krumm at the wheel.

The DeltaWing will make its race debut in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

RUBENS’ NEW DAWN Rubens Barrichello will race indyCars this year.

After joining pre-season testing, Barrichello has inked a deal to race with KV Racing, alongside close friend Tony Kanaan.The series was set to kick off in St. Petersburg as MNews went to print.

TRULLI SAD FOR JARNO

Ford Performance Racing has started the 2012 V8 Supercar season in fine fashion, with Will Davison winning the Clipsal 500 and Mark Winterbottom dominating the non-championship races at Albert Park.

A week after the death of his father, Jamie Whincup produced a masterful drive to win Adelaide's Saturday race, with fuel economy a major factor. While most drivers elected to gamble on economy to the end, Whincup pitted during a Safety Car period on Lap 66 and sliced his way back through from seventh. He sealed the win with a final-lap pass on Davison, who ran out of fuel but limped home in second.

On Sunday, there was no such heartache for Davison. He dominated the race to take his first win since Bathurst 2009, leading home Winterbottom in an FPR 1 2. He leads Whincup and Tander - third in each race - in the standings.

A fortnight later at Albert Park, Winterbottom won three of the four non-championship races to win the MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge's $100,000 major prize. Shane van Gisbergen won the other race and was second for the weekend, ahead of Tander.

6

Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will race with TeamVodafone in theV8 Supercar Championship Series until at least the end of the 2014 and 2015 seasons respectively.

The pair - both three-time V8 Supercar champions - have extended their deals with the Brisbane-based outfit.

"With both Jamie and Craig on board I know that we have the strongest driver line-up in the V8 Supercar Championship Series,"T8 Managing Director Roland Dane said.

Like Barrichello, JarnoTrulli is out of Formula 1 in 2012.Trulli was replaced by former Renault driver Vitaly Petrov at Caterham in the lead-up to Albert Park's season opener.

Trulli joined the squad (formerly known as Lotus)for its maiden season in 2010 after stints with Toyota, Renault, Jordan, Prost and Minardi. He's set to finish with 252 GP starts from a 14-year career.

His departure means Italy is without a Formula 1 driver for the first time since 1969.

www.mnews.com.au

7

PHIL

BRANAGAN MOTOR MOUTH

n:

I

HAD an interesting day on the Monday following the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Albert Park.

A couple of colleagues from FI's press corps found themselves in a predicament.

Their deadlines had been unexpectedly shortened, and they needed somewhere to work. Could I provide a place for them to work,free wifi and,even better, dinner before they hopped on the 747s to KL? Of course.

So,for eight hours, it was all go. Laptops clicked; mobile phones and Skype hummed.

News was getting written. I felt like a million bucks.

One of the points of interest over the AGP weekend was catching up with old friends.

One media colleague arrived two weeks early and, with no commitments in Malaysia, was intending to stay two weeks after the race. But he was, by far, the exception, not the rule.

On Friday morning at the track, an Italian mate came

1

My other Monday workmate had the task of getting a highprofile team member on the phone, yacking about the race and polishing his thoughts rushing up, all fashionable for publication. After leaving clothing, unshaven cheeks and several messages, he finally waving arms, to greet me. He got an SMS telling him to ring looked tired, but was happy to now.The opening words of the conversation confirmed that be in Melbourne.

"When did you arrive?"! asked. his quarry had just stepped off He checked his watch. a plane - in Dubai.

One of my colleagues said "Ninety minutes ago," he said and then he affirmed he was his accommodation bill for the Monaco GP,for which he hires out on Sunday night. He a harbourside apartment in could not afford to stay an Nice, is less than half that for extra night.

Back to Chez Branners.

Melbourne - even when you throw in his bus fares to and Around lunchtime on Monday, another writer, whose exit from the Principality. Brazil, from the track was Button says he, is downright cheap.

Melbourne is becoming the like, tweeted pics of his accommodation for the most expensive race on the FI calendar. Forget the airfares; next few nights, an hour or so outside KL. It was almost the cost of flying such a huge distance for many is factored indecently luxurious. in from the get-go. Plus, that "I stayed there two years ago," is not so bad; I am far from the one of my new home office mates explained. first person to note this, but for some weird reason, it costs Expensive? much less to fly from Europe "Sixty dollars a night."

Or, less than half what he was or America to Australia and back than it does to do it the paying to stay in his regular Melbourne abode, a modest other way around, despite the fact that we are all on motel 30 minutes drive from Albert Park. the same planes, regardless

of whether we are inbound passengers or outboui id.

It seems our hotels, generally, get into the racing spirit by reaming those who travel with the sport for a living.

Hotel wifi, long ago free in many countries, is generally an added cost(though, thankfully, the reverse is true in the world's tracks' media centres, thanks AGPC). One team member, arriving before check-in time, asked if she could have her luggage stored for couple of hours in the meantime. She was told yes for $20.

One media visitor, who has been here enough times to be familiar with Australian history, summed it up;"I had no idea that so many descendents of Ned Kelly found employment in the hotel industry."

It does seem odd to me that the Victorian government spends $50m a year on the GP to promote the Melbourne 'brand', but not a few bucks to help out the international media, whose message to the world seems to be just the opposite. But the race does appear to be a great boost for tourism - in Malaysia.

One of my colleagues said his accommodation bill for the Monaco GP,for which // he hires a harbourside apartment in Nice, is less than half that for Melbourne

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PHIL

BRANAGAN MOTOR MOUTH

n:

I

HAD an interesting day on the Monday following the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Albert Park.

A couple of colleagues from FI's press corps found themselves in a predicament.

Their deadlines had been unexpectedly shortened, and they needed somewhere to work. Could I provide a place for them to work,free wifi and,even better, dinner before they hopped on the 747s to KL? Of course.

So,for eight hours, it was all go. Laptops clicked; mobile phones and Skype hummed.

News was getting written. I felt like a million bucks.

One of the points of interest over the AGP weekend was catching up with old friends.

One media colleague arrived two weeks early and, with no commitments in Malaysia, was intending to stay two weeks after the race. But he was, by far, the exception, not the rule.

On Friday morning at the track, an Italian mate came

1

My other Monday workmate had the task of getting a highprofile team member on the phone, yacking about the race and polishing his thoughts rushing up, all fashionable for publication. After leaving clothing, unshaven cheeks and several messages, he finally waving arms, to greet me. He got an SMS telling him to ring looked tired, but was happy to now.The opening words of the conversation confirmed that be in Melbourne.

"When did you arrive?"! asked. his quarry had just stepped off He checked his watch. a plane - in Dubai.

One of my colleagues said "Ninety minutes ago," he said and then he affirmed he was his accommodation bill for the Monaco GP,for which he hires out on Sunday night. He a harbourside apartment in could not afford to stay an Nice, is less than half that for extra night.

Back to Chez Branners.

Melbourne - even when you throw in his bus fares to and Around lunchtime on Monday, another writer, whose exit from the Principality. Brazil, from the track was Button says he, is downright cheap.

Melbourne is becoming the like, tweeted pics of his accommodation for the most expensive race on the FI calendar. Forget the airfares; next few nights, an hour or so outside KL. It was almost the cost of flying such a huge distance for many is factored indecently luxurious. in from the get-go. Plus, that "I stayed there two years ago," is not so bad; I am far from the one of my new home office mates explained. first person to note this, but for some weird reason, it costs Expensive? much less to fly from Europe "Sixty dollars a night."

Or, less than half what he was or America to Australia and back than it does to do it the paying to stay in his regular Melbourne abode, a modest other way around, despite the fact that we are all on motel 30 minutes drive from Albert Park. the same planes, regardless

of whether we are inbound passengers or outboui id.

It seems our hotels, generally, get into the racing spirit by reaming those who travel with the sport for a living.

Hotel wifi, long ago free in many countries, is generally an added cost(though, thankfully, the reverse is true in the world's tracks' media centres, thanks AGPC). One team member, arriving before check-in time, asked if she could have her luggage stored for couple of hours in the meantime. She was told yes for $20.

One media visitor, who has been here enough times to be familiar with Australian history, summed it up;"I had no idea that so many descendents of Ned Kelly found employment in the hotel industry."

It does seem odd to me that the Victorian government spends $50m a year on the GP to promote the Melbourne 'brand', but not a few bucks to help out the international media, whose message to the world seems to be just the opposite. But the race does appear to be a great boost for tourism - in Malaysia.

One of my colleagues said his accommodation bill for the Monaco GP,for which // he hires a harbourside apartment in Nice, is less than half that for Melbourne

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motorsport news

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Tel: 03 5223 3453

STEVE

NORMOYLE THE SCOOP

B

RENT Macaffer is a

Not that the AGP V8 Supercar races have no meaning or worth whatsoever.They're still races, and the drivers, being drivers, still have a big go (as they certainly were during Saturday afternoon's race, with LDM and the Kellys, among others, winding up with unneeded and expensive repair jobs two weeks before Symmons Plains).

For many of the rest of us, though, it's hard to be too much bothered about a bunch

Collingwood AFL player.

But he won't be this year, thanks to a knee injury he sustained during the AFL's pre-season competition,the NAB Cup. Macaffer's mishap and a spate of other NAB Cup injuries has the AFL world wondering whether there is any real point in running a pre-season competition.

The NAB Cup is something of a phoney war. No one's really too fussed as to who wins it, but of orphan V8 Supercar races that are outside of the actual everyone worries about the possibility of players going down championship - even if there is in it like Macaffer, before the $100,000 up for grabs.

This discussion isn't new. But serious footy gets under way.

But there is a certain logic to how much more exciting would the V8 Supercars at the Grand the footy pre-season comp.The Prix be were it to count for players do need pre-season preparation; the only argument championship points? is about the kind of preparation.

There are reasons why it's In V8 Supercars, there is no never happened. Conflicting pre-season.They have that TV deals is one, but surely these can (or could have been) sorted now-annual new-year test day when the deals are done. After hit out, and then it's off to the

opening championship round (sorry, event) a few weeks later.

After the Adelaide season opener,they're off to Albert Park - but for a series of races that don't count for the championship.

This is and always has been an anomaly. It is a bit like the footy plonking the NAB Cup in the middle of its normal home-andaway season.

all, for some years (if not this year), AFL games were shared between Ten and Seven.

There is also the matter of a V8 Supercars Championship event running as a subordinate to another category.This is inconvenient, but shouldn't be a deal breaker - the British Touring Car Championship has never been too proud not to let its support races at the British

Grand Prix be part of the series - even at its 1996 zenith when it boasted no less than nine factory teams.

It would be nice just once to see the Albert Park V8 Supercars races count for the same as every other V8 Supercar race.

Let's hope the category's new management also sees value in this idea when time comes to sort out the next TV deal.

And this might be the last opportunity, because there's a good chance Albert Park and FI might be lost to Australian motorsport when the current contract to host the AGP expires in 2015.

o

N other matters,there have been some

important changes this month at Motorsport News. Phil Branagan has relinquished the editor's chair after 13 years.

The good news is that Phil remains on board with the mag.

Free from the shackles of the MN

office, Phil will instead be out in the field, and over the coming months he'll be bringing us some fascinating in-depth chats with the people who matter in motorsport.

Branagan is uniquely qualified for this new role. Not only has he been the heart and soul of this magazine for well over a decade, but there are few specialist motorsport writers anywhere in the world that bring to the table the blend of experience, enthusiasm and wit that Branners can. I don't think

I am exaggerating here but, if my point needs illustnting, let

me direct your attention to the conversation he had at Albert Park with Mark Skaife, which begins on Page 20.

While Branagan remains at large, erstwhile assistant editor Andrew van Leeuwen will continue to report back from his new headquarters in Mainz, Germany.

Last month van Leeuwen found himself in the fortunate position in being able to flee the onslaught of the northern European winter for more hospitable Barcelona - where

#12 - DEAN FIORE - JIM BEAM DEVIL’S CUT 1:18 SCALE -AR80306, 1:43 SCALE - AR40306

#17 - STEVEN JOHNSON - JIM BEAM HONEY 1:18 SCALE - AR80305, 1;43 SCALE - AR40305

the FI teams were going through their own pre-season exercises.

With the help of an FI driver who shall remain anonymous.

AVL delivers us an inside account of what FI testing actually isthe like of which I've not read in all my time following this sport (and it is a long time). Turn now to Page 38.

We have a man in Europe, and now one in the States because former MN staffer Mark

r^SCAMA AOlittBC

Glendenning has just shifted continents to the Land of the Free. Fle'll be bringing us an Aussie's perspective on all that's motorsport in America - and that includes the driver of the

#18-JAMES MOFFAT-TEAM NORTON DJR -1:18 SCALE-AR80307, 1:43 SCALE - AR40307

Richard Petty Motorsport 9 Ford Fusion.

2012 JIM BEAM RACING, TEAM NORTON DJR, AND VIP PETFOODS RACING MODEL CARS PROUDLY MANUFACTURED BY APEX REPLICAS - PRE-ORDER NOW AT YOUR LOCAL STOCKIST

The pre-season is over and the racing has begun - and we've got someone on it wherever it's happening.

2011 JIM BEAM RACING BATHURST ENDURO CARS ALSO COMING! RELEASE SCHEDULED FOR MID YEAR - CLICK THE ABOVE IMAGES FOR MORE INFORMATION

£M would be nicejust once to see the Albert Park V8 Supercars races count "^ for the same as every other V8 Supercar race.

IF^LICAS

pexreplicas.com.au

/edCD GrfCDsr

A

REGISTER NOW FOR OUR MEMBER NEWSLETTER - CLICK HERE

●9=)

w

motorsport news

STEVE

NORMOYLE THE SCOOP

B

RENT Macaffer is a

Not that the AGP V8 Supercar races have no meaning or worth whatsoever.They're still races, and the drivers, being drivers, still have a big go (as they certainly were during Saturday afternoon's race, with LDM and the Kellys, among others, winding up with unneeded and expensive repair jobs two weeks before Symmons Plains).

For many of the rest of us, though, it's hard to be too much bothered about a bunch

Collingwood AFL player.

But he won't be this year, thanks to a knee injury he sustained during the AFL's pre-season competition,the NAB Cup. Macaffer's mishap and a spate of other NAB Cup injuries has the AFL world wondering whether there is any real point in running a pre-season competition.

The NAB Cup is something of a phoney war. No one's really too fussed as to who wins it, but of orphan V8 Supercar races that are outside of the actual everyone worries about the possibility of players going down championship - even if there is in it like Macaffer, before the $100,000 up for grabs.

This discussion isn't new. But serious footy gets under way.

But there is a certain logic to how much more exciting would the V8 Supercars at the Grand the footy pre-season comp.The Prix be were it to count for players do need pre-season preparation; the only argument championship points? is about the kind of preparation.

There are reasons why it's In V8 Supercars, there is no never happened. Conflicting pre-season.They have that TV deals is one, but surely these can (or could have been) sorted now-annual new-year test day when the deals are done. After hit out, and then it's off to the

opening championship round (sorry, event) a few weeks later.

After the Adelaide season opener,they're off to Albert Park - but for a series of races that don't count for the championship.

This is and always has been an anomaly. It is a bit like the footy plonking the NAB Cup in the middle of its normal home-andaway season.

all, for some years (if not this year), AFL games were shared between Ten and Seven.

There is also the matter of a V8 Supercars Championship event running as a subordinate to another category.This is inconvenient, but shouldn't be a deal breaker - the British Touring Car Championship has never been too proud not to let its support races at the British

Grand Prix be part of the series - even at its 1996 zenith when it boasted no less than nine factory teams.

It would be nice just once to see the Albert Park V8 Supercars races count for the same as every other V8 Supercar race.

Let's hope the category's new management also sees value in this idea when time comes to sort out the next TV deal.

And this might be the last opportunity, because there's a good chance Albert Park and FI might be lost to Australian motorsport when the current contract to host the AGP expires in 2015.

o

N other matters,there have been some

important changes this month at Motorsport News. Phil Branagan has relinquished the editor's chair after 13 years.

The good news is that Phil remains on board with the mag.

Free from the shackles of the MN

office, Phil will instead be out in the field, and over the coming months he'll be bringing us some fascinating in-depth chats with the people who matter in motorsport.

Branagan is uniquely qualified for this new role. Not only has he been the heart and soul of this magazine for well over a decade, but there are few specialist motorsport writers anywhere in the world that bring to the table the blend of experience, enthusiasm and wit that Branners can. I don't think

I am exaggerating here but, if my point needs illustnting, let

me direct your attention to the conversation he had at Albert Park with Mark Skaife, which begins on Page 20.

While Branagan remains at large, erstwhile assistant editor Andrew van Leeuwen will continue to report back from his new headquarters in Mainz, Germany.

Last month van Leeuwen found himself in the fortunate position in being able to flee the onslaught of the northern European winter for more hospitable Barcelona - where

#12 - DEAN FIORE - JIM BEAM DEVIL’S CUT 1:18 SCALE -AR80306, 1:43 SCALE - AR40306

#17 - STEVEN JOHNSON - JIM BEAM HONEY 1:18 SCALE - AR80305, 1;43 SCALE - AR40305

the FI teams were going through their own pre-season exercises.

With the help of an FI driver who shall remain anonymous.

AVL delivers us an inside account of what FI testing actually isthe like of which I've not read in all my time following this sport (and it is a long time). Turn now to Page 38.

We have a man in Europe, and now one in the States because former MN staffer Mark

r^SCAMA AOlittBC

Glendenning has just shifted continents to the Land of the Free. Fle'll be bringing us an Aussie's perspective on all that's motorsport in America - and that includes the driver of the

#18-JAMES MOFFAT-TEAM NORTON DJR -1:18 SCALE-AR80307, 1:43 SCALE - AR40307

Richard Petty Motorsport 9 Ford Fusion.

2012 JIM BEAM RACING, TEAM NORTON DJR, AND VIP PETFOODS RACING MODEL CARS PROUDLY MANUFACTURED BY APEX REPLICAS - PRE-ORDER NOW AT YOUR LOCAL STOCKIST

The pre-season is over and the racing has begun - and we've got someone on it wherever it's happening.

2011 JIM BEAM RACING BATHURST ENDURO CARS ALSO COMING! RELEASE SCHEDULED FOR MID YEAR - CLICK THE ABOVE IMAGES FOR MORE INFORMATION

£M would be nicejust once to see the Albert Park V8 Supercars races count "^ for the same as every other V8 Supercar race.

IF^LICAS

pexreplicas.com.au

/edCD GrfCDsr

A

REGISTER NOW FOR OUR MEMBER NEWSLETTER - CLICK HERE

●9=)

w

motorsport news

) CHRIS \

LAMBDEN ON THE LIMITER

&

T

HERE'S a bit of a

statistical anomaly going on in Victoria at the moment.Three months into 2012,the State's

road toll is a staggering 30 percent up on the same time last year - 65 deaths against 50 last year.

At a time when the trend is down,that's a shocking statistic. The recalcitrant inside me shouts out"How can this be? Successive governments and police chiefs are adamant that the explosion in Speed Camera (oops, I mean Safety Camera) numbers is saving lives, bringing down the toll. So does this mean they aren't working?

And all that money being extracted from Mums and Dads who innocently stray up to 64kmh ..."

Don't start'me. My disappointment that governments continue to ignore the positives of better driver education grows.

How would it be if any one of the young drivers who have died in single-car accidents had compulsorily gone through

an Advanced Driving Course?

How would it be if, somewhere in his subconscious, was the technique to cope with the sudden drama facing him - the basics of dealing with a sliding car; a locked brake?

The problem actually is that if our youngster did indeed save the day, and motor on home shaken but not dead, no-one knows.There aren't stats for accidents that never happened.

And in this modern world of bureaucratic arse-covering, that matters. It's a hard sell.

Jeez... I told you not to start me ...This is a motor sport magazine after all.

The whole safety thing has, however, been on my mind since I accidentally surfed onto OneHD the other day, literally the day before the Australian FI Grand Prix, and fell across a documentary called FI - the Killer Years. It's a modern doco, looking back at FI in the 60s and early 70s with the benefit of hindsight and modern values.

Apart from reinforcing just how safe the modern grand prix car and the modern grand prix

track have become, the look back to what remains, in my mind, a classic era of Formula 1, doesn't paint a pretty picture.

This was a time when one of the greatest, Jim Clark, died - not because for whatever reason his F2 Lotus went off the road at Flockenheim, but because it then barrel-rolled into a forest, threw him out of the car and, as a more emotional Jackie Stewart than I've ever seen before reminds us, his body flew into the trees 15 feet above the ground ...

This was an era when cars crashed, rolled and caught fire, and drivers died in their burning cars as marshalls without fire-suits wasted their time with ineffective extinguishers. An era when the race went on, cars weaving around the flaming wreck, drivers wondering just which of their colleagues it was this time. An era when a young Jackie Stewart was ridiculed by some elements of the media for wanting to change things.

When you look back at it in those stark terms,from a 21 st century perspective, it's quite confronting. At the time, it's just how it was.

As JYS says, there was a

$ ♦

one-in-seven chance of not

AUSTRALIA’S ONLY DEDICATED 24/7 MOTORSPORTS CHANNEL YOUR ROAD TO RACING IN HD

being around at the end of a year in FI then. Until he, and then the drivers as a group, took a stand, death in FI was simply a daily occupational hazard.

In some ways,the world has gone almost too far the other way. Some of the Nanny State OFI&S regulations which plague modern event promoters and circuit owners are just nuts (don't start me again!). But without doubt, generations of racing drivers owe Jackie Stewart big-time. Fie was the one who decided to do something. Most racing people have known that for a very long time, but FI - the Killer Years is a stark reminder ofjust how big a battle it was - and well worth watching.

I saw Jackie from afar in the FI Paddock during GP weekend, as usual in tartan cap and pants, surrounded by the usual horde of corporates, team people and media. It occurred to me that nearly all the current FI grid weren't even born when he was leading the safety battle, but they sure have plenty to thank him for - which is more than I can say for the cash-hungry Victorian speed camera czars ...

Without doubt,generations ofracing drivers owe Jackie Stewart big-time.

He was the one who decided to do something aboutsafety

AVAILABLE ON AUSTAR. FOXTEL^ 132 342

131 787

SPEEDTV.COM.au 1!speed tv AUSTRALIA motorsport news A

(§)SPEEDTVAUS

//,/' n:r,

TM

) CHRIS \

LAMBDEN ON THE LIMITER

&

T

HERE'S a bit of a

statistical anomaly going on in Victoria at the moment.Three months into 2012,the State's

road toll is a staggering 30 percent up on the same time last year - 65 deaths against 50 last year.

At a time when the trend is down,that's a shocking statistic. The recalcitrant inside me shouts out"How can this be? Successive governments and police chiefs are adamant that the explosion in Speed Camera (oops, I mean Safety Camera) numbers is saving lives, bringing down the toll. So does this mean they aren't working?

And all that money being extracted from Mums and Dads who innocently stray up to 64kmh ..."

Don't start'me. My disappointment that governments continue to ignore the positives of better driver education grows.

How would it be if any one of the young drivers who have died in single-car accidents had compulsorily gone through

an Advanced Driving Course?

How would it be if, somewhere in his subconscious, was the technique to cope with the sudden drama facing him - the basics of dealing with a sliding car; a locked brake?

The problem actually is that if our youngster did indeed save the day, and motor on home shaken but not dead, no-one knows.There aren't stats for accidents that never happened.

And in this modern world of bureaucratic arse-covering, that matters. It's a hard sell.

Jeez... I told you not to start me ...This is a motor sport magazine after all.

The whole safety thing has, however, been on my mind since I accidentally surfed onto OneHD the other day, literally the day before the Australian FI Grand Prix, and fell across a documentary called FI - the Killer Years. It's a modern doco, looking back at FI in the 60s and early 70s with the benefit of hindsight and modern values.

Apart from reinforcing just how safe the modern grand prix car and the modern grand prix

track have become, the look back to what remains, in my mind, a classic era of Formula 1, doesn't paint a pretty picture.

This was a time when one of the greatest, Jim Clark, died - not because for whatever reason his F2 Lotus went off the road at Flockenheim, but because it then barrel-rolled into a forest, threw him out of the car and, as a more emotional Jackie Stewart than I've ever seen before reminds us, his body flew into the trees 15 feet above the ground ...

This was an era when cars crashed, rolled and caught fire, and drivers died in their burning cars as marshalls without fire-suits wasted their time with ineffective extinguishers. An era when the race went on, cars weaving around the flaming wreck, drivers wondering just which of their colleagues it was this time. An era when a young Jackie Stewart was ridiculed by some elements of the media for wanting to change things.

When you look back at it in those stark terms,from a 21 st century perspective, it's quite confronting. At the time, it's just how it was.

As JYS says, there was a

$ ¤

one-in-seven chance of not

AUSTRALIA’S ONLY DEDICATED 24/7 MOTORSPORTS CHANNEL YOUR ROAD TO RACING IN HD

being around at the end of a year in FI then. Until he, and then the drivers as a group, took a stand, death in FI was simply a daily occupational hazard.

In some ways,the world has gone almost too far the other way. Some of the Nanny State OFI&S regulations which plague modern event promoters and circuit owners are just nuts (don't start me again!). But without doubt, generations of racing drivers owe Jackie Stewart big-time. Fie was the one who decided to do something. Most racing people have known that for a very long time, but FI - the Killer Years is a stark reminder ofjust how big a battle it was - and well worth watching.

I saw Jackie from afar in the FI Paddock during GP weekend, as usual in tartan cap and pants, surrounded by the usual horde of corporates, team people and media. It occurred to me that nearly all the current FI grid weren't even born when he was leading the safety battle, but they sure have plenty to thank him for - which is more than I can say for the cash-hungry Victorian speed camera czars ...

Without doubt,generations ofracing drivers owe Jackie Stewart big-time.

He was the one who decided to do something aboutsafety

AVAILABLE ON AUSTAR. FOXTEL^ 132 342

131 787

SPEEDTV.COM.au 1!speed tv AUSTRALIA motorsport news A

(§)SPEEDTVAUS

//,/' n:r,

TM

3 n

I ANDREW

IVAN LEEUWEN

i *

k

{

BOX SEAT Wa«*'

OW the new Formula 1 season has officially started, testing is a distant memory.

It's a distant memory because it's not something we have to concern ourselves with until much later in the year.

Formula 1 is now on its annual testing hiatus, which will carry on until the young driver tests at the very end of the season.

The fact that the on-track action will now be restricted to race weekends until November is not something that everyone in Grand Prix racing is happy about.

Most people involved in Formula 1 will agree that restrictions in testing are a good thing.The very reason they were implemented was to stop the big teams going into an annual spending frenzy, reaping the benefits of being able to couple on-going development with one car with development of the following year's car. With unlimited testing, the teams with big budgets were on-track basically every week,the situation particularly playing into the hands of Ferrari, which has its own test track.

But has it all gone too far? From weekly testing and dedicated test teams. Formula 1 now comes to a complete testing standstill between March and November. It's designed to save teams money but this is Formula 1, and things rarely go that way.

Pedro de la Rosa is one driver who has become very outspoken

Friday practice and it doesn’t work,then we need to throw it all away. selfishly hope to get their big chance, If we could test the components away from a race weekend,it could "it could have been embarrassing," he added, save us a lot of money." "imagine if McLaren would have needed me towards the end of last It all makes too much sense. With an in-season testing program, year, without me having tested for eight months? it wouid have been embarrassing to drive a McLaren, a car capabie of winning races, and drivers of all level of experience can keep their eye in,teams can stop over spending on simulators, and suppliers can revert to a more not_even make it into Q2." traditional development program.

The question of money is one that wiil never go away. But wouid a "It's all common sense,"summarised de la Rosa. well-structured in-season testing program realiy cost teams money?

"I think everyone agrees, but nobody wants to have the fight. I've Not according to de la Rosa.

"I think [testing] is even cheaper than investing money in simulators.' been trying to do it in a very discreet and unsuccessful way since the very beginning.

Funnily enough,through a chance meeting with the head of a "We need two or three sessions a year of open Formula 1 testing, major FI parts supplier, I recently had a very similar conversation. with any driver the team wishes to appoint. Old, young,experienced Completely unprompted,the supplier explained to me that the lack - it shouldn't matter, as long they have a Super Licence.That's healthy of testing was costing them money. for the sport, and healthy for the drivers."

"When we go to a race with new parts, we need toliave developed I have to say I totally agree with de la Rosa's views. It's time for and manufactured enough of the parts for a team to use for a whole in-season testing to make a long awaited comeback to Formula 1. race weekend, not Just a prototype," he said."lf a team tries it out in

about the lack of testing.The Spaniard has spent the last few seasons making his living as a test/third driver at McLaren,so he's in a good place to comment. Fle's also reclaiming his place as the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association for 2012,so he's in a good place to lobby for changes to be made by the FIA. : "I've been pushing for more testing for a long time, because I think it's not right[as it is],"de la Rosa said at the Fans'Forum in Barcelona last month. t "I understand where the teams are coming from;they're trying to cut costs, that's the bottom line. I understand that.

"But on the other hand we have to have some sessions during the year for the health of the sport, and for the future drivers,the existing drivers, and the reserve drivers. It's healthy for the sport."

What de la Rosa is calling from isn't a return to unlimited testing.

What he wants to see is a regulated, but regular,testing program for both big and small teams to take advantage of.

De la Rosa even admits that towards the end of the 2011 season, he was exceptionally nervous that either Jenson Button or Lewis Flamilton wouldn't be able to race and he'd have to step up to the plate. Why? Because he knew that, after months and months out the cockpit, there was no way he could do a car like a McLaren justice on short notice. In other words,gone are the days when third drivers

// i

\4

® S'

We have to have some sessions during the year for the health ofthe sport, and for the future drivers, the existing drivers and the reserve drivers

3 n

I ANDREW

IVAN LEEUWEN

i *

k

{

BOX SEAT Wa«*'

OW the new Formula 1 season has officially started, testing is a distant memory.

It's a distant memory because it's not something we have to concern ourselves with until much later in the year.

Formula 1 is now on its annual testing hiatus, which will carry on until the young driver tests at the very end of the season.

The fact that the on-track action will now be restricted to race weekends until November is not something that everyone in Grand Prix racing is happy about.

Most people involved in Formula 1 will agree that restrictions in testing are a good thing.The very reason they were implemented was to stop the big teams going into an annual spending frenzy, reaping the benefits of being able to couple on-going development with one car with development of the following year's car. With unlimited testing, the teams with big budgets were on-track basically every week,the situation particularly playing into the hands of Ferrari, which has its own test track.

But has it all gone too far? From weekly testing and dedicated test teams. Formula 1 now comes to a complete testing standstill between March and November. It's designed to save teams money but this is Formula 1, and things rarely go that way.

Pedro de la Rosa is one driver who has become very outspoken

Friday practice and it doesn’t work,then we need to throw it all away. selfishly hope to get their big chance, If we could test the components away from a race weekend,it could "it could have been embarrassing," he added, save us a lot of money." "imagine if McLaren would have needed me towards the end of last It all makes too much sense. With an in-season testing program, year, without me having tested for eight months? it wouid have been embarrassing to drive a McLaren, a car capabie of winning races, and drivers of all level of experience can keep their eye in,teams can stop over spending on simulators, and suppliers can revert to a more not_even make it into Q2." traditional development program.

The question of money is one that wiil never go away. But wouid a "It's all common sense,"summarised de la Rosa. well-structured in-season testing program realiy cost teams money?

"I think everyone agrees, but nobody wants to have the fight. I've Not according to de la Rosa.

"I think [testing] is even cheaper than investing money in simulators.' been trying to do it in a very discreet and unsuccessful way since the very beginning.

Funnily enough,through a chance meeting with the head of a "We need two or three sessions a year of open Formula 1 testing, major FI parts supplier, I recently had a very similar conversation. with any driver the team wishes to appoint. Old, young,experienced Completely unprompted,the supplier explained to me that the lack - it shouldn't matter, as long they have a Super Licence.That's healthy of testing was costing them money. for the sport, and healthy for the drivers."

"When we go to a race with new parts, we need toliave developed I have to say I totally agree with de la Rosa's views. It's time for and manufactured enough of the parts for a team to use for a whole in-season testing to make a long awaited comeback to Formula 1. race weekend, not Just a prototype," he said."lf a team tries it out in

about the lack of testing.The Spaniard has spent the last few seasons making his living as a test/third driver at McLaren,so he's in a good place to comment. Fle's also reclaiming his place as the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association for 2012,so he's in a good place to lobby for changes to be made by the FIA. : "I've been pushing for more testing for a long time, because I think it's not right[as it is],"de la Rosa said at the Fans'Forum in Barcelona last month. t "I understand where the teams are coming from;they're trying to cut costs, that's the bottom line. I understand that.

"But on the other hand we have to have some sessions during the year for the health of the sport, and for the future drivers,the existing drivers, and the reserve drivers. It's healthy for the sport."

What de la Rosa is calling from isn't a return to unlimited testing.

What he wants to see is a regulated, but regular,testing program for both big and small teams to take advantage of.

De la Rosa even admits that towards the end of the 2011 season, he was exceptionally nervous that either Jenson Button or Lewis Flamilton wouldn't be able to race and he'd have to step up to the plate. Why? Because he knew that, after months and months out the cockpit, there was no way he could do a car like a McLaren justice on short notice. In other words,gone are the days when third drivers

// i

\4

® S'

We have to have some sessions during the year for the health ofthe sport, and for the future drivers, the existing drivers and the reserve drivers

> MARK

IGLENDENNING UNITED STATES OF ORIGIN

I

T was Gil Scott-Heron who first declared that the revolution would not be televised, although he never guessed that the reason would be because when the moment came,TV would be unable to keep up.

These are exciting, and challenging, times for all forms of media.

Phones are smarter than most desktop computers were a couple of decades ago,the internet has shrunk the world to the size of a 140-characterTweet, and information is being delivered and shared in ways that we didn't imagine even as recently as when Marcos Ambrose was still in V8 Supercars.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with motor racing.The answer lies in all the options that fans now have to get involved with their sport. For one thing,'Internet 2.0' has led to a mass democratisation of news; moving it from the proprietorship of the traditional media and offering a slice to anyone who has the inclination to start a blog in their bedroom. One strand of popular wisdom would have it that you're swimming against the tide right now through the simple act of holding something as antiquated as a printed magazine.

None of this is particularly new,and if you make your living in the 'traditional media', then you've been hearing doom-laden accounts of falling sales and advertising revenue, and grim predictions about your job security for a few years.The race within the traditional media to learn how to survive in the new world continues, and it's true that many journalists - indeed, many publications - have already fallen victim.

As a fan, though, you've never had it better. If you want to continue to go to the traditional sources to keep on top of what's going on in the sport you love, then they're right there waiting for you. If the professional publications and websites don't float your boat, then there are loads of independent fan sites that can deliver the news as well. It's no secret that some fans make a point of living off the grid, as it were.

That's fine, but none of the fan site owners who position themselves as direct rivals to the professional sites have ever been able to address one fundamental question. It's something that popped up again a week ago, which is why it's still fresh in my mind (and why you're being subjected to a column about all this stuff rather than something along the lines of'What's the point of the HRTF1 team?').

First, some context. At the time of writing, a story had broken a few days ago about former Champ Car and FI racer Alex ZanardI and the confirmation of his participation in this year's London Paralympics. Zanardi is a hugely popular figure, and the story quickly gained traction. Within minutes, it was getting a workout on Twitter, and very shortly afterwards, different versions of the story had begun to appear on various fan sites, all of which then triggered their own conversations, retweets, and so on.

As an example of how news stories develop in the new world, it made for a good case study - and one that was easy to track, as there was only one possible original source, and that happened to be me.

t 1 //

your own name onlthe same:entry list asfAlScZanardVs i

The news that Zanardl's claim to a spot in the Paralympics had been secured didn't come from a press release, or a press conference, or even a casual conversation In a race paddock on a weekend that, for Zanardi, would have been filled with random encounters with journalists. It came from a luckily-timed phone call.

I happened to catch him when he was in the middle of a long drive and bored, and therefore in a mood to chat.(That said, Zanardi seems to be pretty much always in a mood to chat).

I have an interest in endurance sports, so I've been following Zanardi's handbike career over the past few years. We've even competed in the same race on one occasion the 2010 Florence www.mnews.com.au

Marathon - although he was on his bike and I was on foot.

Nevertheless,for a non-driver, nothing gives you delusions of grandeur quicker than seeing your own name on the same entry list as Alex Zanardi's.

Anyway, I knew from previous conversations that Zanardi's spot in the Italian Paralympic team was by no means secure, so I asked how things were going when he first picked up the phone. As occasionally happens, small talk turned into a good story. And one that was quickly reappropriated and used to generate web traffic by a swathe of fan sites within minutes of going live.

A recent documentary called 'Page One: InsideThe New York Times'includes a scene where Times columnist David Carr is locked in a debate with a prominent blogger about the future of news.

The blogger argued that the Times was no longer relevant; Carr responded by holding up a printout of the blogger's main page with all of the posts that were based on stories that had originated in the Times cut out.There were a lot of holes.

That segment reminded me of an incident where a Formula 1 fansite was contacted about using material from a major publication without attributing them.Their defence was that they didn't have the means to contact the driver in question themselves.

And therein lies the irony of the whole thing. As a reader, you have the freedom to choose whether to go wherever you want to find out about what's going on. But if there isn't someone in the chain who has Alex Zanardi's phone number,then where does everyone else get their content from?

Flaving stories pinched happens too often to really cause any bother, and the only time it's disappointing is when it's a supposedly reputable publication that does it. You'd be amazed how often newspapers nick stuff.

But the'us versus them'mentality of some fan sites is harder to figure out. Professional journalists don't rely on fan sites for their living, but fan sites - even the good ones (and there are several)would go dry very quickly if there wasn't someone, somewhere, who was on the ground and asking the questions.

17

> MARK

IGLENDENNING UNITED STATES OF ORIGIN

I

T was Gil Scott-Heron who first declared that the revolution would not be televised, although he never guessed that the reason would be because when the moment came,TV would be unable to keep up.

These are exciting, and challenging, times for all forms of media.

Phones are smarter than most desktop computers were a couple of decades ago,the internet has shrunk the world to the size of a 140-characterTweet, and information is being delivered and shared in ways that we didn't imagine even as recently as when Marcos Ambrose was still in V8 Supercars.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with motor racing.The answer lies in all the options that fans now have to get involved with their sport. For one thing,'Internet 2.0' has led to a mass democratisation of news; moving it from the proprietorship of the traditional media and offering a slice to anyone who has the inclination to start a blog in their bedroom. One strand of popular wisdom would have it that you're swimming against the tide right now through the simple act of holding something as antiquated as a printed magazine.

None of this is particularly new,and if you make your living in the 'traditional media', then you've been hearing doom-laden accounts of falling sales and advertising revenue, and grim predictions about your job security for a few years.The race within the traditional media to learn how to survive in the new world continues, and it's true that many journalists - indeed, many publications - have already fallen victim.

As a fan, though, you've never had it better. If you want to continue to go to the traditional sources to keep on top of what's going on in the sport you love, then they're right there waiting for you. If the professional publications and websites don't float your boat, then there are loads of independent fan sites that can deliver the news as well. It's no secret that some fans make a point of living off the grid, as it were.

That's fine, but none of the fan site owners who position themselves as direct rivals to the professional sites have ever been able to address one fundamental question. It's something that popped up again a week ago, which is why it's still fresh in my mind (and why you're being subjected to a column about all this stuff rather than something along the lines of'What's the point of the HRTF1 team?').

First, some context. At the time of writing, a story had broken a few days ago about former Champ Car and FI racer Alex ZanardI and the confirmation of his participation in this year's London Paralympics. Zanardi is a hugely popular figure, and the story quickly gained traction. Within minutes, it was getting a workout on Twitter, and very shortly afterwards, different versions of the story had begun to appear on various fan sites, all of which then triggered their own conversations, retweets, and so on.

As an example of how news stories develop in the new world, it made for a good case study - and one that was easy to track, as there was only one possible original source, and that happened to be me.

t 1 //

your own name onlthe same:entry list asfAlScZanardVs i

The news that Zanardl's claim to a spot in the Paralympics had been secured didn't come from a press release, or a press conference, or even a casual conversation In a race paddock on a weekend that, for Zanardi, would have been filled with random encounters with journalists. It came from a luckily-timed phone call.

I happened to catch him when he was in the middle of a long drive and bored, and therefore in a mood to chat.(That said, Zanardi seems to be pretty much always in a mood to chat).

I have an interest in endurance sports, so I've been following Zanardi's handbike career over the past few years. We've even competed in the same race on one occasion the 2010 Florence www.mnews.com.au

Marathon - although he was on his bike and I was on foot.

Nevertheless,for a non-driver, nothing gives you delusions of grandeur quicker than seeing your own name on the same entry list as Alex Zanardi's.

Anyway, I knew from previous conversations that Zanardi's spot in the Italian Paralympic team was by no means secure, so I asked how things were going when he first picked up the phone. As occasionally happens, small talk turned into a good story. And one that was quickly reappropriated and used to generate web traffic by a swathe of fan sites within minutes of going live.

A recent documentary called 'Page One: InsideThe New York Times'includes a scene where Times columnist David Carr is locked in a debate with a prominent blogger about the future of news.

The blogger argued that the Times was no longer relevant; Carr responded by holding up a printout of the blogger's main page with all of the posts that were based on stories that had originated in the Times cut out.There were a lot of holes.

That segment reminded me of an incident where a Formula 1 fansite was contacted about using material from a major publication without attributing them.Their defence was that they didn't have the means to contact the driver in question themselves.

And therein lies the irony of the whole thing. As a reader, you have the freedom to choose whether to go wherever you want to find out about what's going on. But if there isn't someone in the chain who has Alex Zanardi's phone number,then where does everyone else get their content from?

Flaving stories pinched happens too often to really cause any bother, and the only time it's disappointing is when it's a supposedly reputable publication that does it. You'd be amazed how often newspapers nick stuff.

But the'us versus them'mentality of some fan sites is harder to figure out. Professional journalists don't rely on fan sites for their living, but fan sites - even the good ones (and there are several)would go dry very quickly if there wasn't someone, somewhere, who was on the ground and asking the questions.

17

Next year there will be a new Nis time Nissan introduced a new car to Australian touring car racing.BySTEVE NORMOYLE

T

HERE will be no nasty surprises when Nissan makes its re-entry to Australian touring car racing in 2013.

Nissan doesn't have to worry that it might not be competitive (assuming the Kellys do a competent job) and Nissan's opponents need not fear being beaten as badly as they were the last time the Japanese marque went touring car racing here.

This will be so, thanks to the Car of the Future framework. Beneath their different

rules, and it was up to the manufacturers to produce as best they could a competitive car to suit those rules.This is what Nissan did in

silhouettes, the various vehicles will be so similar that we can be assured of a close contest - and if not, then V8 Supercars will make it so with adjustments to the cars'specs.

It is a very different scenario from the last time Nissan introduced a new car to

1990 with its R32 Skyline GT-R. in engineering terms, the GT-R was frontier stuff: twin-turbo 2.6-litre in-line six, all-wheel drive, rear-wheel steer configuration and a computer data logging system - the first of its type ever seen in Australia.

The GT-R had an immediate impact on the local scene, even if it took a while before

Australian touring car racing.

Things were simple back then; those quaint, outdated times when touring car racing meant modified versions of the actual original road cars. There was a set of

it really started dominating. Australian fans, who only two years earlier had been watching carby-fed V8 Commodores, were unaccustomed to a machine of such technological wizardry; this was more like something out of a science fiction movie.

One journo even likened it to a Japanese science fiction character, a marauding giant gorilla-type creature called 'Godzilla'. The nickname stuck.

to i- *■>

The GT-R's mid-1990 arrival gave Gibson Motor Sport six months to get the thing reliable and sorted - and the drivers more -g- sn-Af

SM

familiar with the completely different driving style the car demanded - in time for the start of its first full season.

[ir.|

5 g-

18

By then, Group A was on the way out. The global touring car formula was fracturing, and CAMS opted to retreat to the bad old

motorsport news

looking like a disaster after just one race.

