Marcos Ambrose took a break from his arduous NASCAR Sprint Cup program to test a Grand-Am prototype sports car for the first time in his career at Virginia International Raceway this week.
Ambrose and fellow Sprint Cup regular Carl Edwards got a feel for the speedy #77 McDonald’s Dallara-Ford prototype fielded by Doran Racing.“That was the first time I have driven one of these cars and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by what a terrific little race car it is,” said Ambrose.“You can really drive it and it responds to being muscled a bit.“We had a really enjoyable day and we made some solid progress in a short amount of time.“Carl was great to work with and I think we both really had a good time together today.“Both Carl and I got down to some pretty respectable times by the end of the day.”While Ambrose and his PR minders are commenting little on the significance of the test, the American motor sporting media seems sure that Ambrose and Edwards will make their Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series debuts on August 29 in Montreal.There had been earlier speculation that Ambrose would join Jimmie Johnson in a Ganassi Grand Am car but that one went nowhere…The Ambrose-Edwards combo has excellent road racing credentials with each driver scoring recent podiums at Watkins Glen.Team owner Kevin Doran’s #77 Daytona Prototype has competed in all nine rounds of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Series, with a best finish of fifth at Virginia International Raceway in April, with Memo Gidley and Brad Jaeger at the wheel.If Ambrose does race the Grand Am car on August 29, Australians will get to see it – the One HD sports channel telecasts the series, hosted by Aussie Leigh Diffey.Coming up this weekend, though, for Ambrose is a return visit to the 24-30 degree banked Bristol Speedway half miler where rubbing fenders is obligatory.In his first Sprint Cup start at ‘Thunder Valley’ in March, Ambrose looked set for a fourth-placed finish after a strong run.But he dropped to 10th place in the late stages as he nursed home his #47 JTG Daugherty Racing entry, which developed engine problems.The Bristol night race always has a special place in Ambrose’s heart, as it was at this race in 2003 that the Australian V8 supercar champ visited his first NASCAR event, planting a seed that saw him make the switch to NASCAR in 2006.“I’ve been looking forward to the Bristol night race all year,” said Ambrose.“We ran really well at Bristol earlier in the year. We had a great run and ran a lot of laps in the top five and ended up having to nurse the car home with a motor problem.“We still scored 10th and it was a great result for our team. Bristol is such a tough place, if you can run well there you really feel satisfied.“We have put [last week’s crap outing at] Michigan behind us. Bristol is a track that’s very demanding and is pretty intimidating for a driver, but it’s a track I always enjoy going to, ever since I was a spectator at the race there back in 2003.”
Marcos Ambrose forced his way from 25th to third under lights at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee behind Kyle Busch and Mark Martin to register his best-ever NASCAR Sprint Cup result on an oval.
The Tasmanian was quick to rate the podium in the fender-banging 500-lap and 428.9 km Sharpie 500 as the most satisfying result of his NASCAR career to date.
Arguably the toughest race on the 36-race Sprint Cup schedule, Bristol’s 24-30 degree banking and tight layout means the 43 starters rarely escape without war wounds (although Ambrose came out with barely a scratch on his car). An interesting fact is that an estimated 215 gallons of body fuller will be needed by the teams to fix and fill the panel dents after Saturday’s biffo fest, held before a sell-out crowd of 160,000 fans.In his fourth season of NASCAR racing since leaving Australia, Ambrose can relish the knowledge that he is becoming a force on all types of tracks in the championship schedule.Ambrose declared that this Bristol drive was even more satisfying than his two Nationwide Series wins at Watkins Glen and his second place finish at the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen two weeks ago behind series leader Tony Stewart.This outstanding Bristol result, Ambrose’s seventh top 10 finish this season and his fourth top five result of the season, keeps him in 17th position in the Sprint Cup points standings, clearly the highest placed first year driver.For most of the Bristol race Ambrose’s Toyota Camry was handily placed inside the top 10 and with the chequered flag looming he battled for the podium spots with NASCAR legend Martin (making his 1000th NASCAR start), talented NASCAR prima donna Kyle Busch and ever-present Greg Biffle.“This is more satisfying than any of the results I’ve had, even all the wins at Watkins Glen, because it’s on such a big stage against the best at a place like Bristol,” said Ambrose.“The biggest thing about this result is that I’ve done so well in a race that will arguably go down in NASCAR history.“Mark Martin is a legend of this sport and to race him at the front of the pack in front of 180,000-odd people at Bristol and run hard against Kyle Busch, who is one of the most talented drivers anyone’s ever seen, is just awesome and it’s truly a privilege.,” added Ambrose, laying on the love.When Ambrose first took his tentative step into NASCAR in 2006, he admitted feeling intimidated about racing on the steep banks and close confines of Bristol – known as the world’s fastest half-mile – as he learned to race on NASCAR’s high speed ovals.Before the race, Ambrose was given a boost with the announcement that global consumer giant Kimberly-Clark’s Kleenex brand will back the Australian’s JTG Daugherty Racing team next season for five races, joining existing sponsors Little Debbie, Bush’s Beans and iRacing.com and The Clorox Company.It will surely help to have some tissues around if that whimpy, whining Kyle Bush starts bleating again.
