Ambrose weighs in on V8 safety debate

Ambrose, the dual V8 Supercar champion now racing in NASCAR's pick-up truck series and set to move up to the Busch series next year, says design rules could be making V8 Supercars too rigid and that energy is transferred on to drivers in high-speed impacts. "The driver's door-opening area is also a compromised area on a V8 Supercar -- they are built with enough room to allow a driver change in 14 seconds. This creates a balance between having enough protective bars for safety and enough room for a fast driver change," he says.

"A NASCAR is built with a tube chassis which has bends in the bars making up the front and rear sections, and which is designed to crumple in an impact. The driver sits in a cocoon of steel -- the driver's door section has six or more horizontal bars for protection. I have backed one of these vehicles into the fence and shortened the rear chassis rails ... it was like hitting marshmallows."

Bathurst winner Lowndes says side impact is a V8 Supercar driver's "worst nightmare because there is no crumple zone", while front or rear impact "isn't bad because we have a large crumple zone". But on the side, Lowndes says, "there's not a lot of room between us and the outside of the car" and, while Porter's crash was "pretty freakish", ways need  to be found to reduce the chances of fatalities.

Lowndes wonders about positioning the driver closer to the centre of the car and adopting a safety cell like that in the German touring car series -- a protective frame that can be removed by rescue crews with the driver inside -- although a V8 Supercar's big transmission tunnel poses a problem.

V8 Supercars chief executive Wayne Cattach told Brisbane's Courier-Mail last week that Lowndes's call for action "hasn't got any substance". Cattach may well be right in saying that V8 Supercar safety is constantly under review, and certainly the sport's record has been good, but safety is an emotive issue and his organisation, and CAMS, need to be seen to be receptive to, rather than dismissive of, input from the likes of Ambrose and Lowndes.

Gore wants something to shout about
The Champ Cars have arrived in pit lane at Surfers' Paradise for the Gold Coast Indy, and Team Australia boss Craig Gore says he might shout the entire track a drink if either of his drivers, Aussie Will Power and Canadian Alex Tagliani, wins Sunday's race. "I think we've a chance of winning it -- I really do," Gore says. "We've been very close to podiums all year and unfortunately we just haven't been able to nail it."

While the forecast is for fine conditions during the week the weather bureau is warning of the possibility of showers by the weekend. This the 16th Indy on the Gold Coast. Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais has a comfortable 58-point lead in the championship and ninth place or higher on Sunday will clinch a third straight title for him.

Atkinson sixth behind Ford 1-2
Ford scored a one-two finish in the Rally of Turkey with Finn Marcus Gronholm victorious, narrowing injured Frenchman Sebastien Loeb's world championship lead to 25 points with three rounds remaining -- the next in Western Australia, starting on October 26. Aussie Chris Atkinson began the final day in Turkey fourth in his Subaru but ended up sixth. He had been eyeing a podium finish but blew his chances with a spin on the second stage of the last day. He finished 3minutes 36 seconds down and is 10th in the championship on 17 points.

Citreon driver Loeb on 112 and Gronholm on 87 have won every rally this season. Turkey was Gronholm's fifth victory of the year, by 2 minutes 23.4 seconds ahead of fellow Finn Mikko Hirvonen, who moved up to third in the championship on 47 points. Gronholm's main rival at the weekend, Norwegian Petter Solberg, hit a rock and crashed his Subaru into a ditch on the second day. Scotsman Colin McRae, the 1995 world champion who replaced Loeb after the Frenchman broke his arm last month in a fall from a mountain bike, retired on the final stage. Gronholm may close further on the series lead with Loeb uncertain for Rally Oz., where Atkinson is confident of a stronger result after leading the event last year.

Schumacher's shock engine failure at the Japanese GP, and his teammate Felipe Massa's problem that forced a motor change -- and relegated him 10 places on the grid - in China a week earlier, may have been caused by a fault in supplied parts. Renault will be playing it safe engine-wise in trying to ensure Fernando Alonso gets the solitary point he needs if Schumacher wins in Brazil, but for Ferrari -- because Schumi's engine only needs to last one race instead of the normal two under the FIA's rules -- it's win or bust!

Alonso on guard for dirty tricks
Not so long Alonso called Schumacher the most unsporting driver in F1 history and the Spaniard is suspicious that the German may try one last trick in Brazil. "He has done it twice in the past," Alonso said of Schumacher's collisions with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve in the title-deciding 1994 and 1997 races. "We are all aware of what he has done." Ralf Schumacher has ruled out doing anything in his Toyota to help his brother against Alonso at Interlagos. "Absolutely not -- that would be dishonest, not to mention extremely dangerous," Ralf says.

Tobacco fuss in Europe
The European Commission is taking legal action against Italy, Hungary, Spain and the Czech Republic over violations of the European Union ban on tobacco sponsorship, according to grandprix.com. It says the Commission is taking Italy to the European Court of Justice for failing to correctly transpose the sponsorship ban for cross-border events into domestic law. It is threatening similar proceedings for the other three countries for failing to implement the 2003 European directive which was to be adopted in national legislation by the end of July 2005. Italy has upset the Commission by allowing tobacco sponsorship in events taking place in Italy but broadcast in other countries. The Commission is challenging Spain's three-year ban exemption for sporting events, Hungary's exemption to events it deems of "exceptional" importance to its economy, and the Czech Republic for allowing a three-year extension because of contracts in place.

European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou says that the Commission has "zero tolerance" of tobacco sponsorship. Cigarette livery was totally outlawed in Australia from October 1 this year.

Door still open for Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve's hopes of a move to NASCAR may not be dead. Although the door closed last week on any drive with Roush Racing in the premier Nextel Cup, it seems there is still the prospect of a seat in its 2007 squad for the Busch series, a round of which will be at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve -- named after Jacques' late father -- in early August. Even if the 1997 F1 world champion breaks into the Busch ranks, along with Aussie Marcos Ambrose, it's a tough series to win in -- 26 of the 28 races so far this year have been won by Nextel Cup drivers.