David Richards’ Prodrive organisation has joined USF1, Lola, Campos and Litespeed GP in lodging entries for the 2010 Formula One world championship.

And FOTA – the Formula One Teams Association – has confirmed that the nine remaining outfits currently on the grid – Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, Renault, Toyota, Brawn, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India – have joined Williams in submitting entries to the FIA for the 2010 F1 season.But Ferrari team chief Stefano Domenicali has emphasised that the FOTA teams’ decision to lodge entries for 2010 isn’t an indication that they are prepared to accept the FIA’s budget cap.The FIA hasn’t yet announced which new teams have been accepted into the world championship. If everything proceeds in a positive fashion, then F1 should have a full grid of 26 cars next year.But there are still many mountains to climb…FOTA has said in a statement that the entries are conditional on a new version of the Concorde Agreement being signed by June 12 – at which point the existing 10 teams would commit irrevocably to F1 next year.The teams have also demanded that the rules for the 2010 season be based on the current 2009 regulations, amended in accordance with proposals that FOTA has submitted to the FIA.“The renewal of the Concorde Agreement will provide security for the future of the sport by binding all parties in a formal relationship that will ensure stability via sound governance,” the statement went on.“All FOTA teams’ entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship have been submitted today on the understanding that (a) all FOTA teams will be permitted to compete during the 2010 Formula One Season on an identical regulatory basis and (b) that they may only be accepted as a whole.“All FOTA teams now look forward with optimism to collaborating actively and productively with the FIA, with a view to establishing a solid foundation on which the future of a healthy and successful Formula One can be built, providing lasting stability and sound governance.”Some mainly manufacturers’ teams – among them Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and Toyota – had publicly questioned their future F1 participation because of the FIA’s proposed optional 40 million pounds budget cap and two-tier regulations which FIA president Max Mosley was intent on locking in for 2010.The teams (through FOTA) had already been investigating means of capping expenditure but were against the idea of making it optional, leading to the two lots of regulations – one more restrictive set for the big and rich outfits and another freer technical rules structure for the budget sensitive “capped” teams.Both sides – the FIA and FOTA – now seem to be working to a solution with a potentially ideal outcome of a reduction in teams’ expenditure AND an appealing technical structure that lures to new privateer entries.Richards has some unfinished business in F1.He did well when he was overseeing BAR’s campaign, being there for the team’s for and only victory, and Jenson Button’s maiden victory.Eighteen months ago, Richards and Prodrive were poised to enter F1 with the plan of using a customer McLaren chassis, but that idea turned to dust in the heated dispute over the legitimacy of customer cars.But with Mosley and the FIA bulldozing ahead with a cost cap for F1, the sport has become a realistic option for Prodrive and other engineering-based teams.“We are very appreciative of the support we have been given in putting together our entry, not least by both the FIA and FOM,” Richards declared at the time of the announcement. “With the help of Dar Capital, in raising the finance, coupled with our understanding of the latest proposals to assist new teams, we now feel the conditions are right to formally request the FIA for an entry.“The level of next year’s cost cap has risen substantially since we originally considered entering. However everyone appears committed to major reductions in future years and when one takes into account the transition proposals for new teams we are confident that we now have the opportunity to be both commercially viable and competitive. As we have said all along, we don’t want to be in Formula One just to make up the numbers.”The entry is currently from Prodrive, but there is strong speculation that it may switch to the Aston Martin name down the track. Richards is the chairman of Aston Martin.The new F1 rules for 2010, while very much a moving picture right now, also appear poised to give engine supplier Cosworth a re-entry to the world championship.The new USF1 wannabe team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and owned by Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson, seems set to use Cosworth engines.

Ryan Briscoe and his Penske team are still mystified by the bizarre tyre issue that almost certainly cost him a podium – and even a win – in the Indianapolis 500.

Sydney’s Briscoe pitted for new tyres during a caution period and led the field at the restart. But he slipped back swiftly and alarmingly, his fresh tyres simply not working.“We’re not sure what the problem was yet,” Briscoe toldWheelsmag.“I just couldn’t turn the car with that new set. Bummer. Pressures were good and all looks normal. Firestone is investigating it.”Briscoe finished 15th.Generously, good-guy Briscoe praised his Penske teammates, winner Helio Castroneves and fellow-Australian Will Power, who was a superb fifth.“Helio did great and I’m happy for him. Will did great too.”Castroneves’s joyous, tearful victory just weeks after his acquittal of serious tax evasion charges was a script out of Hollywood.I’m betting he didn’t stick his Indy prize-money into a Panama bank account…

With the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans racing up mighty fast, the Peugeot squad’s nine drivers – laced with past and current Formula One racers, including Australia’s David Brabham – were treated to a series of fine-tuning adjustments during a three-day fitness training programme in Chamonix, in the French Alps.

