Motorsport News Issue 436 - October 2013

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National Motor Racing Museum, right beside the track atMurraff No visit toInside Mountyou’ll Panorama complete without a stop Corner. find aisconstantly-changing arrayatof v©M^l^tiiM1»h^£2 made their mark on not only Mount Panorama, but Australian rtiotof^'i^S^gii^^^ - The main halhfs packed with not just touring cars, but opemwheeierS, mbtcfbf®^ of fascinating memorabilia - trophies, driving suite, leathers, helrhets, posters aM^hOtiiS^ph^ . Take a break in the 40-seat theatrette and watch the videos coverihg%e glorWihistO'i^ ^ racing on Mount Panorama since 1938, and the just-released version on the " 3 ' motorcycle racing at the track.

■f Enjoy a coffee and check out the museum shop. It’s packed with official team :a books, video and collectables. Naturally, any visit to Mount Panorama is not complete without; spin around the famous circuit itself - just remember to obey the 60 km/h speed limit! Batlturst ' is just two and a half hour’s drive from Sydney, so there’s no need to wait until the next race meeting - make it a memorable day trip any time. The whole family will love the experience. >1.

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NEWS

Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au At Large PhilBranagan

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Bathurst preview

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It's that time of the year again anci it feels just like old times as we head to Bathurst for the Great Race with a multitude of manufacturers, and a good old fashioned parity barney.

Photography

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Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Paul Cross, James Smith, Andrew Hall, Geoff Grade,Sportspics, Michael Vettas, Daniel Beard

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: If we atie witnessing!the end df the so-called traditional! Holden vs Ford rivalry at Bathurst,then who won/?

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Italian Superstar

Mount Panorama is a rather

different place from Queensland Raceway, Fabrizio Giovanardi discovered during his first trip down under. He may not be all that familiar in these parts, but it's hard to imagine a more storied professional touring car ace.

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Jatitiies Winsl'owis head:e:dl>d;®.wn 1®' his bidto finally landia;full! time V8 Superea r d tiLve.

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A motorsport news

Unusual Suspects

wm 6 LA FIGUER 22 CABACE 25 LA BISBAL

Give Atko a 90

When the GFC hit in 2008 and

Subaru abruptly upped stumps with its World Rally Championship effort, Chris Atkinson was left out ' of a drive. Five years on and he's , still trying to find his way back into the WRC

James Winslow Fie beat Bruno Senna in a Formula 3 race at Albert Park, and he's been dominant pretty much every time he's raced F3 in this country.The Briton who now calls Australia home is probably now our most accomplished young driver that doesn't have a V8 Supercar drive.

AMC Masters The ninth,running ofthe Australian Muscle Car Wlasters celebrated the 50th anniversary ofthe first Great Race with a special Bathurst grid spectacular.

Fabrizio Giovanardi You'd think a driver of Giovanardi's

Speedway Geoff Rounds chats with veteran Sprintcar star Robbie Farr as the Speedway season kicks into gear for 2013/14.

Vale Des West

Great Scott In the school of hard racing knocks,they don't come much tougher than 22-year-old Superbike ace Glenn Scott.

age, experience and ability would be a walk up start for an LMP1 Le Mans drive. Except that the Italian simply isn't interested,finding the 24 Flours'boring' and'dangerous', preferring instead the contact and adrenaline rush that comes from racing touring cars.

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REGULARS

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Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan

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The Scoop with Steve Normoyle On The Limiter with Chris Lambden United States of Origin Box Seat Model Behaviour Trade Classifieds Retro Vision Parting Shot

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Chris Atkinson Remember him? Just when he looked set to consolidate himself on the World Rally Championship scene,the GFC hit and took Subaru out of the sport with it. But the Queenslander did not give up his dream of making it back into the WRC, and it looks like his persistence might be about to pay off.

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Phil

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-‘1 HAT a mess.

In the last month V8 Supercars has tested an alternative fuel blend, looked set to partially adopt it, then dropped it and introduced a mandatory pitstop rule that, in part, effectively negates what has been one of the fascinating parts of endurance racing.

When I found out about the E70 fuel supplied to two of the Nissans and one of the Benzes at Winton, I thought it was an odd solution. I can't recall something like this - a different fuel being supplied to selected competitors in an otherwise 'controlled' environment - being done anywhere else in the past. But, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a potentially clever solution - elegant, even. Provided the fuel produced the results as planned, it was a way of evening up the playing field in a relatively simple and invisible-to-fans manner.

Of course, it will not be used now.

Lobbying has returned to V8 Supercars. After Nissan scored a 1-2 result in a single race at Winton, the conversation started. The result was, to paraphrase one of the more memorable characters from the TV series Seinfeld, "No E70forYou!" I am old enough to remember the Bad Old Days of the Australian Touring Car Championship, during which CAMS made technical adjustments to cars almost on the run. On one particularly memorable occasion, sweeping allowances were announced during a race. Winning and losing was, at least in part, determined by who had the most effective argument and the loudest voice.

At one point in the V8 Supercar era, some performance adjustments were made 6

Winning and losing was,at least in part, determined by who had the most effective arguement and the loudest voice... I would doubt many want to return to that era. with such short notice that one could see modifications being made to splitters and the like while at a race meeting. While it produced great stories at the time for we in the media, I would doubt many want to return to that era.

There is a big problem in play here. To this point, V8 Supercars has been a category in which there has been a high degree of Technical Parity, provided by a long list of control components. That list may have excluded the engine but such are the similarities in specification between the two motors -'small block', two-valve, pushrod, 90-degree V8s designed purely for racing that there has been no glaring performance inequity between the two brands in play.

One of the prime objectives of the Car of The Future program was to attract new brands into the category and the three that have been attracted - Nissan and Volvo as works entries and Mercedes-Benz via a customer - have all brought with them four-valve DOHC V8 based on their road car engines. Yet, in spite of new brands being one of COTF's raison d'etres, it appears that no mechanism has been put in place to provide for Parity adjustments. The 'comparative aerodynamic testing' of the new cars is prominent in V8 Supercars' own website, but how reasonable is it that no

such prominence has been given to engine parity? Has there simply been an assumption made that five different makes of engine, of three different designs, would achieve nearas-dammit identical results for horsepower, torque and fuel consumption? Or, that those targets would be achieved in Year 1?

We are getting back to rules on the run.

In my opinion, that is not good for the sport.

Perhaps it is time to consider whether the age of Technical Parity is in the past and what might be required now is Performance Parity and a recognised way of regulating it.

Jamie Whincup's Commodore was In front of the Nissans at Winton at the time he suffered a single, rare mechanical DNF. The lead pack was close, but its order was Holden-Nissan-Nissan-Ford. The E70 was, at that point, doing precisely what it was meant to do, provide close comparative performance between the different cars.

At that point, Holden had won 20 of 24 races and already wrapped up the Makes title. Had Whincup won Race 25, complaints from Holden over the use of E70 may have looked to some a lot less like lobbying and a lot more like whining.

And this column might have been about what a good bloke Daniel Ricciardo is. He is. But something needs to be fixed in V8 Supercars, motorsport news

Research and development doesn'tjust happen in a lab.

In supporting some of Australia's leading motorsport teams and racing categories, Fuchs Lubricants can test their products in the most competitive environment on earth - the racetrack.

LUBRICANTS. TECHNOLOGY. PEOPLE.

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ow great it is to hear the news that Daniel Ricciardo has been chosen by Red Bull Racing as next year's replacement for the departing Mark Webber.

One Aussie for another, and given it's the best car in the field means we can look forward to more Australian successes in Formula 1 - and, yes, the dream of seeing the first Aussie World Drivers' Champion since Alan Jones in 1980 remains alive.

Well, enjoy it while it lasts. Because there may not be another Aussie in FI once Ricciardo goes. Ever.

While Australia has never been better represented on the world openwheeler stage than it is right now, the Australian openwheeler scene - where our future stars are born - has never been in a more parlous state.

At State level we have Formula Vee. At national level there is Formula Ford and Formula 3. Or at least was, because CAMS has decided that next year there will be no national Formula Ford series. That just leaves us with F3 on the national stage, and it's not exactly in a state of rude health itself.

The CAMS decision won't mean much right now. But there could be huge ramifications down the track.

Flopefully the idea which CAMS is pushing, which is to regionalise Formula Ford and hold an annual Festival event for the best from each state, will develop into something that's both realistic and worthwhile. Because no doubt the tyranny of distance in this country is a huge factor when it comes to cost, and even time away from home. This alone has always

been a factor which puts national Formula Ford competition beyond the reach of many youngsters.

Yes, the national Formula Ford series has become too expensive. But the mooted replacement, the winged Formula Four, will likely come ready-made with the same fiscal issues that killed the national FF championship.

Perhaps before we do anything rash, more thought ought to be put into the 'Ford' part of Formula Ford. Part of the reason why we've reached this current nadir is that Ford no longer wishes to support Formula Ford. If not Ford, then why not someone else? There are other manufacturers out there which might be interested in attaching their brand (and engine) to our main for nursery category for future star drivers.

Some crucial decisions need to be made in the coming months. It will serve us poorly if Formula Ford is allowed to fade into insignificance. A junior openwheeler background might not be a mandatory prerequisite for V8 Supercar drivers (even if two thirds of the current field did come from Formula Ford). But you can be assured that the future Webbers and Ricciardos are not going to hail from the ranks of V8 Utes, production car racing or Aussie Racing Cars.

Right now, if you're young and dreaming of a career in openwheelers, and don't have a spare $200,000, you're better off looking at speedway. Openwheeler racing is where it's at on the clayways, with a World Series Sprintcar circuit that's connected directly to the American Sprintcar scene, and a resurgent Speedcar division that this summer will feature

You can be assured that the future Webbers and Ricciardos are not going to hail from the ranks of V8 Utes, production car racing or Aussie Racing Cars.

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a national series. Just like there used to be in Formula Ford...

Now I want to have a little whinge.

Truth may be the first casualty in advertising, but you can only take things so far. The TV ad for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is a classic case in point. It uses Jim Richards' famous address to the crowd in 1992 to point out the return of Nissan, which is fair enough (and actually quite hilarious).

Flowever, when it came to the three-pointed star, the selling point was somewhat less obvious. So they opted simply for the return of 'old foe' Mercedes-Benz.

'Old foe'? Hardly...

Mercedes-Benz has never been an 'old foe' of anyone at Bathurst. The company has never participated in the race with a factory effort, and in 53 years only nine privately entered Mercs have started, spread across eight separate races (as opposed to 860 Holdens to have started in 53 races, and 731 Fords in 55 races).

As for the other returning ‘old foe', we're starting to hear chat here and there about this being Nissan's first time back at Bathurst since that infamous '92 win with the GT-R. But that would be to forget about the Steven Richards/Matt Neal semi-works Nissan Primera that went within a whisker of winning the 1998 AMP Bathurst 1000.

Yes, that was only a Super Touring Bathurst 1000, but it was still Bathurst, and in fact at the time it was the 'official' Bathurst 1000, that year's FAI 1000 for V8 Supercars being the 'rebel' Bathurst race before V8 Supercars asserted itself and took control in '99. It was a race that featured an incredible all-day battle at the front between the Nissan and the Volvo S40 of Jim Richards/Rickard Rydell.

The two cars were rarely separated by more than a few seconds all day - in many ways there has never been a tighter, more keenly contested Great Race, and uniquely it was father versus son for the win at Bathurst.

That's why this race should be remembered.

Even if it didn't have a V8 in it. motorsport news

Pre-production samples

'Apex replicas is pleased to announce their latest project which is the 1:18 scale EF-EL Falcon model in high detail diecast I with opening parts. The initial releases will feature cars driven

by Dick Johnson and John Bowe, including the 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship winner and Bathurst cars. The pre-production version shown here indicates the high quality and fine detail you can expect from the final models, which feature opening doors, bonnet and boot. Keep an eye on Apex newsletters for further announcements and release dates ?! I regarding the range,or visit www.apexreplicas.com.au

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s I write this, the media is abuzz with rumours that 'Warnie and Liz' have split.

If it turns out to be true, I won't be toppling from my chair in shock and surprise. The union of one of Australia’s most accomplished cricketers and recent exponent of hair replacement and other age-defying procedures with the female star of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was, from day one, of those where you just know that there'll be dark clouds long before the blissful couple reaches pensionable age.

I had that same apprehensive feeling a few days ago, when Ferrari came out and confirmed the rumours that Kimi Raikkonen would return to Maranello next year to line up alongside current indisputable number one Fernando Alonso.

I can't imagine I'm the only one who senses fireworks here.

It's been a long time since Alonso, who I rate highly In a strict 1-2 environment, has had to deal with the uncomfortable reality of anything other than a genuine 'number two' alongside him. Who can forget the catastrophe that was Alonso's time at McLaren in 2007, when a seemingly compliant 'new face' was chosen to drive alongside him. It was just that Lewis Flamilton turned out to be a bit of a gun, and things got very uncomfortable...

At the end of that year, Fernando left McLaren - two years before his contract was due to end - and retreated to Renault and the relative comfort of Nelson Piquet Junior as a team-mate.

Two years later, at the end of 2009, Kimi Raikkonen was 'paid out' a full year's salary (said to be $25m-plus) by Ferrari to go away.

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So... let's get this straight. Ferrari is now welcoming him back with open arms(and cheque-book),Alonso is meant to be unperturbed by it, and Ferrari is going to present a united,two-pronged attack in 2014?

Flis attitude was a problem said insiders.

And Alonso was coming anyway.

After a couple of years crashing WRC rally cars, Kimi bounced back into FI in 2012 like he had never left, in a set-up which was tailored to suit him at Lotus (nee Renault)- no burdensome PR duties other than the bare minimum, team priority, and a car gradually making progress in relation to the all-conquering Red Bulls.

