Motorsport eNews Issue 69 - August 26-September 1, 2008

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 069 26 August - 1 September 2008

E C A R LET US V8’s ‘M r Co nt ro ve rs y’ speaks out

LOCKED & LOADED

OLD ‘NEW’ component trialled to “increase entertainment”

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Phillip Mahoney philm@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

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MD / Publisher

Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

Contributing Writers F1: Will Buxton, Mark Glendenning, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, David Addison US: Martin D. Clark, Phil Morris Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Ryan Lahiff Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher National: Mark Wicks, Mark Jones, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Geoff Gracie, Ash Budd, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Motorsport eNews does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

International photos supplied by Sutton Images, www.sutton-images.com – click here to check out their exclusive poster deals

Issue No. 069 | 26 Aug - 01 Sep 2008

news 4 Morris flags change Getting down and dirty 6 As the mist clears ...

8 Detroit Locker 12 Fines dealt 14 Indy 300 16 Italian by-pass 20 Like father ...

chat 22 5 minutes with ... opinion 24 Lambden 25 Rowley

race 26 NASCAR

30 IndyCar 34 All the action OS

Enduro line-ups appear ... not the Pistons Big bans for NASCAR crew Aussie want to race here A1GP opener postponed Tatnell tribute race Paul Morris 1000 enduring reasons I just can’t read it Edwards wins again First for the bridesmaid Indy Lights and BF3

trade 38 Classifieds

welcome Three of these four statements are 100 percent correct. His name is Taz Douglas.

He drives race cars. He drives them fast. He’s a national hero.

EDITORIAL Phil Branagan Executive Editor IT’S been a difficult day.

No, I am not talking about the postOlympics hangover, or the fact that a bunch of racing drivers we have tried to chase up over the last week have had their mobile phones set to European or USA time.

It’s been difficult to get anything done today. The office phones have been ringing off the hook and emails piling in, all from people signing up to subscribe to eNews. We have all been battling through paperwork while trying to get on with the business of producing the darn thing!

Since the announcement two weeks ago that eNews was going to be for subscribers, we have been blown away. While there have been a few people upset with us, the overwhelming majority have been hugely supportive. The reaction has been very positive, and that gives us reason to apply ourselves harder to the task of digging out news stories and bringing them to the forefront.

I reckon that there is great value to be had and the Motorsport News/eNews deal, that gives you a year’s news, straight to your desktop, every Monday night, and a monthly feature-based print edition is a ripper. And, judging by the uptake of a lot of people out there, the word is spreading.

So, thanks for all the input, we appreciate your support. We are endeavouring to bring you the best motor racing publications we can, in the best format we can, and all the news from the people on the ground. Changes happen all time, but that commitment will never change.

Morris calls for c V8s wild man wants to see a new approach ...

V8 SUPERCAR driver and V8SA Board member Paul Morris has called for a major shake up in the on-track administration of V8 Supercar racing by removing it from CAMS’ jurisdiction.

Morris, while dispelling pit lane chat he would step down from full-time racing at the end of the year, has told eNews that he won’t “give up” on the sport he loves and wants a more liberal system of officialdom in the sport.

“You’ve got to take CAMS out of it,” he says.

“I don’t understand how CAMS can be in control of every facet of your business on race weekends. The number one thing that we interact with our fan base with is the racing; we hand it over to a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs, and they totally screw it up.

“You watch the racing on television at home and you see people doing pit lane penalties and they don’t know what its for.

It confuses the hell out of people. You’ve just got to let the drivers race and let them sort it out themselves.

“Sometimes you get that frustrated with the system here that you think ‘bugger it, I’ll just sell up and go do something that’s enjoyable’ but then the other part of me says ‘no, I’m going to stick here and stick it up those bastards and not let them get to me!’

“My goal in life is to still be racing V8 Supercars when there is some sensible system out there.”

Morris says that the NASCAR system, which controls all of the licences, insurance and officialdom, would not suit Australia’s V8 scene, although he says that some

EXPERIENCE

BOOK

PHILLIP

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Fiore V8 test points to his future plans FUJITSU V8s Dirk Klynsmith

changes elements of it could be introduced to allow V8s to become more selfsufficient on race weekends.

The Supercheap Auto Racing team owner/driver has been involved in his fair share of on-track clashes over the past two years, and attracted the ire of a number of his on-track rivals.

However, he says that to get into the hearts and minds of more V8 fans, there needs to be more tolerance for closer racing.

“The biggest problem we have in the championship is that we don’t have any real racing going on,” he said.

“I think we’ve got to change the attitude of the drivers behind the wheel, and the rules of engagement need to be adjusted so we can actually race each other.

“People come to the track to see

people race. They come to see characters, they come to see rivalry.

And you can’t have pretend rivalry like they’re trying to do.

“You only have to watch last weekend’s NASCAR race to see Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards beat the shit out of each other! If you did that here, you’d be up on charge of culpable conduct.

“When Marcos (Ambrose) won at Watkins Glen, the amount of people he dumped in the fence … he would have had his licence taken off him here. Over there, its what you’ve got to do to win a car race. That’s why people watch it.”

– GRANT ROWLEY For more with Paul Morris and his views on officialdom in V8 Supercars, click to page 22.

DEAN Fiore will test for Howard Racing at Queensland Raceway next Friday, offering the best indication that he will move up to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship next season.

Fiore tested for Howard once before, and is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of one of the team’s ex-Triple Eight BA Falcons.

“I need every opportunity to get miles in a V8 Supercar,” Fiore told eNews.

“Howard has offered me this test and there’s no way I’d turn down that opportunity.”

While the Carrera Cupper was happy to confirm that the Fujitsu Series was likely to be his next port of call, and as soon as next season, with what team remains a mystery. Howard Racing might be giving Fiore his next V8 test, but he is also due to test a Britek car later this month, a team that has recently revealed, through eNews, that it is eyeing a bigger involvement in the development series.

And then there is the continuing rumours regarding a joint FV8 venture between Sonic Motor Racing Services and Triple Eight (reported exclusively in eNews #064).

Having been a Sonic driver since 2004, Fiore is well placed to take one of the seats, probably next to fellow West Aussie Karl Reindler.

“I’ve been open with everyone about what I want to do next year, and yeah, I guess I’d like to stay in the ‘family,’” Fiore added.

“But, like a lot of people, I’ve got to consider funding and all of that stuff, so there are decisions to be made.

At the end of the day I could do Carrera Cup again, but I don’t see that as being a step forward.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

E THE 2008 AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

NOW AT MOTOGP.COM.AU

P ISLAND 3-5 OCTOBER

Season of Endurance: C FPR

FORD Performance Racing has elected to pair its leading drivers, with title contender Mark Winterbottom jumping into Steven Richards Falcon for the endurance races.

The car, pictured below right, will look predominantly like Richards’s current Castrol Falcon, with minor decals from Orrcon and Ford Credit.

Together, Winterbottom and Richards went close to winning last year’s Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst. This year, FPR team principal Tim Edwards wants to erase the memories of Winterbottom skipping through the sand at The Chase while leading the race with just 10 laps to go.

#5 Dean Canto, Luke Youlden #6 Mark Winterbottom (2nd), Steven Richards (6th)

“We came agonisingly close last year,” said Edwards.

“Scoring pole at Bathurst was the point this team started believing we could go all the way.

We were unlucky last year, but we want to give ourselves the best chance to finish what we started.”

Winterbottom, currently on holiday in Europe, is delighted with the news.

“I was pretty confident that’s the way it would go,” said the 27-year-old.

“I’m just glad Steve will still

BJR

V8 SUPERCARS

have me after last year! I made a mistake and I want the chance to wipe it out.”