Two weekends from now (June 13-14), the stellar nine will be sharing three works prototype Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs. The fitness and relaxation regimen was intended to get them in the right frame of mind for one of the world’s toughest endrance events.“This is something we do every year, and the aim is above all to strengthen the bonds both between the drivers and within each three-man crews,” explained team manager Serge Saulnier.“Endurance racing is about forging a real team by federating the best of what each individual member has to offer. The range of activities on the week’s programme not only gave them a chance to have a bit of fun, but also allowed them to get to know each other better in sometimes unexpected situations which called for close teamwork. I am very pleased with the way it went.”Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy, Christian Klien, David Brabham, Alexander Wurz, Marc Gen&eacut;, Stéphane Sarrazin,Franck Montagny and Sébastien Bourdais were taken under the wing of fitness training specialist Patrick Chamagne and his staff for a programme of outdoor activities. With the drivers of each car working as a team, hostilities kicked off on the Wednesday with a programme of rafting, climbing and abseiling, followed by a game of soccer.Thursday’s menu got the adrenaline running with a visit to the Mer de Glace glacier and the Aiguille du Midi mountain, followed by a short bike ride.The week concluded on Friday with canyoning, hiking and tennis. “It’s really nice to be together. We talk about Le Mans, of course, but it isn’t an obsession,” reported Minassian, who judging by the shot of him dangling off the side of a mountain, isn’t afraid of heights.“The programme is very interesting, and the scenery issomething else! It’s great being together; its’ so important,” added Brabham, who hopes to emulate the feat of brother Geoff, a Le Mans winner with Peugeot in 1993.Fifty-five cars will start the ’09 Le Mans, 21 from the outright prototype LMP1 category. These include, Audi, Peuegot and Aston Martin. Nine cars are diesel powered.

We’ve seen unforgettable footage of Ari Vatanen, Walter Rohrl and Monster Tajima in past Pikes Peak “Race to the Stars” hill climbs, and now multiple world rally champion Marcus Gronholm is ready to tackle the epic Colorado run.

Gronholm will take part in the 87th annual Pike’s Peak climb next month – his first appearance on the mountain – in a new Ford Fiesta entered by the Olsberg Motor Sport Evolution team.The Olsberg MSE Fiesta rallycross car is based on the Fiesta hatchback road cars but heavily modified for competition. The all-wheel-drive Fiestas are powered by a 2.0-litre Duratec Ford engine capable of more than 800 horsepower.The team will field cars for Gronholm as well as team manager Andreas Eriksson, with the aim cracking the 10-minute barrier over the 20km 156-turn course. The current record of 10min 01secs was set in 2007 by Tajima.The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motor sports race in America and a long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region since 1916.The race is run on a 12.42 mile (20km) course that finishes at the 14,110 foot summit. The first 10km is asphalt, but the climb then goes to loose gravel for the last half.As the drivers climb toward the summit, the thin air slows reflexes and saps muscle strength. Some competitors now use oxygen tanks to aid breathing.The thin air also robs engines of 30 per cent of their power at the summit. Up there, just walking from car to restaurant is a struggle.This year’s race has 11 classes ranging from 250cc motorcycles to big rig trucks and a field approaching 200 competitors.

Marcos Ambrose has again shown he is starting to feel at home on the big and fast NASCAR ovals, posting a well-earned sixth place in the Pocono 500 in Pennsylvania at the weekend.