Kimi's unerring consistency, and a win in Abu Dhabi, earned him third in the championship last year and 2013 started with a bang, with a win here in Australia.

But things haven't quite panned out as hoped. The Red Bulls are again dominating, and Kimi is said to be having 'issues' with the team. Fie Is currently fourth in the championship.

So ... let's get this straight. Ferrari is now welcoming him back with open arms (and cheque-book), Alonso is meant to be unperturbed by it, and Ferrari is going to present a united, two-pronged attack in 2014?

I'm looking forward to thatl It hardly ever works. It worked in 1978 for Lotus, but only because Ronnie Peterson was a gentleman and fully understood and accepted his role as number two to Mario Andretti. It sort-of worked in 1988 when Prost and Senna won 15 out of 16 races between them for McLaren. Their relationship

turned to mud the following year ... In both these cases, the teams absolutely dominated, more so than Red Bull is now.

Unless Ferrari is going to come out with a pace-setter next year, i sense acrimony and angst. Could Maranello have a winner on the drawing boards?

With the significant change to 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines in 2014, with fuel allowance down from 160 litres to 100 litres, anything is possible. Throw in the change to eight-speed (yes eight) gearboxes and KERS 'doubled'(to be sourced from both braking and, now, turbo heat) and FI in 2014 is going to be very, very different.

Any major change of formula presents an opportunity for someone to get it right on day one and reap the rewards. It worked for Jack Brabham in 1966 and 1967 and, who knows, maybe Ferrari is ahead of the game in terms of 2014.

Could it be that the Kimster has done his homework, squeezed some solid engine test data out of Renault and Ferrari as part of the negotiations, and concluded that the best chance is with Ferrari?

While this year still has to be concluded (although it looks like Vettel is on a roll), I'm already looking forward to 2014 from many angles - and now there's one more to add even more spice.

I wonder if the online betting people will have odds on who leaves first... motorsport news

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Dan's awesome one-lap pace and increasingly impressive ability to manage the tricky Pirelli tyres will be enough to at least keep him in the same ball game as Seb next season. And that's got to be his aim for the first season

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HERE'S something I want to make clear right from the start; I'm not one of your classic 'what could have been' disgruntled former racers.

Yes, I was once a young man with a CAMS license, a Formula Ford and dreams of ruling the motor racing world from the cockpit of a Formula 1 car. But unfortunately the fact that it didn't pan out that way is down to more than the fact that I didn't have a rich dad to pay for new tyres and the right dampers.

1 wasn't the slowest bloke to ever park his backside in a Van Diemen, but I'm prepared to admit that even if I'd had more cash and a bit better equipment I probably would have still wound up right here behind this keyboard. I just lacked that star quality as a driver. (I was also horribly, and I really mean horribly, slow whenever it rained) The reason I'm reflecting on my driving career - for lack of a better term - is Daniel Ricciardo's signing at Red Bull Racing. Because when Dan made the step up from karts to big boy racing cars, he did so during what are commonly referred to [by my mum]as the

'van Leeuwen years' of West Aussie Formula Ford.

I even managed to out-qualify him once - by four spots (I was fifth and he was ninth at the July meeting in 2005). It was his first ever race meeting in a proper car, and I think it was the only time during Dan's short stay in state level FFord that I ended a session ahead of him, but those are the sort of details that can easily be left out to make the story sound more impressive.

All jokes aside, Dan's stint in FFord, driving a speedy Fastlane-tuned RRF90, is something I remember well.

Despite being out-qualified by me and seven other guys at his first meeting, he did find his feet remarkably quickly. For example, in his very first race he turned that ninth grid spot into a fourth. At the next meeting, he bagged his first podium with third in a race won by the one and only Mark 'Dougey' Douglas. At the last state championship round of the season in October - Dan's fourth outing in a proper racing car- he took his first pole. He couldn't convert it into a win (I remember the weather was terrible, which

motorsport “'(ews

Andrew

van Leeuwen

Box Seat meant I spent the day alternating between spinning and driving very slowly), but it was an impressive effort nonetheless.

What helped Dan's learning curve in FFord was that he'd done a fair bit of testing throughout the year while he waited to turn old enough to actually start a proper race. But while he'd done some miles, he still had a job to do to cut it in what was a very strong local FFord grid (and I'm actually being serious now). Guys like Dougy, Simon Wheeler and William Hall might not be household names, but they were bloody good FFord drivers who had done a million and one laps of Barbagallo Raceway. They weren't easy to beat (trust me), and that Dan performed so comfortably in that company so quickly after making the transition from karting was, and still is, a genuine indicator of his natural ability.

Since then, Dan's done a lot with that natural ability. That Red Bull Racing has signed him basically makes him the most prominent up-and-comer in the motor racing world. He's about to step into the dream drive. And what's really nice is that he deserves it.

www.mn6ws.com.au ■

What I do hope that Dan realises is that his life is about to change in a pretty serious way. When I spoke to him at the start of the season, I asked whether he'd been recognised much during the off-season while he was back in Perth. He told me that. outside of Grand Prix weekends, he hardly gets'recognised at all, anywhere in the world People aren't rushing up for autographs, let's put it that way," he said. "I'm pretty happy to walk around the streets unnoticed, to be honest." Dan might be happy to live a life of anonymity, but if/when he starts winning Grands Prix, that's going to change. And he has to be prepared for that.

There's also going to be the little matter of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, and a pre-race build-up that is going to generate a pressure the likes of which Dan has never had to deal with.

Thankfully, these are things that I'm sure he'll be able to deal with. Being a quiet, humble sort of guy, the celebrity life will be something Dan will grin and bear, more so than actually enjoy.

As for the pressure, the Italian Grand Prix

was a very good sign that Dan isn't one to get distracted by the hype. So many youn drivers experience a downturn in form following a big announcement like that (Sergio Perez last year, for example), but Dan responded by out-performing his car and taking a career-best finish. That's the sort of headspace a driver needs to be able to find.

From a sporting point of view, there's no hiding the fact that Dan is going to be sharing a garage with an unstoppable winning machine at the peak of his powers in Sebastian Vettel. And realistically it's unlikely that the boy from Perth is going to waltz In there and blow Vettel back to Heppenheim right from day dot.

However, Dan's awesome one-lap pace and increasingly impressive ability to manage the tricky Pirelli tyres will be enough to at least keep him in the same ball game as Seb next season. And that's got to be his aim for the first season.

After that, who knows? One thing is for sure, though; when he wins that first Grand Prix, the market value of a certain Van Diemen RF90 is going to skyrocket.

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f there s one thing that Penske is good at - apart from preparing race cars - it's keeping secrets. Not only is the news of Juan Pablo Montoya's impending return to IndyCar the biggest US racing story of the year, but it was also a complete blindside l for pretty much everyone barring the handful of people within the Penske camp who were involved in putting the deal together.

Not two days before Montoya's singleseater comeback was announced, it was reported that his talks about an IndyCar ride . with Andretti Autosport had broken off, and he was strongly linked to a deal that would have kept him in NASCAR with Furniture Row Racing; the team that currently fields Kurt Busch.

Both Montoya and Furniture Row had admitted that there had been talks, and in fact things had gone a lot further than that: the Colombian visited the team's headquarters.

It wouldn't have been a bad move on Montoya's part, which is why so many NASCAR commentators were convinced it would happen. For starters, despite its relatively uninspiring name - it's hard to 14

feel awesome wearing a T-shirt that says Furniture Row'- FRR has had great success with Busch this year, earning a pole position and becoming the first single-car team ever to make the Chase.

Besides, NASCAR is NASCAR, right? And historically, the story has been one of IndyCar drivers moving to Cup, not the other way around. And especially not when the driver in question is of Montoya's stature. His Sprint Cup results might be modest, but he remains among the series' top tier.

The termination of his talks with Andretti . appeared to be the death blow to any hope of seeing the Colombian in a single-seater . again. Andretti had been public in its desire to sign him, and its recent track record as the reigning series champions should have put to rest any concerns about its ability to provide competitive equipment. (This is one of the many differences between Montoya and Rubens Barrichello, who, without meaning any disrespect to KV Racing, did not have the same arsenal to draw upon).

Andretti was actively - and publicly chasing sponsorship to run Montoya next year, and only a few days before the deal was

sunk, the team’s management was claiming to have secured more than half of the funding that it required. At that point it was the only IndyCar team to have admitted that it was chasing Montoya’s signature.

Little did Andretti know, Penske’s Tim Cindric had encountered Montoya on the grid for the Sprint Cup race at Michigan in midAugust. The pair had a casual conversation about Montoya’s plans for the future, which ended with Cindric joking about making an IndyCar available for him. 'Let's talk about it', Montoya replied. Not long afterwards, they did.

Later, Montoya would speak of the opportunity to race for a team as prestigious as Penske as the main force behind his decision, but you’d have to think that the tremendous sign of faith that Penske placed in him must have played a part. Remember, for all of his tremendous naturai ability, Montoya is edging ever closer to his 40th birthday, and while he is fitter than he is often given credit for, he's the first to admit that he is not currentiy in the required shape to race an IndyCar. Yet despite that, Penske not only motorsport -■

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Mark

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Whether you watch IndyCar or not, Montoya's return is something to get excited about. This kind of thingjust doesn't happen very often. committed to add an additional full-time car for him, but it did so without having secured so much as a dollar in extra sponsorship.

Andretti's approach was to try to shore up the money and then offer him a deal; Penske flipped that and concentrated on getting Montoya signed first and figured that it will find the cash later. Ballsy, and brave, but could you think of a more profound way to make a driver that you're courting feel wanted?

For an IndyCar fan, the most satisfying thing about Montoya's return is that he chose it as his preferred option. This is another point in difference with Barrichello, who was genuine in his enthusiasm for racing in the States, but who also never made a secret of the fact that he was only there because Formula 1 had closed its doors to him. Montoya could easily have remained mnews .-i't

in NASCAR next year with reasonably competitive equipment. But he chose IndyCar. He's there for the right reasons, and the prospect of a fit, motivated Montoya with a fast team is not enough to get NASCAR fans - and even FI fans - to tune in, then it's hard to imagine what will.

You also have to admire Montoya's cojones in making this sort of decision, because he's not walking into an easy environment. He has dealt with close competition in singleseaters in both his CART and FI days, but in both cases, his only threats were the handful of other fast guys up at the front.

The performance difference between the front and the rear of the grid in IndyCar now is miniscule, and the tiniest of mistakes in qualifying can cost a driver four rows on the grid. That level of competitiveness took

Barrichello by surprise in 2012, and it has only become closer since.

He's also going to have his work cut out making space for himself vvithin Penske. Will' Power and Hello Castroneves have a strong professional relationship, both are extremely fast, and both will do everything they can to help Montoya get back up to speed. But at the same time, they're going to want to beat' him. And Ganassi, the team that who released him from his NASCAR ride, isn't going to want to be beaten by the guy they deemed surplus to requirements, either.

We've got all that, and more, to look forward to. Whether you watch IndyCar or not, Montoya's return is something to get excited about. This kind of thing just doesn't happen very often.

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t feels just like old times. We're heading to of times on four stops, but Tony Longhurst Bathurst with four different manufacturers once nearly won after making nine stops) and in with an outright shot, like it was in the possibly the weather. But we can only hope '80s and early '90s, and we're in the midst that should Mercedes-Benz or, in particular. of an almighty parity squabble concerning Niissan get a result, it will be not be unfairly Nissan, like it did in the early '90s. derided - by the fans as well as the opposition Of course, the dispute involves Mercedesplayers from Holden and Ford.

Benz, too, but for sure it is an unfortunate Not that you'd back a Merc or Nissan quirk of fate that in its return to Bathurst given how things have gone in the lead up Nissan finds itself the centre of controversy to Bathurst. But among the 'traditional' ranks just as it did the last time it fielded a factory of Holden and Ford teams, it's anyone's team at Bathurst, a whole 21 years ago. g.uess, because this has been a season of V8 Supercars Australia attempted to deal unprecedented upsets.

It's been the introduction of the Car of the with the problem of higher fuel consumption Future, not the new manufacturers, which has of the Mercs and the Nissans with a unique experiment in Winton's Saturday race. turned the existing pecking order on its head.

It isn't so much that the field is more According to V8SA's own data, there was an improvement in economy on E70 over the competitive than it was under the old prestandard ESS ethanol for the two new players COTF regime. It's just that on any given day. ttnere is all manner of different teams and in V8 Supercars, but the performance was unchanged. This highly unorthodox measure drivers capable of stepping up to the plate. was seen as a neat solution to the problem Consider the statistics. The nine events prior to Sandown saw no less than 12 different of getting the more sophisticated Merc and Nissan V8 engines to work under a 10:1 winners. Every driver in the top 10 in the compression ratio/7500rpm limit originally points heading into Sandown was a 2013 race winner. It's hard to think of a time ever in aimed at the two-valve pushrod Ford and Chev V8 Supercar engines. tine history of the championship where there The only problem with the Winton has been such a spread of victors. experiment was that the Nissans finished It is such a contrast to what happened last one-two... year. In 2012 the winning was confined to Perhaps it would have been better for V8SA four drivers across two teams. This year the to stand by the data and ignore the various spread of 12 different winners cuts across no cries from the likes of Holden Motorsport boss less than eight teams.

Simon McNamara to make the new players The clean-slate offered by the COTF use E85. Maybe it would have been better to package clearly has been exploited more leave well enough alone until the end of the effectively and more quickly by some season, and have a parity review then. teams than others. The chief exponent here What we have instead is a compromise that is probably Brad Jones Racing. The BJR Commodores were fast from the moment the will see a mandated number of pitstops for each race in the new Pirtek Endurance Cup. It first wheel was turned this season, with Jason was four stops at Sandown (where we were B'fight and Fabian Coulthard taking early wins treated to the farcical spectacle of Steven at Symmons Plains, Pukekohe and Texas.

