Motorsport: Green light for new Supercars

>> VE Commodore, BF Falcon okayed
While the V8 Supercars are racing in Bahrain this weekend, Holden’s VE Commodore and Ford’s BF MKII Falcon have been cleared to start racing at the opening round of next year’s championship – Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 in early March.

V8 teams group TEGA, which oversees technical aspects of the sport, has approved the VE and BF after months of evaluation and testing. The Commodore is an all-new car while the Falcon has had a major facelift from the existing model.

The aerodynamic packages on the cars were tested at the Woomera rocket range in South Australia with the Commodore prepared by Holden Racing Team and the Falcon by Triple Eight Racing.

The BF Falcon aero kit comprises a new front splitter, side skirts and greater adjustability for the rear wing.

The official announcement of the approvals says: “The two cars were presented with the same critical aerodynamic components for testing. The objective was to equalise the cars on the lowest of the aerodynamic downforce figures achieved on the front and back of each.”

In the face of the new VE, Holden’s VZ Commodore will remain eligible for competing in the championship but the BA Falcon will only be allowed to race in the development series.

TEGA chairman Kelvin O’Reilly says the final approval process was “seamless” and that “because of this the championship will present a whole new look for the start of the 2007 season”.

>> Bright start in Bahrain
Network Ten’s telecasts of Bahrain’s Desert 400 start tonight (yes, Friday!), with the lead-in report and first race from 11.40pm until 1.05am, eastern daylight saving time.

Races two and three will be screened tomorrow from 10.40pm to midnight, with replayed highlights Sunday between 2.30 and 5pm.

The order after Friday’s practice was Jason Bright (Ford, pictured), Garth Tander (Holden), Mark Winterbottom (F), Rick Kelly (H), Will Davison (F) and Craig Lowndes (F).

The 3.6km circuit, a shortened version of that used for the country’s F1 Grand Prix, had little grip but may improve as more rubber is laid on it during today’s practice and qualifying, but sand blowing across the track is likely to be a problem throughout the weekend.

Bright says tyres will be a big factor.

“The circuit’s got long straights and very hard braking, so there’s a lot of time to make under brakes,” he says.

The championship order after 11 of the 13 rounds (the final is at Victoria’s Phillip Island in two weeks) is: Rick Kelly (HSV Dealer Team) 2861 points; Craig Lowndes (Triple Eight) -73 points; Mark Winterbottom (Ford Performance Racing) -272; Russell Ingall (Stone Bros) -433; Garth Tander (HSV Dealer Team) -445; Jason Bright (FPR) -563;  Steven Richards (Perkins) -626; Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team) -657; Steven Johnson (Dick Johnson Racing) -810; Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight) -861.

>> V8 special on Al Jazeera
The Al Jazeera television network is filming a half-hour special on the V8 Supercars in Bahrain and the launch of the Holden-derived Lumina CSV Championship Middle East. The program is to be broadcast across the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on Bahrain’s leadership in the region’s motorsport.

>> Hamilton it is in NZ
Hamilton has been given the formal nod as New Zealand’s new host of a round of the V8 Supercar Championship from 2008. Independent commissioner Alan Withy gave Hamilton City Council approval this week for a 3.5km circuit bordering the city’s central business district.

NZ’s biggest inland city and about an hour’s drive south of Auckland, Hamilton’s first race will be in April or May ’08, while Pukekohe, the permanent circuit 40km south of Auckland, will stage its send-off next April.

Hamilton secured the race after attempts by Auckland and Wellington failed because of failure to get “resource consent”. Any appeal against Commissioner Withy’s approval must be lodged within three weeks.

Withy dismissed the objection of Tim and Celia Hope that the race would cost too much ratepayer money and encourage “boy racing”.

“The commissioner believes that (objection) is not in the interests of the citizens of Hamilton as a whole and notes that all the other submitters’ concerns are capable of being reasonably satisfied by conditions,” the formal announcement of the approval says. There had been 34 submissions opposing the race but all except four were settled before the resource hearing.

Hamilton mayor Michael Redman says there has been great co-operation between the council and the community.

“The overwhelming majority of Hamiltonians wanted to see this vision become a reality,” he says. “Importantly, it was the willingness of the people who are genuinely affected by the event to come together to resolve issues that meant the event could ultimately happen.

“The process had been time-consuming and expensive but worthwhile because it meant a lot of the planning had now been done. We’ll now go immediately into event planning,” Redman said.

Hamilton ratepayers will cough up NZ$7m for the circuit to be built and many more millions have been set aside under a “long term community plan” to cover “sponsorship”.

The exact figure is unclear due to “commercial sensitivities”, but it has been reported it could be as much as NZ$25m over seven years. Redman has called on the NZ Government to help with promotion but has not mentioned the amount the council wants for that purpose.

