MOTORSPORT: A Chase in the Supercar air

NASCAR's Sprint Cup is a two-man battle too but much closer and with only one round to go -- in Florida this weekend, where Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart will still start just three points apart.

Sebastien Loeb has his eighth straight world rally title after a bizarre end to the season in Wales, where young Aussie Molly Taylor won a stage of the WRC Academy rally, while at home Justin Dowell and Matt Lee are the new Australian rally champions.

Mark Webber missed out on a podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Sebastian Vettel's shock early exit from a puncture and the Aussie not only faces a monumental task, even with all the help Red Bull Racing and Vettel may be able to give him, to finish second or third in the world championship but is under enormous pressure now from Lewis Hamilton to hold on to fourth spot.

Formula One Drivers' World Championship after 18 of 19 races -- 1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Red Bull-Renault) 374 points, 2. Jenson Button (Great Britain, McLaren-Mercedes) 255, 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain, Ferrari) 245, 4. Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 233, 5. Lewis Hamilton (GB, McLaren-Mercedes) 227, 6. Felipe Massa (Brazil, Ferrari) 108, 7. Nico Rosberg (Germany, Mercedes) 83, 8. Michael Schumacher (Germany, Mercedes) 76, 9. Vitaly Petrov (Russia, Renault) 36. 10. Nick Heidfeld (Germany, Renault) 34, 11. Adrian Sutil (Germany, Force India-Mercedes) 34, 12. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan, Sauber-Ferrari) 28, 13. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 26, 14. Paul Di Resta (GB, Force India-Mercedes) 23, 15. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 15, 16. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Sauber-Ferrari) 14, 17. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil, Williams-Cosworth) 4 18. Bruno Senna (Brazil, Renault) 2, 19. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela, Williams-Cosworth) 1.

F1 Constructors' World Championship -- 1. Red Bull-Renault 607 points, 2. McLaren-Mercedes 482, 3. Ferrari 353, 4. Mercedes 159, 5. Renault 72, 6. Force India-Mercedes 57, 7. Sauber-Ferrari 42, 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41, 9. Williams-Cosworth 5.

It could be decided this weekend at Melbourne's Sandown circuit but the contest, mathematically at least, more likely will go on until the "grand final" in Sydney on the first weekend of December. But even if Lowndes wins all four remaining races Whincup only need average sixth place in each to take his third title in four years, although it is not his style to be satisfied with much less than victory. And, dominant most of the season again with nine wins from the 24 races so far, Whincup will be the most deserving champion, although Lowndes would be the most popular.

The prospect of the title being decided before the final round or -- as happened at the first Sydney 500 in 2009 -- that "grand final" becoming almost a dead rubber has raised talk of whether V8 Supercars ought to introduce a NASCAR-style Chase -- say over the final four rounds after Bathurst for the top six or 10 drivers. Craig Lowndes floated the idea mid-season and now Mark Winterbottom has made it known that he thinks it's a good idea -- especially at the moment in light of his recent strong run.

Critics will say that the championship's point-scoring system has been modified too often over the years. But if the series is to have a marquee event in Sydney, Australia's biggest market, as its climax it needs to have its championship very much alive until then.

Although Whincup and Lowndes are Queensland-based these days they grew up with Sandown as their home circuit and, all things being equal, both should do well there this weekend, but the streets of Sydney's Homebush are another matter. Whincup has made the point that a Triple Eight/Team Vodafone driver is yet to stand on the podium from the races there so far. He has pointed out that there has been a heavy emphasis on PR duties ahead of the Sydney finale the past couple of years with the race results below the standards the benchmark team has set.

The emphasis may well be reversed in a couple of weeks, especially if the gap between him and Lowndes is narrowed at Sandown and the title fight becomes anything close to a thriller. Whatever, the Triple Eight pair are set to become the first teammates driving Holdens to finish 1-2 in the championship. Whincup's dual successes in Tasmania have taken Holden's victory tally in the Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship to 400 compared with Ford's 291.

