MOTORSPORT: After the Homebush roar

Run and won, but many questions remain
So that was the first Sydney Telstra 500. Quite a presentation it was too. And, by many measures, it must be adjudged quite successful. Certainly it was a victory for V8 Supercars Australia's executive chairman Tony Cochrane's sheer determination to make it happen.

The official attendance announced was 184,856 -- 51,193 on Friday, 72,610 on Saturday and 61,053 on Sunday. Some veteran Sydney motorsport watchers doubt those numbers, but the crowds were pretty reasonable, even if there were blocks of blue seats in the grandstands unfilled.

"We've proven this (the 2000 Olympics venue) is a fantastic event precinct," Cochrane said. "We're just going to build on this now. This is only purely limited by your imagination now.

"I reckon in three to four years there'll be a quarter of a million people attending this event every year."

The NSW government's commitment to the event is $30 million -- $15 million upfront this year on infrastructure and the rest over each of the five years of the contract.

The easy public transport to and from Homebush certainly added a new dimension to motor racing events in Sydney.

Jamie Whincup duly completed back-to-back titles, and a great credit to him and Team Vodafone that is too. Now they switch to the Holden fold next year.

While Whincup and Team Vodafone/Triple Eight Race Engineering were the benchmark again all season, it is poignant that Toll Holden Racing Team topped the Roland Dane-led outfit in the teams championship at the end of the season -- a reflection of the consistency and equality of HRT's two drivers, Will Davison and Garth Tander.

While this author was one who felt Mark Skaife was elbowed out of HRT and full-time V8 Supercar racing prematurely, the recruitment of Davison to replace him has been well and truly vindicated.

Although Davison's title challenge was effectively over a month ago, he has finished second to Whincup in his first season with the factory team, compared with Skaife's 14th place last year.

Tander, winner of Saturday's Homebush race, has now been third two years in a row since his champion season in 2007.

James Courtney's Sunday success was precisely what he needed. So much has been expected of Courtney because of his brilliance as a youngster in karting and open-wheelers, and his high profile from his TV dancing, so to have finished this season with two wins rather than just the one in Townsville in the Jim Beam/Dick Johnson Racing team delivers on some of the promise.

Yet Courtney still finished behind the far less acclaimed Steve Johnson in the championship points.

So we come to the end of quite a successful series, particularly in light of the doom and gloom amid the global financial crisis at the start of the season. It ended with something new, for Sydney at least, and it went off quite well, even if Whincup's second title was a foregone conclusion.

But the hysteria was beyond belief -- and this time it was not all of V8SA's doing. Much of the media reporting exaggerated things far more than even the promoters could, or did.

There were predictions the Homebush event will rival or surpass the National Rugby League or Australian Football League -- really, is V8 Supercars going to stage a 24-week season at the 2000 Olympic precinct? -- and that it will become bigger than state-of-origin rugby league.

Even that it will become bigger than Melbourne's spring horse racing carnival. Utter claptrap.

And we gird ourselves for this crescendo of hype to reach even greater heights at tonight's season-ending awards banquet.
Unquestionably the Sydney Telstra 500 has made quite a big impression in the place where V8 Supercars most needed to kick a goal -- Australia's biggest city.

But we are left with as many questions as answers. It will take a while for matters to be clarified, but here are a few things to ponder post-Homebush I:

>> What will the Sydney street race do for the sales of Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores today, this week, this month and next year -- or other models of the two participating manufacturers? If little or nothing, what enticement will that be for a third or fourth manufacturer to enter the series?

>> Is V8 Supercar racing now most appropriately a support act to musical entertainment? Note that the announced Sunday attendance at Homebush was down more than 15% on Saturday's -- attributed to the absence of a concert on the final day, unlike Friday and Saturday.

>> Is, or should, the way of the future be for V8 Supercar Events to hire tracks and be responsible for all promotions of events in the championship? We gather that at least one permanent circuit operator, Queensland Raceway's John Tetley, has that view for his Ipswich venue.

