Velocity Issue 5

velocitymotorsport magazineissue 5 - february 2015

velocitymotorsport magazine

speeDWay: sprintcar ace braD sWeet

v8 supercars

toptechnology of f1

unser museum...and more

ten

The 2015 motorsport season kicks off this month with the Bathurst 12 Hour.

column / neWs / feature / report

4 Velocity

V8 supercars: top 10

14formula tech

unser museum

braD sWeet

24

34

Formula One pushes the boundaries of car design and engineering know-how, but it’s also at the cutting edge when it comes to information technology. We take a look inside McLaren to understand what the team manages its IT department, and how it helps it on track.

While travelling across the United States, our own John Morris took some time out to visit the Unser Museum, where he learnt about one of America’s great racing dynasties. It’s a little off the beaten track, but well worth the visit says John.

Sprintcar ace Brad Sweet had a chat with us when he was in town last month, the Californian sharing his thoughts on racing in the US, his love for sprintcars and his relationship with team boss Kasey Kahne.

42


5Velocity

EditorialEditorMat Coch

PhotographerJohn Morris

Editorial ContactsTelephone0414 197 [email protected]

ProductionPublisherGrand Prix Media

Social Media

@VelocityEmag

facebook.com/velocitymagazine

AcknowledgementsTim Baker, Chris Balfe, Stuart Birrell, Matt Bishop, Danielle Breen, Iwan Jones, Dewi Jones, Mike Lawrence, John Morris, Luke Nieuwhof, Dean Perkins, Brad Sweet, Valvoline Raceway, Tom Worsley.

CopyrightAll rights are reserved to Grand Prix Media and associated entities.

Reproduction in whole or in part of any photograph, text or illustration without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

FORMULA EArgentina

52

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPRally Monte Carlo

56

DAKARArgentina, Chilie, Bolivia

58

SPEEDWAYScott Darley ChallengeGrand Annual Classic

60

DRAgSPerth Motorplex

68

mike laWrence

8

The popularity of modern touring car racing can trace its roots to saloon car racing in the 1950s. Mike Lawrence pulls that thread and unravels where it all began.

mat coch

6

Our Editor reckons this is the best time of year. With so much to be uncoverd as the season begins it creates a sense on anticipation not felt during the rest of the year.

the regulars

nuts & bolts

traVel guiDe: malaysia

72

Home to the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix, and its MotoGP round too, find out what to do and where to stay on your motorsport journey to Kuala Lumpur.


6 Velocity

For mine, this is the best time of year. There is a sense

of anticipation in the air, not a foreboding of the future but an excitement about the unknown. It’s this time of year that, while the motorsport world is typically quiet, all the really important stuff happens.The best part is the surprises that get sprung. Who would have thought this time last year that Volvo would be a genu-ine front runner, and that Scott McLaughlin would emerge as the hottest talent in the V8 Super-cars pitlane? Conversely, who could have seen the way both McLaren and Ferrari struggled in

Formula One?Over the coming weeks we’ll begin to get an idea of the stories of 2015. We’ll begin to see who is fast, who is slow, and who has made strides forward. That’s the really fascinating part.Of interest this year will be the development of the Volvo, and whether Garry Rogers Motorsport can become a genuine championship contender. Also, I’ll be watching with interest as David Wall settles in as it will give us an indication of not only his ability but also provides another yeard-stick against McLaughlin. We know Scott is good, and David has his sup-porters too, so it will be

interesting to watch that relationship develop.In Formula One Honda has made its return, linking up with McLaren for the first time in more than two decades. McLaren has also reu-nited with Fernando Alonso, a relationship that last time wounded McLaren’s deeply and ultimately did little but unsettled the team and trigger a management shakeup.It’s all these stories, and hundreds of others we’ve not yet thought of, that will shape the com-ing season. That’s why this is the best time of year; everything is ahead of us, just wating to be uncovered.

welcoming 2015editor mat coch looks at why this is the best time of year to be a motorsport fan.

General Auto InstrumentsAUTOMOTIVE INSTRUMENTATION SPECIALISTS

EXPERT AUTOMOTIVE INSTRUMENT REPAIRS

Authorised VDO sales and service agent

www.Generalauto.com.au • telephone 02 9649 [email protected]

1/19-21 east st, lIdcombe (sydney)

Repairs, calibration & restoration to all automotive instruments.

Reprogramming of all digital instrument clusters.

www.CablesAndControls.com.au

• BRAKE • ACCELERATOR • CLUTCH • SPEEDO • STOP • PTO •

PUSH PULL CABLES •

WE CAN MANUFACTURE ANY MECHANICAL CABLE


8 Velocity

Tintop racing is now such a fea-ture everywhere

that we take it for granted yet really it is like entering the family pooch for a race against other pets on a grey-hound track. I think that the first important saloon car race was a one-hour event during the Interna-tional Trophy Meeting at Silverstone in 1954, but concede that the USA is the true home of the discipline.Handicaps played a big part in British racing, so you could enter a saloon in a race. The Mille Miglia had classes for saloons (on occasion, it also had classes for bub-ble cars and for military jeeps). Tuned saloons ran at Le Mans for most of the 1950s. There was something in the air and the prestige of the British Racing Drivers Club gave the one-hour race a spe-cial status. Across the Pond there was a growing move-ment. After WWII Brit enthusiasts played with prewar Austins and Fords (which led to Lotus, Lola and Elva) while their Yankee counterparts could buy prewar V8s for pocket money. A car is a mating call and young Americans stripped and customised their old Ford Model A,

or whatever. The hot rod movement began in Cali-fornia and that led to drag racing. It also led to tuning outfits and com-panies making special parts: camshafts, cylin-der heads, alloy wheels, everything. There were Halibrand caliper disc

brakes at Indianapolis in 1951.In some parts of Amer-ica people resented paying tax on hard liq-uor and people made moonshine. This was not cask-matured for 12 years, but neither would it make you go blind.

what wins on sunday...

