MOTORSPORT: Mitsubishis rule the Mountain

The first two were prepared by former Nissan Godzilla and V8 Supercar crew chief Alan Heaphy under the banner of Team Mitsubishi Ralliart (TMR) which he has headed for several years -- a business he formed, quite distinct from Mitsubishi's Japanese associate company Ralliart.

The winning car contained two of last year's 12-Hour-winning drivers, owner Rod Salmon and two-time ute champion Damien White, partnered this year by two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Tony Longhurst.

The second car was driven by West Australians Tony Ricciardello, Stuart Kostera and Glyn Crimp -- the latter two Bathurst rookies!

Both the TMR cars completed 239 laps of the famed 6.3km Mt Panorama circuit.

Third, a lap down after 19 pitstops because of a fuel pick-up problem and some electrical dramas, was one of the three Bob Pearson/ProDuct Motorsport entries driven by Jason Bargwanna, Brad Jones and Stephen Knight.

Despite the incredible number of pitstops, that car could have been in contention for victory but for its long final stop and brake issues.

"A very busy race," Bargwanna called it.

Three other Mitsubishis finished in the top 10 -- Evo IXs fourth and sixth, and an Evo 10 in which one of the three drivers was movie star and Bathurst rookie Eric Bana 10th, having clawed its way up from 35th at one point.

"A bit of a dream (to compete at Bathurst and finish in the top 10)," Bana said.

Not hard to see from all of this that it was a bad day for Subaru -- not one of them in the top 10.

Forty seven cars started -- almost twice the number in the V8 Supercar Bathurst 1000 last October -- and there were 11 stints behind the safety car.

Quite an enthralling race for aficionados of endurance racing.

We mentioned before the event that we wished it well and were disappointed it did not attract more attention, although there was some at the weekend because of the participation of Bana and TV star Grant Denyer, who ended up having a hairy moment when a tyre blew at 200km/h on the Lancer he was sharing with Tony and Klark Quinn.

But it was a gearbox glitch that put Denyer out just before half-distance, although he was pleased to have minimal discomfort from the serious back injury he suffered in a monster truck accident late last year.

Victorious team owner Salmon said: "We really started this up six months ago when we ordered the Evo X and started working with TMR.

"This year the depth in the field was a lot stronger, so I'm delighted to have won the race for the second year in a row.

"Everyone seems to really enjoy coming to this event. Bathurst is a great place to come -- we brought 35 people here this year as a part of our outfit."

Co-driver White said: "This win is a credit to Alan Heaphy and TMR. Winning the 12-Hour two years in a row is better than my two ute championships."

We're delighted the event has gone well but are dubious about the claimed three-day attendance of 29,117 people. That figure seems to have at least one digit, perhaps even two, too many!

It is a sad reflection on the Australian motoring press that it pays so little, indeed next to no, attention to such an event -- simply because none of the car companies had factory entries and reason to fly the media in and house and feed them for the weekend.

The biggest problem we see with the race that its distance makes decent TV coverage so difficult. To mount a proper outside broadcast of it would cost a couple of million dollars.

There is to be a three-hour package on the Seven Network in three weeks. The length of that package may be about right, perhaps even a hour too long, but it will be all far too late.

WPS Bathurst 12-Hour Showroom Enduro Outright Results
1. R.Salmon/T.Longhurst/D.White -- Mitsubishi Evo X -- 239 laps
2. G.Crimp/T.Ricciardello/S.Kostera -- Mitsubishi Evo X
3. J.Bargwana/S.Knight/B.Jones -- Mitsubishi Evo X -- 238 laps
4. D.Wall/D.Wall/T.Symonds -- Mitsubishi Evo IX GSR -- 237 laps
5. B.Morcom/L.Searle/P.Stubber -- BMW 335i
6. S.Jones/K.Wade/A.Caratti -- Mitsubishi Evo IX -- 235 laps
7. S.Briffa/M.Zukanovic/T.Sipp -- Holden VE R8 Clubsport -- 231 laps
8. G.Holt/P.Morris/R.Shaw -- BMW 335i -- 228 laps
9. G.Walden/B.Walden/M.Auld -- Holden Commodore SS
10. T.Leahey/P.Hill/E.Bana -- Mitsubishi Evo X

