The Tokyo Show, as well as giving a pretty fair vision of where the Japanese car industry is headed next, is traditionally this intoxicating, high octane mix of fun, fact and, fantasy. But not this time…

All the glitz and glamour was packed away at this severely depleted ’09 show, Where stands were once a hive of activity, there were now wide empty spaces and Lotus, Caterham Cars and Alpina were the only foreign brands present.

Yes, these are hard times for the Japanese economy and car industry. All the more reason you’d suppose to push the button on a strong, upbeat show to try to get things moving again.But no. Japan’s logic this time was to set up a ‘quiet’ show, at a time when even the biggest players (Toyota and Nissan) are in the red and there have been many factory layoffs. So this was a sober, K rations expo with eco and curbing emissions very much the overriding theme.So this was the cue for a big swag of electric and hybrid cars, led by the Nissan Leaf, the electric Golf-class hatch that will start production next year.Toyota (FT-EVII) and Honda (EV-N) also displayed small electric concepts and again, so did Nissan, with the curious, tilting Land Cruiser with tandem seating.Honda unveiled a 95 per cent version of its keenly awaited 1.5-litre CR-Z hybrid coupe and showed the Skydeck, an attractive, Insight-based 6-seat MPV.Mitsubishi’s show heavy was the PX-MiEV, an upscale Outlander SUV with Mitsubishi’s own Plug In Hybrid system. This green Mitsu tech is due by 2013 and could well underpin the next Lancer Evo…Mazda, like Daihatsu, believes that by clever use of existing tech and cutting body weight you can improve economy and C02 without resorting to hybrids.Subaru’s Hybrid Tourer, an upscale four-seat wagon concept, provides clues to Subaru’s coming design language and debuts a clever new twin-motor hybrid system that Subaru insists is all its own work.But for petrolheads, it was Toyota’s vast stand that had the goodies. Out came the Toyobaru, alias the FT-86 concept (top), the rakish rear-drive coupe with Subaru-flat four engine, Then across the way, the first official sighting of the long awaited 412 kW, 4.8-litre V10 two-seat Lexus LFA coupe. Only 500-off, with Lexus asking a cool A$446,300 for each one.Despite the sedate atmosphere, the Tokyo Show proved again that Japan can certainly still turn it on, when it wants to.

Just month’s after the greening of Frankfurt by Europe’s car Czars, Japan’s ever industrious car makers have stepped it up another notch with what was undoubtedly the greenest Tokyo motor show yet.

Pandas purred, whales sung and trees swayed in perfect harmony as Japan’s big three, Toyota, Honda and Nissan each vied for eco one-upmanship by laying down their bets on what will be the next big thing in vehicle tech. Of course, hybrids, electric cars and fuel cells are nothing new at Japan’s big, bi-annual auto-fest, but where such cars were once very much in the minority, these days they dominate the agenda and the displays.

But while the concerted industry push towards a cleaner, greener future was one hallmark of the 41st Tokyo motor show, the relatively subdued displays and glaring absence of foreign car makers was another. The Japanese have long worried that their influence as the automotive powerhouse of the Asian region is on the wane, as first the Korean, and then the Chinese auto industries flexed their muscle.Japan has also traditionally been something of a closed vehicle market, where imports account for only a small percentage of overall new vehicle sales and where the strength of domestic car makers makes it virtually impossible for foreign auto makers to gain a manufacturing foothold there. As a result, automakers form the US and Europe have been steadily diverting their attentions and motor show resources to where the action is, namely the increasingly significant Chinese market.This year, the foreign car makers didn’t need any more of an excuse than the global financial crisis to strike Tokyo from their show list. For the first time in the show’s history not one major foreign car maker booked space in the giant Makuhari Messe exhibition hall. Actually, that’s not quite correct as Hyundai did book exhibition space but pulled out weeks before the show doors opened. That left Lotus and BMW tuning-house Alpina flying the Gaijin flag.Of course, the global financial crisis has a left its indelible red ink imprint on the giant Japanese car industry as well. And after months of watching their balance sheets hovering on the wrong side of the black line, Japan’s car makers were in no mood to lash out. They turned up, but that was about it; there were no pyrotechnics or dancing girls and precious little showmanship as Daihatsu, Honda, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Subaru each took their turn to whip the hanky off their latest new models and concepts.One well-connected Japanese-based source told Wheels that the gang of eight had in fact all agreed to keep their displays and display areas relatively modest, in deference to the pain that auto industry workers and shareholders have experienced over the past year or so. Fair enough, I guess, but it didn’t make for a particularly memorable show.The struggle show organizers faced in trying to fill the giant exhibition halls was perhaps best exemplified by the hundreds of square metres of prime exhibition space given over to a quaint but not-exactly riveting children’s drawing competition. That’d never happen at Melbourne or Sydney, let alone at one of the world’s most significant shows.