9Velocity


‘Shine runners had to out-pace the cops, while carrying a heavy load and so they modified their cars paying atten-tion to the suspension as well as the power mill.You have cocky young guys and hot cars. They raced among themselves

at first and then some-one had the idea of marking out an oval in a field, offering prizes and charging admission. It was dollars and cents stuff but, by stages, it led to NASCAR which is still proud of its outlaw roots even if they have

been exaggerated and romanticised, as all good legends are.Tom Wolfe’s essay, ‘The Last American Hero’, about moonshine runner and NASCAR star, Junior Johnson, was made into a decent movie starring Jeff Bridges.

Reflecting on the birth of touring car racing, mike lawrence suggests what

happens on track is less important than what it does to our dreams.

u


10 Velocity

Back in Britain, new designs appeared during the 1950s so at that first one-hour race in 1954, you had unlikely cars like Jaguar Mk VIIs and Daimler Conquests. By the end of the decade, you had Minis and Ford Anglias, and there was also a thriving tuning industry.Saloon car racing became big because spectators could relate to cars similar to those they owned or could aspire to own. You had men like Mike Hawthorn, Colin Chapman and Graham Hill entering their tuned,

but still everyday, Jaguar Mk IIs. Increasingly, the rest of the field became saloon car special-ists. Uren is a Cornish name and Jeff Uren was one such competitor. Every race commenta-tor claimed to have been the first to say, ‘Leston is passing Uren.’ Those early cars were pretty close to standard plus engine and suspen-sion parts available over the counter. Ford then made the Lotus Cortina, BMC the Mini Cooper and Fiat encouraged Abarth, which now it owns.

The basic appeal of a race car similar to a regular saloon still holds true and advertising encourages us to hold on to the belief. Apart from all the mods to the engine, brakes and suspension, the most important element of a modern racing saloon is the safety cage. This is not because it protects the driver, but it is the spaceframe structure around which the rest of the car is constructed.A racing saloon is not at all like the ones we can buy, but they allow us to dream.

In association with

See the world through the eyes of the stars of F1

22 drivers, 11 team principals and some of the biggest names from motor racing legend...

Each F1 star snaps a shot of their everyday life and the signed photos are auctioned for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.Follow us to be among the first to see the latest photos, to keep up to date on exclusive competitions, to hear news about the third annual Zoom event, and to bid in our dynamic online auction.

@ZoomAuction Zoom Charity Auction

www.zoom-auction.com

Nick Heidfeld again proved in Argentina he’s the unluckiest driver in Formula E.


14 Velocity

V8 supercars

tentop


15Velocity

V8 supercars

ten2015


16 Velocity

V8 supercars

While stopping short of calling 2014 a break-

out season for Tim, he certainly reminded us all that he can drive.There were glimpses of a potential race winner

at Homebush in the final race of the season, and around the streets of Surfers Paradise he ped-alled as well as anyone else. Results to date have not been forthcoming but

there is a lingering feel-ing that the flood gates will soon open. When they do, we’ve little doubt Tim Slade will grow in confidence and shoot up the overall standings.

Fabulous Fabian’s fortunes have floundered in the

last year or two. Though he was a race winner last season he dropped a couple of spots in the championship. He’s a strong top ten con-tender, frequently in a podium position and on a good day will grace the top step. If there is one thing Coulthard is it’s consistent.Bit that only gets you so far. To make strides forward Fabs needs to

turn top ten finishes into podium places more often. The pressure then is on Brad Jones Racing, and it will be interesting to see how the man-agement shake-up there during the off-season influences the overall performance of the team. The competition is fero-cious at the front, and with others expected to raise their own games simply holding station at the bottom end of the top ten this year will be an accomplishment.

10. tim slade

9. fabian coulthard


17Velocity

V8 supercars

Outside the car he plays the fool but inside it he’s

rather more stern. That jovial demeanour hides away the determination and ruthlessness needed to be successful.But while he’s among the very best on his good days, there are a few bad days each sea-son, days which typically see him down the order and ultimately hurt his championship chances.Part of the problem has been HRT itself. The team produces fast, race

winning cars and has race winning drivers in Courtney and Tander, but as a unit it hasn’t quite managed the reliability or consistency of form the likes of Red Bull Racing has.There are signs that is changing, and Adrian Burgess will certainly help that, but Courtney too will need to mitigate his off days if he’s to once again to stand a realistic championship chance against Whin-cup, Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin.

9. fabian coulthard8. James courtney


18 Velocity

V8 supercars

The smiling assas-sin hasn’t been assassinated,

but he’s certainly been mugged of his title by Scott McLaughlin.Craig Lowndes is now a veteran, one of the elder statesman of the sport. He isn’t one of the spritely whipper-snappers looking to establish a name, Lowndesy has already made his, the battle now is to maintain-ing his place towards the front of the field.Racing alongside Jamie Whincup has probably not helped Lowndes’ own performances. Whincup

is metronomically con-sistent and for the most part that has been the key differentiator between the two. For every strong result Lowndes has there is another less impressive.Not helping matters is the influx of the new generation drivers, the likes of McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisbergen, who are showing they’ve got what it takes to run at the front. There is only so much room up there, and one feels that will bump Lowndes down a spot or two in the championship.

He has something of a swagger, does garth. He

seems entirely comfort-able in himself and with his own performances and tends to pull no punches when apprais-ing himself.In 2014 there’s no doubt that would have been scathing at points,

the former champ clear-ing having the speed at times only to suffer misfortune in one form or another. Take Phillip Island for example where he ran dry while lead-ing on the final lap, or when he was caught out by the rain as the red flag came out at Sydney Olympic Park.

It was those little differ-ences that separated him from the very top of the tree last season.He has the pace, and his team has the abil-ity, but moulding those together is the critical factor, not to mention where both Holden Racing Team drivers struggled last year.