Fortunes haven't been as good since then, but Richards making a voluntary stop-go pitstop at the end of the opening lap); the number tfney remain in championship contention, with for Bathurst was yet to be determined as we Coulthard sixth and Bright eight on the ladder after to Sandown. went to press.

Whether or not this measure makes any Realistically, the championship is probably difference might depend on such factors as beyond both of them now. But Bathurst Safety Cars (the race has been won a number certainly isn't, and Bathurst is a place where

1

PERHAPS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR VB5A TO STAND BY THE DATA AND IGNORE THE VARIOUS CRIES FROM THE LIKES OF HOLDEN MDTDRSPDRT BOSS SIMON MCNAMARA TD MAKE THE NEW PLAVERS USE EB5

over a long period this team has been consistently outstanding - even when it's doing badly elsewhere. If Bathurst history is any indication, BJR has to be considered as one of the favourites.

The folk at BJR also go to Bathurst with heavy hearts, because they will do so without Allan Simonsen, who died after his Aston Martin crashed at Le Mans early. Simonsen was to have shared Bright's Team BOC Commodore; that responsibility now falls to Andrew Jones.

In the Lockwood car Coulthard will be accompanied by former FPR hired-hand Luke Youlden, while Chris Either is paired with David Wall in the third, Wilson Security entry.

For all the talk of form 2013's reversals, however, there were ominous signs at Sandown as Triple Eight/Red Bull Racing flexed its muscles to record a one-two result despite Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell copping a drive-through penalty and Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff suffering various delays - including the infamous pit stacking behind the sister car.

It might have been a slow start for RBR Australia, but Whincup and Lowndes are flying right now. They're first and second in the points; it does seem that after the shock of the team's tardy start to the year that motorsport news

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ENDURO CUP ANNOUNCED

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It's been known as the 'season of their endurance' for a while now, but finally the enduros have been grouped into own distinct series, the PIRTEK Enduro Cup. n The winning driver and co-driver will have accumulated the most amount of n championship points from the double-driver races, Sandown 500, Supercheap Auto i Bathurst 1000 and Armor All Gold Coast 600. PIRTEK has signed as naming rights I sponsor for four years. ' Uniquely, the perpetual trophy to be awarded for the PIRTEK Enduro Cup will be specially commissioned sculpture from artist James a 'EK Corbett.

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Corbett's specialty is life-like sculptures crafted from old car parts. The artist from Ningi, Queensland, began his career in 1999 and since then examples of his work have found homes

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n parts and some of those have been up to 80 years n old," Corbett said.

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"PIRTEK have given me a pile of their fittings to work with and it is my job to create an iconic Australian sporting trophy, which will also be appreciated as a piece of art- it certainly won't be something you can buy off. the shelf."

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to the season (which followed on from a disastrous 2012) there has been a real resurgence of late.

The form reversal culminated in v.nour drivers in this year's race have made 20 or a fantastic one-two form finish in , rmore previous Great Race starts; 16 have made Townsville that was a timely reminder ; between 10 and 19 starts; and 38 drivers have of how not so long ago this team was n made less than 10 starts. The 58 drivers average the dominant force in V8 Supercars. i 8.0 previous starts in the race.

Sandown provided its share of woe jut even then Garth Tander and Nick ercat were able to salvage fourth place, kewise ninth for the strife-riven James 3urtney/Creg Murphy car was better istory shows it is much easier to start the in might have been expected. The race than finish it. Craig Lowndes and lition of Bathurst legend Murphy could Steven Johnson, who are each making their /e the missing factor for Courtney in the 20th Great Race starts, will be no less than it Race; interestingly, he's the only one the 31st and 32nd drivers to reach this e HRT four yet to have won Bathurst. milestone - but if Russell Ingall finishes this ;ir running mate next door at year's race, he will become only the sixth reran:heap Auto Racing is also a past winner, driver to have recorded 20 Great Race i for a very.long time. But if Russell Ingall finishes.

^ RANGE OF EXPERIENCE

DECREES OF DIFFICULTY

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is to add to his two wins whilst still retaining full time V8 Supercar employment, then it will have to be this year. He's set to retire at the end of 2013, and he'd very much like to go out on a high with a result on the Mountain.

Co-driver Ryan Briscoe hasn't done a lot in V8s and nor has he had too many laps around Bathurst, but the Indy star is an ace, and let's not forgot he was fastest qualifier when he made his V8 Supercar debut at Sandown in 2006.

Ford Performance Racing might no longer be the Ford flagship equivalent of the HRT, having been sold so that it now operates on an independent basis with Ford support, but it remains the a competitive force as well as the preeminent Ford outfit. So much so that Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom went into the enduros third and fourth in the points - and the only Ford drivers in the top 10. Winterbottom and Steven Richards make for one of the best driver pairings in the race, and there's no doubting Steve Owen's ability to bring it home for Davo. By the law of averages, surely FPR is due for a win at Bathurst, but the team has shown an unfortunate adeptness in foot shooting in pitstop races - and the pitstop dramas they endured at Sandown was surely not a good omen.

Still, second place for the FPR/Bottle-O Falcon of David Reynolds and Dean Canto was just about as good as it could have been last year, and that pair returns to try to go one better. Remember that Reynolds once motorsport news

aim said that he will strip nui and when he wins a V8 m that first win was yet to lasgi headed into Sandown..

In the fourth FPR-run Falcon, Alex Davison ha: kind of fortunes he'd ha Biaaii looking for something pia Bathurst, and experience is the kind of driver to hi One driver that has ce

being Jeroen Bleekemolen, Maro Engel, Mattias Ekstrom, Marc Lieb, Chaz Mostert and Ash Walsh.

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the season began, but tf delivered in spades, scori string of top five results

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numbers being used in this year's race, no less than nine of them - 33, 36, 47, 55, 56, 66, 80,97 and 360 - have never been carried onto the outright podium in the whole history of the race.

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□TM HEROES Surprisingly, Mattias Ekstrom is just the fourth winner of the DTM (in either its old or new guises) to drive in the Great Race, following the legendary figures of Klaus Ludwig, Roberto Ravaglia and Frank Biela.

oxoNir' like the back of his hand.

Scott McLaughlin is only one of three first time winners this year. Arguably even more impressive than McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert wasn't even supposed to be in the main series in 2013, coming in only at the third event, but his race win at Queensland for the struggling Dick Johnson Racing was a major turn up for the books. A string of consistent results elsewhere proved it was no fluke, a point hammered home by his fighting thirdplace finish last time out at Winton. Former Dunlop Series rival Dale Wood makes for an accomplished co-driver with main game experience.

Tim Blanchard hasn't done a bad job in the sister DJR Falcon but his efforts have been completely overshadowed by Mostert's headline-making drives. Blanchard is joined by

Ash Walsh, the talented Queenslander who finally gets to make his Bathurst debut.

As we've seen with BJR, some teams have really excelled in the first year of the CQTF. Qne is Tekno Autosports, whose Triple Eightbuilt Commodores have been fast enough to run at the front on more than one occasion.

Shane van Gisbergen won first time out in Adelaide and went to Sandown a strong eighth in the points - both he and team mate Jonathon Webb could easily figure prominently at Bathurst. They'll need to recover from a bad run at Sandown, but then they're not alone among teams that need to take lessons out of the 500km race.

Interestingly, they've been one of the few teams to take advantage of the end of the restrictions on international co-drivers that was a consequence of the Gold Coast 600

event at Surfers Paradise. Webb is joined by Marc Lieb, with whom he finished second on the Cold Coast last year, while van Gisbergen teams with his old Stone Brothers team-mate from that event, Jeroen Bleekemolen. That's a strong combo - the Dutchman not only has prior V8 Supercar experience, but he is well familiar with the Mountain after his run in the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2011.

Van Gisbergen's former team, SBR, now runs Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs as part of Erebus Motorsport. It's been a tough slog so far, but Tim Slade was unlucky not to get on the podium at Queensland. The decision not to allow them E70 fuel is a definite setback which may or may not be countered by the minimum mandated pitstop rule, but then the Mercs were impressive at Sandown. Both the Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth cars had

top 10 pace, and while Slade was out of luck, Holdsworth and co-driver Craig Baird were a fighting fourth - in what was Holdsworth's first top 10 result for the year.

If Sandown Is a guide, the Mercs just might do some damage on the Mountain. Certainly Erebus will go to the Mountain buoyed by Sandown after what's been a tough initiation. Slade is joined by Andrew Thompson, who was highly impressive at Sandown, while Maro Engel is teamed with Steven Johnson.

A Johnson in a Merc at Bathurst - somehow that doesn't seem quite right. But then nor does the name Moffat heading home a Nissan one-two in that manufacturer's first season in V8 Supercars. But that's what happened last time out at Winton, and it's a result that's the centre of storm of controversy - and all of it directly related to Bathurst.

It has to be said that the transmission: the new cars have not been 100 percen dependable, and while Mount Panoram isn't especially hard on gearboxes, the race is twice as long as the next longest V8 Supercar event. There has been othe failures, too - not too many, but enougl to make it a potential issue. The fact is that Bathurst is going to be a much bigger test for the new specification cars than has any of the preceding races.

That's just one of a series of unknowns we face as the teams prepare for the Mountain. The first year of the Car of the Future at Bathurst looks like being a cracker.

BEEN THERE BEFORE

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he crew with the most Great Races under their belt is the fancied

f Lowndes/Luff combination, having made 19 and 13 previous starts respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Blanchard/ Walsh go to the grid having made just two previous starts.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN f a Mercedes-Benz takes pole position, it will become only the eighth marque to do so since qualifying times were first used to decide the grid, in 1967.

The Kelly brothers are clearly unhappy that the other teams and manufacturers have been able to successfully lobby for the outlawing of E70. The Nissans weren't all that flash at Sandown, and they can only hope that the differences between Sandown and Bathurst will favour the Altimas. The changed pitstop regs will favour them, but will it be enough?

A 1000km race is supposed to be a test of endurance, but the reality today is that the equipment is more than capable of going the distance. Retirements, therefore, tend to be a question of driver error, rather than machinery failure. But will that be the case this year?

TEAMS AND DRIVERS No.

Team

Driver

Co-driver

Vehicle

1

Red Bull Racing Australia Holden Racing Team Team HIFLEX

Jamie Whincup Garth Tander

Paul Dumbrell Nick Percat

Holden Commodore VF

Tony D'Alberto Lee Holdsworth

Jonny Reid Craig Baird Steven Richards Steve Owen

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 33 34 36 47 55 66 80 88 97 360 888 p mnews.com.au

Irwin Racing Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford Jack Daniel's Racing Team BOC SP Tools Racing Xbox One Racing Team Wilson Security Racing Lockwood Racing Jack Daniel's Racing Wilson Security Racing Jeld-Wen FPR Ford Team TEKNO Darrell Lea Wilson Security Racing Holden Racing Team Fujitsu Racing CRM Fujitsu Racing CRM Norton Hornets

Mark Winterbottom Will Davison Todd Kelly

David Russell Andrew Jones

Holden Commodore VF Holden Commodore VF Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG ■' Ford Falcon FG Ford Falcon FG Nissan Altima

● 1 ■

Holden Commodore VF

Jason Bright Maro Engel Andy Priaulx Chaz Mostert Fabian Coulthard

Steven Johnson Mattias Ekstrom Dale Wood

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG

Rick Kelly Tim Blanchard Alex Davison

Luke Youlden Karl Reindler

Holden Commodore VF Nissan Altima

Ash Walsh

Ford Falcon FG

John McIntyre Marc Lleb

Ford Falcon FG

Chris Pither

Holden Commodore VF

Greg Murphy Jack Perkins

Holden Commodore VF

Jonathon Webb David Wall James Courtney Scott McLaughlin Alex Premat Michael Caruso

Heavy Haulage Australia Racing The Bottle-O FPR Ford

Tim Slade

Supercheap Auto Racing ekol Racing

Russell Ingall Scott Pye Dean Fiore

David Rey nolds

Dodo Insurance Racing Team TEKNO VIP Petfoods Norton Hornets

Shane van Gisbergen James Moffat

Red Bull Racing Australia

Craig Lowndes

Holden Commodore VF Ford Falcon FG

Holden Commodore VF

Greg Ritter Daniel Gaunt

Holden Commodore VF Holden Commodore VF Nissan Altima

Andrew Thompson Dean Canto

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Ford Falcon FG

Ryan Briscoe Paul Morris

Holden Commodore VF

Matt Halliday Jeroen Bleekemolen

Holden Commodore VF Holden Commodore VF Nissan Altima

Taz Douglas Warren Luff

Holden Commodore VF

Holden Commodore VF 23

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The mhole poinTofVB Supercors in - ond no one else. Boi noui if's Holden vs Fofd vs Nissan vs Mefcedes-Benz iii nexl iiear. vs Volvo as uiell. So, as lue head To Balhufsl luith mofe fhan fii lales in uiiih a realisfic ouifiphi chance for ihe firsi iime in 20 qeafs, are me ihe end of the so-called traditional Holden vs Ford rivalrii? Steve Norioile reflects on the historii of a rivalrq that has promn up mith the Great dace.

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motorsport news

II sporting codes love a good old fashioned rivalry, and Australian touring car racing has a pretty good one in the battle between Holden and Ford. It's a rivalry that was born at Bathurst, and one which has become synonymous with the event; when October rolls around and the wider Australian sports-watching public thinks Bathurst, they also think Holden vs Ford.