Substituting for the injured Timo Glock, and in his first formula one race in Brazil last weekend, young Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi certainly went all out to create an impression with his Toyota team bosses.

On the track, his tearaway, no-prisoners approach alarmed more than impressed fellow drivers. But undoubtedly, Toyota would have endorsed his refusal to respect reputations, and his glory-or-bust approach.Like many Japanese drivers, Kobayashi is quick and shows no fear in the wet and he out-qualified the likes of Button, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.Kobayashi finished 10th on Sunday but could have easily have finished in the points. He held off world champ in the making, Jenson button for many laps, carved up countryman Kazuki Nakajima like a chef dicing sushimi, and near the end of the race, enthusiastically whipped around the Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella.If Toyota elects to stay in F1 next year, Kobayashi looks to have played himself into one of the two seats. We may see him back for the final race in Abu Dhabi, where it almost certainly won’t rain. A sandstorm is the best he could hope for.

Get out the calculator.

Title leader Jenson Button lines up for the penultimate world championship round in Brazil with 85 points to his name.The only other drivers in contention are his Williams-bound Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello (71), Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing (69).With only 20 points up for grabs in total in Brazil and Valencia, Button can seal the deal if he takes third or better on Sunday, regardless of whether his rivals win or not.Third will give Button 91 points, meaning that he’ll be world champ even is Barrichello banked 20 points from two victories in the last two races. (Remember that Button needs only to accumulate the same number of points as anyone else because he has won more races and would take the title on a countback.)Still with me?Other scenarios are many and varied this weekend.Button will still be world champ if Barrichello doesn’t win and Button finishes fourth or fifth.Button can afford to finish sixth or seventh provided Barrichello claims no higher than third and Vettel no higher than second.If Button takes one point from eighth, the title is his if Barrichello finishes fourth or lower, with Vettel no better than third.And Button will win by not adding to his tally at Interlagos, if Vettel does no better than third and the boy from Brazil finishes fifth or worse.Disclaimer: Maths was not my strong suite at school…

It is crunch time. David Brabham, who is attempting to win the 2009 American Le Mans Series, experienced the full roller-coaster of emotions at Atlanta raceway.

His championship prospects looked to be shattered among hundreds of pieces of broken carbon fibre after co driver Scott Sharp’s frightening practice crash which all but destroyed their Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a.But the team’s massive rebuild efforts using a new chassis paid off when Brabham/Sharp/Dario Franchitti started from the back of the grid and then posted a sixth-place finish in the rain-shortened Petit Le Mans to extend its lead by four points in the LMP1 championship.To clinch the championship, Brabham/Sharp now only has to complete 70 per cent of the race distance at the final round of the year – the four-hour Laguna Seca event – next weekend.

“I love this part,” Grant Denyer told viewers from the start grid before the start of the 2009 Bathurst 1000.