The strong result in what was his first start at Pocono Raceway, lifts the Australian to 18th in the 2009 Sprint Cup Series standings after the first 14 events in his first full season at the top level of NASCAR.It was a terrific turnaround for Ambrose who looked to be way off the pace in the lead-up to the brutal 500 miler.Overnight, the team put it all together for the 200-lap 806km marathon, the # 47 Toyota Camry running with the front pack for the majority of the race at the tough 2.5-mile tri-oval.Ambrose entered the final stages of the race in seventh place aboard his Little Debbie-backed JTG Daugherty Racing entry, passing defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson on the final lap to snatch sixth place.This was his third top 10 finish and his ninth top 20 finish from 14 points races this season.“I was a little daunted coming here – it’s a historic track here in the US,” commented Ambrose later.“It’s a really, really tough place and very intimidating to get around with high speeds, corners that are odd-shaped and the surface is old and bumpy.“I was actually really bad in practice and we did a lot of really hard work overnight to try and make the car better. It was just an experience fighting out there with everybody else racing side by side.“It turned into a fuel mileage race in the end and that being said we had a good car all day anyway so we deserved our result.”Expanding on the need to be fast while conscious of fuel economy, Ambrose had this to say: “We were really close on fuel in the end. You can lean the motors out and try to save fuel before the race starts with different jet settings and we opted to go for full power, which used a lot of fuel.“So we were probably more vulnerable than most. So we stopped before that last restart knowing that we had to top off and we tried to save fuel all the way through the run. We haven’t measured it yet but I imagine it was very, very close. ”There was also a remark about the physical nature of Pocono. “I’ve got to work on my elbow strength, because my elbows are worn out. I’ve been working them all day.”Sixth at Pocono measures up as Ambrose’s third-best Sprint Cup finish – last year he took third on the Watkins Glen road course, and earlier this year he drove to a fine fourth place on the Talladega oval.Ambrose started from 20th position after qualifying was rained out and the field set by owner’s points. He struggled in the two Saturday practise sessions, managing just 32nd and 36th.Owner/driver Tony Stewart won the Pocono 500 ahead of Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Ambrose, with the final laps of the race a balancing act of hard racing to the flag while conserving fuel to reach the finish.Ambrose will look to continue his strong form in the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway next weekend.He says if he can finish between 15th and 25th in the championship, he’ll feel like it’s been a good year for a guy from Tassie.“We’ve got some road course races coming up and we feel like we are a chance to win those. We’ve done a lot of hard work already this season trying to get ready and [Pocono] was a big step forward for our confidence and momentum and hopefully it can lead to better things.”

Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway

Race 14 of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 1. #14 Tony Stewart 200 laps 2. #99 Carl Edwards 3. #00 David Reutimann 4. #24 Jeff Gordon 5. #39 Ryan Newman 6. #47 Marcos Ambrose 7. #48 Jimmie Johnson 8. #42 Juan Pablo Montoya 9. #31 Jeff Burton 10. #77 Sam Hornish Jr2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Standings – After Race 14 of 36 1. Tony Stewart 2043 2. Jeff Gordon 1972 3. Jimmie Johnson 1940 4. Ryan Newman 1840 5. Kurt Busch 1819 6. Carl Edwards 1762 7. Greg Biffle 1753 8. Matt Kenseth 1745 9. Kyle Busch 1731 10. Jeff Burton 1725 11. David Reutimann 1701 12. Denny Hamlin 1679 18. Marcos Ambrose 1469

These days, the two-make Bathurst 1000 has about a mere 30 starters, down from over 60 in the good times. The Australian Formula One Grand Prix had a grid of 20 cars this year – six fewer than when F1 was healthier.

In one respect at least, the 34th Finke Desert Race held near Alice Springs can lay legitimate claim to being the nation’s biggest motor sporting contest, at least in competitor numbers.

Set for two gruelling 230km legs this long weekend – one on Sunday and another on Monday – the Finke has attracted no fewer than 496 motor cycle competitors (from NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, SA, WA, and ACT) and 77 car/buggies (from all states and territories bar the ACT).Lining up this weekend are five previous outright motorcycle winners of Australia’s greatest desert race – Ben Grabham, Ryan Branford, Darren Griffiths, Jason Hill, and Michael Vroom.Previous outright car/buggy winners Dave Fellows/ Andrew Kittle, Hayden Bentley, Shannon Rentsch, and Mark Burrows have returned for another crack.The enthusiasm for off roading and this particular race has not been affected by the tighter economic times. In fact the entry for the buggies/cars is up 10 on last year.The Tattersall’s multi terrain race slices through spectacular desert country from Alice Springs to the small Aputula (Finke) community, and is now one of the biggest annual sporting events in the Northern Territory. It is recognised as the richest off-road race in the Southern Hemisphere with the added reputation of being one of the most difficult courses in one of the most remote places in the world.The race started modestly in 1976 as a ‘there and back’ challenge for a group of local motorbike riders to race from Alice Springs to the Finke River and return. It has been held annually on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend ever since.The race is run along sections of what was the Old Ghan Railway service track adjacentto the railway line along a winding corrugated track, which snakes through typical outback terrain of red dirt, sand, spinifex, mulga and desert oaks.Initially only a bike race, the Finke’s increasing popularity saw the inevitable introduction of cars and off road buggies in 1988. A fierce rivalry immediately developed between the two and four wheelers for the outright ‘King of the Desert’ crown.For 11 consecutive years the bikes were too quick for the cars despite the gapconstantly narrowing. Finally in 1999, a buggy returned home first to claim the honour and since then success can fall to two wheels or four…The Finke is conducted by an organising committee of eight, plus an army of 340 happy volunteers. The event has a turnover of $500,000 but wages bill of only $13,000.It provides an unconditional economic bonanza to Alice Springs with interstate competitor teams alone spending $3million. And organisers don’t hold the local government to ransom either.