But they may need to think again this year.

For the first time in 20 years, the Bathurst 1000 is not just a question of Holden or Ford. There are now two other marques in V8 Supercars; next year there will be a fifth. It’s no longer just about Holden and Ford.

These are interesting times. Three years from now Ford will shut up shop as an Australian manufacturer. There is every chance Holden will go the same way.

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I what holds for the future of this 40-year racetrack rivalry remains to be seen. In the short term, however, diehard Holden and Ford supporters need not overly stress themselves. True, it's no longer the exclusive contest between the Blue Oval and The General that it's been these past 20 years.

But here's the thing: for most of the 30 years before that, the Great Race was open to almost all manufacturers.

Once you peel back all the Red-versus-Blue hype, the real essence of the race is plain to see - and Holderi-vs-Ford is just one part of it.

The Great Race's origins as an endurance race for virtually all production-based cars is at the core of what made the Bathurst enduro the phenomenon that it is. in fact, if we take out the V8 Supercar period, we're left with not that many years at all in which Holden and Ford were the only realistic outright contenders. Before V8 Supercars came aiong, it was by no means only ever just about Holden and Ford.

The Great Race had been run seven years before it hosted the first proper clash between Holden and Ford. By then the event was already fully formed; already it was a 26

very big deal.

But the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 ramped things up a level, when Holden finally decided - after several years of fence-sifting and half hearted gestures towards racing -to front its market ri.val head on at Bathurst. Holden had been the clear sales leader ever since the introduction of the 48-215 model 20 years earlier, but Ford was making big inroads, doing its best to fashion a corporate image that combined performance and excitement with dependability - something which was distinctly absent from Falcon models of the early '60s. The Bathurst 500 was a key part of Ford's image-building strategy; by 1968 it had already won the race five times.

The contest between Ford's Falcon XT CT 302 - race-proven as the previous year's winning car in smaller capacity XR GT form and Holden's exciting new Monaro GTS 327 held spellbound an Australian public already captivated by this gruelling all-day production car race. The presence of the so-called 'Australia's-Own' Holden gave the race a whole new context, and one which kicked off a rivalry which has become a defining feature not just of the Great Race but all of motor

naci mg i n th is eounitry.

The rivalry is an undeniable lerce today. It was enough to sustain V8 Supercars through a 20-year period when all other makes were specifically excluded,, and today it permeates the entire sport; without 1,for example, there would be no reason for such things as Holden-vs-,Ford Ute racing to exist.

Yet even the embryonic battle of the Big Two in 1968 was not an exclusive fight.

There was a third' player that year in Alfa Romeo, whose brilliant little 1600 GTV coupe had'gone a lot closer to upsetting Ford,the previous year than many care to remember today. For '68 there was a more powerful 1750CC version, and such was their potency that in its race preview Racing Car News magazine rated them a clear outright threat, even predicting the Alfas would be faster down Con-Rod than both the Holden and Ford V8s.

The reality for the Alfas on race day, however, was somewhat at odds with the pre-race picture presented by RCN. Instead,, Holden's bold decision to fly in the face of the CM Detroit head office's no-motor racing policy had been vindicated with victory motorsport news

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* and It v«as on between Holden and Ford from there.

For a company that wasn't officially involved in racing and which came to the sport with no prior experience, Holden hit the track running hard. Its win the following year was in some ways an even more significant achievement than '68. Not only was this the first year of the Harry Firth-run Holden Dealer Team that would preside over a golden era in racing for Holden that gave us all-time classic performance models such as the Torana XU-1, L34 and A9X, it also featured the race debuts of two men who would be the prime warriors for their respective sides for the following decade: Peter Brock and Allan Moffat.

Of course there were other drivers.

But these two became compelling public faces of the contest: the love-him-or-hatehim brooding intensity of Moffat and the everyday appeal and rock star charisma of Brock. Polar opposites in many ways, but not when it came to the skill and determination they took to the contest.

But the rivalry became asymmetrical over the next four years, with Holden choosing www.mnews.com.au

not to engage Ford in a V8 power race and opting instead for the smaller six cylinder Torana XU-1. But the battle was also three-sided now, with Chrysler making it the 'Big Three'.

The four-door Valiant Pacer was outpaced in 1970, while the following year the wew Charger joined the Torana in providing cannon-fodder for the almighty Falcon GTHO Phase III. Chrysler was gone by f9.73i,'bat while it was there it scored one class win and' another six class podium results, indluding third outright in 1972 - not bad for sixcylinder Valiants that only had three-speed' gearboxes before 1972 That year the new four-speed: Chargpr E49s were thirds and.fourth outright- i's hard to imagine anyone beating Brock that day but, had a few things fallen,their'waythe Chargers could easily have been,secondl and third. The E49 was a decent weaponi; who knows what.nmight:ha»e hajppenedMhad Chrysler stayed just one more year?

But Chrysler wasn't aibne in'departing the sport, because Ford:had al§0'.quit by the en:di of 1:973. Ironically, the period:from,then'to. the end of the '70s was probably the highi point in. the entire ihiistory of MOldeni «s Ford' rivalry - made possible only by the diogged determination of the likes of 4fllani.Moffat and

Jo'hn Goss to soldier on with their Fords with little Ford:support.

'From 1'974 on, it was pretty one-sided. The loiranas generally outniumbered the Fords by around two-to-one - sometimes, as was the case at'Bathurst in, 1974, it was three-to-one.

Goss' Bathurst win that year was about as against the odds as it could possibly get: the Falcons were outnumbered and outpaced, were privateer entrants against a factory Holden'o;pposition, and yet one of only three Hardtops in the race ended up winning.

'By theiiii, though,, Goss' efforts were being divided between the Falcon and his new iFormiula 5000 programme - with the openwheeier being the main point of focus, it imeant the burden of responsibility for Ford's iracim'g success rested almost solely on Moffat's shoulders during 1'975-76.

At the end of '76, Moffat managed to reorganise himself, and with some welcome assistance from Ford he was able to field a itwo-car effort with former HiDT star Colin -^.^B'ond' !llt was to be an unexpected vintage ,;^wear for iFord. Mo,fat and Bond won most of the Australian Touring Car Championship races, whidh ttfat year'iincluded Bathurst. That -famous ©ne-two form finish itself is one of the .'trace's d'e'fiihing(moments and remains Ford's ’"liinest day onfhe Mountain.

But Moffat and Ford were about to become victims of their own success. What had been a humiliating season for Holden only served to galvanise The General's resolve to defeat its rival, and so it came back bigger and better funded in 1978, and with Brock back at a HDT now under the command of John Sheppard.

The '78 season was hotly contested by the two manufacturers at least early on, but it was also badly tainted by eligibility arguments. By the end of the year Moffat's Ford team was in tatters, and things were about to get much worse as Ford chose that time to depart the sport once more.

The'79 championship became unaffectionately known as 'Formula Torana' for the near-complete lack of a front-line Falcon presence - although for sure the battle between Bob Morris and Peter Brock was as hard fought as they come. But that year not a single race was won by a Ford.

Even Ford stalwart Moffat had had enough by then, opting instead for rotary power and a commitment from Mazda to make it work.

It’s tempting to wonder what would have become of the Holden/Ford rivalry had Dick Johnson not mortgaged his house on his XD Falcon campaign for the 1980 Bathurst 1000, and then not gone on to hit that rock in the

race. Johnson's racing future otherwise would have been uncertain, and Moffat was aiready preparing for a post-Ford career. The Ford side of the rivalry could have disappeared at the end of 1980.

Instead, it was the start of a terrific new Holden vs Ford, Brock vs Johnson era, but with added players like Moffat's Mazda, Kevin Bartlett's Camaro, the new factory Nissan Bluebird turbo and BMW 635CSi. With V8s, straight sixes and turbo fours, and rotaries, it was a wonderfully diverse array of cars and a period up till the end of '84 that to some will never be matched.

But it was also a time of hopelessly compromised rules, with the infamous annual pre-Bathurst homologation upgrade handout.

The system was more-or-less arbitrary, and the way things turned out on the Mountain it's hard not to conclude that Peter Brock's negotiating skills were no less fine than his talent behind the wheel.

So it was that Holden won Bathurst from 1982 through to '84- but not too much else, with the ATGC and the Endurance Championship was shared by Ford, Nissan, Mazda and Toyota.

The arrival of Group A for 1985 ended the homologation shemozzle of Group C. It also changed the dynamic of the contest, in,what

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looked at the time to be a permanent shift:Holden and Ford were now players in a global contest that featured a wide range of the world's manufacturers.

Fora domestic touring car scene that had historically had little to do with the rest of the world, Group A was some kind of culture shock. Ford's Mustang and Sierra contenders from 1985 through, to '92 were neither Australian made nor locally available, while ' Holden and Brock did their best to produce Group A homologation specials that could ■compete on the world stage.

The home-grown Holdens did indeed hold their own against the world's best for the first two years, and in '86 and '87 we were treated to the sight of Commodores racing against Jaguars, Volvos and BMWs in the European Touring Car Championship. But while the hotbed of ETCC competition no doubt helped Allan Grice hone his Commodore into the race winner it proved in the 1986 Bathurst 1000, ■ for the most part Group A was not kind to , Holden. ; From 1987 through to 1990, not one .single ATCC race was won by a Holden. Yet ■ Still Holden managed three Bathurst wins in that period: Grice/Bailey in '86, the unlikely Brock fairytale '87 effort, and the heroic 1990 triumph for Grice/Percy. Stranger still was Holden's '87 scorecard: no local championship , race wins but two round victories in the World

Touring Car Championship!

On paper, the world championship race wins(Monza and Bathurst) against full strength international opposition should be the highlight of Holden's history in the sport.

But the shambles into which the Group A WTCC descended during its one and only season makes this a forgettable cul de sac in the history of touring car racing.

Of greater note for Holden was its 1990 Bathurst win against overwhelming turbo firepower, and the excellent second place the following year for Percy/Grice in the under-winged VN Commodore against the technically superior Nissan GT-R. But by then Group A was slipping into the same kind of parity quagmire that had consumed Group C. The end was night for the world formula, and ultimately it would be the coterie of Ford, Holden and Channel Seven which forced CAMS to adopt a new category for 5.0-litre V8 Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons, to the exclusion of all other manufacturers. Now it would be Holden vs Ford rivalry enforced by law.

Twenty years on and the ban has been repealed. The dreaded Nissan returns and the Mercedes-Benz name reappears 52 years after the one and only Great Race win for the German marque.

Holden vs Ford rivalry is not dead yet, but things are never going to be the same.

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However, in addition to those results there were wins for Nissan, Vauxhall, MercedesBenz, Morris, Jaguar, BMW and Volvo. To ' get a more pure perspective, the table above lists the Holdeni vs Ford Bathurst win tally for only the years in which the two were the only realistic outright contenders, namely: 30

1968 through 19-7©;, 19.73-'1;97%andithe V8 SuperGariperiod'.

Under this criteria Holden sits at 21 wins to Ford's nine. Either way you- slice it, Holdeni has dominated its rival-to the tuine of around: two victories to one.

Yet in overall wins for the two makes up till the beginning of the V8 Supercar era, it was almost deadlocked, with Ford trailing Holden by only one win, 13-14. Logically, that balance should not have shifted too much during the 20 years of Holden-vsFord V8 Supercars, because this was a

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Sadly for ford: fans, this has been; a deGidedly one-sided rivalry... motorsport aeis-

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mofe faiiJiliar in this part of the world as ‘Fahriosi Geenovay’, which was how he ^u^lhMyeed Ip the liye W audience at the driver Introductions at Batherst In 2008, hut the Aiwn eisewhere through the sport as Fahrizio Giovanardi is probahly one of the most E4. “§^yed touring car drivers in the world.The Italian spoke to Andrew van Leeuwen about ^iHe Plittjef touring car racing in Europe,and the shock of driving a V8 Supercar at ialhurst.

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OTORSPORT NEWS: You've become such a Touring Car specialist over your rather long career, but you were once a promising singleseater driver in Formula 3 and Formula 3000.

Why the switch?

FABRIZIO GIOVANARDI: Yeah, I did karts.

F3, F3000, and then I swapped to Touring Cars. I did that because it was a difficult time for Italian drivers, because at that time there was a big problem in the government in Italy, and all of the companies stopped their sponsorship programs. So I had to find another way to keep my career.

MN: So your initial plan was Formula 1 ...

FG; Yeah, obviously. I had two years in Formula 3, and in the second year I was third, two points from the lead. That was a great season. And then I went to Formula 3000 and I won my first race.

But then I had two or three years that were very bad, with a bad team, and in 1992 I had the possibility to try Touring Cars. I realised it was my second chance to be a professional.

MN: How did that opportunity come about?

FG: It was a strange situation. On my

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Young drivers go out and win a race, but who did they beat? Who? That's the reason why that if you look at the top of the championships there is always the same drivers. You know, guys like Gabriele Tarquini, Yvan Muller, me. I'm 46 years old!

Tarquini is 51! Still winning.

It's different now. If you look at 20 years ago, it was tough to win. There were less championships, with more good drivers.

Ijdidn’t speak any English, I was in a completely different country, in a completely different series with a completely different mentality. In the end I had a coffee,told myself to wake up, and went racing.

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Formula 3000 car I had a sponsor that also sponsored Peugeot, so when they decided to go into Touring Cars, they said 'hey if you want to try, you can test with us'. It all went from there.

MN: At that point were you still thinking that you'd come back to open-wheelers at some point? Was it meant to be a stop-gap?

FG: No. MN: So when you made the switch, you knew it was for good.

FG: Yeah. I had a good deal, so I said 'why not!

