HAIL TO THE GREAT CARUSO

Former Australian Formula 3 star Michael Caruso has broken through for his first ever V8 Supercar win at Darwin's Hidden Valley Raceway. In a virtuoso performance Caruso took the lead in the race on lap eight and despite challenges from the more experienced Craig Lowndes and Alex Davison held on to the end. Davison stormed through the field coming from 13th place to finish second to Caruso after a late race change to the softer compound sprint tyres. Caruso's win was another triumph for former racer, Melbourne car dealer Gary Rogers who has made something of a speciality of taking young drivers from supporting categories and turning them into top V8 drivers. “I’m just really stoked but I don’t think there has been enough time yet to really feel the emotion. said Caruso. Davison's second place was also his best ever V8 Supercar finish. The Falcon driver stayed out on the control tyres until his last pit stop late in the race. With the rest of the field, including Caruso battling with wearing rubber, Davison raced through the field and almost took his first victory. "I just kept plugging away and I had no idea what position we were in until I was in about third or something. he said. “Before today I wasn’t that keen on this soft tyre thing but obviously I’ve changed my mind on that now." Davison the Grandson of former Australian Grand Prix winner Lex Davison and cousin of Indy Lights driver James admitted that the transition from GT cars in Europe to the big heavy V8 Supercars had been difficult. "It's been pretty hard for me coming from Porsches and it requires a totally different set up and I’ve had to erase all that from my memory and I’ve just been learning every round.” Third place went to Team Vodafone diver Craig Lowndes. Lowndes, known around the paddock as "The Kid" celebrated his 35th birthday today. Lowndes was one of the drivers to benefit from a late race safety car that came out inexplicably to attend to the slowing car of Tim Slade. Slade had stopped briefly with overheating problems but managed to return to the pits under his own (dare I say it) steam. CAMS stewards have launched an enquiry into just why the safety car was deployed so rapidly. Rick Kelly was next just in front of Garth Tander who was furious after the race with backmarkers, especially young Victorian driver Dale Wood. “We got stuffed up at the restart by Dale Wood and that hurt as Lowndes got past and ended up third. “Wood needs to go back to Formula Ford because he’s seriously out of his depth,” Tander said. “I was caught amongst a few cars at the restart that were coming through, so it was just a matter of getting through that and trying to hold position with Murph and McConville behind me.” said Wood who finished down in 26th place. Championship leader Jamie Whincup who won Saturday's first race finished back in 10th place after starting the race 13th. Whincup however extended his lead in the series after second place man Will Davison had late race drama with Falcon driver James Courtney and finished 18th. The V8 Supercar circus will now move east across the top end of Australia to race at the new Townsville circuit in North Queensland  on July 10-12.

LOWNDES ON TOP AS TANDER HITS OUT

It was no surprise that a Triple 8 Falcon crossed the line first in today's V8 Supercar championship race at Winton, what was surprising is that it wasn't Jamie Whincup. Craig Lowndes drove a superb tactical race to lead home his team-mate as Fords took the top three places. In the debut race for the new soft option tyres Lowndes and his team picked the perfect strategy, starting on the normal control tyre before switching to the new option tyre late in the race. The move allowed Lowndes to move from fifth though to the lead late in the race as Whincup who switched tyres on the opening lap of the race struggled for grip. "We spent about one and a half or two hours last night trying to figure out what the best strategy would be because no one knew." Lowndes said after the race. Third place went to Ford Performance Racing driver Steven Richards who also chose to switch to the option tyre late in the race and it nearly paid off as he just missed out on second place. Rick Kelly was the first Holden home in fourth place. Kelly started on the option tyre before switching to the control tyre late in the race. Despite missing the podium he was relatively happy with his race. "... when you finish fourth it’s always extremely frustrating because you're so close to getting a podium and it would have been fantastic to get the first ever podium for Kelly Racing here today. he said.  “Not to worry - we should be happy with the job we've done and we’ll do our very best to make sure we're in the top 10 again tomorrow."

TANDER FASTEST IN PRE-SEASON V8 TESTING

Holden driver Garth Tander has set the early pace for in pre-season testing for the 2009 Australian V8 Supercar championship at Victoria's Winton Raceway. Tander in the Walkinshaw Performance Commodore edged out the Garry Rogers Motorsport pair of Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso also in Commodores. Fastest of the Fords in the early going was Mark Winterbottom in the new Ford Performance Racing FG Falcon. The test was delayed by over 30 minutes after a big crash involving Commodore driver Macus Zukanovic. Zukanavic's car left the track at turn 11 and made heavy contact with the wall, he was extracted from the car by the safety team and taken to hospital with unspecified but aapparently non-life threatening injuries. More Updates later in the day.

