MOTORSPORT: Power's on in IndyCar

Three wins and a second in the past four completed IndyCar races have Australia's Will Power right back in contention to regain the title he won in 2014.

Power's latest victory came on the short street circuit in Toronto, Canada, courtesy of a brilliant call by Tim Cindric, his Team Penske strategist on the pit wall and Roger Penske's right-hand man in racing.

Anticipating congestion with traffic, Cindric called Power in for a pitstop on the 57th of the 85 laps of the 2.86km circuit. Most of the other top guns were wrong-footed when American Josef Newgarden – the previous week's winner at Iowa Speedway in Kentucky, where Power finished second – crashed, bringing out the fourth full-course caution of the race.

Power emerged in second and took the lead for the last 10 laps after Penske teammate Helio Castroneves pitted.

New Zealand's reigning IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was one of the big losers, having led 56 laps but finding himself 13th after pitting under caution.

Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, another of Power's teammates, the series leader and who had been running second to Chip Ganassi Racing's Dixon, was now 14th.

That pair finished eighth and ninth after needing to pit under green as Power stormed on to victory, 1.5275 seconds ahead of Castronves with hometown hero James Hinchcliffe third in the first of the Honda-engined cars behind the Chevrolet-powered Team Penske pair. There was a one-lap dash at the finish after another crash involving the fourth Penske driver, Juan Pablo Montoya.

Power's victory is his 28th in IndyCar.

"We did need a break. That was a great call [to pit]. Just a fantastic day," said Power, who also won the second race at Detroit's Belle Isle in early June and at Road America later last month. Another race at Texas Motor Speedway was aborted and has been rescheduled for the last weekend of August – one of five races remaining in the next two months.

"We've been playing catch-up all year [Power missed the opening race in Florida with an inner-ear infection after qualifying on pole position], but every race we're executing, getting great strategies, great [Chevrolet-powered] cars.

"We've just got to keep chipping away, man, keep chipping away and see if we can have a shot at this [title]."

Power now trails Pagenaud by 47 points, with a race win worth 50 points and a bonus point for each pole position, fastest race lap and most laps led.

Power's fellow Queenslander Matt Brabham claimed his second straight win in the North American Stadium Super Trucks Series in Toronto, while Australians were second in both the weekend's races there in the US F2000 Championship for Mazda-powered open-wheelers.

West Australian Anthony Martin qualified on pole position for the two races despite a painful left wrist from hitting a wall in practice. Martin lost the lead at the first start to eventual winner, Brazilian Victor Franzoni, and crashed out on lap 14, with Jordan Lloyd, another Queenslander (like Power, from Toowoomba) finishing second. The next day Martin finished a close second to his Canadian Cape Motorsports teammate Parker Thompson, with Lloyd setting the fastest lap. Martin trails Thompson by 20 points in the championship with five races remaining, and Lloyd and another West Australian, Luke Gabin, are also in the top five.

IndyCar driver standings – 1. Simon Pagenaud (France, Team Penske, Dallara-Chevrolet) 432 points; 2. Will Power (Australia, Team Penske, Chevrolet) 385; 3. Helio Castroneves (Brazil, Team Penske, Chevrolet) 358; 4. Scott Dixon (New Zealand, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevroelt) 349; 5. Josef Newgarden (Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet) 344.

US F2000 standings – 1. Parker Thompson (Canada) 27 points; 2. Anthony Martin (Australia) 250; 3. Victor Franzoni (Brazil) 228; 4. Jordan Lloyd (Australia) 199; 5. Luke Gabin (Australia) 179.

'Halo' cockpit protection move stalling ... for now
The move to introduce a "halo" over the cockpits of Formula 1 cars to provide greater protection for drivers, especially from flying tyres and other debris, looks increasingly likely to be delayed at least a year.

Moves to make the device compulsory next season are meeting increasing resistance.

The "halo" – a concept that originated within Mercedes-Benz but which has subsequently been developed primarily by Ferrari – was seen again last week in a rare F1 test at the Silverstone circuit in England just days after the British Grand Prix there.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Motor Sport Council has been expected to approve it soon for introduction next year, with FIA president Jean Todt keen to see it on IndyCars – and eventually all other forms of single-seater, open-wheeler racing cars.

However, it is now becoming clear that there are forces at work against it being rushed in.

The "halo", originally made of carbon fibre but now titanium, has a strut at the front of the cockpit and there are concerns – without intense track-testing of it – about that impairing drivers' vision.

There also have been concerns about the device making it harder for drivers to get out of the cockpit quickly after crashes like that Fernando Alonso had at this season's opening GP in Melbourne.

A new fear, expressed by the Force India team's technical director Andy Green, is that the "halo" could "act like a guillotine" in a crash.

The impeccably-informed German F1 correspondent Michael Schmidt has mentioned in recent weeks that the premier category's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone wants it postponed.

And Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing (RBR) for which Australia's Daniel Ricciardo drives, said after the Silverstone test that he would oppose introduction of the "halo" next season.

Ricciardo has been generally supportive of greater cockpit protection, saying that if it saves one life it will be worthwhile. The initiative began in the wake of the deaths of IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, F1's Jules Bianchi, and the son of F1 and motorcycle world champion John Surtees' son, Henry, in a junior formula from a flying tyre.