Class Winners
Class A - Rear Wheel Drive
B. Morcom/L. Searle/P. Stubber -- BMW 335i

Class B - High Performance Sports
M. O'Connor/R. Buttrose/S. Hogg -- Lotus Exige

Class C - All Wheel Drive
R. Salmon/T. Longhurst/D. White -- Mitsubishi Evo X

Class D - Hot Hatch Performance
A. Shepherd/P. O'Donnell/C. D'Agostin -- BMW 130i

Class E - Production Sedans
G. Walden/B. Walden/M. Auld -- Holden SS VZ

Class F - Production Sports
P. Conroy/C. Schembri/R. Gartner -- Honda Integra Type S

Class G - Micro Sedans and Hatches
M. Windsor/S. Sheils/P. Newman -- Subaru Impreza 2.5

Glass H - Diesel Over 3.5 Litre
K. Booker/R. Rinaldo/D. Stone -- Alfa Romeo 159 JTD

Class I - Diesel 3.5 litre and under
D.Filipetto/N. Gotch/W. Vinckx -- Alfa Romeo 147 JTD

A1 Team Oz kilometres from the podium
The fifth round of the A1 GP series in South Africa at the weekend was anything but A1.

Series chairman Tony Teixeira has made a complete goose of himself. More of that in a minute.

And Australia's John Martin finished 12th in the sprint race at Kyalami and 13th in the feature. Sure he qualified fourth for the feature and ran as high as third before a pitstop drama.

But let's forget talk of the fastest pitstops in the series and all manner of other excuses. It's time for results. 

South African driver Adrian Zaugg did a bit better than Martin in one race, seventh in the sprint, and worse in the other, 16th in the sprint -- a big disappointment to the home crowd.

Australian fans have no influence over where Team Australia and Martin start or finish, but they're not going to be enthused about results like they're seeing when this series comes to the Gold Coast in late October for what is being billed as SuperGP -- the new name for what was the Indy carnival.

Especially after having been spoiled there by Ryan Briscoe's IndyCar victory last year and the blistering speed of Will Power for a couple of years -- admittedly without translating into results.

Defending A1 champion country Switzerland is back on top after its driver, Neel Jani, won the Kyalami feature -- his ninth victory in the history of A1, equalling the recod of Germany's Nico Hulkbenberg, the champion in the second season and now the Williams Formula 1 test driver.

Jani took the chequered flag 13 seconds ahead of Brazilian youngster Felipe Guimaraes, who scored his country's best result of the season.

Clivio Piccione was third to give Monaco its first podium in its debut season.

Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen drove faultlessly to win the sprint race by 4 seconds -- Holland's first victory in the past 45 races -- ahead of Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque and Jani.

Bleekemolen was fourth in the feature, while previous series leaders Ireland and Adam Carroll were punted by Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy at the first corner of the feature.

"He just hit me in the back right corner," Carroll said.

And, for the record, here are Aussie Martin's explanations.

On the sprint race: "At the start I was looking for any opportunity whilst keeping the car in good shape. As the race unfolded I waited for the pit window and Robbie's call to come in," Martin said.

"The boys did another great job allowing me to jump six cars and get to 12th place."

And the feature: "I was watching Rob with the lollypop and when he let me go all I saw was the German car in front of me, so I braked and the engine stopped," Martin said.

"The crew guys tried pushing me to restart and that didn't work, so they had to run half way down pit lane with the starter to get me going again.

"I had the best times over most of the race and was second fastest overall. We had Brazil covered and Monaco -- all I had to do was to keep the car going as it was quick and running perfect.

"I just wish this wouldn't happen and we got what we had planned for -- the podium."

A1 GP championship standings -- Switzerland 73 points, Ireland 70, Portugal 64, Netherlands 56, France 41, New Zealand 36, Malaysia 32, Australia 30, Monaco 23,  Britain 20, South Africa 19, US 19, Brazil 16, Italy 10, India 8, Lebanon 8, China 4, Korea 4, Indonesia 2, Germany 0, Mexico 0.

Empty vessels make the most noise
Now to the poor form, bordering on lunacy, of A1 GP chairman Tony Teixeira.

He has accused Formula 1 of copying A1's ideas -- with a single tyre supplier, moves towards standard specification engines, and even Force India team's concept of national pride.

