MOTORSPORT: The Homebush hot potato

We'll report on that in more detail in the next 24 hours, but suffice to say for now that this is going to be one mighty hot potato.

As much as we consistently query the value of street races, it will be some relief that Australia's biggest city is not left without a round of the V8 Supercar Championship next year.

But that will not be the end of the argument; far from it.

We have read a transcript of some debate in the NSW Parliament last week and, while it reminded us how little politicians know about motor racing, there were some very interesting points made there -- some of which we suspect are going to come home to roost over the next few years.

If indeed the green light is officially given today to a Homebush street race it will be an incredible decision in light of the political left bent of the new NSW premier.

While politics is not our usual area of commentary, we wonder if we are not witnessing a government in self-destruction mode, and wonder what happens with this event if and when there is a change of government in NSW.

We suspect the race will be here to stay, for five years at least.

A report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Saturday told us the event will be "the pinnacle of the Australian racing calendar".

The author of that "exclusive" article, political reporter Joe Hildebrand, somehow overlooked the Bathurst 1000 in that prediction.

We can only imagine the rows there are going to be about this street race for its duration.

More on the whole situation soon, but for now a couple of links to news reports running today -- on the ABC here and from Australian Associated Press here

We thought it was a passable spectacle, but nowhere near as thrilling as the TV commentators would have had us believe.

Certainly there were some good TV pictures from (but not of) Singapore, especially the sparks from the car's bottoming on the bumpy street circuit, and the result was a pleasant surprise -- a car from outside the top three teams, and the man we believe to be the best driver in the field getting reward for his talents, aided by strategy and circumstance after starting 15th on the grid because of a fuel supply problem.

Our interpretation of Alonso's post-race remarks is that he will be staying with Renault next year.

The story of the race though was that Ferrari has probably blown Felipe Massa's chances of beating McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to the world title.

Hamilton drove a measured race to finish third, behind Nico Rosberg's Williams-Toyota as the feared tropical storms stayed away.

It was Rosberg's best GP result and his second podium -- the first having been in Melbourne at the start of the season.

This one came despite Rosberg being one of several drivers hit with unlucky stop-go penalties because they had to pit to refuel when the pits were closed because of a safety car being on the track after Nelson Piquet Junior crashed his Renault.

But for us the lesson of the race was that Ferrari's loss of Ross Brawn (now with Honda), Jean Todt (even though he was in the garage in Singapore), Michael Schumacher and even the maligned Nigel Stepney (the man who drilled the Ferrari crew on pitstop procedures for years) is manifesting itself massively now.

At the first round of pitstops last night Massa was given a green light by one of the crew to accelerate away from the "box" while the fuel nozzle was still attached.

Not only did the Ferrari pull the fuel rig apart, with the hose trailing on the left side of the car, but a mechanic was knocked over.

Massa had to park at the end of the pitlane, seemingly waiting for ages until other crew ran to remove the hose.

Having qualified so dominantly on pole position and led the opening laps of the race, Massa had gone from first to last in the field.

While he motored through the rest of the race after a stop-go penalty for the earlier improper release from the pits there were signs he was, not surprisingly, flustered by the pit drama and that the car may have been somewhat less than ideal.

Massa found himself classified 13th in a race he surely could have won -- and taken the world championship lead.

Instead, Hamilton stretched his advantage from one to seven points -- with three races remaining (in Japan, China and Brazil).

The fight is not over -- and it will take only one non-finish from Hamilton, or a disqualification of him and McLaren from a race (and what chance of that???) -- but it is very much uphill for Massa now.

He outshone Ferrari teammate and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen yet again in Singapore, and indeed Raikkonen crashed with just four laps to go -- meaning he hasn't collected a championship point for four races now.

We have seen mention somewhere this morning that it was the first time since the Australian GP in early 2006 that neither Ferrari has scored a point in a GP.

As much as he can be a firebrand on the track, Massa was exceedingly polite about his misfortune after the race.

"We (he and Hamilton) could have finished first and second and it could have been different," Massa said, refusing to blame the crew member who gave the green light too early.

"We are all human beings, everyone makes mistakes. I am not the sort of person who goes to a guy and fights with him."
But the reality is the famous red squad is in sad decline, and McLaren is now a point ahead of it in the constructors' championship, even though Heikki Kovalainen continues to leave the F1 world wondering whether he is worth the other McLaren seat.

For the record, the other points positions in Singapore were filled by Toyota's Timo Glock (his third top four finish of the year), Toro Rosso's young star Sebastien Vettel (shock winner of the Italian GP two weeks earlier), BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull's David Coulthard (who also knocked over a mechanic when driving off with the fuel hose attached) and Rosberg's Williams teammate, Kazuki Nakajima.

BMW-Sauber is now the only team to have a point at every race this season, while Renault is back up to fourth in the constructors' standings -- and apparently preparing to spend 30-40 per cent more next year to challenge the top three teams -- and keep Alonso.

Coulthard's two points, his first in eight races, kept Red Bull ahead of Williams.