This season the scoreline is 21-3, meaning Holden wins seven out of eight times -- and, conversely, that Ford wins on average only once every eight races. That is not a pretty picture for the Blue Oval, yet the performance of Ford Performance Racing has been much better lately -- and not before times its critics and supporters would say.

Winterbottom and Will Davison finished fourth and fifth for FPR at Symmons Plains on Saturday and then Davison was second and Winterbottom third on Sunday, with Paul Dumbrell fourth in another FPR Falcon entered by Rod Nash. And both days there were four Fords in the top five qualifiers, with Dumbrell on pole position on Sunday and Winterbottom on the front row of the grid both days.

Winterbottom has leapfrogged Stone Brothers Racing's Shane Van Gisbergen into third in the championship, with Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander fifth -- but only 28 points covering that trio. FPR and Stone Bros are second and third in the teams championship, behind Team Vodafone but ahead of HRT. But Ford's factory team has left its run too late again and the glory will be going to Triple Eight, Holden, Whincup most probably or perhaps Lowndes.

What will be hard for the Blue Oval's supporters to stomach is that not so long ago Triple Eight, Whincup and Lowndes were in the Ford camp.

Australian V8 Supercar Championship after 24 of 28 races -- 1. Jamie Whincup (Holden) 2817 points, 2. Craig Lowndes (H) 2623, 3. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 2215, 4. Shane Van Gisbergen (F) 2201, 5. Garth Tander (H) 2187, 6. Will Davison (F) 2096, 7. Rick Kelly 1977, 8. Lee Holdsworth (H) 1713, 9. Alex Davison (F) 1664, 10. Fabian Coulthard (H) 1614.

V8 Supercar teams championship -- 1. Team Vodafone 5465 points, 2. Ford Performance Racing (Orrcon Steel and Trading Post Falcons) 4336, 3. Stone Brothers Racing 3940, 4. Toll Holden Racing Team 3729, 5. Fujitsu Racing GRM 3289, 6. Jack Daniel's Racing 3262, 7. Jim Beam Racing 2894, 8. Brad Jones Racing 2882, 9. Jack Daniel's Racing (Pepsi Max and Straco Commodores) 2874, 10. Supercheap Auto Racing and VIP Petfoods 2695, 11. Bundaberg Racing 1639, 12. Lucky 7 Racing 1568, 13. Mother Energy Racing Team 1269, 14. The Bottle-O Racing Team 1223, 15. Wilson Security Racing 1112, 16. Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing 971, 17. Triple F Racing 944, 18. Gulf Western Oil Racing 702.

Edwards and Stewart went into that Phoenix race three points apart and Edwards finished second and Stewart third but the gap remained the same because of Stewart's bonus from leading the most laps -- for the third time in the past four races.

Jimmie Johnson's run of five straight titles is over and "Smoke" Stewart has vowed he is going to make Edwards "sweat it out" in this weekend's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the Ford man has won two of the past three Cup races there.

Kahne's win at Phoenix was the 12th of his career but his first this year and he became the 18th different victor in 35 races so far this season.

Aussie Marcos Ambrose qualified third and finished eighth in his Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion for his fifth finish in the top 11 in the past seven races. Teammate A.J. Allmendinger, sixth at Phoenix, has a similar finishing record over those seven races.

"It bodes very well for next year," Ambrose said after he continues to chase that elusive first oval win in the Sprint Cup.

NASCAR Sprint Cup after 35 of 36 races -- 1. Carl Edwards (Ford) 2359 points, 2. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) 2356, 3. Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet) 2308, 4. Brad Keselowski (Dodge) 2294, 5. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) 2291, 6. Matt Kenseth (Ford) 2289, 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevrolet) 2257, 8. Kurt Busch (Dodge) 2252, 9. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet) 2252, 10. Denny Hamlin (Toyota) 2249. Australia's Marcos Ambrose (Ford) is 17th on 931 points.

Finn Hirvonen charged into the lead on the first leg but spun into a bank and a hidden branch punctured the radiator of his Ford Fiesta RS.