BRAD Jones Racing #12 Andrew Jones (20th), Cameron McConville (16th) confirmed its #14 Brad Jones, Max Wilson driving pairs last week. The #12 Team BOC Holden “Both have done well at Bathurst before, will be driven by Andrew Jones and Cameron they’re comfortable in our new cars and they McConville, while the #14 WOW Holden will be have valuable seat time currency. They’re our A driven by Max Wilson and Brad Jones. game and I know they will do a great job.”

“Pairing Cam and Andrew makes complete Confirmation of Wilson’s seat with the team sense for us,” said Brad Jones. comes after numerous tests with the team.

V8 teams are pairing th victory and Phillip Islan GRANT ROWLEY looks THE ‘Season of Endurance’ is shaping as one of the hardest fought in history, with all of the leading teams combining its leading stars.

This week has seen a number of top teams confirm its line ups, strengthening the statement that the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and the Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst could be the closest ever.

As reported in the last issue of eNews, the Holden Racing Team will line-up with championship leader Garth Tander and Mark Skaife sharing Tander’s regular #1 Commodore.

Ditto Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, who’ll be shooting for a record equalling three Bathurst 1000 wins on-the-trot. The only time

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Combine and Conquer

heir guns for outright nd and Bathurst. at the combinations

NATHAN Pretty will have one of his best chances at getting a top result in the endurance races after confirmation that he will be paired with Todd Kelly in the lead #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore.

Team owner Larry Perkins admitted that the 2008 season hasn’t been great, but said that Pretty will do the job

required of him.

“A co-driver is, in theory, some one who is going to be roughly on your lead drivers pace,” he said.

“We don’t have the luxury of having two number ones in the one team so you have to make a compromise.

“We know why we’re having shocking results, or not as

Dirk Klynsmith

good as what we could, but we’re having glimpses of moving forward. We’ve lost some momentum, there’s no doubt about that.”

Dirk Klynsmith

that feat was achieved was between 1978-1980 with Peter Brock and Jim Richards.

Another strong combination will be that of Jason Richards and Greg Murphy, driving for Sprint Gas Racing. The pair finished fourth last year at Bathurst and, after a year that could be termed nothing less than disastrous, ‘Murph’ would love nothing more than a fifth win on The Mountain.

One of the few teams that will pair its regular stars is the Stone Brothers Racing team. James Courtney and David Besnard will drive the #4 Jeld-Wen Falcon, while Shane Van Gisbergen will be partnered by Jonathon Webb.

Another leading team not pairing its regulars is the HSV Dealer Team, although Rick Kelly will be in good company, joined by Paul Radisich.

JDR

#7 Todd Kelly (11th), Nathan Pretty #11 Shane Price (25th), Jack Perkins

DJR

#17 Steven Johnson (14th), Will Davison (5th) #18 Steve Owen, Warren Luff

DICK Johnson Racing will combine its guns, with Will Davison and Steven Johnson driving Davison’s regular Falcon BF. Despite having two solid co-drivers in Steve

Dirk Klynsmith

Owen and Warren Luff, the Jim Beam-backed team has elected to pair its aces.

“I think we should be fairly strong,” team manager Adrian Burgess told eNews.

“We’ve got a decent pairing. Unless there’s a resounding reason to change it, we’ll do both Phillip Island and Bathurst with Steve and Will.”

After finishing a close third in last year’s Bathurst, Burgess wants to go for the win.

“We’d like to go two better.

We had a good result, and felt we could have achieved a bit more from it. We’ll definitely be trying.”

BRIEFLY... n Jack Perkins continues to carry the flag for Diabetes sufferers. Perkins’ Fujitsu Series Mack Trucks Commodore V8 Supercar is on display for sponsor Accu-Check Performa at this week’s Australian Diabetes Educators Conference in Melbourne, with Perkins giving a speech to 250 delegates on his experience with the condition.

n Should one of the 24 fulltime driver/team combinations be unable to make the trip Down Under for the Nikon Indy 300, Mario Dominguez, the winner of the 2002 Indy 300, and his Pacific Coast Motorsport team will replace them as the first alternate.

PCM has had to miss a number of races this season, especially the ovals where crash damage can be significant compared to road courses. The team’s major sponsor, Visit Mexico City, failed to pay up on their contract so the crew has been working as volunteers while owner Tyler Tavedic is working on sponsorship for next season. n To help fans distinguish the four contenders still viable for the IndyCar championship, Firestone created a special white sidewall on the tyres of Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan.

The tyres are identical to those used by the other drivers.

Peter Bury

n Bathurst 1000 and V8 Supercar team sponsor, Supercheap Auto took out the top honours at the Australian Retailers Association Retail Awards held in Sydney recently, crowned 2008 Australian Retailer of the Year.

Its first store opened in 1974 and today Supercheap Auto has over 250 stores across Australia and New Zealand, making it the seventh largest retailer in the country.

Detroit Locker Tested

V8 Supercars tests new differential to improve car’s turn-in, racing V8 SUPERCARS IT seems that V8 Supercar isn’t just trying stickier tyres to improve the racing. eNews can reveal that the #67 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore was fitted with a ‘Detroit Locker’ differential at a test at Queensland Raceway last week.

The different differential configuration was tested to see what impact it had on the steering and turn of a V8 Supercar.

The ‘Detroit Locker’ maximises traction by keeping both wheels in constant drive mode and has the ability to automatically allow wheel speed differentiation when required.

Larry Perkins has a lot of experience with Locker diffs and sees merit in testing it.

“The cornerstone of the handling of a V8 Supercar has been the locked differential,” the veteran racer and engineer said.

“The current diff predominantly makes the car understeer as it turns into a corner. The back wheels want to push the car straight ahead.

“We used to use locker diffs back in the 80s. It’s been around a long time and I’ve done many, many a lap with a locker diff, especially around Bathurst.

“The locker diff allows the back axle to rotate at different speeds, which facilitates

turn-in. It would require a major difference in the way the cars are set up, and so, it could make a broader bunch of teams to get their cars competitive if we had a locker diff and it may allow a different ingredient to the passing aspect in the category.

“The locked diff means that once you get committed to a corner, it makes it very difficult to change lines.

“It is definitely warranted to have the test and see what the results are.”

Dick Johnson Racing was also slated to test the new differential, but a fitment problem meant that they’ll test it at a later date.

– GRANT ROWLEY

In this issue of GPWEEK

Stoner on it, Dani off ...

CASEY Stoner bounced back from his gravel experience – crashing out of the lead in the Czech Republic MotoGP – to dominate two days of testing at the sweeping Brno circuit.

Stoner was fastest on both days, almost as quick on race tyres as on qualifiers, and bettering his own fastest race lap (his best of the weekend) by more than a full second. His fastest time of 1:55.855s was on a qualifier on the second day, after which he said: “I could have pushed harder.”

Rossi, next best overall, was seven tenths slower.

But there was trouble in the Honda garage, with Dani Pedrosa walking out on the test “because the tyres weren’t working well enough.” Not only did the incident further embarrass Michelin, it also delayed development on Honda’s latest pneumaticvalve-spring engine.

Francois’ Factory Chance

Iss

WHILE it was recently revealed that Francois Duval would replace the injured Gigi Galli in the Stobart World Rally Car in New Zealand this weekend, it has now been confirmed that the Belgium will drive a factory Ford in Spain and Corsica.

Duval’s form on tarmac in Germany (he finished third) has prompted the factory team to put him in a BP-liveried car for those rounds, leaving Jari-Matti Latvala to step back to the Stobart entry.

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Valiant in Valencia FELIPE Massa has sounded an ominous warning to Lewis Hamilton by winning the European Grand Prix, the first race on the Valencia street circuit.

Massa was untouchable on the Spanish streets, scorching to pole before leaving the field in his wake around the former Americas Cup venue.