MN: It seems that sort of thinking is coming into fashion at the moment. If you look at something like the DTM, you can become a paid driver much quicker than if you chase the FI dream.

MN: How many different Touring Car championships have you raced in?

FG; I started in 1992, and I stopped in 2009, with the British Touring Car Championship. I came back for the European Cup in 2011, just one race, and i raced twice at the Nurburging 24 Hours .. .

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FG; Yeah, I agree. Formula 1 only makes money for a few drivers. Sometimes the only way to be a professional driver and make real money is with Touring Cars.

But it's not quite that easy. The World Touring Car Championship has one factory team; DTM, okay, three big German teams.

But it's still very hard to make a career out there.

MN: In that respect, how have you seen the Touring Car scene change during your career?

Is it harder now?

FG: The biggest problem is that it's difficult to judge young drivers because they don't get the chance to compare with good drivers.

Young drivers need to be in a tough situation, and tough situations come when you race against experienced professional drivers.

I believe that now, because there isn't a lot of money around, the level is getting lower.

:

A/IN: But even between '92 and '09, there was Italian Touring Cars, Spanish Touring Cars . . .

FG: Yep, all of those. And European Touring Cars. And the BTCC. MN: You had a good run in the BTCC. Tell us about those times.

FG: When I started in the BTCC, it was like starting from zero. I came there in 2006, and I was already a champion, and I thought I could go there and do what I want. But it wasn't true (laughs).

The first six months was a nightmare. I didn't speak any English, I was in a completely different country, in a completely different series with a completely different mentality.

In the end I had a coffee, told myself to wake up, and went racing.

MN: What's the best fun championship you've raced in?

FG: What I like about racing is when you win when it's difficult. When you win a championship easily because your car is so strong, it's boring.

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I won a couple of Italian championships, and they were really difficult because we were up against BMW. The Alfa was a good car, but not at the same level. That was a good moment.

And BTCC was good as well, because even until right up to the end in 2007 we couldn’t be sure we could win the championship.

MN: You didn't do a lot of WTCC, did you?

FG: No, I did one year. It was 2005.

MN: Do you wish you'd done more WTCC? FG; Yes, but Alfa Romeo stopped. I had an agreement with them, so when Alfa stopped, that was it. Obviously 1 would have liked to have raced in the WTCC more, but it didn't happen.

MN: Let's talk V8s; when you first drove a V8 Supercar, what went through your mind?

FG: We went to a small track near Brisbane, umm, Queensland Raceway, and it wasn't much of a circuit. But when we got to Bathurst, fucking hell, what am I doing here? Why did I do this?

I was seven seconds slower than the good guys. I was scared of destroying the car, and in the end I destroyed the car in qualifying (laughs).

During the race I started to learn, and the gap became smaller and smaller, but when I was close to understanding the race was overl After my first session, I was asked if I was doing the long straight and the right-hand corner flat out. I said 'what? Flat-out? No way'.

I spoke to some other European drivers who had been there before I went, and they told me how difficult it is, and how heavy they were, and I thought come on, it can't be that hard. A car is a car. But it's no car. It's like a bus.

The funniest thing is that when I came back from Phillip Island after my first race, I was fighting for the championship in BTCC. We went to Brands Hatch, and I had no power at alll And I was stopping the car so early, way before the corner. I was driving it like a V8. I thought the car was broken!

MN: When you went back for the Gold Coast race with Karl Reindler, did it all feel a little more familiar?

FG: Yeah, for sure. The car was a little bit off the pace, but it's fun to Specialist For a driver who was once a rising openwheel talent, Fabrizio Giovanardi has raced a lot of different touring cars, above, opposite.

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MN: What does the future hold for you?

FG: I don't know. I mean, if I can't be in a top program somewhere, that's fine for me.

I did this for 25 years, probably closer to 30 years. If you can stay at the top it's fine, but if you can't, it gets hard.

MN: Endurance racing? Some 24 Hour stuff?

FG: Umm, I did Le Mans once, and it was quite boring.

I did the Nurburging twice and that was a good experience, and a dangerous experience.

But you're racing alone, you feel like you have time to have a cigarette, and that's just not my style. I want contact and adrenaline.

If I don't have that, I'm sleeping. And if I'm sleeping, I'm slow.

MN: Can you pick out an absolute career highlight?

FG: No, picking one is hard. Like I said before, 2001 was a tough season against the BMWs, which I really enjoyed, and the BTCC in 2007. That was a tough one, against Jason Plato.

Different strokes: Last year Giovanardi was 1st in the experimental class and 12th outright sharing a Ferrari P4/5 Competizione M in the Nurburgring 24 hours, above. But the Italian prefers touring cars, below, rather than racing 'alone' in endures.

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James Winslow’s goal of become a full time V8 Supercar driver has thus far proven elusive. But he is not giving up, and instead the British driver who now calls Australia home is trying the unconventional route of breaking into V8 Supercars via LMP2 Le Mans sportscar racing. By Tom Howard

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f at first you don't succeed then try, try and try again" is a phrase straight out of the mantra of James Winslow. The British driver has invested a large chunk of his racing career in Australia in search of one goal and now he is hoping a Le Mans 24 Hour drive can help him achieve his holy grail: a deal to race in V8 Supercars.

There is a reason why the Englishman has been plying his trade 19,000km from home for the best part of seven years and th at is to become Britain's first full-time V8 Supercar driver. Many top British drivers have dabbled in the ultra competitive V8 scene over the years in endurance races, but it remains an arena no Brit has made his own.

But Winslow is a Brit who now calls Australia home, and the reigning Australian F3 champion has been knocking on th-e door to the promised land of V8s for some time now. So far he has had little in the way of response, but Winslow believes he is edging ever closer and a new deal to drive for KCMG's LMP2 sportscar team in the Asian Le Mans Series, and a possible Le Mans 24

WWW mnews

Hours drive, will land him the opportunity.

"I've won a lot of championships but racing in V8 Supercars is the missing piece of my career puzzle," Winslow says. "Even though I've won championships and races it has never really led to an easier path up the ladder. V8 Supercars is still very important me and a primary aim of mine for the long term; it always has been the reason I moved to Australian shores. It's been hard to get the door open, harder than any other series I have ever been involved with. But I will not give up and I'll keep working hard harder as the series is worth the commitment and sacrifice. I want an endurance drive and I'll keep going.

"I'm hoping my Le Mans drives this season and at Le Mans 24 Hours will show Australia that I'm an international driver and have won and competed in many different world class series around the world. I think this gets forgotten in Australia very quickly over time and I'm hoping it will lead to more opportunities in the country I now call home.

It's a tricky sport but it is pretty cool and we are all quite privileged to be involved in it.

It doesn't owe me anything so I'm happy to 39

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"I want to take up the challenge of being the first Brit to really tackle V8 Supercars. I've won a few championships so I've proved to everyone I can drive, it's just getting an opportunity with a team to show them what I can do. It is a slightly different category to what I've been used to before but I'm sure after a few races I would be as quick as anyone in the series. It just takes that one person to give me a shot."

In testing Winslow had matched the pace of former and current series regulars in Greg Murphy, Dean Canto and James Moffat. But with only 28 spots up for grabs in the main game, being a quick driver is no guarantee of anything - as his close friend and reigning World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff found out earlier this year.

"It's just hard; even though Rob Huff is a world champion, he has found it hard to break in. It is a bit of a closed market and you need to know the right people to get your foot in the door."

But it seems the tide is turning in Winslow's favour once again and a second bight of the cherry looms. The introduction of new manufacturers in Nissan, Volvo and AMG plus the COTF concept has seen European drivers secure full-time drives. Success has thus far eluded CRM's Alexandre Premat and Erebus' Maro Engel (Germany) but glimpses of competitiveness have come to light this season, thus giving Winslow renewed hope.

"The new manufacturers coming in is definitely a plus and I'm talking to anyone and everyone I can to try and get an opportunity. If Premat had won a race last year I think I might be in a seat right now. I think people Direction change: James Winslow is now finished with openwheeiers, above, and instead is opting for the unusual approach of trying to break into V8 Supercars via LMP2 sportscar racing, left. www.mnews.com.au

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want to win the Le Mans 24 Hours next year in LMP2 and hopefully get a good 2014 endurance drive in V8 Supercars. I want to show how versatile I am as a driver and show it is possible to compete at the highest level in both disciplines. realise it is possible for European drivers to drive in V8 Supercars now."

Furthering Winslow's cause is a new deal to compete in the newly formed Asian Le Mans Series, racing for Hong Kong team KCMG in their Morgan Nissan LMP2 monster. The team has pedigree already after leading its class on debut at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Only a fuel leak just a couple of hours from finish denied a debut result.

The Brit has lapped up the opportunity as he helped guide the team to victory in the opening round of four at South Korea's 3 hour endurance of Inje Speedium last month.

Winslow, a rookie in LMP2, could now even find himself on the grid of the 24 hour classic in France next year, with the winner of the LMP2 class over the four round Asian Le Mans Series receiving a place on the grid for next year's race. Le Mans is a race he holds

dear and he believes it is this new chapter of his career that could be the catalyst to achieving two career milestone, racing at Le Mans and more importantly a coveted V8 drive and a second chance to prove himself in Australia.

"The Sportscar drive is something I'm very passionate about and it's an amazing opportunity I have been offered. KCMG are a world class outfit with FI team personal.

It reminds my of my A1CP days and great working with good people again. LMP Le Mans Sporstcar are great to drive and seem to really suit my driving style; we were the quickest car straight out the box in my first session against much more experienced Le Mans drivers. I want to win the Le Mans 24 Flours next year in LMP2 and hopefully get a good 2014 endurance drive in V8 Supercars.

I want to show how versatile I am as a driver

and show it is possible to compete at the highest level in both disciplines.

"Le Mans 24 hour has been one of my life ambitions since being a small child. My father used to take me as kid every year and I'd stay up the full 24 hours watching and following the results. It's where my passion for racing began and next year will be very special to be on the grid at the big race - and even more special if we can stand on the LMP2 podium after 24 hours."

For Winslow, it remains to be seen if he will achieve his V8 Supercar dream. But what is for certain, is that the upcoming races in the Asian Le Mans Series and Le Mans could prove to be the most crucial of his career.

Bathurst endurance driver: Winslow shared an Audi R8 in the 12 Hour with Peter Conroy and old mate Rob Huff, below: but it's the October enduro in a V8 Supercar that's his main aim.

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It’s a long way from the impressive Prodrive motorhome on the Monte Ci Rally to the back of a service van in the Chinese Rally Championship. Bu while lesser drivers rri[ght be despairing at such a fali in status, Chris Atkin son views the last four years as part of the territory - and he’s not giving up on making it back into the World Raily Championship. By Jon Thomson N,

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I no doubt aboiit my ability to stayin the Subaru team.The only thing that would stop that was them pulling out,and no one predicted that."

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hina is where Chris Atkinson has spent most of 2013 competition wise. He's been tackling rounds of the national Chinese rally championship, marking time until he can secure another works WRC drive.

Since Subaru pulled the shutters down on its WRC program in December 2008, Atkinson has spent every waking moment thinking and working to win back a full time drive in the WRC. In some ways it would be easier to reconcile the loss of a drive in the world's top tier of rallying if it came as a result of a mistake or a lack of speed, but . ., Chris' exit was due to circumstances beyond ! his control: on the back of the rationalisation that swept the Japanese car makers in the wake of the GFC. For Atkinson, however, the hope of / securing another works drive in the World Rally Championship has never dimmed, despite almost five years of setbacks and hurdles, that would probably have stopped 'l a man of lesser resolve, particularly as the number of available drives diminished and the factory line of young Europeans and Scandinavians continued to churn out rally talent.

"I realise every year that goes by the

chances of getting another WRC drive grows less likely," Atkinson admits. "That is the reality. I want to race and I want a shot at the World title but I am also extremely grateful for the opportunities I have been given."

There have been some glimmers of hope for Atko - a potential contract with Citroen's junior team, Ken Block's Monster Energy Ford operation. Rally Italia's Mini squad none have actually turned into solid full time drives despite great performances by the Aussie driver.

Then, almost out of the blue, Hyundai announced that Chris would be a part of the test team for the Korean maker's newly formed WRC effort, a role that could morph into a full time drive with the team when it debuts at Monte Carlo next January. But there have been too many false dawns and Chris is not getting ahead of himself, he is taking it one day at a time.

Hyundai is no stranger to the WRC after spending half a dozen seasons in the series but never really being competitive. This time it should be different. It has gathered its own team based in Germany and has recruited three talented drivers including Finn Juha Haninen, French tarmac specialist Bryan Bouffier and Atkinson. Chris brings with him

the invaluable knowledge of having driven most of the current crop of WRC cars, the Citroen, the Ford Fiesta and Mini, delivering the Flyundai engineers some valuable feedback as they seek success in the WRC from next year.

It was in the early 2000s that Atkinson burst onto the rally scene with some scintillating drives in a privateer Mitsubishi financed by his father in the ARC,former rally driver, John Atkinson. Winning the ARC privateers cup in 2002 brought him to the attention of Monster Tajima's Suzuki team in its Asia Pacific Super 1600 tilt in 2003 where he won the title.

A meteoric rise to the Prodrive Subaru World Rally Team saw Atkinson become Australia's best ever candidate for the World Rally title. But after taking the team's number two spot in 2005 and then posting increasingly impressive times and competitive performances over the next four seasons he found himself in the unemployed driver's queue at the start of the 2009 season with just weeks to go before the opening round of the season.

Atkinson was called to a meeting at Nice Airport with Subaru management and team mate Petter Solberg just before Christmas in 2008, where the devastating news was

I realise every year that goes by the chances of getting another WRC drive grows less likely. That is the reality." delivered to the pair. All the hard graft, the endless hours of training, briefings with engineers and the effort put into every rally was suddenly worth little. It wasn't the best of Chrissie presents.