34th Finke Desert Race

Saturday 6th June – Prologue 8.3km time trial to determine starting order. Cars at 8.30am, bikes at 11.30am.Sunday 7th June – Race Day 1 – Alice Springs to Finke Cars 7.30am, bikes 11.30am. Competitors race 230kms through the check points of Deep Well, Rodinga, Bundooma, and Mt Squires to cross the famous Finke River and arrive at the Finke checkpoint. Fuel will be available at Apatula and the store will be open over the entire weekend. 5000 people campingMonday 8th June – Race Day 2 – Finke to Alice Springs Yesterday was so good, that competitors do it all over again, in the other direction. Cars leave at 7.30am, the first to arrive by 9.30am. Bikes start at 11.30am, the first due about 1.30pm.

Typically, the hype merchants at V8 Supercars Australia were playing up the announcement that Australia’s most decorated racing car driver Mark Skaife has been appointed as the second independent director on the board.

The press announcement late last week declared that “Skaife fills the vacant position to join fellow independent, South Australia’s Roger Cook, on the eight-man Board having been unanimously voted into the position at this week’s June board meeting”.It’s not Skaife’s first appearance on the board of the V8 Supercars group. He was there when he previously held a position when he was with Gibson Motorsport in the 1990s and then the Holden Racing Team in the 2000s.Skaife does bring to the board a wealth of knowledge across many facets of the sport – distinguished racing driver, team owner, Holden pitch man, corporate shaker and media mover.He joins on the board Cook, Tony Cochrane (executive chairman), team representatives Tim Edwards (the FPR team boss), Paul Morris (Holden team owner), Larry Perkins (Holden team owner), Jason Bright (Ford racer), and James Erskine of Sports and Entertainment Ltd, the 25 per cent shareholder in V8SA.Skaife retired from full-time professional racing late last year and despite constant rumours has not made an announcement that he will return for the Phillip Island and Bathurst enduros.The five-times champion is already involved with V8SA as the head of a committee to settle on the Car of the Future, a more generic standardised race vehicle for the era beyond the traditional Ford-Holden contest which the category is attempting to change, against the wishes of the majority of its supporters.Skaife has also been involved in the design input into the streets circuits in Canberra, Townsville, and Homebush.Skaife joins the board as a so-called independent director. This seems an odd description given his lengthy involvement with Holden and only Holden since the early 1990s.This isn’t to suggest Skaife will be anything but impartial. He is now technically independent, although there is no sign of any Ford association in his CV. Maybe he’ll wear purple to board meetings…The Skaife directorship was small bright spot in a week to forget at the Queensland headquarters of V8SA where the big bad news was the announcement that Cameron Levick, the still fresh CEO, was departing, and close on the heels of the similarly disenchanted technical director, Campbell Little.The spin was that Levick, an ex Vodafone marketing guy, was leaving because of family pressures.But the real reasons are closer to Levick not earning the respect from some of the blunt-talking board members. There were suggestions that diplomacy was in short supply, whilst egos were bigger than Texas.The V8SA board has quickly expanded chairman Cochrane’s role for the remainder of 2009 to cover Levick’s departure. That should be fun.Cochrane should enjoy broad support from Skaife; the two comprise something of a mutual admiration society.The issue of the the mounting of the Team Vodafone front splitter continues to distract V8SA. Walkinshaw Racing’s initial protest against Triple Eight Race Engineering was at first dismissed. But it is now back on track after Uncle Tom’s appeal against the stewards’ decision not to hear the earlier protest over the spoiler mounting was upheld.Talking about fiddling while Rome burns.Let’s think about some of the more pressing issues for the red and blue category… falling attendances, teams struggling to stay afloat, TV numbers sliding, sponsorship deals up for renewal at the end of this year in a poor economic climate, failure to attract other brands into the series.There was also the silliness over the Nissan safety car and another unhappy sponsor. V8SA has a habit of dissing sponsors and partners as soon as they depart the fold. In some cases, the disenchantment starts while the partnership is still in progress.Nissan is wondering why it ever got under the sheets with V8SA.Only a few months ago, Nissan supplied a new high-tech GT-R to be used as the series’ safety car for two seasons. Love was in the air.Now the brief affair is over with Nissan taking exception to a move by V8SA to smother the GT-R with XXXX Gold alcohol livery.Nissan Australia corporate affairs manager Jeff Fisher commented that having a brewery sponsorship of its high-performance vehicle is out of step with the message Nissan wants to promote.“We believed we made it clear at contract signing that alcohol branding on the car would be an issue,” he told Wheels.He fell short of suggesting that V8SA “was a bunch of arseholes”.Booze sponsors are rampant in V8 supercars. Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, Bundy Red and XXXX Gold are all on board. The moral of the story: as you watch your bank account balance slump, you need a stiff drink.A replacement safety car is likely to be one the V8 Supercar followers can better relate to – a Holden.The rough week would not have been improved anyone from the V8SA board by reading Michael Evans’ CBD column in the Sydney Morning Herald.More than once, Evans highlighted the generosity of the NSW Labor government in allowing the in-trouble corporate titan David Coe, the ex Allco chief, to latch on to the taxpayers’ teat via Coe’s chairmanship and part-ownership of Sports and Entertainment Ltd, a 25 per cent shareholder in V8SA.We think it’s very sporting of Premier Nathan Rees and Macquarie Street’s chief V8 Supercar urger, NSW minister Ian Macdonald, to toss $30 million of taxpayers’ money at V8SA (and therefore SEL). Every business should be so lucky.The good news is that this week can only be better at V8SA.

