MOTORSPORT: Webber surrounded by genius

What we saw in the Chinese Grand Prix by Sebastian Vettel was sheer genius.

Still only 21, Vettel has now won two GPs -- both in the wet, both from pole position, and both imperiously.

How wonderful too that Aussie Mark Webber achieved his best result in F1, finishing little more than 10 seconds behind Vettel to give Red Bull Racing a quinella -- its first win and its first 1-2 on the same day.

Just to keep a car on the track for almost two hours in those conditions was some feat, but to be at the head of the field at the chequered flag, x 2, was something more again.

The only pity, we felt, was that Vettel was not more spectacular.

It was as though his RB5 was on rails as he circulated lap after lap without hint of mistake.

What feeling the kid must have for his machinery, with all that power, so little weight and that drenched track.

It's early days yet, but as we've mentioned here before, the indications have been there from the beginning with this kid that he's something special. Very, very special.

Who would have thought that after Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna F1 would be so lucky to uncover the sublime talents of Michael Schumacher, and now Vettel. And Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica.

Perhaps Nico Rosberg is in that league too and -- on yesterday's showing -- maybe Sebastien Buemi, eighth in a Toro Rosso in his third GP.

And, in between there was Mika Hakkinen in the late 1990s and there's still Fernando Alonso and -- but not on yesterday's form -- Kimi Raikkonen.

Sixteen drivers were still running at the end of the Chinese GP, which speaks volumes for the talent in F1 today -- and the mechanical reliability of the cars, which we've seen for some years now.

While we marveled at Vettel's genius in Shanghai, there was another genius who is a huge part of the Red Bull equation but who was not at the circuit yesterday.

Adrian Newey has designed the RB5 with a Renault engine that is outpacing the factory Renault car, and the Toro Rosso is a Red Bull car with a Ferrari engine and is outpacing the factory Ferrari.

Webber's second place was overdue reward for him -- and one for the true believers among his supporters.

It was THE drive of his F1 career, now in its eighth year, and one step up on the podium from the two thirds he'd had previously.

It has belatedly brought some acknowledgement for him in Australia, but the broader sporting public won't be convinced until he's won a GP.

Yesterday's showing was an indication that, in the right circumstances, he might just jag one.

But he might also have to rely on Vettel not finishing, if a Webber win is to come at Red Bull this year.

As well as Webber has done in Malaysia and China in the past couple of weeks, don't overlook that Vettel has outqualified him each time at the three GPs so far and looked a more likely race victor, even if he carried such a large penalty (10 places on the grid) at Sepang.

The Red Bull line-up of 2009 reminds us of Renault in 2005, with Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Both were capable of winning, but Alonso was much more likely to win more often.

In this Red Bull comparison, the Alonso is Vettel and the Fisichella is Webber.

Red Bull's Shanghai 1-2 came without a double diffuser on the RB5, but all seven teams that started the season without that feature are now rushing to install it -- Ferrari and Renault even having it yesterday, just five days after the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) gave the very official green light to those on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars.

The torrential conditions in China may have negated the benefit of the double diffusers and worked to the strengths of the RB5.

The F1 circus is in Bahrain next weekend, and we doubt that Red Bull will tamper greatly with its aerodynamic set-up there, before the start of the European season two weeks later at Barcelona, when things may start to level out and traditionally stronger teams may return to the fore.

However, the ban on testing between races this season may slow that transition.

That's for the future. But how good is it to see new teams on the podium, the genius of Vettel and "our" Webber knocking on the door.

Lap it up, because we're in a golden era of F1. And hopefully not a short one.

Perfection in racing a production-based car, not in building and driving a thoroughbred.

But four wins from four races in this year's V8 Supercar Championship is a very fine achievement.

Add that to the phenomenal run this combination had at the end of last season.

And they ended most emphatically the Holden domination in NZ, that had seen "The General" victorious in 23 of the previous 24 races there.

Now the talk is starting about Whincup's future -- perhaps in another team, perhaps in another category of racing overseas.

The best thing that Whincup can do right now is stay exactly where he is and keep on taking the race wins that the perfectly prepared FG Falcon that Triple 8 provides him enable.

It is a perfect marriage and Whincup has the opportunity to make his mark among the truly great names of Australian touring car racing, up there with Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Dick Johnson -- and Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife at their best.

Incidentally, Triple 8 finds itself looking for a new manufacturer partner in Britain following news that General Motors-owned Vauxhall will quit the series.

Time constraints prevent us doing anything like justice to the NZ round of the V8 Supercars, but we may revisit it later in the week.

In the meantime, we wonder how long it is going to be before there is talk of a parity review with the FG Falcon so successful.

But is there really need for one, or should the Holden teams just be made to raise their game?

Certainly on the evidence of NZ, the Holden Racing Team needs to improve itself just to match the privateer Garry Rogers Motorsport.

While we're hearing a few criticisms of the Hamilton weekend, we quite enjoyed what we saw of the telecast, although we don't share the enthusiasm of many for street circuits.

And somehow it was much more noticeable this year than last that the setting in Hamilton is not exactly picturesque.

