No Falcon race for VE... yet

Ford wants to start building a prototype of its answer to Holden's new VE Commodore V8 Supercar by the end of this year, even though the new model road-going Falcon is still 18 months away, Auto Action magazine reports today. And the Triple Eight team is set to do the Ford prototype racecar's track development, rather than Stone Brothers.

Auto Action editor-at-large Mark Fogarty writes that Ford Racing engineers "have begun computer design work on the competition cousin of the all-new '08 Falcon". While the VE Commodore could be racing from the start of next year's V8 Supercar Championship, the Falcon prototype is unlikely to be seen testing until some time later and may not race until mid-2008.

Murphy on move in '07
Greg Murphy is set to quit Supercheap Auto Racing a year early and join Tasman Motorsport next season. Auto Action suggests the Melbourne-based New Zealander has an "out" from Supercheap because he cannot finish in the top five in this year's V8 Supercar Championship. Murphy's name has long been linked to Tasman as his father, Kevin, is a part-owner and it already has fellow Kiwi driver Jason Richards. Murphy dismisses talk he could even switch before the end of this season.

"I swear that I'm not going anywhere until the end of the year at least," he says. "I know what I'm doing, but that's as far as I'm prepared to go at this point."

Lowndes back in a Holden!
Craig Lowndes will be driving a Holden at Bathurst this weekend. Lowndes will be at the wheel of his late mentor Peter Brock's first Bathurst-winning car, a Torana XU1, as he heads the tribute lap for Brock around Mt Panorama soon after 9am Sunday. "It's a great honor -- and Ford has been very good to let me do it," Lowndes says.

Subaru keeps Atkinson for third year
Australia's Chris Atkinson has been confirmed as the Subaru World Rally Team's second driver for 2007. Atkinson and co-driver Glenn Macneall will contest every round of the world rally championship together with the team's lead crew, Petter Solberg and Phil Mills, while Stephane Sarrazin, the Frenchman nominated to score manufacturer points in tarmac events this season, is being dropped. "I feel I've really started to make a difference to the team, so it's good to know that Subaru is putting so much faith in my ability," Atkinson says. "I feel I can help them progress." Atkinson, 26, is the first full-time Australian driver in the world championship.

Rossi 50-50 for Rally NZ
MotoGP superstar and rally fan Valentino Rossi is a 50-50 chance of driving in next month's Rally New Zealand. Entries close next Wednesday (October 11). While Subaru World Rally Team managing director Richard Taylor says a deal for Rossi to do the event is "much more likely than unlikely", he adds that the odds of a third factory Subaru being made available to the Italian remain in the balance. Rossi drove a Peugeot in the 2002 Rally of Great Britain but slid off on the first forest stage. He has driven a Subaru in Italy's Monza Rally.

Definitive word on Schu greatness
Michael Schumacher's brilliant victory in the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend triggered a headline writer at Germany's best-selling daily newspaper Bild to create a new term: "Schumisupermega-turbogeilgöttlichgigagalaktisch!" It means Schumi super mega turbo cool divine giga galactic! Bild had written off Schumacher's chances of an eighth world title when he trailed Fernando Alonso by 25 points mid-season, but this week it trumpeted: "He showed the world who's the best, cuts Alonso to shreds and shuts Flavio Briatore's trap. A lot of fans are now asking: Why the heck is he going to retire?"

A wag at a post-race party in Shanghai joked that Schumi would henceforth be known in China as Feng-Schuey!

Webber sees clear track ahead
Mark Webber sees greater unity and stability for the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, of which he is becoming a director again coincidentally as Michael Schumacher retires. "It has been pretty interesting for the last 15 months inside for everyone," Webber says. "It is just that sometimes, with Michael, there have been other agendas. That is sometimes good and sometimes bad for us as a group. That won't be there any more."

Minardi comeback -- in GP2
Minardi founder Giancarlo Minardi appears set to field a team in the GP2 series at European rounds of the Formula One world championship next year, following the merger of his European Formula 3000 team with Piquet Sports GP2 for which Nelson Piquet Junior raced until becoming a Renault F1 test driver. However, Minardi cannot go back into F1 with his original team's name unless he strikes a deal to get the rights back from Australian Paul Stoddart.

Villeneuve taking stock too?
As Juan Pablo Montoya prepares for his stock car race debut in Alabama this Friday, Jacques Villeneuve's name continues to be linked to NASCAR with Roush Racing, which heads Ford's challenge in the premier Nextel Cup and won titles in 2003 and '04. Roush runs five cars in the Cup and six in the Busch series. The Fenway Sports Group of Boston Red Sox baseball team owner John Henry is looking at investing in Roush.