I always liked those tense few minutes too. As a competitor it was always a memorably twitchy, uptight time. In the years since I raced in the 1000, I wasn’t anywhere near as edgy but I continued to empathise and get nervous for everyone involved – the drivers, the teams, the officials…And so it was this year, even though I was sitting at home watching the race on Seven. While there is no experience to match Being There at the track, I could sense a number of positives about staying at home for the first time since ’75.In my living room, I avoided the bitter cold and damp Bathurst weather, show-boating politicians and braying, limelight-loving V8 supercar heavies…. and red- and blue-clad guys taking the 24-can max right to the limit.Mercifully, I was 200km away, heater blazing, cuppa at my elbow, the big plasma tuned to Seven.A pre-race Bathurst retrospective voiced beautifully by Russell Crowe hit the spot. The Seven Network and blokes like Neil Crompton and Saul Shtein understand that Bathurst didn’t begin with V8 supercars in the early 1990s.The national anthem sung by a couple of comely if frozen players from the stage show Wicked didn’t come off. Sound issues didn’t help.Why, just before the start, when there must have been many more interesting people to talk to, or informative footage to show, did Seven interview the garrulous Tony Cochrane and his mate NSW pollie Ian Macdonald? The answer of course is that V8SA Television controls the content that Seven puts to air and these guys were hyping the Taxpayers’500 at Homebush. Thank heavens for the mute button.A better choice might have been a chat with any of the 14 apprehensive race rookies. How were their heart rates?Grand marshal this year – an excellent choice – was Allan George Moffat, who issued the command: “Drivers… let’s go racing!”And half an hour later than traditional 10 o’clock start (put back because of daylight saving), they did finally go racing. Actually, the race went green at 10.36. Six minutes late. Old Bathurst/ARDC boss Ivan Stibbard would never have brooked such tardiness.The action lasted as far as first corner before the first safety car intervention. Negating Steve Richards great jack rabbit start from the second row past the pole-starting car of HRT’s Will Davison, was an incident on the damp track involving Jason Bright.When the racing resumed, Will Davison aggressively took charge on the slippery track as the pole sitters went about trying to convert their Saturday pole into Sunday glory.There was Matt White perpetuating the myth that the cars are turning into the Chase at 300km/h. Not in the dry, they don’t, and certainly not in the wet. According to Craig Lowndes, the Bathurst gearing works out at a theoretical top speed of 297-8km/h at 7500rpm – the rev limit. Yeah, I know… I’m a pedant.The first impediment to Lowndes/Jamie Whincup’s shot at four in a row came after eight laps when the #888 Team Vodafone Ford was released dangerously into the path of Richard’s FPV Falcon. Steve avoided contact but it was enough to prevent the officials from issuing a drive-though edict to Lowndes. He fell to 19th.Richards had his own early worries too, a failed alternator which meant the battery wasn’t getting charged. FPV changed the battery at the first main stop but there were fingers crossed that the systems wouldn’t drain it before the next scheduled stop.Michael Caruso’s spin coming up to the top of the mountain brought a major miracle as the little guy in the Garry Rogers Holden somehow missed contact with the wall.At home watching the teev I mused that, at the track you don’t get to see that great Seven under-car camera shots of the dancing diff and glowing brake rotors. Or Brad Jones’s legs.Unlike the folk at Mount Panorama, TV viewers also get Mark Larkham’s informative and entertaining technical insights from the pits. It was he who after 30 laps alerted everyone to a potential tyre problem on the Holden of the Kelly brothers. After another stint cut short due to a tyre worn on the inner edge, Rick Kelly responded to a Seven’s Mark Beretta’s question about excessive camber: “We’ve got Jack Schitt camber,” volunteered Rick.At the two hour mark, one of the favourites – the FPV Falcon of Richo and Frosty Winterbottom looked like a discarded overdone dish from Masterchef. It arrived in the pits with flames licking out of the rear, and that meant Game Over. The culprit was a spare battery in the boot, which came loose, dislodging the fuel pipe and starting a fire.Up front it was Garth Tander/Will Davison from the race’s most experienced combination Greg Murphy/Mark Skaife but the weather was looking ordinary and poised to maybe influence the outcome…Fuel efficiency was also emerging as a likely factor. The most economical was the #888, which Seven’s Neil Crompton told us managed 27 laps of a tank of the less efficient E85 fuel blend. That’s one lap more than the Stone Brothers Falcon of Alex Davison/Shane van Gisbergen. Most of the rest could only eke out 24-25 laps.Into the second half of the 161-lap enduro, it got interesting as rain began to fall again, leaving the drivers to make the call whether to stay out and roll the dice on slicks, or switch to wets.The #888 car, still playing catch up from the