Have you heard the one about the Spaniard, the Austrian and the Australian…?

Well, here’s the latest one: Aussie David Brabham has won the 77th running for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at his 16th attempt, the popular sportscar veteran teaming with Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz in one of three factory Peugeot 908 HDi FAP turbo diesels contesting the enduro this year.Brabham, 42, is the fourth Australian after Bernard Rubin, Vern Schuppan and his own brother Geoff to win at Le Mans.The three Peugeot works cars showed they were entitled to favouritism over the Audi squad that had dominated the classic in recent times.It was the factory’s third attempt with its 908 diesel (and Brabham’s 16th…). It managed to take pole each time, but couldn’t put its race act together until yesterday.Peugeot ended Audi’s run of successive victories in scoring its first victory at Le Mans since Geoff Brabham was part of the winning driving team in 1993.The Peugeot # 9 was one of the few cars to have a trouble-free run in the world’s most famous sportscar race.Note Bordais fourth from the left, in tears.The trio of Gene/Brabham/ Wurz completed 382 laps in 24 hours, one lap more than the pole-winning # 8 Peugeot driven by the all-French squad of Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin.Audi kept the pressure on until a few hours from the end when its #1 car slipped back with an engine problem.Defending champions Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen of Denmark finished third, six laps behind the winning Pug.The 908 of Sarrazin/ Montagny/ Bourdais led from the start, until it pitted with a disc bell problem, which dropped it down the order.The third factory 908 of Minassian/Lamy/Klien was involved in a bizarre early pit lane shunt with the similar private Pescarolo entry which caused damage and cost both cars any chance of victory.The Gene/Brabham/Wurz machine ran consistently and was in front by around quarter distance.Only ever seriously under threat by the recovering Sarrazin/Montagny/Bourdais Peugeot, the drivers of the #9 908 went into cruise mode in the concluding stages. The pair crossed the line in a formation one-two finish, with the third surviving factory car also in the frame but many laps down.

It’s been common knowledge throughout motor sport but now a press release from V8 Supercars Australia has confirmed the news that Nissan has ended its safety car deal with the category after only a few months, the split caused by V8SA’s insistence on placing alcohol signage on the GT-R.