"It was pretty frustrating," says Chris, "it was a fair bit of a surprise, but they explained the decision and it was something I just had to live with. That is the way it is.

"I had actually been approached by another manufacturer at the start of 2008 about the possibility of switching teams, but I told them I was loyal to Subaru and that I had a contract for the following year that I was going to follow through with.

"In hindsight that would be the only thing you would kick yourself about, but they're ifs and buts, you can't worry about those things.

"I had no doubt about my ability to stay in the Subaru team. The only thing that would stop that was them pulling out, and no one predicted that. They were really happy with what I was doing; it was just the fact that the world had changed and circumstances conspired against us."

Since 2009 Atkinson has had a quite a few WRC drives. Just a few weeks after Subaru's devastating news he secured a drive with the Citroen Junior team on the 2009 season-

opening Rally Ireland. Despite a collision with a telegraph pole in atrocious weather and a spin on a narrow Irish lane, he still managed a strong fifth. Alas the Citroen driver's books were pretty full for the rest of the season and only truckloads of cash would have secured a full time drive with the team that year.

The next four years have proven frustrating for Chris. In 2010 he linked up with Chris Mellor's British-based Proton team for the APRC in the S2000 Satria. Alongside expatriate Scot Alistair McRae, the pair endured a frustrating first season, with a raft of mechanical failures holding them back.

Atko bounced back to take the APRC drivers title with a dominate performance in 2011 but things were clearly not that happy inside the little Malaysian backed team and Chris moved on for 2012, taking a seat with the Indian backed but Australian-run MRF Skoda team on the APRC. Atkinson is a well trained corporate diplomat and won't engage in any kiss-andtell confession about his former employers, particularly Proton, despite the many frustrations he clearly endured with that team.

Last year he managed to string together drives with Ken Block's Monster Energy Ford team at Rally Mexico and a one-off drive

with Citroen replacing Khalid Al Quasimi at Rally Finland before stepping into the Rally Italia-run Mini WRC for the last five rounds of the Championship, taking fifth in the uncompetitive machine on Rally Deutschland.

He clearly still has what it takes but with so few manufacturers and so few full time paid WRC seats, the chances of Atko climbing back to the top rung of the ladder grow slimmer all the time.

"I could look back and say that we were unlucky that Subaru pulled out at the time they did but in reality it wasn't the end of the world. Worse things have happened to other people, that's life; there is no use looking back you have to keep looking forward and stay positive."

So far Chris has only had one three-day test in the new Hyundai WRC i20, a gravel test at Toullouse in France, but had to miss a second test because of the arrival of his second child.'

While there are clearly a lot more tests coming in the next four months Chris won't be drawn on how many tests and where they will take place. Nor will he discuss what he.thought

SMCK

www.smclcaperformance.com.au WWW mnews.com au

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Prodrives: After the exit of Subaru, top left, Atkinson has had a number of cameo drives, including Proton's S2000 Satria, above, and Citroen's junior team, below left.

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about the new car, but we understand the Gold Coaster is impressed with the i20 and that it is a lot better than many believed it would ber. ' However, no one is under the illusion that . getting a WRC car competitive is easy. VW has stunned everyone with its performance out of the box this year but it comers after a huge spend and a development campaign of gigantic proportions.

Atkinson is the fifst to concede that a lack of regular seat time in the WRC costs in terms ' of stage time, but as he showed in Finland last year he isn't far from the money, finishing the first 20km stage a bare two tenths slower than the dominant Sebastien Loeb.

"Continuity is important getting those final tenths of a second comes from time in the car, setting it up the way you like it and feeling comfortable with it. I have explained to every ; manufacturer that I have had negotiations with that no driver can be really on the money without seat time."

At 33 Atkinson is not worried about his age - or the responsibility he now shoulders with a

wife and two young children.

"I certainly don't think it will slow me down; if anything it will motivate me to try a bit harder. I need to earn a living and that just drives me harder to get a WRC drive again.

"The age thing is not too much of a hurdle in rallying. Gronholm didn't get his first real WRC drive till he was 31 and Loeb was still winning at 38 or 39, so I reckon I have at least six more seasons ahead of me.

"I have no doubt given the chance that I can win the WRC and that belief is still as strong as ever."

Atkinson is relishing the chance to work with a new manufacturer and has already established a strong relationship with the Korean manufacturer's Australian subsidiary, already working with it on road car suspension development.

"Look, when it comes down to it any works rally driver is a car salesman first and a driver second. We are in the business of selling cars and that happens because we produce the results both on a rally and with all the other business that goes with the territory, whether

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that is working with the local engineers or doing the PR stuff."

Will 2014 be Atkinson's chance to truly shine in the WRC? That depends on a number of things: a contract with Hyundai, a competitive car, and above all some huge dollops of luck. A Hyundai contract seems increasingly likely and word around the service park at Rally Australia was that Atkinson is in line to get the drive alongside an unlikely team-mate from a current team.

The second item on the agenda is going to be a hard task for the Korean maker given rival VW's current dominance, and the third is in the lap of the gods, but one thing is for certain Chris Atkinson won't leave it to chance and will be working hard to make sure he creates his own luck.

If anything the past five years has taught him, it's that.

Back on track: Atkinson has driven briefly with Ken Block's Ford team, above, and subbed for Khalid Al Quasimi at Citroen, below, and is now hopeful of landing something more permanent with Hyundai.

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For Great Race viewers hack ie the'70s and early '80s,there were certain rituals to he observed.

There was the 7.55am Channel Seven telecast start time. And there was the pre-race 'bnlld up', the nn-track parade ef marching hands and baton twirlers. The ninth rnnning of the Australian Mnscle Car Masters bronght all that back In 2013 as we celebrate tlm 50th anniversary el the first Great Race at Monnt Panorama, wHh a Rathnrst grid spectacular that even featured '80s Seven cnmmentator Garry Wllklnsnn (It not the 7.55am start).

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ydney Motorsport Park's biggest and best attended domestic motor racing event this year is a meeting solely for historic cars. This was also true of 2012, and that year the venue also hosted a V8 Supercars Championship event.

That's hardly a ringing endorsement of the state of contemporary touring car racing. But then across the board nostalgia motor racing right now is huge. In all disciplines - circuit racing, speedway, drags, and even rallyingthere is a thriving retro scene.

In circuit racing, there are now several very big historic race meetings that are keenly anticipated each year. But there is none quite like the annual Fathers' Day out at the Australian Muscle Gar Masters.

The Masters is as much a celebration of the history of Australian touring car racing (with Formula 5000 openwheelers and, this year.

Group S sports cars added to the mix) as it is a race meeting. That's always been at the core of the event, but it took a step into new territory with an innovation for 2013: the Bathurst Grid Spectacular.

This event boasted more than 50 cars that

had been represented in the Great Race from 1967 right up until last year, assembled in a mock grid format on Sydney Motorsport Park's main straight.

The front row symbolised the beginning of the battle between Holden and Ford which kicked off at Bathurst in 1968, with Jeff Sinclair's ex-Holden Dealer Racing Team Paul Hawkins/Bill Brown Monaro GTS 327 flanked by Rob Macedon's ex-Fred Gibson/Bo Seton Falcon XT GT - the factory Ford entry which famously didn't win the race after a stone went through the radiator late in proceedings.

Original driver/car combinations included Graeme Bailey and his '86-winning Chickadee Commodore Jim Keogh aboard his old Morley Ford Falcon, now owned by Tom Vondrasek, while Frank Binding installed original driver Bob Muir in the Army Reserve Falcon XD, as did Leo Di Natale, with his XW CT auto

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being driven by one of its 1969 pilots, Charlie Smith. Steve Masterton drove his former VK Commodore Group A, now owned and raced by Jamie McDonald, and Steve Richards donned his father's old JPS BMW racesuit to drive his dad's 635CSI. John Goss was on the grid too in his magnificent replica '74 winning Falcon XA Coupe.

Of course, no 'Bathurst' retro grid would be the complete experience without the traditional race morning on-track ‘build up' entertainment. The pre-race programme has certainly evolved over the years, but back in the day it was groups of baton twirlers, marching and pipe bands and associated paraphernalia. This was the trademark preevent pageantry through the late '70s and for most of the '80s, and so naturally any Bathurst grid recreation would need the requisite musical accompaniment. This was supplied by the local City of Blacktown Pipe Band.

If the Masters is all about our touring car racing heritage then perhaps the centrepiece was the Group A and C races. Or Heritage Touring Cars, as they're now collectively

known. A really solid field of 40 cars fronted for qualifying, and even though it does seem a bit odd to watch an L34 Torana and a Ford Sierra RS500 in the same race, they all looked a treat in their period colours and they raced hard.

None harder, not surprisingly, than Jim Richards at the wheel of the old Nissan Motorsport HR31 Skyline he drove in 1989.

Jim now owns the Skyline, and it was there as part of an extraordinary fleet of eight Gibson Motorsport Nissans (see breakout).

These ranks are steadily growing, and while by nature any growth will be finite. this is historic touring car racing in the most unadulterated and purest form we have. And yet there is in fact scope for the Group A contingent to swell, because all Group A cars are welcome, not simply those that raced in Australia. We've seen a few already; overseas additions this year included Chris Bowden's Japanese ex-Petit Onion Racing Sierra.

That would be something: just imagine fleets of Schnitzer BMW MBs, Eggenberger Texaco Sierras and TWR Jaguars and Rovers taking on the locals once more...

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The Nissans aren't missin' n n n

elly Racing may be the home of Nissan <Motorsport's V8 Supercar programme but the manufacturer's Australian racing heritage resides unquestionably at Gibson Motorsport.

Gibson Motorsport was reborn earlier this year to take care of historic touring cars - in particular its own. In typical style, at the Masters it put on an impressive display, with no less than eight different Nissans representing all the manufacturer's Group C and A models since 1981: the original Bluebird Turbo, Exa, Gazelle, Skyline DR30 and HR31 and the GT-R. The meticulous preparation and spotless pit garage presentation that was Gibson Motorsport's trademark in the '80s and '90s was clearly evident, and indeed so too were some key personnel from those days there as part of the team. The show was run by the same man who was Gibson Motorsport team manager in the early '90s, Alan Heaphy, while former Nissan Special Vehicles chief from that

era, Paul Beranger, is also on the team.

Gibson Motorsport had even managed to arrange a deal with Yokohama. The tyre maker which supplied the Nissan team back in the day was not only back on board, but was developing new rubber specifically for the team's historic Nissan fleet!

That fleet is set to grow even further, because back at its Melbourne headquarters the team Is in the throes of restoring the 1991 Bathurst-winning CT-R. According to Heaphy, the signwriter who worked on the cars back in 1990 has returned to Gibson Motorsport, which means the restored GT-R's recreated livery will be done by the same man who painted it in the first place, 22 years ago...

great wine, great cars It could well be a museum for the motbrsport enthusiast, but it's not, it's a RESTAURANT featuring some of the best race cars and memorabilia in Australia!

Trackside Restaurant combines great food, great wines,served up close and personal amongst an amazing collection of race cars reflecting one of the greatest periods in Australian motorsport history.

On one occasion you may dine alongside Godzilla,the 1992 Bathurst-winning Winfield Nissan GT-R as driven by Mark Skaife and Jim Richards. On the next occasion you may be sitting alongside the George Fury Nissan Bluebird that held the lap record around Mt. Panorama for seven years with a staggering time of2 mins 13.85 secs. Whenever you visit, you can be assured that you'll be dining amongst a remarkable collection of cars.

The atmosphere at Trackside Restaurant is child friendly,fun, relaxed and unique, and lends itself to any gathering large or small.The extensive menu offers a choice of pastas, gourmet pizzas,seafood,chicken and salads—not to mention our renowned and succulent Stonegrill™ selection of the highest grade of meats,the freshest chicken and seafoods, all served sizzling on a hot stone,the flavour guaranteed to be second to none.Trackside Restaurant offers that difference in dining venues that we all seek—there is no other like it.

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Always outnumbepeil, never outgunned...

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he depleted numbers in the Formula 5000 races was a source of some disappointment.

Having said that, the slender field was at least in keeping with how things were back in the 70s, because it was often only at the Tasman Cup/Rothmans Series events over the summer that grids exceeded around 15 cars.

But such is the thunderous fury of these things that all that's required to make a decent spectacle is more than one of them. And we certainly had that, as 25-year-old Tom Tweedie in an ex-Team VDS Chevron took on the grand old master of Formula 5000, Ken Smith.

The 71 -year-old New Zealander was a front running F5000 Lola driver back in the mid-70s and, incredibly, remains so today. It was fascinating to watch a legend of the sport taking on a kid young enough to be his grandson - in fearsomely fast openwheelers that aren't exactly the kind of cars you see too many older gentlemen driving.

Interestingly, Tweedie's pole-winning lap of 1 m25.7285s was only a bit over six seconds adrift of outright lap record set by Nico Hulkenberg when the A1 GP ran here in 2007.

Not bad for a 39-year-old machine.

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N; How keen are you for the new sprintcar season?

RF: I'm very keen. We're really feeling we've got our racing program a little bit better towards the end of last season. We're excited to make some changes to our motor and shock program's. We will go into the new year confident we can have a pretty solid year.

you as you're now a veteran at the age of 40?

RF: It's not that the level of competition is better but the equipment is better. There's always going to be young blokes come through, which is a good thing. James McFadden is now the benchmark and when I started at 16 years of age there was Garry Rush, then Max Dumesny, then Brooke Tatnell so it's no big deal. You've just got to get in there and chase them down.

