V8 Supercars News & Results 2008 - Mark Skaife Sells HRT To Walkinshaw!

[JoeT]

Holden Still Carping On Parity

Geoffrey Harris
20 September 2008
www.carpoint.com.au

Irrespective of the merits of its arguments for a parity adjustment, Holden seems intent on looking like a bad loser even though it's winning, and should turn its attention to its own backyard; latest rumblings on Homebush, and F1 latest.

Despite having won last weekend's Phillip Island 500km race and Garth Tander stretching his championship lead after having been joint winner, along with Ford's Jamie Whincup and Will Davison of the previous round at Winton, Holden is still harping on about wanting a parity adjustment in V8 Supercar racing.

Fearing that Ford's BF Falcons will have a high-speed aerodynamic edge on its VE Commodores on the long straights at Bathurst on October 9-12, Holden has demanded that parity be addressed much earlier than October 22 -- the Wednesday of Gold Coast Indy week -- when V8 Supercars Australia had next listed it for discussion.

Auto Action editor-at-large Mark Fogarty has reported in this week's edition of that magazine that the timing of a parity investigation is now "under review".

Fogarty has quoted a V8SA insider saying that category technical manager Andy Bartley would be directed to make that investigation a priority and "encouraged to present his findings as early as next week" -- meaning, importantly, before Bathurst.

Fogarty said Holden had been "outraged" at the V8SA board's decision to delay a ruling until October 22.

Click here to continue article

[JoeT]

Will 2009 Changes Heat Up The V8 Supercars Grid?

Peter McKay
22 September 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au

The shootout returns, sprint races get the flick and the two-make series moves to 85 per cent ethanol fuel.

Significant race format changes including the dumping of the tired three-race sprint rounds and the return of a Top 10 Shootout in qualifying have been announced for the Australian V8 Supercar Championship for 2009.

Acknowledging that Australia’s most popular domestic racing series is overdue for changes, and inject some much needed excitement, V8 Supercars Australia chairman Tony Cochrane declared “it is time for the sport to reinvent itself and spice up the on-track spectacle”.

Is it a case of too little too late, of re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Or will these changes rejuvenate racing and lift the on-track spectacle for race fans?

The existing leg one and leg two knock-out rounds of qualifying will remain with leg three to be replaced in ’09 by the re-introduced Shootout.

Click here to continue article

[JoeT]

Sydney 400 Gives V8's Horsepower Boost

V8 Supercars Australia
29 September 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane's self confessed life's ambition - the Sydney 400 street race at the Olympic precinct - has been described as the biggest development in the modern era of the championship.

A five-year deal that has been capped at $30million is expected to gain the final signature by the New South Wales government in the next few days after the contract has been approved in principle.

V8 Supercars have underwritten the event it says will become the jewel-in-the-crown of the homegrown touring car series.

“This is the most significant and momentous occasion in the last 12 years of the modern championship,” Cochrane said.

The announcement made in the forecourt of the Sydney Olympic stadium today promises to lift the sport to the next level.

A small group of protesters demanding better public transport and hospitals for NSW chanted anti-event slogans during the announcement made jointly by premier Nathan Rees and the V8 boss.

The circuit, just under 4km in length, has divided councils in the area and businesses but the NSW government sees it as a chance to get back into the business of regularly hosting big events.

“Any sophisticated market is a tough market and we have done a lot of research to make sure that this will be success,” Cochrane said.

“It was one I believe was winnable. This is such a great entertainment and event precinct and I don't cope with the world no very well.”

“These guys (NSW government) want to put themselves back in the Events business.

Premier Rees said that his government had taken the decision to support the event because it would benefit the state's economic growth.

“We took the decision that this would benefit Sydney's broader economic growth,” Rees said.

Cochrane has been vigorously pursuing a Sydney street race for the last eight years and admitted there were concerns when the former premier Morris Iemma resigned a couple of weeks ago.

“We were shocked because we had a meeting with the premier three days before he resigned but all the hard work had been done before hand.

“This has been one of the most scrutinised events ever to get this far.

“But the new premier (Rees) stepped in and said this is too good a chance to pass up.

“I admire this bloke (Rees) he's prepared to get in and have a real crack.”

“Being the grand finale it bookends the year perfectly and we are going to work very hard to make this a key jewel-in-the-crown of our series.

Five-times touring car series champ and five-times Bathurst winner Mark Skaife said that the Sydney 400 event which will be the final round of the 2009 championship from December 4-6 is the biggest announcement the sport has made in its 12-year history.

NSW premier Rees said the announcement marked a new era of his government actively chasing big events for Sydney and for NSW.

“It will attract between $100-$110million into the state's economy and it will attract more than $20mllion worth of national and extensive international media coverage each year,” Mr Rees said.

“We expect an additional 15,000 people from overseas and interstate and Sydneysiders will be able to enjoy a great spectacle not far from the geographic heart of our great city.”



2009 V8 Supercars Calendar Released

V8 Supercars Australia
29 September 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

Today’s announcement that the Sydney 400 will be held in December has finalised the 2009 V8 Supercar calendar.

The inaugural race around the streets of the former Olympic precinct will be the Grand Finale of the 2009 series on the weekend of December 4-6.

This means the action-packed 2009 V8 Supercar Championship will be book-ended by street races, with the traditional season opener, the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, taking place on March 19-22.

The following weekend will see the V8s take to another street race around Melbourne’s Albert Park for the non-championship Australian Formula One Grand Prix support races.

The V8 circus will then head across ‘The Ditch’ for its second race around the streets of Hamilton, New Zealand in April.

The series will then come back to Victoria at the country circuit of Winton in early May before heading south for Symmons Plains, Tasmania later that month.

The V8 show will then travel to Darwin in June, far-north Queensland for the inaugural Townsville street race in July, Melbourne’s Sandown in early August and back up to Queensland Raceway, Ipswich in mid-August.

The endurance races of Phillip Island, in September, and Bathurst, in its traditional timeslot in early October, will follow.

The final four rounds will be Surfers Paradise in late October, Bahrain in early November, while the Barbagallo round at Perth moves to a late November date, with the Sydney 400 closing the season.

