MOTORSPORT: It's all go, go, go

Novelty factor before counting the cost
Three weeks from Christmas and Australian motorsport is still on full throttle.

The first Sydney 500 is going to be huge. Despite the V8 Supercar title being (surely) a foregone conclusion in Jamie Whincup's favour, the new street race is going to be massive -- in terms of attendance and novelty value.

It may, indeed probably will, turn out to be a serious impost on NSW taxpayers. And it's now starting without its two biggest political mouthpieces, with yesterday's NSW premier Nathan Rees ousted by Kristina Keneally, just weeks after Rees sacked Ian Macdonald, who had championed the event as state development minister.

Young Aussie tops Formula One test
On a broader front, Australia is a lot closer today to having another Formula One driver after 20-year-old Daniel Ricciardo from Perth topped the timesheets on the final day of the three-day F1 test for potential grand prix drivers at Jerez in Spain.

Ricciardo had been on the pace over all three days, driving a Red Bull RB5 like that in which Mark Webber won two GPs this year -- and his German teammate Sebastian Vettel another four.

Winner of this year's British Formula Three Championship and lined up to do next year's Formula Renault 3.5 Championship with top French team Tech 1, Ricciardo is under consideration to be Red Bull Racing's reserve driver next year.

Third drivers in F1 teams previously were tested as well as reserve drivers, but testing is so limited now that it is largely a symbolic role -- with the reserve, usually a youngster, only nominally on standby in case one of the team's full-time drivers is sidelined.

As well as Ricciardo has done -- 21 race victories and two titles in Europe in the past two seasons, as well as scintillating form at the Jerez test, where he headed 15 other aspiring F1 drivers on the final day -- he's probably at least another year or two away from a GP start.

And we note that Red Bull is reportedly throwing $5 million at 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen's rally ambitions in 2010 -- and, if either Vettel or Webber are unavailable at any point next season it  may turn to him first as a substitute.

Spill call against CAMS board
Something has come to our notice on the motor sport political front that confirms 2009 is ending with a bang rather than a whimper.

The Victorian state council of CAMS (the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport) is seeking "a total spill of the entire CAMS (national) board due to their collective inability to adequately engage their clientele, failure to adequately manage the brief of the sport, or to understand the industry in such a way as to advance motor sport".

We discovered this on the website of the Canberra-based Brindabella Motor Sport Club. Victorian council member, David Kelly, has written extensive notes about a meeting of that body last Monday, November 30.

The vote of that Victorian council -- perhaps taken earlier last month, but in any case effectively a show of no-confidence in CAMS nationally -- was 11-6, with two abstentions.

CAMS president Andrew Papadopoulos and CEO Graham Fountain attended Monday's meeting, which appears to have been quite civil -- even if there is a huge rift between the state and national sides.

According to Kelly's notes, Papadopoulos seems conciliatory, or at least prepared to listen to the grievances, while Fountain is portrayed as more defensive and giving "evasive and unsatisfactory" responses.

What intrigues this author is that not a word of this explosive matter has been seen or heard in any media -- perhaps a commentary that motor sport generally is still but a mere speck on the radar of media organisations -- despite, or contrary to, the largely artificial hype around the Sydney 500.

Eli Evans, younger brother of triple national champion Simon Evans and already a well-proven performer himself, has gained Honda support for next year's ARC and will drive a JAS Motorsport-built, Mugen-powered two-wheel-drive Honda Civic Type R -- like that which British champion Guy Wilks drove in Australia in 2008.

The ARC begins with the Tasmanian round on February 26-28.

Nor is there any sign of a naming rights sponsor for the event to replace the departed ING, although we hear feelers are out for $3 million -- a much smaller amount than in yesteryear and a mere 7.5 per cent of the annual loss ($40 million) each of the past two years.

The five support categories announced are V8 Supercars and rounds of the Australian GT Championship, the MINI Challenge Series, the Formula 5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series and the Australian Formula Ford Championship.

No sign though of a celebrity race, which was a major component of the GP until dropped for this year's carnival because of the absence of a manufacturer partner.

Villeneuve firming for F1 return
On the wider F1 front, the Sauber team -- minus the departed BMW -- is now a confirmed entry for next season. That means 13 teams and 26 cars/drivers.

And 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is firming as favourite for one of the seats with the new Malaysian-funded team using the legendary F1 name Lotus.

Now 38 and out of GP racing for more than three years, Villeneuve is working hard on his fitness with his old trainer Dr Erwin Gollner, who also trains Nico Rosberg, previously at Williams -- where Villeneuve won his title.

Rosberg is the only driver yet confirmed by this year's world championship-winning BrawnGP team, now controlled by Mercedes.

Lotus may end up fielding two veterans, with Italian Jarno Trulli also in the frame there.

A Villeneuve return will be a boost for the revived Canadian GP on June 13.

"People here love him," said new Montreal race promoter Francois Dumontier.

Wheels turning quietly on Gold Coast
And in Queensland management expert David Williams has presented an interim report to the state government on the future direction of the Gold Coast SuperGP -- previously Indy and presumably something different again next year.

Queensland premier Anna Bligh said the document could not be made public because it contained commercial information.

The state's auditor-general, Glenn Poole, is still working on a review of the event, and particularly how this year's A1 GP fiasco happened. No sign yet that the $1.8 million deposit paid to A1 has been returned.

Meanwhile, Chris White -- founder of sports management company International Quarterback -- is to be the new chairman of the Gold Coast event, replacing former deputy premier and lobbyist Terry Mackenroth.

White has been a board member of Tourism Queensland, joined the Queensland Events Corp board in July and now takes the main seat at Gold Coast Motor Events Company -- the partnership between the government and IMG (International Management Group) that runs "Indy".

The Gold Coast Bulletin reported this week that White "is known for his ability to attract sponsorship deals, a talent which will be put to the test by the troubled SuperGP, which has struggled to attract and keep a naming rights sponsor".

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