MN: How do you rate your last season?

RF: I would think it was a very solid year. The two years prior we'd won 10 shows each year and last year we won eight. In saying that we had a lot of things go wrong that shouldn't have gone wrong. I don't think there was a major race in the country where we weren't in the top five or even the top three. For instance, during Warrnambool's Classic week we had the best car over that period and in the Australian title we were around fifth.

MN: Do you still enjoy racing?

RF: Oh for sure. I still get excited and can't wait to go racing. I love the fact that there's guys like McFadden and Steven Lines out there and they're real tough competition. I'm real hungry right now. I love the fact that there's challenges out there.

MN: So is a Classic win well overdue?

RF: It's the one missing off the resume. I was very upset when we ran out of fuel and we were running third in this year's race. It's a race that has been so brutal on me in the past so I would have taken that third as a positive in that event. In saying that, we know we can do it. It's just one of those deals where you've just got to go and get it done. It's never going to be an easy race to win and I think last year we can be seriously in the hunt for it.

MN: Is the competition getting tougher for

MN: How may shows this year will you race this season?

RF: It will be between 45 to 50 nights. From now until May 2014 it's full on for us all in the East Coast Pipeline Racing Team. We started racing at Mackay in early September and run solid until May. MN : There's no World Series Sprintcars contract for you this year?

RF: We won't be running WSS as a contracted team. We will just pick and choose those races. We enjoy that freedom to live more, clean our schedule up and hang out and if you win you win, if not then we go on to the next race. My crew of Nick Speed and Shaun Creely and myself like to enjoy our racing and

so that's we've changed, to run the shows we want to and not be tied to a series.

MN: How does your team owner Barry Waldron feel about racing sprint cars still?

RF: He loves it. He's no different from us. It's his outlet and he gets just as excited as we all do about going racing. It's good because he's got the same goal as we do in the team and that's to win each week.

MN: What are the races you'd like to nail this year?

RF: I don't actually set goals but my main role is to win as many motor races as I can. I don't care what the race is called or how big or small the track is. My goal and the team's is to turn up every night and win races. To me that should be the goal of any motor racing driver.

For personal satisfaction, the Classic would be the one. If I go another 10 years of racing and I don't win the Classic, well it is what it is.

MN: Farry, for you personally it's been a big year off-track, with turning 40, marriage, baby. How's all that been?

RF: It's very grounding. I'm loving it. My wife Sonya works with the government over in Western Australia. It was the right time and right thing for me to do to get married and I couldn't be happier. Life's pretty good. My son Colton 1 think already wants to race too and he loves coming to the tracks.

MN: So life's pretty good?

RF: Mate, life couldn't be better.

1

/ don't care what the race is called or how big or small the track is.

My goal and the team's is to turn up every night and win races.

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In the school of hard racing knocks, they don’t come much tougher than Glenn Scott. The 22-year-old is already an ___ Australian and international motorcycle racing veteran, having experienced life racing in the cutthroat Spanish championships and the Australian 125GP * and Supersport titles. Now he’s stepped up to the ASBK ranks, and stuck it on the podium as a rookie at Sydney Motorsport Park. Rennie Scaysbrook sat down for a

-

He’s been through some incredibly hard times in his short life, including losing both his parents in a motorcycle accident as a youngster.

T

"We were going to do it properly and set Elder brother Greg has always been by his he top racers in any championship the standard. We have the team decked out side, ploughing the needed funds into Glenn's have something different about head-to-toe with matching gear, we have a racing career, while elder sister Candice them. This undefined quality is proper grid girl, and we're the only privateer was a more than handy racer on 125GP what makes them stand out, makes team that really works the viral and social machinery in the mid-2000s. Glenn himself them strive harder, sacrifice more media side of the business. We have Mark won the 2007 Australian 125GP crown at and push further than those chasing behind.

Boxer doing our videos; we have our own his first attempt, smashing records at almost It's much like the world of business, where YouTube channel, and we promote the sport every track he attended.

He then went into top CEOs get to their position by either being and ourselves as much as we possibly can. the shark pit, living on his own and racing ruthless, exceptionally talented, or just having It's getting noticed, with ASBK and some against the kamikaze kids of the Spanish the perseverance to keep going when others competitors complimenting us on 125GP series before coming home in 2010 give up. our marketing strategy. We have a to focus on four-stroke machinery. Stints on Glenn Scott is one of these racers on the shoestring budget, but we're doing it a BMW S 1000 RR in the Australian FXascendancy. He is not yet performing at his better than others."

Superbike Championship and tumultuous peak because he has more development as The 2013 season started well for Scott with time on a Kawasaki in the Australian a rider to do, but he's already turning heads five-four results at Phillip Island's non-points m the premier Australian racing class - the Supersport Championship followed, before World Superbike Championship support he set up his own team last season running a Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK). rounds, but after disappointing seven-eight Yamaha YZF-R6 with backing from IMR for This has a lot to do with the work Scott results at Symmons Plains for round two, a solid fourth place in last year's Australian and insure My Ride's Luke Smith have done Scott and Smith decided on a team restructure Supersport Championship. behind the scenes to set up a what is easily that began to see immediate dividends.

Last year also saw Scott appear as one the most professional privateer racing team "We got two new mechanics in (Adam of the contestants on the Insure My Ride in the country, creating an environment that Nolan and Dean Vonchil) and started working Ultimate Rider television program, a realityallows Scott to showcase the talent we all with Bernie (Hatton, famed Aussie riding knew he had, but until this year rarely had the style show where Glenn competed against coach), who also helped implement some riders including former World Endurance chance to do so. new structures and communications to help Superstock Cup Champion Alex Cudlin and "I guess running this team is like running the team function better as a unit," Scott current Aussie Supersport gun Daniel Faizon a small business," says Scott, who wears the says. 'We then went testing at Queensland hat of team organiser, truck driver, racer - and for a Honda Superbike testing contract under the guidance of Team Honda Racing principal, Raceway before the start of round three, partial bill payer. "I've been riding a long time which was the first time myself and Adam in various championships, and I've been close, Paul Free. True to form, Scott took the TV worked together. It was a day to get but not quite there in terms of results. I think I show win but declined the testing contract everything started fresh, I was a bit lost with and, as Insure My Ride's Luke Smith explains, was at times involving myself with the wrong set-up, but I worked with Paul Free and with IMR, decided to go the whole hog of people, but with the IMR (Insure My Ride) gained some confidence in bikes and the new entering Superbike, team we now have a great environment in team, and every lap was improvement."

"IMR has been sponsoring Glenn for which everyone knows their job, everyone Scott finished Queensland Raceway's third the last three years as a privateer. We saw is passionate and we're all working towards round with encouraging seven-seven results, potential in him, and after winning the the same end. That makes my job so and could see the new formula was working.

Ultimate Rider program, it seemed a no much easier."

Further tests at Queensland Raceway and brainer to set up a proper Superbike team Chatting with Scott can be confusing, later Sydney Motorsport Park put the team rather than just stick to testing," Smith says. because he still looks 16 but has the business in a positive mood heading into Sydney "It's the best thing we have ever done. head of a 32-year-old. He's been through Motorsport Park's(SMP) double-header "We spoke with some good privateer some incredibly hard times in his short round in August. Interestingly, the team teams, and IMR was thinking of being a life, including losing both his parents in a team partner as well as a personal sponsor of motorcycle accident as a young teenager. You Glenn's. So it was a joint decision to do our Fast learner; For a 22-year-old, Scott has crammed couldn't blame him for not wanting anything own team for the similar money we would a huge amount of racing into his life. Now a part of to do with bikes at all. the ASBK ranks, he gives Beau Beaton a champagne have had to bring to a private team. But here, Instead, it's the opposite. shower on the privateer podium at QLD we have total control.

His family lives and breathes the sport. www.mnews-Com.au

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^’nniHe;-s doesn’t have the budget to run telemetry, so set-up is done the old-school way - via rider feedback and a few sets of extra eyes around the track.

"There's no electronic help," says Luke Smith. "We have some spotters, and use videos and rider feedback. We'll have some guys looking at suspension movement, Bernie on Glenn's riding, then we reconvene in the pits and discuss what we saw and what Glenn felt. It hammers home how much of a team sport it is - as Bernie says, this is not the Glenn Scott show; he's just the one who steers the bike."

The double-header at SMP arrived at the start of August, the team's home round.

"There was so much riding, it killed me in the tyre bill, but it allowed us to try different things and really improve the bike bit by bit, and we ended up qualifying with a 1 m31.358s, a fraction off the final five in Superpole," Scott says. Five-five results, including race one where he was 0.1s behind multiple Australian champion Jamie Stauffer signaled good things to come, as Smith alludes.

Freebie (Paul Free, Team Honda Racing

principal) came in after race one where Glenn was fifth, right behind his rider Jamie Stauffer, and with our whole team around him, says, "What are you guys doing?

You're making us look like fools!" Everyone in the team heard and the egos skyrocketed, so we were feeling good at the team dinner at my place that night."

"We changed the clutch for Sunday's first race (race one, round five), because the starts were a bit off," says Scott. "And I got an absolute flier, I thought I'd actually jumped the start. (Glenn) Allerton got me into turn two, so I rode with him for a bit and passed him at turn nine for third. Those last five laps were the longest of my life, I was just hoping for it to end! Stauffer was closing, but we held onto'it and got the podium. It was a great feeling, the best way to reward people, sponsors, team, helpers, everyone involved. We had three factory guys behind us, and proved we could run with these guys as a privateer team."

Scott also came away with his fastest-ever lap of SMP, a 1m30.895s scorcher. He would finish sixth in the second and final race of the day, only 1.4s off the win.

He and Team IMR had arrived.

"We were celebrating like we'd just won the championship on Sunday morning," says Smith. "We also had Honda Australia's Glyn Griffiths and Tony Hinton come and congratulate us, so that was special. We now know as a unit we can fight with the factory guys, people are taking Glenn and the team seriously, and we also know we did the right thing by setting this team up."

For Scott, he's now a threat to the established stars like Glenn Allerton, Wayne Maxwell and Jamie Stauffer, but he knows he still has to make that final leap to join the elite.

"The top guys are so fast and smooth, especially Stauffer, so I need to be able to match them week in and out," Scott says.

"That podium was a great motivator to the whole team, and now we have to back it up every time."

Backing it in: Scott isn't afraid to mix it with the country's best, as he shows here taking the wide line around Linden Magee. The tight crew (left) are predicting big things for the rest of the year.

f

Ed's Scott endured frustrating sixthnote: round of the 2013aASBK title at Hidden Valley, NT over 13-15 September, finishing with DNF/eight results in both races.

A fast crash on Friday destroyed one of his Honda GBRI OOORRs, however he was lying third in race one on corrected time before his spare engine gave up with just three laps remaining.

With no spare bikes or engines left, Scott was graciously leant a Kawasaki ZX-10R by ASBK Prostock rider O.ustin Goldsmith to salvage whatever points he could get. An eighth place was an excellent result considering he had never even sat on a ZX-tOR before the start of race two.

Scott now sits one point behind BMW's Linden Magee in the ASBK privateer standings, 197 to Magee's 198. motorsport news

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the previous year’s winners, Dick Johnson and John Bowe. This was the first year of the V8-only formula that was to become V8 Supercars.

Johnson and Bowe didn't even finish, let alone repeat their victory of the previous year. But their EF Falcon from that year's Bathurst in 1 /18 scale will make a fine addition to a Ford lover's collection. Yellow cars just leap out at the eye; no doubt this is a contributing factor to cars being painted yellow. And this will do just that on a shelf or in a cabinet.

Apex Replicas are like the other major manufacturers in making high-quality, accurate models. A heap of research goes into the production of a large-scale collectible - up to 10,000 measurements, photos, drawings and original build material or access to the 84

original car (vyhere available) go into making one of these.

So it should come as no surprise to see full interior detail in the model. Well, what there is of the interior, anyway! And the boot, engine bay and under the car'get the full treatment.

Also from Apex Replicas will be a model of the 1990 Sandown winner - the Sierra as driven by Glenn Seton and his old team-mate from Nissan, George Fury. This win came towards the end of the Sierra's dominant phase; the R32 Skyline was just hitting its

straps and the Commodore came good at Bathurst.

The car will be available in 1/43 and 1/18 scales and in the larger size will feature opening doors, hatch and bonnet, to show all the details inside. I'm not sure whether to be surprised or horrified by how little roll cage they had back then! I'm still bothered by the silly laws that force Apex Replicas to present the car as if Glenn was devoid of sponsors. The cigarette brand logos are a matter of history, so there's one good reason motorsport news

TanmaEsnmEk

for allowing them. Anyway, you can get the stickers to fill in the huge gaps on the car either on-line or from most model retailers.

In 1986 John Harvey and Kiwi Neal Lowe finished second in their HDT Commodore.

The lead car of Peter Brock and Allan Moffat had been delayed with a split oil cooler, leaving the second-string car to carry the flag.

While they didn't have an answer to Allan Grice that day, they fought off the hardcharging Nissan Skyline of Tony Scott and Terry Shiel to take second. This car is going to be available soon (hopefully at Bathurst) from Classic Carlectables. Classics has used this mould before, to make the Brock/Moffat and Grice/Graeme Bailey VK Commodores and these have both been well received.

You can certainly see from the pics what an outstanding model this is.

Back in early 1972 the Holden Dealer Team was working on a development mule, usually called the XU-2 or XU-1 V8, in preparation www.mnews.com.au

for a production version. The LC Torana (one of the HDT's existing Production Touring Cars) was fitted with a 5.0-litre V8 and was tested extensively, including racing at the Bathurst Easter meeting, Adelaide and Calder.

