V8SC: V8 Supercar transition clicking into gear

The transition to the Car of the Future (CotF) is drawing closer as the championship resumes with this weekend’s two races at Ipswich’s Queensland Raceway – 140km, or 45 laps of the resurfaced six-turn 'Paperclip', on Saturday and 200km, or 65 laps, on Sunday.

Top team Triple Eight Race Engineering unveiled midweek the first of nine CotF Commodores it is building. That was at the Holden Driving Centre at Norwell, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with Jamie Whincup at the wheel. Serious testing of the car will begin at Queensland Raceway on Monday with Craig Lowndes in the seat.

While Whincup called it “a completely different beast in all areas of feel for the driver, and obviously for the engineers as well”, visually the car is little different to those racing now, except for the bigger, 18-inch tyres - and it has more prominent brake discs.

“It was important for us to show leadership and be the first to have the car running out on the track,” said Triple Eight boss Roland Dane, who has secured Red Bull as the replacement for his team’s major backer of the past six years, Vodafone.

“Other teams should be grateful for what we have done because we are helping to validate a lot of the components on the car.”

Whincup did four short runs at Norwell, under the eye of V8 Supercar technical manager Frank Adamson, and said “it looked like there was a problem developing in the driveline” at the end.

“We’ll have a look at it and come up with a solution for everyone,” he said.

Dane’s team manager Adrian Burgess said Triple Eight would retain five of its new cars, sell two to Jonathon Webb’s Tekno Autosports, and one to Lucas Dumbrell, “while we haven’t yet finalised a deal with the ninth chassis”.

There has been speculation again this week about retiring MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner being rushed into a Triple Eight seat, although Dane was quick to say that his flagship team would continue to field only Whincup and Lowndes next season.

It also needs to be remembered that Stoner indicated when announcing his retirement that he wanted time away from racing - and that not all four-wheel careers of motorcycle aces have been entirely successful.

Other teams are pressing on with building the new-generation Commodores and Falcons and the Kelly Brothers the new Nissan Altimas, but there is still no official word on a fourth manufacturer that CotF chief Mark Skaife and V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane recently alluded to being close to confirmation.

Despite mounting fears that Ford will withdraw from the sport within a couple of years because of the Falcon’s dwindling sales, David Richards, chairman of British company Prodrive that operates Ford Performance Vehicles and Ford Performance Racing, has vowed to remain involved, even though Ford backing of the race team is only in place until the end of next year.

FPR reportedly is close to securing major new sponsorship for the cars of Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison and Richards hinted, in an interview with Auto Action magazine’s editor-at-large Mark Fogarty published this week, that the mid-size Mondeo could become the Blue Oval’s representative on Australia’s race tracks.

Richards declared that now was “the right time [for Ford] to be hammering home the benefits” of its racing activity.

“I’m sure they see the value that the race program’s giving them, so… I’d feel confident that Ford would look at it and say what a great return it gives them,” he said.

However, he said the race team could survive without factory support if it came to that.

And, of a possible switch from Falcon to Mondeo, Richards said: “It’s not about product. We are not promoting a particular model of car. We are polishing the Blue Oval.

“You only have to look in the crowds at any race meeting to see the number of people wearing blue and cheering on the Fords. They’re not cheering on the model of car – they’re cheering on Ford. And that’s an important aspect of it.

“Motor racing, and V8s in Australia more so than anywhere, is still a great brand ambassador.”

Triple Eight and FPR have won all 15 championship races so far this season. Triple Eight has arrested FPR’s early season dominance, winning the past four races straight. And Queensland Raceway (QR) is Triple Eight’s home track, and Craig Lowndes won all three races at the circuit last year.

FPR was at its low point at QR last year, but has returned upbeat, with Will Davison’s six wins this season the most of any driver in the championship, while Mark Winterbottom has outscored everyone in the past six races.

“It is always nice to race our rivals on their home track as it puts the pressure on them and we hope to knock them off – there is a lot more pride in winning on someone else’s track,” Winterbottom said.