2009 V8 Supercar Calendar:

Mar 19-22 Clipsal 500, SA
Mar 26-29 AGP, Vic
Apr 17-19 Hamilton 400 NZ
May 1-3 Winton Raceway, Vic
May 29-31 Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains, Tas
Jun 19-21 SKYCITY Challenge Hidden Valley, NT
Jul 10-12 Townsville 400, Qld
Jul 31-Aug 2 Sandown, Vic
Aug 21-23 Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, Qld
Sept 11-13 L&H 500 Phillip Island, Vic
Oct 8-11 Supercheap Auto Bathurst, NSW
Oct 22-25 Nikon Indy 300, Surfers Paradise, Qld
Nov 5-7 Gulf Air Desert 400, Bahrain
Nov 20-22 Barbagallo, WA
Dec 4-6 Sydney 400, Homebush, NSW

[JoeT]

Holden V8 Teams Facing Cash Squeeze

AAP
2 October 2008
www.smhc.om.au

Holden has admitted it is likely to reduce funding for some of its V8 Supercar teams in 2009, but not the flagship Holden Racing Team (HRT).

Holden managing director Mark Reuss confirmed the manufacturer would probably have to tighten its spending on the V8 series as the global downturn and soaring petrol prices savage big car sales.

But any funding cuts were likely to be offset by more creative ways of spending Holden's money in V8 racing, especially using the series' move to environmentally friendly fuel next year to spruik the company's "green" credentials and cars.

Nine V8 teams are Holden outfits - the biggest Garth Tander and Mark Skaife's championship-chasing HRT.

When asked if HRT would have its funding chopped as part of what loom as inevitable changes to Holden's V8 spending next year, American Reuss said: "I don't think so.

"Our flagship (HRT), as long we're being successful out there and with racing part of the DNA of Holden, we're going to use it in a lot different ways than we have in the past.

"Some of the teams may get less money.

"But it'll depend on how we go out about some of the alternative fuels, the drivers and the cars we put into the race season.

"We don't have all that (planning for 2009) done yet."

Ford has already announced it will confine its direct funding to two V8 teams for 2009.

Those whose cash has been cut include Craig Lowndes' Team Vodafone - arguably Ford's most successful outfit over the previous two years - and Ford icon **** Johnson's team.

Reuss said V8 Supercar racing remained of huge importance to Holden, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.

Holden's plan to ensure funding for the sport appears to centre around using it to promote the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel source.

The V8 series is switching to an 85 per cent ethanol blend, known as E85, for next year.

Holden is planning to soon sell a Commodore which runs on E85, hoping to bolster falling sales by offering decent performance for the cost and environmentally conscious once the biofuel becomes more readily available in Australia.

Only a handful of Australian petrol stations sell E85, though that number is likely to grow substantially over the next two years.

[hq308]

E85 fuel supplier announced

Release date: 10/10/2008



CSR Ethanol was this morning named as the official fuel supplier of the V8 Supercar Championship Series for 2009 and beyond.

V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane joined Ian Glasson, the Chief Executive Officer of CSR Sugar – an associated company of CSR Ethanol - at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on Friday to make the announcement.

While this year V8 Supercars use a five per cent ethanol blended fuel, next year they will run the E85 fuel which is an 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petroleum blended fuel

Read more http://www.v8supercars.com.au/conten...ier_announced/

Not sure if this has already been posted but could this be an idication of the future availability of E85 increasing in Australia?

[JoeT]

V8 Supercars Round 10 Results,
Qualifying & Top Ten Shootout
Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

V8 Supercars Australia
11 October 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

Reigning V8 Supercar Champion and Holden Racing Team (HRT) driver Garth Tander has scored his first ever pole position at Mount Panorama.

And it will be a Holden-Ford front row for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 tomorrow, with Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom second fastest in the Top 10 Shootout this afternoon (Saturday).

It will be the third year in a row that a HRT and FPR car have started from the front row.

The Top 10 Shootout was delayed as Brisbane-based Mini Challenge driver Darren Berry was cut out from his car after it crashed at the top of the Mountain.

“It was a tough shootout,” Tander admitted.

“I guess everyone was in the same situation not knowing how hard to push in the run to Forrest’s Elbow and in Forrest’s Elbow itself because of the dirt and junk (from Berry’s accident) that was on the track.

“It was a tough lap, but I knew that I had to do a strong last sector because I felt that the track would clean up as the lap went on and the run to Forrest’s Elbow would be better.

“I braked as deep as I dared at the Chase and again at Murray’s and I think it was the last sector that got us out of jail.”

The Top 10 Shootout was incident free, with two seconds separating Tander and Wow Racing’s Max Wilson, who posted the slowest time of 2min 9.194 despite a clean run of the circuit.

Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall was quicker than Wilson, posting a time of 2min 8.780.

But Glenfords Racing’s Fabian Coulthard, who took 2.08.805 to get around Mount Panorama, could not top Ingall’s time.

HSV Dealer Team’s Paul Dumbrell could, however, top Ingall’s time shaving off a second with a time of 2min 7.802 and will start the race from fourth.

Jim Beam Racing’s Will Davison lost time when he locked his wheels up going into the Chase and completed his hot lap in 2min 8.251.

Tander then drove the fastest lap – 2min 7.296 – of the shootout despite running a bit wide going into the Chase.

Stone Brothers Racing driver James Courtney’s time of 2min 7.702 means he and co-driver David Besnard will start the race from third, while TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup will start from fifth after he ran wide around a couple of parts of the circuit, including at Hell Corner.

Sprint Gas Racing’s Jason Richards posted a 2min 7.987 and will start tomorrow’s race from sixth.

Winterbottom provided a nail-biting finish to the shootout, posting the fastest second sector time, but he then finished his lap slower than Tander.

“The start of the lap was pretty average,” Frosty said.

“I started the flying lap on the dirt, which isn’t ideal; I went down about a tenth and a half on that opening sector.

“I got back to a reasonable sector at Forrest’s Elbow and Garth’s last sector was pretty strong and he got me there, but when you start down there is no excuse.