earlier pit lane indiscretion, went to pitlane first but the HRT #2 car of Davison/Tander, and the Murphy/Skaife Holden waited…and waited, and lost out when they ultimately had to make the change. They weren’t down for long though…In the confusion, rookie Troy Bayliss, in his first car race, slid wide into the wall. Who made the call that it would be a smart idea to put the world superbike champ into such a hard race on a demanding, at times perilous track with so little four-wheel experience?But the lengthy wet sequence unearthed some surprises. We saw vision of Whincup in the 888 Falcon clearly unhappy in the slippery conditions and giving up positions to mid fielders.Water in the distributor temporarily halted the James Courtney/Steve Johnson Ford #17, but it was soon running again but well back. Later it broke its front suspension, ending its day.Conversely, at the pointy end, the Will Davison/Tander HRT car looked very comfortable in whatever weather tossed at them.But there was always a feeling that this race could be decided by chance as much as pace.Lap 109 on a drying track, Shane Van Gisbergen pitted from the lead for a driver, brake pad and rotor change, and a switch back to slicks. Aaaaagh! The Falcon wouldn’t start, dumped a massive amount of time. Turns out someone had bumped the master switch.Lap 122. Another safety car to retrieve the Fabian Coulthard/Michael Patrizi car, which had run in the top 10 but was now going nowhere with smoke emitting from up front.Many chose the opportunity to charge in for fuel.The defending winners, then back in ninth, decided to stay out and grab some track position and lead the motor race. But with one major stop to come, #888 would need a lengthy fuel stop ahead. HRT’s Tander/Davo, well inside the top 10, was on a similar strategy.Triple Eight’s strategy suddenly became less relevant when Lowndes reported a clutch drama (soft pedal) and lost some spots Lowndes quickly adjusted, and used his left foot to flip the pedal back up off the floor after every usage.Importantly, Lowndes/Whincup managed their last stop without a drama, the clutch pedal working well enough to get the Falcon back out…Setting up a nailbiter to the flag, Dean Canto came over Skyline a bit too hot and turned his FPR Falcon into a bouncing pinball. Out came the safety car one more time…The losers: Sprint Gas’s Murphy/Skaife and the valiant Valvoline Holden pair Greg Ritter/ David Besnard. If the race remained green, they would have been in the box seats. Instead they were forced to pit under the safety car, lost track position…and away went their chances.Here then was the scenario…dry track, protagonists in a crocodile chain. A 20-lap sprint to the flag… Tander, Rick Kelly, Holdsworth, a rejuvenated Jason Bargwanna, Whincup, a lurking Jason Richards….Kelly, with a bent rear wing fought like a mad dog to keep Holdsworth and the rest behind. But Tander took off and barring anything untoward, the race was his.The heart rate monitor on Rick Kelly in the closing stages revealed the extent of his cockpit stress.There was more evil for the mountain to dispense. The unfortunate Nathan Pretty found oil dumped on the track on the top of the mountain. He looped backwards into the wall. The leaders, forewarned, slithered through safely.Ignoring the championship and chasing the best race result, Whincup stuck his nose under Bargs at Murrays, turning the Sprint Gas Holden driver into a spin. Will the stewards look unkindly upon Jamie’s move? It was a marginal move.With four laps remaining, another car landed in the kitty litter, triggering the last of seven safety car interventions.Tander bolted again for a fine, deserved victory. His second and Davo’s first there.The podium scrap was a ripper. Kelly, so stoic for many laps, finally succumbed, and he was in quick succession shuffled back to eighth. His efforts deserved better.Jason Richards and Cam McConville snatched a great second for Brad Jones Racing when the cheerful kiwi charged under Holdsworth near the end.And Lee Holdsworth, sharing the GRM Holden with Michael Caruso, claimed third after Lee held off the fast-finishing Murph, who came from the clouds but missed the podium by .004sec.Murph was very gracious afterwards, refusing to dwell on his bad luck while giving credit to the three pairings who stood on the podium.The million dollar question now is: will Mark Skaife be back again? On the evidence of this race, he is driving as well as ever, despite having to deal with cobwebs this year.This was a 1000 painted red. Whincup/Lowndes was the best performed Ford combo, but back in fifth.Gee, we haven’t even thought about the championship. Davison’s win moves him closer to Whincup in the standings – 2383 points to 2476.On family matters, Mrs Tander – Leanne – finished 18th in her first Bathurst 1000, sharing a Ford with David Wall.Will’s older brother Alex finished 13th in the Falcon he shared with Gis.There were 24 finishers from 32 starters in a chaotic race that, conspiring with the weather gods, certainly kept this couch potato entertained for most of the day.I’m not sure I would have been as comfortable nor as informed had I been sitting with the red and blue armies at Mount Panorama.2009 Bathurst 1000 161 laps:

(1) Garth Tander/Will Davison (2) Jason Richards/Cam McConville (3) Lee Holdsworth/Michael Caruso (4) Greg Murphy/Mark Skaife (5) Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup (6) Jason Bargwanna/Mark Noske (7) Tim Slade/Paul Morris (8) Todd Kelly/Rick Kelly (9) Greg Ritter/David Besnard (10) Tony D’Alberto/Andrew Thompson.

The 13th annual Classic Adelaide rally was officially launched in South Australia today, and a classic pairing will be reunited when the tarmac road rally begins on November 18.

Two-time Australian Touring Car Champion Glenn Seton is set to take the wheel of a new Nissan 370Z, albeit in a non-competitive, speed limited Thoroughbred Touring class.Despite his long list of racing achievments, this will be the 44-year-old’s debut in tarmac rally.English Bathurst 1000 winner Win Percy will also drive in the four-day event in a diesel Jaguar XF sedan. Percy is familiar with the highs and lows of the classic rally, having crashed into the Adelaide hills in 2000.Both will have friendly manufacturer rivals in Classic regular Mercedes-Benz, with Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan and F1 World Champ Sir Jack Brabham, who is the official Event Patron.Event Ambassador Jim Richards will compete in the Modern category in his Porsche GT2 – despite its name, the 2009 Classic rally will incorporate modern cars for the first time.A9X Torana crowdpleaser. The event incorporates 33 closed-road Special Stages through the Adelaide Hills, branching out every morning from the city centre and making it an ease for competitors and spectators alike, and the Gouger Street Friday night party and a new Norwood Parade Street Party on Saturday night will ensure a strong social scene.“The beauty of this event is that there are categories to allow every entrant to choose their pace, whether it is full-on competition, leisurely touring or something in-between,” said Director of Silverstone Events, David Edwards.“The Adelaide region roads are unsurpassed for their driving challenge and drivers have a rare opportunity to test themselves and their cars in controlled conditions while running through superb South Australian scenery.“And at morning tea and lunch breaks and the nightly social events, there’s a unique camraderie among classic car enthusiasts from every part of Australia and even from overseas.“There is nothing else in Australia like Classic Adelaide – some competitors say nothing like it elsewhere in the world – and this one is shaping up as the best yet.”

Ex Renault F1 team principal Flavio Briatore may have been banned from formula one indefinitely for his role in ‘crashgate’ but the flamboyant Italian still has his supporters, including Mark Webber.

“In my own experience, Flavio has been a sensational manager,” Webber told The Inside Line.“In the 11 years I’ve been managed by his company, I haven’t had to pull the contract out of the drawer to review it once. I don’t think there are many people you can say that about in the F1 paddock.”Webber, who must end his managerial relationship with Briatore or face not having his F1 superlicence renewed, says he’s in no mad rush to formally crunch the relationship.“I will catch up with the necessary people when I get back from the flyaway races,” Webber said.Meanwhile FIA president Max Mosley has revealed that Bernie Ecclestone voted against his mate and business partner Briatore getting a lifetime ban.“A substantial majority [of the motor sport’s council] were in favour of punishing Briatore, but Bernie was in a minority,” Mosley said.

There’s going to be some confusion in tarmac rally circles, with a new championship for modern cars finally developed and in place through the makers of Targa Tasmania and the alpine sprint series.