Group C days of making'adjustments'to the Making matters even worse was the fact that specifications of the cars in order to (try to) achieve a ievei piaying fieid. This was totaiiy grid numbers were massively down on the at odds with the phiiosophy of Group A but, previous year's levels.

The Australian economy had turned pear in any case, and as everyone knew. Group A shaped at the end of 1990, and the recession wasn't going to be around in a year or two. had cut a swathe through the privateer ranks The threat the GT-R posed prompted CAMS not that too many of them would have to give generousiy to the rear-drivers: the once-dominant Ford Sierra shed 80kg, the given the Nissans any trouble.

Still, a field of more than 13 cars at embattied Commodore gained some engine freedoms and the BMW M3 - returning after Symmons Plains (at Barbagallo it was almost down to single figures - just 11 cars) might a year-iong absence - couid run in near DTM trim, with 2.5-iitre engine and big rear wing. have provided some kind of spectacle to But CAMS reaiiy thought that it had replace the one absent from the front of the skiifuiiy managed to engineer a ciose contest, field. Richards took pole by more than two seconds, and he and Skaife (off the back of it had spectacuiariy underestimated the GT-R's true potentiai.This became painfuiiy the grid after crashing on Saturday) lapped all the other 11 cars. ciear at Sandown's season opener.

At Sandown's V8 Supercar event iast Mercifully, that'd be the only time the year, the top 26 quaiifiers for the Sunday GT-Rs lapped the field, but it was the second of no less than six one-two results. Not a bad race were covered by one second. Back in '91, one second was the difference in average in a nine-round Series.

But they did not go unbeaten. And quaiifying between Jim Richards'Nissan and the fastest non-Nissan, which was John befitting of this towering menace of a Bowe's DJR Sierra. touring car, it would take a David-type In the race, Richards and young team challenger to slay the GT-R Goliath. mate Mark Skaife were first and second,40 Tony Longhurst drove his BMW M3 seconds ahead of Bowe.The latter's team to victory in round six at the short, mate, Dick Johnson, was the only other driver sharp Amaroo Park, but only after Skaife slid off the road - while Richards had on the lead lap. been forced to start from the rear after As a sporting contest, the'91 ATCC was

www.mnews.com.au

The old one-twos:It was one-twos all year for Jim Richards and Mark Skaife, top. Podium presentation for a younger Skaife with a younger Neil Crompton, above. The GT-R featured technology never seen in Austraiia before, centre. The BMW,Holden and Ford opposition was ieft floundering in the wake of the aii-wheel-drive Nissan, beiow ieft.

problems in qualifying.

So even that win looked like an anomaly, until Longhurst did it again at Lakeside, where the GT-R's chief weak point(not that there were many), a clumsiness in high speed corners, was exposed by the little M3.

BMW's upset win was one of precious few highlights in a forgettable season.

Looking at it another way, though, it was an awesome run of wins from a car that was not only simply better than its opposition, but possibly the best touring car of all time.

But that dominance also created a rod for Nissan's back, as Ford and Holden got together to effectively ban the GT-R from the new category - known later as V8 Supercars - that kicked off in 1993. Now things have turned full circle: the'new'V8 Supercars formula has been designed not to exclude, but to embrace the likes of Nissan.

79

Next year there will be a new Nis time Nissan introduced a new car to Australian touring car racing.BySTEVE NORMOYLE

T

HERE will be no nasty surprises when Nissan makes its re-entry to Australian touring car racing in 2013.

Nissan doesn't have to worry that it might not be competitive (assuming the Kellys do a competent job) and Nissan's opponents need not fear being beaten as badly as they were the last time the Japanese marque went touring car racing here.

This will be so, thanks to the Car of the Future framework. Beneath their different

rules, and it was up to the manufacturers to produce as best they could a competitive car to suit those rules.This is what Nissan did in

silhouettes, the various vehicles will be so similar that we can be assured of a close contest - and if not, then V8 Supercars will make it so with adjustments to the cars'specs.

It is a very different scenario from the last time Nissan introduced a new car to

1990 with its R32 Skyline GT-R. in engineering terms, the GT-R was frontier stuff: twin-turbo 2.6-litre in-line six, all-wheel drive, rear-wheel steer configuration and a computer data logging system - the first of its type ever seen in Australia.

The GT-R had an immediate impact on the local scene, even if it took a while before

Australian touring car racing.

Things were simple back then; those quaint, outdated times when touring car racing meant modified versions of the actual original road cars. There was a set of

it really started dominating. Australian fans, who only two years earlier had been watching carby-fed V8 Commodores, were unaccustomed to a machine of such technological wizardry; this was more like something out of a science fiction movie.

One journo even likened it to a Japanese science fiction character, a marauding giant gorilla-type creature called 'Godzilla'. The nickname stuck.

to i- *■>

The GT-R's mid-1990 arrival gave Gibson Motor Sport six months to get the thing reliable and sorted - and the drivers more -g- sn-Af

SM

familiar with the completely different driving style the car demanded - in time for the start of its first full season.

[ir.|

5 g-

18

By then, Group A was on the way out. The global touring car formula was fracturing, and CAMS opted to retreat to the bad old

motorsport news

looking like a disaster after just one race.

Group C days of making'adjustments'to the Making matters even worse was the fact that specifications of the cars in order to (try to) achieve a ievei piaying fieid. This was totaiiy grid numbers were massively down on the at odds with the phiiosophy of Group A but, previous year's levels.

The Australian economy had turned pear in any case, and as everyone knew. Group A shaped at the end of 1990, and the recession wasn't going to be around in a year or two. had cut a swathe through the privateer ranks The threat the GT-R posed prompted CAMS not that too many of them would have to give generousiy to the rear-drivers: the once-dominant Ford Sierra shed 80kg, the given the Nissans any trouble.

Still, a field of more than 13 cars at embattied Commodore gained some engine freedoms and the BMW M3 - returning after Symmons Plains (at Barbagallo it was almost down to single figures - just 11 cars) might a year-iong absence - couid run in near DTM trim, with 2.5-iitre engine and big rear wing. have provided some kind of spectacle to But CAMS reaiiy thought that it had replace the one absent from the front of the skiifuiiy managed to engineer a ciose contest, field. Richards took pole by more than two seconds, and he and Skaife (off the back of it had spectacuiariy underestimated the GT-R's true potentiai.This became painfuiiy the grid after crashing on Saturday) lapped all the other 11 cars. ciear at Sandown's season opener.

At Sandown's V8 Supercar event iast Mercifully, that'd be the only time the year, the top 26 quaiifiers for the Sunday GT-Rs lapped the field, but it was the second of no less than six one-two results. Not a bad race were covered by one second. Back in '91, one second was the difference in average in a nine-round Series.

But they did not go unbeaten. And quaiifying between Jim Richards'Nissan and the fastest non-Nissan, which was John befitting of this towering menace of a Bowe's DJR Sierra. touring car, it would take a David-type In the race, Richards and young team challenger to slay the GT-R Goliath. mate Mark Skaife were first and second,40 Tony Longhurst drove his BMW M3 seconds ahead of Bowe.The latter's team to victory in round six at the short, mate, Dick Johnson, was the only other driver sharp Amaroo Park, but only after Skaife slid off the road - while Richards had on the lead lap. been forced to start from the rear after As a sporting contest, the'91 ATCC was

www.mnews.com.au

The old one-twos:It was one-twos all year for Jim Richards and Mark Skaife, top. Podium presentation for a younger Skaife with a younger Neil Crompton, above. The GT-R featured technology never seen in Austraiia before, centre. The BMW,Holden and Ford opposition was ieft floundering in the wake of the aii-wheel-drive Nissan, beiow ieft.

problems in qualifying.

So even that win looked like an anomaly, until Longhurst did it again at Lakeside, where the GT-R's chief weak point(not that there were many), a clumsiness in high speed corners, was exposed by the little M3.

BMW's upset win was one of precious few highlights in a forgettable season.

Looking at it another way, though, it was an awesome run of wins from a car that was not only simply better than its opposition, but possibly the best touring car of all time.

But that dominance also created a rod for Nissan's back, as Ford and Holden got together to effectively ban the GT-R from the new category - known later as V8 Supercars - that kicked off in 1993. Now things have turned full circle: the'new'V8 Supercars formula has been designed not to exclude, but to embrace the likes of Nissan.

79

BEING MARK SKAIFE

IF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE HAVE HABITS FROM WHICH WE CAN ALL LEARN, THE HARD PART ABOUT MARK SKAIFE IS GETTING HIM TO SIT DOWN FOR LONG ENOUGH TO TALK AT LENGTH PHIL BRANAGAN CORNERED SKAIFE FOR A CHAT

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

BEING MARK SKAIFE

IF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE HAVE HABITS FROM WHICH WE CAN ALL LEARN, THE HARD PART ABOUT MARK SKAIFE IS GETTING HIM TO SIT DOWN FOR LONG ENOUGH TO TALK AT LENGTH PHIL BRANAGAN CORNERED SKAIFE FOR A CHAT

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

T

O talk to Mark Skaife these days, it is a good idea to be well equipped.

A calendar is a good idea - the one in an iPhone, which can be

easily updated, is even better. Three years after he stopped racing full-time, Skaife is not as busy as ever; he seems to be even busier. Some of his various commitments are well-known; others less so.

What I do know is that he is a moving target. Adding a drive in the Carrera Cup events at Albert Park is a 'bonus'that means that the time to sit down is postponed, rescheduled and then bumped forward by 30 minutes.

Not that I was especially worried; in two decades of dealing with racing drivers and deadlines, Skaife is never been a man who has ever let me down by skipping an appointment. It is just that clocks tick regardless of how busy people are, so it was a relief to actually sit down and get to the first question ...

MOTORSPORT NEWS: List all the things that you are working on at present - and I confess that I am as interested in the order in which you list them as the actual number of things that you are doing.

MARK SKAIFE: Well, the order is, I am a Channel 7 commentator and the media work I do is a very big part of things - not just what I do with motorsport but what I do with road safety and driver training, and lots of different things.

Then there is the Triple M Stick Shift [radio] show that we do weekly, that is a lot of fun. We have just been renewed to do that on a Saturday morning for another 40 shows, which is fantastic. They have committed to that for a fourth year.

The [V8 Supercar] Commission takes up a huge amount of my time. Attached to that is the Car of the Future; that, probably, has taken the most amount of my time over the last year. When we got to the stage when we were finalising the project and linking ourselves to the amount of manufacturers we were talking to through the course of 2011, we were very, very busy.

Off the back of that, my role with the commission links with the [V8 Supercars] Board.There is a level of communication that needs to be carried on with that.

Then there is the work I am doing in track design with lEDM, which has just been announced.That means that I

I HAVE TO LIVE AND BREATHE THOSE THINGS. IT DOES MAKE THE WORKLOAD HIGHER, PROBABLY, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT YOU GET REWARD FOR EFFORT - WHICH I LIKE SKAIFE ON h4 many AND VARIED ROLES 22

motorsport news

1

www.mnews.com.au

am going to be doing some work with [Hermann]Tilke. Then there is the AMSE, and the outsourcing of the foundation functions with Skaife Racing and now Michael Masi is running that for me, day to day. That is quite important in terms of attracting private investment, private and government funding and sponsorship, and staying on top of all the things that are involved with having young Australians on the world stage.

He pauses for breath. On top of that are the normal family commitments, with a wife and three children. There is the added complication that Toni Skaife works full-time and...

Toni is so busy. She is the Head of Business Affairs and Production for Network 10, so her role is a very busy one. We are in Melbourne but she reports to Sydney so we are both there quite a lot. She is there for 10 and I am there for Seven, and we are lucky that they are only a kilometre apart!

So you can't talk to each other about your homework?

No, we can't! We are very diligent about that. She is a hard-working executive at one network, and I am attached to another.

Tell me about the track design. Will that entail just Australia or projects overseas?

Overseas as well. It is basically an Asia/ Pacific style arrangement with Tilke.

He has a really specialist skills set, with the circuits that we have all seen over recent times. I suppose that traditional racetracks are their specialty and by one thing and another, we have ended up doing more street circuits. So we can fill all those roles.

When we do a street circuit, we are putting together the Meccano set from beginning to end. Working with Hermann will be a new and dynamic change, in terms of what he provides and what we can provide to V8 Supercar. If you go to Sydney, or to the Gold Coast or Townsville and take a look at how the whole thing is done,the way that our street circuits are put together, they are world-class. He is aware that this is an area of the business that he is not, necessarily, that familiar with.

So overall, all those things you have listed make you a busy man. Can you make any comparison between your life now and that as a driver - or as the owner of HRT [the Holden Racing Team]?

I don't think that it's a fair comparison.The diversity of what I am doing now means that there is more of my own IP [Intellectual Property].

If I was presenting a proposal in the HRT days - although the bigger ones, whether it was Holden or Mobil, or Toll, were something that I was intrinsically involved with, and the smaller ones, servicing and so on, were perhaps ones that I did not have to be involved with - some of the stuff I do now, like being an ambassador for Skilled, or with the MTAA - I have to live and breathe those things. It does make the workload higher, probably, but it also means that you get reward for effort - which I like. You have done that sponsor prop [proposal] and you have to deliver.

nil 23

T

O talk to Mark Skaife these days, it is a good idea to be well equipped.

A calendar is a good idea - the one in an iPhone, which can be

easily updated, is even better. Three years after he stopped racing full-time, Skaife is not as busy as ever; he seems to be even busier. Some of his various commitments are well-known; others less so.

What I do know is that he is a moving target. Adding a drive in the Carrera Cup events at Albert Park is a 'bonus'that means that the time to sit down is postponed, rescheduled and then bumped forward by 30 minutes.

Not that I was especially worried; in two decades of dealing with racing drivers and deadlines, Skaife is never been a man who has ever let me down by skipping an appointment. It is just that clocks tick regardless of how busy people are, so it was a relief to actually sit down and get to the first question ...

MOTORSPORT NEWS: List all the things that you are working on at present - and I confess that I am as interested in the order in which you list them as the actual number of things that you are doing.

MARK SKAIFE: Well, the order is, I am a Channel 7 commentator and the media work I do is a very big part of things - not just what I do with motorsport but what I do with road safety and driver training, and lots of different things.

Then there is the Triple M Stick Shift [radio] show that we do weekly, that is a lot of fun. We have just been renewed to do that on a Saturday morning for another 40 shows, which is fantastic. They have committed to that for a fourth year.

The [V8 Supercar] Commission takes up a huge amount of my time. Attached to that is the Car of the Future; that, probably, has taken the most amount of my time over the last year. When we got to the stage when we were finalising the project and linking ourselves to the amount of manufacturers we were talking to through the course of 2011, we were very, very busy.

Off the back of that, my role with the commission links with the [V8 Supercars] Board.There is a level of communication that needs to be carried on with that.

Then there is the work I am doing in track design with lEDM, which has just been announced.That means that I

I HAVE TO LIVE AND BREATHE THOSE THINGS. IT DOES MAKE THE WORKLOAD HIGHER, PROBABLY, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT YOU GET REWARD FOR EFFORT - WHICH I LIKE SKAIFE ON h4 many AND VARIED ROLES 22

motorsport news

1

www.mnews.com.au

am going to be doing some work with [Hermann]Tilke. Then there is the AMSE, and the outsourcing of the foundation functions with Skaife Racing and now Michael Masi is running that for me, day to day. That is quite important in terms of attracting private investment, private and government funding and sponsorship, and staying on top of all the things that are involved with having young Australians on the world stage.

He pauses for breath. On top of that are the normal family commitments, with a wife and three children. There is the added complication that Toni Skaife works full-time and...

Toni is so busy. She is the Head of Business Affairs and Production for Network 10, so her role is a very busy one. We are in Melbourne but she reports to Sydney so we are both there quite a lot. She is there for 10 and I am there for Seven, and we are lucky that they are only a kilometre apart!

So you can't talk to each other about your homework?

No, we can't! We are very diligent about that. She is a hard-working executive at one network, and I am attached to another.

Tell me about the track design. Will that entail just Australia or projects overseas?

Overseas as well. It is basically an Asia/ Pacific style arrangement with Tilke.

He has a really specialist skills set, with the circuits that we have all seen over recent times. I suppose that traditional racetracks are their specialty and by one thing and another, we have ended up doing more street circuits. So we can fill all those roles.

When we do a street circuit, we are putting together the Meccano set from beginning to end. Working with Hermann will be a new and dynamic change, in terms of what he provides and what we can provide to V8 Supercar. If you go to Sydney, or to the Gold Coast or Townsville and take a look at how the whole thing is done,the way that our street circuits are put together, they are world-class. He is aware that this is an area of the business that he is not, necessarily, that familiar with.

So overall, all those things you have listed make you a busy man. Can you make any comparison between your life now and that as a driver - or as the owner of HRT [the Holden Racing Team]?

I don't think that it's a fair comparison.The diversity of what I am doing now means that there is more of my own IP [Intellectual Property].

If I was presenting a proposal in the HRT days - although the bigger ones, whether it was Holden or Mobil, or Toll, were something that I was intrinsically involved with, and the smaller ones, servicing and so on, were perhaps ones that I did not have to be involved with - some of the stuff I do now, like being an ambassador for Skilled, or with the MTAA - I have to live and breathe those things. It does make the workload higher, probably, but it also means that you get reward for effort - which I like. You have done that sponsor prop [proposal] and you have to deliver.

nil 23

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I like it when you have sponsors who are red-hot on being involved.

They value it; in that regard, it is the same, whether it is V8 Supercars or Formula 1. nil

This part of the chat has been accompanied by what I may refer to as 'The Old Skaife'; while he has been talking, he has been sawing away with his hands, in much the same way he would describe a pole lap at Bathurst or racing against Marcos Ambrose at Eastern Creek.

Did you notice that you just went into 'Race Mode'? Your hands got agitated, your voice went up and down and you talked faster. It was like you just stepped out [of a racecar] at one of the tracks.

Does this process go some way to satisfy your competitive urges?

It does.

I said, when I made my announcement of my retirement as a full-time driver, I said at the time - 1 said to you at the time - that I was as turned-on by making a presentation as I was week-in, week-out in the car.

Definitely, a lot of what I am doing now, the level of the workload I have and how busy I am, keeps me attached 2A

181, to the industry heavily and it keeps me from thinking,'Why aren't I out there, on the track?'In my heart of hearts, I am more interested in racecars and how I would compete.

Absolutely, the way that I get around that is to be super-busy.

Racing was your craft. You did the apprenticeship in motor racing and for 25 years, that was M. Skaife.

Absolutely. Twenty-five years of doing something is a long time.Twenty-five years, travelling the country, racing with the best blokes...

I was very, very lucky, if you think back.

When I arrived, all the superstars were still there. Peter Brock. Colin Bond.The Grices, the Richards. Larry Perkins. Tony Longhurst.

There was really a vast array of stars. Peter Brock and Dick Johnson were still driving as well as they ever had. In the early '90s, racing against Brock ... wow! In 1997, when he was at Oran Park, that was just an unbelievable drive.

So, to be able to turn the tap on as a young bloke and to keep it on, at a high level, was a very hard Job. To take it through to compete against a guy like

Jamie Whincup, or James Courtney or Mark Winterbottom, or Will Davison, it has been a great ride, in that way.

There is other business to discuss, in March, Skaife raced at Albert Park, for the second year in a row, as a guest driver in the Carrera Cup. He was not well pleased after qualifying, feeling that he had been held up by another guest steerer, three-time GP winner, HeinzHaraid Frentzen.

Racing in these [Carrera Cup] cars; does that go some way to scratching the itch for competition?

A little bit, but it is not the same. I know that I am not doing it at the same level of completeness and professionalism that I used to do It at. That is a hard thing for me, honestly.

I went home last night and I was dejected.

I got caught in the last sector with Frentzen, and I lost four or five tenths.

I

I

I

IT IS NOT THE SAME. I KNOW THAT I AM NOT DOING IT AT THE SAME LEVEL OF COMPLETENESS AND PROFESSIONALISM THAT I USED TO DO IT AT. THAT IS A HARD THING FOR ME, HONESTLY SKAIFE ‘THE DRIVER’ ON HIS SEMI-FREQUENT HITOUTS ●.■■’X

t

Dunlop Dominates Again at the 6 Hour^ Endurance Race at Phillip Island! m

Hang on Mark. Just rewind that. All these years later, you and HHF intersect here at Albert Park. That puts things in some kind of odd perspective.

IIDI You are right. Life is strange. I have

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA NTT Motorsport 55 North Terrace Hackney SA 5069 P08 8362 4417

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k

I like it when you have sponsors who are red-hot on being involved.

They value it; in that regard, it is the same, whether it is V8 Supercars or Formula 1. nil

This part of the chat has been accompanied by what I may refer to as 'The Old Skaife'; while he has been talking, he has been sawing away with his hands, in much the same way he would describe a pole lap at Bathurst or racing against Marcos Ambrose at Eastern Creek.

Did you notice that you just went into 'Race Mode'? Your hands got agitated, your voice went up and down and you talked faster. It was like you just stepped out [of a racecar] at one of the tracks.

Does this process go some way to satisfy your competitive urges?

It does.

I said, when I made my announcement of my retirement as a full-time driver, I said at the time - 1 said to you at the time - that I was as turned-on by making a presentation as I was week-in, week-out in the car.

Definitely, a lot of what I am doing now, the level of the workload I have and how busy I am, keeps me attached 2A

181, to the industry heavily and it keeps me from thinking,'Why aren't I out there, on the track?'In my heart of hearts, I am more interested in racecars and how I would compete.

Absolutely, the way that I get around that is to be super-busy.

Racing was your craft. You did the apprenticeship in motor racing and for 25 years, that was M. Skaife.

Absolutely. Twenty-five years of doing something is a long time.Twenty-five years, travelling the country, racing with the best blokes...

I was very, very lucky, if you think back.

When I arrived, all the superstars were still there. Peter Brock. Colin Bond.The Grices, the Richards. Larry Perkins. Tony Longhurst.

There was really a vast array of stars. Peter Brock and Dick Johnson were still driving as well as they ever had. In the early '90s, racing against Brock ... wow! In 1997, when he was at Oran Park, that was just an unbelievable drive.

So, to be able to turn the tap on as a young bloke and to keep it on, at a high level, was a very hard Job. To take it through to compete against a guy like

Jamie Whincup, or James Courtney or Mark Winterbottom, or Will Davison, it has been a great ride, in that way.

There is other business to discuss, in March, Skaife raced at Albert Park, for the second year in a row, as a guest driver in the Carrera Cup. He was not well pleased after qualifying, feeling that he had been held up by another guest steerer, three-time GP winner, HeinzHaraid Frentzen.

Racing in these [Carrera Cup] cars; does that go some way to scratching the itch for competition?

A little bit, but it is not the same. I know that I am not doing it at the same level of completeness and professionalism that I used to do It at. That is a hard thing for me, honestly.

I went home last night and I was dejected.

I got caught in the last sector with Frentzen, and I lost four or five tenths.

I

I

I

IT IS NOT THE SAME. I KNOW THAT I AM NOT DOING IT AT THE SAME LEVEL OF COMPLETENESS AND PROFESSIONALISM THAT I USED TO DO IT AT. THAT IS A HARD THING FOR ME, HONESTLY SKAIFE ‘THE DRIVER’ ON HIS SEMI-FREQUENT HITOUTS ●.■■’X

t

Dunlop Dominates Again at the 6 Hour^ Endurance Race at Phillip Island! m

Hang on Mark. Just rewind that. All these years later, you and HHF intersect here at Albert Park. That puts things in some kind of odd perspective.

IIDI You are right. Life is strange. I have

NSW & ACT Gary's Motorsport Tyres Unit 3,13 Penny Place Arndell Park NSW 2148 P 02 9676 8655

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

VICTORIA Stuckey Tyre Service 828 Sydney Road Brunswick VIC 3056 P03 9386 5331

QUEENSLAND Queensland Raceway Champion's way Willowbank QLD 4306 P07 5461 9100

TASMANIA Fulton Enterprises 41 McKenzie Street Mowbray TAS 7248 P03 6326 9199

WESTERN AUSTALIA Kostera's Tyre Service 7 Mead Street Kallamunda WA 6076 P 08 9293 3500

SOUTH AUSTRALIA NTT Motorsport 55 North Terrace Hackney SA 5069 P08 8362 4417

r

o

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Ford produced 400 Falcon XC Cobras in 1978.

Each were serialised and fitted with a sequentially numbered dash plaque. In doing so, Ford created an instant classic. The 'Option 96' Cobra presented a spirited package with many features as standard equipment including front bucket seats with striped

LIMITED PRODUCTION OF 1800 PIECES WORLDWIDE

r

V

IT HAS BEEN, BASICALLY, 1000 DAYS - ALMOST THREE YEARS OF WORK THE ‘COMPLEX’ CAR OF THE FUTURE PROGRAM nil

had a bit to do with him before, because we bought his car, a Lola, out of Japan when he was doing Formula 3000 there. We bought the car to Australia for Formula Holden.

But I was not happy. I was 0.9s from pole, after I lost 0.5s-0.6s with him. I got out of the car like I would always get out of the car, because I was not that happy with myself. But I put it in perspective - and this is a good sign of maturity!

Phil, I didn't walk up to him and give him a blast like I would have in yesteryear! So, it doesn't mean as much.

Secondly, I have to admit that I do not do that quite as well as I used to do it. But last year, I had hardly driven the car and I qualified it on the front row of the grid, and I jumped out of the car and thought that it was pretty good. I am not driving it as well right now.

Time to change gears. The Skaife project that has garnered most of the pars in a magazine such as MN is the Car of the Future.

Much discussion has been made about what is seen as a project in which he has invested much effort.

Car of the Future. Big job, long lead time.

Give me a score on the project at the moment, out of 10.

26

I would give ourselves a nine.

Where did you drop the point?

We are probably a little bit later with some of the technical stuff than we should be, a little bit. It is such a complex project.

You have known some of this. I have shown you some of the documents,some of the research involved to get us to where we are. It has been, basically, 1000 days almost three years of work.There has been a big effort with the conceptual stuff; how we get things through the Board, how we get the teams to buy in, how we ensure that we have our vision up, to be across things like the car companies'lead times, three to five years and not 12 months ...

I am proud of where we have got to.

Those two cars [Ed: the Holden and Ford COTF prototypes] have done 5500 kays. I am happy that they are where they are meant to be; 100 kilos lighter, they work.

With two of the best drivers in the business, in the cars at the same time with the same tyre on, with Mark Winterbottom and Rick Kelly, one of them did a [Im] 23.1 and one a 23.2 [Ed: at Winton]. That means that parity is working well.

But we are, like I said, a little late delivering some of the technical data to the teams now.That puts a little pressure on to have the cars ready for the August test.

But the last part of that, to think that a car company can be not permitted, by regulations, to race at the last part of 1992, and then, the next time that they are allowed back into motorsport be the first ones to put their hand up, with four cars, immediately, is Just fan-tas-tic for the Australian industry.The other part of that is, I would have thought that other car companies would have been more on the front foot with this. My measured thought is, it is too reactive.

In discussions that I have had with one or two car companies,the biggest thing that they want to know is,'Who is in? Who is coming in? Who's ini' It's that kind of chatter, but I would rather hear,'I know that if I commit to this, and I measure the sponsorship with the AFL, if I win the AFL Premiership for $2m or I spend $2m and win Bathurst, I know that I am going to get a much bigger bang for my buck at Bathurst. I am in the car business!'

I reckon that part of it has been ... down a bit. i am disappointed with that. And I think that it is some of me, because the sales pitch has not been good enough.

But part of that reaction is timing, surely?

Sales of big,family-size cars is down. Cars that are the size of V8 Supercars are not the ones being sought nil motorsport news

seat facings to complement the unique exterior paint treatment.

I

Item No.18327

Available 1st Quarter 2012

Each car is uniquely identified with an etched metal number plate on the chassis. This unique number is the edition number of your model.

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Interior features front bucket seats with striped seal facings to complement ihe exterior |taint treatment.

The optioned 5.8 l itre 4-barrel V8 (>ngine has been failhful ly replic:ated for the 'Option 96' Cobra.

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r

o

o

V.

ov

I

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o

^ V

X.

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>

Ford produced 400 Falcon XC Cobras in 1978.

Each were serialised and fitted with a sequentially numbered dash plaque. In doing so, Ford created an instant classic. The 'Option 96' Cobra presented a spirited package with many features as standard equipment including front bucket seats with striped

LIMITED PRODUCTION OF 1800 PIECES WORLDWIDE

r

V

IT HAS BEEN, BASICALLY, 1000 DAYS - ALMOST THREE YEARS OF WORK THE ‘COMPLEX’ CAR OF THE FUTURE PROGRAM nil

had a bit to do with him before, because we bought his car, a Lola, out of Japan when he was doing Formula 3000 there. We bought the car to Australia for Formula Holden.

But I was not happy. I was 0.9s from pole, after I lost 0.5s-0.6s with him. I got out of the car like I would always get out of the car, because I was not that happy with myself. But I put it in perspective - and this is a good sign of maturity!

Phil, I didn't walk up to him and give him a blast like I would have in yesteryear! So, it doesn't mean as much.

Secondly, I have to admit that I do not do that quite as well as I used to do it. But last year, I had hardly driven the car and I qualified it on the front row of the grid, and I jumped out of the car and thought that it was pretty good. I am not driving it as well right now.

Time to change gears. The Skaife project that has garnered most of the pars in a magazine such as MN is the Car of the Future.

Much discussion has been made about what is seen as a project in which he has invested much effort.

Car of the Future. Big job, long lead time.

Give me a score on the project at the moment, out of 10.

26

I would give ourselves a nine.

Where did you drop the point?

We are probably a little bit later with some of the technical stuff than we should be, a little bit. It is such a complex project.

You have known some of this. I have shown you some of the documents,some of the research involved to get us to where we are. It has been, basically, 1000 days almost three years of work.There has been a big effort with the conceptual stuff; how we get things through the Board, how we get the teams to buy in, how we ensure that we have our vision up, to be across things like the car companies'lead times, three to five years and not 12 months ...

I am proud of where we have got to.

Those two cars [Ed: the Holden and Ford COTF prototypes] have done 5500 kays. I am happy that they are where they are meant to be; 100 kilos lighter, they work.

With two of the best drivers in the business, in the cars at the same time with the same tyre on, with Mark Winterbottom and Rick Kelly, one of them did a [Im] 23.1 and one a 23.2 [Ed: at Winton]. That means that parity is working well.

But we are, like I said, a little late delivering some of the technical data to the teams now.That puts a little pressure on to have the cars ready for the August test.

But the last part of that, to think that a car company can be not permitted, by regulations, to race at the last part of 1992, and then, the next time that they are allowed back into motorsport be the first ones to put their hand up, with four cars, immediately, is Just fan-tas-tic for the Australian industry.The other part of that is, I would have thought that other car companies would have been more on the front foot with this. My measured thought is, it is too reactive.

In discussions that I have had with one or two car companies,the biggest thing that they want to know is,'Who is in? Who is coming in? Who's ini' It's that kind of chatter, but I would rather hear,'I know that if I commit to this, and I measure the sponsorship with the AFL, if I win the AFL Premiership for $2m or I spend $2m and win Bathurst, I know that I am going to get a much bigger bang for my buck at Bathurst. I am in the car business!'

I reckon that part of it has been ... down a bit. i am disappointed with that. And I think that it is some of me, because the sales pitch has not been good enough.

But part of that reaction is timing, surely?

Sales of big,family-size cars is down. Cars that are the size of V8 Supercars are not the ones being sought nil motorsport news

seat facings to complement the unique exterior paint treatment.

I

Item No.18327

Available 1st Quarter 2012

Each car is uniquely identified with an etched metal number plate on the chassis. This unique number is the edition number of your model.

IKS (S^BSILlEiSimiBlLIES m

Interior features front bucket seats with striped seal facings to complement ihe exterior |taint treatment.

The optioned 5.8 l itre 4-barrel V8 (>ngine has been failhful ly replic:ated for the 'Option 96' Cobra.

For more details contact Classic Carlectables on Freecall 1800 088 564 or visit ciassiccarlectables.com.au A1R31 Austialisa MotutsoJU Nows

c'ohdmoQs .4 n l Built to Azenis RT Specs n l Enhanced Wet Weather Grip

I THINK THAT THERE IS A BIT OF ATACHMENT THERE. MAYBE THAT DID MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE OF A STRONGER FEELING FOR ME

\

SKAIFE ON HIS FORMER EMPLOYER, NISSAN, BECOMING THE THIRD V8 MANUFACTURER nil

nowadays by private buyers.

That must make it a difficult sell, I would think.

I take that point. For 15 years, Commodore was the number one selling car in this country, until it got knocked off, by the MazdaB last year.

'Australia Incorporated', has changed. In our lifetimes, would we ever think that Ford's and Holden's sales, combined, would be less than Toyota's? We would never have thought we would have seen that. There are some of the prevailing conditions that we need to be cognizant of, but at the same time, I firmly believe that if you are Hyundai with your i45, or you are Chrysler with your 300C or if you are a Toyota with a Camry,then this is a ripper thing to be involved in.

To me,they are the no-brainers.To me, they are the car companies that would benefit from the involvement in the sport.

To me,that is one of the exciting things about Nissan. On the Fan Day [Ed: the V8 Supercar test day at Sandown in February], when we were out there early, to do V8 Xtra, what impressed me was that the sponsorship manager was there, with a fleet of cars, some old race cars, a big Nissan arch, two booths, new posters, the whole thing.

That was at 7:30 in the morning, a 2«

Saturday morning - before any other car company got there!

To me,that is the exciting part about what is going to happen.That is going to be energising for any car company in the sport.They are not going to sit around and watch Nissan do a good job; they have to go with them.

I have often thought that racing drivers are in the same category as waiters, in that both receive rapid feedback, and gratification or disappointment,from what they do. Waiters get tips if they do their job well, drivers get results. Is your gratification from your roles now on a slow burn?

Is there any sense of disappointment, if you like, with the COTF program that the New Zealand car [Ed: VSSuperTourer] - which some people would see as comparable - rolled out a year ahead?

I never thought about that. Not even on the radar.

Yes, I suppose that it is.

If you are a race driver, if you look at the timesheets, you get an immediate result but that can be just as bad, if you are not at the right end!This can be a very cruel sport and you know that as much as anybody.

But,some of the things that I have experienced ... We did the deal with Nissan

I am disappointed that they would not have jumped on the back of where we are.

If you look through history, Australia and New Zealand could have been connected much more than they have been in the past.

When we had Formula Brabham, they had something else. They had a one-make series running, or the Toyota [Racing] Series.

Our level of camaraderie has been poor there for a long time, and clearly, it has not gotten any better.

Clearly, this is something that grates with Skaife. Time to move on.

on a weekend. I could not tell anybody for a day or so. When the email arrived on the Sunday, I could not open the champagne with Toni quick enough. It was something that was massively important for this sport.

And that was as big a kick as I have ever had.

Personally, I would put it up there with ...

With winning Bathurst?

With winning Bathurst. Un-believable. I had worked so hard on it, I worked so closely with the Nisan Motor Company, I had worked so closely with John Crennan. No stone was left unturned. I had worked on a motorsport news

business case that had worked for them.

Was that part of it unexpected - that you were that excited about that deal?

[Pause] If I tried to intellectualise why that happened, I would say that the reason that Bathurst is so special is because you worked so hard, all day - not all day, but all year. I am a firm believer that the sort of return that you get when you put that level of effort in. The return on that was just that extraordinary.

Getting an on-track presence with four cars was more than we envisaged under any of the car company scenarios. What I have spoken to the car companies about is, coming in with two cars and, within 18 months or two years, following that with another two cars for the industry.

We have always been working on a four-car introduction but it was a phased introduction. This was immediate - and I really was rapt.

Is part of that your DNA? Nissan has a motorsport heritage in this country and you are a part of that, in the way that BMW, for instance, also has a motorsport heritage of which you are not a part. www.mnews.com.au

I think that there is a bit of attachment there. Maybe that did make it a little more of a stronger feeling for me. Maybe there is something in that.

After we made the announcement at Crown, we went out to the Nissan HQ and I was really excited to see the response. I walked into Ian Moreillan's office and under his phone was a message to ring Leon Daphne - a previous Managing Director. I said to him,'Ring him, I would be happy to speak to him'. I hadn't spoken to Leon Daphne for years. He is one of most passionate sporting people around.

(Ed: Daphne, also a former AFL football club president, was Nissan's MD when Skaife and Jim Richards won their Bathurst 1000s and,famously in 1992, engaged with chanting race fans beneath the podium when Richards infamously described the fans...)

But that would not have changed for me whether it was a different car company.

With that, someone else is waiting to grab Skaife for something else. He stops for a minute, gathers his breath and moves on to the next thing.

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I THINK THAT THERE IS A BIT OF ATACHMENT THERE. MAYBE THAT DID MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE OF A STRONGER FEELING FOR ME

\

SKAIFE ON HIS FORMER EMPLOYER, NISSAN, BECOMING THE THIRD V8 MANUFACTURER nil

nowadays by private buyers.

That must make it a difficult sell, I would think.

I take that point. For 15 years, Commodore was the number one selling car in this country, until it got knocked off, by the MazdaB last year.

'Australia Incorporated', has changed. In our lifetimes, would we ever think that Ford's and Holden's sales, combined, would be less than Toyota's? We would never have thought we would have seen that. There are some of the prevailing conditions that we need to be cognizant of, but at the same time, I firmly believe that if you are Hyundai with your i45, or you are Chrysler with your 300C or if you are a Toyota with a Camry,then this is a ripper thing to be involved in.

To me,they are the no-brainers.To me, they are the car companies that would benefit from the involvement in the sport.

To me,that is one of the exciting things about Nissan. On the Fan Day [Ed: the V8 Supercar test day at Sandown in February], when we were out there early, to do V8 Xtra, what impressed me was that the sponsorship manager was there, with a fleet of cars, some old race cars, a big Nissan arch, two booths, new posters, the whole thing.

That was at 7:30 in the morning, a 2«

Saturday morning - before any other car company got there!

To me,that is the exciting part about what is going to happen.That is going to be energising for any car company in the sport.They are not going to sit around and watch Nissan do a good job; they have to go with them.

I have often thought that racing drivers are in the same category as waiters, in that both receive rapid feedback, and gratification or disappointment,from what they do. Waiters get tips if they do their job well, drivers get results. Is your gratification from your roles now on a slow burn?

Is there any sense of disappointment, if you like, with the COTF program that the New Zealand car [Ed: VSSuperTourer] - which some people would see as comparable - rolled out a year ahead?

I never thought about that. Not even on the radar.

Yes, I suppose that it is.

If you are a race driver, if you look at the timesheets, you get an immediate result but that can be just as bad, if you are not at the right end!This can be a very cruel sport and you know that as much as anybody.

But,some of the things that I have experienced ... We did the deal with Nissan

I am disappointed that they would not have jumped on the back of where we are.

If you look through history, Australia and New Zealand could have been connected much more than they have been in the past.

When we had Formula Brabham, they had something else. They had a one-make series running, or the Toyota [Racing] Series.

Our level of camaraderie has been poor there for a long time, and clearly, it has not gotten any better.

Clearly, this is something that grates with Skaife. Time to move on.

on a weekend. I could not tell anybody for a day or so. When the email arrived on the Sunday, I could not open the champagne with Toni quick enough. It was something that was massively important for this sport.

And that was as big a kick as I have ever had.

Personally, I would put it up there with ...

With winning Bathurst?

With winning Bathurst. Un-believable. I had worked so hard on it, I worked so closely with the Nisan Motor Company, I had worked so closely with John Crennan. No stone was left unturned. I had worked on a motorsport news

business case that had worked for them.

Was that part of it unexpected - that you were that excited about that deal?

[Pause] If I tried to intellectualise why that happened, I would say that the reason that Bathurst is so special is because you worked so hard, all day - not all day, but all year. I am a firm believer that the sort of return that you get when you put that level of effort in. The return on that was just that extraordinary.

Getting an on-track presence with four cars was more than we envisaged under any of the car company scenarios. What I have spoken to the car companies about is, coming in with two cars and, within 18 months or two years, following that with another two cars for the industry.

We have always been working on a four-car introduction but it was a phased introduction. This was immediate - and I really was rapt.

Is part of that your DNA? Nissan has a motorsport heritage in this country and you are a part of that, in the way that BMW, for instance, also has a motorsport heritage of which you are not a part. www.mnews.com.au

I think that there is a bit of attachment there. Maybe that did make it a little more of a stronger feeling for me. Maybe there is something in that.

After we made the announcement at Crown, we went out to the Nissan HQ and I was really excited to see the response. I walked into Ian Moreillan's office and under his phone was a message to ring Leon Daphne - a previous Managing Director. I said to him,'Ring him, I would be happy to speak to him'. I hadn't spoken to Leon Daphne for years. He is one of most passionate sporting people around.

(Ed: Daphne, also a former AFL football club president, was Nissan's MD when Skaife and Jim Richards won their Bathurst 1000s and,famously in 1992, engaged with chanting race fans beneath the podium when Richards infamously described the fans...)

But that would not have changed for me whether it was a different car company.

With that, someone else is waiting to grab Skaife for something else. He stops for a minute, gathers his breath and moves on to the next thing.

FK452

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ZE9U l New Asymmetric sport-comfort tyre ●Silica based compound ● High performance Ri comfortable

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Proven High Performance Tyres

For details of your nearest Falken dealer:

Ph 1300 858112

I www.falkentyres.com.au

'y email: tyres@falkentyres.com.au / 29

TAZ DOUGLAS STEPS UP FROM TF€ DEVELOPMENT SERES TO TEE BIG TIME WITH LUCAS DUMBRELL MOTORSPORT IN 2012. MITCHELL ADAM SPOKE TO HIM THRCXJGHOJT HS MAIDEN SOLO WEEKEND, THE CLIPSAL 600 THURSDAY, 4:47I=M

n-E CALM BEFOfiE THE STORM. ON TRACK ACTION FOR TTE EVENT ITSaF STARTS ON THJRSDAY, BUT V8 SUFERCARS DONT HT TFE TRACK UNTL FRIDAY. TTE LCM COVUODORE HAS ARRIVED WITH A FEW LIVERY, IN THE CaOURS OF SaECT, AND TAZ DOLO-AS B CHJBN3 AROUND, SORTING OUT ODDS AND ENDS

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Here we are, in Adelaide. In about 18 hours, you'll be out on the track for the first time, how are you feeling?

TAZ DOUGLAS: Urn.(Long pause) I don't know whether I'm anxious or nervous.

It's a bit weird being here and not working on the car, and being here for a day but not actually going out on the track. I sort of forget that I'm driving, but then I look at the car and it's got my name on it and I go'oh yeah, I get to drive that thing tomorrow'.

Then I start thinking about what I've got to do. I'm trying to enjoy it because I'm fairly lucky to be here, not a lot of people get to do what I'm doing,there's only 28 of us, so I'm trying to enjoy it. But at the same time I'm trying to keep a level head, go about it like I have been.

I'm the sort of guy that doesn't really... I don't like to think about it too much. I just hop in and let it come,and that's what I've done. I've been going through the paces, but when you've got interviews, autograph sessions and other stuff that you wouldn't normally be doing, that's when you go'oh, yeah, Main Series'.

t.

\

<

1

HI

Is it something you've become more aware of as Clipsal has approached,the fact that you'll be in the Main Game?

Yeah, it starts to sink in with the amount of training I've been doing. I've been training and thinking 'Jesus, I'm doing it for something'. As it gets closer and closer, you're sort of like 'shit, it's two weeks away, it's one week away', but now it's tomorrow. It gets more and more exciting each day, but

rs

www.mnews.com.au

I've got a job to do, a responsibility as well.

I've prepared my own car, run my own team and I know how much work goes into it behind the scenes, getting the car ready. It's not just the driver out there, it's the whole team, I don't want to let the team down, I want to do a good job for them, my engineers, mechanics, the whole staff, iSelect and Lucas as well. The team's obviously been running down the back for the last couple of years, but we've got a new car, a new driver, a lot of new crew and help from Triple Eight - I just want to try and do well for them.

How's your week been, overall? Have you just been trying to keep it as normal as possible?