Lewis Hamilton might not have been as fast as Massa, but he kept out of trouble in second place to stay a whisker ahead in the fight for the World Championship, while Robert Kubica did his bit to stay in touch with third place.

But while Massa took top honours, it wasn’t the most brilliant race for Ferrari as a team. Kimi Raikkonen struck trouble at the second round of pit-stops while battling Heikki Kovalainen for third when he pulled away with the fuel rig still attached. A Ferrari crewmember was mildly injured in the crash.

And to make matters worse, Raikkonen’s engine expired a few laps later, ending his day early.

Meanwhile, Aussie Mark Webber had a shocking race, finishing 12th on a weekend when Red Bull’s ‘junior’ team Toro Rossi shined (Sebastian Vettel finishing sixth). David Coulthard finished a lowly 17th, leaving team boss Christian Horner to say it was “a disastrous race.”

w e nro sue #25 onlClin ick he e

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sutton-images.com

NASCAR Gibbs hit with suspensions NASCAR NATIONWIDE

CASEY TURNS BLACK NASCAR SPRINT CUP

NASCAR Media

CASEY Mears has found a seat for 2009 – at Richard Childress Racing.

RCR announced its 2009 driver lineup on Saturday at Bristol over the weekend and Mears will join what will be a four-car operation. He will replace Clint Bowyer in the #07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, a move that guarantees him a start in the first five ’09 races.

Bowyer moves into the new General Millssponsored #33 car, while Kevin Harvick stays put in the Shell car, with Jeff Burton in the CAT #31. Burton’s sponsor Cingular will be parting company due to the NASCAR contract with Sprint.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Joey’s a Home Boy NASCAR SPRINT CUP

NASCAR Media

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AS we closed to go live, Joe Gibbs Racing was due to hold a press conference in Charlotte – and the news will be about the replacement driver for Tony Stewart.

JGR is expected to confirm that teen sensation Joey Logano will step into the #20 Home Depot Camry, and will step up to Cup later this season in preparation for the role.

Logano, 18, is expected to start his career in the premier series on September 6 at Ricmond. He will race the #96 Hall of Fame Toyota, which has been fitted with revolving doors since JJ Yeley was let go by the team a few weeks ago.

– MARTIN D CLARK

NASCAR has dropped the hammer on Joe Gibbs Racing, over the incident where magnets were found fitted to the accelerator pedals on its Nationwide cars at Michigan.

The magnets were placed on the stop so the pedal could not be depressed fully, thereby the engine would not show its maximum potential on the dynometer. With the Toyota teams recently given a smaller intake manifold restrictor plate versus the other marques, the Gibbs crew members were trying to protect any horsepower improvements they have gained since the rule change, saving the team from any further possible infractions.

Crew chiefs David Rogers and Jason Ratcliff were fined

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Stremme set for #12

R brings the Hurt

NASCAR SPRINT CUP

and fines over Michigan tech problem – but it may appeal driver penalties will impose its own penalties.

“The minimum being suspension for the remainder of the season for those involved,” said Gibbs in a statement, which also stated that the team would hold the individuals responsible for paying the fines and may impose their own fines on top of those levied by NASCAR. “In 17 years, we have never had any representative of Joe Gibbs Racing knowingly act outside of NASCAR’s rules,” continued Gibbs statement, “that is something we consider essential to how we operate on a daily basis.

“What we have determined is that these individuals involved used extremely poor judgment in attempting to alter the results of NASCAR’s

dyno test following the Nationwide Series race in Michigan. Although in no way was anything done that might have altered the race outcome, these JGR employees attempted to circumvent the NASCAR rule book and that is unacceptable.”

Kyle Busch finished seventh in the #18 Gibbs Toyota in Friday’s race at Bristol while rookie sensation Joey Logano came home 16th after starting at the rear because he wrecked his primary car in practice.

Both teams suffered pit issues, Busch a missing wheel nut dropping him to the rear on a restart and Logano with a late pit that saw him threequarters of a lap down on a restart.

– MARTIN D CLARK

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US$50,000 each and suspended by NASCAR indefinitely, along with 150 point fines in the driver and owner standings. Gibbs is to appeal the probation the two drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano received though the end of the year.

Gibbs team entered the Bristol race 168 car owner points ahead of Clint Bowyer’s Richard Childress Racing.

Five other Gibbs crew members were also suspended indefinitely by NASCAR. Along with the crew chiefs, they will probably be allowed to attend races again next season pending an appeal – although NASCAR may stipulate a longer period of suspension.

Should NASCAR reinstate them earlier, the Gibbs team

YOUNGSTER David Stremme looks set to replace Ryan Newman next season.

Although nothing has been announced officially Stremme, who signed on as Penske Racing’s test driver earlier in the year, looks best-placed to replace Newman, who will join Tony Stewart’s team next season.

Matters are complicated somewhat by the news that Penske will lose sponsor Alltel at the end of the year, the telco taken over in June by Verizon, which cannot come into the sport because of the presence of Sprint Nextel as the series title sponsor. Penske’s marketing department is said to be working overtime searching for a replacement.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Ta ta Texaco NASCAR SPRINT CUP

NASCAR Media

CHEVRON is pulling its Texaco brand from Chip Ganassi Racing and driver Juan Pablo Montoya in 2009.

The oil giant had been rumoured to return to Yates Racing, but instead it will leave NASCAR totally and intends to spend its marketing dollars in other directions.

The move comes amid rumours that Target may not return to sponsor Reed Sorenson next season.

Sorenson continues to be linked to a ride with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, either replacing Patrick Carpentier or running a fourth Dodge.

– MARTIN D CLARK

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Beattie

Former Qld Prem California to loo solution for 200

INDYCAR

PENSKE Racing may have taken an historic 1-2 at the Infineon round of the IndyCar Championship but its weekend almost went up in smoke.

The journey to California was a disaster, as its two racecars and a transporter were destroyed in a fire. The transporter, containing the two Dallara-Hondas the team intended to race in California, was traveling through Wyoming on Wednesday night when, it is believed, a wheel bearing caught fire. The two team members in the truck used fire extinguishers but the fire caught hold, forcing them to detach the cab unit from the trailer.

The transporter was on a quiet road, and out

Honda Racing

On Fire. No, really

of mobile phone range, delaying the arrival of firefighters. By the time help arrived, there was little that could be salvaged.

“It’s a disaster, a big, melted mess,” Penske team president Tim Cindric told the Indianapolis Star newspaper.

Fortunately, the team had its test cars already at the track, and a backup transporter was immediately dispatched from Charlotte with replacement equipment.

This is not the first time that Team Penske has bounced back from a setback with a strong result. In 2006, the team’s premises were damaged by floodwaters but the team won the next IndyCar round at Kansas Speedway.

Flood, fire, win. If there is pestilence in Detroit this weekend, look out for another win …

DE FERRAN THINKS BIG INDYCAR

sutton-images.com

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SCOTT Dixon is set to join Gil de Ferran’s American Le Mans Series team for the upcoming Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Dixon, who currently leads the IndyCar Series by 43 points, will share the Acrura ARX-01b with de Ferran and former Champ Car star Simon Pagenaud in the 10-

hour race on October 4.

“I’m very excited about driving Gil’s car at Petit Le Mans,” Dixon told Autosport.

“He’s put together a strong team and I believe we'll have a chance to win.

“I’m really looking forward to it and I’d like thank Chip (Ganassi) and the team for giving me the opportunity to try a car in a

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e trying to sort Indy date INDYCAR

mier in ok for 09 problem

Honda Racing

G FOR PETIT LE MANS completely different category.”

The race will not affect his IndyCar Series assault as the championship wraps up on September 7.

