MOTORSPORT: Perth street race back on agenda

WA premier warms to street race idea
While the V8 Supercar circus is off in Bahrain this weekend there is fresh talk at home of a street race in Perth.

The previous WA Labor government had ruled out such a thing, but the new Liberal premier has put the idea back in play this week.

But the form the idea is in now is hardly likely to be palatable to V8 Supercars Australia, which is threatening to drop WA from its national championship after next year unless its wishes are satisfied.

A consultant appointed by the previous government is due to report soon on ways to upgrade the existing Wanneroo or Barbagallo Raceway.

However, new WA premier Colin Barnett revived the idea of a street race this week -- and mentioned Fremantle and Joondalup as possible venues.

Fremantle has been looked at and ruled out before, and its mayor, Peter Tagliaferri, has said since Barnett's remarks that Fremantle's streets are too narrow for such an event.

But Troy Pickard, mayor of Joondalup, embraced the idea. Joondalup is 27km north of the centre of Perth and indeed quite close to Wanneroo/Barbagallo -- just on the other side of a lake.

V8SA's preference is sure to be for a street race in central Perth, but premier Barnett said he knew the Perth City Council was opposed to it in the city centre.

Barnett's interest -- even excitement -- was fired by the Red Bull Air Race in the WA capital last weekend.

"If there was a part of Perth that had the right sort of atmosphere and you could design a (V8 Supercar) circuit we would look at it," Barentt said. "They are exciting events, they are always controversial, but people go in their hundreds of thousands to watch a spectacular event.

"I would like to see them in WA. I am very conscious that motorsports fans are probably the biggest group of any sporting groups.

"The Perth City Council I understand is not keen for a race around Perth city, and it certainly would be very disruptive to the operation of the city. I think the city would be good, but they don't like the idea.

"What I would be interested in is where you would hold it -- whether Fremantle is a possibility, or even Joondalup would work."

Now Fremantle was promptly ruled out by Tagliaferri and, apart from our well-documented qualms about street races, we can't see the point of running such a race in an area that already has a permanent circuit -- which surely can be improved/upgraded and be available for a whole lot of other uses than one V8 Supercar round a year.

Joondalup mayor Pickard thought a street race was a great idea.

"I think it has the potential to provide an exciting opportunity for the city," Pickard said. "We'd have to make sure it is in accordance of sustainability and biodiversity focus ... but we would be happy to engage with the state government as to what type of funding we could receive.

"It would be a significant tourist drawcard and provide a great opportunity for the city and local businesses."

All true enough, but we can't see that it would be the best outcome for everyone.

Barbagallo Raceway general manager Peter Thornell quickly brought some common sense to the debate, saying it was more logical to spend money improving Wanneroo/Barbagallo than putting funding towards a one-off race in Joondalup.

"Where's the benefit of just having one street race ... that doesn't support the local racetrack," Thornell said. "We need to keep the tracks alive."

Thornell said that if Wanneroo/Barbagallo got funds for a track extension it could be divided into two tracks and used for safety training for P-platers to potentially save lives.

Thornell said street races generally did not give spectators good views of racing and there were often greater safety concerns.

"Street circuits have concrete walls on each side, so if there is a slight mistake it could result in severe damage," he said.

GHD, the consultancy appointed by the previous WA government to investigate options, has completed its initial assessment of Wanneroo/Barbagallo and is believed to have come up with three proposals.

It is due to complete costings of its ideas by the middle of this month and Sports Minister Terry Waldron should have a final report by the end of the month.

Premier Barnett's enthusiasm for motorsport is welcome, but it's to be hoped he and his government see commonsense rather than fall for misguided hype about street races.

Next year's V8 Supercar championship will already see the addition of street races in Townsville in July and at Sydney Olympic Park at the end of the season.

That's already two extra street races too many. The money governments go tipping into these events would be far better spent on permanent facilities.

A third possibility previously mooted in WA was that the state government may help fund a new permanent circuit if agreement can't be reached on Wanneroo/Barbagallo.

And that still makes a whole lot more sense than another street race.

People from Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo down to Aussie fans writing to Auto Action magazine have come to realise that too often street races are too processional and dull -- and, the overwhelming evidence is, too costly.

D-day looms for Gold Coast Indy
And still on the subject of street races, an announcement on the future of the Gold Coast Indy surely must come within the next 48-72 hours.