While these clearly have been the best teams this year, dominating in a way not seen previously in the V8 Supercar era, the championship could do with seeing other faces on the podiums – but that requires other teams and drivers lifting their performances, because Triple Eight and FPR won’t becoming back to the field voluntarily.

V8 Supercar Championship driver standings after 15 races: 1 Jamie Whincup (Holden) 1794 points; 2 Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1694; 3 Will Davison (F) 1654; 4. Craig Lowndes (H) 1496; 5 Shane van Gisbergen (F) 1280; 6 Garth Tander (H) 1239; 7 Lee Holdsworth (F) 1190; 8 Tim Slade (F) 1170; 9 Fabian Coulthard (H) 1030; 10 David Reynolds (F) 951.

V8 Supercar teams championship standings: 1 Ford Performance Racing 3348 points; 2 TeamVodafone (Holden) 3315; 3 Stone Brothers Racing (Ford) 2470; 4 Holden Racing Team 2130; 5 Brad Jones Racing (H) 1912; 6 Jack Daniel's Racing (H) 1729; 7 Tekno Autosports (H) 1597; 8 Fujitsu Racing GRM (H) 1320; 9 Lucky 7 Racing (F) 1170; 10 Bottle-O Racing Team (F) 976.

Three-pronged Aussie attack at Rally Finland
Three Australian rally drivers in action at this weekend’s Rally Finland, round eight of the World Rally Championship.

Even though he became an ambassador for Skoda Australia this week, and is leading the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in a Super 2000 Skoda Fabia, Chris Atkinson is driving a Citroen DS3 in Finland.

Brendan Reeves is competing in the round of WRC Academy, in which selected rising stars drive identical Ford Fiesta R2s. In his second year in the Academy, Reeves is already third in the series after two rounds with his co-driver sister, Rhiannon Smyth.

Molly Taylor is driving a turbocharged Citroen DS3 R3T for an Italian team in Rally Finland’s two-wheel-drive category.

France’s eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb headed the field in his Citroen after the opening leg overnight from Finns Jari-Matti Latvala in a Ford and Mikko Hirvonen in another Citroen.

Atkinson, despite stalling on the start line, stood seventh – 15.6 seconds off the lead – in the Citroen usually driven by Qatar’s 2011 Dakar marathon rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, who won a bronze medal in the Olympic skeet shooting during the week.

It is only Atkinson’s fourth WRC round in the four seasons since Subaru folded its factory team.

“I’ve taken part in Rally Finland five times and I finished on the podium last time I was here in 2008,” the Queenslander said.

“I hope I can be on the pace … the DS3 seems to be the best world rally car.”

Meanwhile, Citroen team principal Yves Matton has dismissed speculation that the manufacturer’s rally operation would be sold to the wealthy Al-Attiyah in light of plunging sales figures and mass redundancies. Matton said budgets would be trimmed and more sponsorship was being sought, but selling Citroen Racing was not an option.

“It is, quite simply, not possible for anybody to come and buy Citroen Racing – it is a department of the company, not a separate company that could be sold,” he said.

Mazda-Honda (and Nissan) tussle teaser for 2013 ARC
The belated entry of the much-awaited Mazda 2 driven by multiple national champion Simon Evans into Australia’s two-wheel-drive rally championship could not immediately stop the dominance of the Italian-built Honda Jazz driven by Evans’ younger brother Eli.

However, the more famous of the Evans brothers and co-driver wife Sue finished second in Rally South Australia, last weekend’s fourth round of the ARC, despite getting stuck in mud on one of the final day’s stages.

And Eli Evans said: “We are under no illusions, Simon and the Mazda will be very quick when they sort that car. The battle for the 2013 title will be very tough.”

The Mazda is built and entered by Rallyschool rather than the manufacturer, but ARC chief executive Scott Pedder remains optimistic of luring car companies into the series.

“Many are watching the arrival of Mazda with great interest,” Pedder said.

“More and more drivers are becoming convinced that [emphasis on] two-wheel-drive is the right direction of the championship.”

Simon Evans said: “I’ve driven a lot of cars over the years and I feel the future of Australian rally is two-wheel-drive. Manufacturers are building and selling two-wheel-drives – they are what the public are buying, and it’s what we need to be racing.

