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GT1 WORLD TITLE’S GOLD COAST DISAPPOINTMENT

8. March 2010

GT1 WORLD TITLE’S GOLD COAST DISAPPOINTMENT

FIA GT1 World Championship promoter Stephane Ratel has expressed his disappointment at not gaining a berth on the Gold Coast Street Race card. Speaking on Tuesday night's edition of the C31 Melbourne television show "In Pit Lane" Mr Ratel said that Australia had always been an important part in his plans for the World Championship and he was disappointed that his proposal to be a part of the Gold Coast event had been refused. " We had a big ambition to launch the Championship on all five continents." he said. "I visited Australia twice in the last couple of years... I had a lot of hopes that something would come together and the last one was to join Surfers Paradise, but as you know... they finally decided to do V8's (V8 Supercars) only." Mr Ratel believes that the new World Championship would have been a considerable asset to the event bringing International glamour, media attention and corporate support to the race. "I personally think that we are an excellent fit for any big event in Australia." he said.

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2010: LE MANS BIG BANGERS EXIT STAGE RIGHT

4. March 2010

2010: LE MANS BIG BANGERS EXIT STAGE RIGHT

The 2010 Le Mans 24 hour classic will be the last chance to see the big banger turbo diesels in action. Changes to regulations for 2011 and beyond are expected to cut the maximum engine size of the diesels back to only 3.7 litres a far cry from today's 5.5 litre 700 BHP powerplants. Already the two major players in the diesel race at Le Mans have signalled their intention to develop cars for the new regulations. According to the respected magazine Racecar Engineering, Audi will develop a new car powered by a 3.7 litre Turbo V6 while Peugeot have announced that they are actively developing a hybrid powered racer to replace the current 908 HDI FAP.

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25. February 2010

CAMS CEO RESIGNS

The CAMS ( Confederation of Australian Motor Sport) Board have announced the resignation of CEO, Graham Fountain, effective 1 April 2010. Mr Fountain, who came to the Confederation from the Victorian Country Fire Authority, has filled the CEO position for almost three years. According to the statement Mr Fountain is leaving CAMS to fill another CEO position to be announced this afternoon. In making the announcement CAMS President Andrew Papadopoulos said: “I would like to publicly acknowledge the significant contribution Graham has made to CAMS during his tenure and on behalf of the Board wish him every success in his new role.

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20. September 2009

THE FORMULA THAT CAN NOT BE CURED

THE FORMULA THAT CAN NOT BE CURED

With the latest scandal in Formula 1 involving race fixing claims splattered in all manners of media, I certainly was glad I’m no longer a Formula 1 fan.

I very definitely do not want to be associated with those scammers, liars, cheats, nor any of the like-minded ego-maniacs that populate this field.

However, I find it very disturbing the sort of level Formula 1 as a brand image and its integrity has sunk towards with scandal after scandal within and beyond the last ten years of its existence.

If you’re still interested in this sport or entertainment, or whatever you’d like to call it. I’m sure you’d be asking when any of this will ever stop, so you can get to enjoy your Formula 1 racing again.

Having watched and studied the field for almost 20 years, I really don’t like the prospects of any of these huge egos with limitless pockets being put in their place and coming to terms that honesty, sportsmanship and values are not just merely words in press releases and sponsorship proposals.

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23. August 2009

EVANS’ PERFECT WEEKEND

Mitch Evans, the 15 year old New Zealand whiz-kid, stamped his authority on Queensland Raceway today when he won the third and final race of round six of the Australian Formula Ford Championship.

Sitting on pole, Evans once again launched a perfect start to maintain the lead into turn one and from there on lead the race to become the youngest driver in Australian Formula Ford history to taste the success of a national championship round win.

“I’m stoked with how this weekend has turned out,” Evans said.

“From first practice the car was fast, so it was just up to me to learn the track as quickly as possible … everything just fell into place – I wish every round was like this,” he added.

“Becoming the youngest driver to take out a round was the icing on the cake … if you told me I’d be a round winner at the start of the year I would have thought you were joking.”

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23. August 2009

GOOD HEAVENS, IT’S EVANS!

Australian Formula Ford’s youngest competitor, 15 year old New Zealander Mitch Evans, continued his recent winning form taking another race win during round six of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway.

Evans’ Banklink backed Mygale, stormed off the start line and was only serious challenged once for the lead by his Sonic Racing teammate Nick Percat. Evans kept a cool head and drove to a commanding lead, crossing the finish line nearly a full second ahead of Percat.