But Red Bull, fourth early in the season, is now in danger of finishing eighth -- and in a worst-case scenario even ninth -- in a 10-team competition.

Night race equaled nightmare for Red Bull's Aussie driver Mark Webber.

He was in line for a podium, perhaps second position, having refueled before the pitlane closed after Piquet crashed.

But just when the race seemed to be coming to him he struck gearbox trouble.

"It's cost us a fantastic result," Webber said.

"I had good pace in the second stint and I was actually going six laps longer than Fernando in that stint.

"It would have been nice to have been up there sharing the podium with him.

"I've never stopped with a gearbox problem with this car -- and what a time for it to happen."

Formula 1 drivers' world championship after 15 of 18 rounds -- Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, McLaren-Mercedes) 84 points, Felipe Massa (Brazil, Ferrari) 77, Robert Kubica (Poland, BMW-Sauber) 64, Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 57, Nick Heidfeld (Germany, BMW-Sauber) 56, Heikki Kovalainen (Finland, McLaren-Mercedes) 51, Fernando Alonso (Spain, Renault) 38, Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Toro Rosso) 27, Jarno Trulli (Italy, Toyota) 26, Timo Glock (Germany, Toyota) 20, Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull) 20, Nico Rosberg (Germany, Williams-Toyota) 17, Nelson Piquet (Brazil, Renault) 13, Rubens Barrichello (Brazil, Honda) 11, Kazuki Nakajima (Japan, Williams) 9, David Coulthard (Great Britain, Red Bull) 8, Sebastien Bourdais (France, Toro Rosso)  4, Jenson Button (Great Britain, Honda) 3.

F1 constructors' championship -- McLaren-Mercedes 135 points, Ferrari 134, BMW-Sauber 120, Renault 51, Toyota 46, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31, Red Bull-Renault 28, Williams-Toyota 26, Honda 14.

F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone is hoping to get Japan and China to race at night too for the benefit of European TV viewers.

But Malaysia has revealed that it won't be going to the night, instead following Melbourne's lead by running at 5pm -- so that its race will finish by 7pm and not require the expensive lighting.

The night race may have created a great atmosphere at the track in Singapore, and certainly it seems to us that the organisers there did a fantastic job, but we can't see that it made the quality of the viewing any better or worse for the TV watcher.

What we can't understand, having years of experience of both Singapore and F1, is how the proud island state did not ensure more direct exposure for itself.

Most of the signage was for F1's series sponsors and the race's major sponsor, Singtel.

We caught only a couple of glimpses of a big sign at the end of the start-finish straight, beyond the pit exit, with the "Uniquely Singapore" theme.

We are reminded that the only venue that ever got its projection right was Adelaide, by default, in 1994.

Without a naming rights sponsor that year, Adelaide splashed the words SENSATIONAL ADELAIDE everywhere.

And the presentation was sensational.

Juan Pablo Montoya had pole position taken off him because his Dodge was ruled illegal, while the title hopes of Toyota star Kyle Busch are suddenly shot after three terrible results in the first three rounds of The Chase.

Aussie Marcos Ambrose finished 36th in the Sprint Cup race and 11th in the previous day's second-tier Nationwide Series round.

Some reading on the bond between Ambrose's JTG Daugherty Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing is here and a general perspective on Ambrose's progress in the US is here.

NASCAR Sprint Cup standings after 29 races of series and round 3 of The Chase -- Jimmie Johnson 5575 points, Carl Edwards 5565, Greg Biffle 5545, Jeff Burton 5454, Kevin Harvick 5439, Jeff Gordon 5432, Clint Bowyer 5411, Dale Earnhardt Junior 5385, Matt Kenseth 5383, Denny Hamlin 5332.

NASCAR Nationwide Series standings 30 of 35 rounds -- Clint Bowyer 4392 points, Carl Edwards 4196, Brad Keselowski 4124, Mike Bliss 3906, David Ragan 3886, David Reutimann 3791, Kyle Busch 3736, Mike Wallace 3499, Jason Leffler 3490, Marcos Ambrose 3456.

Movie star Paul Newman, who died at the weekend, was not only a great lover of motorsport and partner in the great Newman-Haas open-wheeler team but he raced himself with considerable success, including a second place at Le Mans.

We always liked Newman's line that he would rather have been Mario Andretti.

A nice piece on Paul Newman's motor racing involvement is here and others here and here.

And Mike Brudenell, the Australian who writes, so well, about motorsport for the Detroit Free Press, has his say on Newman here.

Coming towards Bathurst we were pleased to come across an article on the statue of Peter Brock to be unveiled. It's here.

We gather MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi is interested in testing an F1 Ferrari again in the wake of his eighth world title -- and sixth in the premier two-wheel class -- but more certain is that he will be indulging his love of rallying again. A report on him preparing for the Rally of Great Britain is here.

And, it's a bit dated now, but we found an article on the FIA rejecting Lewis Hamilton and McLaren's objection to his relegation from first to third in the Belgian GP a good read. It appeared on Britain's Press Association wire and is here.

To comment on this article click here