The Queensland government, Gold Coast Indy organisers and the Indy Racing League have all been insisting that a decision would be made within 14 days of the event Aussie Ryan Briscoe won a fortnight ago.

We have repeatedly highlighted here that -- apart from any arguments about the timing of the event or the costs -- the miniscule TV audience for the Indy in the US make it a commercial nonsense, as much fun as the event may be for those attending it.

Anyway, now is the time for the news. Let's hear it.

Ford shaping up better again in '09
Somehow we find it difficult to consider the Bahrain round of the V8 Supercar Championship the equal of others at home or in New Zealand.

Perhaps that is a little unfair or misguided, because certainly the points that will be won there will count every bit as much as other rounds.

Maybe it's the odd timing of the Bahrain races -- one tonight (Friday) and two tomorrow night, all screened on the Seven Network with a replay Sunday afternoon -- that throws us a bit, although we enjoy the pictures from the Middle East, even if there is no sign of any sizeable crowd.

Expect this weekend's round to confirm even more that the title fight is between just three drivers -- Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander. That being a given, we find the developments taking shape for next year of greater importance right now.

Ford has overwhelmed Holden this year, with the exception of Tander, and it looks to us as though Ford is getting its act together better for next year -- when it will start racing its FG model Falcon.

When Ford went public three months ago with its 2009 motorsport plans, financially supporting only two teams, Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers, it seemed it would have only four "anointed" entries -- two drivers from each of those teams, and perhaps a fifth for James Courtney in a satellite FPR car.

Courtney threw something of a spanner in the works by opting to join Dick Johnson/Jim Beam Racing.

But now comes news that Jason Bright will take his sponsorship to Stone Bros and run a third FG Falcon out of that stable, with which he won Bathurst in 1998, while it still seems there will be a satellite car out of FPR.

We're sure Ford won't increase its financial support beyond what's already been pledged, Bright's Fujitsu sponsorship dollars should ensure he gets equipment comparable with that of Shane van Gisbergen and whoever the second Stone Bros driver is -- perhaps Alex Davison, it seems.

That will mean effectively six factory Fords out on the tracks, even if the manufacturer is only contributing to five -- perhaps even only to four.

But, apart from the FPR and Stone Bros entries, there will still be the two Falcons from the sport's benchmark, Triple 8/Team Vodafone, for Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, as well as Courtney at DJR/Jim Beam.

To us Ford is looking very strong again. The company will have a new motorsport manager, yet to be named, as Ray Price is moving on to a senior engineering role within Ford Asia-Pacific and Africa.

Price is seeing out this season in the knowledge that he has executed Ford's racing program super-successfully.

"Our plan was to make sure that we've got a good, strong, broad cross-section of competitive teams, and then executing that," Price told this week's Auto Action magazine. "We've executed our strategy better (than Holden). On any given day you don't know which Ford is going to win.

"And if there's a Holden there you know it's going to be Garth."

Price felt quite rightly that reaching that situation was quite an achievement for Ford and himself.

Over on the other side at Holden things are taking shape for next year too. It may all come together well in the end, although at this stage it looks as though the General's efforts are again running behind Ford.

The Kelly family's moves -- breaking away from Walkinshaw Performance and running cars for brothers Rick and Todd Kelly, perhaps prepared by Larry Perkins -- makes sense.

Walkinshaw Performance will still prepare the Holden Racing Team Commodores and another for Paul Dumbrell, with Autobarn sponsorship, and most likely a fourth for a Young Lion, perhaps David Reynolds.

"We've got to look at bringing some young drivers through for the future," Tom Walkinshaw told Auto Action editor-at-large Mark Fogarty.

"At the moment it's all sort of stalled and that's not healthy."

Tander will remain Holden's, and specifically HRT's, main man, with Will Davison odds-on to be coming across from DJR/Jim Beam -- because he can't co-exist with Courtney -- in place of the retiring Mark Skaife.

While Skaife claims to have had a weight lifted from his shoulders for the remaining three rounds of this year's championship by making his retirement announcement, Auto Action's Fogarty touches on the delicate matter of his HRT future in his column this week.

"Despite announcing he (Skaife) will continue as co-owner with Tom Walkinshaw and become HRT's director of racing (which, to be blunt, is a nebulous title if there ever was one), a question mark -- if not a cloud -- hangs over his tenure at Clayton," Fogarty wrote.