Yeah, I have been, but it's hard because I was so involved last year in running my own car.

So I'd be unpacking the truck, propping the car, running the team,so this is quite a big step for me - it's probably not as big a step as the guys who haven't been doing that.

It's quite a big step for me to come here with jeans on,just doing my hair in the morning and walking around looking pretty or whatever. It's weird; I'm used to throwing a hat on,some workshorts and hopping under the car before driving it. It's sort of like being in a foreign country.

What's the plan for the rest of the evening?

I've got a V8 dinner to go to tonight; that'll also be a bit different to normal. We'll do a trackwalk later on, get some good food into me,try and get an early night, try and get a good sleep and maybe look over a little bit of data but not too much for nil some things I'm doing tomorrow.

31

TAZ DOUGLAS STEPS UP FROM TF€ DEVELOPMENT SERES TO TEE BIG TIME WITH LUCAS DUMBRELL MOTORSPORT IN 2012. MITCHELL ADAM SPOKE TO HIM THRCXJGHOJT HS MAIDEN SOLO WEEKEND, THE CLIPSAL 600 THURSDAY, 4:47I=M

n-E CALM BEFOfiE THE STORM. ON TRACK ACTION FOR TTE EVENT ITSaF STARTS ON THJRSDAY, BUT V8 SUFERCARS DONT HT TFE TRACK UNTL FRIDAY. TTE LCM COVUODORE HAS ARRIVED WITH A FEW LIVERY, IN THE CaOURS OF SaECT, AND TAZ DOLO-AS B CHJBN3 AROUND, SORTING OUT ODDS AND ENDS

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Here we are, in Adelaide. In about 18 hours, you'll be out on the track for the first time, how are you feeling?

TAZ DOUGLAS: Urn.(Long pause) I don't know whether I'm anxious or nervous.

It's a bit weird being here and not working on the car, and being here for a day but not actually going out on the track. I sort of forget that I'm driving, but then I look at the car and it's got my name on it and I go'oh yeah, I get to drive that thing tomorrow'.

Then I start thinking about what I've got to do. I'm trying to enjoy it because I'm fairly lucky to be here, not a lot of people get to do what I'm doing,there's only 28 of us, so I'm trying to enjoy it. But at the same time I'm trying to keep a level head, go about it like I have been.

I'm the sort of guy that doesn't really... I don't like to think about it too much. I just hop in and let it come,and that's what I've done. I've been going through the paces, but when you've got interviews, autograph sessions and other stuff that you wouldn't normally be doing, that's when you go'oh, yeah, Main Series'.

t.

\

<

1

HI

Is it something you've become more aware of as Clipsal has approached,the fact that you'll be in the Main Game?

Yeah, it starts to sink in with the amount of training I've been doing. I've been training and thinking 'Jesus, I'm doing it for something'. As it gets closer and closer, you're sort of like 'shit, it's two weeks away, it's one week away', but now it's tomorrow. It gets more and more exciting each day, but

rs

www.mnews.com.au

I've got a job to do, a responsibility as well.

I've prepared my own car, run my own team and I know how much work goes into it behind the scenes, getting the car ready. It's not just the driver out there, it's the whole team, I don't want to let the team down, I want to do a good job for them, my engineers, mechanics, the whole staff, iSelect and Lucas as well. The team's obviously been running down the back for the last couple of years, but we've got a new car, a new driver, a lot of new crew and help from Triple Eight - I just want to try and do well for them.

How's your week been, overall? Have you just been trying to keep it as normal as possible?

Yeah, I have been, but it's hard because I was so involved last year in running my own car.

So I'd be unpacking the truck, propping the car, running the team,so this is quite a big step for me - it's probably not as big a step as the guys who haven't been doing that.

It's quite a big step for me to come here with jeans on,just doing my hair in the morning and walking around looking pretty or whatever. It's weird; I'm used to throwing a hat on,some workshorts and hopping under the car before driving it. It's sort of like being in a foreign country.

What's the plan for the rest of the evening?

I've got a V8 dinner to go to tonight; that'll also be a bit different to normal. We'll do a trackwalk later on, get some good food into me,try and get an early night, try and get a good sleep and maybe look over a little bit of data but not too much for nil some things I'm doing tomorrow.

31

WE JUST WANT TO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND BASIC; WE’RE GOING TO FIND HALF A SECOND TO A SECOND IN MY DRIVING WE'RE NOT GONG TO FIND HALF A SECOND - WE’RE GONG TO FIND A TENTH F WE’RE LUCKY - IN TFE CAR SATURDAY, 11.14AM

SEVERAL HOURS OUT FROM TFE START OF THE RACE DOUGLAS S RELAXED WHEN WE N/EET IN THE LDM TRANSPORTER. FE WAS OFE OF TFE BUSER DRIVERS IN THE WARM UP, RECORDINQ 12 LAPS AND TFE 22ND FASTEST TIME.

FRDAY, 423PM

DOUGLAS’ FFST DAY OF ON TRACK ACTION IS SLOWED EARLY BY A DIFFERENTIAL PROBLEM. FE MISSES TFE FEST SESSION AFD MOST OF TFE SECOND SESSION; THE TWO SESSIONS FOR ROOKES AND DRVERS FROM TFE BOTTOM 50% OF TFE 20T1 FONTS. AFTER RECORDNG TFE 23RD FASTEST TME IN PRACTICE 3 AND 27TH IN PRACTICE 4. DOLO-AS QUALFES 24TH. nil

MOTORSPORT NEWS:With or

without the dramas this morning, if someone offered you P24 in qualifying at the start of the day, how would you have felt?

TAZ DOUGLAS: We're not last, so that's probably the only thing I can take out of it. It's a bit, I don't know... I always want to be a bit further up, but I got held up on a couple of laps and didn't really get a rhythm.

I was worried about where everybody was; qualifying just didn't really go our way. A couple of laps I was on, our predictive was up a few tenths, so we could've been up a little bit further, but that's the way it goes and we're 24th.

I've just got to get more time in the car, basically. Practice 4, 1 went out and I did a 23.0, went over some data, and in qualifying did a 22.1. We went a second quicker, I just need to do more laps and 78 laps tomorrow in the race will help the process.

I'm probably being a bit hard on myself; I want to be up there and the car can definitely do it, but I've got to be better.

Well you had the test day at Sandown, then you guys had a test washed out at Winton the other week, yeah?

That's it. The test day at Sandown was good.

It was my first time in the car. It's probably a bigger jump for me than for other guys, because I've been in such an old car.

32

The style I had to adapt to drive my car, I tend to give it a bit of a stab in the last bit of braking to get the nose down, then turn it in. Whereas with this car. I've got to clear the brake and turn in, it's a trait that I've got from driving that style of car. I fixed it a little bit then, but I've got to keep fixing it.

I'll keep looking at data, and look at what Lowndsey and [Jamie] Whincup are doing, and they're pretty good. I've just got to keep getting better.

With all of that in mind and needing miles, how frustrating was it today to miss the first session and the bulk of the second session?

You don't get any second chances at this track and you want to build up to it, and you want as much time to build up to it as you can. We didn't get out in the first session, the second session I only did four laps and they were just cruising around, being very gentle to make sure everything was fine, trying to get a few sighting laps. Then we went straight into P3.

I can probably go out there and go a lot faster over a lap, but it's like 50-50 as to whether I end up in the wall. I'd rather build up to it, it's the first race meeting; I don't want to do anything stupid.

The old Perkins VZ you were racing in the

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Mow'd you sleep last night?

TAZ DOUGLAS: I slept well. I got to sleep really easily. I always tend to get to sleep good, but I always wake up early. I woke up at about 5:30 this morning and I was ready

Development Series was seven or eight years old, and this car obviously isn't - did you bring any thoughts from recent years here as reference points? Or do you start from a ciean slate?

to go. I did a few stretches, started watching TV and I was just up, ready to go. Sleeping was fine.

I did look at an overlay with a little bit of data from last year, but I can't really take much from it. At Sandown (ED: the

all goto plan?

Yeah, it all went to plan. We had a plan to do full fuel runs and practice a couple of pitstops - coming in, stopping on the marks - because I hadn't done any of that.

pre-season test), I went two seconds faster than I went in my car at the race meeting.

It's a completely different cat. I can have a little bit of a look and go'brake later'and 'get more corner speed here or there', but I didn't want to get too involved with that until I've driven this car, so I can overlay data from this car onto it.

So not really. The driving style I had in my car is very different to this car, so I don't really want to take anything from that, I want to start fresh in this one and build up to it.

Tomorrow's another big day, another early and quiet night tonight?

Definitely. I'll obviously go over some data and a bit of the strategy we're going to do tomorrow in the race. I'll have a good meal, get to bed as early as possible, try to have a good sleep because 78 laps around here is going to be hell. And I'm under no illusions that it's going to be a tough race, so I need to be physically and mentally prepared. motorsport news

Then the warm-up this morning, did that

We planned to do that at the Winton test day that got rained out. I did a couple of them, a couple of practice starts,just cruised around, worked on a couple of braking things like I wanted to and that was it. It was a good session.

Was that the first time you'd really had a crack at the car on full tanks?

Yep. It was the first time I'd been out there on full tanks. It was good,the car was really ... I wasn't watching any of my times or anything, but the car felt good. I just tried to get myself into a rhythm of how the race is going to be like. The car was handling great, I think we'll have some good race pace.

Did you change much overnight, and will you change a lot going into the race?

The guys have changed a couple of things on the car, set-up-wise going into the race, the thingsTriple Eight recommend. Other than that, we haven't changed anything. www.mnews.com.au

How much interaction have you had with Triple Eight?

It's a bit. Obviously it's not too much, but it's enough to keep us on track, and that's all we want. We don't want to know the ins and outs of everything, we just want to know that we've got the same,or if they've got something that they'd recommend we do, we'd like to know that. But all day yesterday, for practice, we didn't change the car one bit. I know it's good, I know it's the same as theirs, I just have to drive it better, which I was doing, but we didn't have enough laps to keep coming in and out and improving.

But this morning when I went out, I worked on a couple of things that we'd gone over overnight and there was an improvement again. Every time I get in the car, it's better and better.

We've got one of their engineers with us all of the time, so whatever they're doing, we know about. In saying that, we just want to keep it simple and basic; we're going to find half a second to a second in my driving, we're not going to find half a second - we're going to find a tenth if we're lucky - in the car. So we've just got to keep working on the driving.

The race is a couple of hours away,are you psyched?

Yeah, I'm getting pretty psyched now.

Everyone goes on about how hard it is, 78 laps and blah, blah, blah, but the training I've been doing is just... I've been training that hard. In practice and everything I felt fine, now I feel fine. I probably won't say this at the end, but if the race was twice as long, I'd probably be like'cool, let's do it'. That's the mentality that my trainer and I have been

trying to drum up in my head. It's been stuff that you think'that's so far out of my reach, fitness-wise'but just getting it done, my head goes'yep, let's do it'. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is. Then when you do do it, you go'yeah. I've achieved something'. When it starts hurting, it doesn't matter, 1 know 1 can push through any hurt.

I'm getting pretty psyched now,the grid and everything will be good. I'm excited. I've got a job to do, but I'm also trying to soak it in. Not many people get to do this and a lot of guys are doing it and I don't think they actually appreciate what they're doing. A lot of fans come and watch,so I'm just trying to soak it all up and have a good time as well.

(While Douglas is answering that question, his trainer Heath Meldrum sticks his head into the LDM transporter and hands him a drink bottle.)

Speaking of fitness stuff, is that a special pre-race concoction?

Yeah. My trainer just gave me a pre-race beverage. Ele's really good.With nutrition and my drinks and everything, he measures everything I drink. He loves it just as much as me. It's good for him, he likes to get all of the measurements of going to the toilet, how hydrated I am, how many carbs and everything. It's good not to have to worry about that. He just hands me a drink when I need it, I drink it, food when I need it and the right sort offood.That's something I don't have to worry about at all. I know I'm going to be fine when I hop in the car.

So what's in this number here?

It's a secret.

nil

33

WE JUST WANT TO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND BASIC; WE’RE GOING TO FIND HALF A SECOND TO A SECOND IN MY DRIVING WE'RE NOT GONG TO FIND HALF A SECOND - WE’RE GONG TO FIND A TENTH F WE’RE LUCKY - IN TFE CAR SATURDAY, 11.14AM

SEVERAL HOURS OUT FROM TFE START OF THE RACE DOUGLAS S RELAXED WHEN WE N/EET IN THE LDM TRANSPORTER. FE WAS OFE OF TFE BUSER DRIVERS IN THE WARM UP, RECORDINQ 12 LAPS AND TFE 22ND FASTEST TIME.

FRDAY, 423PM

DOUGLAS’ FFST DAY OF ON TRACK ACTION IS SLOWED EARLY BY A DIFFERENTIAL PROBLEM. FE MISSES TFE FEST SESSION AFD MOST OF TFE SECOND SESSION; THE TWO SESSIONS FOR ROOKES AND DRVERS FROM TFE BOTTOM 50% OF TFE 20T1 FONTS. AFTER RECORDNG TFE 23RD FASTEST TME IN PRACTICE 3 AND 27TH IN PRACTICE 4. DOLO-AS QUALFES 24TH. nil

MOTORSPORT NEWS:With or

without the dramas this morning, if someone offered you P24 in qualifying at the start of the day, how would you have felt?

TAZ DOUGLAS: We're not last, so that's probably the only thing I can take out of it. It's a bit, I don't know... I always want to be a bit further up, but I got held up on a couple of laps and didn't really get a rhythm.

I was worried about where everybody was; qualifying just didn't really go our way. A couple of laps I was on, our predictive was up a few tenths, so we could've been up a little bit further, but that's the way it goes and we're 24th.

I've just got to get more time in the car, basically. Practice 4, 1 went out and I did a 23.0, went over some data, and in qualifying did a 22.1. We went a second quicker, I just need to do more laps and 78 laps tomorrow in the race will help the process.

I'm probably being a bit hard on myself; I want to be up there and the car can definitely do it, but I've got to be better.

Well you had the test day at Sandown, then you guys had a test washed out at Winton the other week, yeah?

That's it. The test day at Sandown was good.

It was my first time in the car. It's probably a bigger jump for me than for other guys, because I've been in such an old car.

32

The style I had to adapt to drive my car, I tend to give it a bit of a stab in the last bit of braking to get the nose down, then turn it in. Whereas with this car. I've got to clear the brake and turn in, it's a trait that I've got from driving that style of car. I fixed it a little bit then, but I've got to keep fixing it.

I'll keep looking at data, and look at what Lowndsey and [Jamie] Whincup are doing, and they're pretty good. I've just got to keep getting better.

With all of that in mind and needing miles, how frustrating was it today to miss the first session and the bulk of the second session?

You don't get any second chances at this track and you want to build up to it, and you want as much time to build up to it as you can. We didn't get out in the first session, the second session I only did four laps and they were just cruising around, being very gentle to make sure everything was fine, trying to get a few sighting laps. Then we went straight into P3.

I can probably go out there and go a lot faster over a lap, but it's like 50-50 as to whether I end up in the wall. I'd rather build up to it, it's the first race meeting; I don't want to do anything stupid.

The old Perkins VZ you were racing in the

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Mow'd you sleep last night?

TAZ DOUGLAS: I slept well. I got to sleep really easily. I always tend to get to sleep good, but I always wake up early. I woke up at about 5:30 this morning and I was ready

Development Series was seven or eight years old, and this car obviously isn't - did you bring any thoughts from recent years here as reference points? Or do you start from a ciean slate?

to go. I did a few stretches, started watching TV and I was just up, ready to go. Sleeping was fine.

I did look at an overlay with a little bit of data from last year, but I can't really take much from it. At Sandown (ED: the

all goto plan?

Yeah, it all went to plan. We had a plan to do full fuel runs and practice a couple of pitstops - coming in, stopping on the marks - because I hadn't done any of that.

pre-season test), I went two seconds faster than I went in my car at the race meeting.

It's a completely different cat. I can have a little bit of a look and go'brake later'and 'get more corner speed here or there', but I didn't want to get too involved with that until I've driven this car, so I can overlay data from this car onto it.

So not really. The driving style I had in my car is very different to this car, so I don't really want to take anything from that, I want to start fresh in this one and build up to it.

Tomorrow's another big day, another early and quiet night tonight?

Definitely. I'll obviously go over some data and a bit of the strategy we're going to do tomorrow in the race. I'll have a good meal, get to bed as early as possible, try to have a good sleep because 78 laps around here is going to be hell. And I'm under no illusions that it's going to be a tough race, so I need to be physically and mentally prepared. motorsport news

Then the warm-up this morning, did that

We planned to do that at the Winton test day that got rained out. I did a couple of them, a couple of practice starts,just cruised around, worked on a couple of braking things like I wanted to and that was it. It was a good session.

Was that the first time you'd really had a crack at the car on full tanks?

Yep. It was the first time I'd been out there on full tanks. It was good,the car was really ... I wasn't watching any of my times or anything, but the car felt good. I just tried to get myself into a rhythm of how the race is going to be like. The car was handling great, I think we'll have some good race pace.

Did you change much overnight, and will you change a lot going into the race?

The guys have changed a couple of things on the car, set-up-wise going into the race, the thingsTriple Eight recommend. Other than that, we haven't changed anything. www.mnews.com.au

How much interaction have you had with Triple Eight?

It's a bit. Obviously it's not too much, but it's enough to keep us on track, and that's all we want. We don't want to know the ins and outs of everything, we just want to know that we've got the same,or if they've got something that they'd recommend we do, we'd like to know that. But all day yesterday, for practice, we didn't change the car one bit. I know it's good, I know it's the same as theirs, I just have to drive it better, which I was doing, but we didn't have enough laps to keep coming in and out and improving.

But this morning when I went out, I worked on a couple of things that we'd gone over overnight and there was an improvement again. Every time I get in the car, it's better and better.

We've got one of their engineers with us all of the time, so whatever they're doing, we know about. In saying that, we just want to keep it simple and basic; we're going to find half a second to a second in my driving, we're not going to find half a second - we're going to find a tenth if we're lucky - in the car. So we've just got to keep working on the driving.

The race is a couple of hours away,are you psyched?

Yeah, I'm getting pretty psyched now.

Everyone goes on about how hard it is, 78 laps and blah, blah, blah, but the training I've been doing is just... I've been training that hard. In practice and everything I felt fine, now I feel fine. I probably won't say this at the end, but if the race was twice as long, I'd probably be like'cool, let's do it'. That's the mentality that my trainer and I have been

trying to drum up in my head. It's been stuff that you think'that's so far out of my reach, fitness-wise'but just getting it done, my head goes'yep, let's do it'. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is. Then when you do do it, you go'yeah. I've achieved something'. When it starts hurting, it doesn't matter, 1 know 1 can push through any hurt.

I'm getting pretty psyched now,the grid and everything will be good. I'm excited. I've got a job to do, but I'm also trying to soak it in. Not many people get to do this and a lot of guys are doing it and I don't think they actually appreciate what they're doing. A lot of fans come and watch,so I'm just trying to soak it all up and have a good time as well.

(While Douglas is answering that question, his trainer Heath Meldrum sticks his head into the LDM transporter and hands him a drink bottle.)

Speaking of fitness stuff, is that a special pre-race concoction?

Yeah. My trainer just gave me a pre-race beverage. Ele's really good.With nutrition and my drinks and everything, he measures everything I drink. He loves it just as much as me. It's good for him, he likes to get all of the measurements of going to the toilet, how hydrated I am, how many carbs and everything. It's good not to have to worry about that. He just hands me a drink when I need it, I drink it, food when I need it and the right sort offood.That's something I don't have to worry about at all. I know I'm going to be fine when I hop in the car.

So what's in this number here?

It's a secret.

nil

33

5

I SATURDAY, 5:05PM

OOUaAS’ SOLO MAW GAME CEBJT WAS OVER ALMOST AS OICKLY AS IT STARTED. HE MOVED UP TO 19TH ON n-e OFBM3 LAP AND WAS RUNNING 20TH BEFORE BEN3 CAUGHT UP IN A TURN 8 CRASH ON Tl-E FIFTH LAP. JAMES COURTNET SUFFERED A IvECHANCAL PROBLEM ON THE WAY INTO THE CORNER WITH Tl-E FLUID CATCHWa OUT DOU3LAS AND JASON BRIQHT. I-E’S ALRIGHT PHYSICALLY, BUT BTTERLY D6APFOINTED. nil

MOTORSPORT NEWS: How close is that to the worst-case scenario?

TAZ DOUGLAS: Well, I suppose worstcase scenario would be if it was my fault. I suppose it is, I was driving and lost control of it, but I'm not sure whether it was oil, coolant or brake fluid on the road from, I think it was Courtney.

(Steven Johnson walks past and says to Douglas '/ was almost in there with you") I came into Turn 8 and Courtney was only two cars ahead of me,so they didn't have time to get flags out to warn anyone, I Just lost the rear, tried to catch it. But that was the end of it. it wasn't like I was trying to pass anyone or break a lap record, I was Just trying to finish the race. It's Just disappointing for the guys. It was a fresh car, first race, we were going OK; I thought I liad decent pace, I was Just cruising along and I was happy with where I was.

You were up to 19th or something like that.

Yeah, we were somewhere around there.

The car was good, it felt good. What can you say? I'm pretty disappointed, but everyone's saying 'it's alright, mate, it wasn't your fault'and that sort of thing. But... I don't know ... you've Just got to move on. It's a disappointing start to the season.The guys will be here all night fixing it... ... so it is repairable at the track?

Yeah, it's definitely repairable. It's Just a bloody nuisance. The medical response was a little lacklustre as well. There were no medical people, Brighty and I Just had to walk back from there.Then about an hour later, some medical guys came to my garage to check me out, so that was a bit nowhere,

It was a bit, but it wasn't that bad. It didn't seem that bad from inside the car. But, you know, anything with a concrete wall ... I was probably going about a hundred, still.

When I went into the corner, hit the oil and snapped sideways,that happened really quickly, obviously, but from then on it was just a slow motion spin that I was trying to catch. I Just couldn't catch it.

Straight away, I knew there was something on the track, because my car's been fine there the whole time and it wasn't like I was pushing or anything.

I've Just got to get my head back in the right place. Shit happens, that's the way it is. I'm not the first guy it's happened to, Brighty's in the same situation as me.There's nothing more you can say, you've Just got to put it behind you and press on.

but anyway...

It looked like a fairly decent hit on that inside wall.

Go out tomorrow and give it another crack.

That's it.

motorsport news

IT’S MAIN SERES. IT’S SO DIFFERENT TO DVS DVS IS # LIKE A DROP IN THE OCEAN COMPARED TO THE LAPS YOU’RE DONG IN THE MAIN SERES SUNDAY. 6:38PM

THE LDM CFB/V FULL AN ALL NGHTER ON SATURDAY TO ENSURE DOUGLAS GETS OUT THERE ON SUNDAY HE QUALFES 24TH BUT RUF8 AS HGH AS 18TH IN THE EARLY STAGES BEFORE A NUMB FOOT AND RTSTOP CONFUSION HURT HS PROGRESS. AT THE END OF THE GRUELLING RACE (THE FIRST CLIPSAL LEG WITHOUT A SAFETY CAR INTERVENTDN SINCE 2007) DOUaAS IS WHERE HE STARTED, 24TTH. MOTORSPORT NEWS: It's been a big 36 hours, but you got the car home for the boys today, what are you thinking? How are you feeling?

TAZ DOUGLAS: I'm feeling pretty... I definitely know I've done 78 laps of Clipsal without a Safety Car. I didn't get to race yesterday because of the crash, so it was my first time doing so many laps and to do it without Safety Cars was pretty tough.

My foot went numb on lap 10, so that was a nightmare right from the beginning.There was a little bit of confusion in my first pitstop, so I lost a whole heap of spots, at least five or six spots and I Just couldn't make it back up with my foot being numb. I was Just battling www.mnews.com.au

the whole race, I kept overshooting corners because I was grabbing the brake and throttle and I couldn't feel the pedals. I didn't tell the guys because I knew they would've told me to come in, I thought'nup,they've been up all night fixing the car', I wasn't going to pull in Just because I couldn't feel my bloody foot.

It's Just a ... it's Main Series. It's so different to DVS. DVS is like a drop in the ocean compared to the laps you're doing in the Main Series. You sweat in the seat -1 thought my cool suit must've split, because my seat Just had so much sweat in it, and it got so hot, and the pedals got so hot. I burnt the bottom of my feet and got blisters all over them. All of

this stuff that you've got to get used to.

But on the other hand,the car was awesome. I was driving around,obviously not driving that fast because of my foot, but I was thinking to myself'l wish my foot was good'. Because after the second pitstop, my foot actually came good for a little bit and I was actually going quite well, and the car was awesome.Then it went numb again. People were coming up and I was trying to catch guys, but I kept making too many mistakes, overshooting corners because I couldn't feel the brake and then that was it.

It's definitely a tough race, a tough initiation, but I got through it and now I know what it's all about.

III!

35

5

I SATURDAY, 5:05PM

OOUaAS’ SOLO MAW GAME CEBJT WAS OVER ALMOST AS OICKLY AS IT STARTED. HE MOVED UP TO 19TH ON n-e OFBM3 LAP AND WAS RUNNING 20TH BEFORE BEN3 CAUGHT UP IN A TURN 8 CRASH ON Tl-E FIFTH LAP. JAMES COURTNET SUFFERED A IvECHANCAL PROBLEM ON THE WAY INTO THE CORNER WITH Tl-E FLUID CATCHWa OUT DOU3LAS AND JASON BRIQHT. I-E’S ALRIGHT PHYSICALLY, BUT BTTERLY D6APFOINTED. nil

MOTORSPORT NEWS: How close is that to the worst-case scenario?

TAZ DOUGLAS: Well, I suppose worstcase scenario would be if it was my fault. I suppose it is, I was driving and lost control of it, but I'm not sure whether it was oil, coolant or brake fluid on the road from, I think it was Courtney.

(Steven Johnson walks past and says to Douglas '/ was almost in there with you") I came into Turn 8 and Courtney was only two cars ahead of me,so they didn't have time to get flags out to warn anyone, I Just lost the rear, tried to catch it. But that was the end of it. it wasn't like I was trying to pass anyone or break a lap record, I was Just trying to finish the race. It's Just disappointing for the guys. It was a fresh car, first race, we were going OK; I thought I liad decent pace, I was Just cruising along and I was happy with where I was.

You were up to 19th or something like that.

Yeah, we were somewhere around there.

The car was good, it felt good. What can you say? I'm pretty disappointed, but everyone's saying 'it's alright, mate, it wasn't your fault'and that sort of thing. But... I don't know ... you've Just got to move on. It's a disappointing start to the season.The guys will be here all night fixing it... ... so it is repairable at the track?

Yeah, it's definitely repairable. It's Just a bloody nuisance. The medical response was a little lacklustre as well. There were no medical people, Brighty and I Just had to walk back from there.Then about an hour later, some medical guys came to my garage to check me out, so that was a bit nowhere,

It was a bit, but it wasn't that bad. It didn't seem that bad from inside the car. But, you know, anything with a concrete wall ... I was probably going about a hundred, still.

When I went into the corner, hit the oil and snapped sideways,that happened really quickly, obviously, but from then on it was just a slow motion spin that I was trying to catch. I Just couldn't catch it.

Straight away, I knew there was something on the track, because my car's been fine there the whole time and it wasn't like I was pushing or anything.

I've Just got to get my head back in the right place. Shit happens, that's the way it is. I'm not the first guy it's happened to, Brighty's in the same situation as me.There's nothing more you can say, you've Just got to put it behind you and press on.

but anyway...

It looked like a fairly decent hit on that inside wall.

Go out tomorrow and give it another crack.

That's it.

motorsport news

IT’S MAIN SERES. IT’S SO DIFFERENT TO DVS DVS IS # LIKE A DROP IN THE OCEAN COMPARED TO THE LAPS YOU’RE DONG IN THE MAIN SERES SUNDAY. 6:38PM

THE LDM CFB/V FULL AN ALL NGHTER ON SATURDAY TO ENSURE DOUGLAS GETS OUT THERE ON SUNDAY HE QUALFES 24TH BUT RUF8 AS HGH AS 18TH IN THE EARLY STAGES BEFORE A NUMB FOOT AND RTSTOP CONFUSION HURT HS PROGRESS. AT THE END OF THE GRUELLING RACE (THE FIRST CLIPSAL LEG WITHOUT A SAFETY CAR INTERVENTDN SINCE 2007) DOUaAS IS WHERE HE STARTED, 24TTH. MOTORSPORT NEWS: It's been a big 36 hours, but you got the car home for the boys today, what are you thinking? How are you feeling?

TAZ DOUGLAS: I'm feeling pretty... I definitely know I've done 78 laps of Clipsal without a Safety Car. I didn't get to race yesterday because of the crash, so it was my first time doing so many laps and to do it without Safety Cars was pretty tough.

My foot went numb on lap 10, so that was a nightmare right from the beginning.There was a little bit of confusion in my first pitstop, so I lost a whole heap of spots, at least five or six spots and I Just couldn't make it back up with my foot being numb. I was Just battling www.mnews.com.au

the whole race, I kept overshooting corners because I was grabbing the brake and throttle and I couldn't feel the pedals. I didn't tell the guys because I knew they would've told me to come in, I thought'nup,they've been up all night fixing the car', I wasn't going to pull in Just because I couldn't feel my bloody foot.

It's Just a ... it's Main Series. It's so different to DVS. DVS is like a drop in the ocean compared to the laps you're doing in the Main Series. You sweat in the seat -1 thought my cool suit must've split, because my seat Just had so much sweat in it, and it got so hot, and the pedals got so hot. I burnt the bottom of my feet and got blisters all over them. All of

this stuff that you've got to get used to.

But on the other hand,the car was awesome. I was driving around,obviously not driving that fast because of my foot, but I was thinking to myself'l wish my foot was good'. Because after the second pitstop, my foot actually came good for a little bit and I was actually going quite well, and the car was awesome.Then it went numb again. People were coming up and I was trying to catch guys, but I kept making too many mistakes, overshooting corners because I couldn't feel the brake and then that was it.

It's definitely a tough race, a tough initiation, but I got through it and now I know what it's all about.

III!

35

WHERE SIMPLICITY MEETS INNOVATION

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3 -1 l

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bad. The diff ratio's quite long, so you pull sixth and go'yep, cool, no worries'for a bit.

Whereas at Adelaide, you pull sixth at the end of the straight and Turn 8's there, you just don't get a rest. It's full on.

Speaking of rest, the guys put in a massive effort overnight, what time were they until?

They didn't sleep. They're probably sleeping now at the airport, but they didn't sleep all night while they were getting the car ready.

That was another thing while I was out there, thinking 'I'm not going to let those guys down. I'm going to finish the race, no matter what'. It was a huge effort by them. Without them, I wouldn't have been out there.

I saw some pictures our photographer, Dirk Klynsmith, took this morning.

Did you get the guys a big 'thankyou' card this morning?

Yeah. This morning I stopped in at the IGA 30

and got them a slab of Red Bulls, some Tim-Tams and a 'thankyou'card.Then I made everyone a coffee to say thanks. Even though the crash wasn't my fault, it was still one of those things, I suppose it's their job, but they could've said 'it's too hard to fix' or whatever but they stuck it out.

They would've been up at 6am that morning, and they're still up now. So what's that? It's about 36 hours now, it's probably going to be 40 hours by the time they get home. A 40 hour workday is pretty out there.

That's a work week ...

Yeah, most people do it in a week, those guys have done it in one stint.

How was everything feeling before your foot went numb? It looked like you were making reasonable progress in the early laps, you were up to 17th or 18th?

It was good, that's the thing. When my foot wasn't numb, we were fast and the car was fast. Obviously not fast like top 10 fast, but around the 17th to 20th mark is probably where we would like to be running and that's where we were and running fairly comfortably.

The first pitstop, we're teamed up with D'Albertos, and there was confusion there.

I think they thought [Tony] D'Alberto was

coming in, so they had all of his tyres out there, and they told me to pit. So I pitted, I got there, they had the wrong tyres out and had to change it all. I went back out and I was behind the six cars that I'd passed. I was going to say to the guys 'what the fuck happened in the pitstop?'My in-lap was good, I just didn't know what had happened, but it turns out that's what happened.

From then on, I just couldn't make up the time again and with my foot the way it was, I just had to cruise around.

Overall, what's the one thing you'll take out of this weekend?

That these guys aren't mucking around out there. It's pretty full-on, you've got to be onto everything, mistakes cost you. Is that one thing? I think that's about 10 things?

All good, it's on the same theme ...

I think we should get paid more! (laughs) It's pretty tough, but that's the way it is.

I'm happy that the car's so good, because I know that when I get more and more laps into me and more and more experience.

I'll be able to go fast. It's not like I'm at the edge of the car and going 'the car's not quick enough', so that's good. When I get myself sorted - I've just got to do laps and laps and laps in races and finish races - the car's definitely capable. motorsport news

/

■sffi

2011 SUPERCHEAP Aut^

Great Race

DOUGLAS ON THE MAMMOTH, 40 HOUR SHIFT PUT IN BY THE LDM CREW AFTER THE SATURDAY CRASH

The race today was just under two hours. What was the longest stint you'd done in one of these cars before? Would it have been the year you did Bathurst (ED: 2010 with Kelly Racing)?

Did you do a double stint there?

No, the longest I've done is probably a stint and a half. But at Bathurst it's not too

1

YEARBOOK

The Essential Bathurst Annual

What makes a MoTeC PDM the right choice when wiring your vehicle...

ROADCAR APPLICATIONS

RACECAR APPLICATIONS

- Replaces fuses, circuit breakers and reduces wiring

- Continuous retry of failing devices

-Courtesy/auto off headlights

- Smart power allocation, reduces battery load if alternator fai ls

- Push button engine control

- Itemised device current draw view

- Complex lighting and horn sequences (for show cars)

- Accident auto shutdown

- Fuel pump control and diagnostics

- Single press button for headlight flashing

- Rel iable in high vibration conditions (no moving parts)

- Auto switch to reserve fuel pump

- Rain light control for wet weather

■ Automated intercooler water sprayer functional ity

- Diff and gearbox oil pump control

- Turbo timer, engine cool down

- Automated stall recovery initiation using Autostart

- Programmable thermo fan control

- Unique pitlane light control

- Alarm system / immobiliser

- Seamless CAN integration (data logging and switching) as used m

C^SUPFRCA.F^

OfiH: r-asyiraq

want to know more, simply visit:

www.motec.com/pdm/ninews

Bathurst 2011 The Great Race 31 tells the full story of the 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. This year’s race will go down as one of the classics, with a determined Garth Tander holding out a hard charging Craig Lowndes in possibly the most exciting finishes in the history of the race. This is the original Bathurst annual hard-cover book, the definitive publication on Australia’s Great Race. The story of this always-epic and often heartbreaking event is presented in 256 pages, illustrated by some 400 images shot by some of Australia’s best motorsport photographers. The book also boasts a comprehensive statistical analysis covering all facets of the race - there’s even a full race history record for each competing car. This fabulous annual hard-cover book is a collector’s prized possession, and a great gift idea.

AVAILABLE NOW

>:

Z

$98

includes P&H within Australia

Jefehevron ^^^BLISHING GROUP

To ordor phase call:

1300 301 140 n* www.ch8VPon.com.au

WHERE SIMPLICITY MEETS INNOVATION

liibvcK D

=r

3?

3 -1 l

M

IN A GUYS HAVE IN ●i

!4

IT

/ ^●'

^1

IT

bad. The diff ratio's quite long, so you pull sixth and go'yep, cool, no worries'for a bit.

Whereas at Adelaide, you pull sixth at the end of the straight and Turn 8's there, you just don't get a rest. It's full on.

Speaking of rest, the guys put in a massive effort overnight, what time were they until?

They didn't sleep. They're probably sleeping now at the airport, but they didn't sleep all night while they were getting the car ready.

That was another thing while I was out there, thinking 'I'm not going to let those guys down. I'm going to finish the race, no matter what'. It was a huge effort by them. Without them, I wouldn't have been out there.

I saw some pictures our photographer, Dirk Klynsmith, took this morning.

Did you get the guys a big 'thankyou' card this morning?

Yeah. This morning I stopped in at the IGA 30

and got them a slab of Red Bulls, some Tim-Tams and a 'thankyou'card.Then I made everyone a coffee to say thanks. Even though the crash wasn't my fault, it was still one of those things, I suppose it's their job, but they could've said 'it's too hard to fix' or whatever but they stuck it out.

They would've been up at 6am that morning, and they're still up now. So what's that? It's about 36 hours now, it's probably going to be 40 hours by the time they get home. A 40 hour workday is pretty out there.

That's a work week ...

Yeah, most people do it in a week, those guys have done it in one stint.

How was everything feeling before your foot went numb? It looked like you were making reasonable progress in the early laps, you were up to 17th or 18th?

It was good, that's the thing. When my foot wasn't numb, we were fast and the car was fast. Obviously not fast like top 10 fast, but around the 17th to 20th mark is probably where we would like to be running and that's where we were and running fairly comfortably.

The first pitstop, we're teamed up with D'Albertos, and there was confusion there.

I think they thought [Tony] D'Alberto was

coming in, so they had all of his tyres out there, and they told me to pit. So I pitted, I got there, they had the wrong tyres out and had to change it all. I went back out and I was behind the six cars that I'd passed. I was going to say to the guys 'what the fuck happened in the pitstop?'My in-lap was good, I just didn't know what had happened, but it turns out that's what happened.

From then on, I just couldn't make up the time again and with my foot the way it was, I just had to cruise around.

Overall, what's the one thing you'll take out of this weekend?

That these guys aren't mucking around out there. It's pretty full-on, you've got to be onto everything, mistakes cost you. Is that one thing? I think that's about 10 things?

All good, it's on the same theme ...

I think we should get paid more! (laughs) It's pretty tough, but that's the way it is.

I'm happy that the car's so good, because I know that when I get more and more laps into me and more and more experience.

I'll be able to go fast. It's not like I'm at the edge of the car and going 'the car's not quick enough', so that's good. When I get myself sorted - I've just got to do laps and laps and laps in races and finish races - the car's definitely capable. motorsport news

/

■sffi

2011 SUPERCHEAP Aut^

Great Race

DOUGLAS ON THE MAMMOTH, 40 HOUR SHIFT PUT IN BY THE LDM CREW AFTER THE SATURDAY CRASH

The race today was just under two hours. What was the longest stint you'd done in one of these cars before? Would it have been the year you did Bathurst (ED: 2010 with Kelly Racing)?

Did you do a double stint there?

No, the longest I've done is probably a stint and a half. But at Bathurst it's not too

1

YEARBOOK

The Essential Bathurst Annual

What makes a MoTeC PDM the right choice when wiring your vehicle...

ROADCAR APPLICATIONS

RACECAR APPLICATIONS

- Replaces fuses, circuit breakers and reduces wiring

- Continuous retry of failing devices

-Courtesy/auto off headlights

- Smart power allocation, reduces battery load if alternator fai ls

- Push button engine control

- Itemised device current draw view

- Complex lighting and horn sequences (for show cars)

- Accident auto shutdown

- Fuel pump control and diagnostics

- Single press button for headlight flashing

- Rel iable in high vibration conditions (no moving parts)

- Auto switch to reserve fuel pump

- Rain light control for wet weather

■ Automated intercooler water sprayer functional ity

- Diff and gearbox oil pump control

- Turbo timer, engine cool down

- Automated stall recovery initiation using Autostart

- Programmable thermo fan control

- Unique pitlane light control

- Alarm system / immobiliser

- Seamless CAN integration (data logging and switching) as used m

C^SUPFRCA.F^

OfiH: r-asyiraq

want to know more, simply visit:

www.motec.com/pdm/ninews

Bathurst 2011 The Great Race 31 tells the full story of the 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. This year’s race will go down as one of the classics, with a determined Garth Tander holding out a hard charging Craig Lowndes in possibly the most exciting finishes in the history of the race. This is the original Bathurst annual hard-cover book, the definitive publication on Australia’s Great Race. The story of this always-epic and often heartbreaking event is presented in 256 pages, illustrated by some 400 images shot by some of Australia’s best motorsport photographers. The book also boasts a comprehensive statistical analysis covering all facets of the race - there’s even a full race history record for each competing car. This fabulous annual hard-cover book is a collector’s prized possession, and a great gift idea.

AVAILABLE NOW

>:

Z

$98

includes P&H within Australia

Jefehevron ^^^BLISHING GROUP

To ordor phase call:

1300 301 140 n* www.ch8VPon.com.au

BEFORE THE START OF EACH FORMULA 1 SEASON, DRIVERS SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS POUNDING AROUND OFTEN EMPTY RACETRACKS IN PRE-SEASON TESTING. BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SECRETS, ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN ENLISTED A FORMULA 1 DRIVER TO TAKE US INSIDE A REGULAR TESTING PROGRAM

I

T'S a brisk morning in Barcelona,the ambient temperature hanging around the eight-degree mark.

The circuit is eerily quiet. As the mist hangs over the empty stands, it seems like there is nothing going on.Then, at 8;59am, it all changes.The first V8 engines are sparked into life, breaking the silence in dramatic fashion. It's time to go Formula 1 testing.

Of course,the circuit has been alive for several hours by this point, but the action

[ojW

|oIo]

has been hidden away. Engineers have been carefully designing detailed testing plans behind the sponsor's boards in the back of the garages,the drivers have been eating a light breakfast and preparing with the physios in the hospitality units, and the mechanics have been diligently running through the hundreds of systems required to have a Grand Prix car ready to be fired up.

But it's not until just on nine in the morning that the action makes the transition from the inner sanctums to the cool morning

air. It should mark the start of a period where all becomes clear, the cream rises to the top and the form guide for the coming season starts to take shape.

Instead,the green light at the end of pit-lane merely opens up a world of secrecy from within and confusion from the outside.

If you use 2012's pre-season testing program as an example, you would say Red Bull and McLaren are struggling, Lotus will be unstoppable; and the Caterham will III! be capable of qualifying within a

BEFORE THE START OF EACH FORMULA 1 SEASON, DRIVERS SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS POUNDING AROUND OFTEN EMPTY RACETRACKS IN PRE-SEASON TESTING. BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SECRETS, ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN ENLISTED A FORMULA 1 DRIVER TO TAKE US INSIDE A REGULAR TESTING PROGRAM

I

T'S a brisk morning in Barcelona,the ambient temperature hanging around the eight-degree mark.

The circuit is eerily quiet. As the mist hangs over the empty stands, it seems like there is nothing going on.Then, at 8;59am, it all changes.The first V8 engines are sparked into life, breaking the silence in dramatic fashion. It's time to go Formula 1 testing.

Of course,the circuit has been alive for several hours by this point, but the action

[ojW

|oIo]

has been hidden away. Engineers have been carefully designing detailed testing plans behind the sponsor's boards in the back of the garages,the drivers have been eating a light breakfast and preparing with the physios in the hospitality units, and the mechanics have been diligently running through the hundreds of systems required to have a Grand Prix car ready to be fired up.

But it's not until just on nine in the morning that the action makes the transition from the inner sanctums to the cool morning

air. It should mark the start of a period where all becomes clear, the cream rises to the top and the form guide for the coming season starts to take shape.

Instead,the green light at the end of pit-lane merely opens up a world of secrecy from within and confusion from the outside.

If you use 2012's pre-season testing program as an example, you would say Red Bull and McLaren are struggling, Lotus will be unstoppable; and the Caterham will III! be capable of qualifying within a

When you see big discrepancies in time IT’S PURELY DOWN TO SET-UP, FUEL AND TYRES If a team wants to be fastest bad enough,a set of brand new Super Softs and a thimble offuel will do it. But testing isn't about looking like a superstar on a day where no world championship points are on offer - it's about gathering crucial data, putting miles through brand new chassis, and making sure the new car can look after its tyres, use the right amount of fuel, and last a race distance.

It's also about new parts; and updated rear wing here, a new brake cooling duct there, That's the super secretive part of testing. with teams covering the key areas of the car as soon as they come to a stop in pit-lane. In Barcelona last month. Red Bull was by far the most guarded, using everything from bright silver blankets to umbrellas to stop prying eyes and camera lenses getting a good look at the updates on the RB8.