“I tried too hard and made a mistake.”


Friday: Qualifying

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Fastest Lap Fastest Lap Time Gap
1 6 Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 17 17 2:07.1920
2 3 Sprint Gas Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 13 12 2:07.2333 0:00.0413
3 888 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 8 7 2:07.2699 0:00.0779
4 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 19 18 2:07.2972 0:00.1052
5 1 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 15 14 2:07.3645 0:00.1725
6 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 18 12 2:07.4401 0:00.2481
7 18 Jim Beam Racing Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 19 18 2:07.4599 0:00.2679
8 16 Autobarn Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 17 16 2:07.6094 0:00.4174
9 111 Glenfords Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon BF 20 18 2:07.7321 0:00.5401
10 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 19 13 2:07.7974 0:00.6054
11 14 WOW Racing Max Wilson Holden Commodore VE 21 20 2:07.8022 0:00.6102
12 25 Fujitsu Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 19 16 2:07.9395 0:00.7475
13 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon BF 19 16 2:07.9627 0:00.7707
14 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 15 14 2:07.9968 0:00.8048
15 17 Jim Beam Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BF 21 21 2:08.0369 0:00.8449
16 12 Team BOC Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 19 17 2:08.1141 0:00.9221
17 5 Ford Performance Racing Luke Youlden Ford Falcon BF 16 7 2:08.1676 0:00.9756
18 7 Jack Daniel's Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 19 18 2:08.2226 0:01.0306
19 11 Jack Daniel's Racing Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 20 19 2:08.4667 0:01.2747
20 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Craig Baird Holden Commodore VE 20 19 2:08.5766 0:01.3846
21 777 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 9 3 2:09.4965 0:02.3045
22 26 IRWIN Racing Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BF 9 9 2:09.6397 0:02.4477
23 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport Greg Ritter Holden Commodore VE 9 2 2:09.7451 0:02.5531
24 55 Rod Nash Racing Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 9 9 2:09.9264 0:02.7344
25 88 Team Vodafone Fabrizio Giovanardi Ford Falcon BF 4 4 2:09.9779 0:02.7859
26 51 Sprint Gas Racing Mark Noske Holden Commodore VE 9 3 2:10.2930 0:03.1010
27 67 Supercheap Auto Racing Matt Neal Holden Commodore VE 9 9 2:11.3259 0:04.1339


Saturday: Top 10 Shootout

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Fastest Lap Fastest Lap Time Gap
1 1 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 1 1 2:07.2963
2 6 Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 1 1 2:07.4206 0:00.1243
3 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 1 1 2:07.7025 0:00.4062
4 16 Autobarn Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 1 1 2:07.8022 0:00.5059
5 888 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 1 1 2:07.9513 0:00.6550
6 3 Sprint Gas Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 1 1 2:07.9876 0:00.6913
7 18 Jim Beam Racing Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 1 1 2:08.2511 0:00.9548
8 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 1 1 2:08.7800 0:01.4837
9 111 Glenfords Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon BF 1 1 2:08.8051 0:01.5088
10 14 WOW Racing Max Wilson Holden Commodore VE 1 1 2:09.1940 0:01.8977

Garth Tander & Mark Skaife

You can view the V8 Supercars Championship Series on your computer
Click here for Telstra Bigpond's free internet video race coverage

[JoeT]

V8 Supercars Round 10 Results,
Race 1
Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

V8 Supercars Australia
12 October 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

The question everyone was asking before the start of this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was: can anyone stop TeamVodafone’s Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup from claiming their third Great Race victory in a row?

After just over six hours of racing the answer to that question was a firm ‘no’, as the pair remain the only men to ever get their hands on the Peter Brock Memorial trophy.

Whincup took the lead of the 161-lap race after swapping with Lowndes at the team’s first pit stop and the pair never really looked like losing the race from that point on.

It was superior pace and fuel economy that saw the #888 Falcon dominate the race for Ford.

“Three years in a row; I couldn’t believe it. It’s amazing; the car has been fantastic all weekend,” Lowndes said about the hattrick.

“You couldn’t dream of it.”

Whincup said winning the Great Race “means everything” to him.

“To go three in a row; I just don’t know how to explain it… to win this race three times in a row is pretty special; I feel greedy in a way,” he said.

“The team gave us an awesome car and we had Lowndesy to bring it home…“

He indicated that the victory would help ease the pain of losing last month’s L&H 500 at Phillip Island after being in a winning position.

“I was quite shattered after Phillip Island… to throw it away with 10 laps to go was disappointing but this certainly makes up for that,” he said.

The three-peat emulates the Holden hattricks of Peter Brock and Larry Perkins (1982-1984) and Peter Brock and Jim Richards (1978-1980).

Meanwhile, Sprint Gas Racing’s Greg Murphy and Jason Richards drove a brilliant race to charge to second place.

It was the second year in a row that they were the best Holden combination, after finishing fourth behind the all-Ford podium at last year’s Great Race.

Murph chased down Steve Richards – who was sharing the #6 FPR Falcon with Mark Winterbottom – in the dying laps and passed the Castrol Falcon driver on lap 157.

The Kiwi set his fastest time on lap 159 as he chased the Triple Eight Falcon, but unfortunately he ran out of laps.

Ford fans held their collective breaths on lap 157 when the Bottle-O Commodore of Tony D’Alberto smacked the wall at Griffins Bend, which could have brought out a safety car and allowed Murphy to close the three-second gap to Lowndes, but the green Holden was able to rejoin the race under its own steam.

However, even had a safety car been deployed Murph may not of had the pace to pass Lowndes as he was struggling with both engine dramas and a lack of fuel in the last two laps, which forced him to switch to his reserve tanks and nurse the #3 Commodore home.

The Sprint Gas team fought back from a near disaster on the opening lap when Murphy and Lowndes collided. The incident bent the steering of the #3 Commodore and forced Murph in for an unscheduled early pit stop.

“I was a bit pissed about the incident at the start of the race to be honest; it damaged the car. We ran with a bent steering arm for 161 laps,” Murphy said.