RESULTS: Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 24 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 1. #18 Kyle Busch 500 laps 2. #5 Mark Martin 3. #47 Marcos Ambrose 4. #16 Greg Biffle 5. #11 Denny Hamlin 6. #39 Ryan Newman 7. #2 Kurt Busch 8. #48 Jimmie Johnson 9. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr 10. #17 Matt Kenseth2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Standings – After Race 24 of 36 1. Tony Stewart 3564 2. Jimmie Johnson 3344 3. Jeff Gordon 3310 4. Denny Hamlin 3141 5. Carl Edwards 3110 6. Kurt Busch 3103 7. Ryan Newman 2995 8. Greg Biffle 2986 9. Juan Pablo Montoya 2975 10. Mark Martin 2971 11. Kasey Kahne 2963 12. Matt Kenseth 2945 13. Kyle Busch 2911 14. Brian Vickers 2906 15. Clint Bowyer 2833 16. David Reutimann 2785 17. Marcos Ambrose 2639
Though the WRC was unceremoniously removed from the calendar a few years back by a Government struggling to financially sustain the event, the latter makes good on some remaining commitment to motorsport with the annual running of Quit Targa West.
Now in its fifth year, last weekend’s tarmac rally saw a record field of 99 modern and classic cars fly around its fast roads for four rather wet days of competition.
Held in and around the Perth shires of Kalamunda, Chittering and Toodyay, the fifth Targa West 2009 was the wettest on record, with torrential rain continuing to turn the red earth emerald green and swamp paddocks and parks with standing water.
It was a rally for the AWD, with Evos and STis filling the first 14 spots behind two lightning-quick R35 GT-Rs of local 2008 winner Steve Jones and 2009 Targa Tas victor Tony Quinn.Jones initially gave some time away to Quinn before taking the lead back by day two, and when the weather cleared yesterday his 22sec lead became almost a minute. He claimed back-to-back wins by the close of the rally, taking first by 58 seconds to Quinn, and local ARC hero Dean Herridge took third. Or so we thought.A protest by another team on the VIP Petfood’s GT-R’s turbos and exhaust saw the CAMS stewards strip second place from Quinn at the last minute. Herridge’s STi was awarded second, 90 secs behind Jones, with Alister McRae stepping up to third in a TMR Evo X (+4.05).Despite the awkward late ruling, Jones had nothing but praise for his competition.“Those Queenslander’s (Quinn) are just like a dog with a bone, they don’t give up. We just had to keep out foot down all weekend and he kept us honest big time, but that’s what it’s all about you’ve got to have competition like that,” he said.South Australian Kevin Weeks won the Classic Competition class by a massive 3 min 11 secs.This reporter’s rally experience was a little more ‘cruisy’ than others. The classic and modern Challenge category, which allows for non-rollcaged, standard cars to climb the hills in rally formation up to 130km/h, allowed us to enter a Holden Cruze CD diesel press car, complete with air-con, MP3 player and an automatic gearbox…Most Thoroughbred Touring type classes are non-competitive,Targa West actually times its Challenge cars and awards placings to third for bog-standard roadgoing vehicles, It’s a great way to start rallying, with a speed limit of 130 keeping the danger down (and a GPS tracking system making sure you adhere to the rules) and the ability to enter a car with limited modifications and expenses.In an appropriate double, our Challenge category was taken out by another Nissan R35 GT-R. But we earned a respectable fifth above Fords and Ferraris, and another Hyundai Diesel managed a commendable third place while matching our fuel consumption of a tank-and-a-half all weekend. Who said motor racing was an elitist sport?A big thanks to the Quit Targa West team of officials and volunteers for a fabulous weekend, and to Melville Holden for preparing a frugal, fun car.