7. craig lowndes6. garth tander


19Velocity

V8 supercars

Nissan was begin-ning to come on strong in 2014,

and pint-sized Caruso was heading that charge. Frequently ahead of the likes of Todd and Rick Kelly, Caruso showed strong form during the endurance series and was consistently pop-ping up rather close to the front by seasons end. Fifth in our list is perhaps a little generous but with the new Falcon expected to be slightly down on pace early it should open the door just a crack for the Nissan runners to take advan-tage, and it’s our bet that it will Caruso leading that charge.

7. craig lowndes

5. michael caruso


20 Velocity

V8 supercars

One of the best insights into Mark Winterbot-

tom came at Phillip Island last year. After muscling his way by Whincup at the start Frosty held the advan-tage; he was fast, he was running with the leaders, and he made a mistake. There is just something missing in his armoury, though it’s dif-ficult to pinpoint exactly what.Tyre pressure changes last year hurt the Ford

teams, and in turn Frosty’s championship tilt, but there were also too many weekends where he failed to capitalise.He was dreadful at Syd-ney Motorsport Park, unlucky at Bathurst and made mistakes at Phillip Island. A championship contender cannot afford a single bad weekend, and with competition at the top of the table as tight as it is any mistake will be punished. Frosty found that out the hard way in 2014.

A new car this year will also not help mat-ters. Though under the skin it’s much the same there will be differences, and that will take time to come to grips with. While it’s possible Frosty will roll the thing out of the garage at Clipsal next month and dominate it seems unlikely. We fore-cast 2015 a season to be weathered, but we’ll stop short of calling it a write off. There is poten-tial there, it is up to Frosty to maximise it.

4. mark winterbottom


21Velocity

V8 supercars

Scott McLaughlin was the rev-elation of 2014.

Combined with Volvo’s impressive debut it quickly became apparent McLaughlin was a star of the future. His easy going nature off track, a relaxed happy going 20-something youngster, made his a favourite with fans. But once strapped into a race car he’s proved he has what it takes to race with the best Australia has to offer.Currently though he probably lacks that front end experience, but with another season under his belt he will no doubt

prove to be a serious championship contender in the years to come. 2014 was a year which showed he has what it takes to run at the front and lead races. He was the fastest man in the sport over a single lap. What is needed now is to refine his art, build his consistency and gain experience. A champion-ship cannot be won in a single race, but you can all but lose it in that time.The Volvo will once again be a contender this year, and if any-thing should be more competitive at a wider range of circuits now it

has a season of data to refer back on. David Wall’s arrival should help things too as two cars running at the front should help the team gain information on the car. It will be curious to see how McLaughlin reacts should Wall push him hard, though based on his performances to date should that hap-pen it would likely add to the lustre of Wall rather than take anything from McLaughlin.For season 2015 Scott McLaughlin will be a championship contender, but probably needs another year before he becomes a title winner.

3. scott mclaughlin


22 Velocity

V8 supercars

Already the most successful driver in the Austral-

ian touring car history, there is nothing left for J-Dub to prove. He won the title last year, and the year before and the year before that. He is the benchmark driver in V8 Supercars.But the tide is changing, and a new generation of drivers is beginning to challenge him at the top end of the sport.Much like he did to the established names like Lowndes, Ingall and co

when he arrived at Triple 8 Engineering, Whincup is now the one with the target on his back. There may be no signs he is slowing down but the question is how long can he and Red Bull Rac-ing maintain such a high level? Sooner or later something has to give, and the emergence of Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin towards the back end of 2014 began to suggest J’Dub’s reign will almost certainly end at the hand of a New Zealander.

Of course he won’t go down without a fight. If he’s not winning races he’s accumulating points, and when it comes to mounting a champion-ship tilt it is often the races you don’t win that are more important than those you do. Whincup knows that better than anyone else and he loves a challenge.If fighting back to claim the 2014 title was hard work, 2015 promises to be a whole new ball game.

2. Jamie whincup


23Velocity

V8 supercars

The gis is a pop-ular figure. A typical Kiwi, he’s

relaxed but competi-tive. He gives the sport the respect it deserves but never forgets that it’s fun too, and that’s a quality that has endeared him to many.During the second half of last season Van Gisbergen was a very notable performer. Strong during the enduro series confirmed his credentials, if they weren’t already, while his ability in the

wet is second to none. Should it rain at any point during the season it would be a smart move to bet the mortgage on the Tekno car putting in an extremely strong showing.What makes Van Gis-bergen’s performances more impressive is the fact he’s done them in a single car team. He doesn’t have a teammate whose data he can use in the development of his own car and relies on the internal brains

trust. He can steer the car at the very highest level, but it is the peo-ple behind the scenes who are giving him the opportunity to do so at the front of the pack. We need look no further than his team owner and co-driver Jonathan Webb. The Gis has the machin-ery, he’s shown he has the ability, and in 2015 there is no reason to think he won’t have his first championship too.

1. shane van gisbergen


24 Velocity

V8 supercars


25Velocity

V8 supercars

The UplinkFormula One’s relentless quest pushes

the envelope in all industries.Speaking with Mat Coch, Mclaren’s Stuart

Birrell explains how computer power is complementing the teams brains trust.


26 Velocity

V8 supercars

Formula One is the pinnacle, and not just of motorsport.