“I have seen the vision of it and I am not overly stoked with it, but that’s the way it goes.”

Jeld-Wen Falcon drivers James Courtney and David Besnard finished third after Courtney drove a fantastic final half of the race, fighting back from an error of judgement by Besnard early in the race.

Besnard misdiagnosed delaminating tyres as a broken anti-roll bar, which saw the team make what turned out to be unnecessary changes to the setup of the #4 Falcon.

Before that error Courtney had been making the early running in the race and seemed to have the pace to match the Triple Eight Falcon.

Courtney took third place from Steven Richards – who appeared to be struggling with fading rear tyres – on lap 158.

The Jeld-Wen Falcon driver set the fastest time of the race of 2min 09.2775sec on lap 139.

It was the third year in a row that Courtney and Besnard have been on the podium after the pair finished second in 2007 and third in 2006.

Pole-sitter and Championship-leader going into the Bathurst 1000, Garth Tander, fluffed the start of the race when his clutch failed in the #1 Holden Racing Team Commodore off the line and was lucky not to get hit by the ensuing field (see separate story).

He and teammate Mark Skaife tried hard to fight back during the race, but Skaife clouted the wall on lap 102 at Forrest’s Elbow, ending any chance the pair had of race victory and surrendering Tander’s Championship lead (see separate article).

Tander has slipped to third in the Championship, with Whincup snatching the lead. Winterbottom has moved into second.

The first half of the race was relatively incident free with no safety cars in the opening 73 laps; however, there were eight in the second half of the race.

A number of teams also struggled throughout the day with delaminating tyres.

Fourth home was the #6 FPR Falcon, followed by WOW Racing’s Brad Jones and Max Wilson, Jim Beam Racing’s Will Davison and Steve Johnson, FPR’s Luke Youlden and Dean Canto, Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Jack Perkins and Nathan Pretty, Fujitsu Racing’s Jason Bright and Adam Macrow and Glenford’s Racing’s Fabian Coulthard and Alex Davison.

The victory was Lowndes’ fourth, which sees him join Murphy and Allan Moffat, who also have four Great Race trophies on their mantelpieces.

The Ford victory is also the first time that the Blue Oval has won three Bathurst 1000s in a row since the 1960s.

The next round of the Championship is at Surfers Paradise in two weeks.


Sunday: Race 1

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Fastest Lap Fastest Time
1 888 Team Vodafone C.Lowndes/J.Whincup Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:00.4291 82 2:09.4282
2 3 Sprint Gas Racing G.Murphy/J.Richards Holden Commodore VE 161 06:26:02.9269 159 2:09.5868
3 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport D.Besnard/J.Courtney Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:05.0115 139 2:09.2775
4 6 Ford Performance Racing S.Richards/M.Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:05.6179 155 2:09.8014
5 14 WOW Racing B.Jones/M.Wilson Holden Commodore VE 161 06:26:10.7530 136 2:09.6960
6 18 Jim Beam Racing W.Davison/S.Johnson Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:11.3879 79 2:09.5101
7 5 Ford Performance Racing D.Canto/L.Youlden Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:22.0821 154 2:10.5072
8 11 Jack Daniel's Racing J.Perkins/N.Pretty Holden Commodore VE 161 06:26:31.2682 62 2:11.2459
9 25 Fujitsu Racing J.Bright/A.Macrow Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:33.0971 64 2:10.0849
10 111 Glenfords Racing F.Coulthard/A.Davison Ford Falcon BF 161 06:26:55.2568 155 2:10.5962
11 17 Jim Beam Racing W.Luff/S.Owen Ford Falcon BF 161 06:27:44.7865 70 2:10.0166
12 1 Toll Holden Racing Team M.Skaife/G.Tander Holden Commodore VE 160 06:26:28.7851 87 2:10.0841
13 51 Sprint Gas Racing M.Noske/D.Wood Holden Commodore VE 160 06:26:29.5516 85 2:10.9106
14 26 IRWIN Racing M.Halliday/M.Marshall Ford Falcon BF 160 06:27:20.9966 37 2:11.6221
15 88 Team Vodafone F.Giovanardi/M.Hynes Ford Falcon BF 159 06:27:04.5276 67 2:11.2498
16 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport S.Ellery/G.Ritter Holden Commodore VE 157 06:26:34.3450 37 2:11.3602
17 7 Jack Daniel's Racing T.Kelly/S.Price Holden Commodore VE 157 06:26:40.0974 66 2:10.4164
18 39 Supercheap Auto Racing R.Ingall/P.Morris Holden Commodore VE 156 06:26:20.1896 151 2:09.7604
19 777 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars M.Patrizi/K.Reindler Ford Falcon BF 156 06:26:23.7460 151 2:11.1660
20 16 Autobarn Racing Team P.Dumbrell/R.Kelly Holden Commodore VE 127 06:27:09.0506 102 2:10.2048
DNF 55 Rod Nash Racing J.Bargwanna/T.D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 159 06:23:48.6252 156 2:10.4570
DNF 2 Toll Holden Racing Team C.Baird/G.Seton Holden Commodore VE 146 05:47:52.0327 135 2:10.1726
DNF 67 Supercheap Auto Racing M.Neal/B.Said Holden Commodore VE 140 06:18:05.4846 74 2:11.5292
DNF 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport M.Caruso/L.Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 139 05:25:44.0087 136 2:10.3934
DNF 9 SP Tools Racing S.Gisbergen/J.Webb Ford Falcon BF 91 03:28:54.5246 48 2:10.5237
DNF 12 Team BOC A.Jones/C.McConville Holden Commodore VE 40 02:37:40.1895 23 2:10.8632
DNF 021 Team Kiwi Racing Kayne Scott Ford Falcon BF 8 18:54.5351 2 2:14.9073


