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AUSSIES ON TOP IN FUNNY CAR DUEL

17. January 2010

A record breaking 320mph/513kmh pass by Australian Damien Harris, was the highlight as Australia came out on top of the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car Challenge at Queensland's Willowbank Raceway. Harris saved the best till last with the new speed record being set in very last run of Nitro Funny Car for the night, which also saw the West Australian alongside Queenslander Ricky Steffens set the quickest Nitro Funny Car side-by side-pass for Australia as well. Harris’ 320.66mph at 4.868 second effort combined with Steffens’ 5.164s pass – a new personal best for the driver – to better the previous side-by side-mark (also featuring Harris alongside fellow West Australian Mark Sheehan in Perth on Boxing Day) by seven one thousandths of a second. “The speed record hasn’t really sunk in as yet to be honest, the guys came on the radio to tell me what had happened while I was slowing down and I was concentrating on the car and things, and it just hasn’t sunk in,” said Harris, who also won the first round on January 2.

NHRA GOES GLOBAL: TODAY POMONA TOMORROW THE WORLD!

17. January 2010

US Drag Racing sanctioning body the NHRA have signalled its intention to spread it's brand worldwide with the announcement of NHRA Worldwide Network. The new program will enable drag racing facilities around the world to conduct events under the NHRA banner. By becoming a part of the NHRA Worldwide Network, a facility will be able to use the specially-designed “Worldwide Drag Racing” NHRA oval for broad promotional purposes and will be able to draw on NHRA’s decades of experience and history. “We have been receiving many inquiries regarding how facilities outside of North America can become affiliated with NHRA,” said Tom Compton, president, NHRA. “NHRA Worldwide Network provides drag racing facilities around the globe with unique benefits and identification with NHRA.”

BRISCOE TOPS WEBBER IN WORLD DRIVER “RANKINGS”

14. January 2010

Indy Racing League driver Ryan Briscoe has topped Formula One star Mark Webber and 2009 Le Mans and ALMS winner David Brabham to be the top ranked Australian driver in a new world driver ranking system. The Castrol Driver Ranking System claims to fairly compare drivers across a number of different race series and styles. The rankings analyse performances over 50 major National and International racing series, points are awarded based on a bewildering formula based on results from qualifying, racing and fastest laps. Events and series are also given a rating based on the number of rounds and the "importance" of the event or series. The rankings were revealed at the Autosport International Show in Great Britain by former F1 driver David Coulthard.

ANOTHER POM TAKING OUR JOBS

13. January 2010

Former Director of Motorsport at Ford and current Bahrain International Circuit CEO Martin Whitaker, is the new CEO of V8 Supercars Australia. The appointment of the highly respected sports administrator will be seen as a major boost in the profile and credibility of the category in the International motorsport scene. Making the announcement V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane said that Whitaker's signing "is an outstanding testimony to the size and quality of our business and our sport." “Martin will join an excellent management team and help build the sport throughout Australia, the Pacific, Asia and the Indian sub continents.” he said.

WILLIAMS WINS LADY WIGRAM TROPHY

10. January 2010

Auckland driver Roger Williams (Lola T332) is the latest in a long and distinguished line of Lady Wigram Trophy holders after winning an incident-packed Christchurch Casino Lady Wigram trophy feature race at the second round of the 2009/10 MSC NZ Formula 5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series races at Christchurch's Ruapuna Park. Three-time Lady Wigram Trophy winner Ken Smith (Lola T430) from Auckland and 2007/08 MSC series champion, local man Chris Hyde (McRae GM1), were joint favourites to win this year's 16-lap Lady Wigram Trophy feature race at the 2010 Christchurch Casino Lady Wigram trophy meeting - but both struck problems. Smith - who joined race two winner Hyde on the front row of the grid for the final - was swamped at the start when he missed a gearchange, got caught up in a first lap clash between Lola T332 drivers Sefton Gibb and Tony Richards, and was finally forced out by a broken front right hand balljoint. Hyde meanwhile, was slowed and finally stopped by a battery problem. After two relatively uneventful sprint races on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning the Lady Wigram Trophy feature was real thrill-a-minute stuff with Hyde getting the initial jump on quickest weekend qualifier and race one winner Steve Ross (McRae GM1) with eventual race winner Williams slotting into third place in front of former series champion Ian Clements (Lola T332) then a gap to Australian driver Aaron Lewis (Matich A50), Tony Richards (Lola T332) and Aaron Burson (McRae GM1).

