Motorsport: Don't blame Channel 7

Monday motorsport reportApril 23, 2007

Controversy aside, HSV team is a class above
There's lots of finger-pointing in the wake of the abrupt end to the final V8 Supercar round to be run at New Zealand's Pukekohe track -- and much of it is misplaced.

Fans have been quick to finger Channel 7 for the third race being cut short, with lots of "we told you this would happen when 7 got the V8s back".

Well, fans, it isn't 7's fault at all.

Its schedule, which included the telecast of an AFL game, had been in place for ages.

The problem was at V8 Supercar central, which muddled up what time racing had to be over in NZ so that 7 could move on to the Melbourne-Fremantle AFL game.

Indeed, the V8 teams had been told everything had to be done and dusted at Pukekohe by 4.45pm local time, Sunday, when in fact it had to be 3.45pm (or 1.45pm eastern Australian time).

The timeline was tight, as things are in TV land, to get a 43-lap race completed by 3.45pm, and became more so because of the crashes in the final race -- Paul Morris' upturned Commodore and then the Holden of Dean Canto that had speared into a crash barrier and took six laps with the field behind the safety car to remove.

V8 Supercar head honcho Tony Cochrane has absolved Channel 7 today, instead trying to blame the problem on the tardiness of the NZ recovery crew -- but there's a large element of buck-passing in that.

Only during that recovery, it seems, did the 3.45pm deadline dawn and the race was hastily shortened, allowing only one lap after the restart.

The significance of it all is that Garth Tander, who had won the first two races of the weekend but had a horror pitstop in the third, when a wheel nut jammed, found himself unable to improve on the eighth place he found himself in -- and HSV teammate Rick Kelly lucked in on the round win.

Either way it was going to be HSV's day, or weekend.

It would have been Tander's round had he overtaken Paul Radisich for seventh place in the final race.

The reality of the season is, though, that rounds have become virtually a raffle among the Walkinshaw Performance-prepared HSV VE Commodores.

They have won all three rounds so far, and seven of eight races. And the other race, the opening leg of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, was won by another Walkinshaw-prepared VE, driven by Todd Kelly for Holden Racing Team.

Tander won five races straight -- all three at Perth's second round and the first two in NZ -- while Rick Kelly has won only two, the second Clipsal leg in Adelaide and the last at Pukekohe, yet the points table has Kelly on 173 and Tander 160.

They each scored 58 at the weekend, but the overall honors went to Kelly on account of him taking the third race (after third place in each of the earlier two).

Tander may well have won outright had he been more aggressive on Radisich on what turned out to be the final lap -- the 36th.

But Tander says: "I thought there were eight laps left. The first I knew was when I saw the chequered flag."

Jamie Whincup was the best of the Ford drivers, finishing third in the round with 48 points -- one more than Todd Kelly.

Whincup's podium came from fourth, second and fifth in the three races, while his Triple Eight/Team Vodafone teammate Craig Lowndes was seventh for the weekend -- equal with Mark Skaife but behind James Courtney (Stone Brothers Racing/Ford).

Whincup -- who jumped from seventh to fourth in the championship, equal with HRT's Mark Skaife -- says Triple Eight is working on a strategy which it hopes will enable it to challenge Holden's dominance by mid-season.

Radisich was the best of the NZ drivers -- 11th overall, and much better than he had expected in his second outing in Team Kiwi's ex- Ford Performance Racing Falcon.

Greg Murphy, who had won the Pukekohe round four times, finished 13th overall in his Tasman Motorsport VE Commodore, while teammate and fellow New Zealander Jason Richards was 14th -- and considered himself lucky.

Richards was running strongly in sixth in the second race of the weekend until a bolt in the left front lower control arm broke at full speed on the back straight, sending the VE off the track, flying through a sand trap and crashing into tyre barriers.

"I was at maximum speed, about 275kmh, when I hit the brakes and the bolt broke in the front left suspension -- and from there I just became a passenger," Richards says.

"I had absolutely no control over the car -- it was real heart-in-the-mouth stuff. Luckily, the sand pit did its job and slowed me down dramatically before I hit the barriers.

 "I've been in races here where someone has been killed at the same spot and I don't mind saying that for a moment I thought I was going to die."

Instead, the day marked the death of Pukekohe as a V8 Supercar Championship Series venue, with Holden having emerged victorious from all seven visits.

Indeed, Ford won only one race in 21 -- by Marcos Ambrose, now in America.

The Blue Oval will be hoping the move to the new street circuit at Hamilton, further south of Auckland, brings it better results.

Tony Cochrane claims the three NZ television networks are bidding for the rights to the new event, likely to be held in March or April.

