MOTORSPORT: Taxing time for 12-Hour racer

The central figure in what is alleged to be Australia’s biggest tax fraud is a keen racing driver. And, even if he says so himself, “a fairly decent driver”.

Adam Cranston was runner-up in Class B at the Bathurst 12-Hour barely three months ago, driving a Porsche 911.

He raced there with his brother Josh, Aaron Steer – who, like the Cranstons, has been a competitor in the Australian Sports Racer Series, now called the Australian Prototype Series – and experienced British racer, ‘coach’ and two-time Australian Drivers’ Champion James Winslow.

Apart from the Class B podium, they finished 16th outright, completing 272 laps – 18 less than outright winners Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Finn Toni Vilander in a Ferrari 488.

Adam Cranston, 30, and – among various business activities – the co-chairman and managing director of Sydney Equity Partners (Synep), which describes itself as a private equity company investing in companies worth up to $200 million, is now on $300,000 bail in the alleged $165 million fraud case.

He’s among nine people (including his sister) to have faced court in Sydney this week over the matter, and his father, Michael, a deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office has been implicated.

Adam Cranston, whose working life began in what Synep’s website calls ‘forensic accounting’, was second in the 2015 Australian Sports Racer Series and 12th last year.

Ten months ago he had a huge crash that involved a series of violent rolls during a Shannons Nationals round at Queensland Raceway that wrecked his West sports car after contact from an open-wheeler.

The subsequent visit to Ipswich hospital prevented Cranston taking a trip to Britain to inspect the Porsche 911 ultimately acquired from Brookspeed after brother Josh and a friend viewed it.

While Cranston’s experience had been in sprint races, the Mt Panorama enduro in February was the highpoint of his career.

“We have loved Bathurst since we were kids, we grew up watching it, it is what got us into the sport,” he said in announcing Synep Racing’s entry in the 12-Hour.

“We have always wanted to race there.

“I went to uni in Bathurst (although Synep’s website says his commerce degree is from the University of Western Sydney), and I see it as the epitome of motorsport, the pinnacle.

“This is probably the only chance I am going to get in life to race it and tick it off the bucket list.”

Just a week ago a Synep Racing post on Facebook welcoming the acquisition by South Australia’s Shahin family of the state’s Mallala circuit, as well as developing the new Tailem Bend motorsport complex, said: “We have a really action-packed 2018 coming up with two SA race tracks hosting state, national and international events!”
Toyota steps up to three cars in WRC
Rally Portugal this weekend is the start of the European gravel rallies in the World Rally Championship.

Toyota, in the first year of its return to the WRC, has three entries for the first time in the event based around Porto in Portugal’s north, with reigning WRC2 champion and winner of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round at the 2013 International Rally of Queensland, 26-year-old Finn Esapekka Lappi, in the third Yaris – all of them with some new lightweight parts.

While Lappi was eighth outright, and the WRC2 winner, at last year’s Rally Australia at Coffs Harbour, this is his debut at the top level of the WRC.

“My role is to collect as much data as possible for the team to develop the car further,” Lappi said.

“The most important thing is to finish – never easy at such a challenging event like Portugal (where the roads are sandy and rocky).”

Toyota, whose other drivers are fellow Finns Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hanninen (and the team boss is multiple world champion Tommi Makinen), are third in the manufacturers’ championship after five rounds. The Japanese manufacturer has 99 points to the 162 of the M-Sport Ford team and Hyundai’s 140, while Citroen is on 71.

However, Latvala is second in the drivers’ championship with 86 points to the 102 of four-time and reigning world champion, Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, now in an M-Sport Ford Focus after Volkswagen’s withdrawal at the end of last year.

While Ogier won this season’s opener, the Monte Carlo Rally, Latvala then won in Sweden and Northern Irishman Kris Meeke for Citroen in Mexico, before Belgian Thierry Neuville’s victories in the past two rounds, on the French island of Corsica and in Argentina, for Hyundai.

Neuville is third in the drivers’ championship, just two points behind Latvala, and the Belgian and Norwegian Mads Ostberg in a privateer M-Sport Fiesta are the joint leaders after Thursday night’s short opening stage.

Just 0.1 seconds behind them in another Hyundai is New Zealander Hayden Paddon.

Unlike Hyundai’s third man, Spaniard Dani Sordo, Neuville and Paddon are in new i20 Coupes – although not with any significant technical changes – this weekend, and the Kiwi has British co-driver Seb Marshall alongside him instead of veteran countryman John Kennard.

Attention will be on Welshman Elfyn Evans, a teammate of Ogier and unlucky not to have won in Argentina, while the French superstar has a new chassis and M-Sport has
introduced new dampers.

M-Sport cars make up 40 per cent of the WRC field and 80 per cent of WRC2.

Alonso up to speed at Indianapolis
Fernando Alonso has had a week of practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of the weekend’s qualifying for the 101st Indy 500 and says he has learnt “huge lessons” for his debut in the American open-wheeler classic.

“Especially with the wind effect and how the cars are on the limit,” Alonso said.

“It’s not one instance on the lap that you reach 220, 230mph (354-370km/h) like we do in Formula 1. It’s constant.

“Small changes can make or ruin your confidence in the car to stay flat-out through the corners.

“That is a huge lesson, to be very precise.”

Veteran American correspondent Marshall Pruett has called the two-time F1 world champion’s fearless driving through turn one and his daredevil approach to passing “a thrill to behold”.

Alonso said he had received “an amazing” welcome at The Brickyard.

He’s even been measured for the winner’s ring in case he repeat’s Alex Rossi’s feat of winning the great American race on debut.

He’s inquired too about what it would cost to commission a full-size replica of the Borg-Warner Trophy to keep and apparently didn’t baulk at the seven-figure estimate. The original is said to be worth $US3.5 million.