TARGA WEST 2009 RESULTS
Modern Competition 1. Steven Jones/Ruari Soutar-Dawson (Nissan GTR R35) 2. Tony Quinn/Naomi Tillett (Nissan GTR R35) +0:58, disqualified on car irregularity 2. Dean Herridge/Chris Murphy (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) +2:29 3. Alister McRae/Bill Hayes (Evo X RS) +4:05Classic Competition Kevin Weeks/Rebecca Crunkhorn (Car 70 – Porsche 911 RSR) David Moir/Vicki Moir (Car 11 – Datsun 240Z) +3:11 Gary Tierney/David Carra (Car 98 – Porsche 911 Carrera RS) +5:01Modern Challenge Mark Conacher/Andrew Conacher (Car 2c – Nissan GTR 35) Robert Darrington/David Abetz (Car 58c – Audi S4) Razvan Vlad/Ioana Vlad (Car 20c – Hyundai i30 SX CRDi turbo Diesel)Classic Challenge Rohan Green/Andrew Cutten (Car 7c – Porsche 911) Luke Reymond/John Reymond (Car 13c – Volkswagen Golf) Martin Eyer/Sharon Eyer (Car 49c – Triumph Stag)
Competing in her first full season in the United Kingdom, Sydney’s Molly Taylor has become the MSA British Ladies Rally Champion.
The 21-year old – tipped as a driver to watch in the 2008 Wheels Yearbook wrapped up the title with a solid result on last weekend’s Ulster Rally, round five of the six round British Rally Championship.Taylor, daughter of champion co-driver Coral and flamboyant rear-drive rally specialist Mark, is also a big chance to take out the Swift Sport Cup title at next month’s final event, the Rally Yorkshire.After taking victory on the opening two gravel events of the Swift Sport Cup series, Taylor and co-driver Jemma Bellingham are hoping to upstage the blokes and add the Swift title to their growing CV. Taylor is the first obverseas driver to claim the British Ladies crown.Rally Yorkshire will take place on September 26.
They don’t get much tighter than this. The margin at the end of a thrilling high-speed duel to the line in the Chicagoland Indy 300 was 72cm or 0.0077sec – less than the blink of an eye with Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe getting the nod over another driver from these parts, Aussie born but kiwi-raised Scott Dixon.
The Indy 300 was a classic oval race with several of the title contenders running three wide up front on many occasions and the result in doubt to the very end.It was the fourth-closest finish in Indy history and so tight that Briscoe didn’t know he’s won until his team owner Roger Penske congratulated him in the cool-down lap.“Nice,” he said. “The side draft just pulled me up there.“I wasn’t even sure we had won it. I didn’t think I was going to get him.”Briscoe, who has finished second seven times this season, has been saying he needed to win races if he is to take out the IndyCar Series championship.This was his third win this year, and at times it didn’t look likely to happen. He slipped back to eighth at one stage, and later to 13th in the 200-lap race, but kept fighting.The weekend couldn’t have gone better for Briscoe who collected maximum points on the 1.5-mile oval. Along with the big bag of 50 for the victory, there was a bonus one for pole and two for leading the most laps.“The Target cars are going to be there in Motegi and Homestead, so we just have to stay focused,” said Briscoe afterwards. “We’ve had good cars on all the mile-and-half ovals this year. We’ve just got to keep it together. We had a couple of mistakes tonight, but were able to come back. We’ve just have to try to avoid those situations.”After a stoppage on lap 191 after Helio Castroneves crashed, Dixon led Briscoe and the pair started a titanic scrap for victory with the lead swapped four times over the final nine laps.Briscoe got his front wing ahead on lap 199 and made it stick – at a lap average of 340.14km/h! It was his second successful success in a race photo-finish in four races, the margin very similar at Kentucky on August 2.With just two races remaining, Briscoe has now eased out a useful but hardly secure 25 points lead over Dario Franchitti, who was fourth in Chicago, with a further eight back to Dixon.Championship points: Briscoe 550, Franchitti 525, Dixon 517, Castroneves 383, Danica Patrick 353.
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, the British Formula Three championship leader, is in line to test a Red Bull Formula One car at the end of the current season.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has indicated that Ricciardo is favoured to get a run on a young driver test day later in the year.Ricciardo, who is part of the Red Bull young driver development programme, leads the British F3 title by a handy margin going into the last two races.
Two greats of Australian motor sport, Kevin Bartlett and John Goss, paired up back in 1974 to take the win in a rather soggy Hardie-Ferodo 1000 in an XA Ford Falcon.