V8 Supercars Australia and Nissan Australia have reached agreement to end their partnership, in which Nissan provided the official Safety Car for the Championship Series.Nissan fielded the world class Nissan GT-R as the official safety car for the first four events of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series with great success and exposure for both brands.The decision to discontinue the partnership was amicable and taken in the best interests of both parties. The two companies look forward to exploring other partnerships in the future. – Cole Hitchcock | Media & PR ManagerNissan, still a little stunned by developments, says it look forward to exploring new roles for Nissan in the Australian motorsport spectrum.The search for a replacement goes on. Initially it was thought that HSV could fill the breach but one media outlet has suggested that Holden is not prepared to be associated with alcohol either. Safety and grog are not considered a great mix.Lexus has confirmed that it has been approached by V8SA marketing people but advised them in no uncertain terms that the brand and V8 Supercars is not a good fit.The Mercedes-Benz PR chief David McCarthy was even more colourful in rejecting suggestions that an AMG product should pace the Ford and Holden field.“It wouldn’t be very sporting if an AMG safety car – a road car – was faster than the race cars, would it?” McCarthy responded.“If V8 Supercar executives wish to drive an AMG product, perhaps they should buy one – Id be happy if they were to give me a call.”

In the era before Oz secured world championship grand prix and superbike races, the annual Castrol Six Hour showroom proddie bike enduro could not be topped.

For 18 years, oft controversial, usually dramatic, the Six Hour was simply the biggest thing in local motorcycle racing.Its popularity coincided with a boom in the sales of bikes. Fortuitously, too, television quickly discovered its magic and Seven and then the ABC telecast the race to the nation from 1971 onwards.The race somehow captured the imagination of the public and every race was seen by big crowds, initially at Amaroo Park (1970-1983) and thereafter at Oran Park (1984-1987).It is a mad coincidence that the Castrol ceased the very year that Australia produced its first 500cc world champion.That rider, Wayne Gardner, who also won two Six Hours before he headed for international glory.Gardner was by no means the only global star – then or later – to contest the Six Hour. Mick Doohan did too, and Kevin Magee, who won the final two Castrols.The roll call of winners includes Bryan Hindle, Len Atlee, Gregg Hansford, Kenny Blake, Murray Sayle, Neil Chivas, Rod Cox, Andrew Johnson, Mal Campbell, Mike Dowson (a three time winner), kiwi Neville Hiscock and Zimbabwe’s Dave Petersen.The race also attracted big names from the world stage, including Mike Hailwood, John Kocinski, Ron Haslam and Mick Grant. It was a race for bog standard machines. No mods whatsoever were permitted and many who sought to challenge that rule ended up feeling the pain of disqualification.Politics was never far from the surface around the Six Hour. Organiser, the Willoughby District Motorcycle Club, had its own unshakable view of the appropriate regulations for the production race.The club hit on the idea of a production bike endurance race and all the top riders and many manufacturers leapt at it – 64 entries at the inaugural race in 1970 (called the Castrol 1000 that year).A decade after the close of Amaroo and a year from saying goodbye to Oran Park, it’s timely that a record in photos and words has been compiled on Australia’s most prominent domestic motor race.Former competitor Jim Scaysbrook, a wonderful keeper of the flame, has created The Castrol Six-Hour Production Race, 240 pages oozing with memories.Scaysbrook is a thorough researcher who never puts himself under time constraints. He gives the Castrol story the right balance of colour and reportage.Published by Renniks and priced at $69.95, the hard cover book doesn’t promise to be an utterly faithful record of Castrol Six Hour history, but it sure does a pretty handy job of getting close.Helped by loads of photos of bike and pit action and candids of riders of the day with their disco haircuts and moustaches, Scaysbrook chronicles the cut and thrust and blowups and falls of each of the races, along with the regular post-event protests and exclusions. Did I mention the lap scoring, accusations of dangerous riding, fuel freezing, the tyre wars, furtive suggestions that so-and-so was fudging…It’s a thoroughly entertaining read-romp across nearly two decades of Six Hour deeds and reminiscences.The author recalls the bungled 10am start in ’72 when the national anthem was played and the flagged dropped while many riders where still donning helmets and dragging on gloves…That same race ended in craziness when the winner Joe Eastmure’s Suzuki was disqualified at scrutineering, officially because its horn had been relocated.That was the Castrol….mad from start to end and beyond.