There have been estimates the race will generate more than NZ$20m for the Waikato region in the first year and more than NZ$150m over seven years. Redman says those figures are conservative and the value could be as high as NZ$40m a year.

Attendance is projected to be 156,000 in 2008, with daily capacity capped at 65,000 the first year but supposedly increasing to 80,000 in 2009.

V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane says Redman was the key to the race getting up in Hamilton.

“He’s got a go get ’em, knock ’em down attitude,” Cochrane says. “It was a very professional exercise from go to whoa. He led this. He showed up Wellington and Auckland, no question.

“We’ve built a fantastic fan base in NZ and this is the next huge step in that country. It will make our sport even bigger again in NZ. It gives not only Hamilton a great showcasing opportunity but also NZ motorsport,”  Cochrane said.

Event promoter Dean Calvert, of CSM Ltd, says the Hamilton approval is a relief for NZ motorsport fans.
“We knew that had this not been successful, then the V8 Supercar Championship, which is being courted by countries around the world, would not return to our country,” Calvert said.

“There is a massive job ahead of us, firstly to run next April’s event at Pukekohe for the final time, and then to build this incredible street event in Hamilton.”

Exactly a month after the German bowed out of F1, Schumacher tested a kart midweek at Lonato, near Brescia in Italy, in preparation for a private 24-hour kart race at his own track in his hometown, Kerpen in Germany, on December 2-3. While he wore his usual red helmet he was in green overalls!

Schumacher seems more intent than at his last GP in Brazil that he won’t be making any F1 comeback.

“The technology, the engines, the rules, the circuits… Once you get out of F1, you’re out,” he says.

An updated version of his official biography by his publicist Sabine Kehm is to be launched today, but only in German for now. He describes it as “an emotional, not chronological retrospective on my times in F1”, adding: “I still have no idea what effects retirement will have on me, but I’m not afraid of it either.”

>> Damon begins uphill battle
A decade after he became Britain’s last F1 world champion, Damon Hill is suggesting a full-time school to nurture British driving talent as a way to breathe new life into the British GP (which Bernie Ecclestone has suggested be alternated with the French GP).

President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club that owns the Silverstone circuit, Hill says it is more important to have a thrilling event rather than the best facilities.

“The last couple of (British) GPs I’ve come to I thought were sterile,” Hill says. “If you go to Monaco it’s quick-fire racing all weekend. That used to be the case here. We need to make the British GP the greatest motorsport event in the world.

“We should try to be something like Goodwood, only better, and with real racing. We should build around it as a show, with lots of attractions. We need to create an atmosphere. I know Bernie would like that,” Hill said

>> Renault hopeful on Bridgestones
Renault is confident that, after winning the past two F1 constructors’ championships on Michelin tyres, it can quickly adapt to Bridgestones.

The Japanese tyre maker, now the sole supplier of F1 rubber, will assist that process by providing tyres intended for the 2007 season-opening Australian GP in Melbourne at next week’s first test in Barcelona, Spain.

Renault engineering chief Pat Symonds is confident the French team can be on level terms with previous Bridgestone users Ferrari, Toyota and Williams by Melbourne.

“Our aim will be to get to Australia on an equal footing with the teams that have been using them for a while already. That will not be easy, but it is achievable,” Symonds says.

“We have received a lot of data from Bridgestone, which has been applied to our computer modelling in order to understand the basics of how the car set-up needs to be altered to get the best out of the tyres. Factors such as weight distribution and the aerodynamic characteristics of the car need to be re-assessed to determine how to best use the Bridgestone tyres.”

Symonds is “very confident” of Renault’s 2007 drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen”, making the change.

>> Alonso may go early
Dual world champion Fernando Alonso may yet get to test for his new team McLaren-Mercedes before the end of the year. Renault had wanted to hold Alonso to the letter of his contract to maximise its leverage of his success, but Spanish newspaper Diario As reports Alonso may be freed to join McLaren for the December 12-15 test at Jerez.

Pity the ambassadorial role did not begin while Hakkinen’s countryman and protégé Kimi Raikkonen was with McLaren as he’s had a couple of infamous incidents on the drink.

>> Sato in the big league
Takuma Sato is arguably the most talented Japanese driver to have raced in F1, but he only had a seat this year with the sudden arrival of Super Aguri in the sport. Yet, according to Spanish newspaper Marca, Sato’s pay packet this season was US$7.7m perhaps more than world champion Alonso’s, as well as those of GP winners David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button. And Mark Webber.

Super Aguri’s British recruit for 2007, Antony Davidson, reportedly will be on US$250,000.

Montoya was supposedly playing tennis with Convey when he fractured his shoulder in early 2005, causing him to miss several GPs, but rumour persists the injury was the result of a motorbike crash.