“You can become quite lazy in a four-wheel-drive but you really have to drive the G2-spec cars and keep the momentum up and be aggressive through turns.”

Eli Evans and co-driver Glen Weston, with four wins from four events, have 338 points towards a certain title this season, with teammates Mark Pedder and Claire Ryan on 170 points and Alan Roe and Ray Farrell in a Nissan Silvia on 165.

SA cult figure Jack Monkhouse was a crowd-pleaser on the Barossa Valley and Mt Crawford stages in his Nissan Silvia and unlucky not to notch a heat win but fell victim to rear suspension and steering failures.

Meanwhile, brother and sister Michael Boaden and Helen Cheers, from Wauchope near Port Macquarie, NSW, are on target for the four-wheel-drive title, with a 61-point lead after consecutive round wins in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX they prepare themselves.

West Australian Nic Box finished second to Boaden in Rally SA, just 7.5 seconds behind, in another Evo IX and is third in the championship on 177 points.

Fellow West Australian Tom Wilde is second with 245 points to Boaden’s 306.

The next round is at Coffs Harbour, NSW, on October 14-15.

"AJ is a terrific driver, a good person and it is very unfortunate that we have to separate at this time,” Penske said of the 30-year-old Californian, who was 23rd in the Sprint Cup standings in his first season with Penske Racing after partnering Australian Marcos Ambrose at Richard Petty Motorsports last season.

“We have invested greatly in AJ and we were confident in his success with our team. The decision to dismiss him is consistent with how we would treat any other Penske Racing team member under similar circumstances.

“As AJ begins NASCAR's 'Road to Recovery' program we wish him the best and look forward to seeing him compete again in NASCAR."

Allmendinger's sacking comes just months after his career high point – a stirring drive to victory in the Daytona 24- Hour for Michael Shank Racing. The drug found in his urine sample still has not been disclosed.

Sam Hornish Junior is set to see out the Cup season in the Dodge that Allmendinger had been driving, but with Penske switching to Ford in NASCAR next season many other names are being linked to the seat – but not Ford-connected Ambrose, 18th in this year’s championship.

Sporting News has named the other candidates for the drive as Joey Lagano, Ryan Newman, Regan Smith, Trevor Bayne Brian Vickers, Martin Truex Junior, David Regan and Elliott Sadler. Perhaps Penske already has enough Australians on his books with IndyCar drivers, Will Power and Ryan Briscoe.

Tasmanian Ambrose’s immediate focus is on the Sprint Cup’s return this weekend to “The Tricky Triangle” at Pocono, Pennsylvania.

It will be Ambrose’s seventh Cup start at the 2.5-mile (4km) track, where his best finish was sixth in 2009.

“We had a great car in Pocono in June, and I expect to have a similar set-up this weekend,” he said.

"We ran up front for the majority of the race in June, and things just didn’t fall in our favor toward the later portion of the event. We have had a bit of a slump here the last couple of weeks, so I’m ready to get back on an uphill swing and get a good finish this weekend," Ambrose stated.

Australia’s Will Power is third in the series as he chases the title that eluded him the past two seasons. He has rated his charge from 17th to third at Edmonton two weeks ago one of the best drives of his career.

Power enters this weekend’s round at Mid-Ohio third in the series, 27 points behind American leader Ryan Hunter-Reay and four behind Brazilian teammate, Helio Castroneves.

The permanent road course should suit Power, although he has not won there in three previous starts – although he came close to beating nemisis Dario Franchitti two years ago.

New Zealander Scott Dixon, Franchitti’s Ganassi teammate, has won three times at Mid-Ohio and is fourth in this year’s points.

Australian Ryan Briscoe, Penske's third driver (along with Power and Castroneves), won at Mid-Ohio in 2008 and was runner-up a year later but has lagged his teammates and other frontrunners too often in recent times since taking pole position at the Indianapolis 500.

Briscoe will now have to play a support role to Power and Castroneves with just three races left this season after Mid-Ohio.