It will be his first Petit Le Mans appearance in nine years. Dixon made his debut at the event back in 1999 in a Ferrari, teamed with Stefan Johansson and Jim Mathews.

De Ferran is equally excited about Dixon racing the car at Road Atlanta.

“We’re delighted to add Scott to our line up, he’s currently one of the world’s best drivers and is having a fantastic season,” de Ferran said.

“We’re happy and flattered to have a driver of his talent and stature behind the wheel.”

THE fate of the 2009 Indy 300 may have been decided at a meeting at Infineon Raceway yesterday.

Former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and Team Australia bosses Kevin Kalkhoven and Craig Gore were set to try to find a way around the date problem IndyCar faces to hold a round in Australia next year.

Since June 1, the former Premier, a long-time supporter of the Indy event, has been Queensland’s Trade Commissioner to North and South America, based in Los Angeles.

Kalkhoven in particular has been relentless in trying to resolve the issue over next year’s date, even if it appears that the options on offer will not fit with the October date locked in by event promoters.

“We have offered the Australian promoter two options, a date in the spring and in the fall for our 2009 season,” the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Executive Vice President of Communications, Fred Nation, told Motorsport eNews.

“Ideally, the Australian race could be held in conjunction with our September overseas Japan race (September 19), either before or after.”

“I’m optimistic it will all be worked out,” said Kalkhoven, after his Thursday meeting with IndyCar officials, including Tony George.

“We have a lot of work to do yet. The former Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, is on his way here. I expect something positive.”

The sticking point appears to be that the current calendar finishes at Homestead, Florida,

on October 11. That race has been the season opener in recent years and has only attracted 20,000-25,000 but US officials appear determined to have their now-united series end on US soil.

For the first time, three Australian-born drivers will compete in the 2008 race, and each has his opinion.

“I think Craig Gore and Kevin Kalkhoven have certainly been pushing for it to happen,” said Will Power. “I’m not sure where it’s at at this stage, but, obviously, I really hope that we have a race there next year.

“It certainly helps our team. I think they’ll see when they go down there in October what sort of race it is. It’s one of the biggest street course races that we have all year.”

“Obviously, being Australian, it’s great to race at home,” said Ryan Briscoe, who competed there in 2006.

“I’ve kept myself out of any of the discussions. It is just a great event, apart from anything else. It’s a lot of fun and puts on a great show. We will all get a good feel for it this year when we all go down there.”

“It is a fantastic race, but I think how everybody has got to look at it is plain and simple,” said Brisbane-born Scott Dixon, who became a Kiwi at age three.

“You should only go if you’re making money out of it. I cannot assume why we’d go down there if everybody is going to lose a ton of money.

It is a good race, it’s a great venue, but I think this year it’s going to cost people a ton of money for a non-points race. And next year, unless the promoters change that, what’s the reason?”

– MARY MENDEZ

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A1GP

A1GP Postponed A1GP SEASON four of the A1GP Series has been postponed because of production delays with the series’ new car.

The opening round of the 2008/09 season, which was scheduled for Mugello in Italy on September 21, will now be put back because of the delay in producing numbers of the new Ferrari-developed car.

The series will now start at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on October 4-5.

The news is not totally unexpected.

Earlier this month, test driver Patrick Friesacher suffered a cracked vertebrae in a crash at Magny Cours, which was caused by a failure in a rear suspension wishbone.

That crash prompted A1GP to delay the first planned group test for the new car, set for Silverstone last week, while the suspension was modified.

Recently the organisers announced that data would be distributed among all teams, after reports of some concern over the lack

of pre-season testing with the new cars.

“It was always going to be an optimistic programme, but we were confident we could achieve it,” said A1GP CEO Pete da Silva of the delay.

“This in no way reflects on the work undertaken by the technical team and our partners, it was due to circumstances beyond their control.”

A revised calendar, including a rescheduled Mugello race, is expected to be announced early next month.

SUPERLEAGUE

AS the opening round of the Superleague Formula Series draws closer, there are a number of teams still scrambling for a driver.

Donington hosted a shakedown session for the

16

V12-powered cars last week and there were several news liveries and drivers in action, but precious little in the way of a firm list of which football teams will support which drivers when the series kicks off next weekend.

A combination of drivers

tested the cars, with World Series by Renault regular James Walker turning red for Liverpool FC and Spanish F3 hope Jimmy Auby driving for Tottenham Hotspur. Other clubs at Donington included PSV Eindhoven, Al Ain, Rangers, FC Porto, Sevilla and AS Roma.

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Driver scramble continues

Sniffing around for a drive were Champ Car outcasts Nelson Philippe and Dan Clarke, while Tristan Gommendy made his debut in the FC Porto car.

The vacant seats are expected to be filled prior to Round 1 this weekend.

news

V8 UTES

MATT Kingsley has left the Yokohama V8 Utes category and will not compete for the rest of the 2008 season.

Kingsley, who was involved in an incident in the opening round of the series in Adelaide that left him with major concussion, has

purchased a 2003 GT3 Cup Car and will compete in the GT3 Cup Challenge from next year onwards.

The Kingsley team has sold its V8 Utes franchise to the Wimmer team.

Kingsley was handed a ninemonth suspension for his part in the Clipsal incident, meaning he would have been

on the sidelines until the end of November.

After an exhausting six months, full of recovery and controversy, Don Kingsley (Matt’s father) has expressed relief that his team can now focus on 2009 and beyond.

“The process that we’ve been through has been very hard on us all both financially

James Smith

Kingsley for GT3 Cup in 09’

and emotionally,” Don said.

“We nearly lost Matt and we did lose him from our business for nearly six months, so it’s been tough on a lot of fronts.

“We have decided to accept this penalty and focus our efforts on re-building the GT3 Cup Car ahead of the 2009 Porsche GT3 Challenge.”

Australian team announced KARTING

AUSTRALIA’S entry into the International Karting Challenge to be held at Alcañiz International Circuit in Spain on November 6-9 has been confirmed.

The team will consist of six drivers split into two teams and will include Ryan Sanderson (Gold Coast, Qld), Adam Hughes (Melbourne, Vic), Grant Smith (Melbourne, Vic), John Grother (Gladstone, Qld), Lee Mitchener (Melbourne, Vic) and Brett Fortainer (Adelaide, SA).

The 2008 event will see 14 countries line up to compete aboard indentical FA Victory Karts, designed by Fernando Alonso and powered by a 125cc Leopard X30 engine.

“Last year’s inaugural IAME International Challenge was a great success and I’m excited about providing another six Australian karters the opportunity to race overseas,” said Remo Racing Managing Director Remo Luciani.

“The drivers that have been selected for the 2008 challenge come from a variety of regions across the country and includes some of the top level drivers who have

regularly been front runners in the 125cc Leopard competition.”

Sanderson and Hughes won their fully sponsored drives to compete at the event after winning the ‘Loyalty’ and ‘Shootout’ draws at the 2007 Leopard Final Shootout.

“After hearing from the guys who went

last year about how good the event was, I can’t wait to get over to Spain and represent Australia in the challenge,” said Sanderson.

When at the event the drivers will be invited to attend a Gala Dinner, which last year was attended by special guest, Renault Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso.

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2008/09 Season Calendar

Adelaide Alive SPEEDWAY

Adelaide Speedway fans will be spoilt rotten as the state’s premier venue Speedway City has announced a plethora of speedway racing and entertainment for the upcoming summer season.

Sprintcar fans of the 410ci and 360ci variety will be treated to a 15 round track championship series, with the majority of the calendar beeing designed with a fortnight gap between each meeting.

The season will launch into action on Saturday November 25th and run through to Sunday 12th of April.

The venue will play host to two rounds of the national Wanless World Series Sprintcars (Sat Nov 29) and the traditional Boxing Day extravaganza, kicking off the hectic Speedweek over the Christmas/ New Year beak.