So,to lift the lid on the mystery and intrigue that is Formula 1 testing, we enlisted a Formula 1 driver to take us inside a regular testing program. However,the secretive nature of FI testing means we can't disclose the identity of our driver.

We usually arrive at the track the day before, somewhere around lunchtime,"says Making the right turns:FI testing is all about trying as many different potential options as possible, to try to unlock the full potential of the car, top. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso gets a first-hand view ofthe cornering capabilities ofthe rival Red Bull Racing,above left. But Fernando won't get to see too much ofthe Red Bull up close in the pits, left, as the teams all use screens in pitlane to conceal their latest go-faster bits. motorsport news

our FI expert.

There will generally be a meeting late afternoon with the engineers and the decision-makers in the team. It depends on the size of the team, but there will usually be 15 or so people in the truck.

Then we work through the program.

We might talk about new bits on the car, or about something that we want to revaluate from the last test. We might even talk about what didn't work at the last test, whether it be mechanical or personnel, so we know what we need to improve on. It's basically a summary of what lies ahead,and what needs to be done.'

For the first hour of the day there are very few flying laps. Instead, teams opt for installation laps, coming in and out of the pits as they run through the hundreds of systems hidden in the carbon confines of a modern Formula 1 car.

With the program,the first day morning will always start with an installation run, so it's just out-and-in,"says our driver.

We don't do it to piss off the spectators it's just a systems check. We go through all the gears, to make sure first-to-seventh is working,check the DRS,check the KERS, and just make sure that there isn't anything strange happening with the car.

Then,there is some down time, because the system checks carry on in the garage.The engine engineers check everything over.

'After that is done, it's time to get into it.

We start with a baseline run,so the engineers go with whatever set-up they THINK will WWW.,nnews.com.au

work.The first thing we check is ride height, to make sure we're not grounding too much. or to see if we can go lower. Next is the front wing,to see if we can put on more or take some off.They are the first two things that we really check from the baseline.

From there, the day just goes on. With this sort of testing, there will be shorter runs in the morning,say,five laps to a run.

That could be evaluating anything from ride height to wing geometry,or even a new rear wing. So in the morning it's shorter stuff. and then in the afternoon it's on to longer runs. And generally, longer runs mean a heavier car.

In between all that there will be practice starts, practice pit-stops, practice pit-entry ... which is where you just work on hitting your marks as you come into the pits.'

Pirelli's distinctive tyre markings do help journalists and analysts in picking patterns.

With the four different compounds of Pirelli tyres clearly marked by colour on the sidewall, it's easy for those following testing closely to see the exact patterns each driver is following. For example, you might notice that Jean-Eric Vergne is doing lots of five-lap stints on the hard tyre, while Felipe Massa is favouring eight-lap stints on the medium tyre.

This is good information, sure, but what does it really say? If a driver rockets from mid-table to the top by 0.5s on his first run on Super Softs, you can deduce that he's working on a qualifying simulation. However, it's rarely that simple.

It is the race simulations that offer the best insight into exactly where a team and driver is at pre-season.To run a full 300 kilometres without refuelling,teams will inevitably start with heavy cars,the fuel loads very similar to what they would start a Grand Prix with.

That takes one element of the guess work out of the equation. A team COULD still run heavy on the race sim, but if they want an accurate measure on tyre wear - increasingly important as Pirelli becomes more and more aggressive with its compounds - it only makes sense to start with a genuine racespecification fuel load.

When the race simulations start, you can track how many laps a car is capable of running on a given tyre compound,the drop-off in times across a stint, and the average lap-time throughout a stint. It is the only consistent data outsiders can really take away from a pre-season test.

Race simulations are a good challenge. actually,"explains our driver.

It's a good challenge of fitness. particularly pre-season, when you haven't done a full race distance for months. It's quite fascinating, because you spend the whole time trying to find the right balance between looking after the tyres, and not going too slow.

'The team will throw you scenarios, like having to stay out for five more laps. Or they might tell you to come in early and tell them how much wing you want changed on the spot.There is plenty going on,so nil you don't get bored.

41

When you see big discrepancies in time IT’S PURELY DOWN TO SET-UP, FUEL AND TYRES If a team wants to be fastest bad enough,a set of brand new Super Softs and a thimble offuel will do it. But testing isn't about looking like a superstar on a day where no world championship points are on offer - it's about gathering crucial data, putting miles through brand new chassis, and making sure the new car can look after its tyres, use the right amount of fuel, and last a race distance.

It's also about new parts; and updated rear wing here, a new brake cooling duct there, That's the super secretive part of testing. with teams covering the key areas of the car as soon as they come to a stop in pit-lane. In Barcelona last month. Red Bull was by far the most guarded, using everything from bright silver blankets to umbrellas to stop prying eyes and camera lenses getting a good look at the updates on the RB8.

So,to lift the lid on the mystery and intrigue that is Formula 1 testing, we enlisted a Formula 1 driver to take us inside a regular testing program. However,the secretive nature of FI testing means we can't disclose the identity of our driver.

We usually arrive at the track the day before, somewhere around lunchtime,"says Making the right turns:FI testing is all about trying as many different potential options as possible, to try to unlock the full potential of the car, top. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso gets a first-hand view ofthe cornering capabilities ofthe rival Red Bull Racing,above left. But Fernando won't get to see too much ofthe Red Bull up close in the pits, left, as the teams all use screens in pitlane to conceal their latest go-faster bits. motorsport news

our FI expert.

There will generally be a meeting late afternoon with the engineers and the decision-makers in the team. It depends on the size of the team, but there will usually be 15 or so people in the truck.

Then we work through the program.

We might talk about new bits on the car, or about something that we want to revaluate from the last test. We might even talk about what didn't work at the last test, whether it be mechanical or personnel, so we know what we need to improve on. It's basically a summary of what lies ahead,and what needs to be done.'

For the first hour of the day there are very few flying laps. Instead, teams opt for installation laps, coming in and out of the pits as they run through the hundreds of systems hidden in the carbon confines of a modern Formula 1 car.

With the program,the first day morning will always start with an installation run, so it's just out-and-in,"says our driver.

We don't do it to piss off the spectators it's just a systems check. We go through all the gears, to make sure first-to-seventh is working,check the DRS,check the KERS, and just make sure that there isn't anything strange happening with the car.

Then,there is some down time, because the system checks carry on in the garage.The engine engineers check everything over.

'After that is done, it's time to get into it.

We start with a baseline run,so the engineers go with whatever set-up they THINK will WWW.,nnews.com.au

work.The first thing we check is ride height, to make sure we're not grounding too much. or to see if we can go lower. Next is the front wing,to see if we can put on more or take some off.They are the first two things that we really check from the baseline.

From there, the day just goes on. With this sort of testing, there will be shorter runs in the morning,say,five laps to a run.

That could be evaluating anything from ride height to wing geometry,or even a new rear wing. So in the morning it's shorter stuff. and then in the afternoon it's on to longer runs. And generally, longer runs mean a heavier car.

In between all that there will be practice starts, practice pit-stops, practice pit-entry ... which is where you just work on hitting your marks as you come into the pits.'

Pirelli's distinctive tyre markings do help journalists and analysts in picking patterns.

With the four different compounds of Pirelli tyres clearly marked by colour on the sidewall, it's easy for those following testing closely to see the exact patterns each driver is following. For example, you might notice that Jean-Eric Vergne is doing lots of five-lap stints on the hard tyre, while Felipe Massa is favouring eight-lap stints on the medium tyre.

This is good information, sure, but what does it really say? If a driver rockets from mid-table to the top by 0.5s on his first run on Super Softs, you can deduce that he's working on a qualifying simulation. However, it's rarely that simple.

It is the race simulations that offer the best insight into exactly where a team and driver is at pre-season.To run a full 300 kilometres without refuelling,teams will inevitably start with heavy cars,the fuel loads very similar to what they would start a Grand Prix with.

That takes one element of the guess work out of the equation. A team COULD still run heavy on the race sim, but if they want an accurate measure on tyre wear - increasingly important as Pirelli becomes more and more aggressive with its compounds - it only makes sense to start with a genuine racespecification fuel load.

When the race simulations start, you can track how many laps a car is capable of running on a given tyre compound,the drop-off in times across a stint, and the average lap-time throughout a stint. It is the only consistent data outsiders can really take away from a pre-season test.

Race simulations are a good challenge. actually,"explains our driver.

It's a good challenge of fitness. particularly pre-season, when you haven't done a full race distance for months. It's quite fascinating, because you spend the whole time trying to find the right balance between looking after the tyres, and not going too slow.

'The team will throw you scenarios, like having to stay out for five more laps. Or they might tell you to come in early and tell them how much wing you want changed on the spot.There is plenty going on,so nil you don't get bored.

41

I KUMHO TYRES Motorsports

I

Motorsport Stocktake Sale Sate Pattern

The team will throw you 5CENARIC35, like having to stay out FOR FIVE MORE LAPS. DR THEY MIGHTtELL YOU TO COME IN EARLY AND TELL THEM HOW MUCH WING YOU WANT CHANGED ON THE SPOT We can even do a Safety Car simulation, so after 30 laps the team can call a 'Safety Car', where you slow down for a few laps. You need to make it as real as possible."

The race simulations aren't just a chance for journalists to gauge if a team has genuine pace or is just showboating for the timing screens,they also give the rival teams a chance to see where they stack up against the opposition. Even the drivers pay extra

attention to the race sims, particuiarly on their'off'days,the days where their team mate is in the car.

"I pay a lot of attention to what the other teams are doing,"admits our driver.

"The long runs are interesting. On short laps, it's almost impossible to tell how much fuel is on board, but if someone does a 20-lap run, you know they are starting with more than 100kg offuel. You can seethe performance much clearer. You can watch

tyre wear and fuel burn much closer."

Throughout the winter testing program, it becomes clear that some teams choose to keep their cards close to their chest.

For example,at the last test in Barcelona, neither Red Bull nor McLaren completed a full race simulation, or a full qualifying simulation. According to our driver, there is an element of gamesmanship in the paddock - particularly as the start of the season draws near.

"There are teams that do that, yeah," he says.

"Whether they do it intentionally or not I don't know, but it does happen. Let's say a team rolls out at the first test, and they think they're doing alright, you won't see everything for the next few tests. It's not a case of the drivers not pushing - the team will just throw more fuel at the car and keep a few things quiet."

The last point made by our expert is an Testing, testing:It's kind oflike a normal grand prix only without the accompanying FI glamour,and without an actual race, and with not quite so many spectators, above,left.

42

motorsport news

t

interesting one. Whiie it might seem like the drivers aren't going their hardest during a pre-season test, it's actually not the case.The drivers are always pushing hard - it's fuel loads, set-ups and worn or hard compound tyres that dictate the lap-times.

"I haven't really ever been told not to push," adds our driver.

"On a long run,the team might tell you that the tyres have to last 30 laps, and that you have to take care of them.So you'll button off a little bit, try and be a bit smoother on the throttle. But they'll never say'just cruise this lap', unless it is the in-lap and they want everything to cool down.

"When you see big discrepancies in time, it's purely down to set-up,fuel and tyres.

We could do a test for no DRS, no KERS, which might cost you a second, but when you're talking about three or four seconds, then it's got to be something more ... fuel or shit tyres.

"I mean,in saying all of that, it is only testing; you don't want to put it in the wall!

But if you have new soft tyres on, you'll be looking for that limit. You'll be at 98 percent."

Formula 1 testing is so secretive, that there are times even the drivers are kept in the

www.m ; Tws.com.au

dark. When it comes to new components and radical set-up changes,the engineers will generally feed the drivers only the most basic information, hoping the feel from the cockpit will correlate with the engineer's expectations from a change.

"The team prepare us a bit for what we might feel in the car, but they don't want to put too much in our heads,"says our driver.

"Otherwise, it's too easy for us to say'yeah, we had more understeer,just like you said'.

Most of the time they'll tell us what they've done,and then add'we expect you to get more understeer at high-speed, but tell us what you think'.

"But, if they say we're going to take two holes offront wing off to try and save the rear tyres, you know what's going to happen."

So that's it, a rare insight into how teams go about Formula 1 testing. In 12 months time, when the testing merry-go-round kicks off again, you'll know what to look for.

Remember,forget the Hollywood numbers on the timing screen and wait for the long runs and race simulations.That's where, as Sebastian Vettel likes to say in interviews, "everyone puts their pants down,and you can see what they have got."

Size

Compound Price

R700 175/65 R14 R700 185/70 R13 R800 185/60 R15 R800 195/65 R15 R800 195/70 R15 R800 205/65 R15 R900 195/70 R15 S700 280/650 R18 TW01 180/580 R15 TW02 210/645 R17 V70A 215/50VR13 V70A 235/45VR13 V70A 185/55VR14 V70A 185/55VR15 V70A 195/50 R15 V70A 205/502 R15 V70A 225/502 R15 V70A 205/502 R16 V70A 225/45 R16 V70A 225/502 R16 V70A 205/402 R17 V70A 235/402 R17 V70A 275/402 R17 V70A 225/402 R18 V70A 265/352 R18 V70A 285/302 R18 V70A 305/30 R18 V70A 335/302 R18 V710 195/55 R14 V710 205/50 R15 V710 225/45 R17 V710 225/50 R15 V710 245/40 R17 V710 245/45 R17 V710 265/45R16 V710 285/30 R18 V710 295/40 R17

$165 $165 $187 $200 $200 $210 $200 $400 $226 $264 $275 $281 $226 $231 $259 $264 $325 $336 $336 $314 $336 $358 $430 $270 $374 $380 $347 $358 $171 $226 $270 $270 $270 $270 $270 $286 $336

Save

35 35 13 30 30 30 30 70 75 126 45 50 25 69 42 36 21 19 54 76 55 62 70 131 66 90 144 153 80 75 131 111 151 161 201 184 165

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5u

V

M M S.M S, H M H M 8 S S S M M M M S, H H M M M M M, H M M M H 8 H M M M M M M M M M

<

'I

See www.fsport.com.au for your nearest Kumho Motorsport Dealer John Mills

0418 404 945 0405 509 943

National Enquiries ACT New South Wales

Notaras Racing Peak Race Tyre

029683 5511

New South Wales

Fsport

02 9679 8044

Hornibrook Motorsport

07 3865 1072

South Australia Kensington Park Tyrepower Tasmania Tas Tyre Distributors

08 8431 5856 036274 1640

Tas - Launceston Beecheys Service Centre

03 6631 2948

Queensland

Victoria Western Australia

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03 9379 2616

Exieys Tyres and Brakes

08 9354 7855

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!0f

YOU DESERVE KUMHO. kumho.com.au Proudly Supporting

[ssm 43

I KUMHO TYRES Motorsports

I

Motorsport Stocktake Sale Sate Pattern

The team will throw you 5CENARIC35, like having to stay out FOR FIVE MORE LAPS. DR THEY MIGHTtELL YOU TO COME IN EARLY AND TELL THEM HOW MUCH WING YOU WANT CHANGED ON THE SPOT We can even do a Safety Car simulation, so after 30 laps the team can call a 'Safety Car', where you slow down for a few laps. You need to make it as real as possible."

The race simulations aren't just a chance for journalists to gauge if a team has genuine pace or is just showboating for the timing screens,they also give the rival teams a chance to see where they stack up against the opposition. Even the drivers pay extra

attention to the race sims, particuiarly on their'off'days,the days where their team mate is in the car.

"I pay a lot of attention to what the other teams are doing,"admits our driver.

"The long runs are interesting. On short laps, it's almost impossible to tell how much fuel is on board, but if someone does a 20-lap run, you know they are starting with more than 100kg offuel. You can seethe performance much clearer. You can watch

tyre wear and fuel burn much closer."

Throughout the winter testing program, it becomes clear that some teams choose to keep their cards close to their chest.

For example,at the last test in Barcelona, neither Red Bull nor McLaren completed a full race simulation, or a full qualifying simulation. According to our driver, there is an element of gamesmanship in the paddock - particularly as the start of the season draws near.

"There are teams that do that, yeah," he says.

"Whether they do it intentionally or not I don't know, but it does happen. Let's say a team rolls out at the first test, and they think they're doing alright, you won't see everything for the next few tests. It's not a case of the drivers not pushing - the team will just throw more fuel at the car and keep a few things quiet."

The last point made by our expert is an Testing, testing:It's kind oflike a normal grand prix only without the accompanying FI glamour,and without an actual race, and with not quite so many spectators, above,left.

42

motorsport news

t

interesting one. Whiie it might seem like the drivers aren't going their hardest during a pre-season test, it's actually not the case.The drivers are always pushing hard - it's fuel loads, set-ups and worn or hard compound tyres that dictate the lap-times.

"I haven't really ever been told not to push," adds our driver.

"On a long run,the team might tell you that the tyres have to last 30 laps, and that you have to take care of them.So you'll button off a little bit, try and be a bit smoother on the throttle. But they'll never say'just cruise this lap', unless it is the in-lap and they want everything to cool down.

"When you see big discrepancies in time, it's purely down to set-up,fuel and tyres.

We could do a test for no DRS, no KERS, which might cost you a second, but when you're talking about three or four seconds, then it's got to be something more ... fuel or shit tyres.

"I mean,in saying all of that, it is only testing; you don't want to put it in the wall!

But if you have new soft tyres on, you'll be looking for that limit. You'll be at 98 percent."

Formula 1 testing is so secretive, that there are times even the drivers are kept in the

www.m ; Tws.com.au

dark. When it comes to new components and radical set-up changes,the engineers will generally feed the drivers only the most basic information, hoping the feel from the cockpit will correlate with the engineer's expectations from a change.

"The team prepare us a bit for what we might feel in the car, but they don't want to put too much in our heads,"says our driver.

"Otherwise, it's too easy for us to say'yeah, we had more understeer,just like you said'.

Most of the time they'll tell us what they've done,and then add'we expect you to get more understeer at high-speed, but tell us what you think'.

"But, if they say we're going to take two holes offront wing off to try and save the rear tyres, you know what's going to happen."

So that's it, a rare insight into how teams go about Formula 1 testing. In 12 months time, when the testing merry-go-round kicks off again, you'll know what to look for.

Remember,forget the Hollywood numbers on the timing screen and wait for the long runs and race simulations.That's where, as Sebastian Vettel likes to say in interviews, "everyone puts their pants down,and you can see what they have got."

Size

Compound Price

R700 175/65 R14 R700 185/70 R13 R800 185/60 R15 R800 195/65 R15 R800 195/70 R15 R800 205/65 R15 R900 195/70 R15 S700 280/650 R18 TW01 180/580 R15 TW02 210/645 R17 V70A 215/50VR13 V70A 235/45VR13 V70A 185/55VR14 V70A 185/55VR15 V70A 195/50 R15 V70A 205/502 R15 V70A 225/502 R15 V70A 205/502 R16 V70A 225/45 R16 V70A 225/502 R16 V70A 205/402 R17 V70A 235/402 R17 V70A 275/402 R17 V70A 225/402 R18 V70A 265/352 R18 V70A 285/302 R18 V70A 305/30 R18 V70A 335/302 R18 V710 195/55 R14 V710 205/50 R15 V710 225/45 R17 V710 225/50 R15 V710 245/40 R17 V710 245/45 R17 V710 265/45R16 V710 285/30 R18 V710 295/40 R17

$165 $165 $187 $200 $200 $210 $200 $400 $226 $264 $275 $281 $226 $231 $259 $264 $325 $336 $336 $314 $336 $358 $430 $270 $374 $380 $347 $358 $171 $226 $270 $270 $270 $270 $270 $286 $336

Save

35 35 13 30 30 30 30 70 75 126 45 50 25 69 42 36 21 19 54 76 55 62 70 131 66 90 144 153 80 75 131 111 151 161 201 184 165

PWi

5u

V

M M S.M S, H M H M 8 S S S M M M M S, H H M M M M M, H M M M H 8 H M M M M M M M M M

<

'I

See www.fsport.com.au for your nearest Kumho Motorsport Dealer John Mills

0418 404 945 0405 509 943

National Enquiries ACT New South Wales

Notaras Racing Peak Race Tyre

029683 5511

New South Wales

Fsport

02 9679 8044

Hornibrook Motorsport

07 3865 1072

South Australia Kensington Park Tyrepower Tasmania Tas Tyre Distributors

08 8431 5856 036274 1640

Tas - Launceston Beecheys Service Centre

03 6631 2948

Queensland

Victoria Western Australia

Tyrepower Essendon

03 9379 2616

Exieys Tyres and Brakes

08 9354 7855

u

!0f

YOU DESERVE KUMHO. kumho.com.au Proudly Supporting

[ssm 43

r

UP THE MOUNTAIN DUTCH SPORTSCARACE JEROEN BLEEKEMOLEN WAS AMONG THE INTERNATIONAL VISITORS FOR FEBRUARYS BATHURST 12 HOUR AND HE LOVED IT. STEVE NORMOYLE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM

1 I

T

HERE is a lot to like about the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

That's a bit of no brainer when the cars are GTS supercars such as Ferrari's amazing 458 and those Audis, Mercs and Lambos.

But what's especially good about this event is that we get to see how some very highly credentialed visiting teams and drivers take on the task of tackling Mount Panorama.

For many years the folklore of the place was that international drivers Just can't cut it

44

at'our'Bathurst.This is, of course, nonsense.

It's certainly a tough ask for visitors to get to grips with the 6.2km track while simultaneously learning the peculiarities of V8 Supercars. However, we've seen over many years that when they come here with their own cars, the best of them not only can get the job done,they thrive on the sheer challenge the place presents.

Jeroen Bleekemolen was one such visiting international this year.To watch Bleekemolen,at the wheel of the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS,take it up to the

Audi-mounted Craig Lowndes in the mid-morning period of the race was to witness something pretty special.

Bleekemolen might be no Australian household name but he is among the world's best in sportscar racing (but he will be familiar to some, because he was at Eastern Creek two years ago driving the Netherlands entry in the A1GP round).

He came to Bathurst fresh from victory with Black Falcon in the Dubai 24 Hour - so clearly he knows his way around a GT3 SLS. But here he was at this daunting and

motorsport news

on the in the wet at Bathurst, above. He was sixth outright at Le Mans last year, top right. Lead foot in wooden shoe,centre. DTM star in 2006, below right.

mm

A

unforgiving circuit, which he'd never even seen a week earlier, chasing down a guy who's been at one with the place since 1994, and in the wet.

For the really good racing drivers of this worid, however,scenarios such as this are their raison d'etre.

This is a track where you're really facing something," Bleekemolen says,"where you have to show what you're capable of.

"A lot of corners are blind, no run off, so it's hard to learn - but that's what I like. I always prefer street circuits - although this feels like a norma race track - when you're between the walls, because that shows who's the best.

You get the same feeling when you drive here as you do at the Nurburgring.

It's very nice, it's one of the old school tracks. With the new tracks

www.mnews.com.au

A'lh

r

UP THE MOUNTAIN DUTCH SPORTSCARACE JEROEN BLEEKEMOLEN WAS AMONG THE INTERNATIONAL VISITORS FOR FEBRUARYS BATHURST 12 HOUR AND HE LOVED IT. STEVE NORMOYLE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM

1 I

T

HERE is a lot to like about the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

That's a bit of no brainer when the cars are GTS supercars such as Ferrari's amazing 458 and those Audis, Mercs and Lambos.

But what's especially good about this event is that we get to see how some very highly credentialed visiting teams and drivers take on the task of tackling Mount Panorama.

For many years the folklore of the place was that international drivers Just can't cut it

44

at'our'Bathurst.This is, of course, nonsense.

It's certainly a tough ask for visitors to get to grips with the 6.2km track while simultaneously learning the peculiarities of V8 Supercars. However, we've seen over many years that when they come here with their own cars, the best of them not only can get the job done,they thrive on the sheer challenge the place presents.

Jeroen Bleekemolen was one such visiting international this year.To watch Bleekemolen,at the wheel of the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS,take it up to the

Audi-mounted Craig Lowndes in the mid-morning period of the race was to witness something pretty special.

Bleekemolen might be no Australian household name but he is among the world's best in sportscar racing (but he will be familiar to some, because he was at Eastern Creek two years ago driving the Netherlands entry in the A1GP round).

He came to Bathurst fresh from victory with Black Falcon in the Dubai 24 Hour - so clearly he knows his way around a GT3 SLS. But here he was at this daunting and

motorsport news

on the in the wet at Bathurst, above. He was sixth outright at Le Mans last year, top right. Lead foot in wooden shoe,centre. DTM star in 2006, below right.

mm

A

unforgiving circuit, which he'd never even seen a week earlier, chasing down a guy who's been at one with the place since 1994, and in the wet.

For the really good racing drivers of this worid, however,scenarios such as this are their raison d'etre.

This is a track where you're really facing something," Bleekemolen says,"where you have to show what you're capable of.

"A lot of corners are blind, no run off, so it's hard to learn - but that's what I like. I always prefer street circuits - although this feels like a norma race track - when you're between the walls, because that shows who's the best.

You get the same feeling when you drive here as you do at the Nurburgring.

It's very nice, it's one of the old school tracks. With the new tracks

www.mnews.com.au

A'lh

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wv.-. 'f

WINNING ON THREE WHEELS

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they build in Europe,they're not so much fun any more.

"This track is fantastic! So much fun to be on the limit here! It's a real thrill when you come back after putting a really good lap together, and that's a good feeling you don't get at many other race tracks around the world."

As a gun for hire in sportscar racing, Bleekemolen does get to go to a lot of different tracks each year, and 2012 is no different.

Take a look at this for a racing schedule.

In addition to Dubai, he did the Daytona 24 Hour before Bathurst, sharing a Porsche to second in the GT class. He'll be doing the

44

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KERB YOUR ENTHUSIASM I j I , I

American Le Mans Series in an LMP2 LolaHonda for Black Swan Racing,the Spa and Nurburgring 24 Hours and the Blancpain Series(the main GTS series in Europe)in a Mercedes SLS for Black Falcon, along with possibly the odd random Porsche outing.

He is also doing the Sebring 12 Hour and Le Mans in Rebellion Racing's LMPl Lola-Toyota. With Rebellion at Le Mans last year, Bleekemolen was sixth outright,the first petrol-powered car home behind the Peugeots and Audis.

"With Peugeot pulling out, we will move up a little bit, but I don't think we can compete with Audi. I hope we can make top five and be the top petrol car.The

competition is pretty hard this year and we need some luck."

Surprisingly for such a packed schedule, Bleekemolen will be free on October 19-21, which is the weekend of that other Armor All-sponsored event,the nil Gold Coast 600.

BLEEKEMOLEN reckons the circuits today are too safe for their own good-even Spa is no good any more "There are now too many run off areas," he laments.

"Even Eau Rouge: If you decide to try something and you go in too fast, you now

V..-;;,^ (y^Qforj^ Ov(

just go over the kerb and come back onto the track, and no damage Is done. Whereas in the past you would go over the kerb and you would crash ■ big time, i "It's still high speed, but P there's too much room I: for error. Anyone can try something and get away with it. So I don't rate Spa that highly any more.

"Tracks like Nordschleife, you won't get away with running over a kerb like that, and you won't get away with it here either.

"Le Mans is safer than it was but it's still pretty much old school. It's a normal road, not smooth like a proper track. In a GT car you make 290km/h on the straight and it's bouncing around really badly.

"But pretty much all the regular tracks in

' 46

Winner:Bleekemolen beat arguably the most competitive Porsche field ever when he won the Porsche Supercup in 2009, above.Second at Bathurst,above right, second in class in the Daytona 24 Hours, and first in the Dubai24 Hours- all in the first two months ofthe year.

This is a track where you’re really facing something; where you have to show what you’re capable of

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LAST year Bleekemolen achieved what must ^e a first in motor racing: he scoredj3ole position after first losing a wheel[n qualifying,and then driving back to the pits on three wheels, with the errant fourth wheel sitting on the floor inside the car.

Suspecting a puncture in the Black Swan Racing Porsche he was driving at the Baltimore ALMS round, Bleekemolen had opted to shortcut to the pits via the runoff section at the end of the final turn. It was here that the left-front wheel parted company with the Porsche.

With plenty of time left in the session, Bleekemolen was keen to get back in action. At the same time he realised he would cop a grid penalty if he did not start the race on the tyres he used to set his qualifying time. So Bleekemolen sprinted back to retrieve the lost wheel, dumping it on the floor of the passengerside of the Porsche before driving back to the pits.

The Black Swan crew grabbed the wheel from the cabin and reattached it.

Bleekemolen resumed on his original four tyres and went on to claim pole.

Then in the race,that same set of tyres stayed on the car while he scored the GTC class victory.

Europe are not special any more.

"And the racing is no fun, because if you try to overtake someone,and you overdo it, you Just go straight, come back onto the track, and line up behind them and then you try again.

"Last year I did a Supercup race at Monza and every lap people are overshooting the chicanes and using the bitumen run off, and then they line up behind you again.

Racing like that is no fun.

"An overtaking move should be something really challenging - you try it and you just make it, and you think'yeah, cool. I've done it!', because if it doesn't work, you crash, your race is over.That's how it should be.

"In the past at Spa,the guy on pole would be the guy who would cut the most out of Eau Rouge,take the most kerb, who Just made it without crashing.

There were many heroes before but

m:

h

now it's much more down to just the technique of driving.

"Without the danger, the sport is a lot less interesting. You need a bit of danger.

I'm not saying I want to get hurt, but it's not a bad thing if you make a mistake and pay a penalty for it. If I go into a corner way too deep and hit a wall, it's my mistake and race over - there are consequences for making a mistake. But not with the new tracks with all the run off they have.

"I'm not from the old days but when I started it was when everything started changing with the tracks. I could still run the old Hockenhelm with the long straights, I could still run Spa without the run off. It was a great experience to run Spa like it used to be.

"It's going to keep changing, and for the better in terms of safety, but not for the thrill of driving."

*V»**^i

motorsport news

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they build in Europe,they're not so much fun any more.

"This track is fantastic! So much fun to be on the limit here! It's a real thrill when you come back after putting a really good lap together, and that's a good feeling you don't get at many other race tracks around the world."

As a gun for hire in sportscar racing, Bleekemolen does get to go to a lot of different tracks each year, and 2012 is no different.

Take a look at this for a racing schedule.

In addition to Dubai, he did the Daytona 24 Hour before Bathurst, sharing a Porsche to second in the GT class. He'll be doing the

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American Le Mans Series in an LMP2 LolaHonda for Black Swan Racing,the Spa and Nurburgring 24 Hours and the Blancpain Series(the main GTS series in Europe)in a Mercedes SLS for Black Falcon, along with possibly the odd random Porsche outing.

He is also doing the Sebring 12 Hour and Le Mans in Rebellion Racing's LMPl Lola-Toyota. With Rebellion at Le Mans last year, Bleekemolen was sixth outright,the first petrol-powered car home behind the Peugeots and Audis.

"With Peugeot pulling out, we will move up a little bit, but I don't think we can compete with Audi. I hope we can make top five and be the top petrol car.The

competition is pretty hard this year and we need some luck."

Surprisingly for such a packed schedule, Bleekemolen will be free on October 19-21, which is the weekend of that other Armor All-sponsored event,the nil Gold Coast 600.

BLEEKEMOLEN reckons the circuits today are too safe for their own good-even Spa is no good any more "There are now too many run off areas," he laments.

"Even Eau Rouge: If you decide to try something and you go in too fast, you now

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just go over the kerb and come back onto the track, and no damage Is done. Whereas in the past you would go over the kerb and you would crash ■ big time, i "It's still high speed, but P there's too much room I: for error. Anyone can try something and get away with it. So I don't rate Spa that highly any more.

"Tracks like Nordschleife, you won't get away with running over a kerb like that, and you won't get away with it here either.

"Le Mans is safer than it was but it's still pretty much old school. It's a normal road, not smooth like a proper track. In a GT car you make 290km/h on the straight and it's bouncing around really badly.

"But pretty much all the regular tracks in

' 46

Winner:Bleekemolen beat arguably the most competitive Porsche field ever when he won the Porsche Supercup in 2009, above.Second at Bathurst,above right, second in class in the Daytona 24 Hours, and first in the Dubai24 Hours- all in the first two months ofthe year.

This is a track where you’re really facing something; where you have to show what you’re capable of

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LAST year Bleekemolen achieved what must ^e a first in motor racing: he scoredj3ole position after first losing a wheel[n qualifying,and then driving back to the pits on three wheels, with the errant fourth wheel sitting on the floor inside the car.

Suspecting a puncture in the Black Swan Racing Porsche he was driving at the Baltimore ALMS round, Bleekemolen had opted to shortcut to the pits via the runoff section at the end of the final turn. It was here that the left-front wheel parted company with the Porsche.

With plenty of time left in the session, Bleekemolen was keen to get back in action. At the same time he realised he would cop a grid penalty if he did not start the race on the tyres he used to set his qualifying time. So Bleekemolen sprinted back to retrieve the lost wheel, dumping it on the floor of the passengerside of the Porsche before driving back to the pits.

The Black Swan crew grabbed the wheel from the cabin and reattached it.

Bleekemolen resumed on his original four tyres and went on to claim pole.

Then in the race,that same set of tyres stayed on the car while he scored the GTC class victory.

Europe are not special any more.

"And the racing is no fun, because if you try to overtake someone,and you overdo it, you Just go straight, come back onto the track, and line up behind them and then you try again.

"Last year I did a Supercup race at Monza and every lap people are overshooting the chicanes and using the bitumen run off, and then they line up behind you again.

Racing like that is no fun.

"An overtaking move should be something really challenging - you try it and you just make it, and you think'yeah, cool. I've done it!', because if it doesn't work, you crash, your race is over.That's how it should be.

"In the past at Spa,the guy on pole would be the guy who would cut the most out of Eau Rouge,take the most kerb, who Just made it without crashing.

There were many heroes before but

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now it's much more down to just the technique of driving.

"Without the danger, the sport is a lot less interesting. You need a bit of danger.

I'm not saying I want to get hurt, but it's not a bad thing if you make a mistake and pay a penalty for it. If I go into a corner way too deep and hit a wall, it's my mistake and race over - there are consequences for making a mistake. But not with the new tracks with all the run off they have.

"I'm not from the old days but when I started it was when everything started changing with the tracks. I could still run the old Hockenhelm with the long straights, I could still run Spa without the run off. It was a great experience to run Spa like it used to be.

"It's going to keep changing, and for the better in terms of safety, but not for the thrill of driving."

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motorsport news

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In the Netherlands, we have 17 million people but we don’t have GT racing or a national main series for any class where drivers get paid nil

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V8 Supercars is something Bleekemolen is keen to do, and given the mutual admiration society that developed between Bleekemolen and SLS co-driver Tim Slade over the Bathurst weekend,the Dutchman's presence at Surfers in October in an SBR Falcon is looking fairly likely...

Bleekemolen has seen V8 Supercars and is amazed at its popularity.

"It's fantastic to see how big that series is here. I talked to Tim Slade about that: if you look at ALMS in America,and that country is so big, how many people live there, and how many people live here, and how popular Australian V8s is it's amazing.

"Even in the Netherlands, we have 17 million people but we don't have GT racing or a national main series for any class where drivers get paid. But here it's just big - the racing is good and it means something. I would love to do V8 Supercars in the future."

As to the present, Bleekemolen is pretty satisfied with the way things are going at the moment.

"Hopefully I can tick all the boxes with the big enduros. I've had a class win at Le Mans, so hopefully I can win it outright.

The same for races like this; it's great to put on your resume that you've won the 12 hours of Bathurst.

"Maybe it's not a race with 60 cars, but there is really good competition here. Black Falcon had the intention to come here and I'm really happy to get the chance to be here because I really wanted to do this race. I see already a lot of European teams and driversthey want to come out here.

"It's a great start to the year to do Dubai, Daytona and here. It's a lot of travelling, but it's great to do all these races - and there's not a lot of races going on at this time of year in Europe, so otherwise you're Just sitting at home in the cold! So I want to really make sure I'm coming back to this place."

A1 effort: Bleekemolen was one of the drivers for the Netherlands team in the defunct A1 Grand Prix of Nations, top right.

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.

Trdfeo Mbtdf^port offer these two Identical current look Corvette 2009 C6 GT cars that were built as a ground up project for the Asian GTS series, Built in Honk Kong as a project of 5 cars these two vehicles were purchased by Trofeo last year and are now surplus to our requirements, the cars have had little use in testing only. Please note that they are not Homologated FIA GTS cars, they are Built from the C6 Steel chassis platform with Z06 bodywork,the cars feature the following: Price is $108,000 Each.

Located in Melbourne Please contact Rod Wilson 0417511011

lymbassador Wanted Wimmera Vic

m BLEEKEMOLEN vs FROST BLEEKEMOLEN'S father, Michael (right), was himself a racer. He did two seasons in Formula 1, but his claim to fame was perhaps his second place finish behind Alain Prost in the 1979 Euro F3 Championship.

Fast forward 32 years and the sons of Prost and Bleekemolen would share an LMP1 Lola-Toyota to sixth outright at Le Mans.

But that's not how Bleekemolen Jnr met Prost Snr - they'd become acquainted the previous year in somewhat unusual circumstances.

"I did the Race of Champions two years ago in Dusseldorf,"Jeroen explains, "and Alain Prost was competing too. We were sitting in the press conference and he turned to me and said:'Your name - I know

Rockhampton Old

Orange NSW

●nir Tm ■

Shannons have 19 exciting no oppoitpi|ieS|a,"higlily.mQ|ivated n^^ to be a Shannons Amhassador.

your name. Are you related to Michael Bleekemolen? Because I raced against Bleekemolen in 1979 in Formula 3.'

He is looking at me, asking;'are you his son, a relative?'So that's how I met Alain Prost!"

The successful applicants will be expected to attend regular weekend motoring events within this region - and promote the Shannons brand to local motoring businesses. Reporting to the Regional Business Development Manager, the Regional Development Officer will also be responsible for seeking out and developing new motoring events, liaising with ear/bike clubs and promoting the Shannons brand and products.

This is a part time, paid on result position on a tcoritractual basis. Extensive training, support and

promotional equipment will be provided to the successful applicant. If you are semi retired or looking for a lifestyle job or hungry for a secondary appointment that will work with your passion for cars or bikes, then this appointment will reward you. ' If you would like to know more about being part of tbe Shannons team and would like another reason to be involved in the motoring movement please forward your application and/or resume to; ‘ stephen_taylor@shannons.com.au or call 07 3186 3S63. p.

motorsport news

x:*k

n n

J

I

In the Netherlands, we have 17 million people but we don’t have GT racing or a national main series for any class where drivers get paid nil

; I

! j

V8 Supercars is something Bleekemolen is keen to do, and given the mutual admiration society that developed between Bleekemolen and SLS co-driver Tim Slade over the Bathurst weekend,the Dutchman's presence at Surfers in October in an SBR Falcon is looking fairly likely...

Bleekemolen has seen V8 Supercars and is amazed at its popularity.

"It's fantastic to see how big that series is here. I talked to Tim Slade about that: if you look at ALMS in America,and that country is so big, how many people live there, and how many people live here, and how popular Australian V8s is it's amazing.

"Even in the Netherlands, we have 17 million people but we don't have GT racing or a national main series for any class where drivers get paid. But here it's just big - the racing is good and it means something. I would love to do V8 Supercars in the future."

As to the present, Bleekemolen is pretty satisfied with the way things are going at the moment.

"Hopefully I can tick all the boxes with the big enduros. I've had a class win at Le Mans, so hopefully I can win it outright.

The same for races like this; it's great to put on your resume that you've won the 12 hours of Bathurst.

"Maybe it's not a race with 60 cars, but there is really good competition here. Black Falcon had the intention to come here and I'm really happy to get the chance to be here because I really wanted to do this race. I see already a lot of European teams and driversthey want to come out here.

"It's a great start to the year to do Dubai, Daytona and here. It's a lot of travelling, but it's great to do all these races - and there's not a lot of races going on at this time of year in Europe, so otherwise you're Just sitting at home in the cold! So I want to really make sure I'm coming back to this place."

A1 effort: Bleekemolen was one of the drivers for the Netherlands team in the defunct A1 Grand Prix of Nations, top right.

mr

i

n

.

Trdfeo Mbtdf^port offer these two Identical current look Corvette 2009 C6 GT cars that were built as a ground up project for the Asian GTS series, Built in Honk Kong as a project of 5 cars these two vehicles were purchased by Trofeo last year and are now surplus to our requirements, the cars have had little use in testing only. Please note that they are not Homologated FIA GTS cars, they are Built from the C6 Steel chassis platform with Z06 bodywork,the cars feature the following: Price is $108,000 Each.

Located in Melbourne Please contact Rod Wilson 0417511011

lymbassador Wanted Wimmera Vic

m BLEEKEMOLEN vs FROST BLEEKEMOLEN'S father, Michael (right), was himself a racer. He did two seasons in Formula 1, but his claim to fame was perhaps his second place finish behind Alain Prost in the 1979 Euro F3 Championship.

Fast forward 32 years and the sons of Prost and Bleekemolen would share an LMP1 Lola-Toyota to sixth outright at Le Mans.

But that's not how Bleekemolen Jnr met Prost Snr - they'd become acquainted the previous year in somewhat unusual circumstances.

"I did the Race of Champions two years ago in Dusseldorf,"Jeroen explains, "and Alain Prost was competing too. We were sitting in the press conference and he turned to me and said:'Your name - I know

Rockhampton Old

Orange NSW

●nir Tm ■

Shannons have 19 exciting no oppoitpi|ieS|a,"higlily.mQ|ivated n^^ to be a Shannons Amhassador.

your name. Are you related to Michael Bleekemolen? Because I raced against Bleekemolen in 1979 in Formula 3.'

He is looking at me, asking;'are you his son, a relative?'So that's how I met Alain Prost!"

The successful applicants will be expected to attend regular weekend motoring events within this region - and promote the Shannons brand to local motoring businesses. Reporting to the Regional Business Development Manager, the Regional Development Officer will also be responsible for seeking out and developing new motoring events, liaising with ear/bike clubs and promoting the Shannons brand and products.

This is a part time, paid on result position on a tcoritractual basis. Extensive training, support and

promotional equipment will be provided to the successful applicant. If you are semi retired or looking for a lifestyle job or hungry for a secondary appointment that will work with your passion for cars or bikes, then this appointment will reward you. ' If you would like to know more about being part of tbe Shannons team and would like another reason to be involved in the motoring movement please forward your application and/or resume to; ‘ stephen_taylor@shannons.com.au or call 07 3186 3S63. p.

motorsport news

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TRENCHING SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA

THE SECOND ROW national racing since we last met I’fil

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CLIPSAL 500 SUPPORTS I

DUNLOP V8 SUPERCAR SERIES Chaz Mostert started the 2012 Dunlop Series in perfect style, taking pole position and a pair ofrace wins on the streets of Adelaide.

In a winning weekend for Ford Performance Racing, Mostert qualified on pole by four-tenths of a second before winning Race 1 by eight seconds and Race 2 by nine. Scott McLaughlin was second in the opener ahead of Nick Percat, but Percat switched those positions on the final lap of Race 2 to grab second for the weekend.

Ash Walsh was fourth and fifth in the two races to be fourth for the weekend. In sixth, Scott Pye was the best of the rookies, after finishing fifth in Race 1 and seventh in Race 2.

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FORMULA FORD After finishing second in the 2011 points. Jack LeBrocq started his 2012 Australian Formula Ford Championship with a round win at Albert Park.

CARRERA CUP Reigning Champion Craig Baird leads the Porsche City Index Carrera Cup standings after the first two rounds of the 2012 season.

Series returnee Alex Davison won two of the three races in the season opener on the streets of Adelaide to win the round ahead of Baird - who won the other race - and Daniel Gaunt.

A fortnight later at Albert Park, though, there was no stopping Baird. He led home Jonny Reid and Davison in each race to take the championship lead. Former FI driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was a guest driver at Albert Park, finishing fourth in the first two races and 15th in the final.

James Koundouris and Max Twigg have split the Elite Class wins, with Twigg atop the points.

