Motorsport: Dick Johnson adamant he's not selling

Midweek motorsport reportMay 9, 2007

"Absolutely not!" Johnson has told today's edition of Auto Action magazine of the story that started in the electronic version of rival Motorsport News, which reported that Britain's Carlin Motorsport was taking an initial 25 per cent and full ownership at the end of the year.

"I have no intention of selling at this point in time, certainly not when things are starting to go so good," Johnson says.

The longest-established team in the Australian Touring Car Championship, now called the V8 Supercar Championship Series, DJR -- or Jim Beam Racing as it is branded this year -- has rebounded in recent times to be fifth among teams after three rounds -- ahead of the factory Ford Performance Racing, and trailing only the HSV Dealer Team, Holden Racing Team and Ford teams Triple Eight and Stone Brothers.

Johnson told the Sydney Sun-Herald newspaper last weekend: "I have no idea where these rumours (about a sale) start, but I can tell you it sends the wrong message to sponsors and fans at a time when we least need it."

A member of another team in the V8 paddock claims to have seen a letter offering a quarter stake in DJR for sale.

Auto Action today reports that British sources suggest a part sale has been mooted but that any potential deal is "a long way off and wildly premature".

Carlin boss Trevor Carlin has, according to AA, expressed "no more than a casual interest in buying -- or buying into -- DJR, and to be "in no hurry".

The connection between Carlin and Johnson is DJR team manager Adrian Burgess, who previously worked for Carlin in the British Formula 3 Championship and then when Carlin briefly ventured into Formula 1 with Midland -- the curious Russian-owned incarnation of what was originally the Jordan team and is now Spyker.

DJR general manager Steve Chalker concedes to AA that Burgess and Trevor Carlin are close mates "but that's as far as it goes".

However, in this week's edition of MeNews, Chalker says: "Yes, we (DJR) have had a conversation with the bloke (Carlin), but it is not going to go anywhere.

"It (the conversation) was pretty broad, but it was about the future and the costs involved in going V8 Supercar racing.

"It was not a case of having anything on the market.

"The story is absolutely, totally wrong."

We take it that no transaction is likely in the immediate future, but remember the old saying: where there's smoke there's fire.

Elsewhere in the V8 paddock, talk rumbles on about a possible sale of Paul Weel Racing, better known as Super Cheap Auto Racing, to John Marshall, the father of racer Marcus Marshall.

Owner Kees Weel has continually denied it, but the talk won't go away.

Marshall is only interested in outright control, according to AA today.

20th 'birthday' for Skaife
Next week's V8 Supercar round at Winton in northern Victoria will be the 20th anniversary of Mark Skaife's entry into Australian touring car racing.

Skaife, who recently turned 40, drove a Nissan Gazelle to third place in the 2-litre championship at Winton on his debut.

It was with Nissan's factory team that he started achieving major success before he moved into Holdens and built a record of success in the championship that now equals the late Peter Brock.

While we congratulate Skaife on a great career, his celebrations will be a whole lot sweeter if he can finally satisfy the Touring Car Entrants Group by the middle of next week on the ownership and control of HRT.

Auto Action says today that it understands Tom Walkinshaw, now a half-owner again of HRT, is still not named in any of the latest paperwork lodged with TEGA.

AA also reports, separately, that in the wake of the long-running HRT ownership saga rival team principals have called -- within a TEGA forum -- for tougher penalties for breaches of V8 licence agreements and the appointment of an independent investigator with the power to impose sanctions.

Ingall 50-50 on future
The 2005 V8 Supercar champion, Russell Ingall, says he's "about 50-50 at the minute" to remain with the Stone Brothers team beyond this year.

Ingall is 11th in the championship this year and admits his future with Stone Bros depends on improved results.

"We (the team and Ingall) are both under pressure from where I am now to get results," he has told Auto Action.

"I think they're still working out what they want to do.

"At this stage we'll just keep options open."

Ingall says he has other options for next year, while AA says several drivers could be in line for his slot with Stones if he is not there.

Steve Owen is one, according to AA.

The Autobarn driver says that, while talk has linked him to Stones in the past, he has not had any discussions with them this year.

Reed makes no secret of his interest in V8s and tested a Commodore at the Gold Coast eight months ago.

Despite his motorcycle success and profile, he probably needs to accumulate lots of kilometres in the V8 development series first.

Briscoe gets Penske treatment
The team Australian Ryan Briscoe is driving for at Indianapolis this month is being called, unofficially and by worried rivals, Penske Racing II.

Officially it's Luczo Dragon Racing and one of the owners is Jay Penske, son of Roger -- who has been the entrant of 14 winning cars in the Indianapolis 500.

Rivals are concerned that Briscoe's Dallara-Honda is effectively a third entry by Penske Senior, whose drivers for the 91st running of the classic on May 27 are reigning winner Sam Hornish and two-time victor Helio Castroneves.

Asked in the paddock at The Brickyard this week how much assistance his team was getting from Penske Racing, Briscoe replied: "Quite a bit."

That's very good for Briscoe, who normally drives a Porsche RS Spyder for Penske Senior in the American Le Mans Series these days.

Briscoe was 10th at Indianapolis in his debut start in the 500 two years ago, and during two refresher days earlier this week he circulated slower only than veteran Michael Andretti.

Practice proper got underway overnight and the first and fifth fastest drivers were only 0.0908 of a second apart.

The 2005 winner, Englishman Dan Wheldon, led the 27 drivers in the session for Ganassi Racing and was the only driver to average more than 225mph around the 4km rectangle.