It’s at the leading edge of technology and inno-vation, an industry which demands and attracts and hires the bright-est and best. From the drivers to engineers, designers and even the support staff responsible for the day to day run-ning of a team, being merely very good is not good enough.In a fast paced indus-try like Formula One employing the right staff is critical. Though the driver collects the laurels, Formula One is not an individual effort. It is only as strong as its weak-est link. It’s why teams invest heavily in process and efficiency, and why they are at the very front of the queue as new technology becomes available.“We are a fast technol-ogy follower as we need reliability,” agrees Stuart Birrell, McLaren’s head of IT. Birrell was previously at the helm of Gatwick airport, among other companies, and knows what it takes to lead a company’s technology department. He joined McLaren in 2011 and since then has worked on streamlining the teams internal systems to drive down cost and u


27Velocity

V8 supercars


28 Velocity

formula one

increase the speed of development. He’s also the man in charge of all the equipment the team takes to the track, and who it turns to should things go wrong.“I look after IT across all the businesses; the road cars, the electronics and the racing team as well as all the usual back office type environments,” he explains. “It’s a very diverse world.”From designers in the

Formula One team to electronic engineers in the company’s Electron-ics division, he even oversees the technology used by the finance and human resources staff. Each have specific and conflicting needs from their technology, and rely on Birrell and his team to provide solutions. Some need little more than a desktop computer with word processing and spreadsheet capabilities

but the engineering teams need far greater access and control.At McLaren, each user is given an profile which has been assigned a role which dictates the level of access that individual has to programs, files and even the computer itself. Security is a prior-ity, in some instances McLaren is its own com-petitor so ensuring staff cannot access certain files is important. It’s a


29Velocity

formula one

point the company is audited on.Some engineers have access to create their own virtual servers, a facility which Birrell claims can reduce the cost of development by some 25% because removing the reliance on the IT department building and configuring servers before hand-ing them over. Now it’s all virtualised on a vast array of physical servers,

allowing engineers to create ‘virtual machines’ by sharing physical resources.“The services are all there, you don’t have to ask for permission but they are consum-ing standardised services which we have provi-sioned for them.“I’m not in a finan-cial institution where I can just lock everything down,” Birrell adds, rejecting the dictatorial

position most IT depart-ments take in large business.In an IT world stand-ardisation is the Holy Grail. Not only does it make solving issues sim-pler as there are less dependencies it also significantly reduces the cost of maintaining leg-acy systems. McLaren operates on a platform with standardised net-working infrastructure and database services from u


30 Velocity

formula one

SAP. It’s data is a mix-ture of local file servers, databases, storage area networks and, increas-ingly, in the cloud. As far as big business goes it’s all fairly run of the mill, though cloud storage is still in its infancy in the corporate world, dem-onstrating McLaren and Formula One as early adopters of technology.It’s capable of extending its network anywhere in

the world, which is just as well since the racing team stays in one place for only a matter of days. Over a race weekend the team at the track is linked back to the fac-tory. Each circuit around they visit has a contract with a network service provider, it’s link to the outside world which teams piggy backing on for their data needs over a grand prix weekend.

It’s not infallible but is reliable enough to allow the team to share data in real time from wherever it is back to the Technol-ogy Centre in Woking.“From an architecture point of view you’d rec-ognise a pretty standard software and hardware technology stack,” reveals Birrell, explain-ing the race team ships a virtual ‘office in a box’ with servers, networking


31Velocity

formula one

equipment and file stor-age designed to keep the team working even if the link back to the factory is lost.“But there are sig-nificantly more capable resources back here at head office in the Tech-nology Centre that we would prefer them to use,” he adds. “That’s where the network comes in so all the telemetry is broadcast back here.

The strategy work, most of that is done back here but there are people trackside who can fill in.”Telemetry from the cars comes courtesy of a standardised Electronic Control Unit, a device designed and manufac-tured by McLaren Applied Technologies. It’s capable of recording hundreds of channels of telemetry, broadcasting them back to the pits via an RF

radio frequency. During a typical race each car will produce about one giga-byte of raw data.“We can easily stream that to an MPLS (mul-tiprotocol label service, or a high-performance network in simple terms) link.”Data is collected from the myriad of sen-sors on the car, each communicating on its own channel. The data u


32 Velocity

V8 supercars

received from each can then be extrapolated to give engineers and designers an in-depth understanding as to what is happening on the car at any point in time.That can all be com-bined in views through some of the bespoke toolsets that McLaren’s own engineers have developed.Engineers can extrapo-late the one gigabyte of race data into 500 giga-bytes, which can then be used in the teams real time and offline simulations.

McLaren, like a number of leading Formula One teams, has an advanced driver-in-the-loop simu-lator which plays an important part in the development cycle.Data is therefore gold dust as it provides the team with an insight into what works and what doesn’t, which can be referenced against historical data, some-thing McLaren maintains a library of - not only digitally on its com-puter systems but also on microfiche or backup tapes.

The team protects that information at all costs and takes security extremely seriously, leav-ing Birrell with what he describes as a perennial challenge.“There’s always a ten-sion there,” he admits. “We’ve got a lot of very, very bright, tech savvy people working here, a lot of them brighter than I’ll ever be, and work-ing with them on how to secure them, how to make it go faster, how to cut out the administrative side of IT and technol-ogy (is something) we’ve


33Velocity

V8 supercars

been really successful at.“It’s speaking to them a bit like adults rather than the usual IT busi-ness where you tend to treat the users as tod-dlers,” he adds. “There’s a level of trust. I think we’re probably more at a teenager level where they’re smart, they know what they’re doing, but they will make mistakes so we have to pick them up and point them in the right direction again before they’ve done too much damage! It’s a dif-ferent attitude.”

Attitudes within IT are changing as technol-ogy does, and not just in regards to the way it treats users. The march towards cloud computing grows ever more rapid as concerns over avail-ability and security are met. There are other areas too which Birrell and his team is explor-ing as it continues to push the envelope with technology as far as it will go. As it does not only will he extend the capabilities of McLaren but of its partners, many

of whom have consumer arms.While we may never see quite the technology of a Formula One team in our own homes there is little doubt that what we do experience has in some way been shaped by being pushed to breaking point by some of the most fast paced companies in the world. Just like the designers and engineers, in a For-mula One team even the IT department is looking for an edge.


34 Velocity

speeDWay

swee-ee-t!


35Velocity

speeDWay

swee-ee-t! Brad Sweet iS one of the world’S faSteSt on dirt. the Californian took time out to Chat with veloCity aBout why there iS nothing quite like raCing in ameriCa.