The Australian Tarmac Championship (ATC), not to be confused with the Australian Tarmac Challenge (ATC, formerly the Dutton Rally) and the ACTC (Australian Classic Tarmac Championship) has finally given modern cars a show-in on multi-day open road rallies around the country.The ATC is made up of the Mt Buller Sprint, the Lake Mountain Sprint, Targa Wrest Point, and Targa Tasmania, and will be organised jointly by Octagon Australia and Mountain Motorsports.“Competitors have been telling us that they want a national tarmac rally championship, but that it had to include Targa Tasmania, which is seen as the Bathurst or our sport,” said Targa Tasmania Event Director, Mark Perry.“The introduction of Targa Wrest Point (around the Tasmanian capital of Hobart), and the opportunity to make Targa Tasmania the final round, meant the time was right for us to make our events part of a national series.”One of the two mountain sprint rounds will bring some much-needed money into the bushfire-stricken town of Marysville, which formerly provided the base for the Lake Mountain event. Though the competitors and cars will have to stay outside the town when it is run in March, many returning competitors have vowed to support the town in any way possible.The winners, announced after the final round in May 2010, will claim the title of 2010 Tarmac Rally Champions, and prized totalling around $30,000 worth of value.2010 Australian Tarmac Championship • Round 1: Mt. Buller Sprint – December 4 to 6 , 2009 • Round 2: Targa Wrest Point – January 30 & 31, 2010 • Round 3: Lake Mountain Sprint – March 20 & 21, 2010 – To be confirmed • Round 4: Targa Tasmania – April 27 to May 2, 2010

It’s Saturday morning at the Classic Adelaide tarmac rally, and an overly keen competitor (who shall remain nameless) in a Ferrari 360 Challenge rips into a right-hander “a bit too hot”. Out steps the tail, then in goes the nose as the Fezza ends up impaled into a tree.