“I could get used to this winning feeling,” Evans said.

“I was lacking some grip this morning so to maintain my lead was a little harder than yesterday,” he added.

“We’ll make a few changes before the final race but I’m hoping we can make it another Sonic one, two, three … the car’s still got plenty in it so I’m confident I can use my pole position to advantage again.”

Sonic Racing made it another trifecta for both the team and chassis manufacturer Mygale, with championship leader Percat coming home in second place the much improved Geoff Uhrhane finishing in third.

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14. August 2009

COMMODORE CUP CHAMP GUILTY OF SERIOUS ASSAULT

Reigning Australian Commodore Cup Champion Michael Tancredi has been remanded for sentencing after pleading guilty to a vicious street assault which left a Geelong man with serious head injuries.

Tancredi and his then friend, Andrew Pamvouxoglou, both pleaded guilty in the Geelong County Court on Wednesday to a charge of  recklessly causing serious injury.

According to Police, the assault, which took place back in 2007, occurred as the victim left the Eureka Hotel in Geelong and was waiting for a taxi.

The victim was taken to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where he remained in a coma for 24 hours with bleeding from the brain. He then spent a further six months undergoing rehabilitation.

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23. June 2009

KASEY KAHNES THEM AT SONOMA

KASEY KAHNES THEM AT SONOMA

How strange was it for Kasey Kahne to win a road-course race?

The driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge had to ask his crew chief for directions to victory lane after taking the checkered flag in a green-white-checkered finish in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Kahne held off road-course ace Tony Stewart through a succession of four late-race double-file restarts, the final time after Scott Speed’s spin on Lap 108 caused the seventh caution of the day. After starting from the rear because of an engine change, Marcos Ambrose chased the top two finishers to the line to claim third place, matching the best result of his Sprint Cup Series career.

“Awesome—not too bad for a dirt-tracker from Washington!” Kenny Francis, Kahne’s crew chief, radioed after his driver crossed the stripe on Lap 113, three laps beyond the scheduled distance at the 1.99-mile road course.

“Unreal,” replied Kahne, who gave owner Richard Petty his first victory since John Andretti in 1999. “Gosh, we had to hold him (Stewart) off for a while. We won a road-course race! Oh, my God, I can’t believe this.”

Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit-road speeding penalty to finish fourth. Denny Hamlin, who led 33 laps—second only to Kahne’s 37—came home fifth. Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler completed the top 10….

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21. June 2009

PERCAT TOPS THE TOP END

PERCAT TOPS THE TOP END

Nick Percat has taken his third round win for the season in the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.

In a repeat of race two, Percat was beaten off the line by Sonic teammate Mitch Evans who briefly led the 12-lap race before Percat used the long Hidden Valley straight to slipstream himself back into the lead.

“Three from three … can’t do much better than that!” Percat exclaimed.

“Apart from my dodgy starts I’m happy with the way things turned out. Credit to Mitch too – he really had some pace this weekend and pushed me pretty hard,” he added.

“Hopefully I can carry this form onto Sandown (round five) next month and redeem my performance there last year.”

Evans did his best to hang on to the tail of Percat, but his efforts were in vain as his teammate stretched his lead to over two seconds by the final lap.

“I’m happy with second for the round but I think I probably could have looked after my tyres more for a better showing in this final race.” Evans said.

“Keeping up with Nick is hard work and for my first time here I’m happy with the result … a few more laps around here and I would be less prone to some of the mistakes I made which all part of the learning curve I guess.”

Ryan Simpson was able to hang onto third place after a great battle with Borland Racing’s Scott Pye and Team BRM’s Richie Stanaway. The trio pushed each other for the duration of the race and were joined by Synergy Racing’s Chaz Mostert who also hustled for a place on the podium.

“ Again I made a meal of the start … the clutch was slipping off the line and I just got bogged down. A shame because I think I had the pace to run with Nick and Mitch which was reflected in the lap times,” Simpson said.

“After the start I got caught up with Scott and Richie which provided for some good racing but I would have preferred to be fighting for the lead. I’m looking forward to Sandown now knowing I can run at the front and hopefully will be able to go one or two better.”

The next round of the Championship will be round five at Sandown International Raceway in Victoria on July 31 – August 2.

Source: Australian Formula Ford Media Release

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