36 Velocity

speeDWay


37Velocity

speeDWay

Racing in the United States requires a spe-

cial skillset. There are nuances in their style of racing, the biff and barge of stock cars and the fingertip control needed to succeed on ovals. It’s unique. It’s a challenge. It’s why the best drivers in the world try it, and very, very few succeed.“People don’t real-ise how talented the NASCAR drivers are,” suggests Brad Sweet. “A lot of people think Mar-cos Ambrose will get in a stock car on a road course and just destroy the field because that’s his background. But they’re really talented guys, and the stock cars’ a unique talent.”Sweet knows what he’s talking about. He grew up in Californian around dirt track ovals, where started racing, before his career took him to the doorstep of the NASCAR Sprint Cup.“I started in 2005 rac-ing sprintcars just locally. Then was just able to make the right moves and get in front of the right people in some of the sprintcars and midgets that I was driv-ing, and then really my career started…”Dirt tracks are a breed-ing ground of talent in

the US in much the way karting and Formula Ford is in Australia. On dirt, US youngsters learn the sorts of skills unique to American racing, which explains why so many world class drivers have parachuted into NASCAR without great success.“It just doesn’t translate quite as well to what we learn in America,” says Sweet of the different feeder series in Australia and Europe. “It’s whole different way of racing.”Success is important early, but it’s a delicate balancing act. Having the right equipment and right people help, but is not entirely essential according to Sweet who suggests the best way to be successful in the US is simply to win, and keep on winning.“That’s what opens the next door to the next level,” he reveals. “It seems a lot of people it takes money to get them to the next level just because it’s hard to develop in not very good equipment or not very good people work-ing around you. It tends to be the money, you get the better guy to work on your car, you get a little better equipment.”Sweet’s education began at the tracks local to his family home in Califor-nia. His father was a u


38 Velocity

speeDWay

passionate fan but never got behind the wheel himself whereas Brad soon came to the atten-tion of sprintcar team owner Kasey Kahne, there beginning a rela-tionship that would take him within a step of the big time in American cir-cuit racing.For Sweet, that’s as far

as the dream would go. Two seasons spent run-ning a part time schedule in the Nationwide series failed to harbour the sorts of results he’d grown familiar of on dirt, and at the end of 2013 his foray into NASCAR came an end.“As a kid growing up you dream of being a

NASCAR driver,” he explains. “I also just dreamed of just being able to make a living in racing.“You could say it’s a step back, but to me looking back on it it’s been really nice to just focus on the sprintcar,” Sweet reasons.Even during his


39Velocity

speeDWay

NASCAR adventure Sweet continued to appear in his beloved sprintcar, working his schedule with team owner Kahne to allow him to start in the big dirt races. It allowed him to claim the Kings Royal in 2013, the second big-gest sprintcar race in the world and one that was

particularly special to Sweet.“Honestly you just don’t know if you can ever win a big race like that until you do,” he beams when asked about it. “They can’t take that away from you. No matter what, you’re going to go down in the history books as a Kings Royal champion

and there’s not a lot of people that can say that.”Sweet’s future is now very much focussed on sprintcar racing. Though he didn’t make the grade in the NASCAR ranks there is no bitterness or disappointment, instead he enjoys the challenges and nuances speedway presents. u


40 Velocity

speeDWay

“This is a huge passion of mine,” he smiles. “I’m still able to make a liv-ing racing, doing what I love, and the sprintcar is really my true passion. The NASCAR thing is a dream and I at least got a chance to try it.“It’s hard,” he laughs when asked about the competition. “Donny Schatz makes you stay up at night thinking about how you can get better as a driver, get your car better! He’s not easy to beat.”There is competition too from Australian Kerry Madsen, who enjoyed a break-out year in 2014, culminating in victory at the Kings Royal.“He’s had one of the best years he’s ever had last year,” agrees Sweet. “The competition is just stout.”Together with Schatz and Madsen, Sweet remains one of the top half-dozen sprintcar driv-ers in the world, however it’s the challenge to stay there which entices him to keep going. Com-bine that with his deep seeded passion for dirt track racing and the 29 year old still has a long career ahead of him to go with the success he’s already achieved.


41Velocity

speeDWay


42 Velocity

turn left at albuquerqueThe Unser Racing Museum

Tucked away in middle America lies the city of Albuquerque. With no significant motorsport venues, it is located some 380 miles south of pike’s peak in Colorodo Springs, and over 780 miles south west of indianapolis. John Morris literally turned left at Albuquerque to find out more.


43Velocity


44 Velocity

A large billboard placed alongside US 550 provided

our first introduction to the Unser Racing Museum as we headed from Monument Valley to Albuquerque. Having watched the Indianapo-lis 500 for years and worked at gold Coast Indy, I knew the Unser family were from New Mexico but had no idea how their motorsport history linked to the area. To be

honest, having driven through countless hours of New Mexico country-side, there seemed to be very little to support such predigious rac-ing talent. The curiosity factor drew us in like a moth to a flame.The museum is located just a few miles from

the city centre and the interstate, hidden away in a side street of Los Ranchos. It sits con-spicuoulsy with a row of chequered flag banners across the front. To the right of the driveway is a section of the original turn four wall from the Indianapolis Motorsport Speedway, still bear-ing the marks from Al

Unser Jr’s crash with Emerson


45Velocity

Fittipaldi during the clos-ing laps of the 1989 Indianapolis 500. Tony George donated the sec-tion to the Musuem when the Safer Barrier was installed in 2005.A pathway between the race wall and main entrance is adorned with sponsor inscriptions, each brick raising $100 for the work of the museum. It is just one way that the not for profit organisa-tion raises funds to stay open. In fact much of the museum operates on the

donations of grateful fans and dedicated locals who work as volunteers, or docents as the museum refers.The circular main build-ing is shaped like a steering wheel, whilst the main door handles close to continue the theme. At the rear of the property is a large two storey addition referred to as ‘The Annexe’, which houses the Unser trophy collection, archives and the Challenger Learning Centre.