We also note that V8 Supercars Australia has announced, now that all the necessary approvals having seemingly been obtained, that the Sydney 400 has suddenly become the Sydney 500, with 2 x 250km races in the style of Adelaide's Clipsal 500.

Will Power qualified on pole position for the IndyCar race at Long Beach, California, and finished second to Dario Franchitti.

Power had to move into a spare Penske car once Brazilian Helio Castroneves showed up after being cleared in his tax evasion case.

Castroneves finished seventh in the race and Ryan Briscoe, the Aussie who won the opening round two weeks earlier in Florida for Penske, 13th.

(Ironically, considering the Indy Racing League turned its back on Queensland's Gold Coast this season, there was a lot of speculation about Brazilian and Chinese rounds being added to the IRL in the near future, on top of the existing Japanese round.)

In the American Le Mans Series sprint round at Long Beach David Brabham put an  Acura on pole position but was denied victory when Highcroft Racing's fire extinguisher crew was deemed not to be wearing the right helmet as co-driver Scott Sharp handed over the car to Brabham.

The penalty kept the car stationary for 24 seconds and Brabham ultimately finished 6 seconds behind a similar Acura driven by Brazilian Gil de Ferran.

The result is subject to protest.

And in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Marcos Ambrose finished another very creditable 14th after qualifying 29th at Phoenix, Arizona.

The race was won by Mark Martin, a 50-year-old veteran who was long synonymous with Ford but now drives a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Race of Champions for China, and rallying developments
This is an abbreviated wrap today and there may be matters we will catch up on later in the week.

But three things of interest in the meantime:

<<<The annual end-of-season Race of Champions that pits top drivers from different forms of motorsport against each in equal equipment will be staged in Beijing this year -- at the Bird's Nest Stadium on November 3-4.

That's just two days after the final round of the F1 world championship in Abu Dhabi and is in a mid-week slot for the first time in its history.

"We received exciting proposals from five world-class stadia, but after the incredible Olympics last year, Beijing's candidacy was difficult to ignore," event organiser Fredrik Johnsson said.

"The Bird's Nest venue is awesome and, having spent the last five years at two of Europe's biggest stadiums, we were thrilled about the opportunity to take The Race of Champions to Asia for the first time."

<<<A development application still hasn't been lodged for the new Rally Australia, even though the event is now less than five months away in NSW's Northern Rivers area.

And protests continue against the rally, although rumors of rock concerts and prostitution have reportedly been allayed over the weekend.

And organisers say they expect 20,000 people for the event, not the 80,000 some feared, and that disruption at Kingscliff will be much less than some critics anticipate. More, in a report in the Northern Star newspaper, here

<<<And, interestingly in terms of government funding for motorsport events, the Welsh Assembly has withdrawn its financial backing for the Wales Rally of Great Britain -- a round of the World Rally Championship.

It is believed to have been providing about £2 million a year but does not consider it "the type of event' it wants to sponsor now that the FIA is rotating WRC rallies every two years.

The cut comes despite a contract being in place to run the event as a WRC round until 2011.

Event organiser International Motor Sports is threatening legal action.

F1 world drivers' championship after 3 rounds -- Jenson Button (Brawn,-Mercedes) 21 points, Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) 15, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 10, Timo Glock (Toyota) 10, Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 9.5, Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 8.5, Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber) 4, Fernando Alonso (Renault) 4, Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) 4, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 4, Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) 3.5, Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 3, Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1.

Constructors' world championship -- Brawn-Mercedes 36 points, Red Bull-Renault 19.5, Toyota 18.5, McLaren Mercedes 8, BMW-Sauber 4, Renault 4, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4, Williams Toyota 3.5.

V8 Supercar Championship after 4 races -- Jamie Whincup 600 points, Lee Holdsworth 498, Will Davison 483, Steven Johnson 462, Fabian Coulthard 354, Jason Richards 324, Rick Kelly 315, Garth Tander 285, Craig Lowndes 282, James Courtney 272.

V8 Supercar teams championship -- Team Vodafone 801, Holden Racing Team 768, Dick Johnson Racing 744, Garry Rogers Motorsport 687, Brad Jones Racing 555, Jack Daniel's Racing 534, Stone Brothers Racing 534, Wilson Security Racing 531, Ford Performance Racing 441, Walkinshaw Racing 402.

IndyCar championship points after 2 rounds -- Dario Franchitti (Ganassi Racing) 84 points, Will Power (Penske) 69 points, Ryan Briscoe (Penske) 67, Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green) 65, Ryan Hunter-Reay (Vision) 59, Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) 49.

NASCAR Sprint Cup after 8 of 36 races -- Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) 1242 points, Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) 1157, Kurt Busch (Dodge) 1144, Tony Stewart (Toyota) 1138, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) 1088, Clint Bowyer (Chevrolet) 1052, Kyle Busch (Toyota) 1026, Carl Edwards (Ford) 1023, David Reutimann (Toyota) 992, Kasey Kahne (Dodge) 975. Australian Marcos Ambrose (Toyota) is 26th on 777.

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