>> Not to pretend that Eastern Creek would have been a perfect alternative to Homebush, certainly not as it is and perhaps even if it was given the makeover for which the Australian Racing Drivers Club wants funding -- but might it have drawn bigger attendances than it traditionally has, perhaps even approaching the Homebush crowds, if it had had the musical attractions as well as the motor racing?

>> Did the race days, and particularly the motor racing, at Homebush genuinely draw more people than the now almost closed Oran Park? The closure of that grand old circuit next month is a fact, but the question is whether Homebush has unearthed a new body of fans.

>> Did subcontinental bookmakers have any inkling that the three drivers on the Sunday podium at the first Sydney street race event would all be Sydney boys? Seriously, can't believe that outcome to be anything but coincidence.

V8 Supercar Championship final standings after 26 races - Jamie Whincup (Ford) 3349 points, Will Davison (Holden) 3044, Garth Tander (H) 2916, Craig Lowndes (F) 2592, Mark Winterbottom (F) 2414, Steven Johnson (F) 2255, James Courtney (F) 2192, Rick Kelly (H) 2162, Russell Ingall (H) 2048, Lee Holdsworth (H) 2006, Michael Caruso (H) 1977, Shane Van Gisbergen (F) 1970, Steven Richards (F) 1780, Jason Richards (H) 1756, Paul Dumbrell (H) 1677, Fabian Coulthard (F) 1665, Alex Davison (F) 1648, Todd Kelly (H) 1624, Jason Bright (F) 1607, Cameron McConville (H) 1565, Greg Murphy (H) 1555, David Reynolds (H) 1428, Tim Slade (H) 1221, Tony D'Alberto (H) 1196, Jason Bargwanna (H) 1192.

V8 Supercar teams championship final standings - Toll Holden Racing Team 5650 points, TeamVodafone 5573, Jim Beam Racing 4357, Ford Performance.Racing 4104, Garry Rogers Motorsport 3990, Jack Daniels Racing 3608, Stone Brothers Racing 3555, Walkinshaw Performance 3203, Supercheap Auto Racing 3116, Brad Jones Racing 3108, Sprint Gas Racing 2847, Wilson Security Racing 2725, Kelly Racing 1838, Fujitsu Racing 1607, Rod Nash Racing 1196.

Raikkonen confirmed for WRC
It's official now that 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen will switch to the World Rally Championship next year.

Raikkonen is joining the Citroen Junior Team for 12 of 13 WRC rounds, missing only Rally New Zealand, which the team won't contest.

The Citroen Junior Team, for which Australia's Chris Atkinson did one event this year, has been a "customer" team but now, with backing from energy drink giant Red Bull, will run as a second factory team, fielding Frenchman Sebastien Ogier as well as Finn Raikkonen.

The winner of 18 grands prix, 30-year-old Raikkonen said: "I always wanted to compete in rallying, particularly the WRC, at some point in my career. Thanks to Red Bull, I now have the opportunity to drive the best car in the series: the Citroen C4 WRC. This is a new but very exciting challenge. For the moment, we have a one-year contract, and we will see how it goes in the future."

We doubt the speculation that Raikkonen is being "warehoused" by Red Bull in the WRC to replace Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing in 2011 after the expiry of the Australian's one-year contract.

A Red Bull source has said Raikkonen's rally deal is "completely separate from everything else -- there are no tie-ins to F1".

D-day near on Renault in F1
The deadline is looming this month on Renault's decision on whether it will continue in F1.

Rumours persist that it will offload its team to Prodrive, headed by David Richards -- and who previously ran the team in its Benetton guise and also headed British American Racing before its takeover by Honda.

Our suspicion is that Renault will withdraw as a fully-fledged constructor but remain an engine supplier to any buyer of its team -- and continue to supply Red Bull Racing.

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