PIKES PEAK: MONSTER MAULS THE MOUNTAIN

It was to be the heavyweight title fight of international hillclimbing. In the red corner from Japan The Monster Nobuhiro Tajima and in the blue corner from New Zealand "Son of a Gun" Red Bull Rhys Millen. On paper it looked like a battle for the ages, the defending champion in his wild looking Suzuki based special up against Millen's even more extreme off road prototype powered by Hyundai. In the end though it became a no contest. Mechanical problems plagued the challenger leaving the 'Monster' as King of the Hill once again. The win to the Japanese driver was his 5th consecutive at the peak with a fastest time of 10:11.490. Both Tajima and Millen had hoped to break the magic 10 minute mark but neither really got close.

PIKES PEAK THE ULTIMATE HILLCLIMB ?

The 88th edition of the venerable Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on Sunday morning will put the elusive 10-second barrier under intense pressure again. The thousands of fans who will view the USA’s second oldest motor sports race along its 12.42 mile course will be paying a lot of attention to the Unlimited division, where four-time champion Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima will be looking over his broad shoulders at veterans Rhys Millen and Paul Dallenbach, both entering this discipline for the first time after years of success in other classes. Millen wants to bring the record on the Hill back to the family as he attacks Pikes Peak in a new, never-before-seen race car, the 2010 RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580. His father, the legendary Rod Millen, once owned the overall mark of 10:04.06 (1994) until Tajima broke it in 2007 with his clocking of 10:01.41. “The main focus now is to be the fastest car up the hill, slay the Monster and get the record back in the family name, the Millen name,” he said during recent practice runs.

WHY MARCOS? ‘CAUSE HE’S AN AUSSIE, THAT’S WHY

It's been described as one of the worst mistakes in NASCAR history, In Australia it has prompted comparisons with Greg Norman's finest choking efforts. What Roy & HG will make of it I can't wait to find out. Yes our DNF Maestro Mark Webber has nothing on this one. Just as he looked set for his long awaited NASCAR Sprint Cup maiden victory, Marcos Ambrose blew the biggest win of his career by stalling his car during a safety car period. Called on to save fuel Ambrose coasted down hill with the engine off, but when he couldn't get the Toyota to restart, it was back to eighth place on the restart and a win for Jimmie Johnson. (As if he needs any more)

ALESHIN STRENGTHENS LEAD AT MAGNY-COURS WSR

Carlin Racing's Mikhail Aleshin has strengthened his lead Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship with a win at a wet Magny-Cours in France. The talented young Russian star leads ISR’s Sebastian Guerrieri and Comtec Racing's Stefano Coletti. Guerrieri took advantage of disappointment for Tech 1 Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, Fortec Motorsport’s Sten Pentus and Tech 1 Racing’s Brendon Hartley to carve himself a solid second place in the championship. Conditions were tough for the drivers s they lined up on a track still wet from a morning of incessant rain. Fortec Motorsport’s Jon Lancaster stalled even before the warm-up lap and had to start from the pits.

KELLY FIFTH AS EDWARDS WINS FOR FORD

Australian Owen Kelly has finished fifth in his NASCAR Nationwide race debut at Road America. Carl Edwards driving a Ford won the race which was marred by a massive 10 car pile-up which brought out the red flag. Robb Brent slammed into the back of Tony Raines’ car as the field scrambled to avoid the incident. 10 cars were damaged causing NASCAR officials to call the red flag. The race was restarted over 30 minutes later. Second place in the race went to veteran road course specialist Ron Fellows in a Chevrolet ahead of the Toyota of Brendan Gaughan.

KAHNE ON POLE AS AMBROSE STARTS SIXTH

Kasey Kahne has put his Ford on pole for this weekend's NASCAR Road race at Sonoma. Kahne outpaced defending champion Jimmie Johnson in a Chev and Kurt Bush in a Dodge in third. Australian driver Marcos Ambrose, who had set the fastest time in practice, fell back to sixth place. Fellow road circuit specialist Juan Pablo Montoya will start back in 14th place just ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Robby Gordon and Boris Said. GT racer Jan Magnussen will start in 32nd with DTM star Mattias Ekstrom back in position 38.

AMBROSE ON TOP IN NASCAR PRACTICE. KELLY SHINES ON DEBUT

Marcos Ambrose has made the early running in this weekend's NASCAR Road Course race at Infinion Raceway, Sonoma. Ambrose took his Toyota to a fastest lap time of 76.375 at 93.800 MPH to edge out the Chevys of Clint Boyer and Ryan Newman. GT driver Jan Magnussen was off the early pace back in 26th place. DTM star Mattias Ekstrom also found his first taste of US stockcars quite a challenge ending the day in 40th place. Meanwhile in the Nationwide Cup at the spectacular Road America circuit, Aussie NASCAR debutante Owen Kelly has done well finishing the day in sixth position. Fastest time at Road America went to former Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. The Nationwide race from Road America can be seen in Australia on ONE HD early Monday morning, with a delayed telecast of Sprint Cup action also on ONE Tuesday night at 8.30 p.m.

MARCOS AMBROSE NASCAR PREVIEW

MAJOR SHAKEUP HITS SYDNEY SPRINTCARS

The battle for control of Australian Speedway Racing has taken another turn with Sydney Speedway Pty Ltd, promoter of Parramatta City Raceway announcing that the Sprintcar Association of New South Wales  will now have no jurisdiction  over the conduct of race meetings staged at the track. PCR General Manager, David Tapp, said that the decision to sever ties with the SANSW was regrettable but has been made based on Sydney Speedway Pty Ltd’s strong belief that the SANSW is steadfastly working against the future direction and commercial objectives of the company. “In coming weeks, the Raceway will be contacting all Sprintcar competitors to outline the venue’s plans for the new season and to invite participation for the 2010-2011 season.” he said.

AUDI WIN RECORD BREAKING LE MANS

If you keep your head when all around are losing theirs, you'll be the tallest person in the room. Audi kept their head and were rewarded with a remarkable 1, 2, 3 finish at the 2010 Le Mans 24 hour classic. The victorious Audi R15 TDI with Timo Bernhard (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) at the wheel, completed a total of 397 laps and setting a new distance record of 5,410 kilometres. Second place went to Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and local driver Benoît Treluyer. Their R15 TDI lost time in the pits when the front bodywork had to be changed twice after contact with the track barriers. In third place was the most experienced team in the Audi line up Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen lost time when he had to evade the GT2 BMW of Andy Priaulx and slid backwards against the track barrier of the Porsche corners. With fast lap times, Capello, Kristensen and McNish pushed back into the group of the front runners and in the end were rewarded with a podium result.