Teixeira reckoned that Toyota, Renault and BMW could all follow Honda's lead in withdrawing from F1.

He admitted that A1 is headed for another loss this season, but somehow reckoned it could have turned a profit if not for the global financial meltdown.

We, and readers, are entitled to wonder what this guy is on, and what has become of the major investor(s) in the A1 series foreshadowed at the New Zealand round at Taupo four weeks ago.

"Everything we (A1) are is what F1 is trying to be," Teixeira claimed at the weekend.

But his real agenda was revealed when he had this to say to South Africa's The Times about, or to, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone: "Instead of copying all the ideas from A1GP, just buy me out!"

More on Teixeira's gibberish is here. And a stinging review of his A1 as a TV show is here.

There's nine months until A1 GP comes to the Gold Coast, if it is still alive.

Hope Teixeira is talking more sense by then, if he's still involved. Don't like his chances of Ecclestone buying him out.

We had wondered whether Red Bull tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz might have had some interest in A1, especially in recasting it as his junior driver development program.

Our sources tell us not, although we note that Mateschitz is becoming increasingly vocal in F1 -- especially in wanting teams, of which he owns two, to have more say and Ecclestone less.

Kenseth and Ford double up in NASCAR
Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth backed up his victory in "The Great American Race" in Florida last week with another victory today, Australian time, in the 500-mile (800km) second round of NASCAR'S Sprint Cup at Fontana Speedway in California.

So two victories for Ford to start the American stock car season.

Kenseth is the first driver to win the first two races of a NASCAR season since 1997, when it was done by Jeff Gordon -- who was second today in a Chevrolet.

Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota and Australia's Marcos Ambrose 21st in another Toyota Camry.

A potentially very good sign for Ambrose is that two of the other cars out of the same workshop as his, those of Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann, are in the top 10 in the series.

NASCAR Sprint Cup standings after two rounds -- Matt Kenseth (Ford) 385 points,  Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) 304, Kurt Busch (Dodge) 294, Tony Stewart (Toyota) 294, Greg Biffle (Ford) 268, Clint Bowyer (Chevrolet) 266, Michael Waltrip (Toyota) 264, David Regan (Ford) 262, Carl Edwards (Ford) 260, Elliott Sadler (Dodge) 248, David Reutimann (Toyota) 248. Marcos Ambrose is 20th on 212 points.

Interesting form from V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup, but we're even more interested to see that the cars had to be based on NASCAR models and converted to right-hand-drive.

Anyway, the ride looks great and it's a good connect with V8 Supercar fans.

And we also noted a mention in the Sunday News in NZ of Hamilton 400 organiser Stephen Vuleta saying: "Our sales are so far ahead of Pukekohe (previous NZ V8 Supercar venue) in 2007 ... (but) we've probably got to sell four times what we have so far to reach capacity."

That sounds a lot softer than last year's Hamilton debut, when everything seemed to sold out well in advance.

F1 round-up - Webber, Danica, Mr Red Bull, Honda, etc
It's been a bumper off-season for F1 news, even if we see little of it in the mainstream Australian media.

And still it comes. Here's a selection of what we've noted in the past few days.

>> And more on Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Rosso owner Dietrich Mateshitz's increasing militancy in F1 is here.

>> The Honda sale saga rumbles on, with Virgin's Sir Richard Branson admitting he's interested in getting in to F1 but saying he wants to see its costs tackled seriously and it becoming greener. One the one hand Branson gives the appearance of being in no rush, yet the start of the F1 season is now little more than five weeks away, and he also said: "Maybe something might be able to get sorted out. Virgin often does things that other people don't do."
It has become a game of poker, with Honda spokesman Hiroyuki Murase saying: "We are pursuing several buyers, but the team may still have to be disbanded if the negotiations fail."
For a fuller picture, we provide two links -- the first by our old mate Ian Gordon in, of all places, the News of the World, and starting with the revelation of a massive rescue offer for the team from Bernie Ecclestone that has been rebuffed, here and the other, from crash.net, with a little more of Branson's thinking, here.

>> For anyone whose appetite for F1 is still not sated, a couple more excellent pieces -- on the sponsorship scene, including an estimate that the sport has lost 64 million pounds (AU$143.3m) this year, here and a broader perspective on the state of F1 in The Scotsman, here.