2008 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS

Pos Driver Name Penalty Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9 Rd10 Total
1 Jamie Whincup 0 300 240 0 236 286 214 210 272 258 300 2,316
2 Mark Winterbottom 0 138 244 190 300 252 278 292 138 211 240 2,283
3 Garth Tander 12 84 242 300 270 176 272 240 272 252 138 2,234
4 Craig Lowndes 0 129 210 138 234 186 154 124 190 258 300 1,923
5 Will Davison 0 96 260 82 202 112 186 216 272 235 204 1,865
6 Steven Richards 12 171 80 270 200 118 284 176 96 211 240 1,834
7 James Courtney 0 57 114 252 154 234 140 260 132 201 258 1,802
8 Rick Kelly 0 192 240 240 210 146 180 104 194 196 90 1,792
9 Steven Johnson 0 186 94 104 128 170 108 114 128 235 204 1,471
10 Russell Ingall 0 63 192 48 70 212 212 264 128 173 102 1,464
11 Lee Holdsworth 0 258 168 154 46 134 118 138 184 199 0 1,399
12 Mark Skaife 0 138 184 104 92 112 114 182 46 252 138 1,362
13 Todd Kelly 0 180 128 132 116 170 108 122 160 123 108 1,347
14 Fabian Coulthard 0 123 116 192 138 102 90 166 122 128 156 1,333
15 Shane Van Gisbergen 0 180 88 98 98 228 142 100 114 160 0 1,208
16 Jason Richards 0 156 116 128 26 102 132 110 80 52 276 1,178
17 Greg Murphy 0 174 156 44 114 92 112 84 72 52 276 1,176
18 Jason Bright 0 78 86 138 86 82 34 54 142 152 168 1,020
19 Cameron McConville 0 129 120 172 104 138 84 142 80 49 0 1,018
20 Paul Morris 0 57 86 92 106 90 92 56 130 173 102 984
21 Michael Caruso 0 72 80 116 74 86 124 116 90 199 0 957
22 Paul Dumbrell 0 0 140 90 104 106 126 126 152 22 90 956
23 Shane Price 0 42 88 60 66 98 70 88 100 123 108 843
24 Andrew Jones 0 120 50 122 132 114 68 82 92 49 0 829
25 Marcus Marshall 0 114 44 76 94 50 86 0 78 99 126 767
26 Tony D'Alberto 0 54 54 96 82 60 98 74 102 38 0 658
27 Michael Patrizi 0 - - 60 90 18 80 64 72 102 96 582
28 Andrew Thompson 0 45 88 40 68 68 36 48 74 84 0 551
29 David Besnard 0 - - - - - - - - 201 258 459
30 Kayne Scott 0 102 - 66 46 66 42 40 0 0 0 362

Craig Lowndes & Jamie Whincup

You can view the V8 Supercars Championship Series on your computer
Click here for Telstra Bigpond's free internet video race coverage

[JoeT]

TWR Says No To More Manufacturers

V8 Supercars Australia
11 October 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

TWR boss Tom Walkinshaw said that any move away from the Holden versus Ford fight would destroy the value of V8 Supercars.

Walkinshaw, the former Arrows F1 team boss, argues against opening up the category to other manufacturers.

The Scotsman says that delving down the path of having several or more brands on the grid would dilute the essence of the Aussie touring car culture.

“You can't move away from the Ford and Holden battle,” Walkinshaw told BigPond Sport exclusively.

“It is the culture and moving away from that head-to-head battle would destroy some of the magic.”

“This is a uniquely Australian show.

“They have to be large sedans.

“You can't suddenly step in and build smaller front-wheel-drive type cars.”

There has been speculation in recent weeks that the next generation Falcon could share some of the architecture with the US-made Ford Taurus and possibly be front-wheel-drive.

“This show doesn't have to be relevant to the market. It must not move away from being rear-wheel-drive.

“That is part of what makes it truly Australian.”

Walkinshaw, speaking on the eve of the Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000, has strong opinions on the future of Australia's No 1 motor racing category.

The world economic crisis threatens to cast a shadow over V8 Supercars.

“V8 Supercars is in for a difficult time in the immediate future,” Walkinshaw commented.

“The world financial market threatens all sports including motor racing so there is going to be some impact because everybody is watching their pennies.”

So where does Walkinshaw think V8 Supercars will be in five years time?

“I don't think you can have five-year plans in this business anymore.

“It's more of a week-to-week, year-to-year deal.

“So it's a good question and it will be interesting to see where it is placed down the road.”

[JoeT]

V8 Supercars Round 11 Results,
Qualifying & Race 1
Gold Coast Indy, Queensland

V8 Supercars Australia
25 October 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

Jamie Whincup arguably extracted his finest 50 minutes of racing this season to seal the opening leg of the Coffee Club V8 Supercars Challenge on the streets of Surfers Paradise yesterday.

Under immense pressure from Holden Racing Team star Garth Tander, Whincup led from pole to win the 27-lap thriller by 0.26sec.

Mark Winterbottom, who moved from fourth to third shortly after the start, held his position in the Ford Performance Racing Falcon to finish close behind Tander.

While there were no overtaking moves between the top three, the race was roundly lauded as one of the best of the year with the top three drivers in the Championship putting on a brilliant exhibition of precision driving under massive pressure.

Whincup’s Triple Eight TeamVodafone Ford was not the fastest of the lead bunch but he made his Falcon as wide as a truck to keep a clearly quicker Tander in his mirrors.

The race for Whincup was won on two counts, the first being his ability to peel off some stunningly quick laps on a clear track when Tander pitted for his compulsory stop on lap 10, two laps after Winterbottom’s tyre stop.

The second was thanks to the slick pit work of his polished TeamVodafone crew.

Of the top three, Tander looked the most physically drained as he hung everything on the line to trade places with Whincup from the middle of the race when his HRT Commodore began to reel off stunning tours around the 4.5km track.

“Obviously we didn’t have the quickest car out there today but we got maximum points,” Whincup admitted.

“Both Mark (Winterbottom) and Garth (Tander) had much quicker cars than me today but we will make some tweaks overnight.

“We had a few other little issues inside the cabin as well which cost me a little bit of time but we’ll fix them – they are only small things and we’ll come out strong tomorrow.”

Tander staged a concerted push for the lead several laps after Whincup’s compulsory tyre stop on lap 11.

With Whincup released back on to the track he gained a clear advantage over Tander before the gap began shrinking.