Colin Bond, Peter Brock and Larry Perkins all raced the car as a Sports Sedan. Peter Brock tested the car at Calder and it's in this form that Biante's 1/18 scale car is offered.

Biante has used its existing LC/LJ Torana mould and adapted a carby-fed V8 to it.

The car raced with widened steel wheels and radial tyres (!) and these are shown on the model.

This car, along with the XA Falcon GTHO Phase 4 and the (rumoured) E55 V8 Charger were the so-called 'Supercars' that caused such a media outcry in the leadup to the 1972 500 mile race, and lead to the establishment of Croup C the following year, where the cars raced were no longer required to be road-going.

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A heap of research goes into the production of a largescale collectible - up to 10,000 measurements,photos,drawings and original build material or access to the original car(where avatlqble)go into making one of these.

One thing that the model cars show is the development of the Australian touring car. From the Series Production days up to 1972, where the cars were supposed to be completely standard to the full-on racing cars of today's V8 Supercars.

The 1972 Bathurst 500 was the last race over the shorter distance and also the last where just one driver could tackle the event (officially, anyway - there have been stories of helmet changes and the like).

Which brings us to John Goss. By '72 Goss was an established major player among the privateers, regularly running with the works cars at Sydney meetings and on the occasions he travelled interstate. Gome Bathurst, though, the McLeod Ford Falcon XY gave trouble. Goss managed to put the car second on the grid behind Allan Moffat.

But the car then blew its engine, meaning a trip into town to change to a spare.

As it turns out, the engine change was for nothing, the car losing another engine just

86

24 laps into the race.

An unsuccessful effort, but Classic Carlectables' new model of this car is certainly a winner. Classics has done a great job on this car, with a soft rubber boot mat, which comes out to show the big Phase III petrol tank. There's ducting in the cabin to keep JG cool on a warm Bathurst day, there's all the right stickers and hoses under the bonnet. There's even the wings on the sides of the sump, an attempt to cure the oil surge problems that affected these cars until dry sumping was allowed a few years later.

There will only be 1000 of these models released, so you'll want to get Into your local retailer to order yours.

Biante has announced it'll be making the Erebus Racing AMG C63s in 1/43 and 1/18 scales. This is a big deal - requiring all new tools to be made to mould the bodies and make the Interiors, which are completely different from the other V8 Supercars. Of course, the same problem will apply to

making the VF Commodores they're also making - the Brad Jones Racing cars, Lucas Dumbrell Racing, Supercheap Auto Racing and Tekno Autosports, Can't wait to see these.

Also from Biante is a Volvo - but not just any old Volvo - it's the 850 that was normally driven by Peter Brock in the Super Touring Championship, but raced this one time (as 05) by Jim Richards, to win the support race at the 1996 Bathurst 1000.

Richards won the wet race, having started from fifth on the grid, disposing of the BMWs that led him to the first corner. Such was Richards' ability in the wet that he held off the Audi A4 Quattro of Brad Jones to win the eight-lap race.

We've only seen pictures of the prototype so far, but it looks really good. The car is full of detail and the details all look very accurate. Like the V8 Supercars we've mentioned above, it's listed as 'development approved' but it's on its way.

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BATHURST 1978 HARDIE FEROD01000 j A massive eight and a-haiftiours of race day'cbvefage from a ■.,§1 ■' faroOLis Bathurst classic . ■, ' ' ●it With.nine wins in .the Bathurst endurance >sic,' thereismo'l doubting why Peter Brock was - and still is - knowma's the- 'King., is ● of the Mountain’,.. . 'It ■ .To celebrate the-35th'.anniversa(y of the first win,by Holden’s ' - . mighty'Torana.AQX'in Au.Stralia’d'Great Race’,. Chevron has dug' i . infp.the archives of'the'.Seven Network to rel'eese.th4'i'9'78 race n * ' for the very first time, i,. ' .‘."■i,-,; 'T.; f... v. ’ Tr:' ,' ■i

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The Group A.era of the Australian Touring Car Championship between 1985 and 1992 Saw a wide range of cars from differ- -. ^ ent■brands tackle pne another on tracks all. over the coenti^. . :For.the first time, ,Chevron js releasing threO ofthe best races from the 1980s. on this special edition release T.plus a bon.usi'-i f ■ ' extra raoe, all from the Seven Network archive!' .

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Des West 'o a lot of motorsport followers, Des West is best known as the man who co-drove with Peter Brock when the latter was making his Bathurst debut in 1969. But that's selling Des West rather short, because he was himself a great talent and one of Australian touring car racing's first big name drivers. And besides, as Des himself once said of his drive for Harry Firth's Holden Dealer Team in the '69 Hardie-Ferodo: "Brock was my co-driver."

It was not the other way round.

In typical Harry Firth fashion, the team boss declined to reveal to West the identity of his young co-driver until they'd arrived at Bathurst. Between them. Firth and the experienced West carefully managed the 88

rookie's Great Race debut, and the Des West/Peter Brock HDT Monaro went on to finish third.

Years later. West told the story that after the race Firth presented him with an empty cigarette packet, with a thank you note written inside that explained West wouldn't be paid for his efforts because the HDT's budget didn't stretch that farl West's association with the HDT did not continue into the following year, not because of pay disputes, but because before the '69 race West had already signed to run with the fledgling Chrysler team in 1970. Consecutive deals with opposing factory Bathurst teams between '69 and '70 shows how well West was regarded at that time, and certainly by then he was a highly experienced and very accomplished touring car driver.

It is tempting to wonder what might have been had Des West been born a decade or so later than 1928. He vvas 41 when he shared that third place at Bathurst with the rookie Brock - West's career was in its twilight years just when the Australian touring car racing scene was about to hit its peak.

Des was racing touring cars long before there was an Australian Touring Car Championship. He was, along with the others

like the Ceoghegan brothers, Norm Beechey and John French, one of the first Holden touring car stars.

His motorsport debut came in the 1953 Redex Round Australia trial in a 48-215 Holden he shared with his father. The Wests finished an impressive 19th out of the 192 starters. It was the start of a long association with early model Holdens for Des West.

He was certainly among the first to drive a Holden in competition, and he raced and rallied a series of early 'Humpy' models for around 10 years. Des told Australian Muscle Car magazine that he built nearly one Humpy Holden for competition each year between 1952 and '62. One of those Holdens, the red 48-215 he drove In the first Australian Touring Car Championship, at Gnoo Bias in 1960, still exists today, still in original Des Westdeveloped racing trim.

He was also there when the Great Race kicked off at Phillip Island in 1960, sharing a Renault Dauphine with Bill Pitt. In his 11 Great Race starts he wasn't often aboard front running equipment, but that third outright in '69 and first in class the following year (seventh outright) is a pretty reasonable haul.

Des drifted out of competition in the '70s, making his last Bathurst start in 1975 in an Alfasud alongside his 1970 class winning co-driver, Peter Brown. He returned to run motorsport news

a Commodore in the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trail, finishing 13th. The event was won by another Commodore, driven by Des' 1969 Bathurst co-driver.

Even then he wasn't done, competing in rallying at different times up until 1993.

His last circuit race was in the HQ Holden support events in the late '90s at, fittingly.

Mount Panorama.

A shy, unassuming but also very practical man. Des was a handy mechanic. He may never have won the Australian Touring Car Championship as a driver, but he did build two of the engines used by Pete Geoghegan's championship-winning early model Mustang,

www.mnews.com.au

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Dick Johnson book This is the thirdofDick biography to benot published, it offers plenty newJohnson and revealing material covered and in the previous Johnson books, which were ghost written respectively by Bill Tuckey/Mike Jacobson in the 1980s, and Stuart Sykes when Dick hung up the helmet in 1999. Oddly, this latest one is billed as an autobiography but on the cover the ghost writer is credited as co-author.

There are some good things about this book. There is Johnson's account of his descent into financial ruin: the 2005 collapse of sponsor Westpoint; the subsequent failed First Rock and V8 Telecom ventures that really did the damage.

Fie tells of his disagreements with former business partner Charlie Schwerkolt, including Schwerkolt’s signing of James Courtney which Johnson claims was done behind his back and against his wishes.

Dick also reveals the sense of betrayal he felt when John Bowe left the team at the end of 1998, describing his former best mate as 'secretive and underhanded'.

Dick has a lot to say about his latter years as a driver, too, reflecting that he should have retired after winning Bathurst in 1994, and the day at a wet Phillip Island in 1997 when he had to battle fear and a panic attack before he climbed aboard his car.

Johnson also tells of his regret in allowing financial and sponsorship considerations to persuade him to continue driving until 1999, and that this hurt son Steven's career in its crucial early stages.

He regrets, too, that in 1995 Steve knocked back an offer of a full time drive with Garry Rogers which instead, Johnson writes, went to Garth Tander.

Yes, this is an engaging, and even harrowing read. But it's a shame

the ghost writer wasn’t able to detect and correct so many simple errors of memory that will be obvious to most readers - such as the fact that Tander didn't join CRM until 1998.

Later Glenn Seton is described as a driver 'on the rise' in 2005, when the 1993/97 Australian Touring Car Champion was 40 yearsold and in what would be his last full time season. The account of Mike Burgmann's fatal crash at Bathurst in 1986 reads more like a tabloid newspaper account than the trademark laconic Dick Johnson voice we all know so well. This passage also refers to Garry Falcon.

Willmington's Jaguar as a Petty criticism, maybe, but most Dick Johnson fans who read the book will know that were no Falcons in the Bathurst 1000 from 1985 to 1991.

It is a shame, because it would only have taken a giHiu decent proofread for this to JAMES have been one of the best PHELPS Australian motorsport books in a long time. It is still a great read, and if buying a copy in any way helps Dick Johnson's current plight, then all of us who love the sport should make sure the thing is a sell out.

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From themotorsport brand thatcomes brought the iconic ‘Dash Logger' to global a stunning new display and series logging solution. With a vibrant full colour screen, powerful functionality and club-level pricing, the C125 delivers on every level.

The vivid 125mm LCD display (approx 5") is high resolution, ultra bright and antireflective for easy reading in direct sunlight. Users can select from numerous supplied layouts, each with crisp, high contrast graphics to suit all viewing conditions. Within these layouts, the channels, labels and measurement units are all configurable to cater for individual preferences.

MoTeC's new display also features an integrated array of high intensity LEDS for use as shift lights, warnings or other driver alerts. The function, colour and brightness of each light are fully programmable, allowing users to create customised sequences for their application.

The Cl 25 can be supplied as a powerful standalone unit, or in a complete, race-ready kit. The kits include a 10 Hz GPS sensor,

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You can judge a book by Scrapbook.

This is a pot from his teenage dirt track beginnings to his current role as FI TV commentator. It's told in images and documents (such as early speedway programme showing young Brundle in the entry list) and a series of quotes and comments from all manner of people within the sport, as well as from the Brundle clan. Light but definitely engaging reading.

Steve Normoyle

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Raceshop 2013 SHANNONS SUPERCAR SHOWDOWN Age and experience exuberance in when the first challenge faced by beat eightyouthful V8 Supercar hopefuls the Shannons Supercar Showdown returned to 7mate on Saturday for its third series.

In the first of eight episodes, V8 Ute racer Craig Dontas (33) and Formula Three driver Tim Macrow (31) gave their younger rivals a lesson in cool-headed car control by mastering a challenging motorkhana course against the clock with no penalties.

The motorkhana was the first of many challenges that will be conducted at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway over coming weeks to test the V8 rookies' mental and physical skills as they compete for the ultimate prize - a testing contract with FPR plus a drive in the Dunlop Series in a Shannons-sponsored V8 Supercar.

There are no driver eliminations this time. Each challenge carries points that the contestants must accumulate - just as they would if chasing victory in the \/8 Supercars Championship.

The top point scorers from Team Winterbottom and Team Davison will go through to the finals.

And in a surprise twist, Mark and Will must also pick another contestant from each of their teams to go through. This is called the Captain's Choice and is sure to create plenty of controversy.

Dontas and Macrow now lead the points chase as the eight V8 Supercar rookies face their second challenge next week. Will age and experience continue to be the winning formula? Or will one of the fast but flustered young guns be able to control their nerves and prove they've got what it takes?

Plus there's a chance to WIN a Ford Falcon XR6 Ute valued at over $42,000 including 12 months of Shannons comprehensive insurance.

To enter go to shannonsupercarshowdown.com.au

Shannons Supercar Showdown next Saturday on 7mate (check local guides for times)

Rush “rom Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard, set against the golden age of Formula 1 racing, RUSH portrays the fast paced, action packed and exhilarating true story of one of the greatest rivalries the sport has ever witnessed - James Hunt versus Niki Lauda, and their illustrious Formula 1 racing teams, McLaren versus Ferrari.

Privileged, charismatic and handsome English playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) could not be more different from his reserved and methodical opponent, Austrian born Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). RUSH follows their checkered personal lives both on and off the track and charts their rivalry from its inception in Formula 3. Here they competed viciously against each other until Lauda's superior business acumen and surgeon like precision behind the wheel propelled him all the way to Formula 1; eventually landing him the number one spot at Ferrari. However it was not long before unruly golden boy Hunt fought his way into Formula 1, and into the hearts of a nation, dramatically seizing the world championship from Lauda and proving to the critics, and more importantly himself, that there was real substance beneath his stylish exterior. Polar opposites pitted against each other in the most dangerous sport in the world. Hunt and Lauda were pushed to the breaking point of their physical and psychological endurance.

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Dunlop is proud to be the official control tyre for the V8 Supercars. Drivers have long selected Dunlop for its high performance qualities, froim the world of racing to the everyday road. So if you need tyres, ask about a Dunlop tyre - what we learn on the track, we take to the street.

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