FROSTY BACK IN V8 CHAMPIONSHIP HUNT

Mark Winterbottom is back in contention for the lead of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series after a dramatic win in an incident packed race at Phillip Island. Winterbottom grabbed the lead after team-mate Will Davison and current series leader Jamie Whincup were both taken out in a late race crash. Davison was hit from behind by the car of Tim Slade setting off the chain reaction that saw the series two main championship contenders out of the race. Ford dominated the podium with New Zealand driver Shane Van Gisbergen  celebrating his new contract with Stone Brothers Racing with a second place. Tim Slade survived his tangle with Winterbottom to finish third. Once again the Team Vodafone Commodores were the class of the Holden runners, but with Whincup crashed out and Craig Lowndes hampered by a drive through penalty, it was HRT driver Garth Tander who brought the first Holden home in fourth place.

AUSSIE COMMODORE CONFIRMED AS CHEVY’S NEW NASCAR WEAPON

As widely predicted in the Australian motoring media, Holden has announced a new export program, confirming that the Commodore will return to North America in late 2013. The car will be rebadged as the new Chevrolet SS performance sedan. The limited production derivative of the yet to be launched VF Commodore will arrive in North American showrooms late next year.  It will be the first time in 17 years that Chevrolet will offer a rear-wheel-drive sedan for sale in the US. The SS will also become Chevrolet’s next NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar debuting next year in its race configuration at the world renowned Daytona 500.

KLIEN JOINS “THE ENFORCER” FOR V8 ENDUROS

Austrian Formula One driver Christian Klien will co-drive with Russell Ingall at the V8 Supercar Endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst this year. Klien, who made 41 F1 starts for teams including Jaguar and Red Bull will drive the Supercheap Autos Commodore with the two time Bathurst winner. The 1000 kms enduro around the Mountain won't be Klien's first look at the famous track, earlier this year he drove a production Lotus at the famous circuit although that's a long way  from the 640 BHP that he'll need to deal with in the Commodore. Although he is best known in Australia for his F1 career, Klien has considerable endurance experience with a best result of a third place at Le Mans in the factory Peugeot in 2008. Klien had a secret test with Walkinshaw Racing recently and will drive the Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore in the enduro co-driver practice session at Phillip Island this Friday ahead of the weekend's fifth round of the V8 Supercar Championship, the Phillip Island 300.

TOYOTA RETURN TO TESTING AS AUDI DEBUT AT SPA

Although they won't be at Spa for round two of the World Endurance Championship the Toyota TS030 hybrid will be a the track this weekend. The team will complete a functionality test of its new chassis at the Magny-Cours circuit in France. Following the accident at Paul Ricard on 4 April, which damaged the monocoque of the first TS030, the team has worked hard to accelerate production of a second car. This will be completed directly before transportation to the one-day functionality test. A total of seven test days were cancelled in April as a result of the testing accident, giving the team no opportunity to validate the aerodynamic and hybrid system specifications intended for its first race. So the team had no choice but to miss the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event, which takes place on 3-5 May. Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: “I would like to express my thanks to the staff members at Toyota Motorsport GmbH who have worked so hard to deliver our second monocoque ahead of schedule. Now we have a very intense testing programme to prepare for Le Mans, beginning with an initial functionality test to shakedown our systems.”

PORSCHE BOOST FOR YOUNG AUSSIE TALENT

The Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia will play an important role in the progression of young drivers with a new motorsport initiative, led by leading Carrera Cup racer Steven Richards. A former V8 Supercars stalwart, Australian Formula Ford ambassador and now Carrera Cup driver, Richards has used his ties with the Australian Formula Ford Championship and front-running V8 Supercars team Ford Performance Racing to establish a tiered program that will aid young drivers to climb the Australian motorsport ladder. As part of the initiative, the driver who wins the 2012 Australian Formula Ford Championship will receive a test in Steven Richards’ Laser Racing Porsche. If the Formula Ford Champion then enters the 2013 Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia championship, Porsche Cars Australia will waive the driver’s participation fee for the 2013 season, valued at $35,000. The initiative extends to drivers in the 2012 Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia championship, with the highest placed 2012 Carrera Cup driver aged under 30 awarded an evaluation drive with V8 Supercars team Ford Performance Racing; the outfit with which Richards has raced since 2007, including the 2012 Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance events.

IT’S OFFICIAL: NISSSAN JOIN V8 SUPERCARS (now we can all get some sleep)

BRITISH DRIVERS DOWN UNDER PAY TRIBUTE TO DAN

British sportscar drivers Richard Westbrook and Oliver Gavin will pay tribute to countryman Dan Wheldon at this weekend’s Armor All Gold Coast 600. Wheldon tragically passed away following an IndyCar accident in Las Vegas last weekend. He was scheduled to race alongside James Courtney at the Surfers Paradise street circuit this weekend. Both Westbrook and Gavin are life long friends and rivals of their countryman Wheldon, with all three members of the exclusive British Racing Drivers Club. Westbrook and Gavin will unveil special visor stickers in memory of Wheldon in pit lane at the Surfers Paradise street circuit at 9.30am local Queensland time. All BRDC members present at this weekend’s event will carry the special visor stripe stickers as a tribute to Wheldon. They are Westbrook, Gavin, Andy Priaulx, Emanuele Pirro, Gil de Ferran, Marino Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Lyons and Darren Turner. Westbrook will partner Todd Kelly in the #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore at the Armor All Gold Coast 600, while Gavin will drive alongside Greg Murphy in the #11 Pepsi Max Commodore. Source: Kelly Racing Media Release

HOLDEN WIN BATHURST AGAIN

Holden Racing Team drivers Garth Tander and rookie Nick Percat have taken a thrilling win in the 2011 Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama. Tander held off the challenge of a fast finishing Craig Lowndes to win by less than a second. With only one lap remaining Lowndes, last years race winner, was right on the tail of [...]

RAIN DAMPENS BATHURST PRACTICE

Thursday's practice session at a wet Mount Panorama has been cancelled due to a dispute over wet weather tyres. Two different batches of the control Dunlop tyres are present at the track, leading to concerns by some teams that one batch could be better than another, giving the teams that use them an unfair advantage. According to the website Speedcafe.com, unattributed "Paddock speculation" is suggesting that the newer of the two batches could prove up to four seconds per lap faster than the older tyres. Teams have now agreed to new regulations that will see them restricted to using just five sets of wet weather tyres in the race. The original supplementary race regulations stated that an unlimited amount of wet tyres could be used. Weather Reports for the weekend indicate wet and cold conditions will continue with heavy overnight fog and the chance of afternoon storms over the weekend.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

The 2012 V8 Supercar event around the streets of Hamilton in New Zealand will be the last. In another blow to the categories dreams of global expansion, Hamilton now joins Shanghai and Bahrain in failed overseas jaunts by the championship. According to the local Waikato Times newspaper, many local businesses are happy to see the back of the visitors from across the Tasman. "It has been a waste of time and money," Evelyn Booth, owner of the Bag Factory Shop told the paper. "We lose money when it's on, customers too, and we are going to be paying for it for a very long time." The council had "completely and utterly" let down the town, she said. The move to axe the race came at the request of V8 Supercars Australia after they took over the running of the event when the original promoter went broke. Acting V8 Supercars Australia chief executive Shane Howard met with the Hamilton City Council last Wednesday night, offering the council $1.2 million dollars to end the contract early. Local ratepayers had paid around $31.4m for the event including $9m worth of race infrastructure. These are now owned by V8 Supercars as a part of their deal for taking over the race.