“Jamie out-dragged me down to one (the first chicane) after the start and from then on it was a matter of following him and trying to enforce a mistake but Jamie drove a great race.”

Tander’s team extricated some slick recovery work on the set-up overnight after his qualifying run on Friday and he believes there is more to come for the twin 27-lap races on Sunday.

“We fixed a lot of stuff that we needed to fix and we have a good idea tomorrow of what we need to fix again to make the car better again.”

Tander’s Commodore was causing trouble under braking right to the apex on some corners in qualifying which was ironed out for the race.

But he maintains the Commodore needs a few more adjustments to make it ride the kerbs more kindly.

Winterbottom was sitting back behind the lead pair hoping for a mistake which failed to eventuate.

Following the opening heat, Whincup moves to 2416 points to slightly increase his lead in the series, with Winterbottom on 2369 while Tander is third on 2326.

Whincup’s team-mate Craig Lowndes is fourth on 1991 points after finishing sixth in race one at Surfers.


Friday: Qualifying

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Fastest Lap Fastest Lap Time Gap
1 88 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 15 15 1:49.1828
2 1 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 15 15 1:49.8322 0:00.6494
3 16 Autobarn Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 14 14 1:49.8886 0:00.7058
4 5 Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 16 16 1:50.2023 0:01.0195
5 888 Team Vodafone Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 15 14 1:50.2868 0:01.1040
6 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 15 15 1:50.4190 0:01.2362
7 18 Jim Beam Racing Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 19 18 1:50.4230 0:01.2402
8 7 Jack Daniel's Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 11 11 1:50.4904 0:01.3076
9 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 19 18 1:50.5544 0:01.3716
10 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 14 14 1:50.5860 0:01.4032
11 6 Ford Performance Racing Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 11 11 1:50.1739 0:00.9911
12 33 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 14 13 1:50.4932 0:01.3104
13 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon BF 12 8 1:50.7378 0:01.5550
14 14 Team WOW Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 10 10 1:50.8663 0:01.6835
15 3 Sprint Gas Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 14 11 1:50.9192 0:01.7364
16 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 13 10 1:51.0142 0:01.8314
17 11 Jack Daniel's Racing Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 15 12 1:51.1073 0:01.9245
18 51 Sprint Gas Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 14 14 1:51.1374 0:01.9546
19 17 Jim Beam Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 14 11 1:51.2098 0:02.0270
20 111 Glenfords Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon BF 15 12 1:52.2811 0:03.0983
21 12 Team BOC Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VE 9 9 1:51.4597 0:02.2769
22 25 Fujitsu Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 3 3 1:51.6569 0:02.4741
23 50 PWR Performance Products Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE 9 9 1:51.6612 0:02.4784
24 021 Team Kiwi Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BF 7 7 1:51.7183 0:02.5355
25 67 Supercheap Auto Racing Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE 9 9 1:52.0580 0:02.8752
26 34 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 8 8 1:52.1026 0:02.9198
27 55 Rod Nash Racing Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 9 9 1:52.2274 0:03.0446
28 26 IRWIN Racing Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BF 8 4 1:52.3106 0:03.1278
29 777 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 8 8 1:52.3646 0:03.1818


Saturday: Race 1

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Fastest Lap Fastest Time
1 88 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 27 52:27.0448 14 1:51.3405
2 1 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 27 52:27.3119 14 1:51.1616
3 5 Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 27 52:29.3789 14 1:51.2056
4 7 Jack Daniel's Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 27 52:34.1022 15 1:51.3151
5 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 27 52:34.7184 11 1:51.3213
6 888 Team Vodafone Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 27 52:37.1704 15 1:51.4683
7 18 Jim Beam Racing Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 27 52:38.3418 14 1:51.6252
8 16 Autobarn Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 27 52:39.1330 16 1:51.5060
9 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 27 52:39.9322 15 1:51.5584
10 33 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 27 52:40.4244 21 1:51.3413
11 6 Ford Performance Racing Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 27 52:40.8640 20 1:50.8344
12 17 Jim Beam Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 27 52:45.5753 21 1:51.2666
13 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 27 52:53.8977 24 1:51.8274
14 14 Team WOW Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 27 52:54.3766 21 1:51.7468
15 3 Sprint Gas Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 27 52:54.8541 18 1:50.8429
16 111 Glenfords Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon BF 27 53:08.9572 16 1:52.3290
17 12 Team BOC Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VE 27 53:17.2222 21 1:52.7679
18 34 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 27 53:23.6496 16 1:52.2113
19 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon BF 27 53:33.4695 22 1:51.3637
20 021 Team Kiwi Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BF 27 53:43.5924 16 1:53.1192
21 25 Fujitsu Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 27 53:44.6091 12 1:52.6592
22 11 Jack Daniel's Racing Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 27 53:44.8863 26 1:52.0557
23 777 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 27 54:02.2894 20 1:52.4401
24 50 PWR Performance Products Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE 27 54:02.7399 20 1:52.6481
25 67 Supercheap Auto Racing Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE 26 52:30.5752 20 1:52.4853
26 26 IRWIN Racing Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BF 25 52:45.5033 20 1:53.3502
DNF 55 Rod Nash Racing Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 7 15:30.2507 7 1:53.3404
DNF 51 Sprint Gas Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 7 15:38.0789 6 1:52.2740
DNF 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 5 11:00.5646 5 1:52.9805

Jamie Whincup

You can view the V8 Supercars Championship Series on your computer
Click here for Telstra Bigpond's free internet race coverage

[JoeT]

V8 Supercars Round 11 Results,
Race 2 & Race 3,
Plus Round & Championship Points
Gold Coast Indy, Queensland

V8 Supercars Australia
26 October 2008
www.v8supercars.com.au

Jamie Whincup banked a perfect haul of two wins from the opening two heats and extinguished a hot challenge from Garth Tander in the Coffee Club V8 Supercar Challenge at the Gold Coast Indy today.

The result was a mirror image of the opening race yesterday with Mark Winterbottom (Ford Performance Racing) claiming third place.

Whincup capitalised on a slick pit stop to take the lead on lap nine of the 27-lap race and commenced a mistake-free run to the checkered flag.