Now they will be together again at Bathurst as specials guests at the National Motor Racing Museum Legends’ Dinner on Thursday October 8.Bartlett, a dual Gold Star winner, made his Bathurst debut in 1958 in a Morris Minor.Goss remains the only driver to win the Bathurst enduro (which he did twice, in 1974 and again in 1985) and the Australian Grand Prix. If you try really hard, you may even get Gossy to talk about it…Their illustrious careers will be revisited at the Legends’ Dinner, to be held at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre from 6.30pm on the 8th, three days before the 2009 Bathurst 1000.Dinner tickets are available on (02) 6332 1872 priced at just $50.
Racing legend and one of the great personalities in the sport, Frank Gardner, died last Saturday at his Gold Coast home after a long illness.
Ailing for some time with ulcerated legs and a blood disorder, but always a bloke to do things his way, Gardner last week demanded he be checked out of a Sydney hospital to be taken home to the Gold Coast.Shortly after he made it to his home, he died.Frank “Curly” Gardner’s colourful and lengthy career on the track reached all the way to Formula One; he made eight starts in grands prix.One of Australia’s most versatile and winning international racing drivers and an acknowledged car sorter, Gardner, who was 78, later became a successful race team manager.Always ready with an inexhaustible bank of quips and anecdotes, Gardner also wrote a significant book on safe driving, called “Drive to Survive”. His contribution to road safety can’t be over-estimated; decades of lobbying for higher driving standards culminated in his role establishing the Performance Driving Centre near Norwell, south of Brisbane.Sydney-born Gardner mixed tin tops with big sports cars, and formula cars. In Europe, where he is still much admired, he collected a British Formula 5000 crown and those three British touring car championships in different cars.In return visits Down Under, he scored podium finishes in the Australian Grand Prix and took third places in the 1967 and 1972 Tasman Series.Returning to Australia permanently he finished second in the 1975 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst and then won the 1977 Australian Sports Sedan Championship in a Corvair.Retiring from active driving, Gardner took a team management role with Allan Grice and then steered a factory BMW squad which won two touring car titles (1985 and ’87) with Jim Richards driving. Later he was team manager when Tony Longhurst and Tomas Mezera won the 1988 Bathurst 1000 in a Ford Sierra.In the 1990s, Gardner was back in a management role when BMW returned to local motor racing in the Australian Super Touring Championship, the factory team winning titles in 1994 with Longhurst, and in 1995 and ’97 with Paul Morris.After that Gardner, an avid golfer, hit the fairways regularly, re-appearing in public every year to drive the medical car at the Australian Grand Prix.Former Gibson Motor Sports and Wayne Gardner Racing team manager Alan Heaphy remarked that Frank Gardner truly was one of motors sport’s unique characters and that “his dry sense of humour will be sadly missed”.Mark Webber’s partner Ann Neal acknowledged Gardner’s place in the world of motor racing. “He truly was a legend in so many ways and someone both Mark and I enjoyed being in the company of. His contribution to Australian motor sport was tremendous and his wise words of wisdom to the youngsters trying to carve out a career for themselves was always well-received and respected. “
The Force India Formula One Team has agreed to release Giancarlo Fisichella from his contract to join the Ferrari team for the remainder of the 2009 season, effective immediately.
He’ll race as team-mate to Kimi Raikkonen in the remaining rounds of this year’s world championship before becoming Ferrari’s official reserve driver in 2010.Fisichella’s role at Ferrari was confirmed at Maranello on Thursday, 14 years after the Italian veteran tested a 412 T2 at Fiorano.Fisichella, responsible for a surprise and impressive pole and second place in the Belgian GP at Spa last weekend, replaces test driver Luca Badoer, who has proved less than brilliant as a sub for the injured Felipe Massa.“For any Italian driver, a Ferrari race seat is a long-held dream and for Giancarlo it was no exception,” Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India’s chairman and team principal, commented. “No one should stand in the way of this. Furthermore the agreement will secure Giancarlo’s long-term future with Ferrari and it would be incorrect to jeopardise this, particularly when Giancarlo has made such a vital contribution to Force India.”Though it is widely believed in F1 that Force India still owes Ferrari a large sum for its engine supply last year, Mallya emphasised that he has not agreed any financial settlement with Ferrari.“This agreement has been made in good faith and for the good of Giancarlo and the sport in general. A competitive Italian driver in a Ferrari for Monza is a positive story for Formula One, which can only help raise the sport’s profile in these difficult times.”For his part, Fisichella said all the right things as he moves closer to satisfying a boyhood dream. “I am very grateful to Vijay Mallya for allowing me this opportunity to drive for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team. It is true that it has always been an ambition to do this, and for Vijay to have allowed it to become a reality is very generous.”
