MOTORSPORT: Still a world of competition

The V8 Supercar title could be decided at Perth's Wanneroo/Barbagallo Raceway, but -- for the sake of the championship -- hopefully not.

And the fireworks have started in the WA capital over the future of V8 Supercar racing in the state.

Classic Adelaide has had a double fatality -- Victorians Gary Tierney, 60, and his co-driver David Carra, 43, were killed when their 1974 Porsche 911RS skidded off a right-hand bend and hit a tree in the Adelaide Hills during the first day's stages.

A prayer was said and a minute's silence observed at Adelaide's Victoria Square this morning before the event resumed. The cars continuing have black tape stripes on their left headlights today as another mark of respect.

CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motor Sport) has promised the usual "full incident investigation", but it's time for more.

Tarmac rallies are enormously enjoyable for the competitors who survive, but there have been too many fatalities in the few events each year -- most notably Peter Brock in Targa West in 2005.

The Carsales Network expresses condolences for the families and friends of Gary Tierney and David Carra.

Macau Grand Prix a mega weekend
The World Touring Car Championship will be decided at Macau this weekend, with the tussle between Italian Gabriele Tarquini and Frenchman Yvan Muller, in a pair of turbo diesel SEAT Leons, although BMWs traditionally do well on the 6.2km Guia street circuit.

Most interest there for Australians will be in the Formula Three Grand Prix, in which Perth's 20-year-old British F3 champion Daniel Ricciardo is one of the favourites ahead of his three-day Formula One test with Red Bull Racing in Spain at the start of December.

After Thursday's sessions Ricciardo was on the provisional front row of the grid, alongside Swede Marcus Ericsson, winner of this year's Japanese F3 series.

It's a big meeting, with motorcycle racing too and an excellent website, macau.grandprix.gov.mo, on which to follow it all.

Macau is on the same time as WA and the two F3 races are scheduled for 1.45pm Saturday (10 laps) and 3.30pm Sunday (15 laps).

It will be a momentous achievement.

Johnson has had seven wins in the 35 rounds so far and only needs to finish 25th at Homestead to be sure of beating Hendrick Motorsports teammate, the hugely popular veteran Mark Martin, to the crown.

Johnson has had only one DNF (did not finish) this year, while Martin, 108 points behind, has had four DNFs -- as well as five wins.

Sports Illustrated columnist Brant James wrote this week of Johnson:
"He came within eight points of winning the first Chase (the title-deciding final 10 rounds of the Cup) in 2004. His 47 wins since his rookie year in 2002 are nearly twice as many as the next-best driver in that span. He has won 17 of 59 Chase races, and despite early season injuries or mid-season performance travails, he and his team, led by Chad Knaus, the only crew chief to win three consecutive titles, know the time to move better than a migratory bird."

What these guys are doing in NASCAR ranks with the feats of Michael Schumacher in F1 and Sebastien Loeb in rallying.

Just on the American scene, it's been confirmed now that Toowoomba's Will Power has a full-time IndyCar drive with Team Penske next year.

Power, still recovering from back injuries suffered months ago, will be part of a three-car Penske squad along with fellow Australian Ryan Briscoe and Brazilian Helio Castroneves.

There's great conjecture about how Button will fare against McLaren's 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton, around whom that team revolves.

We enjoyed the comparisons of the two champs now forming the new McLaren dream team this week by former McLaren driver John Watson.

"Lewis is an out-and-out racer -- I call him a hot rod," Watson told the BBC website. "He just grabs a racing car by the steering wheel and drives his wheels off.

"Jenson Button is more like an artist. His car is a palette and he uses it to paint a lovely picture of a driving style that is rhythmic, fluid, a joy to watch.

"But when the team has to work with two drivers which such diverse styles of driving, that's going to be difficult for McLaren to get their heads around."

Two bigger issues arise for us out of Button's move:

>> Will 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen race in F1 again after what his now a year's "sabbatical"? The Finn is likely to go rallying, at least part-time, in 2010, and perhaps do the Le Mans 24-hour sports car race. One of his managers, Steve Robertson, told Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, that "a year off does not mean anything".
Well, yes it does, because drives with top teams may be in even shorter supply in a year's time. Ferrari has already dumped Raikkonen, albeit with a massive payout, McLaren would not pay his price to return there, and nor did Mercedes for its new factory team (nee Brawn). Reuters, however, has raised the prospect (again) of Raikkonen replacing Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing after the Australian's contract expires at the end of next season. Little chance, we reckon.

>> Is German Timo Glock's move from the defunct Toyota F1 team to the new Manor squad a sign that French manufacturer Renault is about to pull the plug on GP racing, as two Japanese manufacturers and BMW have done. Glock had been strongly touted as the likely second Renault driver alongside Poland's Robert Kubica, who -- like Raikkonen -- is keen on rallying.
We wonder whether Renault is going to quit; it is to announce its decision by the end of the year. A complete exit seems to us more likely than the mooted sale of 40 per cent of its team to a supposed Russian party, which supposedly would see Russian driver Vitaly Petrov as Kubica's teammate. At Manor Glock has been paired with Brazilian rookie Lucas di Grassi. The team's technical director is Nick Wirth, who headed the Simtek team that David Brabham drove for in the mid-1990s.