The Holden Racing Team’s pit strategy cost Tander dearly as he was the first of the stoppers on lap seven before rejoining behind Tony D’Alberto’s slower Commodore.

Tander was held up for three-quarters of a lap and ultimately paid the price when Whincup pitted on lap nine with the TeamVodafone driver released on to the track with a decisive lead.

All of the hard work Tander undertook in the early laps, highlighted by setting the fastest laps on three, four and five went down the drain.

Tander nailed the start sailing into the lead in the Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore but Whincup argued the position under brakes into the first turn with the pair making contact.

Whincup negotiated the chicane but Tander had no option but to straight-line it to avoid what would have been a messy collision.

No sooner had Whincup settled into a comfortable lead the safety car was brought out after Fabian Coulthard’s Glenfords Falcon stopped nose-in at the turn 12 hairpin.

Moments later Jason Richards cannoned into the right-side of Coulthard’s stricken Ford.

The safety car was out for five laps as the recovery truck had difficulty in extracting the Coulthard car.

Once racing resumed Tander dialled in some sizzling times setting the fastest tours on lap 17 (1min50.8750s) and lap 19 (1:50.7815s).

Whincup’s Ford began to find more pace as the race progressed firing back at Tander with the fastest lap, four laps from the finish in 1:50.6942s.

“Jamie and I leaned on each other pretty hard going into the first turn and I had nowhere to go but straight ahead and played it by the rules,” Tander said.

“But we got the pit stop strategy wrong and I guess the computer’s not that smart,” he said in reference to being released after the stop into slower traffic.

Whincup holds all the aces with Tander now having to rely on the Ford driver making a mess of the final heat.

But Whincup warned that Tander is only a breath away from scooting into the distance.

“Garth is really quick going in under braking but I’m quicker on the exits so I only need to stuff an exit up and he’s got me,” Whincup said.

Winterbottom turned the heat up in third place in the dying stages of the race turning fastest laps on lap 23 (1:50.6942s) and lap 25 (1:50.6634) before buttoning off when he knew he was not going to make up any positions.

One of the highlights of the race was the cracking drive by Rick Kelly who came from last in the HSV Dealer Team Commodore to finish sixth, a position behind an excellent run from Jim Beam Racing Ford driver Steve Johnson.


Sunday: Race 2

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Fastest Lap Fastest Time
1 88 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 27 56:26.3034 23 1:50.7250
2 1 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 27 56:26.7342 23 1:50.7454
3 5 Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 27 56:30.1403 25 1:50.6694
4 33 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 27 56:33.8661 21 1:51.3195
5 17 Jim Beam Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 27 56:38.9767 16 1:51.5430
6 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 27 56:42.7382 19 1:51.7575
7 7 Jack Daniel's Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 27 56:43.4344 8 1:51.6049
8 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 27 56:43.7296 4 1:51.6833
9 888 Team Vodafone Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 27 56:46.0361 24 1:51.6528
10 18 Jim Beam Racing Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 27 56:49.3934 8 1:51.8026
11 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 27 56:50.1461 17 1:51.8927
12 6 Ford Performance Racing Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 27 56:50.7788 20 1:51.6085
13 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon BF 27 57:00.0933 20 1:51.7345
14 51 Sprint Gas Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 27 57:01.5543 22 1:52.3335
15 11 Jack Daniel's Racing Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 27 57:04.3620 19 1:51.9925
16 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 27 57:04.6379 19 1:52.3202
17 3 Sprint Gas Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 27 57:05.2053 19 1:51.3403
18 34 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 27 57:10.6752 20 1:52.2606
19 67 Supercheap Auto Racing Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE 27 57:12.8697 19 1:53.0000
20 50 PWR Performance Products Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE 27 57:13.3896 22 1:52.8380
21 021 Team Kiwi Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BF 27 57:17.8938 17 1:53.4220
22 14 Team WOW Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 27 57:21.8330 17 1:51.8200
23 26 IRWIN Racing Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BF 26 58:03.3702 19 1:54.3687
24 55 Rod Nash Racing Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 24 57:37.8505 24 1:52.5177
DNF 16 Autobarn Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 24 51:08.7956 19 1:51.8330
DNF 12 Team BOC Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VE 22 47:32.9918 19 1:52.3760
DNF 777 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 12 27:49.7845 3 1:53.9365
DNF 111 Glenfords Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon BF 7 13:21.8816 6 1:52.1135
DNF 25 Fujitsu Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 3 12:03.3436 1 2:09.4163


Sunday: Race 3

Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Fastest Lap Fastest Time
1 88 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 27 58:15.8607 4 1:50.3459
2 1 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 27 58:16.3370 4 1:50.3843
3 5 Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 27 58:17.0329 21 1:50.2677
4 17 Jim Beam Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 27 58:29.1913 23 1:51.1322
5 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 27 58:27.6194 20 1:50.9524
6 7 Jack Daniel's Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 27 58:28.2645 20 1:51.0454
7 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 27 58:28.5780 7 1:51.0319
8 6 Ford Performance Racing Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 27 58:30.0857 23 1:51.2641
9 888 Team Vodafone Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 27 58:30.9237 23 1:51.3050
10 18 Jim Beam Racing Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 27 58:31.5993 7 1:51.0517
11 3 Sprint Gas Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 27 58:32.0970 7 1:51.0565
12 51 Sprint Gas Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 27 58:32.4346 8 1:51.1274
13 111 Glenfords Racing Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon BF 27 58:38.2524 22 1:51.5502
14 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 27 58:34.3586 22 1:51.5480
15 021 Team Kiwi Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BF 27 58:53.3061 21 1:51.9835
16 16 Autobarn Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 27 58:53.6519 19 1:51.4284
17 33 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 27 58:54.0508 6 1:50.6264
18 55 Rod Nash Racing Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 27 58:55.4085 21 1:52.1953
19 34 Valvoline Cummins Race Team Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 27 58:59.6637 27 1:52.3588
20 26 IRWIN Racing Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BF 27 59:12.0594 19 1:52.9894
21 12 Team BOC Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VE 27 59:16.3109 19 1:52.1590
22 777 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 26 58:52.3771 20 1:51.4354
23 11 Jack Daniel's Racing Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 26 59:48.1690 21 1:51.7889
DNF 67 Supercheap Auto Racing Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE 23 51:15.7701 21 1:51.7325
DNF 25 Fujitsu Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 18 42:43.2230 7 1:52.4106
DNF 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon BF 11 24:11.8383 3 1:51.2558
DNF 50 PWR Performance Products Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE 8 15:55.7966 5 1:52.2660
DNF 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 7 13:18.6634 5 1:51.3587
DNF 14 Team WOW Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 6 11:34.2269 3 1:52.2757


