MOTORSPORT: Welcome back King Dick

And with a new winning driver, Will Davison.

The underdogs are giving the big, British-owned teams a run for their money this season.

Not only DJR but the likes of Garry Rogers Motorsport, the Paul Morris outfit and Brad Jones Racing.

It's great to see and long may it continue.

Barely had Davison sealed the round win at Sydney's Eastern Creek than Johnson reminded us just what it is that has made him an icon of the sport.

Apart from the fact that he won a helluva lot of races for Ford behind the wheel himself, the thing that endeared Johnson to the Australian public was his droll humor.

Quick as a flash after the chequered flag had been waved on Sunday afternoon Johnson joked that his team, which almost buckled under the weight of its debts the past couple of years, had gone from the "outhouse to the penthouse".

DJR's first victory since 2001 is not going to eradicate its financial worries, but it will have thrilled sponsor Jim Beam and might add a little value to the "garage sale" Johnson has coming up to try to reduce debt from, reportedly, around $6 million to about $4 million.

Davison is a welcome addition to the list of new winners in V8 Supercar racing.

And it is interesting that he has made it there before the more acclaimed James Courtney.

Both had international open-wheeler aspirations and tried their luck in Britain.

Courtney was runner-up in a British Formula 3 Championship and got as far as some regular testing for Jaguar's F1 team until an almighty crash at Monza.

Discarded, seemingly unfairly, by Jaguar, Courtney went off to Japan where he dominated Formula Nippon but ultimately came home to the V8s and a top slot with Stone Brothers, after a brief connection with Holden Racing Team.

Davison did not achieve anywhere near as much as Courtney overseas, but in V8 Supercars has established himself as a solid racer in a team that has generally been a lesser outfit than Stone Bros.

While Davison has now made it to the top step of the podium -- after second, first and sixth in the weekend's three races -- Courtney finds himself embroiled in stoushes with the likes of Russell Ingall and Paul Morris.

That stuff might spice up the V8 scene a bit, but it's about time Courtney started figuring more in the race results than the gossipy headlines.

Although neither was on the podium at the Creek, the persistent performances of the likes of Rick Kelly (fourth, sixth and second at the Creek) and Jamie Whincup (third, fifth and fourth) are what some other big names in the category need to try to emulate.

Mark Winterbottom (10th, second and first at the Creek) for second overall and defending champion Garth Tander (first, ninth and third) in claiming third for Holden are two other role models in terms of results.

Six-time Eastern Creek round winner Mark Skaife was sixth, 14th and fifth at the weekend and is going to need to improve his consistency to keep pace with new HRT teammate in the championship.

Steven Richards, lucky to walk away from that head-on crash into a tyre wall at the Creek, is unlikely to match FPR teammate Winterbottom for sheer speed, although they could make an awesome combination come the endurance races.

On the manufacturer front this season, it's now 2-0 in Ford's favour -- a stark contrast to the start of last season when Tander bolted out of the blocks in the then-new VE Commodore.

V8 Supercar Championship round 2 top 10 -- Will Davison (DJR) 260 points, Mark Winterbottom (FPR) 244, Garth Tander (HRT) 242, Rick Kelly (HSV) 240, Jamie Whincup (Triple 8) 240, Craig Lowndes (Triple 8) 210, Russell Ingall (PMM) 192, Mark Skaife (HRT) 184, Lee Holdsworth (GRM) 168, Greg Murphy (Tasman) 156.

Series standings after two rounds -- Jamie Whincup (Ford) 540 points, Rick Kelly (Holden) 432, Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 426, Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 382, Will Davison (Ford) 356, Craig Lowndes (Ford) 339, Greg Murphy (Holden) 330, Garth Tander (Holden) 326, Mark Skaife (Holden) 322, Todd Kelly (Holden) 308, Steve Johnson (Ford) 280, Jason Richards (Holden) 272.

Teams championship standings -- Triple 8 879 points, HRT 648, DJR 636, FPR 633, Tasman 602, Garry Rogers Motorsport 578, HSV 572, Stone Bros 439, Perkins Engineering 438, Brad Jones Racing 419, Paul Morris Motorsport 398, Britek 322.

Certainly it could be expected to draw much bigger crowds than the Eastern Creek round, but we thought it was a bit rude of V8SA chief executive Wayne Cattach to give Creek management a none-too-subtle nudge in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Cattach was quoted as saying, "This race, it's a concern," and that the "standard of the promoter is a big part of having a successful race".

Unless our memory has failed us, we seem to recall that a couple of times that V8SA was the promoter of rounds at Eastern Creek.

Were they hugely bigger and better than the latest one there?

That's the dual V8 Supercar champion's best finish in four rounds this season.

His previous classifications were 39th at Daytona, 22nd at California Speedway and 28th in Las Vegas.

Ambrose is standing 23rd in the championship with 31 races to go.

An interview with F1 tsar Bernie Ecclestone in London's Mail on Sunday newspaper has lit the fire.

Reiterating the line he has taken for a year or so now, Ecclestone said: "The only way the race could stay in Melbourne, or anywhere else in Australia, is if it is staged during the night so that the public in Europe can watch it.

"At the moment, it is ridiculous that people are asked not to sleep in order to see it live.

"That can't carry on. The alternative is to pull the race completely from Australia.

"I've spoken to Kevin Rudd and he's told me it would cost too much to re-stage the race, so I guess that's it.

"We won't be going to Australia for too much longer."

One follow-up report we've seen says Prime Minister Rudd's office denies he has spoken to Ecclestone.

The British interviewer may have confused Rudd with Victorian Premier John Brumby.

Either way, it seems there is no way Ecclestone is going to get a night race in Oz -- and that will inevitably mean there will be no F1 race in the country.

Some are now querying whether the two sides will even want to see out the existing contract until 2010.

The FIA claims Stepney admitted being involved in the spying saga and had apologised for it, although he disputed the seriousness and extent of his involvement.

The Indianapolis Star newspaper has come across some figures contained in Champ Car's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

The paper reports that George has agreed to pay US$2 million each to Champ Car's main owners, Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, and US$6 million for Champ Car's assets, including a mobile medical centre.

George has also committed IRL cars and engines to Champ Car teams that will participate in the IndyCar Series, worth $1.8 million per entry.

So far, six have signed on, pushing his commitment to US$20.8 million.

Champ Cars debts include US$1.825 million to Cosworth, the engine company owned by Kalkhoven and Forsythe, US$645,883 to PKV Racing, US$424,861 to RuSPORT and US$327,961 to Forsythe Championship Racing.

Meanwhile, George is already making noises about wanting F1 back at Indianapolis next year.

The Brickyard had a GP from 2000 until last year, including the infamous six-car race in 2005.

To comment on this article click here