– PARIS CHARLES (For the full 2008/09 Calendar head to www.speedwaycity.com.au)

Paris Charles

OCTOBER Sat 11th – Official Night Practice Sat 25th – Opening Night – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 1 NOVEMBER Sat 1st – Australian Sprintcar Masters – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 2 Sat 15th ¬– Sprintcar Track Championship Round 3 Sat 29th – World Series Sprintcars – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 4 DECEMBER Fri 26th – World Series Sprintcars – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 5 JANUARY Sat 3rd – Australian 360 Sprintcar Nationals – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 6 Sat 17th – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 7 Fri 30th – Australian Sprintcar Nationals Night 1 – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 8 Sat 31st – Australian Sprintcar Nationals Night 2 – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 9 FEBRUARY Sat 14th – SA 360 Sprintcar Title – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 10 Sat 28th – Open and 360 Sprintcar Showdowns – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 11 MARCH Sat 14th – George Tatnell Sprintcar Cup – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 12 Sat 28th – Australian Sprintcar Stampede – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 13 APRIL Sat 4th – Open and 360 Sprintcar Cups – Sprintcar Track Championship Round 14 Sun 12th – Easter Open and 360 Sprintcar Cups – Sprintcar Track Championship Final

‘GT’ Legends Night SPEEDWAY

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PARRAMATTA City Raceway has announced the George Tatnell Legends Night for October 18.

In keeping with ‘GT’ tradition, the night will place a large emphasis on double duties over the night.

Tatnell became the first man to win both Speedcar and Sprintcar national titles in 1988.

To honour this feat, an additional $2000 will be offered as an incentive for any driver who can win both features, although there will be a trophy for both the Speedcar and Sprintcar feature winners.

While the highest points-scorer from both features will be crowned

the winner of the GT Legends Night.

“Dad believes he is worth two special events to honour his name and career, anyway,” Brooke joked.

“Apart from being a tribute to my dad, the TPCR event is not a memorial race, but a race about creating legends. Anybody who knew my dad, knows that he ran both midgets and Sprintcars, so this night is all about double duty.

“I think the one thing will be that you’ll have drivers who will try to win both events to have their name engraved on the trophy as the first winner.”

As an extra bonus, money will be raised on the night to go towards the GT All Stars toward cancer research fund.

news

Just one car for Morgan Racing DRAG RACING

Ken Ferguson

DARREN Morgan Racing will head to the first round of the Top Fuel Championship – the Australian Nationals – with just one car.

After much talk about a second railer for Andrew Cowin, Morgan confirmed that he’ll head to the opening round at Western Sydney International Dragway with his single entry, and told eNews that we may not see the second entry for some time.

“If we went there half organised, we’ll end up doing half the job,” he said.

“We are going to put all our efforts into the one car and run at the front.

– both at WSID and for the “There’s no point putting a whole season. new car out on the track until “Everybody is running in the properly testing it. We have 50s (4.50 seconds), but you only done two passes with it.” don’t plan to run in the 50s, Morgan said that his aim will you plan to run faster, so we be to run 4.4 second passes

want to be in the 40s.

“You need to be ahead of the game. All the components we have here is the latest from America. We want to run hard.”

Morgan’s Rocket Industries/

Wicked fueler will contest the entire season, although he could not commit to the second car until further tests were completed.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Could West move to WSBK? WSBK

ANT West may have a future in the World Superbike Championship.

The Australian will be replaced in Kawasaki’s MotoGP team at the end of the season by Marco Melandri, but the Japanese manufacturer wants to keep the Queenslander in its fold.

“If we do run a third bike, it would be up to the sponsors and the management who the rider is, but Anthony West could be part of the package that we offer,” Kawasaki’s competition manager Michael Bartholemy told MotoGP's official website.

“With regard to Anthony he will not be part of the main

Kawasaki MotoGP team next season but we want to offer him a contract to remain as a Kawasaki factory rider, because we have invested a lot in him to bring him up a level since he joined us last year. That could mean that Anthony rides for us in another World Championship series.”

Kawasaki bought West, 27, out of a Yamaha deal last season to bring him into its GP team, as a mid-season replacement for Olivier Jacque. It appears keen to have him in the frame to join its factory-supported PSG-1 Superbike outfit, which currently fields two ZX-10Rs for veterans Makoto Tamada and Regis Laconi.

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news

Miedecke v Miedecke

It’s a case of ‘Stalwart versus Son’ in Australian Manufacturers Championship this weekend at Oran Park SHANNONS NATIONALS FOR the first time, Andrew and George Miedecke will do battle against each other on the race track.

Andrew, a former touring car stalwart, will contest his first circuit race meeting since 2006, driving a Mitsubishi Evo IX RS in this weekend’s round of the Australian Manufacturers Championship at Oran Park as part of the seventh round of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships.

While Andrew Miedecke will be making a return to racing, George will be hoping to defend his lead in the Manufacturers Championship, driving his factory-supported Hyundai Tiburon.

George currently leads the title, equal on points with CAMS President Colin Osborne.

Andrew said that competing at Oran Park for a final time before it closes is a major reason behind his entry.

“Racing against George was one of the attractions, but it will also be great to have drive at Oran Park, probably for the last time,” Andrew Miedecke said.

“I’ve not driven the car yet but I believe that it is one of the best prepared Evos in the country, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy it and see if I’ve still got it!”

In other Shannons Nationals categories, Sports Sedans continue to improve its grid numbers, with a solid field of 24 entries slated for the Oran Park round.

Darren Hossack and Tony Ricciardello will be expected to lead the field, but have a look out for the new BF Falcon of Bob Gill, while Victoria Michael Robinson is another fresh addition to the series driving a Monaro. It’s believed that this weekend’s Shannons round is the largest Sports Sedan entry since 2003.

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge will be there, and with extra entries from the Victorian Porsche 944 Series, an almostcapacity grid of Porsches will face the starters.

Other categories on the Shannons card include Formula Vees and HQ Holdens and the ever-popular Trucks, bringing total round entries to over 170.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Dirk Klynsmith

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21

5 Minutes with ...

PAUL MORRIS

V8 board member Morris is racing on, and wants to see some major changes

GRANT ROWLEY

Your team has had a major shift this year. New sponsor, top driver. Will you still be a full-timer next year?

It’s business as usual as far as I’m concerned.

You’ll definitely be a V8 Supercar driver next year?

Yep.

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John Morris/Mpix

So it’s something that you are remaining committed to …

I think you’ve got to be. The biggest problem we have in the championship is that we don’t have any racing going on.

I think we’ve got to change the attitude of the drivers behind the wheel and the rules of engagement need to be adjusted so we can race each other.

At the moment, I’m the only one leading that charge and I’ve got a huge investment in the sport. I’m going to stick around until these drivers get it in their head that people come to the track to see people race. They come to see characters, they come to see rivalry. And you can’t have pretend rivalry like they’re trying to do.

You only have to watch last weekend’s NASCAR race to see Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards beat the shit out of each other and slag each other off in the press. If you did that here, you’d be up on charge of culpable conduct.

I just think this sport has a real issue in the way that the sport looks at its judiciary system and the way guys drive. I’m staying around until that gets sorted, for sure.

You’ve just got to let drivers race and sort it out themselves. paul morris on v8 driving standards I guess we don’t want to promote ‘Dirty and Dangerous’ driving, but the entertainment factor does need to be increased.

Anywhere else in the world, it’s car racing. Here, it’s seen as ‘dirty and dangerous’. If our drivers did what they were doing at Bristol, you’d be driving through pit lane all race.

When Marcos (Ambrose) won at Watkins Glen, the amount of people he dumped in the fence, he would have had his licence taken off him here. Over there, it’s what you’ve got to do to win a car race. That’s why people watch it.