More embarrassed than disconsolate, the driver remarks to the attendant crash crew that rather than allow his “brain fade” to end his weekend, he’d simply select another Ferrari from his collection and come back on Sunday. Out comes a 250 Lusso, and it’s on with the job.This illustrates the unflappable spirit of the participants – typically around 200 of them – who each year head to South Australia to fang their fine cars on some of the country’s best roads. Some take it very seriously and are earnestly going for victory, while others are simply there to enjoy themselves. The magical motoring menu features many of the usual suspects plus a few curios. The likes of Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Maserati, Ferrari, BMW, and Lotus are all well represented, along with the odd De Tomaso and Jensen … all copping an unholy belting.Wheels is here as a guest of Mercedes Australia. We’ll cycle through a handful of V8-engined, AMG-tuned Mercs, a day at a time. In this nanny nation, where political correctness and speed limits are enforced with an uncommon zeal, how sweet it is to get the nod to smoke the bags and, within reason, tear up the tarmac on both sides of the double-yellows.We’re in the untimed Thoroughbred Tour category, meaning our aim is to have fun rather than stress about trying to win every stage. Our eminent team-mates for the event are Sir Jack Brabham, piloting an SLK55 AMG roadster, and former Formula One and Indy Car racer Vern Schuppan, steering an SL63 AMG.Arriving fashionably late for the last two of four days will be five-time world motorcycle champ, Mick Doohan, these days as happy on four wheels as he always was on two. Like us, Mighty Mick will sample some of the most spectacularly sporty cars ever to roar out of Stuttgart.Sharing my four AMG brutes is co-driver Lauren, a greenhorn in the world of CAMS officials, rally controls and special stages, with a slender driving portfolio barely extending beyond urban commuting at the wheel of her trusty Toyota Echo.In this case, ‘co-driver’ is a literal term. The loose plan, unless intuition and anxiety signals a revision of our approach, is that she will spend some time at the wheel each day, initially on the liaison stages but, if I’m comfortable and still alive, we may, perhaps, let her loose on a special closed-road competitive stage.The question uneasily posed and yet to be answered is whether a modern, hi-po car with a colossal amount of power and torque is safe in the hands of a neophyte more accustomed to 60kW/121Nm at the front wheels.Before we go any further, let’s confront the nepotism issue. Yes, Lauren Susannah McKay is my daughter. She’s 24, an interior designer who has next to no interest in cars or driving. With family (unfortunately for her) I can be more brutal and less diplomatic with my instructions. There may be no time for niceties.On the first day, we’re starting at the upper end of the Merc range, in terms of grunt and price, driving a $401,235 SL63 AMG with its 386kW and 630Nm of ripping V8 power. This car is worth more than Lauren’s Sydney apartment. No pressure, then. Someone at Mercedes-Benz clearly has a sense of humour. At the start, we’re lined up behind Schuppan’s similarly gleaming, yet sinister black model. Vern has a reputation for going hard, and, being Adelaide born, putting his home-ground advantage to good use.The SL’s stability control comes in three levels – fully on, Sports mode and fully off. I take the cautious middle option on the opening special stage. Lauren gets into the spirit of things, calling the hazards and tight corners and midway through the stage I hear a “woo-hoo” when I light up the SL’s rear tyres out of a hairpin.At the end of the stage, Schuppan and I confer. “I’m turning the ESP completely off,” Vern says. “It’ll be easier to flick out the tail in the slower corners.” I defer to his wisdom, and for the rest of the day we have a great time playing with oversteer and wheelspin. It’s mainly a blur of languid transport stages followed by a countdown and a mad tyre-smoking blast through eight wonderful specials. Lauren’s loving it and happily calling the cautions and other hazards noted in the road book. She’s ecstatic when I let her take the wheel on the easy journey back to town at the end of the day.The field of entrants is remarkable for its diversity – of cars and drivers. Mixed among the rich world champions and wealthy business titans are ordinary folk with a passion for sporty cars and grand roads. Adelaide’s Craig Haysman did the Classic Adelaide the previous year in his Falcon GT-HO, with pal Neil Gibson, but the pair failed to finish. They’re back with a target of getting to the end on Sunday afternoon. “Just being able to drive fast on roads we normally motor on around here is pretty special,” says Haysman.At the end of the opening day, the serious Classic Tour class seems to be a tight battle between previous winner Kevin Weeks and NSW wheat farmer Bill Pye, both in Porsche 911 RSs, Ian Wilson in a Triumph TR7 V8, Jim Richards in an ’88 Porsche 944 Turbo Cup and pet-food king Tony Quinn in a Ford Sierra 500.For the second day, we’re in the muscular C63 Estate. This must be one of the world’s great Q cars – a luxo hot-rod offering ample room for prams and pets. With 336kW and 600Nm channelled through a seven-speed auto, it gets the same mechanicals as its saloon sibling. It also benefits from Merc’s new three-stage ESP system, which, in its least intrusive ‘Sport’ mode, allows for a fair amount of sideways stuff before intervening.The weather looks threatening as we hit Coromandel, a great stage to kick off the day. Merc’s flamboyant PR chap, David McCarthy, has given express instructions to leave a couple of fat liquorice strips any time there are spectators to entertain. Well David, they’re your tyres. We turn off the ESP and light up those 19s for a noisy, smoky departure.Dynamically, there doesn’t appear to be any discernible difference between the wagon and sedan variants. However, the load lugger is 0.1sec slower zero-100km/h than the saloon’s 4.5sec, due to the extra 65kg it totes.The varying weather, with damp and greasy patches on the bitumen, and the challenging nature of today’s route, catches out some – there are three rollovers on the 13th stage, Hindmarsh Falls Reverse. Mercifully, no-one is hurt.Between stages there’s time to chat to other competitors. In an older, scruffy-but-quick Nissan GT-R are Matthew Sims and his dad, Dennis. It’s their first motor racing event of any kind. “It’s been fantastic, and I’m glad that Matthew is driving,” says Dennis, obviously a gent of impressive faith. The car is a kosher GT-R but with a single blower.