McLAREN: JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE…

  The FIA has issued McLaren with a suspended 3 race ban after the team admitted it's guilt to the World Motorsport Council. In a statement issued just moments ago the FIA said: "Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate. "That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code." The finding means the team will be on the grid at Barcelona and Lewis Hamilton can continue his defence of his World title. Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal for McLaren said in a statement released by the team "I would like to thank the FIA World Motor Sport Council members for affording me the opportunity to answer their questions this morning. We are aware that we made serious mistakes in Australia and Malaysia, and I was therefore very glad to be able to apologise for those mistakes once again. I was also pleased to be able to assure the FIA World Motor Sport Council members that we had taken appropriate action with a view to ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again." Of interest is the decision by the FIA not to impose a financial penalty on the team. In these tough economic times a large fine may have been just enough to push engine supplier Mercedes to re-examine their continued involvement with the sport. So the question needs to be asked, was the suspended 3 race ban adequate punishment for McLaren? In Pit Lane wants YOUR opinion just check out the In Pit Lane peoples poll in the bottom right hand corner of the website.  

WHINCUP GOING GLOBAL ?

Jamie Whincup  is well on his way to becoming a modern great of Australian Motorsport. He currently sits 12th on the all time round winners list, and if his current form continues he may jump to 7th by seasons end. If that occurs only the likes of Brock, Skaife, Lowndes and Co. stand in front of him.  So far in 2009, he has proven to be fast, precise and virtually mistake free. If you trace his results back to Bathurst last year, Whincup has won 14 out of 17 championship races contested, a winning percentage of over 80%. While domination isn't exactly a new concept to motorsport, V8 Supercars Australia had invested in a variety of changes to prevent the curse of predictability.  After the Holden Racing Team's domination of the mid 90's, Project Blueprint and a raft of format and championship points changes were implemented. Yet in the face of this, Team Vodafone and Whincup have been in a league of their own.  Not even his much fancied teammate Craig Lowndes has been able to keep up with the 26year old. In fact Whincup has proven to be the only teammate to consistently outpace Lowndes for over two seasons and with both Team Vodafone drivers out of contract at years end, Lowndes may be the only one feeling any pressure to perform.  But for Whincup, V8 Supercars may not be his only choice...

SPEED TV WRAP UP BUTTON’S BAHRAIN GP

QUEENSLAND STATE SERIES SHINES

The Queensland Motor Racing Championships held at Morgan Park Raceway on April 25-26 were a massive success, due largely to the introduction of Saturday night championship races.  Organised by the Queensland Racing Drivers Association (QRDA), the meeting saw around 150 racers take to the track, traveling from as far away as New Zealand to compete.  As an added bonus for competitors, there was perfect weather for the event, especially for the Saturday night racing where a large crowd turned out to take in the festivities.  Chris Donnelly, president of the QRDA was once again impressed by the local facilities, volunteers and spectator numbers.  "The Warwick District Sporting Car Club has gone above all expectations in assisting with the set up for the night racing and lighting towers, the success of the meeting and the presentation of Morgan Park Raceway is a credit to Bill Campbell and his team," said Mr Donnelly.  "I hope that the people of Warwick realise what a valuable asset they have at Morgan Park, as once again the town filled up with competitors and teams from as far away as Darwin, Cairns and New Zealand.  "The racing itself was top notch, with the night racing a real test for the drivers, with several competitors actually going quicker in the night racing than they did during the day time qualifying sessions.  "We all look forward to returning for the remainder of the championship races in August and November."  Qualifying on Saturday kicked off after a lunchtime Anzac Day service hosted by the Warwick branch of the RSL, which was attended by all competitors and teams.  There were several surprise packets amongst the front runners in the 10 competing classes, including the Queensland Geminis.  Ryan Hansford, son of the late legend of two and four wheel motorsport Gregg Hansford, won his first ever championship race after only a handful of meetings in 2008.  In the Saloon Cars, newcomer Grant Gatland shook up the establishment with a strong podium run in his Falcon.  Gatland, formerly from South Africa where he raced in the VW Polo series, is a student of the Southern Queensland Institute of Tafe motorsport program, and has a big future ahead of him.  Other strong local performers included Warwick driver Jamie Furness in the HQ Holdens, who battled hard all weekend long with his Toowoomba based uncle Gary Bonwick, and Brisbane based Dion Cidoni for the podium places.  For more information on the Queensland Motor Racing Championships, visit the QRDA website atwww.qrda.asn.au.  Source: QRDA Media Release

VAUXHALL OUT, WILL HOLDEN BE NEXT?