So, in your view, what’s the first point of change we need?

You’ve got to take CAMS out of it. I don’t understand how CAMS can be in control of every facet of your business on race weekends. The

number one thing that we interact with your fan base, we hand over to a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs, and they totally screw it up.

You watch the racing on your television at home and you see people doing it lane penalties and they don’t know what it’s for. It confuses the hell out of people. You’ve just got to let the drivers race and let them sort it out themselves.

So do you think that V8 Supercar needs to take a ‘NASCAR-style’ approach where they control all of the officialdom and run their own show?

I think licensing is fine, and if you think you’ve been hard done by, you need an independent body who can give you a fair trial. CAMS can do all of that, but the current system seems to be outdated.

You’ve got blokes who sit there, in my opinion, know

nothing about car racing.

If they had to drive one of the things, they’d run out of breath and collapse.

They say stuff like “You could have got out of his way” but they wouldn’t know how to get out of someone’s way if they tried.

They can’t comprehend what it’s like to race, and now we’ve got 29 guys out there who are all too scared to make a move, touch someone and get their points taken off them.

As a board member, is this something that realistically could be changed?

It’s something that I’d definitely table and put on the line, but I’m just one person.

It seems to me that it’s a hard thing. We run under the FIA system, that’s what we run under, and that’s what we’ve got. But surely something can be done?

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

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The Championship Quarte opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher As we enter the ‘championship quarter’ of the V8 Supercar season, the planets, or rather drivers, are lining up in a way that suggests we are in for a highly-competitive pair of long distance races.

While we’ve been plonked in front of the TV for a fortnight

taking in some seriously talented individual and team sportsmen and women, and our V8 stars have, in many cases, been jetting off for some apparently hard-earned (though I still struggle with the concept that driving a beautifully-prepared V8 around for a few days a month can be called hard work …) R&R, the teams have quietly been confirming their endurance race line-ups.

And, without exception, the

serious teams are pairing their two regular hot-shots together.

Splitting the risk is out; going for the win is in.

It means that, while teams are therefore running a genuine ‘second’ car in ‘go out and finish’ mode, the lead cars are set to have a real go.

There is thus much to look forward to with the first race at the Island. It is going to be a big test of race smarts. It’s no secret that the track is super-tough on right rear tyres and so how

teams massage through what would normally be a long stint may well decide the race.

The one thing you do come out of two weeks Olympic-watching with is an appreciation of the emotion and mental roller-coaster athletes from all disciplines cope with. You can’t miss it – it’s etched on their faces, visible in their body-language.

In our sport, it’s a little harder – the combatants are mostly wrapped in fireproofs and

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point!

Manufacturers With the constant rumours of the possible inclusion of another manufacturer in the V8 Supercars, the controlling authorities must be careful the direction they take.

At least Ford and Holden both manufacture V8 manual rear wheel drive cars.

With the talk of Toyota becoming involved what possible vehicle do they have?

In NASCAR they run the

24

front wheel drive, V6 ‘Camry’ as a 6-litre V8 rear wheel drive.

I am not aware of there being a road going version in this configuration. Remember the Toyota Avalon was a failure; the Aurion at least in Adelaide and South Australia remains a rare car while the Mitsubishi 380 saw the demise of Mitsubishi as a manufacturer in Australia.

Australians who require a large family car continue

to choose Falcons and Commodores in greater numbers than the front wheel drive cars achieve or achieved.

The obvious choice for an additional manufacture and car would be the Chrysler 300C. Graham Lawrence via email Reverse it After hearing of the proposed upgrade to Eastern Creek and

the idea of reverse racing how good would that be at some of the V8 rounds at certain circuits.

Obviously Bathurst would be out but, surely, with a little bit of work, it wouldn’t take much to adjust pit entries/ exits to accommodate a reverse racing round.

Throwing in 2-3 of these would surely spice up the series.

Wes White Ashcroft NSW

opinion

I need new glasses!

Can you read the names on the windows of these cars?

opinion Grant Rowley Editor eNews

ter helmet, closeted in their cars.

The most expression you see generally is on-track. Cars can have body-language – especially when being driven very fast and well.

And while I can’t see Australia going down the NASCAR-style on-track free-for-all championed by the indefatigable Paul Morris (news pages), even on a cost basis, I do reckon that drivers should be able to express themselves a bit more on-track … and if that means a few panels, then so be it …

The numbers were a good idea, but the names are terrible!

With the endurance driver combinations being launched and the combined cars breaking cover, it seems that in this year’s endurance races, the surnames of the drivers on the rear windows will require you to use binoculars to see them.

This is a very trivial opinion, but it’s something that I’m going to be quite vocal on.

Names on the rear windows of touring cars started full-time in 1992 and have been used in all major sedan racing

right around the world. Its introduction was a blessing for the casual viewers. Instantly, you could identify who was driving the car.

For this year’s V8 Supercar Championship Series, numbers are not mandatory on the door of the car, however, the large fluorescent numbers are compulsory on the window.

This is another touring carspec innovation that has made its way down under, and to

be honest, its not a bad idea.

It vacates some real estate on the door for more sponsors and gives each car a common look.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a great deal of room on the rear window of a V8 Supercar, so the two surnames will be reduced to about 10pt text (for those not completely up on the font size lingo, it means the letters are very small!)

The great part about having the names visible on the windows was simply for recognition.

From just about anywhere – on the couch or from the track – one of the first points of reference of the car was the rear windows.

This year, you can forget it, you won’t see it, they are too small.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK eNews Well I must say I thought it could not last.

All our motorsport news delivered to comfort of home and for free …

I must say the eNews has brought the news up to speed with some of the technical developments of the cars that race today.

It was just a question of how long you could sustain to provide the service for free.

It is impressive to see you held out as long as you did.

If this were a change to a race car, the dollars would have been moving before delivery of any technical change.

I for one have no issue in paying a

subscription fee.

In all I am impressed with the coverage and look forward to my email each week.

Keep up the good work and let me know when I need to pay for the broad information service you provide.

Dean Brooking via email

Send your creative letters to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 25

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 24 – SHARPIE 500, BRISTOL, TN

THINGS THAT GO BU

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race

UMP IN THE NIGHT If anyone still had doubts that Carl Edwards is going to have a big say in The Chase for the Sprint Cup, he blew them away with his third win in four races.

By MARTIN D CLARK

NASCAR Media

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A

exception of Jeff Gordon, who pipped Edwards at the stripe on one occasion.

Between the two rivals for the title, Busch has eight wins and Edwards now six, the pairing have won seven of the past nine events with just two races left before the Chase.

And Edwards has to win those to equal Busch’s Chase bonus points when the standings are reset.

Denny Hamlin came home third, fighting Busch for second on the final restart and helping his chances of making the all-important Chase by moving from 12th to 11th in the standings. Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five after Gordon was played like a pinball close to halfway, when the Gibbs pairing of Hamlin and Tony Stewart both bounced off his Chevrolet, annoying the veteran.

The race was red-flagged on lap 216 when Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip made contact, the wreck wiping out seven cars and leaving Mears fuming at his spotter.

“I wasn’t clear,” said Mears of his pass on Waltrip.

“I like my spotter, but that was ridiculous. We took a bunch of cars out for no reason.”

Although they remain firmly

locked in the title race, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson started the race 34th and 40th respectively. Junior was penalised with a drivethrough penalty when he passed cars before crossing the start line and Johnson cut a tyre and hit the wall. Johnson finished 33rd, his Hendrick team-mate 18th after never being able to regain that lap he lost at the start.