RBR has designed an alternative to the "halo" which it called the Aeroscreen, but it has been put on the back burner since the FIA indicated it preferred the Mercedes-Ferrari concept.

"I'd prefer there to be more research time taken to do the job properly, rather than rushing something through that may have other consequences," Horner said.

"I certainly wouldn't vote in favour [of the 'halo'] at the moment."

Mercedes decides against appeal over radio chat
Top F1 team Mercedes decided within a day of the British GP not to appeal the penalty on its drivers' world championship leader Nico Rosberg over radio communications that cut his lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton to just one point.

Rosberg was given a 10-second penalty after the race, which relegated him from second place, behind Hamilton, to third, behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen – but still ahead of fourth-placed Daniel Ricciardo.

"We were able to prove to the stewards that a car-stopping gearbox failure was imminent [in the closing laps of the race] and, as such, were permitted within the rules to advise Nico [from the pit wall] of the required mode change," Mercedes said.

"However, the advice to avoid seventh gear was considered to breach ... the sporting regulations.

"The team accepts the stewards' interpretation of the regulation, their decision and the associated penalty."

However, Mercedes said that it would "continue discussions with the relevant F1 stakeholders on the subject of the perceived over-regulation of the sport."

Joey Mawson our main coming man abroad
As Daniel Ricciardo nears his 100th GP – due at Germany's Nurburgring on July 31, after the Hungarian race in Budapest this Sunday 24 – we wonder again who Australia's next F1 prospect is.

There are many young Australians racing overseas this year, with Thomas Randle in British F3 and Luis Leeds in British F4 prominent among them, and there's the trio mentioned above doing well in the US F2000 Championship, although that series is likely to lead them to IndyCar racing.

The most advanced hopeful abroad is 20-year-old Joey Mawson from Sydney and in his second season in Germany's ADAC Formula 4 Championship.

Mawson was third in the series last year and this year is leading it by 20 points at the halfway mark, with another five wins in 12 races for Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing.

An article on the FIA website during the mid-season break in the championship has highlighted Mawson's form ahead of the resumption this weekend at Austria's Red Bull Ring.

It says that "the 'half-time' champ from down under" has failed to finish only once this year.

This is a series with 41 drivers (four of them girls) from 17 countries racing for 16 teams from six countries. Nine of the teams are German, with two from Austria and Switzerland, and one from Italy and Denmark as well as Mawson's from the Netherlands.

Twelve drivers from nine countries have been on the podium in the first half of the season, with five winners.

The driver Mawson heads is Mick Schumacher, 17-year-old son of the great Michael. The "new Schu" races for Italian-based Prema Powerteam and was 10th in the series last year, but his second place this season includes three wins.

However, the article points out that Mawson has had nine podium finishes, the most of any driver. Apart from his five wins he has had three seconds and a third.

Schumacher has had six podiums, including two seconds and a third, and 16-year-old Mike David Ortmann has scored five (two wins and three thirds).

Mawson, with his 10 wins in 1½ seasons, is described as "now the most successful driver ever in the ADAC Formula 4".

And he has "notched up the most laps in the lead" this season – 59 of the 197 completed in almost 720km of racing.

Mawson has a formidable record against strong competition, but the open-wheeler ladder in Europe is ruthless and he will need to clinch the ADAC title this season to give himself the best chance of continuing to climb it.

Ferrari first for 12-Hour, rich new GT rival in Korea
Entries are open for the Bathurst 12-Hour on the first weekend of next February, with a Ferrari 488 GT3 the first – from Melbourne's Maranello Motorsport.

The 12-Hour has become increasingly important on the national and international motor racing landscape in recent years and is now run by the Supercars organisation that runs the country's premier category, the V8s.

The twin-turbocharged Ferrari's driver line-up will include at least one of the Italian factory's regular GT drivers, Finn Tony Vilander.

Reigning GT Asia series champion team Craft-Bamboo Racing is contemplating entering a pair of Porsche GT3s, having switched from Aston Martins this season (those cars taken over by Australia's Miedecke Stone Motorsport, with one of them raced by George Miedecke and Ash Walsh at Japan's Fuji circuit at the weekend).

McLaren, which came out on top at The Mountain last February with a 650S run for it by Jonathon Webb's Tekno Autosports and with Shane Van Gisbergen as its hero driver, is keen to return, including with one of its latest 570S GT4s.

There will be an all-professional division within GT3 at the 12-Hour next time, as well as a new Pro-Am Cup.

But as the event continues to progress comes word from Asia of a new GT race in Korea next year that will offer US$200,000 (more than A$260,000 at today's exchange rate) to the outright winners and total prize money of US$500,000.

Prize money is rarely mentioned in Australian motorsport, although quite some fuss was made about the 2015 Bathurst 12-Hour paying A$50,000 to the outright winners to mark the regional city's 200th anniversary.

The Korean race, on April 22, will be at Yeongam circuit that hosted, rather infamously because of the lack of spectators, a few Formula 1 races – the last in 2013.

To be called 'Race 123', it will be over 1230km or 219 laps of the circuit a long way from Seoul.

But its prize money may ensure the organisers get somewhere near the 60-car grid they want. Website sportscar365.com reports that it's "one of the largest purses for a GT race in modern-day history".