“I intended to use it for drag racing,” explains Matthew.It consequently has a bit of turbo-lag, but is still damned quick. “It’s just an unbelievable experience. The people have been really friendly, and the roads are amazing,” adds Dennis.Mick Hone, the former motorcycle champ (and co-driver for Peter Brock when he crashed and died in Targa West in 2006), is sharing the driving of a classic Ferrari Daytona with the car’s owner Ray Delaney. Hone is having a coffee at the end of a long, sporadically wet day; he looks like a train wreck and explains that the Daytona, not blessed with power steering, is no sweet thing to drive. “And the deal seems to be that Ray drives it when the weather is good and I get to drive it when it’s wet…” The wipers, Hone grumbles, work only when they feel like it.Day Three. Mick Doohan has jetted in overnight in his Cessna Citation and, as becomes quickly apparent, he isn’t one to hold back, neither on the lurid burnout starts, nor on the passage through the stages. Meanwhile, Lauren and I have moved on to the CLK63 AMG. With 354kW/630Nm underfoot, it’s got better numbers than the C63 and it feels livelier and more compact. I love the CLK, despite the fact it’s the only Merc available to us with a stability system that can’t be turned off.Between stages, Lauren disappears into the bushes for a nature stop. “I can’t believe how many times I’ve needed to go to the toilet,” she remarks as she jumps back into the passenger seat and belts up. It’s called nerves, dear.The poor weather arrives for the Kersbrook stage, and we have a great time sliding around as much as the ESP allows. We even catch up with the C63 Estate, its driver courteously waving us through. Near the end of the stage Lauren mischievously suggests we quickly swap seats when we get to control, so that my fellow journo in the wagon thinks he’s just been overtaken, in the wet, by a slip of a gal with little experience. “Um, we’d better not. Don’t wanna be responsible for a suicide,” I tell her.It’s still drizzling when we start the famed Norton Summit. Damn. More skating with the stars. Suddenly, we’re confronted by frantic spectators urgently flagging us down. Something nasty’s happened, I think to myself. And sure enough a red ’68 E-Type, a glorious hardtop example that we’d admired earlier, has had a slide, clouted an earth bank and flipped onto its roof. Doohan is already out of his car, offering assistance. One occupant has crawled free; the other is still trying to extricate himself. No injuries, but the car is, ahem, no longer pristine.There are more great driving roads in the afternoon. Lauren is an ideal passenger, too naive to be scared. On some stages, I tell her to toss aside the road book and just enjoy it. We later enjoy a wonderful evening at Magill Estate, home of the Penfolds Grange and, yes, we did have a few sips of the ’95 vintage. Purely in the interests of research, you understand.It’s the C63 AMG sedan for us on the final day but Lauren is offered the chance to do a stage sitting alongside, and calling the notes for, Doohan in the C63 Estate. In a heartbeat, she’s belting up alongside the former motorcycle champ. So much for blood being thicker than a brush with fame. Multi-tasking, she calls the notes while videoing Mighty Mick at the wheel throughout the 7.8km stage. Sliding around a corner near a spectator point, Doohan observes drily: “People have nothing to do if they can sit on the side of the road all day and look at cars.”Later, there’s a hold up at Paris Creek for the most bizarre of reasons: there is a report of someone firing shots along the route. We sit tight for a bit until the all-clear is given, then to celebrate the lack of gunfire (friendly or otherwise) up ahead, Doohan gives the spectators the longest, snakiest, most spectacular departure from control. His tyre smoke is still hanging in the air when we take off 30 seconds later.The final day is significant for one other thing – to give Lauren the chance to drive the special stage called Chapel Hill. Having been briefed that the slightest of scratches on the C63 will mean removing her from the will, long-term alienation from her male parent and shame being heaped upon the McKay family, she calmly pulls on the helmet and adjusts her seat and mirrors. “Is the ESP on?” she asks, sounding like a kid looking for reassurance that the training wheels are fixed to her bike. That’s a definite affirmative.The control official counts her down. She sucks in a big breath. There’s a lot of sweaty tension in the cabin, but it’s mainly on my side. We take off. Lauren uses the road sensibly, apexing in roughly the right places and using her noggin over the blind crests. She backs off appropriately when the needle hits 130km/h. Alongside, I’m all unruffled serenity as I whisper instructions at roughly 140 decibels. “Easy … easy … EASY! Brake … BRAKE! Good.”“Cool it, dad. Take a Valium,” she mutters subversively.Actually, through my discomfort, I note she’s quite smooth and apparently quick enough. The hot-rod Nissan GT-R behind us didn’t sight us on the stage, which suggests she wasn’t hanging around. Smiles all round then, especially from Bill Pye, who is declared the winner of the outright Classic Tour category.Sadly for Bill, the smile was well and truly wiped off his face 10 days later when the victory was overturned on appeal and local Kevin Weeks, who’d led for much of the event, was named the winner. Weeks had stopped to help out a fellow competitor who’d crashed on one of the stages, but after informing the officials about what had happened, they gave him a new time which elevated him to first. That’s the Classic Adelaide Rally for you, surprising right to the end … and beyond.