The race for the Chase is now about who can scrape into the 10th to 12th positions. With Kasey Kahne wiped out in the big wreck, he dropped from 11th to 14th, with Clint Bowyer 12 points ahead of David Ragan for the coveted final spot.

Ford Racing Media

MONTH ago, it was looking like the 2008 season was going to end in disappointment for Carl Edwards.

But, when he bumped Kyle Busch aside at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night with a pass for the lead with 30 laps to run, he never looked back – and it’s a good thing he didn’t.

“I tried to get him back, but thought better of it,” remarked Busch.

“I just didn’t have good enough of a car to do it.”

That didn’t stop Busch from side swiping Edwards on the cool down lap and Edwards retaliating by spinning Busch around, to the delight of the packed house.

“They keep talking about rivalries, we might have one now,” said Edwards, who took his third win from four races from his first pole position of the year.

“I couldn’t get by him, I just kind of ran into him. I had to ask myself, ‘would he do that to me?’ He has before, so that’s the way it goes. We can’t give up points when they’re right there for us to take.”

Busch and Edwards, 1-2 in points, were the only drivers to lead the 500 laps with the

Fusion v Camry: Edwards, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, left, were the class of the field. There were plenty of incidents, with Jeff Burton and Sterling Marlin getting together, below. Another wreck caused a red flag, below right.

NASCAR Media

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Naval Gazing NASCAR Media

NATIONWIDE SERIES

Ford Racing Media

Hot Office: Carl Edwards got to celebrate again, but found himself eerily alone at the end of the race, left.

1 99 2 9 3 21 4 29 5 24 6 12 7 07 8 20 9 17 10 6

Carl Edwards Ford Kyle Busch Toyota Denny Hamlin Toyota Kevin Harvick Chevy Jeff Gordon Chevy Ryan Newman Dodge Clint Bowyer Chevy Tony Stewart Toyota Matt Kenseth Ford David Ragan Ford

Roush Fenway/Office Depot500 laps/Q1 Joe Gibbs Racing/M&Ms 9 Joe Gibbs Racing/FedEx 21 Childress/Pennzoil 6 Hendrick/Dupont 3 Penske/Alltel 11 Childress/Jack Daniel’s 22 Joe Gibbs Racing/Home Depot 28 Roush Fenway/DeWalt 25 Roush Fenway/AAA Insurance 27

NASCAR | DRIVER’S points Busch 3609, Edwards 3397, Earnhardt 3193, Johnson 3191, Burton 3117, Stewart 3013, Biffle 2984, Harvick 2972, Gordon 2951, Kemseth 2921, Hamlin 2900, Bowyer 2855.

BRAD Keselowski scored his second win of the season in a fast and exciting race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night, taking the victory when series points leader Clint Bowyer fishtailed exiting turn two on lap 227 out of 250.

“We were dead equal, Clint and I,” said Keselowski.

“I needed to catch a break and Clint gave it to us.”

The quiet unassuming Keselowski started 37th after a poor qualifying effort, but dragged his JR Motorsports Chevrolet to the front in commanding style. Greg Biffle was third ahead of first-time polesitter Cale Gale and David Stremme.

The three-way race for the points lead, tightened up recently by Carl Edwards’s strong performances, was expanded again when his tyre bead melted and he slammed the wall on lap 87. He is now third in points, 241 behind Bowyer, with Keselowski second.

“We know to win this

championship we have to win races,” continued Keselowski, “this is what we have to do every week, run up front and win races.”

The three title contenders were the class of the field, along with Kyle Busch, but a missed wheel nut during his final pit stop dropped the Joe Gibbs pilot to 17th before he rallied to seventh at the finish.

Gale led the first 19 laps until Dario Franchitti took over when Gale slowed for an errant Marcos Ambrose who, for the second race in succession, brought out the first caution.

“It just stopped,” said Ambrose. “We have back-up [ignition] boxes and stuff, but nothing worked so we had to come in and change the whole panel and away she went.”

Ambrose got back out to finish 34th. Franchitti qualified second and led 87 laps, posting an 11th place result after the lapped car of rookie Andrew Ranger stalled while looking at a top five finish.

Point standings; Bowyer 3762, Keselowski 3640, Edwards 3521, Reutimann 3361, Bliss 3347 (10.

Ambrose 2964).

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INDYCAR ROUND 15 – INFINEON

Burning Ambition

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n

Everything was against Team Penske at Infineon – from a fire on the way to the track to the monkey on the back of Helio Castroneves. So, of course, the team scored a 1-2

Honda Racing

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Y

OU would expect a man who won Dancing with the Stars to have great timing, and Helio Castroneves showed that his is impeccable at Sonoma.

The Brazilian last climbed the fence to celebrate a win at the opening race of the 2007 series, and seven times this season he has finished second – usually behind Scott Dixon. And Team Penske rarely needed a win more, the team losing its transporter and two primary racecars to a fire on the way to California.

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Never mind. Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe qualified 1-2 in backup cars and led the field to a red-and-white smackdown.

It was just the tonic that the team needed.

“People kept telling me that the door [to Victory Lane] would finally open, and today we broke through it,” grinned Castroneves.

“The door was really stuck, but what an incredible effort

by Team Penske. I can’t thank them enough.”

More importantly, he took 35 points from series leader Dixon,

who dropped to 12th after a lacklustre race.

“I’m not upset with anybody, particularly; we just did absolutely nothing right,” said Dixon.

“I don’t know why we stayed out when the car in front of us is three seconds slower and we couldn’t make up any track position. Everything we did was wrong.”

Tony Kanaan finished third ahead of Dan Wheldon while Danica Patrick took her best result on a road circuit this season in fifth.

The race was run at a furious pace and, for once, any thoughts that teams may have had about running a ‘fuel race’ were put to rest. With just one yellow flag period, this was a win for the swiftest.

One disappointed driver was Will Power. On his first look at the track formerly known as Sears Point, he qualified a brilliant third fastest but a brake problem reared its head early in the going, forcing him to short-cut the course.

“My rear master cylinder failed early in the race and

that pretty much ended any chance we had of competing for a podium finish,” said the Queenslander.

Castroneves gained three bonus points by leading the most laps and mathematically, only he can stop Dixon from adding the title to the Indy 500 trophy.

But with this win, and the next race this weekend on the streets of Belle Isle Park in Detroit, the little man with the big smile may get to dance in the streets one more time.

INDYCAR | INDY GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA COUNTY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 25

3 6 11 10 7 33 4 06 02 19 8

Helio Castroneves Bra Ryan Briscoe Aus Tony Kanaan Bra Dan Wheldon GB Danica Patrick USA EJ Viso Ven Vitor Meira Br Graham Rahal USA Justin Wilson GB Mario Moraes Bra Will Power Aus

Team Penske 80 laps Team Penske +5.2926s Andretti Green +16.6032s Target Ganassi +17.7720s Andretti Green +25.8458s HVM +29.3472s Panther +29.9895s Newman Haas Lanigan+40.4577s Newman Haas Lanigan+42.0357s Dale Coyne 50.0106s KV Racing 77 laps

Fastest lap: Castroneves on lap 54, 1:18.632ss (169.690kmh)

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Dixon 576, Castroneves 533, Wheldon 452, Kanaan 446, Briscoe 390, Patrick 345, Andretti 327, Mutoh 315, Servia 313, Hunter-Reay 310 [Power 277, 15th].

Honda Racing

Aussie, Aussie, Brazilian: The Penskes led the field away, and into Victory Lane, above. Will Power started with a Q3 but brake problems ruined his weekend, below.

Honda Racing

Honda Racing

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IndyCar Media

Firsts all round at Infineon INDY LIGHTS

A DOUBLE header greeted the Indy Lights drivers at Infineon Raceway last weekend with Franck Perera and Pablo Donoso sharing the race wins.