52

Kris Walton took out the opening round of the Auto One V8 Lite Racing Series on the streets of Adelaide, in the debut of Ford's FG Ute. Walton won Races 2 and 3 to seal the round honours ahead of fellow FG drivers Ryal Flarris and Andrew Fisher.

John Bowe won two of the three races to kick off his Touring Car Masters title defence. Gavin Bullas won the other, but Bowe claimed the weekend spoils, with Andrew Miedecke and Jim Richards'new AMC Javelin completing the podium.

Klark Quinn emerged on top after a dramatic opening round of the Australian GT Championship,leading home Jordan Ormsby in Race 1 and James Brock in Race 2.

The same three drivers filled the top three spots in all three Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship races. James Winslow claimed a clean sweep,followed home by Mat Sofi and Chris Gilmour.

Adrian Cottrell won all four races in the 2012 Aussie Racing Car season opener, winning the round ahead of Kyle Clews and Peter Carr.

SHANNONS NATIONALS Teen Josh Hunter made a stunning debut in the KumhoVS Touring Car Series, winning all three races at Eastern Creek. After two years in Formula Ford, the grandson of Sprintcar legend Garry Rush won the round ahead of Scott Loadsman and Jim Pollicina.

Stuart Kostera and Inky Tulloch continued their dominance of the Australian Manufacturers Championship, the Lancer pair winning both one-hour races in the 2012 season opener.

Neale Muston took out the Radical Australia Cup feature race, leading home Ed Singleton, while reigning champs Adam Beechey and Allan Jarvis clean swept the Commodore Cup and Swift Racing Series weekends respectively.

LeBrocq won the wet opening race after executing last-lap pass on pole-sitter Mathew Hart.

Hart then turned the tables to score his maiden Formula Ford victory in Race 2, but LeBrocq took out the final to win the round.

Despite falling to fifth with a brake problem in Race 3, Hart was second overall, ahead of Garry Jacobson and Jonathon Venter.

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Tom Wilde splashed to his maiden Bosch Australian Rally Championship event win in the inaugural ECB Rally Calder.

The West Australian claimed the Four Wheel Drive victory at the very last minute, with Steven Shepherd slowing on the final stage with a mechanical problem and relinquishing the lead. Michael Boaden sits third in the standings after the weekend.

In theTwo Wheel Drive class, Eli Evans gave Honda's new G2 specification Jazz a winning debut.

Evans led all the way, winning each of the three heats to claim Honda's first ARC round win, ahead Jack Monkhouse.

Team-mate Mark Redder showed plenty of pace, but was hampered by a mechanical problem in Heat 2.

DRAG RACING John Zappia moved into the lead of ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer at Perth Motorplex's Westernationals. Zappia's 5.86s pass was enough to beat Robin Judd's 5.86 in the final, while former points leader Peter Kapiris crashed out in the first round.

Pro Stock also has a new points leader, with Denis Whiting beating Tyronne Tremayne in the final to move into top spot.

THE SECOND ROW national racing since we last met I’fil

IV

>».4.

CLIPSAL 500 SUPPORTS I

DUNLOP V8 SUPERCAR SERIES Chaz Mostert started the 2012 Dunlop Series in perfect style, taking pole position and a pair ofrace wins on the streets of Adelaide.

In a winning weekend for Ford Performance Racing, Mostert qualified on pole by four-tenths of a second before winning Race 1 by eight seconds and Race 2 by nine. Scott McLaughlin was second in the opener ahead of Nick Percat, but Percat switched those positions on the final lap of Race 2 to grab second for the weekend.

Ash Walsh was fourth and fifth in the two races to be fourth for the weekend. In sixth, Scott Pye was the best of the rookies, after finishing fifth in Race 1 and seventh in Race 2.

1.

ri

7^

m

'■4

3

FORMULA FORD After finishing second in the 2011 points. Jack LeBrocq started his 2012 Australian Formula Ford Championship with a round win at Albert Park.

CARRERA CUP Reigning Champion Craig Baird leads the Porsche City Index Carrera Cup standings after the first two rounds of the 2012 season.

Series returnee Alex Davison won two of the three races in the season opener on the streets of Adelaide to win the round ahead of Baird - who won the other race - and Daniel Gaunt.

A fortnight later at Albert Park, though, there was no stopping Baird. He led home Jonny Reid and Davison in each race to take the championship lead. Former FI driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was a guest driver at Albert Park, finishing fourth in the first two races and 15th in the final.

James Koundouris and Max Twigg have split the Elite Class wins, with Twigg atop the points.

52

Kris Walton took out the opening round of the Auto One V8 Lite Racing Series on the streets of Adelaide, in the debut of Ford's FG Ute. Walton won Races 2 and 3 to seal the round honours ahead of fellow FG drivers Ryal Flarris and Andrew Fisher.

John Bowe won two of the three races to kick off his Touring Car Masters title defence. Gavin Bullas won the other, but Bowe claimed the weekend spoils, with Andrew Miedecke and Jim Richards'new AMC Javelin completing the podium.

Klark Quinn emerged on top after a dramatic opening round of the Australian GT Championship,leading home Jordan Ormsby in Race 1 and James Brock in Race 2.

The same three drivers filled the top three spots in all three Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship races. James Winslow claimed a clean sweep,followed home by Mat Sofi and Chris Gilmour.

Adrian Cottrell won all four races in the 2012 Aussie Racing Car season opener, winning the round ahead of Kyle Clews and Peter Carr.

SHANNONS NATIONALS Teen Josh Hunter made a stunning debut in the KumhoVS Touring Car Series, winning all three races at Eastern Creek. After two years in Formula Ford, the grandson of Sprintcar legend Garry Rush won the round ahead of Scott Loadsman and Jim Pollicina.

Stuart Kostera and Inky Tulloch continued their dominance of the Australian Manufacturers Championship, the Lancer pair winning both one-hour races in the 2012 season opener.

Neale Muston took out the Radical Australia Cup feature race, leading home Ed Singleton, while reigning champs Adam Beechey and Allan Jarvis clean swept the Commodore Cup and Swift Racing Series weekends respectively.

LeBrocq won the wet opening race after executing last-lap pass on pole-sitter Mathew Hart.

Hart then turned the tables to score his maiden Formula Ford victory in Race 2, but LeBrocq took out the final to win the round.

Despite falling to fifth with a brake problem in Race 3, Hart was second overall, ahead of Garry Jacobson and Jonathon Venter.

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Tom Wilde splashed to his maiden Bosch Australian Rally Championship event win in the inaugural ECB Rally Calder.

The West Australian claimed the Four Wheel Drive victory at the very last minute, with Steven Shepherd slowing on the final stage with a mechanical problem and relinquishing the lead. Michael Boaden sits third in the standings after the weekend.

In theTwo Wheel Drive class, Eli Evans gave Honda's new G2 specification Jazz a winning debut.

Evans led all the way, winning each of the three heats to claim Honda's first ARC round win, ahead Jack Monkhouse.

Team-mate Mark Redder showed plenty of pace, but was hampered by a mechanical problem in Heat 2.

DRAG RACING John Zappia moved into the lead of ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer at Perth Motorplex's Westernationals. Zappia's 5.86s pass was enough to beat Robin Judd's 5.86 in the final, while former points leader Peter Kapiris crashed out in the first round.

Pro Stock also has a new points leader, with Denis Whiting beating Tyronne Tremayne in the final to move into top spot.

M

OTORSPORT NEWS:You've both now completed your maiden Dunlop Series rounds - 12 months ago, did either of you think you'd be here, racing in this series this weekend?

SCOTT PYE: It was something I'd been thinking about for a while, but I wasn't too sure about it. Like George, I'm sure he wanted to stay overseas for a little bit longer and give it another crack, but for me, especially, the budget restraints were quite large.

It's a fantastic category here and a great opportunity for me - there's no better team to do it with - so as soon as the chance came up, I jumped at it, really.

GEORGE MIEDECKE: For me,it was pretty much the same. It didn't mean we weren't focusing with what we were doing with the UARA and NASCAR stuff, but at the same time, every time the Supercars were on TV, I was finding some way to watch it. It's really worked out well. When it came down to about August, Marcos[Ambrose]and I sat down and we knew that the American thing, even though it was going well, wasn't going to go anywhere,just because the economy's so bad.

So we started picking up telephones.

Funnily enough, with Mick Ritter and Sonic, we're also in Triple Eight equipment. It's the benchmark equipment,so we're pretty happy with how we landed.

MN: How'd you find it?

PYE; It was a tough learning curve, considering the cars I've been driving. I'm not sure how George felt about it, but it's over double the weight of what I'm used to. So you feel the weight. I did some damage to the front tyres, the braking's the biggest thing to get used to, I think.

Overall, we put together a fairly good weekend, I think we finished fifth for the round and that was the goal. We tried not to set too many high expectations, it was really just about keeping it out of the wall, really. To come out of here top five was well up there in our expectations, so I was really happy. We learnt a lot and hopefully I can go one better in qualifying in Barbagallo and push into the top three and stay there.

MIEDECKE: I saw mine as a weekend of two halves. Same as Scott, I came into the weekend trying to keep my expectations realistic, and learn. While I've always been in touring cars. I've been on ovals for the last 12 months, which is night and day with how you drive the car.

I was happy to qualify inside the top six in my debut in the equipment we've got. So that part of it, I was really happy with, and the first race. We ended up going down a cylinder and still finishing 10th, I felt like I was driving well and doing a good job.

But Race 2, man. I'm just really disappointed with myself. I got a good start and a good first couple of laps, but it's a learning curve and getting used to driving these cars. In the end, I just burnt the rear tyres off of it. That really cost us any chance of a good result. I'm a little bit mad at myself for the first half but happy with the first half.

There's definitely mixed emotions.The pace is encouraging and going to Barbagallo, in a couple of months, I think I can expect to at least maintain or improve our position. We're going to have a new motor, we were running with a backup motor this weekend.

I was a learning weekend.

SO,HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? THIS YEAR'S DUNLOP SERIES ROOKIE CROP FEATURES A PAIP OF DRIVERS RETURNING HOME AFTER TVYO YEARS HONING THEIR CRAFT OVERSEAS.fliTCHELL ADAM SAT SCOTT PYE AND GEORGE MIEDECKE DOVtfN FOR A CHAT AFT^R THEIR V8 DEBUTS

MN:How did you both find the racing, I imagine you've both got some stories to tell, given the way the races went. {Both chuckle) MIEDECKE: On my behalf,the first race was pretty docile, really. We all sort of got in a line and I was quite comfortably in fifth and pulling away. But then the motor went,so 1 was a rolling chicane for a little bit there. Race 2, 1 just managed to get myself into a few little battles and got introduced to the way these guys play.They play hard. It's a good track for it, too. You really feel like you're on the limit the whole time.

MN:You got to spend some time on the defensive, Scott, in Race 1.

PYE: Yeah, our pace in qualifying was surprising. Well not so much surprising, our goal was to be in the top four.To jump Nick [Percat] off the start was fantastic, but we had a bit of an issue nil 55

M

OTORSPORT NEWS:You've both now completed your maiden Dunlop Series rounds - 12 months ago, did either of you think you'd be here, racing in this series this weekend?

SCOTT PYE: It was something I'd been thinking about for a while, but I wasn't too sure about it. Like George, I'm sure he wanted to stay overseas for a little bit longer and give it another crack, but for me, especially, the budget restraints were quite large.

It's a fantastic category here and a great opportunity for me - there's no better team to do it with - so as soon as the chance came up, I jumped at it, really.

GEORGE MIEDECKE: For me,it was pretty much the same. It didn't mean we weren't focusing with what we were doing with the UARA and NASCAR stuff, but at the same time, every time the Supercars were on TV, I was finding some way to watch it. It's really worked out well. When it came down to about August, Marcos[Ambrose]and I sat down and we knew that the American thing, even though it was going well, wasn't going to go anywhere,just because the economy's so bad.

So we started picking up telephones.

Funnily enough, with Mick Ritter and Sonic, we're also in Triple Eight equipment. It's the benchmark equipment,so we're pretty happy with how we landed.

MN: How'd you find it?

PYE; It was a tough learning curve, considering the cars I've been driving. I'm not sure how George felt about it, but it's over double the weight of what I'm used to. So you feel the weight. I did some damage to the front tyres, the braking's the biggest thing to get used to, I think.

Overall, we put together a fairly good weekend, I think we finished fifth for the round and that was the goal. We tried not to set too many high expectations, it was really just about keeping it out of the wall, really. To come out of here top five was well up there in our expectations, so I was really happy. We learnt a lot and hopefully I can go one better in qualifying in Barbagallo and push into the top three and stay there.

MIEDECKE: I saw mine as a weekend of two halves. Same as Scott, I came into the weekend trying to keep my expectations realistic, and learn. While I've always been in touring cars. I've been on ovals for the last 12 months, which is night and day with how you drive the car.

I was happy to qualify inside the top six in my debut in the equipment we've got. So that part of it, I was really happy with, and the first race. We ended up going down a cylinder and still finishing 10th, I felt like I was driving well and doing a good job.

But Race 2, man. I'm just really disappointed with myself. I got a good start and a good first couple of laps, but it's a learning curve and getting used to driving these cars. In the end, I just burnt the rear tyres off of it. That really cost us any chance of a good result. I'm a little bit mad at myself for the first half but happy with the first half.

There's definitely mixed emotions.The pace is encouraging and going to Barbagallo, in a couple of months, I think I can expect to at least maintain or improve our position. We're going to have a new motor, we were running with a backup motor this weekend.

I was a learning weekend.

SO,HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? THIS YEAR'S DUNLOP SERIES ROOKIE CROP FEATURES A PAIP OF DRIVERS RETURNING HOME AFTER TVYO YEARS HONING THEIR CRAFT OVERSEAS.fliTCHELL ADAM SAT SCOTT PYE AND GEORGE MIEDECKE DOVtfN FOR A CHAT AFT^R THEIR V8 DEBUTS

MN:How did you both find the racing, I imagine you've both got some stories to tell, given the way the races went. {Both chuckle) MIEDECKE: On my behalf,the first race was pretty docile, really. We all sort of got in a line and I was quite comfortably in fifth and pulling away. But then the motor went,so 1 was a rolling chicane for a little bit there. Race 2, 1 just managed to get myself into a few little battles and got introduced to the way these guys play.They play hard. It's a good track for it, too. You really feel like you're on the limit the whole time.

MN:You got to spend some time on the defensive, Scott, in Race 1.

PYE: Yeah, our pace in qualifying was surprising. Well not so much surprising, our goal was to be in the top four.To jump Nick [Percat] off the start was fantastic, but we had a bit of an issue nil 55

i

and I kept locking the fronts, and by lap two or three I was already on canvas on the fronts.They were hindering us quite badly and I could tell that I was holding up the pack quite badly.

Nick's quite aggressive, I wasn't sure how long I would last, but I knew that as long as I didn't make any mistakes, he wasn't going to get past.

He put on a lot of pressure, but I think that's something Europe and the States prepares you for. I felt pretty cool and comfortable there. but he couldn't find a way past so he found his own way past using the rear bar. It changed our race from there on, we lost a few spots and a bit of momentum. But overall it was a good way to come into the race, sitting in the top three for quite some time and getting bumped back through no fault of my own was actually quite a good feeling. We were right up there fighting for it.

I can't believe the first lap as well. Your rears spend no time on the ground, you're just getting pushed everywhere. Did you find that?

Your team-mate (ED: Rodney Jane) was into me for the first lap and I was all'woah', all over the place with oversteer.

MIEDECKE: It's manic until an order is established. Usually when everyone gets into single file...

PYE:... when you get onto the back straight.

MIEDECKE: And no matter how hard you try, there's a bit of respect for your team-mates still, even when you're in the pack.

PYE: I think you followed me,didn't you, when I let Rodney through?

MIEDECKE: Yeah.

PYE: I was like,Tm going to have to lift, I hope he doesn't take it'. I lifted off quite early so he could take it.

MIEDECKE: I was never going to get far enough up. I just figured we'd all go through nose-to-tail, then we all got down toTurn 9 and we were defending and oh, man, it was insane.

PYE: I looked in the mirror, waiting for you to come out. One time I defended and Walsh -1 ran out of room because the cars in front backed up,so I was right on the back of them - I looked in the mirror.

I got a little rub and,the next thing, Walsh is sideways out of the side. like sliding down the inside.

He came and says'it was an accident, I didn't even mean to overtake you, sorry about that'. I bet it looked good. I couldn't believe it. nil

PYE ON HIS SWITCH TO A V8 SUPERCAR

PYE:There were some good ones, but I think a lot of them were accidental. I reckon Dave Russell got me by accident down there one time. I think when you outbrake yourself in these things it's hard to tell until you get to the corner, and you're like'oh, no'.

MIEDECKE:Speaking of Dave Russell, I probably made theTV a little bit nibbling on his back bumper there in Race 2, but we were just going around and I couldn't believe how slow he had to slow that thing down to get it to turn. We talked about it after the race and shook hands and it was all good.

It probably looked pretty aggressive. I had a couple of little nibbles and then, man,a real big bang. But I managed to get away with it, which was good. I think we were both a bit frustrated, because it was after we both had to serve that pitlane penalty, we'd both jumped kerbs.

PYE: Was that from the kerbs?

MIEDECKE:Yeah, we'd had the warnings and we both backed off, but I don't know. One lap I just turned in and couldn't turn. I don't know.We managed to trip it a third time and had to come through and serve a pitlane penalty.That is... don't ever do that.

PYE: The longest drive ever?

MIEDECKE: It's the longest drive ever, you come in, you're banging on the limiter and you're sitting there rolling along. Dave and I were noseto-tail all of the way down pitlane and I'm sure we were both thinking to ourselves'this is ridiculous'.Then the limiter comes off and you're trying to keep the wheel spin to a minimum.

PYE: Where did you say you finished in the end?

MIEDECKE: Ah, I don't know. 13th, 15th or something like that. It's embarrassing.(ED: 14th) PYE:That's actually not too bad, after a drive-through, though.There must've been some big gaps there.

MIEDECKE: One race on seven cylinders and the other with a drivethrough. I'm definitely not taking the record for the most consistent weekend ever. But, again, I think we can be encouraged by the pace.

Taking that to Barbagallo is the key.

MN:Scott touched on Europe a little earlier. With what you've both been doing for the last two years, obviously it's very different to

those campaigns?

MIEDECKE: I would've thought with the oval racing that I'd have been really, really good at managing the tyres. But that was one of my weak points in the last race, and it's something I'm going to have to work hard on between now and our next race.

Otherwise, if I could say one thing's gotten better is that America's made me meaner and angrier than I've ever been,and given me a bit of the mongrel back, which is good. You need that in this sort of racing.

PYE: The level of professionalism in Europe is very high as well. We did a lot of training, media and physical training and things like that, and I think it's prepared me really well for coming back here now.

It puts you not on a different level to where I was when I left Australia, but you can take a lot from the experience. V8 Supercars now here is at a very elite level and it's probably the best touring car championship anywhere in the world, so it's nothing to be sneezed at. You need to be at the top ofyour game to do well, so for both of us, going away and running in some pretty tough championships overseas can only help.

Hopefully we can carry that on and keep learning and developing in the Dunlop Series, so when we hit the Main Series we can battle for championships eventually.

MIEDECKE: And that's the thing as well. Like Scott was saying. between both of us, having driven quite a few different types of cars and becoming accustomed to going through those learning periods.

I think that will position us well to take advantage of the whole Development Series and these cars.

We've both got good equipment and we're running with good teams, with good, strong bases to build from. Going away. having done that and coming back, I think we'll be stronger than when we left.

MN:You both came here after a little bit of testing, but having driven open-wheelers and stock cars for the last two seasons. How'd you both find driving these cars themselves?

PYE: I was actually quite surprised with how responsive they were.

You'd imagine something that big,that powerful, would feel

i

and I kept locking the fronts, and by lap two or three I was already on canvas on the fronts.They were hindering us quite badly and I could tell that I was holding up the pack quite badly.

Nick's quite aggressive, I wasn't sure how long I would last, but I knew that as long as I didn't make any mistakes, he wasn't going to get past.

He put on a lot of pressure, but I think that's something Europe and the States prepares you for. I felt pretty cool and comfortable there. but he couldn't find a way past so he found his own way past using the rear bar. It changed our race from there on, we lost a few spots and a bit of momentum. But overall it was a good way to come into the race, sitting in the top three for quite some time and getting bumped back through no fault of my own was actually quite a good feeling. We were right up there fighting for it.

I can't believe the first lap as well. Your rears spend no time on the ground, you're just getting pushed everywhere. Did you find that?

Your team-mate (ED: Rodney Jane) was into me for the first lap and I was all'woah', all over the place with oversteer.

MIEDECKE: It's manic until an order is established. Usually when everyone gets into single file...

PYE:... when you get onto the back straight.

MIEDECKE: And no matter how hard you try, there's a bit of respect for your team-mates still, even when you're in the pack.

PYE: I think you followed me,didn't you, when I let Rodney through?

MIEDECKE: Yeah.

PYE: I was like,Tm going to have to lift, I hope he doesn't take it'. I lifted off quite early so he could take it.

MIEDECKE: I was never going to get far enough up. I just figured we'd all go through nose-to-tail, then we all got down toTurn 9 and we were defending and oh, man, it was insane.

PYE: I looked in the mirror, waiting for you to come out. One time I defended and Walsh -1 ran out of room because the cars in front backed up,so I was right on the back of them - I looked in the mirror.

I got a little rub and,the next thing, Walsh is sideways out of the side. like sliding down the inside.

He came and says'it was an accident, I didn't even mean to overtake you, sorry about that'. I bet it looked good. I couldn't believe it. nil

PYE ON HIS SWITCH TO A V8 SUPERCAR

PYE:There were some good ones, but I think a lot of them were accidental. I reckon Dave Russell got me by accident down there one time. I think when you outbrake yourself in these things it's hard to tell until you get to the corner, and you're like'oh, no'.

MIEDECKE:Speaking of Dave Russell, I probably made theTV a little bit nibbling on his back bumper there in Race 2, but we were just going around and I couldn't believe how slow he had to slow that thing down to get it to turn. We talked about it after the race and shook hands and it was all good.

It probably looked pretty aggressive. I had a couple of little nibbles and then, man,a real big bang. But I managed to get away with it, which was good. I think we were both a bit frustrated, because it was after we both had to serve that pitlane penalty, we'd both jumped kerbs.

PYE: Was that from the kerbs?

MIEDECKE:Yeah, we'd had the warnings and we both backed off, but I don't know. One lap I just turned in and couldn't turn. I don't know.We managed to trip it a third time and had to come through and serve a pitlane penalty.That is... don't ever do that.

PYE: The longest drive ever?

MIEDECKE: It's the longest drive ever, you come in, you're banging on the limiter and you're sitting there rolling along. Dave and I were noseto-tail all of the way down pitlane and I'm sure we were both thinking to ourselves'this is ridiculous'.Then the limiter comes off and you're trying to keep the wheel spin to a minimum.

PYE: Where did you say you finished in the end?

MIEDECKE: Ah, I don't know. 13th, 15th or something like that. It's embarrassing.(ED: 14th) PYE:That's actually not too bad, after a drive-through, though.There must've been some big gaps there.

MIEDECKE: One race on seven cylinders and the other with a drivethrough. I'm definitely not taking the record for the most consistent weekend ever. But, again, I think we can be encouraged by the pace.

Taking that to Barbagallo is the key.

MN:Scott touched on Europe a little earlier. With what you've both been doing for the last two years, obviously it's very different to

those campaigns?

MIEDECKE: I would've thought with the oval racing that I'd have been really, really good at managing the tyres. But that was one of my weak points in the last race, and it's something I'm going to have to work hard on between now and our next race.

Otherwise, if I could say one thing's gotten better is that America's made me meaner and angrier than I've ever been,and given me a bit of the mongrel back, which is good. You need that in this sort of racing.

PYE: The level of professionalism in Europe is very high as well. We did a lot of training, media and physical training and things like that, and I think it's prepared me really well for coming back here now.

It puts you not on a different level to where I was when I left Australia, but you can take a lot from the experience. V8 Supercars now here is at a very elite level and it's probably the best touring car championship anywhere in the world, so it's nothing to be sneezed at. You need to be at the top ofyour game to do well, so for both of us, going away and running in some pretty tough championships overseas can only help.

Hopefully we can carry that on and keep learning and developing in the Dunlop Series, so when we hit the Main Series we can battle for championships eventually.

MIEDECKE: And that's the thing as well. Like Scott was saying. between both of us, having driven quite a few different types of cars and becoming accustomed to going through those learning periods.

I think that will position us well to take advantage of the whole Development Series and these cars.

We've both got good equipment and we're running with good teams, with good, strong bases to build from. Going away. having done that and coming back, I think we'll be stronger than when we left.

MN:You both came here after a little bit of testing, but having driven open-wheelers and stock cars for the last two seasons. How'd you both find driving these cars themselves?

PYE: I was actually quite surprised with how responsive they were.

You'd imagine something that big,that powerful, would feel

input and also changes, when you make a set-up change, I couldn't believe how sensitive it was and how easy it was to feel it.

Going from F3, we had some issues with maximising the downforce and grip you have and the feel, but I believe it's a lot easier to feel the limit in these cars. I found them fairly user friendly.

Physically, it's a little bit less demanding than an F3 car, which is nice, but I think a very cool car, with a lot of horsepower and it does what you want it to do as well. It's a different beast to tame, I think.

MIEDECKE;I'd agree with that.They are a big car, they're a heavy car, but they're extremely well engineered, and really brought to the absolute maximum of what they're capable of.They're a pleasure to drive, they stop well, go well and they turn OK.They're great at a place like this, where riding kerbs is important, it definitely introduces you to a whole new technique of driving.

But I'm really enjoying it. They've got a lot of power, a lot of grip and they're a lot of fun.

PYE: I actually got away with a brush atTurn 8. Going through Turn 8, 1 thought I was way away from the wall, I thought there was still some to come, but once I hit it, I was actually faster through there for It. But I sort offeel like [Ash] Walsh went through there on the first lap, smacked the wall quite hard, you can be unlucky with the angle you hit it at sometimes.

You see some guys get away with it and you think'how the hell did that happen'. But it's one of those corners, once you've done it a few times, on the way in, it looks pretty hairy but there's plenty of room, but then you get sucked into trying to go faster and faster. When did you hit it?

MIEDECKE: I hit it in Utes once,trying to do it flat. I had a couple of moments this weekend when I was turning left going through Turn 8, which was definitely interesting. I managed to keep it off the wall both times.

I had a couple of close calls, coming off[Turn] 11, blew a mirror off there, coming off of 6, 1 got a bit of a serve and blew a mirror off there. So by the end, i]ust had wires hanging out of each side of the car and no mirrors at all. I didn't just hit them,they just exploded.

PYE: 11's a tricky one.The rear comes out and you kind of go'doong' and have a little bit of a touch there. J-Dub (ED: Jamie Whincup)seems to take the rear off of the car there all of the times.

III!

I

I

I

MN:Overall, what's the consensus on your weekends?

PYE: I think for both of us, we showed in qualifying that our pace was good, but it's a steep learning curve and different to what we .e used to. But it's a challenge I think we're pretty excited about taking on.

Speaking for myself especially, I can't wait to be battling for wins with the top guys. I don't think it'll take long, we've shown in other championships that we can be right up at the front, we'll keep our heads down, keep pushing and hopefully before too long we'll be fighting for wins.

MIEDECKE: I would agree with that. I think Scotty and I showed, like he said, in qualifying,that we're both adapting to the cars. We're both really finding our feet quite fast in terms of outright pace.

Racing them is going to take us a bit, the guys in-front of us have been doing it for two or three years now,and there's no discounting that they're talented drivers. We've shown that we've got the potential to go on and do better, and I think that's got to be the aim.

You can never be happy, you've got to keep striving to go better, and it'll give us that extra bit of motivation when we go to the gym in the next two months or when we're going to work with the guys on the data. I think both of us are hungry, ready to get going and build on the potential.

PICKLES!

Pickles Auctions Serious Sports & Classic Car Auction to be held as part of

9

'

and

Carfe^val

19-20 May 2012

^^luaHt^lotTnowbein^ccepted^^^^M

TALE OF THE TAPE SCOTT PYE

AGE:22 2010: British Formula Ford Championship,Jamun Racing - 1st 2011: British Formula 3 Championship, Double-R Racing - 10th 2012: Dunlop Series,Triple Eight VE Commodore IN ADELAIDE:4th in qualifying,5th in Race 1,7th in Race 2.5th in points

GEORGE MIEDECKE AGE:26 2010: NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series,JTG Daugherty Racing -14 starts, nine top fives,two wins 2011: UARA Stars Series, Marcos Ambrose Motorsport- 2nd 2012: Dunlop Series,Sonic Motor Racing BF Falcon IN ADELAIDE:6th in qualifying, 10th in Race 1,15th in Race 2.

13th in points

WE'VE SHOWN THAT WE'VE GOT THE POTENTIAL TO GO ON AND DO BETTER,AND I THINK THAT'S GOT TO BE THE AIM. YOU CAN NEVER BE HAPPY

The auction is to be held by Pickles Auctions in the covered pit area of the historic Lakeside Raceway, (Kurwongbah, on the northern side of Brisbane) a fitting location for desirable sports and classic cars.

Enquiries:

Pickles Auctions Robert Webster: 07 3632 9400

Maclean’s Bridge at Lakeside Neville Smith; 07 3820 6121

www.pickles.com.au

www.macleansbridge.com

bet on M for the piile of your life!

It’s here - Slam Fest - and here’s your chance to recapture all the action from the hugely successful inaugural events at Mildura’s Sunraysia Raceway (round 1) and Portland, south west Victoria (round 2)!*Featuring one of the most spectacular

S TtCH

. ^' iiiuueswiu

Call to order;130II mi 14b iff

iTiisWiTigraiii

input and also changes, when you make a set-up change, I couldn't believe how sensitive it was and how easy it was to feel it.

Going from F3, we had some issues with maximising the downforce and grip you have and the feel, but I believe it's a lot easier to feel the limit in these cars. I found them fairly user friendly.

Physically, it's a little bit less demanding than an F3 car, which is nice, but I think a very cool car, with a lot of horsepower and it does what you want it to do as well. It's a different beast to tame, I think.

MIEDECKE;I'd agree with that.They are a big car, they're a heavy car, but they're extremely well engineered, and really brought to the absolute maximum of what they're capable of.They're a pleasure to drive, they stop well, go well and they turn OK.They're great at a place like this, where riding kerbs is important, it definitely introduces you to a whole new technique of driving.

But I'm really enjoying it. They've got a lot of power, a lot of grip and they're a lot of fun.

PYE: I actually got away with a brush atTurn 8. Going through Turn 8, 1 thought I was way away from the wall, I thought there was still some to come, but once I hit it, I was actually faster through there for It. But I sort offeel like [Ash] Walsh went through there on the first lap, smacked the wall quite hard, you can be unlucky with the angle you hit it at sometimes.

You see some guys get away with it and you think'how the hell did that happen'. But it's one of those corners, once you've done it a few times, on the way in, it looks pretty hairy but there's plenty of room, but then you get sucked into trying to go faster and faster. When did you hit it?

MIEDECKE: I hit it in Utes once,trying to do it flat. I had a couple of moments this weekend when I was turning left going through Turn 8, which was definitely interesting. I managed to keep it off the wall both times.

I had a couple of close calls, coming off[Turn] 11, blew a mirror off there, coming off of 6, 1 got a bit of a serve and blew a mirror off there. So by the end, i]ust had wires hanging out of each side of the car and no mirrors at all. I didn't just hit them,they just exploded.

PYE: 11's a tricky one.The rear comes out and you kind of go'doong' and have a little bit of a touch there. J-Dub (ED: Jamie Whincup)seems to take the rear off of the car there all of the times.

III!

I

I

I

MN:Overall, what's the consensus on your weekends?

PYE: I think for both of us, we showed in qualifying that our pace was good, but it's a steep learning curve and different to what we .e used to. But it's a challenge I think we're pretty excited about taking on.

Speaking for myself especially, I can't wait to be battling for wins with the top guys. I don't think it'll take long, we've shown in other championships that we can be right up at the front, we'll keep our heads down, keep pushing and hopefully before too long we'll be fighting for wins.

MIEDECKE: I would agree with that. I think Scotty and I showed, like he said, in qualifying,that we're both adapting to the cars. We're both really finding our feet quite fast in terms of outright pace.

Racing them is going to take us a bit, the guys in-front of us have been doing it for two or three years now,and there's no discounting that they're talented drivers. We've shown that we've got the potential to go on and do better, and I think that's got to be the aim.

You can never be happy, you've got to keep striving to go better, and it'll give us that extra bit of motivation when we go to the gym in the next two months or when we're going to work with the guys on the data. I think both of us are hungry, ready to get going and build on the potential.

PICKLES!

Pickles Auctions Serious Sports & Classic Car Auction to be held as part of

9

'

and

Carfe^val

19-20 May 2012

^^luaHt^lotTnowbein^ccepted^^^^M

TALE OF THE TAPE SCOTT PYE

AGE:22 2010: British Formula Ford Championship,Jamun Racing - 1st 2011: British Formula 3 Championship, Double-R Racing - 10th 2012: Dunlop Series,Triple Eight VE Commodore IN ADELAIDE:4th in qualifying,5th in Race 1,7th in Race 2.5th in points

GEORGE MIEDECKE AGE:26 2010: NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series,JTG Daugherty Racing -14 starts, nine top fives,two wins 2011: UARA Stars Series, Marcos Ambrose Motorsport- 2nd 2012: Dunlop Series,Sonic Motor Racing BF Falcon IN ADELAIDE:6th in qualifying, 10th in Race 1,15th in Race 2.

13th in points

WE'VE SHOWN THAT WE'VE GOT THE POTENTIAL TO GO ON AND DO BETTER,AND I THINK THAT'S GOT TO BE THE AIM. YOU CAN NEVER BE HAPPY

The auction is to be held by Pickles Auctions in the covered pit area of the historic Lakeside Raceway, (Kurwongbah, on the northern side of Brisbane) a fitting location for desirable sports and classic cars.

Enquiries:

Pickles Auctions Robert Webster: 07 3632 9400

Maclean’s Bridge at Lakeside Neville Smith; 07 3820 6121

www.pickles.com.au

www.macleansbridge.com

bet on M for the piile of your life!

It’s here - Slam Fest - and here’s your chance to recapture all the action from the hugely successful inaugural events at Mildura’s Sunraysia Raceway (round 1) and Portland, south west Victoria (round 2)!*Featuring one of the most spectacular

S TtCH

. ^' iiiuueswiu

Call to order;130II mi 14b iff

iTiisWiTigraiii

Snapshots from rj r J r

f

This year marked the 60th running of the 12 Hours of Sehring - and also the 10th Sehring victory for Audi. Our photographer Andrew Hall brings us this pictorial expose of this famous American sportscar race

.i ■'>

^ I

\

Audi from Florida: Without Peugeot opposition, Audi was fairly untroubled In scoring for a 10th time at Sebring,left. The new Nissan-backed Delta Wing, below right, did not race but added to the atmosphere ofthe event, right.

m 60

motorsport

WWW. inov...cGm.au

Snapshots from rj r J r

f

This year marked the 60th running of the 12 Hours of Sehring - and also the 10th Sehring victory for Audi. Our photographer Andrew Hall brings us this pictorial expose of this famous American sportscar race

.i ■'>

^ I

\

Audi from Florida: Without Peugeot opposition, Audi was fairly untroubled In scoring for a 10th time at Sebring,left. The new Nissan-backed Delta Wing, below right, did not race but added to the atmosphere ofthe event, right.

m 60

motorsport

WWW. inov...cGm.au

GT won:BMW won the GTclass with the Muller/Hand/Summerton M3,left. David Brabham shared an LMP1 HPD-Honda to 17th with Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok,below.

Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda took out the PI class, centre. Ehret/Farnbacher/ Jakubowski Ferrari was involved in an incident even before the start and did not complete a single lap. Centre Left.

Sebring was a nice warmup for Audi before the Le Mans 24 Hour, below.

McNish car at the start, top. Fried bubble gum stand ensured not one camper starved,centre left.

Aussie John Martin was sixth in LMP2in this Oreca Nissan, centre right. Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota ofNicolas Prost/NeelJani/Nick Heidfeld, below.

I

GT won:BMW won the GTclass with the Muller/Hand/Summerton M3,left. David Brabham shared an LMP1 HPD-Honda to 17th with Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok,below.

Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda took out the PI class, centre. Ehret/Farnbacher/ Jakubowski Ferrari was involved in an incident even before the start and did not complete a single lap. Centre Left.

Sebring was a nice warmup for Audi before the Le Mans 24 Hour, below.

McNish car at the start, top. Fried bubble gum stand ensured not one camper starved,centre left.

Aussie John Martin was sixth in LMP2in this Oreca Nissan, centre right. Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota ofNicolas Prost/NeelJani/Nick Heidfeld, below.

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THIS YEAR'S WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP ISN'T JUST ABOUT THE ^ PROTOTYPES --THERE'LL BE AN EQUALLY FASCINATING AND COMPETITIVE ' BATTLE IN THE CT RANKS. IN JHE THICK OF IT IS ASTON MARTIN, FOCUSING ON THE CLASS AFTER A TOUCH’iFORAY JNTO PROTOTYPES. ANDREW^VAN LEEUWEN SPOKE TO PRODRIVE'S DAv!WlRlCHARDS'’!?fBOUT THE PROGRAM ^

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t's a case of back to the future for Aston Martin in 2012.

After several years dabbling with prototypes - culminating in an embarrassing failure at Le Mans in 2011 - Aston Martin is going back to what it knows best. Yep, the British carmaker will be focussed wholly and solely on GT racing this year, the plan being to win the World Endurance Championship.

The step backwards (for lack of a better term) to GTs does make sense. In a nutshell, the prototype project didn't work, something even Aston Martin itself is forced to admit. Working alongside Lola, things looked okay; in 2009, a VI2 Aston Martinpowered Lola chassis, entered by Aston Martin Racing, finished fourth at Le Mans, the first of the petrol-powered cars, and won the Le Mans Series.

A year later, it was sixth at Le Mans still an impressive effort up against the mighty diesel-powered entries from Peugeot and Audi.

But in 2011, things took a turn for the worst. AMR attempted to build its own chassis, the AMR-One, an open-top, petrolpowered LMP1 car. Two AMR-Ones started last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, and between them they completed just six laps.

Instead of throwing money into a program that was unlikely to ever be competitive against the likes of Audi, Aston Martin decided to celebrate the return of a World Championship for sportscars by returning to GT racing.

With an ongoing customer program for GTS and GT4 cars, the ability to quickly and effectively develop a front-running GT car existed - and Aston Martin has taken full advantage of it by building the GTE. This is the car that AMR is hoping will take them back to the glory days, where they were GT1 Le Mans class winners (2007 and 2008).

Powered by a 4.5-litre V8, based on the engine used in the road-going Vantage, the GTE is an amalgamation of AMR's original GT1 car, and the GTS and GT4 cars that have followed as customer models. And the new car made a good start in Sebring at the first round of the World Endurance Championship, Stefan Mucke, Adrian Fernandez and Darren Turner finishing on the podium on debut.

At the recent Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, Motorsport News sat nil down with Prodrive boss and Aston 65

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t's a case of back to the future for Aston Martin in 2012.

After several years dabbling with prototypes - culminating in an embarrassing failure at Le Mans in 2011 - Aston Martin is going back to what it knows best. Yep, the British carmaker will be focussed wholly and solely on GT racing this year, the plan being to win the World Endurance Championship.

The step backwards (for lack of a better term) to GTs does make sense. In a nutshell, the prototype project didn't work, something even Aston Martin itself is forced to admit. Working alongside Lola, things looked okay; in 2009, a VI2 Aston Martinpowered Lola chassis, entered by Aston Martin Racing, finished fourth at Le Mans, the first of the petrol-powered cars, and won the Le Mans Series.

A year later, it was sixth at Le Mans still an impressive effort up against the mighty diesel-powered entries from Peugeot and Audi.

But in 2011, things took a turn for the worst. AMR attempted to build its own chassis, the AMR-One, an open-top, petrolpowered LMP1 car. Two AMR-Ones started last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, and between them they completed just six laps.

Instead of throwing money into a program that was unlikely to ever be competitive against the likes of Audi, Aston Martin decided to celebrate the return of a World Championship for sportscars by returning to GT racing.

With an ongoing customer program for GTS and GT4 cars, the ability to quickly and effectively develop a front-running GT car existed - and Aston Martin has taken full advantage of it by building the GTE. This is the car that AMR is hoping will take them back to the glory days, where they were GT1 Le Mans class winners (2007 and 2008).

Powered by a 4.5-litre V8, based on the engine used in the road-going Vantage, the GTE is an amalgamation of AMR's original GT1 car, and the GTS and GT4 cars that have followed as customer models. And the new car made a good start in Sebring at the first round of the World Endurance Championship, Stefan Mucke, Adrian Fernandez and Darren Turner finishing on the podium on debut.

At the recent Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, Motorsport News sat nil down with Prodrive boss and Aston 65

Martin Lagonda chairman David Richards to talk about prototypes, the GTE, and some interesting plans for Australia.

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Let's start with a more'world'view - how important is it, in terms of sportscars,that the World Endurance Championship has been created for 2012?

DAVID RICHARDS:The problem we've always faced with sportscar racing is that it revolves around one event in the year - Le Mans. And yet, there are some other great events around the world, whether it's Spa, or Sebring and Petit Le Mans in America, and even the Bathurst race now, with the GTs. There has been always been an opportunity to put them together.

It's been talked about for a while, although I personally think that maybe, as a starting point, we've got too many races this season.

I'd prefer to see it a little bit tighter, but you've got to start somewhere and it's a great step forward.

MN: Results from last year's Le Mans aside, how would you rate Aston Martin's prototype project? What was the overall 66

feeling from within the team?

DR: We had a couple of very good years in prototypes, with the original car - we won the petrol class at Le Mans on both occasions, very competitively. Unfortunately, it was always a case of trying to persuade the governing body to align the rules, so the diesel engines had their performance pegged and we had the opportunity of playing on an equal playing field.

When we took the big step to do our own car, we did it without enough time or resources to do it properly, AND with the regulations against us. There's no getting away from the fact that Le Mans last year was not our greatest hour, and that's the reason why we've gone back, re-grouped, and re-focussed on GTs for the foreseeable future.

MN:So there was absolutely no temptation to dust yourselves off and have another crack at the prototype thing?

DR:If the regulations had been changed, so there was some equivalency between petrol and diesel, after Le Mans last year, to a level where we thought we could be competitive, then we would have given that some consideration.

But when we looked at the amount of money required to develop that car, we felt that we still wouldn't have had a chance of competing on a level playing field. So we made the decision to change to GTs. We sold the chassis to Pescarolo, and we'll find a home for the engines in due course.

MN: And I suppose given the kind of cars Aston Martin sells, there is no real reason to develop an diesel engine ...

DR: A diesel engine is not in our portfolio for the foreseeable future, so no,that wouldn't make any sense.

MN:In what ways will the GTE be a step forward over the other GT cars Aston Martin has produced?

DR: We've had great success with GT racing in the past.The GTl car was a great product.

It won the GT class at Le Mans twice, beating the factory cars from Corvette, and we had some great races with them over the years.

When we stopped with the GTl car ourselves, the GT2 car was developed as a customer-based car. If I'm honest, we didn't put the development work into that car from the outset that we should have done. It's only now that we're focussing our full attention motorsport news

back on a GT car.

We've done some testing in Atlanta with the car, and it's going very well. Now it's got the full resources of our development capabilities behind it, we're going to see some big steps forward.

MN:How helpful has it been that there has been an on-going customer GT program? I mean,you're not exactly starting from scratch with this renewed factory effort ...

DR: We had a good base to start from.

We've rationalised our cars now. We basically have three GT products.

The GT4 car, which has evolved into a very reliable car for our customers to drive, is realistically priced, and highly competitive in the FIAGT Series.