V8 Supercar Championship Series after three of 14 rounds -- Drivers: 1. R. Kelly (Holden) 173 points, 2. G. Tander (H) 160, 3. T. Kelly (H) 132, =4. J. Whincup (Ford) and M. Skaife (H) 104, 6. J. Courtney (F) 100, =7. C. Lowndes (F) and M. Winterbottom (F) 79, =9. S. Johnson (F) 78 and W. Davison (F) 78, 11. R. Ingall (F) 75, 12. G. Murphy (H) 57, 13. S. Richards (F) 55, 14. L. Holdsworth (H) 36, 15. P. Radisich (F) 27. Teams: 1. Toll HSV Dealer Team 333, 2. Holden Racing Team 236, 3. Team Vodafone (Triple Eight) 183, 4. Stone Brothers Racing 175, 5. Jim Beam Racing (Dick Johnson Racing) 156, 6. Ford Performance Racing 134, 7. Tasman Motorsport 82, 8. Garry Rogers Motorsport 44, 9. Team Kiwi Racing 27, 10. Britek Motorsport 17. Next round: Winton Motor Raceway, near Benalla in north-east Victoria, May 18-20.

The 2004 Targa winner, from Gosford on the NSW Central Coast, beat eight-time winner Jim Richards, in a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, by 46 seconds, with Tony Longhurst, also in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI, a further 58 seconds back in third.

Targa's classic category title went to Rex Broadbent, of Melbourne, in his 1974 Porsche 911 RS.

Broadbent beat the 1977 Porsche 911 RS of Bill Pye by 30 seconds, with Steve Coad's Holden Monaro GTS in third place, almost 4 minutes behind.

Sullens and his navigator, Julia Barkley (nee Rabbett) took the outright lead on the second day of the five-day event after Allan Simonson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) and Jason White (Lamborghini) crashed out.

On Saturday afternoon, on stages in Tasmania's northwest on the way to Burnie, Sullens built a 48-second buffer.

That day saw movie star Eric Bana crash his 1974 Ford XB Coupe out of the event.

On Sunday Sullens dropped just 2 seconds during the seven stages and 130km of competition.

Three-time and defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais has now won consecutive rounds to take the lead this year, with Power -- who has one victory, a third place and now an 11th -- in second place.

Starting from his second pole position of the season, Power dropped to third at the start as Frenchman Bourdais slowed in front of him after cutting the chicane, allowing Englishman Justin Wilson past.

At Power's first pitstop he lost three places when the fuel nozzle jammed in the car.

He recovered one place but problems with his power-to-pass "boost" button system made it difficult for him to pass cars.

Power made contact with Wilson on lap 55 and took responsibility for the collision.

"Wilson was quite a bit slower than us, but I went for a move that wasn't on and that was my fault and it went downhill from there," Power said.

He pitted for repairs but then had further contact, this time with Mario Dominguez as the Mexican exited the pits.

That incident dropped Power off the lead lap as he had to pit again for repairs, including a new front wing, on lap 72 of 93.

Team Australia co-owner Derrick Walker says: "I hope we got that one out of the way, because it certainly didn't look pretty. Not a lot to be proud of there. We had a lot going for us and I think we threw it away. Now we just have to go back to the drawing board."

Bourdais' win puts him five points ahead of Power, while young American Graham Rahal, son of Champ Car and Indianapolis 500 icon Bobby and the Newman-Haas teammate of the Frenchman, was second, with Dutchman Robert Doornbos third -- giving Australian Paul Stoddart's Team Minardi USA its second podium in three rounds.

Team Australia's rookie, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, finished fifth in Houston, behind Spaniard Oriol Servia, who was substituting again for injured Canadian Paul Tracy after his second the previous weekend at Long Beach, California.

The next Champ Car World Series round isn't until June 8-10 at Portland International Raceway in Oregon.

Champ Car World Series after three of 16 rounds -- 1. S. Bourdais 74, 2. W. Power 69, 3. R. Doornbos 61, 4. A. Tagliani 57, 5. B. Junqueira 53, 6. O. Servia 51, 7. G. Rahal 46, 8. J. Wilson 41, 9. T. Gommendy 39, 10. S. Pagenaud 38.

ALMS history for David Brabham
David Brabham made a little bit of history in Houston at the weekend.

In qualifying fastest for the fourth round of this year's American Le Mans Series at the wheel of a Honda-derived Acura, Brabham became the only driver in ALMS history to win pole positions in four different classes.

Brabham had the overall pole twice in 1999 in a factory Panoz prototype -- at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and Las Vegas -- and he drove a Panoz Esperante GTLM to the top of the timesheet last year at Houston.

This latest performance was the first pole for Highcroft Racing and the second straight for Acura.

In a thrilling last-lap dash in the weekend's qualifying, Brabham's ARX-01a Acura  knocked Allan McNish's Audi R-10 TDI off the top spot by 0.006 seconds.

It was the second straight week that an LMP2 car had taken pole position ahead of the LMP1 Audis, and it was to be the second straight weekend that the lesser class prevailed in the race.

However, the Acura -- which Brabham shared with Swede Stefan Johansson and American Duncan Dayton -- finished fifth, a lap down.

German Timo Bernhard and Frenchman Romain Dumas in a Penske Porsche RS Spyder held off a late charge by the Acura of American Bryan Herta and Scotsman Marino Franchitti to take victory, by 0.4 seconds, for the second week in a row.

The winning Porsche lost the lead briefly to the sister car of Australian Ryan Briscoe and German Sascha Maassen when they pitted in the middle of the race.