Inside the building sits the gift shop to the left, selling a variety of motorsport and Unser memorabilia, whilst the reception wall features a huge family tree. It is the first clue that the museum is based on more than just a bunch of lovingly restored racing relics. It is also the first step in unravelling the links between the fam-ily, the area and motor racing.Each sector of the build-ing houses a themed u


46 Velocity

V8 supercars

exhibit, with an Indy sec-tion, speedway and an interactive display chart-ing the development in race engines and tyre technology. The central hub is named the ‘Win-ners circle’ and features one of the museum’s cars. During our visit that car was Al Unser’s 1987 Indianapolis winning March Cosworth, a car and driver considered too old to win the event at the time.Tucked away towards

the rear is Jerry’s garage. It is here where the Unser’s links to Pike’s Peak and New Mexico are finally revealed, it also provides a further insight to the Unser racing story.Louis Unser, Al Snr’s Grandfather, brought his family to the United States from Switzerland back in the late 1800s. Travelling west, the fam-ily eventually settled in Colorado Springs. Though a butcher by trade, Louis

Unser was fascinated by the new motor vehi-cles and soon became a skilled mechanic.They had three boys, Louis Jnr, Jerry and Joe, who shared their father’s passion. In September 1915 the three boys became the first people to reach the summit of Pike’s Peak in a motor-ised vehicle, piloting a motorcyle and side car. Not long after a local philanthropist named Spencer Penrose built a

Whenever possible, the Unser’s have run their cars in the red, white and blue of the American flag.

47Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report V8 supercars

road on Pikes Peak and started the ‘Race to the Clouds’.Whilst all three raced Pike’s Peak, it was Louis Jnr who went on to dominate the event, win-ning 9 times between the early 30s and the mid 60s.In 1929 their attention turned to the Indianapo-lis 500, though Joe was tragically killed when testing his car on a Colorado highway and the Indy 500 dream soon

faded.Jerry Unser became known for a knack for fixing cars no-one else could. Having travelled with a barnstorming show and a stint in the armed forces, Jerry married and eventually moved from Colorado Springs to establish a filling station and auto repair business on Route 66 just out of Albuquerque. Jerry had four sons, twins Jerry Jnr and Louie, Bobby and Al Snr.

The Unser auto repair business thrived thanks largely to clever pal-cement. “Daddy put the business on the edge of town so we were either the first place or last place you saw,” explained Bobby Unser. “Frank Lloyd Wright used to bring his cars to Daddy. He had all kind of weird cars and nobody could work on them”.It was during this time that the boys learnt the trade, as Bobby u


48 Velocity

V8 supercars

explained. “As kids we had to work on all the different cars that came into Daddy’s workshop, so it was a great educa-tion for us”.In fact it was to become the early career for Al Unser Snr, when he first left school.“I quit school in 1957 and my father one day, he says, ‘Let’s go sit down and have a talk.’ So he said my grades were not very good because I thought that it was a waste of time going to school. And he says ‘I think you want to quit school. You know if you do you’re gonna work and you’re gonna work very hard’. He paid me $7 a week. And I bought a car and all my clothes after that. I didn’t have to pay him any room and board, but he made me toe the line, you know.”Jerry Unser once said “I don’t make them feel that they have to be first, only that they do their best. Racing is a great sport and it should be participated in greatly. My kids learnt long ago how to take a chewing out gracefully. When any-one asks me how come my kids make so few mistakes, I tell them, if you’d been chewed out as often as they had, you wouldn’t make any

mistakes either. The kids don’t mind, they know I’m not stingy with my praise either”.In 1958 the Unser fam-ily finally made it to the Brickyard. Jerry Jnr qualified for the race, however a multi-car warm up lap crash sent his car over the wall. A second attempt ended in tragedy when Jerry Jnr succumbed to injuries suffered in a practice crash. Seven years later Bobby Unser qualified for his first Indianapolis 500.“Daddy was always a true blue American”, said Bobby.“He always flew the flag at the shop and the race cars were red, white and blue. To be an Unser, you understand patriot-ism is as natural as breathing.”Whilst Bobby Unser drove one year in For-mula One, for the Owen Racing BRM team in a car that “almost killed me,” Al Unser Snr never ventured overseas to race.“I had no intention of ever going over to run F1. I didn’t like the trav-elling and I didn’t want to go over there to live. And there was all the racing in the world over here that I wanted to do. So I could care less about going over there. I had many offers to go u

49Velocity



50 Velocity

V8 supercars

over there and run and I wouldn’t do it”. It was this sense of patriotism, coupled with his own experiences growing up that led to the creation of the Unser Museum.Al Unser was dis-mayed to learn that auto mechanics had been dropped from the cur-riculum of most high schools, depriving young people of the opportunity that had been presented

to him when his aca-demic career was going nowhere.“I want the museum to be open to all young people so they can get a hands-on feel for working with cars, both passenger and race vehicles,” said Unser in 2003. “I want to get the kids interested and off the street. Now the tough part of the pro-ject is underway- finding funding”.Much of the initial

funds for the museum came from his per-sonal finances. Al Unser donated the land for the museum, purchased exhibits, such as the 1991 Lola of Arie Luy-endyk, and donated items from his personal collection. Susan Unser, Director of the Unser Discovery Campus and co-founder of the Museum explains:“Al and I began the process of finding the

51Velocity


property, hiring a design firm and contractor and finding financing in 2004. Actually, we were in Japan at an IRL race when the final counter offer came in via fax for the property and the time difference, lack of abil-ity to speak Japanese and essence of time to make the deal, made for an exciting piece of the puzzle. We opened the doors in September 2005 and had an extremely

enthusiastic grand opening.”“The vision we had in 2004 has grown to include an International Baccalaureate Charter School, the Challenger Learning Center (an inter-national simulated space mission program) and on any given day we have over 350 students creating an educational campus which truly gives us so much joy.“Did we intend to

create this space, to see our retirement going to finance it, to still be there making sure it all goes well? No. But we’re blessed to have the abil-ity to make this happen and it has brought so many new people into our lives.”

