MOTORSPORT: Off to a flying start

The Dakar Rally, originally a European and African event, is underway for the third time in South America.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz in a Volkswagen Touareg is defending last year's victory strongly by winning the first two stages of the 15-day, 13-stage torture test in Argentina and soon Chile.

Sainz is more than three minutes ahead of the BMW X3 CC of Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, who was a multiple Dakar winner for Mitsubishi.

Australian Bruce Garland is in the top 20 in the early stages this year in his Isuzu D-MAX ute and his progress can be followed at isuzumotorsports.com

In little more than a fortnight the Monte Carlo Rally's centenary will be celebrated, with 100 starters from 27 countries chosen from more than 300 applications.

Peugeot, Skoda and Proton will be keen competitors, with Australia represented by Chris Atkinson in a Proton.

These days "The Monte" -- which has been called rallying's halo event -- is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge rather than the World Rally Championship.

The line-up for the January 19-21 classic, ending with two night stages, contains 39 Super 2000 cars.

Then on the last weekend of January there's the Daytona 24-hour sports car race in America, with Sydneysiders Ryan Briscoe and 23-year-old Daniel Erickson competing with Chevrolet power.

The 49th running of what is now the "Rolex 24" is the start of three weeks of major activity at the famed Florida venue, culminating in the Daytona 500 -- the opening round of NASCAR's Sprint Cup.

On the Australian front, the summer of speedway -- and particularly sprintcar -- racing has been disrupted by rain again.

The V8 Supercars will fire up early with a season launch at Sydney's Eastern Creek on January 29.

The revived West Australian round of the V8 Supercar Championship has been brought forward a week to April 29 to May 1 for TV reasons, avoiding a clash with Mothers Day in the process.

There's plenty happening on the V8 Supercar scene already, with the prospect of an ownership shake-up in the category now out in the open.

The Australian newspaper ran with a story on New Year's Eve that Sports and Entertainment Ltd's 25 per cent stake in V8 Supercar Australia could be for sale.

The report confirmed pre-Christmas whispers that Tim Miles, a former central figure in the now-defunct Tasman Motorsports, was involved in a "strategic review" and possible partial sale of the category.

The report mentioned private equity groups and global marketing agencies IMG and Octagon as potential buyers.

An extravagant internet report since made the preposterous suggestion that 80-year-old Formula One supreme Bernie Ecclestone could be an interested party -- the author obviously overlooking that openwheeler purist Ecclestone regards touring cars as "taxis".

The same report broached Middle Eastern interests and Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd as potential buyers.

Time will tell whether there is a buyer, and what the business is worth, but the talk of a partial sale comes at the start of the year in which negotiations will be held on a new TV contract for V8 Supercars from 2013.

On the Car of the Future front, veteran V8 Supercar scribe Bruce Newton has reported in V8X magazine on further delays -- firstly that no prototype chassis will be ready for the Eastern Creek launch.

Before the V8 Supercar Champonship gets underway -- in Abu Dhabi, with Adelaide's Clipsal 500 the first Australian round -- Craig Lowndes will drive in the Armor All Bathurst 12-hour -- in an Audi R8.

The car is entered for the February 6 enduro by Team Joest, the nine-time Le Mans 24-hour-winning outfit and Lowndes will share the driving with Warren Luff and Mark Eddy.

The event is now for GT cars as well as production vehicles and the Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Mosler and Chevrolet marques appear among the entries.

Since our mid-December report on former Confederation of Australian Motor Sport chief executive Graham Fountain's sudden departure from the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade he has resigned as chairman and a director of Rally Australia.

Ben Rainsford of Adelaide has become acting chairman of the WRC event to be held in NSW's Coffs Coast region in September.

Details of the stages for the rally should be known soon, but the Opal Cove Resort, 7km north of Coffs Harbour, will be the event headquarters, with the service park at the northern end of the local airport.

Meanwhile, Scott Pedder has been named chief executive of the Australian Rally Championship.

Pedder, a former top competitor and the marketing director of the national Pedders Suspension business, has set luring manufacturers to the ARC as a priority.

He has proposed that this year's manufacturers' championship be for two-wheel drive cars only and wants to establish a new junior championship.

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