QUEENSLAND RACEWAY LOSE V8 SUPERCARS

7. January 2010

There will be no V8 Supercar round at Queensland raceway in 2010. In a media release issued yesterday (Wednesday January 6) Queensland Raceway management announced that the track had been unable to broker a deal with V8 Supercars Australia to keep the event at the Ipswich circuit. "For three months we have tried to find common ground with the management of V8 Supercars to no avail. We had agreed to accept their price but it was their inability to accept the rights of the Queensland Raceways Passholders and to accept responsibility for damage to our track whilst they are running the event, which became the deal breakers." said Queensland Raceway CEO John Tetley. In spite of the loss of the tracks biggest annual event Mr Tetley was up beat about the tracks future announcing several new events for 2010. One of these is a Bike Week Carnival to be held over the Easter break. He also flagged the terrifying possibility of a new, permanent track based national series, which is being promulgated by the circuits over the next three months. Can anybody say PowerTour. or AMRS or... The loss of the Queensland round will probably have little effect on V8 Supercars who already have two major taxpayer supported races in the state at Townsville and the Gold Coast. Although if Mr Tetley felt the need to ban the category from his circuit all together, then that could make life interesting for Queensland based team looking for testing opportunities. But that's not likely to happen.

BUNDY RACING PAINTS IT BLACK

7. January 2010

The 2010 V8 Supercar launch season has officially kicked off as Bundaberg Red Racing unveiled its 2010 livery and new team drivers Fabian Coulthard and Andrew Thompson. With the technical ennui of V8 Supercars, a change of paint scheme is considered pretty big news and the excitement of the assembled media was palpable as the covers came off the newly painted car. Grown men gasped and women swooned as the car emerged from under the sheets. "There's a lot more black' said one V8 Supercar hack desperately trying to recover from the surprise, "No one expected that!" said another. "Call the editor! Hold the Front Page!" said yet another, despite the fact that he works in television. As the shock of the new spread across inner Melbourne like a tsunami, medical staff were placed on high alert as Victorian Premier John Brumby called for calm. "I'd like to think that in this day and age that we as a society have grown enough to be able to handle this sort of thing." said Mr Brumby. "I'm just so very proud that today's launch has taken place here in Melbourne, the sporting and cultural capital of the world and way better than Sydney which just sucks puss big time." Bundaberg Red Racing lead driver Fabian Coulthard told the recovering media that he was confident that the challenge of the extra black would not pose a problem.

AUSSIES ON TOP IN FUNNY CAR CHALLENGE

3. January 2010

Australian Funny Car driver Damien Harris came out on top in the opening round of the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car Challenge at Queensland's Willowbank Raceway. The challenge is part of the two-round International New Year Drag Racing Series with Harris and fellow Aussie Ricky Steffens taking on American Jack Wyatt. Harris was clearly the star of the evening with a series of strong runs highlighted by a 4.968s at over 300mph on his first run of the evening, the first 300mph Nitro Funny Car pass by an Aussie racer at the track. Steffens was also strong with two full passes with a five (5.768s at 186.59mph) and six second pass (6.520s at 148.87mph) for the Regency Downs racer. Wyatt struggled with set up all night , running a 7.150 at 155.74mph and a 7.049 at 126.67mph after having to lift off the pedal at intervals during both runs. “We just kept smoking the tyres and also struggled a bit with the tune up, but we think we know what the issue is now and are confident we will be on the pace come January 16,” he said....

PEUGEOT FOCUS ON NEW PROTOTYPE

2. January 2010

Reigning Le Mans 24 hour winners Peugeot will focus their attention on building a new prototype for 2011 and are unlikely to compete in the new ACO Intercontinental Cup. The Cup which will combine the Sebring 1000 race, The Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta and the Asian Le Mans series race has already attracted the interest of Peugeot's great rival Audi, but the French manufacturer has more pressing commitments. Speaking to the British publication "Autosport" Peugeot Sport boss Olivier Quesnel said that Peugeot was unlikely to have any factory presence in 2010 after the Le Mans 24 Hours. "The Intercontinental Cup is a good idea, but we can't do everything." he said. Mr Quesnel said that Peugeot had two main objectives for 2010 "to do our best with the current car at Le Mans and to build a new car for 2011,"

IT’S LOOKING BRIGHT FOR BRAD JONES RACING

24. December 2009

Jason Bright will return to Holden with the news that he has signed on to replace Cameron McConville at Brad Jones Racing. Bright a veteran of 145 V8 Supercar starts spent several years behind the wheel of a Commodore including a time as a driver for the Holden Racing Team. Bright said that he is excited about the move to Brad Jones Racing. “BJR has all the ingredients to turn it into a very strong force. Its rate of progress up the field in the last couple of years has been impressive and the changes they’ve made internally, as well as their plans for the future with engines and engineering, were all deciding factors for me." he said.