Jerry and Bobby Unser quotes sourced from ‘Unser, An American Family Portrait’ by Gordon Kirby. Anlon Press, Dallas, Texas First Published 1988

Between Bobby, Al Snr and Al Jnr, the Unsers have won the Indianapolis 500 seven times, with

Al Snr’s four wins equalling the record of A.J Foyt, whilst Bobby won three and Al Jnr two.


52 Velocity

formula e

53Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report formula e

From the Red Bull scrapheap, Antonio Felix Da Costa is the latest driver to have stood on

the top step of the podium despite being cast aside for a place in For-mula One.Formula E is fast becoming Formula No Bull as Red Bull’s former devel-opment programme racers dominate the front end of the field. Sebastien Buemi, World Endurance Champion with Toyota, Jaime Alguersuari, Jean-Eric Vergne and now Da Costa have all featured at the front end of mot-orsports newest field. They’re fast, they’re smooth and they’ve perhaps something to prove.Buemi had taken pole around the Buenos Aries streets with Alguersu-ari third, the former Toro Rosso duo showing pace while Da Costa was a little further back in eighth. His pro-gress to the lead and eventual victory was an undercurrent in a race that once again featured the safety car.The race also exposed the danger-ously fragile suspension components. Karun Chandhok was the first to retire when the right rear suspension gave way, pitching him into the wall shortly before half-distance, while Buemi fell victim to the same fault soon after the safety car had withdrawn. Soon after championship leader Lucas Di Grassi was also out, the right rear corner

streets ahead

u


54 Velocity

formula e

hanging limp.Suspension issues have been a problem which has blighted Formula E’s first four races. Bruno Senna suffered a front left failure in China after clouting a sausage kerb on the opening lap, while Stephane Sarrazin retired in Uruguay with a rear failure. For an open wheel series which races around bumpy street cir-cuits hemmed by barriers the cars are hopelessly under equipped, and is something the sport must sort between now and its next race in Miami in two months time.

It’s the last remaining area which needs atten-tion. The racing has been sound, with no more evidence than the Argentinian race needed.Following a slow start which led to a procession prior to the safety car, whch maintains a 100% starting record in Formula E, the race came alive. That was due in part to the confusion caused when the leader was not picked up, leaving a number of drivers con-fused as to where they were in the race, and if they were even on the lead lap.

A tense second half of the race followed, with most drivers coming under pressure at one time or another. Mistakes were an inevitability, Nick Heidfeld being stripped of the lead when he was handed a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding. Sam Bird was also forced to relinquish the top spot when found to have passed a red light at pit exit when the safety car was on track.Vergne and Alguesuari squabbling over the final podium place was one of the highlights of the race, with Vergne clearly

55Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report formula e

faster but unable to find a way by. There was light contact between the two before an opportun-istic Daniel Abt tagged Alguesuari rather more

heavily on the penulti-mate lap, ruining both their races.Through the chaos, Da Costa kept his head to take an uncontested

victory. He led home Nico Prost and Nelson Piquiet Jnr, while Vergne was forced to slow as he ran low on energy in the final lap.

p DriVer team time1 Antonio Felix da Costa Amlin Aguri 48:52.100

2 Nicolas Prost e.dams-Renault + 5.354

3 Nelson Piquet Jnr China Racing + 8.552

4 Jamie Alguersuari Virgin Racing + 11.148

5 Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing + 11.535

6 Jean-Eric Vergne Andretti + 13.319

7 Sam Bird Virgin Racing + 13.617

8 Nick Heidfeld Venturi + 15.464

9 Oriol Servia Dragon Racing + 19.334

10 Stephane Sarrazin Venturi + 28.973

race resultp DriVer pts1 Lucas Di Grassi 58

2 Sam Bird 48

3 Sebastien Buemi 43

4 Nicolas Prost 42

5 Nelson Piquet Jnr 37

6 A Felix Da Costa 29

7 Jaime Alguersuari 26

8 Jerome D’Ambrosio 22

9 Franck Montagny 18

10 Karun Chandhok 18

championship


56 Velocity

WorlD rally championship

Oh Yeah, OgieR

57Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report WorlD rally championship

A Sebastian always looked set to win the Monte Carlo

Rally, the question really was which one.Making a return to the World Rally Champion-ship, Sebastian Loeb mounted an early chal-lenge to Volkswagon’s reigning world champion Sebastian Ogier, the two were seperated by pre-cious little for the first day and a half until a mistake from Loeb allowed Ogier the victory.It was Loeb though who recorded the most stage victories, the former champ looking worringly on-form before hitting a rock on stage 8 which saw him fail to complete the stage. It scuppered his hopes of a victory on return to the series, though his performance to that piont showed he’d lost none of his speed.Kris Meeke in the other

Citroen snared three points by winning the Power Stage, though was never a factor at the top of the standings, which were dominated by Volkswagon. Loeb was the only driver who looked capable of break-ing the VW stranglehold at the top as the Ger-man marque locked out the podium by the end of the rally, marking an ominously strong debut for the second genera-tion Polo being driven by Ogier and teammate Jari-Matti Latavala.For Ogier, victory in Monaco marked his 25th world rally win, equalling Colin McRae’s record. It also places him at the top of the world championship standings, admittedly after the first rally of the year. Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen rounded out the podium.


58 Velocity

coma claims fifth dakar

59Velocity


Claiming the bikes class, Marc Coma won his fifth

Dakar after an early bat-tle for the lead while in the car class Nassar Al-Attiyah dominated to win for the second time.Driving a Mini, Al-Attiyah won five stages on his way to victory, leading for all but the opening stage. He’d have led after that too but for a time penalty for speeding during a link stage on the opening day.The motorbike class was far more closely fought, with Coma chal-lenging early leader Joan Barreda through-out the opening week. Barreda held the lead by 12 minutes after stage two before he and Coma enjoyed a cat and mouse battle

for the better part of the next week. It was only when Barreda’s charnge was halted on Stage 8 courtesy of mechanical problems when his bike was damaged during the waterlogged crossing of Salar de Uyuni. Need-ing a tow to get clear, it handed the rally lead to Coma and ended his chances of victory.Australian Toby Price impressed on debut, winning Stage 12 and finishing third overall in the bike class, making him the best rookie of the rally and a contender for higher placings next year.Elsewhere, Rafal Sonik won the Quads division while Ayrat Mardeev maintained Kamaz’s domination of the truck category.