The GT3 car is a brand new car this year, and it's a VI2 Vantage-based car, although it's highly modified.That's designed to be a car that's as competitive in the hands of an amateur driver as it is with one of our professional drivers. It's very well balanced, and the testing has been fantastic.

What we've learnt from those two cars has carried over to our new GTE car. For instance, the chassis and the roll cage are www.mnews.com.au

identical, as is the fuel cell installation. And of course, it's all based on the Vantage road car, so there is an enormous amount of carryover.

The engine is still the V8 engine - we've worked on reliability with that more than anything. When I look around at the car now,the front uprights are from the GT3, the chassis is now GT3,the aero is as we evolved it for Le Mans last year, so there are similarities, and changes.

MN:Personally, you've been involved in a lot of different motorsport programs, across a lot of different disciplines. Do you still get nervous when a whole new project is about to kickoff?

DR:This year, we've got three major programs. We've got the World Rally Championship with MINI, and we were runners-up in Monte Carlo at our first event for the year. We have the V8 Supercars in Australia, and we won first time out at Clipsal, and the next program is the GT program with Aston Martin. I guess that's the third tick in the box.

Once the three programs are off to a start like that, you feel much more relaxed about it.

Back to the future:Prodrive's attempt to go it alone with an Aston Martin LMP1 car, top, was a failed exercise,so David Richards has taken his company back to whatit does best, with a GTE entry in the World Endurance Championship,above.

MN:You've got three very different drivers, with three very different backgrounds. Darren Turner is a jack-ofall-trades, Stefan Miicke is a tin-top whizz, and Adrian Fernandez has an open-wheeler background. How do they work together?

DR:They are all stalwarts of the team,so none of them are new to us. Adrian's the newest member of the team,and he's driven for us for three years now.

Darren developed the original GTl car seven years ago,and he's been with us ever since.

We know them all extremely well, and they know the team extremely well.They're all great at developing the car, and it's a very reliable line-up.

MN:You've been on the record and said that there will be a second factory car for Le Mans this year; is that still the nil plan?

67

Martin Lagonda chairman David Richards to talk about prototypes, the GTE, and some interesting plans for Australia.

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Let's start with a more'world'view - how important is it, in terms of sportscars,that the World Endurance Championship has been created for 2012?

DAVID RICHARDS:The problem we've always faced with sportscar racing is that it revolves around one event in the year - Le Mans. And yet, there are some other great events around the world, whether it's Spa, or Sebring and Petit Le Mans in America, and even the Bathurst race now, with the GTs. There has been always been an opportunity to put them together.

It's been talked about for a while, although I personally think that maybe, as a starting point, we've got too many races this season.

I'd prefer to see it a little bit tighter, but you've got to start somewhere and it's a great step forward.

MN: Results from last year's Le Mans aside, how would you rate Aston Martin's prototype project? What was the overall 66

feeling from within the team?

DR: We had a couple of very good years in prototypes, with the original car - we won the petrol class at Le Mans on both occasions, very competitively. Unfortunately, it was always a case of trying to persuade the governing body to align the rules, so the diesel engines had their performance pegged and we had the opportunity of playing on an equal playing field.

When we took the big step to do our own car, we did it without enough time or resources to do it properly, AND with the regulations against us. There's no getting away from the fact that Le Mans last year was not our greatest hour, and that's the reason why we've gone back, re-grouped, and re-focussed on GTs for the foreseeable future.

MN:So there was absolutely no temptation to dust yourselves off and have another crack at the prototype thing?

DR:If the regulations had been changed, so there was some equivalency between petrol and diesel, after Le Mans last year, to a level where we thought we could be competitive, then we would have given that some consideration.

But when we looked at the amount of money required to develop that car, we felt that we still wouldn't have had a chance of competing on a level playing field. So we made the decision to change to GTs. We sold the chassis to Pescarolo, and we'll find a home for the engines in due course.

MN: And I suppose given the kind of cars Aston Martin sells, there is no real reason to develop an diesel engine ...

DR: A diesel engine is not in our portfolio for the foreseeable future, so no,that wouldn't make any sense.

MN:In what ways will the GTE be a step forward over the other GT cars Aston Martin has produced?

DR: We've had great success with GT racing in the past.The GTl car was a great product.

It won the GT class at Le Mans twice, beating the factory cars from Corvette, and we had some great races with them over the years.

When we stopped with the GTl car ourselves, the GT2 car was developed as a customer-based car. If I'm honest, we didn't put the development work into that car from the outset that we should have done. It's only now that we're focussing our full attention motorsport news

back on a GT car.

We've done some testing in Atlanta with the car, and it's going very well. Now it's got the full resources of our development capabilities behind it, we're going to see some big steps forward.

MN:How helpful has it been that there has been an on-going customer GT program? I mean,you're not exactly starting from scratch with this renewed factory effort ...

DR: We had a good base to start from.

We've rationalised our cars now. We basically have three GT products.

The GT4 car, which has evolved into a very reliable car for our customers to drive, is realistically priced, and highly competitive in the FIAGT Series.

The GT3 car is a brand new car this year, and it's a VI2 Vantage-based car, although it's highly modified.That's designed to be a car that's as competitive in the hands of an amateur driver as it is with one of our professional drivers. It's very well balanced, and the testing has been fantastic.

What we've learnt from those two cars has carried over to our new GTE car. For instance, the chassis and the roll cage are www.mnews.com.au

identical, as is the fuel cell installation. And of course, it's all based on the Vantage road car, so there is an enormous amount of carryover.

The engine is still the V8 engine - we've worked on reliability with that more than anything. When I look around at the car now,the front uprights are from the GT3, the chassis is now GT3,the aero is as we evolved it for Le Mans last year, so there are similarities, and changes.

MN:Personally, you've been involved in a lot of different motorsport programs, across a lot of different disciplines. Do you still get nervous when a whole new project is about to kickoff?

DR:This year, we've got three major programs. We've got the World Rally Championship with MINI, and we were runners-up in Monte Carlo at our first event for the year. We have the V8 Supercars in Australia, and we won first time out at Clipsal, and the next program is the GT program with Aston Martin. I guess that's the third tick in the box.

Once the three programs are off to a start like that, you feel much more relaxed about it.

Back to the future:Prodrive's attempt to go it alone with an Aston Martin LMP1 car, top, was a failed exercise,so David Richards has taken his company back to whatit does best, with a GTE entry in the World Endurance Championship,above.

MN:You've got three very different drivers, with three very different backgrounds. Darren Turner is a jack-ofall-trades, Stefan Miicke is a tin-top whizz, and Adrian Fernandez has an open-wheeler background. How do they work together?

DR:They are all stalwarts of the team,so none of them are new to us. Adrian's the newest member of the team,and he's driven for us for three years now.

Darren developed the original GTl car seven years ago,and he's been with us ever since.

We know them all extremely well, and they know the team extremely well.They're all great at developing the car, and it's a very reliable line-up.

MN:You've been on the record and said that there will be a second factory car for Le Mans this year; is that still the nil plan?

67

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year, so we have to get those up and out.

We wanted to make sure we didn't take on too many projects at the same time.

MN: So that will be a lead-in to two factory cars for the entire WEC in 2013?

DR: Absolutely. Even in the latter part of this year we'll be running two cars.

g M the point that yes, we'll be racing against the manufacturers that we are selling cars against. There is also the point that we will be racing the car we produce.The V8 Vantage, which you see on the stand here [in Geneva], that's the basis for the racecar. It's the V8 engine and the chassis from that car, so people can buy the same car we race.

MN: What are your expectations? Is it realistic to be looking to win the GT class in the WEC first time out, in 2012?

MN: When the prototype thing didn't work, it would have been so easy for Aston Martin to throw their hands in the

DR: Winning the championship is realistic for the team, the drivers and the car.

But the competition will come from everywhere. You have very strong opposition, who are established, from the likes of Ferrari, Porsches and, of course.

Corvette. Look at Sebring - 62 entries in

air, blame the economy, and give up on a factory racing program. But you didn't do that. Does that show that motorsport is important to the brand?

DR: In way, yes. But there needs to be balance. Aston Martin is a luxury car brand, rather than a racing car brand. We're not

68

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years, so there are a lot of cars out there. In Australia there are a couple of the GTRS's, and there are a couple more GT3s coming out there later this year. So that goes to show how big our customer reach is.

MY DETAILS

MN: And finally, speaking about Australia, any chance we'll see a factory Aston Martin entry at the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2013?

DR: Funny you mention that, it's under discussion. We've had a good look at the event, and we'll certainly give that some consideration. motorsport news

Yesf motorsport

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ihQ Australia^ No 1 ^

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motorsport magazine #■

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/ Motorsport News magazine is the coihplete source of motorsport % 1-5* knowledge in Australia. The monthly T r. magazine is a great read/covering everything from V8 Supercars to' Formula 1 and all things road racing, to Speedway to Drag Racing and even . scale model racing cars. Each month : Motorsport News is jam packed with hews and insightful features on yOur favourite ‘ sport to digest in your leisure time. ● *,

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year, so we have to get those up and out.

We wanted to make sure we didn't take on too many projects at the same time.

MN: So that will be a lead-in to two factory cars for the entire WEC in 2013?

DR: Absolutely. Even in the latter part of this year we'll be running two cars.

g M the point that yes, we'll be racing against the manufacturers that we are selling cars against. There is also the point that we will be racing the car we produce.The V8 Vantage, which you see on the stand here [in Geneva], that's the basis for the racecar. It's the V8 engine and the chassis from that car, so people can buy the same car we race.

MN: What are your expectations? Is it realistic to be looking to win the GT class in the WEC first time out, in 2012?

MN: When the prototype thing didn't work, it would have been so easy for Aston Martin to throw their hands in the

DR: Winning the championship is realistic for the team, the drivers and the car.

But the competition will come from everywhere. You have very strong opposition, who are established, from the likes of Ferrari, Porsches and, of course.

Corvette. Look at Sebring - 62 entries in

air, blame the economy, and give up on a factory racing program. But you didn't do that. Does that show that motorsport is important to the brand?

DR: In way, yes. But there needs to be balance. Aston Martin is a luxury car brand, rather than a racing car brand. We're not

68

BiWBamrail gglS

SUBSCRIBE AT

wi/i/i/v. mymagazines, com.au

years, so there are a lot of cars out there. In Australia there are a couple of the GTRS's, and there are a couple more GT3s coming out there later this year. So that goes to show how big our customer reach is.

MY DETAILS

MN: And finally, speaking about Australia, any chance we'll see a factory Aston Martin entry at the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2013?

DR: Funny you mention that, it's under discussion. We've had a good look at the event, and we'll certainly give that some consideration. motorsport news

Yesf motorsport

Please send me a subscription to _

_

i_r

NEWS

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H Mail Locked Bag 3355, St Leonards NSW 1590 S Fax (02) 99016110 24 Issues Australia & NZ @ A$149 Includes Bonus DVD

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12 Issues Rest of World @A$99

24 Issues Rest of World @ A$189

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FOR (TOTAL) A$_ OR CHARGE MY: Postcode

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Daytime Phone (

^

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SCall 1300361146 TOLL FREE IN AUS or ^612 99016111 FROM OVERSEAS

g KliRira 1 lima g!g our customer base, and see if there is any opportunity for people to drive these racecars themselves, whether it be track days or whatever. The GT4 car, we've sold more than 100 of those In the last three

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AMID MAJOR CHANGES TO THE OOSCH AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP. A PAIR OF HEW HOHDAS MADE A WIHHIHG START TO THE 2012 SEASON. MITCHELL ADAM SPOKE TO JAZZ DRIUERS ELI EUAHS AND MARK PEDDER AOOUT THE HEW PROGRAM AND 02 DIRECTION

AMID MAJOR CHANGES TO THE OOSCH AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP. A PAIR OF HEW HOHDAS MADE A WIHHIHG START TO THE 2012 SEASON. MITCHELL ADAM SPOKE TO JAZZ DRIUERS ELI EUAHS AND MARK PEDDER AOOUT THE HEW PROGRAM AND 02 DIRECTION

m

THE BEST DEFENCE IS A GOOD OFFENCE a

The Attack Fami ly

it’s car care made easy! &. n

i Exterior paint care made easy with our VVax Attack random-orbital polishers.

Includes a handy, custom carrying case with two foam multi-purpose pads, a bottle each of Mothers® Car Wash and

i TO WIN IN ITS FIRST OUTING WAS A GOOD AGHIEUEMENT FOR THE JAZZ, BUT AS THE YEAR GOES ON AND ON WE RE GOING TO SEE MORE COMPETITION AND IT’S GOING TO GET TOUGHER AND TOUGHER - EVAHS nil

bitof a knack to it; it turns in quite aggressively compared to the Civic.

"I haven't really done a forest stage yet where I've really had to drive the thing, we've only done testing in short spurts. But, to me, it feels like a better package and it should. We've built it to be a better package,and we've got more freedoms in the rules.

"My opinion is that it is a better car, but in terms of how much faster.

I'm not quite sure yet."

While Evans has two years in the front-wheel-drive Civic to his name, Redder is making a switch the championship hopes will become common in the next 12 months - going from his four-wheel-drive turbo, a Lancer, to a G2 racer. So far, he likes what he's experienced.

"Without doing a proper forest rally, I reckon these cars area hell of a lot more fun to drive than a four-wheel-drive car," he enthuses.

"The way especially the Hondas are built, with the suspension travel they've got and the way they're set up, you can hit things so much harder.The things are so nimble and they're so much fun to drive.

"It's sort of every rally driver's dream,to jump into a left-hand-drive car with a sequential shift, and it's a purpose-built car. Even though the Evos I'd been running the past were beautiful cars, this is a proper racecar.The Lancers and Subarus were always more production cars changed to a rally car, whereas this is a purpose-built rally car."

Naturally, driving such a different car requires a different technique.

And the Jazz is dispelling his own front-wheel-drive expectations.

"You can't be as aggressive," Redder surmises.

"This sounds silly, but you've got to think a bit more. In a four-wheeldrive car, it's not easy, but you can sort of throw it in, plant and foot and away it goes. With a front-wheel-drive car, you have to concentrate on being a bit neater and getting the power to the ground.

"It's funny, I always thought a front-wheel-drive car would never be as sideways as a four-wheel-drive car, or even a rear-wheel-drive car, but you've really got to be a lot more sideways going into the corner.

There are a few little changes but the big one is trying to concentrate that little bit harder on getting your lines right and getting the power to the ground. You have to straighten up the exit and use more of the road than you would in a four-wheel-drive car to make the most of the grip you get with a front-wheel-drive."

If not for the Jazz program, Redder may have ended up in a G2 car anyway. In tlie midst of the championship's evolution - spearheaded 72

by his brother and ARC CEO Scott Redder - he was evaluating options for the 2012 season.

"The plan always was to try and jump into a front-wheel-drive car," he says."The latest we came up with was trying to get something out of the UK or Italy or something like that."

Then,at the end the 2011 season, he was approached about the Jazz.The new partnership brings together two of the major families in Australian rallying.

"I've known Rete, Eli and all of the Evans guys since I was about five years old. We've really grown up together around rallying and that's really how it all kicked off," Redder explains.

"Back in the early days, we sponsored Simon when he was running the Commodore and that sort of stuff in the Victorian championships.

We'd always spoken about joining forces between the two teams but for whatever reason that never happened. I know Scott and Simon were close to running together at one stage and Simon and I were close to running together at one stage, but it never happened.

"But they approached me just after Rally Victoria last year, about wanting to run a second car, and whether I would be interested. It really was as simple as that."

The team had a unique and somewhat compromised leap-up to the season opener, March's ECB Rally Calder, the first event for the ARC at the Melbourne venue. In January, Evans and Redder jetted to Italy to shake down the first car with JAS. With both cars completed and in Australia, that was followed by two demonstration sessions - one for Honda and one for ARC major sponsor Bosch - and some weatheraffected testing on local roads.

"We had three days in Italy, then we did some media stuff on tarmac, which was in carparks and stuff, so you wouldn't really call it testing, but you could relate it to Rally Calder because you were having a play In a gravel rally car on tarmac, which is always a little bit foreign," Evans said of the program.

"We got a bit of a practice in there and we did two days of testing out on Rally Victoria roads. We set up a proper test and were out there but the weather hampered our testing. We only got a number of runs because the road damage was going to be too great.

"The whole time we were out there it was raining. What it did give us was a good chance to set the car up for wet conditions and that's how we looked at it. We set the cars up and it turns out Rally Calder was motorsport news

wet,so the suspension settings, sway bars settings and all of that really seemed to work in the wet conditions."

And work it did. Evans dominated the Two-Wheel-Drive Class at Rally Calder, leading the majority of the event with co-driver Glenn Weston to win all three heats ahead of Jack Monkhouse in a Nissan Silvia.

Honda's maiden ARC round victory, it was the perfect way to kick off the season.

"It was a really positive start for the Honda Jazz," Evans said.

"Honda have basically said to me that this year they want to win the Two-Wheel-Drive title and they want to win the Manufacturers.

They've put the pressure on to perform,and they asked me,'what's it going to take to win?'

"When I said,'let's build a car to the new G2 regulations; they came up with'why don't we build the Jazz?' I said I thought it would be a good formula and so far so good.To win in its first outing was a good achievement for the Jazz, but as the year goes on and on we're going to see more competition and it's going to get tougher and tougher."

Beyond the result, Evans was pleased with the performance of the car. Later, he was further buoyed by how close the Jazz was to the times of the leading four-wheel-drive contenders on some stages.

"For me,going into Round 1, 1 just wanted to be super consistent and keep the car as neat as possible because with a lot of hairpins, rightangle corners and that sort of stuff, it's difficult for the two-wheeldrives to keep the speed up,so you've got to be as neat as you can," he said.

"You couldn't really worry about the four-wheel-drive times, because if you worry about that, you're sort of beating your head against the wall a little bit. When the stages were tarmac and there was a bit of grip out there, we did a few second-fastest outright times, which I learnt about in the week after the rally when I had a quick look at the times to see how we placed.That was pretty encouraging."

Redder's run was interrupted by a broken differential during Heat 2.

After missing a stage, he got back out there for additional running and finished fourth on time at the end of the event.

"We had a diff drama and we were able to limp back to service and the guys replaced it," he said.

"It was good just to get back out there, get some more seat time and we came away with some reasonable points which was nil good to start the season with. www.mnews.com.au

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i TO WIN IN ITS FIRST OUTING WAS A GOOD AGHIEUEMENT FOR THE JAZZ, BUT AS THE YEAR GOES ON AND ON WE RE GOING TO SEE MORE COMPETITION AND IT’S GOING TO GET TOUGHER AND TOUGHER - EVAHS nil

bitof a knack to it; it turns in quite aggressively compared to the Civic.

"I haven't really done a forest stage yet where I've really had to drive the thing, we've only done testing in short spurts. But, to me, it feels like a better package and it should. We've built it to be a better package,and we've got more freedoms in the rules.

"My opinion is that it is a better car, but in terms of how much faster.

I'm not quite sure yet."

While Evans has two years in the front-wheel-drive Civic to his name, Redder is making a switch the championship hopes will become common in the next 12 months - going from his four-wheel-drive turbo, a Lancer, to a G2 racer. So far, he likes what he's experienced.

"Without doing a proper forest rally, I reckon these cars area hell of a lot more fun to drive than a four-wheel-drive car," he enthuses.

"The way especially the Hondas are built, with the suspension travel they've got and the way they're set up, you can hit things so much harder.The things are so nimble and they're so much fun to drive.

"It's sort of every rally driver's dream,to jump into a left-hand-drive car with a sequential shift, and it's a purpose-built car. Even though the Evos I'd been running the past were beautiful cars, this is a proper racecar.The Lancers and Subarus were always more production cars changed to a rally car, whereas this is a purpose-built rally car."

Naturally, driving such a different car requires a different technique.

And the Jazz is dispelling his own front-wheel-drive expectations.

"You can't be as aggressive," Redder surmises.

"This sounds silly, but you've got to think a bit more. In a four-wheeldrive car, it's not easy, but you can sort of throw it in, plant and foot and away it goes. With a front-wheel-drive car, you have to concentrate on being a bit neater and getting the power to the ground.

"It's funny, I always thought a front-wheel-drive car would never be as sideways as a four-wheel-drive car, or even a rear-wheel-drive car, but you've really got to be a lot more sideways going into the corner.

There are a few little changes but the big one is trying to concentrate that little bit harder on getting your lines right and getting the power to the ground. You have to straighten up the exit and use more of the road than you would in a four-wheel-drive car to make the most of the grip you get with a front-wheel-drive."

If not for the Jazz program, Redder may have ended up in a G2 car anyway. In tlie midst of the championship's evolution - spearheaded 72

by his brother and ARC CEO Scott Redder - he was evaluating options for the 2012 season.

"The plan always was to try and jump into a front-wheel-drive car," he says."The latest we came up with was trying to get something out of the UK or Italy or something like that."

Then,at the end the 2011 season, he was approached about the Jazz.The new partnership brings together two of the major families in Australian rallying.

"I've known Rete, Eli and all of the Evans guys since I was about five years old. We've really grown up together around rallying and that's really how it all kicked off," Redder explains.

"Back in the early days, we sponsored Simon when he was running the Commodore and that sort of stuff in the Victorian championships.

We'd always spoken about joining forces between the two teams but for whatever reason that never happened. I know Scott and Simon were close to running together at one stage and Simon and I were close to running together at one stage, but it never happened.

"But they approached me just after Rally Victoria last year, about wanting to run a second car, and whether I would be interested. It really was as simple as that."

The team had a unique and somewhat compromised leap-up to the season opener, March's ECB Rally Calder, the first event for the ARC at the Melbourne venue. In January, Evans and Redder jetted to Italy to shake down the first car with JAS. With both cars completed and in Australia, that was followed by two demonstration sessions - one for Honda and one for ARC major sponsor Bosch - and some weatheraffected testing on local roads.

"We had three days in Italy, then we did some media stuff on tarmac, which was in carparks and stuff, so you wouldn't really call it testing, but you could relate it to Rally Calder because you were having a play In a gravel rally car on tarmac, which is always a little bit foreign," Evans said of the program.

"We got a bit of a practice in there and we did two days of testing out on Rally Victoria roads. We set up a proper test and were out there but the weather hampered our testing. We only got a number of runs because the road damage was going to be too great.

"The whole time we were out there it was raining. What it did give us was a good chance to set the car up for wet conditions and that's how we looked at it. We set the cars up and it turns out Rally Calder was motorsport news

wet,so the suspension settings, sway bars settings and all of that really seemed to work in the wet conditions."

And work it did. Evans dominated the Two-Wheel-Drive Class at Rally Calder, leading the majority of the event with co-driver Glenn Weston to win all three heats ahead of Jack Monkhouse in a Nissan Silvia.

Honda's maiden ARC round victory, it was the perfect way to kick off the season.

"It was a really positive start for the Honda Jazz," Evans said.

"Honda have basically said to me that this year they want to win the Two-Wheel-Drive title and they want to win the Manufacturers.

They've put the pressure on to perform,and they asked me,'what's it going to take to win?'

"When I said,'let's build a car to the new G2 regulations; they came up with'why don't we build the Jazz?' I said I thought it would be a good formula and so far so good.To win in its first outing was a good achievement for the Jazz, but as the year goes on and on we're going to see more competition and it's going to get tougher and tougher."

Beyond the result, Evans was pleased with the performance of the car. Later, he was further buoyed by how close the Jazz was to the times of the leading four-wheel-drive contenders on some stages.

"For me,going into Round 1, 1 just wanted to be super consistent and keep the car as neat as possible because with a lot of hairpins, rightangle corners and that sort of stuff, it's difficult for the two-wheeldrives to keep the speed up,so you've got to be as neat as you can," he said.

"You couldn't really worry about the four-wheel-drive times, because if you worry about that, you're sort of beating your head against the wall a little bit. When the stages were tarmac and there was a bit of grip out there, we did a few second-fastest outright times, which I learnt about in the week after the rally when I had a quick look at the times to see how we placed.That was pretty encouraging."

Redder's run was interrupted by a broken differential during Heat 2.

After missing a stage, he got back out there for additional running and finished fourth on time at the end of the event.

"We had a diff drama and we were able to limp back to service and the guys replaced it," he said.

"It was good just to get back out there, get some more seat time and we came away with some reasonable points which was nil good to start the season with. www.mnews.com.au

'"Ta,rPoSsher- 240V Camauba Cleaner Wax, - Portable Polisher - Battery 3nd 2 microfibre polishing cloths. l The Portable's cordless This setup is ideal for design means you can general waxing and light take it anywhere .surface defect removal with ease.

The Wax Attack can also be used with any of our quality Mothers® polishes, waxes and cleaners.

The Vac Attack is more than just a vacuum. Its powerful cyclonic action creates a super powerful combined vacuum and blower all in one!

Accessories include a crevice tool, vacuum hose, flat surface tool and soft brush that enable you to get into tight corners and its unique blower and suction feature allows for effective cleaning of vents and other hard to reach areas.

Available at autObam

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- i

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Calder probably isn't the ideal event for a front-wheel-drive car, or a two-wheel-drive car for that matter compared to the four-wheel-drives, but it was probably a really good event for me to get settled with the team and the car.There wasn't anything dramatic you could hit. It wasn't like a normal forest rally where you're on edge the whole time, you could have a play with the car and still be reasonably safe, so It was probably a good event for me."

While Redder is new to the Jazz, he does have a luxury not afforded to Evans during the Civic days - a team-mate,and one with relevant experience. During the Italian shakedown, he was also able to learn from British ace Guy Wilks, who has spent plenty of time in frontwheel-drive rallying Hondas.

"I probably only had a couple of hundred competitive kays, if that, going into Calder and I only had the one day with [co-driver] Claire [Ryan]," Redder says.

"But I've spent a lot of time with the car and 1 had a couple of runs with Guy and Eli and that sort of stuff, which has been a huge help, being able to sit with someone that knows what they're doing and has spent time in a front-wheel-drives before.

"I think that's been one of the advantages coming into the team now, which Eli didn't have a couple of years ago in the Civic - having that experience in the team. I chat to him quite a lot about it; when he started out with the Civic, it was a whole new thing, no-one was running it.

"He'd done the same as me,jumped out of a four-wheel-drive car and he had to sort of learn what the car did and how to drive it, whereas I've had the advantage of having someone there that's been doing it for a few years that can give me a few tips and advice on what to do."

The Jazz remains a work in progress. While it won its maiden event, Calder was hardly a traditional rally, having been run around within a race circuit precinct rather than the forest. That challenge - and first real opportunity to compare its pace to the Civic - comes on March 30 to April 1, in the second round of the championship, the Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia.

"I really need to get kays behind it," Evans said.

"I can say that I've done a couple of hundred kays in the Jazz now, but they've all been short bursts on roads that I'm familiar with as well.

Obviously when you do testing, you run up and down a three-kay bit of marl, 20 or 30 times a day and you learn what the car does over certain bumps and certain things. ?A

But when you're out in the forest there's so many variables that can happen with surface changes, wildlife ... you just don't know how the car's going to react in those situations until you're out there and competing in a 25 kay stage or a 35 kay stage.

"We've still got a long way to go."

And the development will become even more important as the G2 class grows.The Hondas are the only front-wheel-drive players at the moment, but Simon Evans is set to enter the championship mid-year in a Mazda 2, while organisers are hopeful of attracting additional manufacturer involvement before the start of the 2013 season.

AAKC

MKUaOURNK

KART

CENT?IE

"We've got other manufacturer interest with Mazda building in a car and, of course, my brother getting into it. Simon can drive any car, he can drive a car with three wheels, it doesn't need to have four, I've seen him do it in the past and he's still been fast!" Evans said.

"That's going to be a massive challenge. So we've got to take in what we can from Rerth, get the kilometres down,get through and basically gain our experience.The Mazda's due to come in for Round 3, Rally Queensland, where Simon's always fast, I know he's going to be getting the most out of his car so we've got to be doing the same with ours."

Honda's participation with the Civic helped shaped what will become the new era of Australian rallying. And that's nice, but ultimately - it's a return on their investment they want and the best way to secure that is with success.

"You'll find that the Civic Type-R had a lot to do with people's judgements on two-wheel-drive cars, whether they're fast, whether they're exciting," Evans points out.

"We didn't want to dull rally down by going two-wheel-drive, but by having the Civic Type-R there, most people who came out into the forest came back into the service park and said 'that Civic's by far the most exciting car in the field'. Scott Redder and his team went out spectating to see the Civic and what it's like and they all decided it was the way they wanted to shape the championship.

"They wanted more cars like the Civic, they wanted Honda involved in the long-term and in making it two-wheel-drive, Honda were delighted.The two years investment they'd put into running the Civic had almost paid off and in 2013 they've got a serious chance at winning an outright Australian Rally Championship for the first time.

That's going to be a big milestone if Honda can win it, it almost repays all of the efforts they've put in over the three previous years.

"It's going to be exciting." motorsport news

,

Authorised Dealer 'uge ftangewf/N^w^'^arts ^^Display»RMtvNtSW!^ %

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Melbaurne Kart Centre 13/ 632-642 Clayton Rd, Clayton South Victoria 3169.

Ph:(03)9551 5576 Fax;(03) 9551 5586 lEmail: info@mkcracing.com.au ppen: Mon - Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 9am-2pm 'Vwvw.mkcrracing.cam.au

ESS/Wi

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11=1 ME

Melbourne's Most Experienced Kosmic Dealer!

- i

TsmiSS^.

4 n

".r

Car history 50 years of the Australian Touring'Car Championship isWdietailed history of Australian Touring Car Championship;aHTd the V8 Supercar Championship Series.^jhis huge 400-plus page book is the definjh^^ history of our touring car heritage/

s'

Only $99 1300 3B1 M Including Aust/NZ

postage and handling

Calder probably isn't the ideal event for a front-wheel-drive car, or a two-wheel-drive car for that matter compared to the four-wheel-drives, but it was probably a really good event for me to get settled with the team and the car.There wasn't anything dramatic you could hit. It wasn't like a normal forest rally where you're on edge the whole time, you could have a play with the car and still be reasonably safe, so It was probably a good event for me."

While Redder is new to the Jazz, he does have a luxury not afforded to Evans during the Civic days - a team-mate,and one with relevant experience. During the Italian shakedown, he was also able to learn from British ace Guy Wilks, who has spent plenty of time in frontwheel-drive rallying Hondas.

"I probably only had a couple of hundred competitive kays, if that, going into Calder and I only had the one day with [co-driver] Claire [Ryan]," Redder says.

"But I've spent a lot of time with the car and 1 had a couple of runs with Guy and Eli and that sort of stuff, which has been a huge help, being able to sit with someone that knows what they're doing and has spent time in a front-wheel-drives before.

"I think that's been one of the advantages coming into the team now, which Eli didn't have a couple of years ago in the Civic - having that experience in the team. I chat to him quite a lot about it; when he started out with the Civic, it was a whole new thing, no-one was running it.

"He'd done the same as me,jumped out of a four-wheel-drive car and he had to sort of learn what the car did and how to drive it, whereas I've had the advantage of having someone there that's been doing it for a few years that can give me a few tips and advice on what to do."

The Jazz remains a work in progress. While it won its maiden event, Calder was hardly a traditional rally, having been run around within a race circuit precinct rather than the forest. That challenge - and first real opportunity to compare its pace to the Civic - comes on March 30 to April 1, in the second round of the championship, the Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia.

"I really need to get kays behind it," Evans said.

"I can say that I've done a couple of hundred kays in the Jazz now, but they've all been short bursts on roads that I'm familiar with as well.

Obviously when you do testing, you run up and down a three-kay bit of marl, 20 or 30 times a day and you learn what the car does over certain bumps and certain things. ?A

But when you're out in the forest there's so many variables that can happen with surface changes, wildlife ... you just don't know how the car's going to react in those situations until you're out there and competing in a 25 kay stage or a 35 kay stage.

"We've still got a long way to go."

And the development will become even more important as the G2 class grows.The Hondas are the only front-wheel-drive players at the moment, but Simon Evans is set to enter the championship mid-year in a Mazda 2, while organisers are hopeful of attracting additional manufacturer involvement before the start of the 2013 season.

AAKC

MKUaOURNK

KART

CENT?IE

"We've got other manufacturer interest with Mazda building in a car and, of course, my brother getting into it. Simon can drive any car, he can drive a car with three wheels, it doesn't need to have four, I've seen him do it in the past and he's still been fast!" Evans said.

"That's going to be a massive challenge. So we've got to take in what we can from Rerth, get the kilometres down,get through and basically gain our experience.The Mazda's due to come in for Round 3, Rally Queensland, where Simon's always fast, I know he's going to be getting the most out of his car so we've got to be doing the same with ours."

Honda's participation with the Civic helped shaped what will become the new era of Australian rallying. And that's nice, but ultimately - it's a return on their investment they want and the best way to secure that is with success.

"You'll find that the Civic Type-R had a lot to do with people's judgements on two-wheel-drive cars, whether they're fast, whether they're exciting," Evans points out.

"We didn't want to dull rally down by going two-wheel-drive, but by having the Civic Type-R there, most people who came out into the forest came back into the service park and said 'that Civic's by far the most exciting car in the field'. Scott Redder and his team went out spectating to see the Civic and what it's like and they all decided it was the way they wanted to shape the championship.

"They wanted more cars like the Civic, they wanted Honda involved in the long-term and in making it two-wheel-drive, Honda were delighted.The two years investment they'd put into running the Civic had almost paid off and in 2013 they've got a serious chance at winning an outright Australian Rally Championship for the first time.

That's going to be a big milestone if Honda can win it, it almost repays all of the efforts they've put in over the three previous years.

"It's going to be exciting." motorsport news

,

Authorised Dealer 'uge ftangewf/N^w^'^arts ^^Display»RMtvNtSW!^ %

7

7

andiDrandinewAwebsitS Nationwide! lI*JL ^line MKG: 4 lOlkb^isblhasjMeIbbjurneIsIBB§ttranq§ rSecondhandlKarts

phecK outTgur^bnnrre

Melbaurne Kart Centre 13/ 632-642 Clayton Rd, Clayton South Victoria 3169.

Ph:(03)9551 5576 Fax;(03) 9551 5586 lEmail: info@mkcracing.com.au ppen: Mon - Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 9am-2pm 'Vwvw.mkcrracing.cam.au

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Melbourne's Most Experienced Kosmic Dealer!

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mw OmBK$ COME wo GO FROM N/\TIONAO CHAMFIONSHIFS, BUT NOTT^^ KNIGHT. FOUR YEARS AFTER THE GT3 CUF CHALLENGE STARTED, HE'S YRTTO MISS AN EVENT. MITC^U- ADAM SPOKE TO HIM

o

N A horrendously cold and wet day in May,2008,13 drivers lined up at Mallala Motorsport Park for the inaugural race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. Over the following four years, drivers have come and gone, but one man still boasts a 100% attendance record.

"I'm the only one that's started every race.

That's either commitment or a seriously sad drug addiction,"Terry Knight jokes.

"My first national race was at Mallala in 2008 and since then I've done every single one of the GT3 Cup Challenge races. I've got to say, it's been a hell of a ride and I've loved every minute of it."

The series has found a nice place in the Australian motorsport landscape, giving amateur drivers somewhere to race older76

model Carrera Cup cars on a laidback yet national platform. For many drivers including Knight - it's been the transition point from club sprints into circuit racing, with Knight's race debut coming some 18 months after his first taste of a competition Porsche, in 2006.

"I'd done the club stuff and they had this Porsche School,they started off with the retired 996 CupCars," Knight recalls.

"The first time I drove one, I just went'I am so far out of my depth,this is bullshit'; it just felt awful. With some coaching from Bairdo (ED; Craig Baird), who did a Motec lap for us, and some abuse from Tomas Mezera, by the end of the day I was about half a second off his pace.

"Of course, Bairdo was doing it with my fat

arse in the car. But you can imagine by that night, when I was telling everyone how well I went at Queensland Raceway, it was'mate, my tyres were old, Bairdo's were fresh when he did his time!"'

Knight was eighth in the first GTS Cup Challenge race, with a DNF in Race 2 and seventh in the final rounding out his weekend.

He'd eventually finish fourth for the season, followed by fourth again in 2009, before he won his maiden race en-route to fifth in 2010.

"I joined the Porsche Car Club back in 2005, won the club championship in 2006,got full of myself and thought'this motorsport caper seems like my go"'he said.

"Then I came up against blokes like Sven Burchartz, Jon Trende and Jeff Bobik and got put back in my box fairly quickly. motorsport news

Racing those guys,and obviously being team-mates with Matt Kingsley, has been a great help for me."

The series started with Porsche's 996-generation CupCars as the prime machinery. However,the newer 997s have trickled in over the last three seasons and now dominate the grid. Knight stuck with the 996- with the car raced from mid-2010 affectionately referred to as Princess - and last year won the 996 class, along with third outright.

"We had a good result last year, on the back of Kingsley getting taken out at Mallala. I stayed on the track all year and didn't throw myself off, which helped," Knight explains.

"I suppose after four years campaigning the 9961 was really starting to get the hang of it. www.mnews.com.au

Even though I'm accused of being immature and not acting my age sometimes, I tried to stay on the track and forge a result, rather than pushing too hard. Some of the other boys didn't subscribe to that,so I often picked up a few spots due to last lap heroics that didn't come off."

The 996 and 997 class divide within the category goes beyond the track. It's a major banter points between competitors, and Knight has been sure to use it to his full advantage.

"In a 996,1 can't lose," Knight enthuses.

"If I do well against the guys, I get to stand with them at the bar on Saturday night after qualifying or Race 1 and say'mate, what's going on? I'm in a tired old bloody rig and I'm four spots ahead of you!'But if they beat me, I

go'mate,look at the rig!"'

For 2012,though,the Kiwi expat has Joined the 997 ranks, purchasing the car raced by Jon Trende in recent years. He admits his first taste of the 997 at Phillip Island wasn't pleasant, but life was better after a follow-up test at Winton in February with input from Ash Seward - Daniel Gaunt's Carrera Cup engineer.

"The vultures are circling.They're all into me with'no more ABS for you,Tez, no more last of the late brakers',telling me this car will sort me out and pull me back to the pack," he said.

"When I first drove it, I hated it, it felt awful.

I was thinking'what have I done? I want old Princess back'. But now I'm over the 996 altogether.

"I had Ash Seward set up the car 77

i stranclwoc

I 3

KY KNICrHT. F<3UR YEfitRS lEU.AOAM SFOKE TO HIM Racing those guys, and obviously being team-mates with Matt Kingsley, has been a great help for me."

The series started with Porsche's 996-generation CupCars as the prime machinery. However,the newer 997s have trickled in over the last three seasons and now dominate the grid. Knight stuck with the 996 - with the car raced from mid-2010 affectionately referred to as Princess - and last year won the 996 class, along with third outright.

"We had a good result last year, on the back of Kingsley getting taken out at Mallala. I stayed on the track all year and didn't throw myself off, which helped," Knight explains.

"I suppose after four years campaigning the 9961 was really starting to get the hang of it. www.mnews.com.au

Even though I'm accused of being immature and not acting my age sometimes, I tried to stay on the track and forge a result, rather than pushing too hard. Some of the other boys didn't subscribe to that,so I often picked up a few spots due to last lap heroics that didn't come off."

The 996 and 997 class divide within the category goes beyond the track. It's a major banter points between competitors, and Knight has been sure to use it to his full advantage.

"In a 996,1 can't lose," Knight enthuses.

"If I do well against the guys, I get to stand with them at the bar on Saturday night after qualifying or Race 1 and say'mate, what's going on? I'm in a tired old bloody rig and I'm four spots ahead of you!'But if they beat me, I

go'mate,look at the rig!"'

For 2012,though,the Kiwi expat has joined the 997 ranks, purchasing the car raced byJonTrende in recent years. He admits his first taste of the 997 at Phillip Island wasn't pleasant, but life was better after a follow-up test at Winton in February with input from Ash Seward - Daniel Gaunt's Carrera Cup engineer.

"The vultures are circling.They're all into me with'no more ABS for you,Tez, no more last of the late brakersj telling me this car will sort me out and pull me back to the pack," he said.

"When I first drove it, I hated it, it felt awful.

I was thinking'what have I done? I want old Princess back'. But now I'm over the 996 altogether. nil "I had Ash Seward set up the car 77

MODEL DCI

United Tools now has

EVBRYTHm ^BOirr THB 997 IS MST

that much norb of a racbcar.thb

CHASSIS AND THB ABRO'S A Um£ BBTTBR AND ONCB YOU’RB USBD TO n THB BRAKBS, ITS MUCH BBTTBR

KNIGHT ON HIS NBW TOY and come with me for a track day at Winton. We put Daniel Gaunt in the car for a few laps on green rubber and I got within a second of Dan's time. It was a totally different car from the one that I had at Phillip Island, it just had to be set-up properly.

"Everything about the 997 is just that much more of a racecar.The chassis and the aero's a little better, and once you're used to the brakes - they feel like a besser block until you get used to them - it's much better.

"With the 996, you have to finesse the gearbox,otherwise you break things. It's the opposite with the sequential, you have to smack it into gear. If you're a bit soft on the sequential, you'll manage to find a couple of gears and that's when problems happen.

It's good stress relief because it's almost like punching the thing, you really are belting it into gear."

Shying away from pre-empting a title challenge, Knight cites the GT3 Cup Challenge's Jim Richards Trophy as his primary focus for 2012. Within the six rounds,three - at Mallala, Winton and Queensland Raceway - will host a longer final race, with points going towards the series within a series.

"I really enjoy the enduros that we've started doing,the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy," he said.

"That'll be my focus this year, to do well III!

78

in those.There's something that little bit more rewarding about being on track longer, keeping your concentration and looking after your tyres for an hour."

An inevitable - perhaps deciding -factor in Knight's ongoing participation to the series is his personal ties. With wife Jodi the category administrator, Knight doesn't need to cash in family points to go away for race meetings.

"I'm one of the lucky guys, obviously, having my wife involved in motorsport,"he admits.

"On Sunday afternoons, I see the look of pure unadulterated fear in the faces of my fellow competitors as they start to work their way back towards the airport to go home.

The wife's already on the phone and she's pissed because she's had to look after the kids all weekend,and they've all been having a fat old time with motorsport.

"Whereas I get to sit next to my missus on the way home and enjoy it."

And then there are the strong ties to his on-track rivals. The series has a strong camaraderie among its driving ranks and its unofficial mantra is'race your mates'.The focus is about getting away and having some fun with the guys, with time in the German machinery thrown in.

"I come from a rugby background, most of my life I've played a team sport," he said.

"This is the first time I've participated in a sport which whilst you've got your

supporters and your mates around you, when you're out on the track you're pretty much on your own.

"In this category,for some reason, we all gel.

It's very intense out there,there's no quarter given or taken, but when we're off the track, we do anything to help each other."

When the cars are off-track, the drivers spend plenty of time ribbing their rivals.

So much so that a unique award quickly became a key part of the series. Leading into the maiden round at Mallala, a photo series co-founder Burchartz in a floral shirt and 'interesting'sunglasses was found. He quickly became known as'Princess'to his rivals.

"One of our favourite parts of the weekend is the piss-take award,the bloke who's made the biggest goose of himself on or off the track in the previous round," Knight explains.

"You've often got to wear something silly for the weekend. If you're one of these blokes that takes himself too seriously, you're not going to cut it. The first was when we gave Sven a'princess't-shirt he had to wear.

"Jeff Bobik, when he did some pirouettes at Turn 1 at Bathurst, we made him wear a tutu for an entire weekend at the next round. Ray Angus set off the firebomb in his car before a race,so we made him wear a fireman's helmet for the following round. It's Just a bit of fun."

Which, at the end of the day, is how it should be. motorsport news

are'proud to Check us out for all your power and hand tool needs.

Find your nearest store at www.unitedtools.com.au

MODEL DCI

United Tools now has

EVBRYTHm ^BOirr THB 997 IS MST

that much norb of a racbcar.thb

CHASSIS AND THB ABRO'S A Um£ BBTTBR AND ONCB YOU’RB USBD TO n THB BRAKBS, ITS MUCH BBTTBR

KNIGHT ON HIS NBW TOY and come with me for a track day at Winton. We put Daniel Gaunt in the car for a few laps on green rubber and I got within a second of Dan's time. It was a totally different car from the one that I had at Phillip Island, it just had to be set-up properly.