HOLDEN BOSS CALLS FOR V8 SUPERCAR DIVERSITY

Holden Managing Director Mark Reuss has questioned the long term future of V8 Supercar racing in Australia if it continues with just two brands. Speaking at the Melbourne International Motorshow Reuss told In Pit Lane that the series needed to expand both it's makes and models to survive. "the first weekend I spent here (in Australia) was at the Clipsal 500 which is  a great race and a lot of fun" he said. "it's a great sport but, I think the sport needs more, and I think that having (just) two brands in a race is something... I've been around a lot of racing in the United States where you have two brands and eventually people lose interest in that." Mr Reuss said that the sport needed different cars and different makes to survive.

REYNOLDS RACES WITH BUNDY RED: TEAM LAUNCH

PONTIAC AXES AUSSIE UTE

General Motors US division Pontiac have axed plans to sell the Holden Commodore Ute in the USA. The car was to have been marketed as the Pontiac G8 ST but according to Pontiac spokespersin Jim Hopson the Aussie sourced V8 no longer fits the companies new direction. “With Pontiac being more focused on sporty, fun-to-drive cars, we took a long look at the ST and it didn't fit with what our future vision of Pontiac would be,“ Hopson said. “At that point, we decided to not proceed with this vehicle.“ According to Holden the decision will not have any effect on continued sale of the G8 sedan in the US. However several US based media outlets have claimed that Pontiac will eventually become a one or two model niche marque  and it remains to be seen whether there will be any room for the Aussie built Commodore. The G8 is manufactured at Holden's Elizabeth plant in South Australia  and any cutback in overseas sales won't bode well for its workers. The only good news from the decision is that at least the attractive lines of the original wont have to be further butchered by the General's US design team.

KELLY WINS A WET ONE BUT ALL IS SUNNY FOR JAMIE

Falcon driver Jamie Whincup edged closer to his first Australian V8 Supercar championship despite finishing second to Holden's Todd Kelly at a wet and windy Symmonns Plains Raceway in Tasmania. Starting from the front row Whincup led early but was soon under pressure from main title rival Holden's Garth Tander as rain began to sweep the Northern Tasmanian track. Tander ran off the track in the tricky conditions and stalled leaving Kelly as Holden's main contender against the fast Fords of Whincup and Mark Winterbottom. Kelly drove brilliantly in the terrible conditions coming from way back in the pack to be challenging for the lead within a few laps. After changing to wets Kelly stormed through the field again to take the lead for good on lap 35. After the race an emotional Kelly, who leaves the Perkins team at the end of the year, described the race as one of his best ever.

SKAIFE: AND NOW THE END IS NEAR ?

Holden legend Mark Skaife is weighing up his future as speculation grows that the five time Bathurst winner is set to announce his retirement from V8 Supercar racing. Despite denials from current Dick Johnson Racing driver Will Davison that he is to join Garth Tander at the Holden Racing Team in 2009, insiders in the world of V8 Supercars are saying that the deal is done and Holden are waiting on Skaife's decision before any public announcement is made. 2008 has been a tough one for Skaife who currently sits in 12th place in the championship coming into this weekend's round on Queensland's Gold Coast. Skaife has been under considerable pressure from the media and fans for most of the year and after a disappointing Bathurst where he crashed the car at Forest Elbow the dogs have been barking that his illustrious career is over.

HAT-TRICK FOR LOWNDES & WHINCUP AS FORD WINS BATHURST

Ford drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup took a hat-trick of wins in Australia's biggest race the Bathurst 100 at Mount Panorama. The Team Vodafone/Triple Eight team hit the front early in the race and despite a late race challenge from Holden driver Greg Murphy hung on to win by just under three seconds after 1000 kms of racing.

WINTERBOTTOM ON TOP BUT EARLY DAYS YET

Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom has finished day one of the L&H 500 at Phillip Island on top of the time sheets. The Falcon driver was only .165 seconds ahead of championship leader Garth Tander setting up a fascinating battle between two of the main contenders for this years Australian V8 Supercar championship.