Motorsport: Bowe finally gets Brock record

Friday motorsport reportMarch 23, 2007

Proud Bowe can't quite fathom the fuss
It's been a long time coming, but John Bowe this weekend finally breaks Peter Brock's record for the most starts in Australian touring car racing -- which for a decade now has been called V8 Supercar racing.

Somewhat ironically, Bowe's 213th start will be in Western Australia, where Brock lost his life a little more than six months ago.

It is a deserving record for Tasmanian-born Bowe as he nears his 55th birthday next month.

A driver with more enthusiasm for racing you would not find in Australian motorsport.

In his self-effacing way, Bowe says he's "very pleased that a significant milestone like this is now firmly in Ford land".

He admits to being "a little overwhelmed" by the fuss about the achievement he will chalk up at the second round of this year's V8 Supercar Championship at Perth's Barbagallo Raceway.

"I'm extremely surprised and flattered by the fantastic response I've had from the fans," Bowe says.

"I've enjoyed 28 years of racing in WA. I claimed my first touring car pole position at Wanneroo (now called Barbagallo) in 1986 (driving a Volvo!) and had two wins with Dick Johnson Racing (in Ford Sierras in 1989 and 1992)."

Bowe has won 15 times for Ford throughout his touring car career and claimed two Bathurst 1000s -- both with Johnson, in a Sierra in 1989 and a Falcon in 1994.

Bowe is driving his retirement year in the sport with Paul Cruickshank Racing and hopefully this weekend's round -- with a 120km race Saturday and two 120km races Sunday -- will be a happier experience on the track than the season-opening Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

Well done, John Bowe.

Radisich has had a slow recovery from the injuries he suffered when he crashed the team's Holden Commodore at Bathurst last October.

Team Kiwi owner David John is pleased Radisich is finally right because of the importance the team is putting on the next round of the championship at Pukekohe in New Zealand.

"That is a big focus for us. We want to do well in front of our home fans, especially with the last time for V8 Supercars at Pukekohe," John says.

From next year the NZ round will be on the new street circuit at Hamilton.

Ambrose on a short track
A long, long way from Barbagallo this weekend, dual Australian V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose will be tackling one of the smallest and toughest tracks in NASCAR, Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, for the sixth round of the Busch series.

The Bristol oval is only 858 metres -- little more than half a mile -- and has 36-degree banking through the corners.

It is the first short track of the long NASCAR season.

Ambrose is seventh in the Busch driver standings and second to Juan Pablo Montoya in the rookie-of-the-year points, 58 to 53.

Montoya is also contesting the premier Nextel Cup series.

Hamilton eyes title within three years
Formula 1's new star Lewis Hamilton says he's giving himself three years to win the world title.

The 22-year-old McLaren-Mercedes rookie was third in last weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, behind Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and dual world champion Fernando Alonso in the other McLaren-Mercedes.

Alonso only overtook Hamilton for second during the pitstops.

Triple world champion Niki Lauda says Hamilton's debut was the best he's seen in F1.

The confident but down-to-earth Hamilton says: "Winning is what I want to do. My dream is to win and become a world champion. Three years is a good time to put on my goal to win a world title."

And, again as so often, Ferrari is the subject of the rumours.

A year ago there was a fuss about wings flexing at high speed. This time the suggestion is that the floors of the Ferrari F2007s of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have flexing technology.

There are similar rumours about the BMW F1.07s driven by Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

McLaren's Ron Dennis has concerns about the Ferraris and BMWs and told US telecaster SpeedTV: "We will see how things are in two or three races. There is a whole range of things that come to light in the first race and you go and you say what is legal, and what is not legal.

"Most teams are given that current race to enjoy the benefit of the doubt. I think there will be a rationalisation of some aspects of some cars that would close the gap if no one did anything."

High-class rookies for Targa
Targa Tasmania will have another celebrity driver next month.

Ironman Guy Andrews will drive a BMW 120i in Targa's new Rookie Rallye which will be run on just the first two days of the event.

Gravel rallying legend Ross Dunkerton, now in his 60s, will also make his Targa Tasmania debut in the 17-stage Rookie Rallye at the wheel of his Evolution IX Mitsubishi Lancer.

Dunkerton has won the two Targa Wests in WA.

Movie star Eric Bana is a starter for the full Targa Tasmania in his Ford Falcon XB GT coupe.

The 16th running of the event starts in Launceston on April 17 and ends six days later in Hobart.

Leading the A1 series by 30 points, Germany can't be overtaken this weekend, although second-placed New Zealand is hopeful of narrowing the gap.

Jonny Reid is back in NZ's "Black Beauty" in Mexico after street circuit specialist Matt Halliday's two third places at Durban in South Africa.

Reid is contemplating a season in Japan's Formula Nippon, while Halliday has his sights on the US.

A 17-year-old A1 rookie, Christian Vietoris, will stand in for Hulkenberg in Mexico -- and will have the advantage of two extra practice sessions because of his rookie status.

Sydney's Ian Dyk replaces West Australian Karl Reindler in the struggling A1 Team Australia in Mexico and may drive at the next round in Shanghai, but reigning national Formula Ford champion John Martin is in line to step in for the final A1 round at Brands Hatch in Britain.

Last year they raced on 10 per cent ethanol but this year the fuel will be 100 per cent ethanol, or E-85.

The IRL even has a Team Ethanol, whose driver, Jeff Simmons, says competitors have noticed more power, faster speeds, better acceleration and greater ease power through corners in testing.

"Ethanol is the highest-performance fuel available," Simmons says.

"And when you enrich gasoline with ethanol (as Australia's V8 Supercar series has done this year), it raises the octane and helps it to burn cooler and cleaner."

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