Associate editor Westerman’s worried. He’s driven Jaguar’s F-Type through Spain’s mountainous north, and in the July 2103 issue, given it bigger raps than Jay-Z and Tupac. But has he got it right? Does European brilliance translate to Aussie awesomeness?
No need to sweat it mate; this roadster is simply sensational. After a lengthy absence, it puts Jaguar back at the pointy end of the pure-bred sports car pack, and marks a significant turning point for the brand.
Its stiff alloy chassis, perfect 50:50 front to rear weight distribution, supremely supple suspension and exceptional steering feel deliver a rare driving experience, and that’s before we’ve even started on the engines.
The entry F-Type is powered by an all-alloy 3.0-litre supercharged V6 (as used in XJ and XF sedans), mounted longitudinally in the front, sending 250kW/450Nm, through a close-ratio, eight-speed auto transmission, towards the rear wheels. It sits on 18 inch alloys, is claimed to run 0-100km/h in 5.3sec and wears a $138,645 price tag.
Next step is the F-Type S, powered by an upgraded version of the same engine, now producing 280kW/460Nm. The S also picks up an active exhaust system (more on this fun factor later), an LSD, larger brakes, launch control, adaptive dynamics (continually tweaking steering weight, suspension tune, engine settings and transmission shift in response to driving style), and 19 inch rims. It’s claimed to dip down to 4.9sec 0-100km/h, and weighs in at $171,045.
Then things get even more serious with the F-Type V8S, packing 364kW/625Nm of blown alloy V8 in a car weighing 1665kg. No lightweight, but with that much grunt on board you’re looking at a power-to-weight ratio that betters Porsche’s 911 Carrera S, and jumps into the same extremely rapid ballpark as the Aston V12 Vantage, BMW M6 and Lotus Exige S. No surprise the 0-100km/h claim drops to just 4.4sec. The flagship also features 20 inch rims, even bigger brakes, an active e-LSD, and quad exhaust pipes, with a recommended retail price cresting a monetary milestone at $201,945.
Jaguar’s design team, led by Ian Callum, has created a beautifully proportioned shape, evolved from the C-X16 concept of 2011, offering a tip of the styling hat to its D and E-Type predecessors (especially from the rear). The 1.9m wide, alloy body incorporates high, curved haunches, a shark-like nose and bulging (forward-hinged) bonnet. The driver-focused cockpit is beautifully finished and spot-on ergonomically.
A lengthy local drive through the suburban grind, on the open freeway, across secondary backroads then a full-on attack through tight, twisting sections proves the F-Type is an exceptional car. Some are comparing it to Porsche’s mid-engine Boxster, but aside from the drivetrain and configuration differences, the Jag deserves to stand on its own as a front engine, rear drive roadster reflecting quality engineering and attention to detail in every aspect of its development. Jaguar made a conscious decision to use hydraulically-assisted steering and a quick ratio for maximum driver connection, and the result is impossibly good. From the first corner, even at slow speed, the steering and chassis communicate their every move and connection with the road.
The forged alloy, double wishbone suspension, controlled by the adaptive dynamics system, delivers a brilliant blend of outright grip, balance and agility; the grip factor dialled up on the top-shelf V8S, with fat Pirelli P Zero rubber (255/35×20 front – 295/30×20 rear).
Acceleration in the 250kW V6 is satisfyingly strong, and the auto transmission, with sequential shift via wheel or lever, is sharp and positive. But the biggest party piece is the active exhaust, consisting of electronically controlled bypass valves in the rear section, which open under hard acceleration to effectively form a straight-through, massively loud, set up.
Keep your Alfas, Alpines and Dinos, this is arguably the best sounding production V6 ever made. The bark and crackle emanating from the back of this car is unbeatable. If you choose the entry model, do yourself a favour and cough up for the system as an option. Then, the V8 delivers stonking thrust and sounds like a cross between an old-school hot rod, a GT40 at Le Mans, and a sonic boom. Brilliant brakes on all variants efficiently tame the speed and aural drama. Jaguar recognises it’s pitching this car to a “knowledgeable, enthusiast target”, and it’s clear their knowledge and enthusiasm will be richly rewarded. The F-Type is better than good … it’s an instant classic.