The first of two 30-lap races saw Perera take his first Indy Lights victory for the season by beating home championship leader Raphael Matos.

“It’s an amazing weekend,” said Perera.

“It was a new track again, and we were really good. We had a good race. The car was constant and we didn’t have to push it 100 percent. It was good to have a race like that.”

Matos moved into the championship lead by virtue of the fact he finished just one place ahead of Richard Antinucci, who won at Infineon last year.

Race 2 saw Donoso lead from start to finish in a dominant display to finish in front of Logan Gomez in his highest finish of the season.

“This is a beautiful day,” said Donoso.

“I’m pretty happy and I love this track. I won here in 2005 (in Star Mazda) so now I’ve repeated in 2008.”

The win comes at a good time for Donoso who swapped teams mid-season.

Ana Beatriz finished third while the battle for the championship continued with Matos again finishing just one spot ahead of Antinucci in sixth to create a three point advantage heading into the final round at Chicagoland on September 7.

Australian James Davison had a less successful outing than he has been used to of late, and ended up 14th and 13th in the two races.

Corvette comes out on top FIA GT MASERATI has maintained its championship lead in the FIA GT Championship despite playing the bridesmaid to Corvette in both races in Romania.

Jean-Denis Deletraz and Marcel Fässler took out both races in dominant fashion,

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leading home team-mates Fabrizio Gollin and Mike Hezemans in Race 1 and the second Maerati of Miguel Ramos and Alexandre Negrao in Race 2.

The Maseratis were forced to carry almost 60kg of success ballast from the last round which handed the advantage to the Corvettes, however Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels still

hold a commanding lead in the championship.

Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin put in a great performance and finished just off the podium, in fourth position, in their PK Carsport Saleen S7R. The duo was able to challenge the Maseratis for much of the race and went on to claim their best finish of the 2008 season.

race

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On a Roll: Sam Abay continued his consistent run in Romania with a string of top 10.

Keeping the Dream Alive BRITISH F3

BRENDON Hartley took his fifth British Formula 3 win of the season on the streets of Bucharest in Romania after qualifying on pole position.

The Kiwi easily won the first race of the weekend and stayed out of trouble as the race was red-flagged due to Ricardo Teixeira spinning and blocking the track.

“I was actually pretty reserved,” Hartley said after the race.

“I knew I had the pace so it was just about not making a mistake.”

Championship leader Oliver Turvey

finished in second place ahead of Jaime Alguersuari to complete a Carlin Motorsport clean sweep of the podium.

The title hopeful had a race to forget as he watched his championship hopes slip away when his Mugen-Honda engine expired mid-race.

Australians Sam Abay and John Martin had a good run in Race 1 and stayed out of trouble to end up fifth and eighth respectively.

Alguersuari continued the Carlin Motorsport dominance in Romania to take out Race 2 and keep his championship alive heading into the final round.

Alguersuari inherited the lead on the final lap after Turvey ran wide at turn one defending Hartley.

“I knew my team-mates were a little bit faster than me but I was still able to win,” said Alguersuari.

“The championship is still very close and we’ll see what happens at Donington, I hope to be able to win there.”

Martin was having a great race running fourth until a spin forced him out of the race, while Abay was passed with only laps to go, eventually finishing down in eighth.

The final round of the series will be at Donington on October 12.

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VIC STATE ROUND 4 of the Victorian Motor racing Championships took place at Winton last weekend and saw plenty of action amongst the categories.

Daniel Vereker, above, was the class of the Improved Production field in his RX7 by taking three wins and a second place.

Vereker battled all weekend with Mark Ruta and Neil Crowe but was clearly the class of the field.

Tony Wallis was the only other driver to win a race in his Mazda 808 and looked to be on for a podium result, but a DNF in the

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final race cost him any chance.

The Formula Fords saw Fujitsu V8 Supercar driver Taz Douglas make a comeback to the category and wrap up third position overall for the round.

Luke Ellery took the win from Nick Tanti after a consistent run across the weekend, while Race 1 winner Nathan Morcom suffered from a bad start in Race 2 to destroy his overall chances.

In Formula Vee Daniel Reinhardt took a clean sweep for the round and Kieren Glover followed him home in all four races to grab second overall. David Frith was third after a string of thirds.

Niel Hammond

Catch me if you can ...

Carl McHenry, who shared the wins with John Wood over the course of the weekend, won HQ Holdens. Brendan Avard grabbed one race win and third overall.

Historic Touring Cars turned on some exciting racing, with Tony Hubbard cleaning up ahead of Gary Edwards and Paul Dobson.

Luke Chambers comfortably took out Over 2L Sports Sedans.

Russel Butler dominated in Super TT and Steve Howard won Under 2L Sports Sedans.

In BMW E30 Geoff Bowles took the round win with Craig Munro and Matt Martin in second and third respectively.

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On a Roll IMSA LIGHTS

AUSTRALIAN Tom Drewer has continued his great run in the IMSA Lights Championship with a win and third place in the latest round of the championship at the Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport.

Drewer started on pole position in the L2 class and 12th outright and made his way through to 11th overall by races end.

“My main objective for the weekend is to play it cool, calm and to collect as many points as possible for the Championship,” said Drewer.

Drewer looked destined for another win in Race 2, but while leading his team-mate the right rear suspension failed forcing him to retire to the pits.

“As they say, ‘that’s motor racing’,” said Drewer.

“Yesterday I experienced the high of winning my first ever race in Canada and today not everything went to plan.”

Although Drewer was forced to retire he was still classified third and gained valuable points towards the championship.

The next race for Drewer will be Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta for Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2008 IMSA Lites Championship on October 4.

APRC THE latest round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship has been run and won at the Rally of Indonesia last weekend.

Indonesian driver Gaurav Gill and his co-driver Jagdev Singh took out the event after a consistent run through day one and two.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo driver led home Katsuhiko Taguchi and Australian codriver Mark Stacey by just over seven seconds.

Last year’s APRC Champion

Cody Crocker finished in third place with co-driver Ben Atkinson in their Subaru Impreza WRX. Fellow Aussies Scott Pedder and co-driver Glen Weston had a less successful outing, finishing down in 10th position.

Australian co-driver Bill Hayes finished fourth with Rifat Sungkar in a Subaru Impreza WRX. The next round of the APRC will take place on October 1112 in Malaysia ahead of the finale in China on November 8-9.

On home soil

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rear of grid

WITH Father’s Day on the horizon (suggestion; buy your dad a subscription to MNews!), it is timely to look at some father/son events.

Throwing the ball in the park is fun, taking him to the footy is ok, but racing against him would have to be the best option.

Next weekend’s round of the Shannons Nationals at Oran Park is nothing short of a Father’s Day battle royale (albeit a week early).

Six sets of fathers and sons will do battle across the six categories. Is this some sort of record? Who know, but it’s definitely worth a mention …

As reported in the news pages,

Odd Spot

Andrew and George Miedecke will be banging production doors in the Australian Manufacturers Championship. In Supertruck land, John and Ben Falk will hope that they can leave the round leading their respective classes (as they currently do), while Stan and Michael Seton will also be chewing up some diesel in Supertrucks.

Continuing the family tradition in

speedshots.com.au

Bert’s OP Family Fued ... other classes will be Leigh and Ben Porter in Formula Vee, Peter Green and his sons Peter Jr and Clinton in HQs and another father/son HQ pair of Greg and John ‘Spud’ Wood.

Completing the family theme at Oran Park, there’ll also be two sets of brothers racing. Mark and Dean Williams in Formula Vee and Tony and Michael Westaway in Porsche 944.

They’ll be after bragging rights for the compulsory family get-togethers the following weekend (remember sons, acknowledge his new tool in the shed, nod like you’re interested and move on).

P.S – be good to your mother ...

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