2008 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS

Pos Driver Name Penalty Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9 Rd10 Rd11 Total
1 Jamie Whincup 0 300 240 0 236 286 214 210 272 258 300 300 2,616
2 Mark Winterbottom 0 138 244 190 300 252 278 292 138 211 240 258 2,541
3 Garth Tander 12 84 242 300 270 176 272 240 272 252 138 276 2,510
4 Craig Lowndes 0 129 210 138 234 186 154 124 190 258 300 180 2,103
5 Will Davison 0 96 260 82 202 112 186 216 272 235 204 168 2,033
6 Steven Richards 12 171 80 270 200 118 284 176 96 211 240 154 1,988
7 Rick Kelly 0 192 240 240 210 146 180 104 194 196 90 142 1,934
8 James Courtney 0 57 114 252 154 234 140 260 132 201 258 104 1,906
9 Steven Johnson 0 186 94 104 128 170 108 114 128 235 204 194 1,665
10 Russell Ingall 0 63 192 48 70 212 212 264 128 173 102 198 1,662
11 Lee Holdsworth 0 258 168 154 46 134 118 138 184 199 0 168 1,567
12 Todd Kelly 0 180 128 132 116 170 108 122 160 123 108 212 1,559
13 Mark Skaife 0 138 184 104 92 112 114 182 46 252 138 118 1,480
14 Fabian Coulthard 0 123 116 192 138 102 90 166 122 128 156 86 1,419
15 Jason Richards 0 156 116 128 26 102 132 110 80 52 276 128 1,306
16 Shane Van Gisbergen 0 180 88 98 98 228 142 100 114 160 0 80 1,288
17 Greg Murphy 0 174 156 44 114 92 112 84 72 52 276 88 1,264
18 Cameron McConville 0 129 120 172 104 138 84 142 80 49 0 72 1,090
19 Paul Dumbrell 0 0 140 90 104 106 126 126 152 22 90 98 1,054
20 Michael Caruso 0 72 80 116 74 86 124 116 90 199 0 96 1,053
21 Jason Bright 0 78 86 138 86 82 34 54 142 152 168 22 1,042
22 Paul Morris 0 57 86 92 106 90 92 56 130 173 102 52 1,036
23 Andrew Jones 0 120 50 122 132 114 68 82 92 49 0 60 889
24 Shane Price 0 42 88 60 66 98 70 88 100 123 108 - 843
25 Marcus Marshall 0 114 44 76 94 50 86 0 78 99 126 72 839
26 Tony D'Alberto 0 54 54 96 82 60 98 74 102 38 0 56 714
27 Michael Patrizi 0 - - 60 90 18 80 64 72 102 96 54 636
28 Andrew Thompson 0 45 88 40 68 68 36 48 74 84 0 56 607
29 David Besnard 0 - - - - - - - - 201 258 - 459
30 Jack Perkins 0 - - - - - - - - 158 180 98 436

Jamie Whincup

You can view the V8 Supercars Championship Series on your computer
Click here for Telstra Bigpond's free internet race coverage

[JoeT]

Will A1GP Be Gold Coast's Saviour?

Peter McKay
28 October 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au

Ryan Briscoe gave Australia much to be happy about at what might have been the last Surfers Indy.

Even after Ryan Briscoe stormed to a history-making win in the 2008 Nikon Indy 300 – the first time in 18 races that an Australian driver had scored a victory there – the future of the carnival was still the matter for conjecture.

No decision has yet been made on whether the Indy cars will returns. The Indy Racing League has indicated it can’t live with the race being in the late October time slot – and the Queensland Government which underwrites the annual carnival to the tune of $11.7 million, insists it should remain where it is.

The Queensland tourism minister, intoxicated from the excitement of a Briscoe victory, insisted on race day that the carnival would be on again next year. But this still begs a few questions.

If the IRL puts the Surfers event in the too-hard basket, what does the Queensland Government have in mind to share the billing with the domestic V8 supercars? For the government has always maintained that the taxpayers’ involvement in the annual carnival on the coast can only be justified by a major overseas attraction which is capable of drawing people from abroad and which is also televised on other prime markets.

The 1980 world champion Alan Jones has long maintained that the A1 Grand Prix – the World Cup of Motorsport series – could easily slide into Surfers next year should the IRL elect to stay home.

Click here to continue article



Brock Remembered In New Oran Park Development

Auto Action
27 October 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au

Though Oran Park Raceway's circuit will soon turn into suburban streets, the area will retain a racing theme.

Racing legend Peter Brock will be immortalised in the new Oran Park Town housing estate which will be built in place of the iconic racing circuit.

Township plans include a variety of housing options with access to three new schools, two new churches, a civic park and civic buildings, and with recycled water access. But creating a lasting memorial to Brock, who died at the Targa West Rally in Western Australia two years ago, is high on the developers’ agenda.

“We would like to name one of the major roads in the development after him and we are currently working with the necessary agencies to be able to do that,” said track manager Jeff Boulous.

“There’ll be a number of streets named after racing drivers, but there is already a Peter Brock Drive in the Oran Park region at the moment, it’s one of the internal roads off Cobbitty Road. So this will be a continuation of that.”

Click here to continue article

[JoeT]

Australian Motor Racing Champion Mark Skaife To Retire

Holden Racing Team
29 October 2008
www.hrt.com.au

Australia’s most successful touring car driver, Mark Skaife, today announced he will retire from full-time driving at the end of the 2008 season.

Skaife, 41, said the decision had been difficult, but that it was the right time