An

V8 Supercar title fight likely to go to wire
And so to Perth and the penultimate round of the V8 Supercar Championship.

Jamie Whincup of Team Vodafone/Triple Eight Race Engineering is 122 points clear of Toll Holden Racing Team's Will Davison -- and the Falcon (Hogster) driver is in the box seat for back-to-back titles.

In all likelihood it will go down to the wire at Sydney's new Homebush street race on the first weekend of December.

Whincup can take his second title in Perth if he wins both races, while Davison must finish 14th or better in each to keep his chances alive. But one retirement by Whincup and a win by Davison will change the game.

Two wins by Davison could give him the championship lead if Whincup has a bad weekend.

The spoilers in the pack for the title contenders could be home-town hero Garth Tander and Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom, who dominated the Perth round last year (in April rather than November).

As Davison's teammate, Tander will be obliged to do what he can to assist the first-year HRT star.

Davison said this week: "I'm not playing the points game, I'm putting myself in a position to race aggressively and win races -- I'm not holding back.

"The 122 points is difficult to make up, but it could just be one race and I could be in the lead -- there's no point in me worrying about Jamie.

"On paper, Perth isn't a great track for him and we're also getting back on to the soft tyre, which he's had troubles with.

"I'm not going to count on him struggling, you can never underestimate Jamie, but I need to maximise any opportunity that comes our way.

"I'm focussing on what I'm doing. I'll try and make sure our Commodore is competitive and race hard and, hopefully, I'll win as many races as I can until the end of the year and beat Jamie.

"The better man wins on the day and that's what we'll be striving for, being the best on the day. 

"I never hold back, but especially now as we've got nothing to lose. If I'm in a position to have a go at Jamie in an otherwise 50-50 situation where other times you might settle for second I certainly know that won't be the case.

"The potential is there for the championship to remain wide open and I'm hopeful we can take it down to Homebush."

Lots on talk of future of WA round
Earlier this week we alluded to the looming arm wrestle between V8 Supercars Australia and the WA government and WA Sporting Car Club, which operates Wanneroo/Barbagallo Raceway, over the future of the championship round in Perth.

We knew the government's recently-announced $5 million grant for a minor upgrade of the circuit and planning of an extension on the north side of the venue would not appease V8SA.

There are talks on this hot potato in Perth today, but we noted V8SA executive chairman Tony Cochrane quoted in this week's Motorsport eNews, out on Monday night, saying:
"Unfortunately, at this stage, the upgrades for V8 Supercars to return to Barbagallo are not included in the plans for the near future.

"We trust a way can be found to ensure one of the world's leading touring car categories returns to WA.

"If not, this will be our last year until the facilities meet the necessary occupation health and safety requirements for the V8 Supercar Championship, as we have reiterated on many occasions, over many years, to both the government and WASCC.

"No further comment will be made until next week."

Yet on Wednesday we were seeing comments in the mainstream media from V8SA spokesman Cole Hitchcock, and by Thursday from Cochrane that the $5 million plan was nowhere near enough.

V8 Supercar drivers -- especially Garth Tander, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards -- have been vocal this week in wanting the WA round retained.

"I know there has been $5 million allocated ... it is going to take a bit more than that to get the circuit to where it needs to be," Tander told WAtoday.com.au

"And the beauty about that would be that it improves the circuit not only for us, but for the people who use it for the other 364 days of the year.

"I think it is the longest continual round of the series at the moment.

"Certainly the WA people have been supporting our sport for a long time, so we need to make sure the series does not lose sight of that.

"And it has prided itself on being a national series in the last six or seven years, and then to turn your back on one of the biggest states in the country would be a step backwards.

"But there needs to be work done by all parties to ensure that we get to come back to WA."

Australian Associated Press reported that Cochrane had said the entire Wanneroo complex was "substandard" and that $5 million was not enough to make the track and facilities safe for drivers, pit crews and spectators.

That report said the WA government had been discussing a $50 million total redevelopment of Barbagallo, but that it had put those plans on hold indefinitely.

Cochrane wanted "that commitment honoured", it said. (Has there ever been such a commitment? And is the government's role to be footing the whole bill for a big upgrade?)

"If not, this will be our last year until the facilities meet the necessary OH&S requirements for the V8 Supercar Championship," Cochrane said.

Quite vocal for someone who was not going to be saying anything until next Monday!

The ABC reported that the government was aware Wanneroo needed to be upgraded, but that in the short term it was unlikely it could find funding approaching $50 million.

Indeed, that ABC report included mention that the government would not be increasing its $5 million spend in order to retain the V8s.

"When we sit down and go through exactly what is happening at Barbagallo I would be very hopeful that we should be able to convince them to stay," WA sports minister Tony Waldron said.

"I actually think that V8s also have a responsibility for their sport and to the people of WA and to the government to show some good faith in return."

Game on.

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