While that assured Loeb of another title the Citroen superstar was out of the rally the next day after his Citroen DS3 was hit head-on by a spectator's car traveling on the wrong side of the road during a transport stage, evoking memories of Possum Bourne's fatal accident in New Zealand over eight years ago.

Hirvonen's countryman and teammate came away with his first win of the year, almost 4min ahead of Norwegian Mads Ostberg with another Norwegian, Henning Solberg, scoring his first podium in more than two years -- and giving Ford a sweep of the last WRC podium of the year.

Briton Kris Meeke had to settle for fourth after losing control of his Mini on the final Power Stage, won by Loeb's teammate and countryman Sebastien Ogier -- who was out of contention for the event's overall honours from the first stage after hitting a wall and ripping a wheel off his Citroen.

Spaniard Dani Sordo ran in the top six in the other Mini before crashing on the first leg, while Petter Solberg and Kimi Raikkonen were mid-event retirements in their Citroens.

World Rally Championship final driver standings -- 1. Sebastien Loeb (France, Citroen) 222 points, 2. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland, Ford) 214, 3. Sebastien Ogier (France, Citroen)  196, 4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland, Ford) 172, 5. Petter Solberg (Norway, Citroen) 110, 6. Mads Ostberg (Norway, Ford) 88, 7. Matthew Wilson (Great Britain, Ford) 63, 8. Daniel Sordo (Spain, Mini) 59, 9. Henning Solberg (Norway, Ford) 59, 10. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Citroen) 34.

WRC Constructors' Championship -- 1. Citroen Total WRT 403 points, 2. Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 376, 3. M-Sport Stobart Ford WRT 178, 4. Petter Solberg World Rally Team 98, 5. Ferm Powertools WRT 54, 6. Team Abu Dhabi 54, 7. Munchi's Ford WRT 38, 8. Monster World Rally Team 27, 9. van Merksteijn Motorsports 16, 10. Brazil WRT 7.

Taylor and British co-driver Seb Marshall finished fifth outright in the Academy section while fellow Aussie Brendan Reeves and his co-driver sister Rhianon Smyth suffered a broken driveshaft, rejoined, but were classified 15th. Reeves set the fastest time on the opening tarmac stage but once on gravel soon found himself in a ditch for a minute.

Despite mechanical woes over the second half of the season he wound up fifth in the Academy Cup, won by Irish driver Craig Breen, and is now in Austria for the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy.

Reeves and Taylor are both hoping to compete in the WRC Academy again next year if they can find the financial backing.

The event in Gippsland was heart-breaking for Queenslanders Ryan Smart and John Allen, who had stretched a three-point pre-event lead to seven points on the first heat only for their Toyota Corolla Sportivo to suffer driveshaft failure three stages from the finish.

As Dowell and Lee took second place in the rally in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX behind the Subaru Impreza WRX of the Evans' they became the season's champions in the closest result in the ARC's 43-year history. It was a stark turnaround for Dowell and Lee, who were off the road for almost half a minute on the first day and thought their title chances might have slipped away.

Instead it was Smart and Allen who endured the frustration of seeing the championship snatched from their grasp after sitting second to the Evans Subaru for most of the event, even taking some stage wins ahead of it.

Twenty-one-year-old West Australian Tom Wilde signalled himself as a rising star, taking third for the weekend in an ageing Subaru with co-driver Scott Allan, while Steve Shepheard and John McCarthy, winners of the previous round at NSW's Coffs Harbour at the time of Rally Australia, survived a heavy roll in their Mitsubishi.

The season's conclusion marked the end of an era with four-wheel-drive turbo cars being phased out from next year in favour of what ARC chief Scott Pedder says are more "market-relevant" two-wheel drive cars.

Australian Rally Championship final standings -- Justin Dowel-Matt Lee (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) 340.5 points, Ryan Smart-John Allen (Toyota Corolla Sportivo) 327.25, Steve Shepheard-John McCarthy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X) 199.5, Mark Pedder-Lee Tierney (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) 186, Eli Evans-Glen Weston (Honda Civic Type R) 186.

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