"Everything about the 997 is just that much more of a racecar.The chassis and the aero's a little better, and once you're used to the brakes - they feel like a besser block until you get used to them - it's much better.

"With the 996, you have to finesse the gearbox,otherwise you break things. It's the opposite with the sequential, you have to smack it into gear. If you're a bit soft on the sequential, you'll manage to find a couple of gears and that's when problems happen.

It's good stress relief because it's almost like punching the thing, you really are belting it into gear."

Shying away from pre-empting a title challenge, Knight cites the GT3 Cup Challenge's Jim Richards Trophy as his primary focus for 2012. Within the six rounds,three - at Mallala, Winton and Queensland Raceway - will host a longer final race, with points going towards the series within a series.

"I really enjoy the enduros that we've started doing,the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy," he said.

"That'll be my focus this year, to do well III!

78

in those.There's something that little bit more rewarding about being on track longer, keeping your concentration and looking after your tyres for an hour."

An inevitable - perhaps deciding -factor in Knight's ongoing participation to the series is his personal ties. With wife Jodi the category administrator, Knight doesn't need to cash in family points to go away for race meetings.

"I'm one of the lucky guys, obviously, having my wife involved in motorsport,"he admits.

"On Sunday afternoons, I see the look of pure unadulterated fear in the faces of my fellow competitors as they start to work their way back towards the airport to go home.

The wife's already on the phone and she's pissed because she's had to look after the kids all weekend,and they've all been having a fat old time with motorsport.

"Whereas I get to sit next to my missus on the way home and enjoy it."

And then there are the strong ties to his on-track rivals. The series has a strong camaraderie among its driving ranks and its unofficial mantra is'race your mates'.The focus is about getting away and having some fun with the guys, with time in the German machinery thrown in.

"I come from a rugby background, most of my life I've played a team sport," he said.

"This is the first time I've participated in a sport which whilst you've got your

supporters and your mates around you, when you're out on the track you're pretty much on your own.

"In this category,for some reason, we all gel.

It's very intense out there,there's no quarter given or taken, but when we're off the track, we do anything to help each other."

When the cars are off-track, the drivers spend plenty of time ribbing their rivals.

So much so that a unique award quickly became a key part of the series. Leading into the maiden round at Mallala, a photo series co-founder Burchartz in a floral shirt and 'interesting'sunglasses was found. He quickly became known as'Princess'to his rivals.

"One of our favourite parts of the weekend is the piss-take award,the bloke who's made the biggest goose of himself on or off the track in the previous round," Knight explains.

"You've often got to wear something silly for the weekend. If you're one of these blokes that takes himself too seriously, you're not going to cut it. The first was when we gave Sven a'princess't-shirt he had to wear.

"Jeff Bobik, when he did some pirouettes at Turn 1 at Bathurst, we made him wear a tutu for an entire weekend at the next round. Ray Angus set off the firebomb in his car before a race,so we made him wear a fireman's helmet for the following round. It's Just a bit of fun."

Which, at the end of the day, is how it should be. motorsport news

are'proud to Check us out for all your power and hand tool needs.

Find your nearest store at www.unitedtools.com.au

r

Out of f/ie —

_

comfort zone irn

A capable businesswoman^ a fierce racer and a newly declared Queenslander^ Debbie O'Rourke gives MNews her take on Top Alcohol

A

USTRALIA really is the big, brown land.You'd fit plenty of countries in the vacant space between the East Coast and the West,and it takes a quarter of a day to cover that distance on a plane.

For years, national sporting competitions have grappled with the logistics of catering for Western Australian competitors. When scheduling its season,the AFL,for instance, is very wary of the travel involved for either of the two Western Australian teams coming to Melbourne,or Melbourne teams going out west for a match.

But motorsport is a little bit more complicated. Football clubs can throw all of their people and gear on a plane and be done with it. You can't exactly throw a racecar in the overhead luggage...

So it's iittle wonder to see regular competitors shift from the West Coast to the East. Until recently a Western Australian, Debbie O'Rourke made the shift across the continent to live in Brisbane with husband Grant and son Josh. It was a case of opportunities - for work, business and family, I have been keen to move to Queensland for a few years now and was offered a new job to expand the business of the iT consulting company that I work for to Brisbane,"she says.

"I believed and still do that the east coast of Australia offers more opportunities not only for me and Grant but also for Josh. He is 14 now and wants to be a graphic artist; he's more creative than academic,that's just how

news

WWW

.eom.au

I was as a kid.

"The racing was an added bonus, it's much easier to get around from over this side of the country - it means we have more options.

"Grant's relocated 1320 Racecars to Brisbane and he has a string of cars he's working on already! I believe the opportunities for him have also increased the market has opened up to the whole of the east coast, instead ofjust in WA." O'Rourke is currently the only active female racer in the ANDRA Pro Series. It's a point of interest to be sure, but life as a racer remains the same.

"Foremost I am a racer and a competitor Just like every other male participant - i shouldn't, and don't, get any favours because I'm female.

"Honestly, when I return from a race meeting, whether I've done good or bad, and go back to work, my colleagues ask with passing interest whether I have done well or not. Some, who have been to a race meeting because I've persuaded them to, will ask whether I left on the right revs, shifted at the right points and went to the finish line - because they've shared my pain over the years!

"But apart from that, it is rare that I hear any more from anyone until the next meeting."

O'Rourke would like to see more accessibility for female participants.

"Unless you've been brought up in drag racing or have a relationship with a drag

racer, it's hard for a woman to participate.

There should be more independent means for individual women to get involved but I'm not sure what that could be.

"People in Australia label you with this and that; my label is'oh, you're the chick that rolled that yellow Torana'not'you're the chick that ran the Torana to a small block record'.

"The only real reason that I'm still here is because I'm stubborn, pig headed and persistent and won't give up until I'm ready.

Luckily, I have a husband and crew chief that supports me in this."

In the most recent round of the ANDRA Pro Series for Top Alcohol, O'Rourke made it to the semi finals but was left to rue a lapse in concentration where she rolled the beams.

"I guess it all ended in disappointment," she says."After winning the run against Rick (Gauci), we were pretty pumped and I felt that we had an opportunity to go to the finals. I've raced Rob (Pilkington) many, many times and the win ratio is definitely in his favour. I figured it was my turn - so when I rolled the beams and sat and watched him smoke the tyres at 300 feet, I wanted to hide under the nearest rock -1 was devastated.

"So many people have been supporting me over the years and I really wanted to . show them that it hasn't been in vain, i think with me,if I try too hard, I stuff it up.

"On the upside,the .74 was a PB for me in Perth, so at least the local Perth supporters finally got to see a solid run."

In a pressure sport, O'Rourke was candid about the need to perform.

81

r

Out of f/ie —

_

comfort zone irn

A capable businesswoman^ a fierce racer and a newly declared Queenslander^ Debbie O'Rourke gives MNews her take on Top Alcohol

A

USTRALIA really is the big, brown land.You'd fit plenty of countries in the vacant space between the East Coast and the West,and it takes a quarter of a day to cover that distance on a plane.

For years, national sporting competitions have grappled with the logistics of catering for Western Australian competitors. When scheduling its season,the AFL,for instance, is very wary of the travel involved for either of the two Western Australian teams coming to Melbourne,or Melbourne teams going out west for a match.

But motorsport is a little bit more complicated. Football clubs can throw all of their people and gear on a plane and be done with it. You can't exactly throw a racecar in the overhead luggage...

So it's iittle wonder to see regular competitors shift from the West Coast to the East. Until recently a Western Australian, Debbie O'Rourke made the shift across the continent to live in Brisbane with husband Grant and son Josh. It was a case of opportunities - for work, business and family, I have been keen to move to Queensland for a few years now and was offered a new job to expand the business of the iT consulting company that I work for to Brisbane,"she says.

"I believed and still do that the east coast of Australia offers more opportunities not only for me and Grant but also for Josh. He is 14 now and wants to be a graphic artist; he's more creative than academic,that's just how

news

WWW

.eom.au

I was as a kid.

"The racing was an added bonus, it's much easier to get around from over this side of the country - it means we have more options.

"Grant's relocated 1320 Racecars to Brisbane and he has a string of cars he's working on already! I believe the opportunities for him have also increased the market has opened up to the whole of the east coast, instead ofjust in WA." O'Rourke is currently the only active female racer in the ANDRA Pro Series. It's a point of interest to be sure, but life as a racer remains the same.

"Foremost I am a racer and a competitor Just like every other male participant - i shouldn't, and don't, get any favours because I'm female.

"Honestly, when I return from a race meeting, whether I've done good or bad, and go back to work, my colleagues ask with passing interest whether I have done well or not. Some, who have been to a race meeting because I've persuaded them to, will ask whether I left on the right revs, shifted at the right points and went to the finish line - because they've shared my pain over the years!

"But apart from that, it is rare that I hear any more from anyone until the next meeting."

O'Rourke would like to see more accessibility for female participants.

"Unless you've been brought up in drag racing or have a relationship with a drag

racer, it's hard for a woman to participate.

There should be more independent means for individual women to get involved but I'm not sure what that could be.

"People in Australia label you with this and that; my label is'oh, you're the chick that rolled that yellow Torana'not'you're the chick that ran the Torana to a small block record'.

"The only real reason that I'm still here is because I'm stubborn, pig headed and persistent and won't give up until I'm ready.

Luckily, I have a husband and crew chief that supports me in this."

In the most recent round of the ANDRA Pro Series for Top Alcohol, O'Rourke made it to the semi finals but was left to rue a lapse in concentration where she rolled the beams.

"I guess it all ended in disappointment," she says."After winning the run against Rick (Gauci), we were pretty pumped and I felt that we had an opportunity to go to the finals. I've raced Rob (Pilkington) many, many times and the win ratio is definitely in his favour. I figured it was my turn - so when I rolled the beams and sat and watched him smoke the tyres at 300 feet, I wanted to hide under the nearest rock -1 was devastated.

"So many people have been supporting me over the years and I really wanted to . show them that it hasn't been in vain, i think with me,if I try too hard, I stuff it up.

"On the upside,the .74 was a PB for me in Perth, so at least the local Perth supporters finally got to see a solid run."

In a pressure sport, O'Rourke was candid about the need to perform.

81

..Jji-itVUhA

j.', ^ -'<j*

"Since showing up at the Winternationals in 2011,1 feel we've got it together, but with Grant, who's also my husband,tuning the car, and me driving, it's always going to be a hard call -from a relationship point of view.

"Racers and crew know that we have had a hard time with it. But what's evolving is productive results, the hard lesson I've learnt over the years is the simple fact that Grant makes me drive better.There are no excuses.

It sometimes gets hard for all involved with us, but there's no getting around it and we both love it."

A unique aspect of what the team does tune up wise are the high revs on the line for launch. O'Rourke said it needed time to get used to.

'After a trip to the US in 2009, Grant said he wanted me to leave around 7000rpm on the »»* startline; I almost s' myself! It took him a while to convince me and it took me a while to get my throttle foot and brain in gear to do it.

'7000 is only a number', he said. For this set-up,though. Grant's had to make several

changes to the car.This tune up has helped settle the car early in the run but does make it harder on me to get it into stage."

The pace in Top Alcohol has stepped up recently with the capability of running 5.5s required. O'Rourke feels this is a zone their current car could reach, but a new lighter car will be of assistance.

"Although we think this current car can do it, our new Monte Carlo when built will be 140 pounds lighter,"she says."The biggest downside with the funny car right now is that the body is really, really heavy.

"But being in the winner's circle is not always defined by ETs especially with only a handful of events in the season. Consistency and getting down the track every time is preferable to do that. More laps in Top Alcohol and a new car will increase our chances.'

As a favourite bracket of hardcore fans.

Top Alcohol sometimes has a difficult time identifying itself for fans, O'Rourke reckons.

'The'pitch'for us hasn't been defined.

Doorslammers are replicas of the cars that

After a trip to the US in 2009, Grant said he wanted me to leave around 7000rpm on the startline; I almost s myself!

WWW

everyone drives and the personalities in the bracket are highlighted many times and in different ways.Top Fuel are the'kings'and that speaks for themselves, but what is Top Alcohol?

"To me it represents the tradition of drag racing, high revving, high speeds and massive horsepower in light cars. Most of the racers in the bracket are more introverted and just want to get on with the job.

Unfortunately that means that Top Alcohol sometimes misses out on opportunities."

While Debbie has a handle on the steering wheel now,it has not been ruled out that Grant could return to the driver's seat.

Even back in theTorana days. Grant was happy to tune the race car. So now he gets that opportunity and makes decisions accordingly.

'As with anything, it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to get to where he is now. As I said, pain in this game is very frequent and can be the result of many different things and scenarios.The trick is to learn from these and continuously improve.

His knowledge from the last 15 years and the results are a pleasure to watch. And from my perspective, trusting his decisions which also take into consideration the aspects of my driving is imperative for me to go to the start line with no fear,just healthy respect. think that he hasn't finished his driving career; he needs a'high'to leave behind.'

Then there is always Josh too, who has formerly raced in Junior Dragster.

We need to be convinced that he really

com

wants it first. In Junior Dragster he really enjoyed the driving part but we had to ride him hard to get the car prepared in between rounds and race meetings.

"In the end he outgrew the chassis but instead of asking for a new one he decided he didn't want to do it anymore.

"Will we allow him to just step up into the Top Alcohol car? No, not now - he has to have more heart in it. Right now he can give or take drag racing. It has been in his life since day one, he doesn't know any different.

So we'll wait and see.

"The ironic part of it, though,is I actually

M -

. an

think he would do an excellent job.Time will tell, I guess."

In the short term at least, O'Rourke wants to simply go more rounds and concentrate on improving her driving.

"I hope that ANDRA drag racing returns to its former state and that we can continue to afford to be part of it. In addition to the new funny car, we are building a Top Doorslammer Pontiac Firebird to compete at the Slamfest series, getting back to our roots.

"It'll be another challenge for me to achieve my Top Doorslammer licence and be part of the excitement of the series. Perhaps

I can drive a Top DoorslammerandTop Alcohol Funny Car at the same ANDRA Pro Series meeting?

"Personally I get pushed out of my comfort zone every run. Driving is totally different to my day to day work life. But I feel calmed and ready to go."

..Jji-itVUhA

j.', ^ -'<j*

"Since showing up at the Winternationals in 2011,1 feel we've got it together, but with Grant, who's also my husband,tuning the car, and me driving, it's always going to be a hard call -from a relationship point of view.

"Racers and crew know that we have had a hard time with it. But what's evolving is productive results, the hard lesson I've learnt over the years is the simple fact that Grant makes me drive better.There are no excuses.

It sometimes gets hard for all involved with us, but there's no getting around it and we both love it."

A unique aspect of what the team does tune up wise are the high revs on the line for launch. O'Rourke said it needed time to get used to.

'After a trip to the US in 2009, Grant said he wanted me to leave around 7000rpm on the »»* startline; I almost s' myself! It took him a while to convince me and it took me a while to get my throttle foot and brain in gear to do it.

'7000 is only a number', he said. For this set-up,though. Grant's had to make several

changes to the car.This tune up has helped settle the car early in the run but does make it harder on me to get it into stage."

The pace in Top Alcohol has stepped up recently with the capability of running 5.5s required. O'Rourke feels this is a zone their current car could reach, but a new lighter car will be of assistance.

"Although we think this current car can do it, our new Monte Carlo when built will be 140 pounds lighter,"she says."The biggest downside with the funny car right now is that the body is really, really heavy.

"But being in the winner's circle is not always defined by ETs especially with only a handful of events in the season. Consistency and getting down the track every time is preferable to do that. More laps in Top Alcohol and a new car will increase our chances.'

As a favourite bracket of hardcore fans.

Top Alcohol sometimes has a difficult time identifying itself for fans, O'Rourke reckons.

'The'pitch'for us hasn't been defined.

Doorslammers are replicas of the cars that

After a trip to the US in 2009, Grant said he wanted me to leave around 7000rpm on the startline; I almost s myself!

WWW

everyone drives and the personalities in the bracket are highlighted many times and in different ways.Top Fuel are the'kings'and that speaks for themselves, but what is Top Alcohol?

"To me it represents the tradition of drag racing, high revving, high speeds and massive horsepower in light cars. Most of the racers in the bracket are more introverted and just want to get on with the job.

Unfortunately that means that Top Alcohol sometimes misses out on opportunities."

While Debbie has a handle on the steering wheel now,it has not been ruled out that Grant could return to the driver's seat.

Even back in theTorana days. Grant was happy to tune the race car. So now he gets that opportunity and makes decisions accordingly.

'As with anything, it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to get to where he is now. As I said, pain in this game is very frequent and can be the result of many different things and scenarios.The trick is to learn from these and continuously improve.

His knowledge from the last 15 years and the results are a pleasure to watch. And from my perspective, trusting his decisions which also take into consideration the aspects of my driving is imperative for me to go to the start line with no fear,just healthy respect. think that he hasn't finished his driving career; he needs a'high'to leave behind.'

Then there is always Josh too, who has formerly raced in Junior Dragster.

We need to be convinced that he really

com

wants it first. In Junior Dragster he really enjoyed the driving part but we had to ride him hard to get the car prepared in between rounds and race meetings.

"In the end he outgrew the chassis but instead of asking for a new one he decided he didn't want to do it anymore.

"Will we allow him to just step up into the Top Alcohol car? No, not now - he has to have more heart in it. Right now he can give or take drag racing. It has been in his life since day one, he doesn't know any different.

So we'll wait and see.

"The ironic part of it, though,is I actually

M -

. an

think he would do an excellent job.Time will tell, I guess."

In the short term at least, O'Rourke wants to simply go more rounds and concentrate on improving her driving.

"I hope that ANDRA drag racing returns to its former state and that we can continue to afford to be part of it. In addition to the new funny car, we are building a Top Doorslammer Pontiac Firebird to compete at the Slamfest series, getting back to our roots.

"It'll be another challenge for me to achieve my Top Doorslammer licence and be part of the excitement of the series. Perhaps

I can drive a Top DoorslammerandTop Alcohol Funny Car at the same ANDRA Pro Series meeting?

"Personally I get pushed out of my comfort zone every run. Driving is totally different to my day to day work life. But I feel calmed and ready to go."

COMPLETING THE ENERGY CYCLE,

ADAM GRAHAM ONCE RACED KARTS AGAINST THE LIKES OF NICO ROSBERG AND LEWIS HAMILTON. NOW HE WANTS TO PUT SOMETHING BACK INTO THE SRORT

BY USING HIS EXPERIENCE TO HELP THE CURRENT RISING STARS OF KARTING TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN THEIR CAREERS. HE TOLD PAUL CARRUTHERS

I

N 1999,a young Adam Graham,or AG as he is known to many in the Karting ranks, was on the road to stardom as one of Australia's brightest motorsport stars.

After winning the Junior Intercontinental A(now known as Pro Junior KF3) Championship in the CiK Stars of Karting Series, the Lismore-born driver competed with the famous Tony Kart team in the World Junior Championships in France. It was at this event where he finished a creditable 15th in a field that included the likes of Lewis Hamilton (second), Nico Rosberg (fourth) and Robert Kubica (fifth).

Later that year, he returned to compete with the Energy Corse team,formed by Australian Jon Targett and Mick Panigada, for a couple of major events throughout Europe with Targett as his mechanic. Little did he know that some 13 years later he would be re-united with founder Panigada through his latest adventure - and not to mention Targett, who currently mechanics

for Australian Energy kart driver Chris Hays.

Over the past decade,Graham won another CIK Championship,taking out the Formula A crown(now known as the Pro Light KF1 Stars of Karting title) and finishing runner-up in the Ford KartStars Series in the very same year.This was the series which helped launch the careers of Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup.

He has also dabbled in the Australian Formula Ford Championship,courtesy of his efforts in the KartStars Series,and had some respectable results come his way despite the limited testing and budget with which he has been forced to contend.

Originally, Graham raced with the Borland team and more recently has raced for Evans Motorsport Group.

This year sees 27 year-old Graham embarking on a bold new adventure,one which he hopes will help the current rising stars take the next step in their careers. He has set up a new Brisbane-based workshop for his new Energy Corse Australia Team - a

fledging outfit that has already started to make the big players in Australian Karting sit up and take notice.

"After going through all different forms of motorsport. Karting is my favourite by far," he says."I want to do something that(enjoy and also it is to try and get into the position where I can help young guys coming through the ranks.

"I know how tough it is to get that next opportunity and I'd love to be able to help a young kid through the ranks."

There are a number of other Karting manufacturers and importers already on the Australian Karting scene with well over 25 choices for racers,some would even say too many,so why did Graham choose the Energy brand?

"I have chosen to go with Energy for the program for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's because ofthe relationship I had with Mickey,the boss of Energy Kart in Europe, for over 10 years. I qualified fifth way Hi back then (ED; 1999 World Junior

KARTING.NET.au

KARTING.NET

^CjUlOt

DRIVER TRAINING

By Doc Pearson DKK - Docs Kart Kraft Tel 04 0956 5483, Fax 03 9844 2894 www.dkk.coni.au

3

motorsport news

Top Karl A, Vic;J‘as,&<SA Agent AftegSal^s^ServiceL&i.

www.mnews.com.au

85

COMPLETING THE ENERGY CYCLE,

ADAM GRAHAM ONCE RACED KARTS AGAINST THE LIKES OF NICO ROSBERG AND LEWIS HAMILTON. NOW HE WANTS TO PUT SOMETHING BACK INTO THE SRORT

BY USING HIS EXPERIENCE TO HELP THE CURRENT RISING STARS OF KARTING TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN THEIR CAREERS. HE TOLD PAUL CARRUTHERS

I

N 1999,a young Adam Graham,or AG as he is known to many in the Karting ranks, was on the road to stardom as one of Australia's brightest motorsport stars.

After winning the Junior Intercontinental A(now known as Pro Junior KF3) Championship in the CiK Stars of Karting Series, the Lismore-born driver competed with the famous Tony Kart team in the World Junior Championships in France. It was at this event where he finished a creditable 15th in a field that included the likes of Lewis Hamilton (second), Nico Rosberg (fourth) and Robert Kubica (fifth).

Later that year, he returned to compete with the Energy Corse team,formed by Australian Jon Targett and Mick Panigada, for a couple of major events throughout Europe with Targett as his mechanic. Little did he know that some 13 years later he would be re-united with founder Panigada through his latest adventure - and not to mention Targett, who currently mechanics

for Australian Energy kart driver Chris Hays.

Over the past decade,Graham won another CIK Championship,taking out the Formula A crown(now known as the Pro Light KF1 Stars of Karting title) and finishing runner-up in the Ford KartStars Series in the very same year.This was the series which helped launch the careers of Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup.

He has also dabbled in the Australian Formula Ford Championship,courtesy of his efforts in the KartStars Series,and had some respectable results come his way despite the limited testing and budget with which he has been forced to contend.

Originally, Graham raced with the Borland team and more recently has raced for Evans Motorsport Group.

This year sees 27 year-old Graham embarking on a bold new adventure,one which he hopes will help the current rising stars take the next step in their careers. He has set up a new Brisbane-based workshop for his new Energy Corse Australia Team - a

fledging outfit that has already started to make the big players in Australian Karting sit up and take notice.

"After going through all different forms of motorsport. Karting is my favourite by far," he says."I want to do something that(enjoy and also it is to try and get into the position where I can help young guys coming through the ranks.

"I know how tough it is to get that next opportunity and I'd love to be able to help a young kid through the ranks."

There are a number of other Karting manufacturers and importers already on the Australian Karting scene with well over 25 choices for racers,some would even say too many,so why did Graham choose the Energy brand?

"I have chosen to go with Energy for the program for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's because ofthe relationship I had with Mickey,the boss of Energy Kart in Europe, for over 10 years. I qualified fifth way Hi back then (ED; 1999 World Junior

KARTING.NET.au

KARTING.NET

^CjUlOt

DRIVER TRAINING

By Doc Pearson DKK - Docs Kart Kraft Tel 04 0956 5483, Fax 03 9844 2894 www.dkk.coni.au

3

motorsport news

Top Karl A, Vic;J‘as,&<SA Agent AftegSal^s^ServiceL&i.

www.mnews.com.au

85

I-

i

THtS VENTURE FOR ME IS ABOUT GIVING YOUNG DRIVERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING SPECIAL. ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE RACING BUT ALSO LEARNING FROM THE EXPERIENCED PEOPLE AROUND THEM III I

Championships) with them,ahead current FI stars Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

"Mickey and his team have got a really good business working ethic. He has brought the business up from absolutely nothing to what it is today. He is now going above and beyond to help me not only get the team up and running but also help improve the professionalism and presentation of Karting in Australia."

While many other businesses have come into the sport of Karting making big promises for their customers in an effort to gain a market share, Graham has a simple philosophy- let the product and service

speak for itself.

"As I said before,this venture for me is about giving young drivers an opportunity to be a part ofsomething special. It's notjust about the racing but also learning from the experienced people around them.

"I'm not going to be giving the hard sell, or be spruiking about how good a product is.

I'll let the drivers,team and service speak for itself."

Already Graham's team is off to a flying start with his'foundation'drivers in the team recording some strong results in the opening round ofthe Castrol EDGE CiK Stars of Karting Series in Adelaide in February. Chris Hays, above, made the switch after many years with

Tony Kart and already has recorded his best round finish in the Pro Gearbox ranks- after Just one round in the kart with no testing.

Meanwhile, Adam Willison also recorded a top five result in the Leopard category.

The Italian-manufactured chassis is no slouch in the world of Karting,either, with strong results all over the world including Italian driver Paolo De Conto's double KZ European Championship triumph (2010-KZ2 & 2011KZ1).Sami Luka also took out the KF2 European Championship in the KF2 class and took victory for the marque in the same category at the 2010 SKUSA SuperNats in Las Vegas where Energy filled four ofthe top five podium positions.

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GiOBAl RACING OIL For your nearest stockiest contact GRO, Ph: 02 4648 3366, Fx: 02 4648 4777, email; infoPqlobalracin Qoil.com.au or visit our website atwww.globalracingoil.com.au 86

High-performance 125cc watercooled 2-stroke engine with integrated clutch and electric start. Eligible to compete in Formula Rotax 125, TAG 125, Restricted 125, Open Performance & Junior Perfomance AKA racing classes.

motorsport news

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THtS VENTURE FOR ME IS ABOUT GIVING YOUNG DRIVERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING SPECIAL. ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE RACING BUT ALSO LEARNING FROM THE EXPERIENCED PEOPLE AROUND THEM III I

Championships) with them,ahead current FI stars Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

"Mickey and his team have got a really good business working ethic. He has brought the business up from absolutely nothing to what it is today. He is now going above and beyond to help me not only get the team up and running but also help improve the professionalism and presentation of Karting in Australia."

While many other businesses have come into the sport of Karting making big promises for their customers in an effort to gain a market share, Graham has a simple philosophy- let the product and service

speak for itself.

"As I said before,this venture for me is about giving young drivers an opportunity to be a part ofsomething special. It's notjust about the racing but also learning from the experienced people around them.

"I'm not going to be giving the hard sell, or be spruiking about how good a product is.

I'll let the drivers,team and service speak for itself."

Already Graham's team is off to a flying start with his'foundation'drivers in the team recording some strong results in the opening round ofthe Castrol EDGE CiK Stars of Karting Series in Adelaide in February. Chris Hays, above, made the switch after many years with

Tony Kart and already has recorded his best round finish in the Pro Gearbox ranks- after Just one round in the kart with no testing.

Meanwhile, Adam Willison also recorded a top five result in the Leopard category.

The Italian-manufactured chassis is no slouch in the world of Karting,either, with strong results all over the world including Italian driver Paolo De Conto's double KZ European Championship triumph (2010-KZ2 & 2011KZ1).Sami Luka also took out the KF2 European Championship in the KF2 class and took victory for the marque in the same category at the 2010 SKUSA SuperNats in Las Vegas where Energy filled four ofthe top five podium positions.

- l c Q>

*:

- Hi o. «3 to to

●b4

ra ●●

■

ro O

^

s

o c:

Global Racing Oil

£

« E P--|

■o ,S

i]

« M

^ g>

IIIa

High-performance 125cc watercooled 2-stroke engine with integrated clutch and electric start, lAME X30 engine eligible to compete Parilla Leopard 125, TAG 125, Restricted 125, Open Performance & Junior Perfomance AKA racing classes.

to

tj <u ■p

Saftiuio'

CL tJ ^ O) c ^ C C5 CJ to

I 2 S = 03 O

-2 E eo

sa

9J to O > ■D 03 cn . to 03 3 3

GRO has the full range of Racing lubricants

GiOBAl RACING OIL For your nearest stockiest contact GRO, Ph: 02 4648 3366, Fx: 02 4648 4777, email; infoPqlobalracin Qoil.com.au or visit our website atwww.globalracingoil.com.au 86

High-performance 125cc watercooled 2-stroke engine with integrated clutch and electric start. Eligible to compete in Formula Rotax 125, TAG 125, Restricted 125, Open Performance & Junior Perfomance AKA racing classes.

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03

03

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frBBEali wan mawKms

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wm.arrowkarts.Boni

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1

MODEL BEHAVIOUR Torana model: Classic Carlectables' magnificently detailed Colin Bond 1975 championship-winning HDT Torana L34, below I /u

BOND

Olden

Holdens

The L34 modelis everything we've come to expect,showing the Torana's road car pedigree and the modifications that make it a racer

Ifs another month ofHoldens,as both Classic Carlectables and Biante roll out new small-scale models ofold full-scale models.By Bruce Moxon

I

t's olden Holdens this month.The first is Colin Bond's Australian Touring Car Championship winner from 1975.

While the L34 was troublesome early on (well, it was never ever really trouble free), Bond's Harry Firth-built car was reliable enough to take the Championship. Bond won at Symmons Plains, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise, showing that even without Peter Brock, who left the HDT at the end of'74 to do his own thing, HDT was the Holden team to beat.

The model is everything we've come to expect, showing the Torana's road car pedigree and the modifications that make it a racer. In those days, you started with a complete road car shell, or even a road car from a dealer, and made it into a racing car. And Australia's Group C Touring Car rules meant you had to have a full interior passenger and back seats, dashboard, door trims and head lining, l ooking under the bonnet and it's obvious here, too, that it's a hotted-up roadie. No

88

dry sump (just Harry's clever'oil cooler'), carby-fed V8, all the stuff any old fart who used to fiddle with cars before it all got too complicated would recognise.

In the boot there's the big fuel tank mounted up high before Brock showed everyone the advantage of a'drop tank'.

Of course, there's something missing: the Marlboro signs. You can get these from a number of after-market sources (try either your shop or on Ebay). But it's important to get the right ones; this model will need the version that's all in capital letters. A set of stickers, either in vinyl or water-slide, will be about $10.

Biante's old Holden is a bit newer. It's a 1991 Bathurst 1000 VN Group A Commodore on the way.This was Peter Brock's reunion, or maybe reconciliation with Holden, after spending three years racing BMWs and Fords.

The car Biante is making is the Brock/ Miedecke Bathurst car, which after early promise had electrical troubles in the race, finishing a good many laps down on the

winning Skaife/Richards Skyline.

This model isn't due until the end of the year, so don't start lining up yet. But get your pre-order in at you favourite shop, or go to Biante's website (www.biante.com.au) and order it there.

This is the first VN and it's a brand-new mould, so will have all the lessons learned on previous cars incorporated. Expect great build quality and detail. And maybe we can also expect a few more VNs to follow Brock's ATCC car would be a good start.

But it's not all old cars, of course; Classic Carlectables has just announced the 2011 Supercheap and VIP Commodores,of Russell Ingall and Steve Owen. Both were strikinglooking cars, and as was traditional with Paul Morris's own cars, the Owen car's body was matte black.

This year, of course, both drivers have taken their sponsorship to new teams. Steve Owen has even changed brands, to Ford.

And a little bird tells me a new player will be bringing us Steve Owen's Ford V8 motorsport news

gfelay call the experts!

RANS

mPJ

f^S (AUST) PTY LTD

00 72 34 30

3S FAIREY ROAD, SOUTH WINDSOR, NSW 27SG

for HOLDEISI ^ FORD ^ OHRVRLER We can replace your tired old original Gear Box, Driveline & Rear End parts with new or reconditioned after market components.

Also Mini Spools, Full spools, Detroit Locker, tru-Trac, Planetary Gear kits.

Diff conversions a specialty - Manual Gearboxes— free strip and quote.

We are the Top Loader - Muncie -Saginaw and Tremic TKO Specialists Complete I.R.S. and S.T. Differential Assembly.

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MODEL BEHAVIOUR Torana model: Classic Carlectables' magnificently detailed Colin Bond 1975 championship-winning HDT Torana L34, below I /u

BOND

Olden

Holdens

The L34 modelis everything we've come to expect,showing the Torana's road car pedigree and the modifications that make it a racer

Ifs another month ofHoldens,as both Classic Carlectables and Biante roll out new small-scale models ofold full-scale models.By Bruce Moxon

I

t's olden Holdens this month.The first is Colin Bond's Australian Touring Car Championship winner from 1975.

While the L34 was troublesome early on (well, it was never ever really trouble free), Bond's Harry Firth-built car was reliable enough to take the Championship. Bond won at Symmons Plains, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise, showing that even without Peter Brock, who left the HDT at the end of'74 to do his own thing, HDT was the Holden team to beat.

The model is everything we've come to expect, showing the Torana's road car pedigree and the modifications that make it a racer. In those days, you started with a complete road car shell, or even a road car from a dealer, and made it into a racing car. And Australia's Group C Touring Car rules meant you had to have a full interior passenger and back seats, dashboard, door trims and head lining, l ooking under the bonnet and it's obvious here, too, that it's a hotted-up roadie. No

88

dry sump (just Harry's clever'oil cooler'), carby-fed V8, all the stuff any old fart who used to fiddle with cars before it all got too complicated would recognise.

In the boot there's the big fuel tank mounted up high before Brock showed everyone the advantage of a'drop tank'.

Of course, there's something missing: the Marlboro signs. You can get these from a number of after-market sources (try either your shop or on Ebay). But it's important to get the right ones; this model will need the version that's all in capital letters. A set of stickers, either in vinyl or water-slide, will be about $10.

Biante's old Holden is a bit newer. It's a 1991 Bathurst 1000 VN Group A Commodore on the way.This was Peter Brock's reunion, or maybe reconciliation with Holden, after spending three years racing BMWs and Fords.

The car Biante is making is the Brock/ Miedecke Bathurst car, which after early promise had electrical troubles in the race, finishing a good many laps down on the

winning Skaife/Richards Skyline.

This model isn't due until the end of the year, so don't start lining up yet. But get your pre-order in at you favourite shop, or go to Biante's website (www.biante.com.au) and order it there.

This is the first VN and it's a brand-new mould, so will have all the lessons learned on previous cars incorporated. Expect great build quality and detail. And maybe we can also expect a few more VNs to follow Brock's ATCC car would be a good start.

But it's not all old cars, of course; Classic Carlectables has just announced the 2011 Supercheap and VIP Commodores,of Russell Ingall and Steve Owen. Both were strikinglooking cars, and as was traditional with Paul Morris's own cars, the Owen car's body was matte black.

This year, of course, both drivers have taken their sponsorship to new teams. Steve Owen has even changed brands, to Ford.

And a little bird tells me a new player will be bringing us Steve Owen's Ford V8 motorsport news

gfelay call the experts!

RANS

mPJ

f^S (AUST) PTY LTD

00 72 34 30

3S FAIREY ROAD, SOUTH WINDSOR, NSW 27SG

for HOLDEISI ^ FORD ^ OHRVRLER We can replace your tired old original Gear Box, Driveline & Rear End parts with new or reconditioned after market components.

Also Mini Spools, Full spools, Detroit Locker, tru-Trac, Planetary Gear kits.

Diff conversions a specialty - Manual Gearboxes— free strip and quote.

We are the Top Loader - Muncie -Saginaw and Tremic TKO Specialists Complete I.R.S. and S.T. Differential Assembly.

www.difftrans.com www.mnews.com.au

NSW AGENT FOR

I

RACE PRODUCTS | .i riOATrHKIT5 l CAMBfRMITJ

AXirS ' nRAKCS

,rrr*»*nni

Axles - Floater Kits Brake Kits & Camber Kits for high performance road and race applications 89

TXIDQlrA

UnfMr Classic Commodores:New from Classic Carlectables are the PMM Commodores from last year, the Steve Owen VIP Petfoods entry and Supercheap Auto Commodore of Russell Ingall, above,right, below.

Supercar this year. To be made in high-tech resin rather than white metal, all four of the Dick Johnson Racing cars will be coming from Apex Replicas. Patience, Grasshoppers this will take some time, but I'm told that the deal is done. Models will be in 1/43 and 1/18 scale, which annoys this collector of 1/64, but you can't have everything, can you?

Another year, another lot of Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts. I had to give in and buy some last year, as while there are lots of some models, others are very hard to find. So far this year I have one of the 15(and a nice Mustang convertible it is, too). I still head for the toy department of every shop I ever go to, looking {usually in vain) for that green stripe down the side of the packet.

Last year's set had some good stuff, and the pictures I've seen of this year's suggest

it will be just the sa me. Just got to push all those damn kids out of the way!

Now here's a question for you, if you collect FI cars: this year's cars are, let's be honest, butt-ugly. That silly little duck's bill thing they've all got at the front is almost as stupid as all the little winglets they sprouted a few years back. So, as aesthetically-challenged as they are, do you still buy the models?

Can we go back to the smooth aerodynamic shapes of the past, please?

Can't someone cha nge the laws of physics to allow this? Mind you, a car can still look brilliant without being smooth and sleek.

I finally got my ow n Classic Carlectables Lola T332 F5000 ca r (thanks Mrs Model Behaviour!) What a model!This is the first

i(t. '

MOTORSPORT IMAGES Hopefully there will be more to come there are lots of possibilities in otherT332s both Australian and US cars. I reckon Classic Carlectables could sell these to the US market with no trouble at all.

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE ACCESSIBLE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF AUSTRAUAN MOTORSPORT

Anyone who's ever seen FSOOOs in the flesh will remember the rawness and sheer violence of them.This model has none

Autopics.com.au is a photograhic history of Australian motor racing from the early 1950’s to the current day. Log on and explore!

of that, but if you listen carefully to your memory,you can still hearthethunder ...

Based on the archives of Lance J. Ruting Peter D’Abbs, David Blanch and many more photographers, our website allows you to view over 9,000 images from our collection of over 500,000.

large-scale open-w heeler made by an Australian compan y and it's a fantastic car.

Top two-wheeler models There much to aspire to in the world of two-wheeled scale ismodels.

Apex Replicas offers an ever-expanding range of Minichamps models which includes this 1/12 model of the classic Yamaha YZR500. With the combination of Australian motorcycle legend Kel Carruthers' engineering skills and the riding ability of Kenny Roberts, the YZR500 won consecutive world SOOcc championships from 1978 to 1980.

90

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

Wf mk

-^or

i

● >● P.O Box"l49Forster^NSW-2428i ● ● ●

Phone:.04O786968Onj5r^** '

.^0,000

Now availablea Race Images. Over 30,000images from Phillip Island W to‘62 and Bathurst ●63 to-96..

Email: infp@^autpgi^d)rnjau]*!

Www.autdplcs.com.au -

●

. ● ●●●●#9^ * ●

●

●

■

91

TXIDQlrA

UnfMr Classic Commodores:New from Classic Carlectables are the PMM Commodores from last year, the Steve Owen VIP Petfoods entry and Supercheap Auto Commodore of Russell Ingall, above,right, below.

Supercar this year. To be made in high-tech resin rather than white metal, all four of the Dick Johnson Racing cars will be coming from Apex Replicas. Patience, Grasshoppers this will take some time, but I'm told that the deal is done. Models will be in 1/43 and 1/18 scale, which annoys this collector of 1/64, but you can't have everything, can you?

Another year, another lot of Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts. I had to give in and buy some last year, as while there are lots of some models, others are very hard to find. So far this year I have one of the 15(and a nice Mustang convertible it is, too). I still head for the toy department of every shop I ever go to, looking {usually in vain) for that green stripe down the side of the packet.

Last year's set had some good stuff, and the pictures I've seen of this year's suggest

it will be just the sa me. Just got to push all those damn kids out of the way!

Now here's a question for you, if you collect FI cars: this year's cars are, let's be honest, butt-ugly. That silly little duck's bill thing they've all got at the front is almost as stupid as all the little winglets they sprouted a few years back. So, as aesthetically-challenged as they are, do you still buy the models?

Can we go back to the smooth aerodynamic shapes of the past, please?

Can't someone cha nge the laws of physics to allow this? Mind you, a car can still look brilliant without being smooth and sleek.

I finally got my ow n Classic Carlectables Lola T332 F5000 ca r (thanks Mrs Model Behaviour!) What a model!This is the first

i(t. '

MOTORSPORT IMAGES Hopefully there will be more to come there are lots of possibilities in otherT332s both Australian and US cars. I reckon Classic Carlectables could sell these to the US market with no trouble at all.

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE ACCESSIBLE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF AUSTRAUAN MOTORSPORT

Anyone who's ever seen FSOOOs in the flesh will remember the rawness and sheer violence of them.This model has none

Autopics.com.au is a photograhic history of Australian motor racing from the early 1950’s to the current day. Log on and explore!

of that, but if you listen carefully to your memory,you can still hearthethunder ...

Based on the archives of Lance J. Ruting Peter D’Abbs, David Blanch and many more photographers, our website allows you to view over 9,000 images from our collection of over 500,000.

large-scale open-w heeler made by an Australian compan y and it's a fantastic car.

Top two-wheeler models There much to aspire to in the world of two-wheeled scale ismodels.

Apex Replicas offers an ever-expanding range of Minichamps models which includes this 1/12 model of the classic Yamaha YZR500. With the combination of Australian motorcycle legend Kel Carruthers' engineering skills and the riding ability of Kenny Roberts, the YZR500 won consecutive world SOOcc championships from 1978 to 1980.

90

motorsport news

www.mnews.com.au

Wf mk

-^or

i

● >● P.O Box"l49Forster^NSW-2428i ● ● ●

Phone:.04O786968Onj5r^** '

.^0,000

Now availablea Race Images. Over 30,000images from Phillip Island W to‘62 and Bathurst ●63 to-96..

Email: infp@^autpgi^d)rnjau]*!

Www.autdplcs.com.au -

●

. ● ●●●●#9^ * ●

●

●

■

91

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What a Tool From Sidchrome, this precision-ground screwdriver set (right). RRP $65.00 TradesureTSAC2.75/50 V-twin direct drive

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The Good Oil Get Ribt The Ribtect 3 Rib Protection Vest features a new and improved outer panel construction that is stronger and longer lasting. The formed R3 Panel is an injection moulded "polycarbonate' material that is made to flex around the driver for better protection and comfort. It is made of real carbon fibre and is backed with fiberglass, not just some product that resembles carbon fibre. The horizontal slats in the Ribtect 3 are designed to disperse the shock and energy from the body.

All the products in the Ribtect family are designed specifically for the kart racer and their protection needs. Striving to provide karters with the best protection available, the injection moulded 'polycarbonate'Ribtect 3 Vest offers top quality rib protection.

Something that is not widely known is that engine oil molecules do not wear out.

The oil becomes dirty and the additives get depleted, but the oil is still an effective lubricant. In the past, attempts to re-use engine oil were less than successful because the technology to re-refine the oil was not available. This has now changed.

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air compressor (below) delivers 205 litres/ min and can run multiple air tools. RRP $275.00.