The Briscoe/Maassen car eventually finished third in LMP2 and fourth overall, solidifying their hold on second place in the class points.

"We were only 14 seconds behind at the finish, but traffic was not kind to us during the last part of the race," Briscoe says.

Bernhard/Dumas lead the class with 75 points, Maassen/Briscoe have 58 points, and the leading Acura drivers have 49 points.

Porsche leads the LMP2 manufacturers' championship points over Acura, 79 to 65.

Bernhard now has 19 ALMS wins and Dumas 13.

NASCAR gets the bulk of the money although there are fewer but bigger corporate sponsors providing larger, long-term deals.

However, TV ratings for NASCAR'S premier category, the Nextel Cup, were down 11 per cent for the first seven rounds, despite the presence of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo, who is supposed to have massive appeal to Spanish-speaking people, the arrival of Toyota against the traditional American makes, and the Car of Tomorrow, the stock cars with the driver seated more towards the middle.

The decline started last year, when ratings fell for 32 of the 36 Nextel Cup races.

However, the round at Texas Motor Speedway the weekend before last showed a 4% increase, with double-digit gains in some markets.

Ratings have been down in the Busch Series in which Australian Marcos Ambrose is racing.

Ambrose finished 22nd at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona at the weekend in his Ford Fusion, retaining eighth place in the series standings.

Montoya, in a Dodge, finished one place ahead of Ambrose to be the top rookie at this round.

Ambrose qualified 10th after starting from the outside of the front row the previous weekend, while Montoya qualified only 20th for the Busch race at Phoenix.

"It shows some of the progress we have been making that we can qualify in the top 10 and run well on a one-mile (1.6km) oval like Phoenix," Ambrose says.

"The day didn't finish as well as it started but I think we can look at it and feel like we did a good job."

Ambrose's team, Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, has earned US$269,021 (A$321,506) from the nine rounds so far.

Clint Bowyer won the race, ahead of Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton.

In winning the Nextel Cup round at Phoenix, Jeff Gordon notched his 76th race win -- equalling the tally of the late Dale Earnhardt and making them equal sixth on the all-time scoreboard.

Gordon carried a No. 3 Earnhardt flag on his victory lap in tribute to the seven-time NASCAR champion.

There are only two tracks now that Gordon hasn't won at -- Homestead Miami Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

Gordon has raced for Rick Hendrick Motorsport throughout his 16-year career in NASCAR's big league.

Hendrick Motorsport has won all three races at which the Cars of Tomorrow have run.

Chevrolet dominated at Phoenix, with eight of the top 10 finishers.

Gordon leads Jeff Burton, also in a Chev, for the season, ahead of Matt Kenseth in a Ford and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson in a Chev.

NASCAR now moves on to the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama this weekend.

Malaysia secures GP until 2015
Malaysia claims to have won an extension to keep its Formula 1 Grand Prix until 2015 after recent doubts and speculation about a new night GP in Singapore.

Mokhzani Mahathir, chairman of the Sepang International Circuit, says there are plans for a major upgrade that will include building an "automotive-related theme park with bike and go-kart tracks".

Sepang is contemplating the possibility of a night GP as early as next year and Mokhzani says he is waiting to hear what lighting standards would be needed.

Melbourne, which has the contract for the Australian GP until 2010, has decided against a switch to a night race next year.

Ecclestone has formed a new company that will run all events at circuit after the heavy losses incurred in its short life.

"I can guarantee F1 will race in Istanbul until 2021," Ecclestone says.

"F1 needs to be in this part of the world.

"Actually our contract here (Turkey) for F1 is one of the worst that we have and my board of directors have often wondered why we did this deal.

"But it is like going to China, everyone thought I was stark raving mad to take F1 to China but we needed to be there and that is also the case for Turkey."

Meanwhile, Ecclestone is reportedly favouring the staging of the proposed Indian GP on a street circuit in the national capital, Delhi.

Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai have also been mentioned as possible venues.

Jeremy Burgess, from Adelaide, who has been Rossi's crew chief throughout his MotoGP careeer, and previously to Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner in the 500cc days, has been quoted in The Times of London saying: "He (Rossi) said to me, ‘When you give (me) the bike on Sunday, it's up to me to make a difference. I can put some of my character into the bike'.

"In F1 (testing) he was just another thing bolted into a car. There was no self-expression, because if he made a mistake he would be told he had two laps to pass or he would have to pit."

F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone says he would have loved to have seen Rossi join Ferrari, "but he would have to be stupid".

Reaching 450kmh by the end of the straight at an airbase, the F16 completed the course in just 15.5secs.

"For the first 300m all I could see was the plane in my mirrors, but then he just accelerated past me and off into the distance." Albers says.

A 2.4-litre V8 F1 car has more than 700 horsepower and can reach 350kmh -- the speed the F16 does before taking off.

In the air, the plane can go to 2020kmh -- more than twice the speed of sound. It has 25,000lb of thrust, or the equivalent of 10,000 bhp, and while the F1 car pulls more than 5g through a corner, the F16 pulls 9g.

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