"Skaife will want to be more than a figurehead or frontman and fictions have to be resolved if his presence is not to become awkward."

Yes indeed. For the good of the sport we hope the Holden camp can gets its act back together next season.

And, apart from HRT and the Kelly cars, it needs Tasman/Sprint Gas and Garry Rogers Motorsport to be up there more consistently too.

30 GPs for Raikkonen in off-season
The 2008 Formula 1 season will forever be the year of Lewis Hamilton, and what a contrast it was for the young black Brit to that of the man who had to hand over the title, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Despite setting 10 fastest laps during the season, equaling a record of Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen didn't win a race after April.

The Finn admits he has been through a "dark period" and that he's at a loss to explain it, let alone change what's happened.

Michael Schumacher -- retired after seven world titles, five of them with Ferrari, to which he remains a consultant -- has said Raikkonen may have solved his problems had he not been so independent.

"In a way it is his strength that he has a very focused vision, and maybe sometimes it doesn't always help him," Schumacher said. "We could maybe help him more if he would ask for it."

Felipe Massa, Ferrari's runner-up to Hamilton, has had no such reticence in seeking Schumacher's advice.

Raikkonen's Australian race engineer, Chris Dyer, told Auto Action during the year that Raikkonen spends as much time in technical debriefs at the track as Schumacher did but that he is not in contact with the Ferrari factory between races in the way Schumi was.

Anyway, what's done is done for '08.

Despite persistent rumors that he has been contemplating retirement, Raikkonen insists he could go on another four or five years. And Ferrari's plan to rekindle his competitiveness involves a massive testing load over the off-season.

"Kimi will do approximately 9000km, or 30 grand prix distances," Ferrari technical chief Aldo Costa told Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

"In one month he will drive many more laps than during the entire season."

Incidentally, Fernando Alonso -- world champion the two years before Raikkonen -- is staying with Renault in '09, as we had come to expect.

Nelson Piquet Junior also has been retained by Renault for another season.

Alonso staying put leaves Honda with decisions to make on its line-up.

Bruno Senna, nephew of the great Ayrton, will test for Honda soon and may get a seat in place of veteran Rubens Barrichello, while Jenson Button appears safe there despite not scoring as many world championship points as Barrichello this season.

If the new Senna doesn't get a seat at Honda he may find one at Scuderia Toro Rosso, which is losing Sebastien Vettel to Red Bull Racing and may not keep Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.

In Britain ITV said almost 13.1 million homes tuned in to see Hamilton win the title. It averaged 8.75 million between 4 and 7pm.

Those numbers made it the most watched GP on ITV since it took over broadcasting the sport in 1997.

Ironically, it was also its last GP as the telecast rights have gone back to the BBC next year.

ITV said the only other sporting event with a higher peak audience in Britain this year was the Champions League soccer final at 14.6 million homes.

In France TF1 said it had more than 5 million homes view the Brazilian race, while Germany's RTL claimed to have captured an average 8.8 million homes and a peak of 9.46 million homes.

Two world champion WRC teammates for Atkinson?
Australia's world rally championship star Chris Atkinson may have another world champion teammate in the Subaru factory squad next season.

Apart from Norwegian Petter Solberg, Ford's retired dual world champ, Finn Marcus Gronholm, has recently tested a Subaru.

Gronholm has said that if this year's championship had been 12 rounds, as next year's will be, he would not have retired at the end of last season.

Richard Taylor, managing director of the Subaru WRC for David Richards' Prodrive, says there is a third seat awaiting Gronholm "if the deal's right".

A1 GP in China this weekend
The A1 GP series is at the Chengdu International Circuit in Sichuan province in the south west of China this weekend for round two of its fourth season.

Some teams still have not had a chance to test their new Ferrari-engined cars.

Marco Andretti, 21-year-old son of Michael and grandson of Mario, will represent the US team at Chengdu -- and hopefully create some new, and much-needed, interest in the series.

Karting superman is in Australia
A karter who Ayrton Senna regarded as perhaps his greatest rival is racing in Australia this weekend -- at Numerkah in country Victoria.

We remember being stunned in the early 1990s when Senna, still widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver despite German Michael Schumacher's seven titles, shocked the motorsport world at an Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide when he named Terry Fullerton among the best of his rivals.

We can't even remember who else Senna mentioned -- perhaps Nigel Mansell, and he may not even have got around to naming a third.

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