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125 mm 1150W Metabo angle grinder (above right). RRP $279.00, and Tradesure 26-piece spanner roll (below right). RRP $179.00 Sidchrome 8-piece hex-key set(above right), features ball point ends so tools can be used at an angle or when the hole is partially blocked. RRP $51.00 TheTradequip Model 7035 550W Bench Lathe (below) is gear driven with a spindle centre height of 125 mm and 700 mm distance between centres and retails for

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Yamaha Racing's winter jacket is made from a blend of polyester material with embroidered logos on the front and rear, including the Yamaha Tuning Fork and Yamaha Racing logos. It also features custom Yamaha

The Kincrome Digital Vernier Caliper has a big LCD display that reads in either

metric or imperial.There are three models; #2313 which reads up to 150 mm and is fine for most applications, plus larger 200mm (Part #2351) and 300mm (Part #2352) available. It is made from stainless steel and has four-way measurement: internal, external, depth and step, with a thumb lock adjustment.The smaller model has a recommended retail price of $129.70 plus GST and is available from

branded press studs with a plaquard hiding the fron^ main zip. Colour: Blue, White and Black contrast theme. Available In Men's sizes SM - 3X and

Runnings and all good tool stores.

Women's sizes 08-18. RRP: $188.25 (inc. GST).

Kincrome's new modular panel peg board comes in sections 1200 x 600 mm with a selection of metal and plastic hooks that are also sold separately, with a RRP of $49.95 per section. Find your nearest stockist at www.kincrome.com.au L

92

news

www.mnews.com.au

93

Products r —

Honda Retro Wing Hoodie HONDA

Honda's Hertiage Collection is a reminder that not only of Honda's half century-plus history but also that it's a company that values its own contribution to motorcycling. New to the Honda Heritage Collection range is this navy, high-grade cotton 350gsm fabric retro styled hoodie. Sizes S, M, L, XL, 2XL,3XL. Part No. L08HD004N. RRP $79.00 www.hondampe.com.au/catalogue

What a Tool From Sidchrome, this precision-ground screwdriver set (right). RRP $65.00 TradesureTSAC2.75/50 V-twin direct drive

Ti

The Good Oil Get Ribt The Ribtect 3 Rib Protection Vest features a new and improved outer panel construction that is stronger and longer lasting. The formed R3 Panel is an injection moulded "polycarbonate' material that is made to flex around the driver for better protection and comfort. It is made of real carbon fibre and is backed with fiberglass, not just some product that resembles carbon fibre. The horizontal slats in the Ribtect 3 are designed to disperse the shock and energy from the body.

All the products in the Ribtect family are designed specifically for the kart racer and their protection needs. Striving to provide karters with the best protection available, the injection moulded 'polycarbonate'Ribtect 3 Vest offers top quality rib protection.

Something that is not widely known is that engine oil molecules do not wear out.

The oil becomes dirty and the additives get depleted, but the oil is still an effective lubricant. In the past, attempts to re-use engine oil were less than successful because the technology to re-refine the oil was not available. This has now changed.

Used engine oil can now be collected, filtered, de-watered, re-refined and re-hydrogenated.The end result is a base oil that has the same performance characteristics as base oil derived from crude oil. The environmental benefit is that

air compressor (below) delivers 205 litres/ min and can run multiple air tools. RRP $275.00.

15VI-40 gma ENGINE OIL

125 mm 1150W Metabo angle grinder (above right). RRP $279.00, and Tradesure 26-piece spanner roll (below right). RRP $179.00 Sidchrome 8-piece hex-key set(above right), features ball point ends so tools can be used at an angle or when the hole is partially blocked. RRP $51.00 TheTradequip Model 7035 550W Bench Lathe (below) is gear driven with a spindle centre height of 125 mm and 700 mm distance between centres and retails for

199^

Ring and epe

^

*Panne

$1,499.00.

Linishall combination linisher and bench

all the energy and resources used to find, drill, extract, transport and refine crude are significantly reduced through the use of re-refIned base stock.

Using 50% re-refined base stock and advanced additive chemistry, NextGen meets or exceeds industry standards, delivering on our performance standards to provide 100%Valvoiine protection.

NextGen is available for a wide range of petrol and diesel passenger cars,4WDS and light trucks as well as hydraulic for commercial and industrial use.

26pce Combination Spanner Set *

grinder (above). RRP $485.00 Tradequip Model 7019 3/4 hp Pedestal Drill (right) has a 16 mm chuck and 16 speeds. RRP $325.00 All available from United Tools.

J5W^40 ^ bngineoil

V

■r

I ■

<sSeI

ri

A

Yamaha Racing Winter jacket

Kinchrome

Yamaha Racing's winter jacket is made from a blend of polyester material with embroidered logos on the front and rear, including the Yamaha Tuning Fork and Yamaha Racing logos. It also features custom Yamaha

The Kincrome Digital Vernier Caliper has a big LCD display that reads in either

metric or imperial.There are three models; #2313 which reads up to 150 mm and is fine for most applications, plus larger 200mm (Part #2351) and 300mm (Part #2352) available. It is made from stainless steel and has four-way measurement: internal, external, depth and step, with a thumb lock adjustment.The smaller model has a recommended retail price of $129.70 plus GST and is available from

branded press studs with a plaquard hiding the fron^ main zip. Colour: Blue, White and Black contrast theme. Available In Men's sizes SM - 3X and

Runnings and all good tool stores.

Women's sizes 08-18. RRP: $188.25 (inc. GST).

Kincrome's new modular panel peg board comes in sections 1200 x 600 mm with a selection of metal and plastic hooks that are also sold separately, with a RRP of $49.95 per section. Find your nearest stockist at www.kincrome.com.au L

92

news

www.mnews.com.au

93

Motec man receives f^RANE l^ams Phil Irving award

Draggin Oilskins

R

With a pair of Draggin Oilskins, motorcyclists have the freedom to ride in all seasons.They're comfortable,tough and warm - and stylish.

Draggin Oilskin jeans deliver both abrasion resistance and shelter from the unpredictable Australian weather - they're resistant to rain, wind and snow.

In true biking tradition. Oilskins are available only in black, in straight leg cut. Draggin Oilskins are available in waist sizes from 28 through to 44 inches, and feature a standard leg with a 34 inch inseam.

I f

advantage of Dyneema's amazing strength (15 times stronger than steel).

Draggin,the most technically advanced motorcycle jeans in the world, are available from all clever motorcycle stockists. www.dragginjeans.net

Ilf.

y

irrnin

-I .Li

iririnh

WWW.ppgearbox.com.au

rf PRBE SHIPPING ON YOUR FIRST ORDER Quoicoimivi.,.'

Ji

driven to perform Motor Sport Dealers l Blackwood Tyrepower, SA: l Blair's Tyres. NSW: l Ellenbrook Tyrepower. WA: l Meridian Motorsport, VIC; l O'Niells Tyres. NSW: l Racetune Services. WA: n Reservoir Tyrepower. VIC; l Revolution Racegear, TAS: l Rising Sun Tyre & Alignment, NQLD: l Tyretech, OLD:

CROWCAMS * Fast profile design service to your

Rally, Formula Ford and many more.

"It was very much an honour to receive this award," Bendell said."I was always a disciple of Irving since reading his books and first meeting him in 1958. Fie was the kind of person who expected everyone to reach for their highest potential. Luckily, I work in this fantastic industry, motorsport which continues to develop and inspire me to strive for excellence."

. V

J5IUPSONj

Crmpetlzlone

io:

RACE PRODUCTS

machines for unrivalled accuracy

Simpson Safety Equipment Australia sales@simpsonraceproducts.com.au Australian Distributors Stockists Welcome P 02 9545 6662

P 03 9357 0469 F 03 9357 0001

visit our website: www.crowcams.com.au

Racing Gar Jacks I In'

Super Store

Ra.ce Tested

Engine Valves

Unit 3/13 Penny PI, Arnddl P.irk NSW 214H

(02) 9676 8655

www.pepproracevalves.com.au

CARCOON AUSTRALASIA T: 1800 888 009 E: tnloOcarcoon.com.mi VVfwi

DRIVELINE COMPONENTS

oHuge inventory, o Clutch service. , r X — Australia Wide Delivery SALES HOTLINE Phone:1300 738 553 Rocep InduBtPleB sales@racer-industries.com

m

pii

S495*

Eastern Creek

Made in Sweden, quality, durability.

I light weight. [’ less internal friction.

L tight plumbing options. ^ 6 stage with oil/air H separator and more m Used by leading fi,^roup A Teams (Perkins).

Drags (Anderson).

Nascar (Gibbs).

c

7

0.00 10 10.00" / ● 0.080' V7.ill hardened steel (y UMSi

i

. i owc.ims.c om.nu

Phono- OU lTUi3 bbbb www.crnnocoms.com.au

ir^cRAr\iE ■ 1

fi C / tNOKU .US

rtY. I rt>.

www.holley.com

$139*

Only 5 mlnS frOfTl

Holley Performance System Distributors

● oB pnccs rrvdudo G5T r rwgW n mkjtonat

^Ph: 1300 76 55 39 Fax (07)5478 9833 -^web wwwwaranaimpoils.com

4 way adjusters available

l/Vbrana

old

VIC/TAS SA WA

MANY OTHER DISPLAY OPTIONS AVAILADLE PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS HEQUIBEMEHTS

.VJJ—

Contact YOur state distfibutor...

Motorsport Connections Redllne Performance Performance Wholesale Victorian Speed Pro Crane Technologies GoGear Racing Services Tech Line 1800 242 918

1800 24 2 910 (02) 8723 8888 (07) 3808 1986 (03) 9794 5177 (08) 8363 5566 (08)9443 4400

Call 08 8132 1888 for your nearest distributor|

Competition LSD's & Gears »;

LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL

i

»r;jL05E «au6 gears i FINAL DRIVE

Harmonic

VIC 03 9873 5400 VIC 03 9553 4200 NSW 02 4577 2400

QIO 07 3274 4797 SA 08 8340 4333 WA 08 9331 8488

motorsport news

Bala n c e r s

"The True Performance Alternative

.

7

.^

f

4

I

TMEW EXPANDED RANGE

For details call:

f08 8362 8811 penske@nttyres.com.au

OUTSTANDING PIT DISPLAYS BY OCTANORM

i

■

●

Extremely durable bonded dampening

● ■

material Easy to read computer etched timing marks Available in economical cast iron Street, all steel SFi approved Race & new Serpentine for Chev,LSl.LTl etc

P 02 6937 8888 F 02 6921 7536 Visit out website www.precisionparts.com.au

www.mnews.com.au

► SraUEY (02)9556 6012 ► MELBOURNE (03)9394 3150

r

<^emailMnfo^waranaimgortsxonr^___

.fa,

p 08 8362 4417

Ph: 08 8362 4417 Fax: 08 83628811 racing@nttyres.com.au

llollcu !●“

2 lonno .nnd 0 lonno capaaly

$99™„

RAONQSHOCKSS Single adjuster through

:

Stands

'TQtor^prttvres.CQrryD

' tJif)

● 0.080" v/all chrome moly ♦ one piece construction ● (ivailable in >V’ g, V^." diameter ● 0.050" length steps from

94

Australia Wide Delivery SALES HOTLINE Phone:1300 738 553 RaoeP tnduotPlw sales@racer-industries.com

Australiw iitode Pcriornunce How Rttlngs

$295"^

U.nt >cv.tUjy

om PIECE RACE PUSHRODS

visit our ‘M'bsitf : V

o Refill & service all models o Large inventory of parts & systems.

Hyperco Race Spring Full Range Available

● 1000kg and 3000kg Capacity ● 12 month warranty 15kg ● Weights-^ ● 2Ckg

P03 9357 0469 F0393570001

mo

High Performance Componenfs

PROTECT YOUR RACE TYRES

r/

hydraulic profiles using unique computer controlled

'.rye

NF.W street race version also available

www.cranecams.com.au

fCl

FIA 2000 COMPLIANT - EXCELLENT QUALITY - SENSIBLY PRICED

requirements

●>>>,

r

Ph:08 8362 4417 Fax: 08 8362 8811 racing@nttyres.com.au

ill

engine valves, the design of unique and patented inlet manifolds, and the concept and development of practical and successful fuel injection and engine management systems for motorsport applications.

Richard's passion and determination have seen the MoTeC brand grow from humble beginnings to a world leader in engine management technology, with a customer list that includes Le Mans, NASCAR, FIA GT, Australian V8 Supercars, IndyCar, Dakar Rally, World

(08)8370 2195 (02)4648 1555 (08)9296 9967 (03)9553 4200 (02)4933 5977 (08)9371 3333 (03) 9460 5593 (03)6231 3737 (07)4725 7688 (07)3252 8022

n Custom ground roller, solid and

All Classes 13" 15" 16" 17" 18"

I

engineering excellence in motorsport.

Over the years, Richard has achieved remarkable success both technically and commercially in the development of four-valve JAP motorcycle cylinder heads in speedway racing, the design and manufacture of high performance racing

Roller Rockers Ignition Systems Valve Springs & More!

CRANE TECHNOLOGIES PTY. LTD. Phone: 08 8363 5566 Fax: 08 8363 5633

www.toyo.com.au

GOODYEAR

L.

\

TOVO TIRES

Performance Gearboxes

ichard Bendell, MoTeC founding director and lifelong motorsport I , enthusiast, has received the prestigious CAMS Phil Irving Award in I acknowledgement of his long standing ^ commitment and contribution to

1

As with all Draggin Jeans products,the Oilskins are lined with a knitted hybrid of Kevlar and Dyneema. Soft to the touch, breathable,flexible, and non-allergenic, the Draggin lining takes

^ PFITZINIER

Roller Lifters

Camshafts

SC0MP0/\40T/V£ MOTOHSPORT WHeELS

03 93865331 NSW 02 96768655 SA 08 8298 1886 WA 08 9293 3500 TAS 03 6326 9199 OLD 07 5461 9100 www.stuckeY.com.au

OCTANORMi]

Advertising in RACE SHOP costs as little as $75 per issue!

Call Luke Finn on 0423 665 384 today 95

I

Motec man receives f^RANE l^ams Phil Irving award

Draggin Oilskins

R

With a pair of Draggin Oilskins, motorcyclists have the freedom to ride in all seasons.They're comfortable,tough and warm - and stylish.

Draggin Oilskin jeans deliver both abrasion resistance and shelter from the unpredictable Australian weather - they're resistant to rain, wind and snow.

In true biking tradition. Oilskins are available only in black, in straight leg cut. Draggin Oilskins are available in waist sizes from 28 through to 44 inches, and feature a standard leg with a 34 inch inseam.

I f

advantage of Dyneema's amazing strength (15 times stronger than steel).

Draggin,the most technically advanced motorcycle jeans in the world, are available from all clever motorcycle stockists. www.dragginjeans.net

Ilf.

y

irrnin

-I .Li

iririnh

WWW.ppgearbox.com.au

rf PRBE SHIPPING ON YOUR FIRST ORDER Quoicoimivi.,.'

Ji

driven to perform Motor Sport Dealers l Blackwood Tyrepower, SA: l Blair's Tyres. NSW: l Ellenbrook Tyrepower. WA: l Meridian Motorsport, VIC; l O'Niells Tyres. NSW: l Racetune Services. WA: n Reservoir Tyrepower. VIC; l Revolution Racegear, TAS: l Rising Sun Tyre & Alignment, NQLD: l Tyretech, OLD:

CROWCAMS * Fast profile design service to your

Rally, Formula Ford and many more.

"It was very much an honour to receive this award," Bendell said."I was always a disciple of Irving since reading his books and first meeting him in 1958. Fie was the kind of person who expected everyone to reach for their highest potential. Luckily, I work in this fantastic industry, motorsport which continues to develop and inspire me to strive for excellence."

. V

J5IUPSONj

Crmpetlzlone

io:

RACE PRODUCTS

machines for unrivalled accuracy

Simpson Safety Equipment Australia sales@simpsonraceproducts.com.au Australian Distributors Stockists Welcome P 02 9545 6662

P 03 9357 0469 F 03 9357 0001

visit our website: www.crowcams.com.au

Racing Gar Jacks I In'

Super Store

Ra.ce Tested

Engine Valves

Unit 3/13 Penny PI, Arnddl P.irk NSW 214H

(02) 9676 8655

www.pepproracevalves.com.au

CARCOON AUSTRALASIA T: 1800 888 009 E: tnloOcarcoon.com.mi VVfwi

DRIVELINE COMPONENTS

oHuge inventory, o Clutch service. , r X — Australia Wide Delivery SALES HOTLINE Phone:1300 738 553 Rocep InduBtPleB sales@racer-industries.com

m

pii

S495*

Eastern Creek

Made in Sweden, quality, durability.

I light weight. [’ less internal friction.

L tight plumbing options. ^ 6 stage with oil/air H separator and more m Used by leading fi,^roup A Teams (Perkins).

Drags (Anderson).

Nascar (Gibbs).

c

7

0.00 10 10.00" / ● 0.080' V7.ill hardened steel (y UMSi

i

. i owc.ims.c om.nu

Phono- OU lTUi3 bbbb www.crnnocoms.com.au

ir^cRAr\iE ■ 1

fi C / tNOKU .US

rtY. I rt>.

www.holley.com

$139*

Only 5 mlnS frOfTl

Holley Performance System Distributors

● oB pnccs rrvdudo G5T r rwgW n mkjtonat

^Ph: 1300 76 55 39 Fax (07)5478 9833 -^web wwwwaranaimpoils.com

4 way adjusters available

l/Vbrana

old

VIC/TAS SA WA

MANY OTHER DISPLAY OPTIONS AVAILADLE PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS HEQUIBEMEHTS

.VJJ—

Contact YOur state distfibutor...

Motorsport Connections Redllne Performance Performance Wholesale Victorian Speed Pro Crane Technologies GoGear Racing Services Tech Line 1800 242 918

1800 24 2 910 (02) 8723 8888 (07) 3808 1986 (03) 9794 5177 (08) 8363 5566 (08)9443 4400

Call 08 8132 1888 for your nearest distributor|

Competition LSD's & Gears »;

LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL

i

»r;jL05E «au6 gears i FINAL DRIVE

Harmonic

VIC 03 9873 5400 VIC 03 9553 4200 NSW 02 4577 2400

QIO 07 3274 4797 SA 08 8340 4333 WA 08 9331 8488

motorsport news

Bala n c e r s

"The True Performance Alternative

.

7

.^

f

4

I

TMEW EXPANDED RANGE

For details call:

f08 8362 8811 penske@nttyres.com.au

OUTSTANDING PIT DISPLAYS BY OCTANORM

i

■

●

Extremely durable bonded dampening

● ■

material Easy to read computer etched timing marks Available in economical cast iron Street, all steel SFi approved Race & new Serpentine for Chev,LSl.LTl etc

P 02 6937 8888 F 02 6921 7536 Visit out website www.precisionparts.com.au

www.mnews.com.au

► SraUEY (02)9556 6012 ► MELBOURNE (03)9394 3150

r

<^emailMnfo^waranaimgortsxonr^___

.fa,

p 08 8362 4417

Ph: 08 8362 4417 Fax: 08 83628811 racing@nttyres.com.au

llollcu !●“

2 lonno .nnd 0 lonno capaaly

$99™„

RAONQSHOCKSS Single adjuster through

:

Stands

'TQtor^prttvres.CQrryD

' tJif)

● 0.080" v/all chrome moly ♦ one piece construction ● (ivailable in >V’ g, V^." diameter ● 0.050" length steps from

94

Australia Wide Delivery SALES HOTLINE Phone:1300 738 553 RaoeP tnduotPlw sales@racer-industries.com

Australiw iitode Pcriornunce How Rttlngs

$295"^

U.nt >cv.tUjy

om PIECE RACE PUSHRODS

visit our ‘M'bsitf : V

o Refill & service all models o Large inventory of parts & systems.

Hyperco Race Spring Full Range Available

● 1000kg and 3000kg Capacity ● 12 month warranty 15kg ● Weights-^ ● 2Ckg

P03 9357 0469 F0393570001

mo

High Performance Componenfs

PROTECT YOUR RACE TYRES

r/

hydraulic profiles using unique computer controlled

'.rye

NF.W street race version also available

www.cranecams.com.au

fCl

FIA 2000 COMPLIANT - EXCELLENT QUALITY - SENSIBLY PRICED

requirements

●>>>,

r

Ph:08 8362 4417 Fax: 08 8362 8811 racing@nttyres.com.au

ill

engine valves, the design of unique and patented inlet manifolds, and the concept and development of practical and successful fuel injection and engine management systems for motorsport applications.

Richard's passion and determination have seen the MoTeC brand grow from humble beginnings to a world leader in engine management technology, with a customer list that includes Le Mans, NASCAR, FIA GT, Australian V8 Supercars, IndyCar, Dakar Rally, World

(08)8370 2195 (02)4648 1555 (08)9296 9967 (03)9553 4200 (02)4933 5977 (08)9371 3333 (03) 9460 5593 (03)6231 3737 (07)4725 7688 (07)3252 8022

n Custom ground roller, solid and

All Classes 13" 15" 16" 17" 18"

I

engineering excellence in motorsport.

Over the years, Richard has achieved remarkable success both technically and commercially in the development of four-valve JAP motorcycle cylinder heads in speedway racing, the design and manufacture of high performance racing

Roller Rockers Ignition Systems Valve Springs & More!

CRANE TECHNOLOGIES PTY. LTD. Phone: 08 8363 5566 Fax: 08 8363 5633

www.toyo.com.au

GOODYEAR

L.

\

TOVO TIRES

Performance Gearboxes

ichard Bendell, MoTeC founding director and lifelong motorsport I , enthusiast, has received the prestigious CAMS Phil Irving Award in I acknowledgement of his long standing ^ commitment and contribution to

1

As with all Draggin Jeans products,the Oilskins are lined with a knitted hybrid of Kevlar and Dyneema. Soft to the touch, breathable,flexible, and non-allergenic, the Draggin lining takes

^ PFITZINIER

Roller Lifters

Camshafts

SC0MP0/\40T/V£ MOTOHSPORT WHeELS

03 93865331 NSW 02 96768655 SA 08 8298 1886 WA 08 9293 3500 TAS 03 6326 9199 OLD 07 5461 9100 www.stuckeY.com.au

OCTANORMi]

Advertising in RACE SHOP costs as little as $75 per issue!

Call Luke Finn on 0423 665 384 today 95

I

CLR55IFIED5

mmamm

SELL your parts, motorsport vehicle or anything to do with motorsport via our internet classified partners mylOS. com -for as little as * $29.50!

*for mylOS.com ad only

Get your ad on my105.com,plus an insertion here in Motorsport News(induding photo),all for as little as $55!

Sydney Rally, Capetown to Capetown, Panama City, Anchorage and 4 times Classic Adelaide. Only 3 of these vehicles were constructed and meet strict FIA international standards. This vehicle was built at a cost of $150,000.

0418 494 878

Sedans/Sport Cars

www.mYi0S.com/6793

We offer two near new identical 2008, C6, Z06 Corvette, 7 litre, Tremec box, custom, cage, air jacks, AP brakes, Pedalbox, logger, diff and Gbox coolers,

Ready to deliver. Contact Lou Gigliotti 214-679-8907 Texas, USA

JRZ shocks, purpose ground up built GT car has had little practice use only, spare wheels, suit GT Challenge class or state racing, price $110k each.

0417511 911

www.mYi05.com/6736

SWfaf1

Robnell 302 SCR Cobra Replica One

of

Australia's

best

Marque sports cars. Winner 3 State Championships, Mallala 1:10.03 & Sandown 1:15.26. 560bhp, 440ft lb.

Ford 302 SVO, alumin heads, titanium rockers, Ross pistons, steel crank, 8 throttle, Motec injection, dry sump, carbon triple plate clutch. Developed

by K&A Motorsport.0417 826 284

WWW.mYlOS.com/66i9

AU Saloon Car

Ex Nissan Australia - Group A Log Book, C of D. Originally raced by Mark Skaife, later by privateer (Grant) sponsored by 'Sizzler' - finished 6th @ Bathurst in 1991, fully rebuilt. Some spares & 12 wheels. Option to race car in original Nissan livery or as is. $180K o.n.o.

0414 975 655

www.mYi05.com/6562

SEND TO:

Porsche Myzoii 997 GT3 Cup Car As-new, perfect condition. Eligible for Aust Carrera Cup series until 2014.

Only ran 3 rounds in 2011. Motec, video logger, nets, auto blipper, cool suit, etc. 3 sets of wheels in perfect

Front running Ford Au Saloon Car, Rose engine, performance friction brakes, AIMS dash and logging system, qualified 4th at Bathurst, no heavy hits, lightly raced. Be racing at Bathurst Feb 2012 in a front running competitive car.

Spare wheels.0414 575 451

www.myi05.com/5665

cond. Nothing to spend. Lowest kms of any available. No bangs. Priced to sell.

0412395 518

Minetti 2006 l490cc Sports Car

2011 Subaru STI Sedan New

New

WWW.mYi05.com/6i5i

Tarmac/ Gravel rally car ready to race either in ARC or Tarmac

My105,Suite 8,11-21 Underwood Rd, Homebush,NSW,2140

2011

Subaru

STI

Email: info@myi05.com 02 96471177

Notice to advertisers: We are unable to 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.

Commodore Cup Car as raced

Porsche 996 GT3 Cup Car

Untouched since claiming 3rd at Phillip

2003 year 996 GT3 Cup car, with 2004 updates. Log-booked (2A). Fully maintained by Ktec Autohaus. 3 sets of rims, all standard cup car fittings, air jacks etc, MoTEC, fresh brake pads, gearbox rebuilt in 2011, no hits, race ready. No GST. Offers considered.

0418 955 785

Island in 2011, this car is mechanically sound,built by Zucanovic,sister carto his championship winner. Good HP engine, Modena dog box, "AIM" dash/logger.

Spare wheels, bumpers, swaybars etc. available on request. Needs bolt on panel work doors/guards/bonnet.

0437 817 089

www.myioS.com/6625

WWW.mYi05.com/6492

www.mYios.com/292

Road/Drift

Sachs Matrix Dampers

I

Sportscar Unique TRF

m

I

2x sets of Sachs Matrix Dampers,

condition. Flistoric log book.

USA & NZ race history. Been laid up fastidiously for many

Professionally

years. Spares catalogued, too numerous to list. Call Mike on 08 9350 6880

produced) by Kim Ledger's LF Performance Products Perth. Road

WWW.mYlo5.com/l8O6

mount, rear drive STi powered, PPG gears, Motec, Harrop brakes.

Drives, handles and runs perfect.

Wonderful collector item, for AUS

maintained, unique (only 2 ever

Reg and CAMS log book. Mid

i Ralt RT4 What would it mean to own your very own formula racing car? What's it like when you SUDDENLY picture yourself arriving at your club day with this UNRACED Speads RM08? Perhaps you might imagine the feeling, as you anxiously strap into the cockpit for your first time. But this car is NOT for everyone.0418 350 055

«[firg[i[ira

(§iM§®[L[D Coloured ad spaces available now.

-3HID /ZZE^ online classitieds

WWW.mYi05.com/6292

Shannons National series- or state

Ex. Sonic Racing, Great Condition, Have done minimal use in Formula Ford Category. Feel free to contact for any questions. Must sell, price is per set! 0448 882 740

www.mYi05.com/6617

125CC Rotax Superkart Championship winning 125cc Rotax Superkart. Arrow AX8 30/32. Very good condition - engine has only completed 2 meetings since rebuild. Many spares included. This kart has won many races in Max Snr. Light Class including 3 National Championships.0400 400 047

WWW.mYi05.com/6694

round competition ready to go. Ex Shane Smollen -up to date, fresh &

0

quick car ready to race. AIM dash, new engine, gearbox & diff, spares

QiEfc

package avail, lease arrangement option from $2500 per round.

0402 317 513

trailers can be made to any size at all , Ultralite Honeycombe panels used.

0412 731 608

Race Parts/ Accessories

RaltRT4

Sedan

www.mYi05.com/6808 .\ f

4800 X 2100 X 2000 enclosed trailer inci 2 bed accomodation and area at rear for small car or bikes etc. These

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AVWP Reinhardt engine amazing dyno FIP, AIM Pista dash with full logging, tuned exhaust. Spider wheels, Titan rack, new Momo wheel, bonus FREE trailer. 0419 825 416

Semi Enclosed Trailer

Motoring history.9350 6881

Championship, Possum Bourne Motor Sport cage. Fitted locally by PBMS. Prepared to a high standard regardless of cost. More info or pics email me. Being sold well under cost to build! Inspection will not

WWW.mYi05.com/5402

Unique Vee F/Ford look, Asher Johnston car, won 2009 State title qual. front row 2010 Nats. On board 3 way adjust Penske shocks, tri shock Penske rear,

Immaculate, restored to as new

Minetti sports car,fresh 1490cc Hyabusa Suzuki engine, 220bhp @ wheels on dyno, M400 Motec ECU, Aims mini dash, purpose built lightweight trailer, spare wheels, all in very good condition and ready for use. Must sell. View in Brisbane. Very fast car to drive. Built in 2006. $29,500 ONO.07 3390 5455

AU Saloon

GAC1600 FVee Only one in Oz!

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1977 LB Lancer Rally Car

your next Historic/Classic, Club or State event & have fun in. Full specs avalible

0^'

Corvette C6-Z06 GT Car

races on it from new. Spare engine and misc spares. This car is in the National Corvette museum now.

lu

pristine car, straight body, immaculate paint work and no rust, ready to run at

GT-2 Corvette Lemans Car

Chassis #001 built by Riley Technologies in USA for Lemans.

Race ready or collector car, faster than GM factory Corvettes. Only 8

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Sydney Rally, Capetown to Capetown, Panama City, Anchorage and 4 times Classic Adelaide. Only 3 of these vehicles were constructed and meet strict FIA international standards. This vehicle was built at a cost of $150,000.

0418 494 878

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We offer two near new identical 2008, C6, Z06 Corvette, 7 litre, Tremec box, custom, cage, air jacks, AP brakes, Pedalbox, logger, diff and Gbox coolers,

Ready to deliver. Contact Lou Gigliotti 214-679-8907 Texas, USA

JRZ shocks, purpose ground up built GT car has had little practice use only, spare wheels, suit GT Challenge class or state racing, price $110k each.

0417511 911

www.mYi05.com/6736

SWfaf1

Robnell 302 SCR Cobra Replica One

of

Australia's

best

Marque sports cars. Winner 3 State Championships, Mallala 1:10.03 & Sandown 1:15.26. 560bhp, 440ft lb.

Ford 302 SVO, alumin heads, titanium rockers, Ross pistons, steel crank, 8 throttle, Motec injection, dry sump, carbon triple plate clutch. Developed

by K&A Motorsport.0417 826 284

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AU Saloon Car

Ex Nissan Australia - Group A Log Book, C of D. Originally raced by Mark Skaife, later by privateer (Grant) sponsored by 'Sizzler' - finished 6th @ Bathurst in 1991, fully rebuilt. Some spares & 12 wheels. Option to race car in original Nissan livery or as is. $180K o.n.o.

0414 975 655

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SEND TO:

Porsche Myzoii 997 GT3 Cup Car As-new, perfect condition. Eligible for Aust Carrera Cup series until 2014.

Only ran 3 rounds in 2011. Motec, video logger, nets, auto blipper, cool suit, etc. 3 sets of wheels in perfect

Front running Ford Au Saloon Car, Rose engine, performance friction brakes, AIMS dash and logging system, qualified 4th at Bathurst, no heavy hits, lightly raced. Be racing at Bathurst Feb 2012 in a front running competitive car.

Spare wheels.0414 575 451

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cond. Nothing to spend. Lowest kms of any available. No bangs. Priced to sell.

0412395 518

Minetti 2006 l490cc Sports Car

2011 Subaru STI Sedan New

New

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My105,Suite 8,11-21 Underwood Rd, Homebush,NSW,2140

2011

Subaru

STI

Email: info@myi05.com 02 96471177

Notice to advertisers: We are unable to 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.

Commodore Cup Car as raced

Porsche 996 GT3 Cup Car

Untouched since claiming 3rd at Phillip

2003 year 996 GT3 Cup car, with 2004 updates. Log-booked (2A). Fully maintained by Ktec Autohaus. 3 sets of rims, all standard cup car fittings, air jacks etc, MoTEC, fresh brake pads, gearbox rebuilt in 2011, no hits, race ready. No GST. Offers considered.

0418 955 785

Island in 2011, this car is mechanically sound,built by Zucanovic,sister carto his championship winner. Good HP engine, Modena dog box, "AIM" dash/logger.

Spare wheels, bumpers, swaybars etc. available on request. Needs bolt on panel work doors/guards/bonnet.

0437 817 089

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Road/Drift

Sachs Matrix Dampers

I

Sportscar Unique TRF

m

I

2x sets of Sachs Matrix Dampers,

condition. Flistoric log book.

USA & NZ race history. Been laid up fastidiously for many

Professionally

years. Spares catalogued, too numerous to list. Call Mike on 08 9350 6880

produced) by Kim Ledger's LF Performance Products Perth. Road

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mount, rear drive STi powered, PPG gears, Motec, Harrop brakes.

Drives, handles and runs perfect.

Wonderful collector item, for AUS

maintained, unique (only 2 ever

Reg and CAMS log book. Mid

i Ralt RT4 What would it mean to own your very own formula racing car? What's it like when you SUDDENLY picture yourself arriving at your club day with this UNRACED Speads RM08? Perhaps you might imagine the feeling, as you anxiously strap into the cockpit for your first time. But this car is NOT for everyone.0418 350 055

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Shannons National series- or state

Ex. Sonic Racing, Great Condition, Have done minimal use in Formula Ford Category. Feel free to contact for any questions. Must sell, price is per set! 0448 882 740

www.mYi05.com/6617

125CC Rotax Superkart Championship winning 125cc Rotax Superkart. Arrow AX8 30/32. Very good condition - engine has only completed 2 meetings since rebuild. Many spares included. This kart has won many races in Max Snr. Light Class including 3 National Championships.0400 400 047

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0

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QiEfc

package avail, lease arrangement option from $2500 per round.

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trailers can be made to any size at all , Ultralite Honeycombe panels used.

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Race Parts/ Accessories

RaltRT4

Sedan

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4800 X 2100 X 2000 enclosed trailer inci 2 bed accomodation and area at rear for small car or bikes etc. These

www.mYi05.com/6575

disappoint.0419 381 533

Mail:

AVWP Reinhardt engine amazing dyno FIP, AIM Pista dash with full logging, tuned exhaust. Spider wheels, Titan rack, new Momo wheel, bonus FREE trailer. 0419 825 416

Semi Enclosed Trailer

Motoring history.9350 6881

Championship, Possum Bourne Motor Sport cage. Fitted locally by PBMS. Prepared to a high standard regardless of cost. More info or pics email me. Being sold well under cost to build! Inspection will not

WWW.mYi05.com/5402

Unique Vee F/Ford look, Asher Johnston car, won 2009 State title qual. front row 2010 Nats. On board 3 way adjust Penske shocks, tri shock Penske rear,

Immaculate, restored to as new

Minetti sports car,fresh 1490cc Hyabusa Suzuki engine, 220bhp @ wheels on dyno, M400 Motec ECU, Aims mini dash, purpose built lightweight trailer, spare wheels, all in very good condition and ready for use. Must sell. View in Brisbane. Very fast car to drive. Built in 2006. $29,500 ONO.07 3390 5455

AU Saloon

GAC1600 FVee Only one in Oz!

www.mYi0S.com/6630

Open Wheelers

Nissan Skyline Grp AGTSRHR31

Tarmac Rally Cars

For an additional $15,our staff can put your listing up for you!Simply type/ write your advertisement clearly(no more than 50 words), nominate your category and include your pic(s). Then send it by mail or email(make sure to include your details) - see addresses below.

Fax:

www.mYi0S.com/6764

known

HOW?

If you prefer to pay by another method, please contact our office on 9746 0777.

Southern Cross Rally livery and only driven on weekends by two ladies!

With a valid CAMS Log book, this is a

on request. 0428 168 173

\

www.myioS.com/6740

Log on to tny105.com and place your ad by following the prompts.Payments can be made online by credit card only.

1977 LB Lancer Rally Car

your next Historic/Classic, Club or State event & have fun in. Full specs avalible

0^'

Corvette C6-Z06 GT Car

races on it from new. Spare engine and misc spares. This car is in the National Corvette museum now.

lu

pristine car, straight body, immaculate paint work and no rust, ready to run at

GT-2 Corvette Lemans Car

Chassis #001 built by Riley Technologies in USA for Lemans.

Race ready or collector car, faster than GM factory Corvettes. Only 8

Transporters/Trailers

'

This Classic long distance rally vehicle has competed in the London to

NO.1 RACECAR CLASSIFIEDS

myl05.com will also run your ad til it's SOLD!

Tt

Ex- John Lamb Collection

NO.7 RACECAR CLASSIFIEDS

i(i

*

1.5 million

I.

-f

PAGE VIEWS PER MONTH

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'●■ 'lit

www.mYi05.com/6673

IT SEEN IT SOLD

.vww.myios.com Circuit Racing

motorsport news

M

Speedway &OvaI

www.mnews.com.au

Rally & Off Road

Drag Racing

Road, Drift & Performance

Transporters & Trailers

Workshop &Crew

Classic &

(02) 9746 0777

Prestige

info@myl05.com

if

'1

PAUL

CRUICKSHANK

a large corporation like a car nnanufacturer can seem like an

'i THE FINAL WORD I

I

T'S autumn in Australia, and that means we are into

a new racing season. It's going to be interesting to watch from the outside. From

my point of view, it will be very much an interim year for a lot of teams as they are in the middle of what will be a very hectic logistical year.

We will absolutely see who has the resources and energy to put a championship year together as well as building the COTF (Car of the Future) program and actually turning it from steel and panels into a reality.

This year will test some of the teams' management and engineering groups as they both prepare and race, but none more so than the Kelly Racing organisation. It's great news that Nissan is entering the championship, and I think that it has gone to the perfect home.

The team is well resourced.

enormous increase in funding for a race team.

The other side of the coin they have a good driver line up, although it will be interesting to see if Murph will stay with the Kellys, or whether he will be brand loyal with Flolden and finish his career with the General.

By the time the new cars are ready, the Kellys will have run a four-car team for four years.

I think that will be a benefit

is the expectation from the manufacturer as it will want to see its cars ahead of the other makes. It would be fair to say that Nissan will have a high activation program in the first year to embrace the program with dealers, staff & customers.

Like everything new there will be a honeymoon period in which there can be some

in 2013 as there will be good systems and procedures in place.

Manufacturer participation is good news for the teams and owners, because the

leniency shown until KR get the cars to a competitive level, but with the funding there will also be high expectations arriving at Breaside.

money they put into the racing program actually goes into the teams directly. Many good race teams have been built

Fortunately Nissan does have a great racing pedigree in this country so it understands it will take some time to get the program to an acceptable level.

One thing Nissan will get is great brand ambassadors with the Kelly Brothers, and no one at Nissan will be able to question the driving talents of these guys.

All in all, its great news for the championship, the team and

on the foundation of a strong manufacturer relationship early in their years. A small amount of money can be directed really well in a team that has a culture of always not quite having enough funding, and what would seem a small amount to

the race fans.

There is one other potential bonus for the Kelly boys. Nissan has a range of programs around the globe, so it would be good to see Rick go and do some other races for his new bosses.

Todd seems to be more into the business side of the team

A

at present, but I am sure Rick would do well in anything he drove, and with some of the GT programs Nissan is currently doing, it would be a great experience for Rick - and he would learn some new things to bring back to the team.

It's always good to go and sample another category, especially an overseas one.

While the V8 Supercars series has become very international in terms of staffing, it's always good to have a look at how others do things. It may only be a small thing in how the cars are set up, prepared or even a lay out inside the car. But if you can go away and learn one thing from the experience, bring it back and apply it to your own team, it's been worth the effort to do it.

smiPSM SOOMMMiM 1

RESERVE YOUR SEAT WITH THE PRICE CAP CLUB

Manygood race teams have been builton thefoundation ofastrong manufacturer relationship earlyin their years

^IGr- n T

V I

Ik'.

A

A

2013 SEATS AT 2012 PRICES

f,

y

NISSAN

●‘■''iMi’iiiNu'UlRL

Book with Price Cop Club before 30 June 2012 and: l Secure your favourite grandstand seat l Only pay the 2012 event prices l Enjoy the best views of the action l Pay in three easy installments

\

Tutii ■

Book by 16 May 2012 and also get a FREE limited edition Clipsal 500 collectors lanyard and hard card.

NISSAN

m

i

y

Book now at clipsol500.com.au or call Ticketek on 1300 015 684.

Next Issue of Motorsport News on sale APRIL 25 9H

South Australia.

A brilliant blend

motorsport news

Schntidi

For terms and conditions visit clipsal500.com.au/pricecap

if

'1

PAUL

CRUICKSHANK

a large corporation like a car nnanufacturer can seem like an

'i THE FINAL WORD I

I

T'S autumn in Australia, and that means we are into

a new racing season. It's going to be interesting to watch from the outside. From

my point of view, it will be very much an interim year for a lot of teams as they are in the middle of what will be a very hectic logistical year.

We will absolutely see who has the resources and energy to put a championship year together as well as building the COTF (Car of the Future) program and actually turning it from steel and panels into a reality.

This year will test some of the teams' management and engineering groups as they both prepare and race, but none more so than the Kelly Racing organisation. It's great news that Nissan is entering the championship, and I think that it has gone to the perfect home.

The team is well resourced.

enormous increase in funding for a race team.

The other side of the coin they have a good driver line up, although it will be interesting to see if Murph will stay with the Kellys, or whether he will be brand loyal with Flolden and finish his career with the General.

By the time the new cars are ready, the Kellys will have run a four-car team for four years.

I think that will be a benefit

is the expectation from the manufacturer as it will want to see its cars ahead of the other makes. It would be fair to say that Nissan will have a high activation program in the first year to embrace the program with dealers, staff & customers.

Like everything new there will be a honeymoon period in which there can be some

in 2013 as there will be good systems and procedures in place.

Manufacturer participation is good news for the teams and owners, because the

leniency shown until KR get the cars to a competitive level, but with the funding there will also be high expectations arriving at Breaside.

money they put into the racing program actually goes into the teams directly. Many good race teams have been built

Fortunately Nissan does have a great racing pedigree in this country so it understands it will take some time to get the program to an acceptable level.

One thing Nissan will get is great brand ambassadors with the Kelly Brothers, and no one at Nissan will be able to question the driving talents of these guys.

All in all, its great news for the championship, the team and

on the foundation of a strong manufacturer relationship early in their years. A small amount of money can be directed really well in a team that has a culture of always not quite having enough funding, and what would seem a small amount to

the race fans.

There is one other potential bonus for the Kelly boys. Nissan has a range of programs around the globe, so it would be good to see Rick go and do some other races for his new bosses.

Todd seems to be more into the business side of the team

A

at present, but I am sure Rick would do well in anything he drove, and with some of the GT programs Nissan is currently doing, it would be a great experience for Rick - and he would learn some new things to bring back to the team.

It's always good to go and sample another category, especially an overseas one.

While the V8 Supercars series has become very international in terms of staffing, it's always good to have a look at how others do things. It may only be a small thing in how the cars are set up, prepared or even a lay out inside the car. But if you can go away and learn one thing from the experience, bring it back and apply it to your own team, it's been worth the effort to do it.

smiPSM SOOMMMiM 1

RESERVE YOUR SEAT WITH THE PRICE CAP CLUB

Manygood race teams have been builton thefoundation ofastrong manufacturer relationship earlyin their years

^IGr- n T

V I

Ik'.

A

A

2013 SEATS AT 2012 PRICES

f,

y

NISSAN

●‘■''iMi’iiiNu'UlRL

Book with Price Cop Club before 30 June 2012 and: l Secure your favourite grandstand seat l Only pay the 2012 event prices l Enjoy the best views of the action l Pay in three easy installments

\

Tutii ■

Book by 16 May 2012 and also get a FREE limited edition Clipsal 500 collectors lanyard and hard card.

NISSAN

m

i

y

Book now at clipsol500.com.au or call Ticketek on 1300 015 684.

Next Issue of Motorsport News on sale APRIL 25 9H

South Australia.

A brilliant blend

motorsport news

Schntidi

For terms and conditions visit clipsal500.com.au/pricecap

www.xforce.com.au

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