Wheldon's New Zealand teammate, Scott Dixon, was fifth, with Brazilian Castroneves, South African Tomas Scheckter (son of 1979 F1 world champion Jody) and another Brazilian, Tony Kanaan, between the Ganassi drivers.

Danica Patrick was sixth fastest, ahead of Briscoe at 223.676 mph, Hornish, Dario Franchitti and Marco Andretti, the grandson of Mario and son of Michael who came close to victory last year and is destined for F1 within a couple of years.

Jon Herb, trying to make his first Indy start since 2001, was the first driver to crash.

Herb found himself too low in the second turn, spun his car and hit the wall on the left side.

Now Mrs Tander on top step
Leanne Tander, wife of V8 Supercar star Garth, has become the first woman to win a race in the 51-year history of the Australian Drivers' Championship -- or what is often called the Gold Star.

She won the second race in the third round of the championship at Phillip Island last weekend.

The series is for Formula 3 cars these days, and it was also Tander's first F3 victory.

With Garth as her crew chief, she launched a daring 260km/h attack on Englishman James Winslow at turn one, flying around the outside into the lead, another first for her in F3, and went on to a 3-second win.

"I got a tow coming down the straight and, as we were approaching turn one, he went to the inside to defend his line so I went to the outside to see if I could get around him," Tander says.

"It was really good for James to give me the room that he did, but it was just enough to hang on.

"It was a little bit twitchy there, but it stuck and, from there on, I put my head down and tried to get out of there as fast as possible!"

Winslow took second after winning the day's earlier race, but series leaders Tim Macrow and Charlie Hollings collided.

With five rounds remaining, Macrow still leads with 80 points to Hollings' 72, Tander has 69 and Winslow 65.

Prost cautious on Hamilton
The F1 world championship resumes this weekend in Barcelona, where Spain's dual world champion Fernando Alonso will be a massive crowd favorite while much of the hype is sure to be about his rookie McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton -- the only driver to have finished on the podium in his first three grands prix.

Many of F1's greatest names are tipping Hamilton to win a race, and even the title, in his first season.

But one who is a little more cautious is Alain Prost, France's four-time world champion.

"So many young drivers come in with a bang and then disappear," Prost says.

"We will know more about Lewis after Barcelona and Monte Carlo.

"But it is not impossible. I see him in a psychologically favourable situation.

"Lewis has driven well and without errors. He has done it now at three different circuits so far."

Prost predicts Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa will be world champion this year.

Prost says Ferrari has a clearly faster car than McLaren and that Massa knows his team better than newcomer Kimi Raikkonen.

"The only question mark for Ferrari is the rivalry between their own drivers, because most recently they have always concentrated on just one driver (Michael Schumacher)," Prost says.

The 19-year-old Hulkenberg's career is being steered by Michael Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber.

"After we co-operated together with regard to Michael between 1991 and 1995, Flavio (Briatore, Renault team boss) and I know each other more than well," Weber told German magazine Sport Bild.

Meanwhile, Hulkenberg is now racing in the F3 Euroseries.

Mansell's grand plan for Bernie
The future of the British GP is always under a cloud because of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone forever seeming to be at odds with the owners of the Silverstone circuit, the British Racing Drivers' Club, over the state of the facilities.

Ecclestone is always wanting money spent on the venue, but Britain's 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell has now dared to suggest that 76-year-old Ecclestone should secure the British GP's future by buying Silverstone.

"It would be wonderful if Bernie ended up buying the whole thing and doing something very special," Mansell told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

"He is the only person who could afford to do that. It would cost a lot of money but Bernie is the godfather of motorsport."

Silverstone's GP contract runs only until 2009 and Ecclestone has threatened to alternate the British and French rounds of the world championship beyond that time so that the two countries would only have a GP every second year.

Mansell says that Silverstone has been its own worst enemy by not investing in better facilities but, rather than spend money from his own vast fortune, Ecclestone may find another solution -- perhaps enticing even richer Middle East investors to buy the track and make it the centerpiece of an F1 theme park.

Yet again Ecclestone could get what he wants without paying for it and end up with even more millions.

It is NZ's Rally of Whangarei, second round of the Asia-Pacific championship, and Crocker and Mason are the hotshots in the field, both driving Subaru Impreza WRX STIs.

Mason scored a thrilling victory over the Aussie when the NZ round of the Asian series was at Rotorua last year.

The Whangarei roads were used for years in NZ's world championship rally and were regarded as among the best in the event.

Crocker missed the opening round of this year's Asia-Pacific championship in New Caledonia but is the top seed in NZ, while Mason unhappily will start 12th -- behind all the Asia-Pacific competitors, who get priority starting positions.

The top-seeded Kiwi is veteran Brian Green in ninth, although he would be unlikely to get a top 10 starting position in an NZ national rally.

"The start order should be done purely on merit and safety," Mason says.

"It's not fair to anyone.

"If it's dry Cody and the other top seeded drivers will be sweeping the roads and we'll probably get better conditions.

"If it's wet the reverse will occur and the roads will become muddier with every passing car, giving Crocker the advantage."

NZ's popular Emma Gilmour will start 15th in her Subaru with her Australian boyfriend co-driver Glenn Macneall, who recently opted out of the seat alongside Australia's world championship campaigner Chris Atkinson.

Gilmour takes Mason as her benchmark.

"If I can keep him honest then hopefully we will be close to the international drivers," she says.

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