General Motors British division Vauxhall have announced their decision to withdraw from the British Touring Car Championship for 2010. The company said that its decision to leave the championship was 'influenced by the absence of other manufacturer-backed teams and financial prudence in the current global economic downturn. "BTCC boss Australian Alan Gow said the he was not surprised by the decision and he was confident that the series would continue to be strong even without the factory presesnce.   "Given the (widely reported) extremely difficult financial position in which GM finds itself, it's inevitable that the company must make some drastic cutbacks in nearly all areas of its operations - and motor sport is certainly not immune, as we have witnessed in all major forms of our sport over the last 12 months. he said. Gow thanked the company for its support of the series and said he was confident of continued success even without manufacturer support.   "...it is important to remember that over the last six years we have seen direct manufacturer involvement decline within the BTCC - yet at the exact same time we have seen crowd figures rise, TV audiences rise, TV airtime rise, competitor numbers rise and the championship being as closely fought as ever. That's certainly no coincidence and the facts prove, over these last few years, that a heavy degree of manufacturer involvement is no longer crucial to either the success or popularity of the championship."   The decision of Vauxhall to leave the series follows Spainish manufacturer SEAT who left after last year's series. SEAT continue to field cars in the World Touring Car Championship as doead GM through it's Chevrolet Europe division with the new Cruze.

AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT MOURNS LOSS OF GRAHAM WATSON

Team owner, driver patron and former CAMS Gold Star winning driver Graham Watson has passed away after a brief battle with cancer. Watson who won the Australian Drivers Championship in 1986 was a prominent supporter of openwheel racing in Australia actively supporting several young drivers in their local careers. Most recently he had thrown his support behind young NSW driver Tom Tweedie in this years Australian F3 championship. Despite his illness Watson was alongside Tweedie at the opening round of the season on the streets of Adelaide. Watson was an integral part of the local openwheel scene, his roster of drivers reading like a who's who of local and international motorsport. Current Indy Racing League stars Scott Dixon and Will Power both drove for Watson in the early stages of their careers as did current F1 star Mark Webber, Le Mans endurance driver David Brabham, Brazilian Roberto Moreno and V8 Supercars star Craig Lowndes. The Australian Formula Three Association said that the loss of Watson was a huge blow to the community that surrounds the Gold Star championship, and will be felt around Australian Motorsport in general - such was his influence on so many drivers, teams and people working throughout the industry. The Association have announced plans to honour Watson at the next round of the championship to be held at Wakefield Park in conjunction with the Shannons Nationals on April 24 – 26. In Pit Lane passes on its sincere condolences to the family and many friends of a great friend of Australasian motorsport. 

DIFFUSERS LEGAL, BRAWN WINS AGAIN

  The FIA International Court of Appeal have backed the decision of stewards at both Melbourne and Sepang and declared the "double decker" diffusers of Brawn, Toyota & Williams to be legal. The decision has come as a huge blow to other teams who are now faced with the task of having to design and test similar devices during a tough season and with limited testing opportunities. Ferrari were quick to issue a statement expressing their disappointment about the decision. Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal for Scuderia Ferrari said that "...this decision forces us to intervene on fundamental areas of the car's design in order to be able to compete on an equal footing with some of the teams from a point of view of the technical regulations, and that will take time and money."

RICCIARDO TAKES BRITISH F3 OPENER AT OULTON

Western Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo has got off to the ideal start in his quest for the 2009 British Formula Three Championship with two wins from two races at the opening round at Oulton Park. Driving a Volkswagen powered Dallara, the young Aussie battled local star Nick Tandy and Austrian driver Walter Grubmuller to give Volkswagen their first win in the series after an absence of over 20 years. Ricciardo started the race from second position on the grid behind team-mate Max Chilton, the younger brother of WTCC star Tom. Chilton led early but a jumped start would cost him dearly and he dropped back through the pack leaving Ricciardo to fight with Tandy for the win. Grubmuller was third after Chilton received his time penalty. Ricciardo backed up his opening win with victory in race two. The first attempt to get the race underway ended at turn one when T-Sport team-mates Wayne Boyd and Gabriel Dias came together bringing out a red flag. At the restart Ricciardo again won the start ahead of Grubmuller who was on pole. From then on Ricciardo held off the challenges of the Austrian to win by just over two seconds. Nick Tandy was third with Chilton a long way back in fourth.

MARCOS AMBROSE IN THE WIND TUNNEL

ALL NOT WELL AS HAMILTON GEARS UP FOR V8 STREET FEST

  The glitter of New Zealand's racing jewel, this week's V8 Supercar race through the streets of the City of Hamilton has tarnished with ticket sales well down and local opposition to the event growing. With only a few days remaining till the thunder of the big five litre V8s hits the streets, race organisers have admitted that this years race is still a long way from being a sellout. With a raceday capacity of 50'000 event promoter Dean Calvert told the Waikato Times newspaper that an average of 35,000 daily tickets, or 70 per cent, of the total had been sold. They were a mix of general admission, grandstand and corporate hospitality tickets. Capacity for each day is 50,000. Mr Calvert told the paper that despite this he was happy with the way the event was going. "Selling out the event, as was the case last year, was not a priority" Mr Calvert said. "Ticket sales are only a part of the bigger picture. Our priority this year is the quality of experience that the fans get." Local businesses are also bitterly divided on the perceived benefit of the race to the region.