60 Velocity

speeDWay

Trevor green won a charged Scott Darley Challenge

at Valvoline Raceway during an event where emotions hung over the track like a cloud. Remembering Scott Darley, who was killed in a sprintcar in 2009, the event has quickly become one of the big-gest on the Australian Speedway calendar, with a prize pool of up to $57,000 for the winner.With a host of interna-tional competitors in the country, including Ameri-can Brad Sweet who’d

won three times at Valv-oline Raceway already in 2015, the entry list was also bolstered by ex-pat Australian’s Brooke Tat-nell and Kerry Madsen.Split over two nights, run as separate events, the Darley Challenge builds to a 40 lap final on both evenings, cul-minating on a $19,000 pay day for the winner. That is doubled should the winner of the opening night reach the final on night two and win again, if he elects to start 19th - Scott Darley’s racing number.

CHALLENGEScott Darley

u

61Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report speeDWay


62 Velocity

speeDWay

It was a challenge that was too good for Kerry Madsen to refuse. The 2013 Kings Royal win-ner had struggled early on the opening night and only made the final after racing through from the C Main, where he’d started on the front row. Using the high line throughout the final, at a time when most were opting for the low line, Madsen swept into the lead shortly after the last restart to take a popular win.For a time it looked as though James Thomp-son or Brad Sweet might take victory on the open-ing night, with privateer Thompson holding the lead for long periods before finally falling victim to Sweet and then Mad-sen to finish third.A brutal 40 degree day baked the track ahead of the second night, slowing it up dramatically despite best efforts to keep some life in the clay throughout the night. The pace Mad-sen had demonstrated late on the opening night was absent, though still accepted the Darley Challenge and elected to start the final from 19th in pursuit of the $38,000 grand prize. For everyone else victory was a mea-gre $19,000.Madsen never got close. He worked his way

forward to 14th in the final but made precious little progress from there. His preferred high line was not working, at least not for him. Towards the front Trevor Green made it work when he needed, so did Jamie Veal as the

pair chased early leaders Brooke Tatnell and Jack-son Delamont, who held top spot for long periods.A late caution bunched the field, playing to Veal’s advantage after moving from the top to the botton line, but was

63Velocity


running out of laps to make a serious challenge on the leader. He’d been gaining ground on Green, who had taken over out front.At the restart, with clear track ahead, the duo ran side by side through the

turns, with Veal edg-ing perhaps an axle ahead mid-corner only for Green to stamp on the power earlier and have the momentum courtesy of his sweeping high line. For four laps they had the crowd on

tenterhooks, with Veal’s best chance coming on the final lap. But it wasn’t to be, and though he was close by the cheq-uered flag he remained a car length behind Green with Delamont third not much further back.


64 Velocity

speeDWay

Nothing could have stopped Kyle Hirst from winning the grand Annual Sprintcar

Classic at Warnambool, not even the weather. The American led every one of the 40 laps to take Australia’s biggest sprintcar race, heading home Brooke Tatnell and grant Anderson to record the big-gest win of his career.More than 100 cars entered the presitgious event, with a num-ber of big names falling early in

hirst’s castle

u

65Velocity



66 Velocity

Drag racing

proceedings. Tim Kaeding and James McFadden both failed to make the final, Kaeding eliminated in the D-Main after a surprise return to racing following a heavy crash the previous night. Brad Keller crashed out of the final heat race, flipping his car end over end, the South Australian need-ing to be cut from his car before being taken to Warnambool Hospital for precautionary checks after complaining of back pain. The crash delayed proceedings for more than an hour, mean-ing Hirst wouldn’t take the chequered flag until almost 2am.Starting from pole, cur-rent Australian champion David Murcott retired after just 10 laps of the final with mechanical problems but by then he’d already ceded the lead to Hirst, who was unstoppable out front.Hirst was briefly chal-lenged at the front by Ian Madsen, only for Madsen to tag the wall after getting off line and halting his charge. He eventually recovered to fourth, one place ahead of brother Kerry.Tatnell moved from sixth to second but was una-ble to match Hirst on the fast Warnambool track, leaving the veteran to rue his missed chance.

67Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report Drag racing


68 Velocity

Drag racing

John Zappia opened his 2015 sea-son campaign

in style at the Perth Motorplex, winning the Top Doorslammer final against Maurice Fabietti with a 5.86s pass. Fabi-etti put in a holeshot in the final to lead up to the 1000 foot marker before the engine in his Monaro blew a burst panel, allowing Zappia through for the victory.During qualifying Zap-pia had put in the fastest ever Top Doorslammer pass with a 5.683s in qualifying, lowering his own benchmarch which had stood at 5.745s. It meant Zappia left the opening round with maxi-mum points after winning, being the fastest qualifier, lowest elapsed time and top speed.On two wheels, three time Top Fuel Motorcycle champ Chris Mathe-son claimed an unlikely win when Mark Drew mowed down the timing boxes at the finish line, disuqalifying him from the final. Drew was clearly the faster of the two, though his inability to bring his bike under con-trol ultimately proved his undoing.

the empire strikes zap

Image: Luke Nieuwhof

69Velocity

column / neWs / feature / report Drag racing

the empire strikes zap


70 Velocity

Drag racing

With just two rounds in the books, John

Zappia has emerged as favourite to retain his Top Doorslammer title following his second round win of the season at the Westernationals in Perth.Zappia faced stiff oppo-sition from Peter Kapiris, who set the fastest qualifying time ahead of Zappia. Kapiris though is not a championship contender, at least not at this stage of the season,

having failed to qualify for the opening round of the campaign in early January.His challenge to Zap-pia however showed that, while Zappia may cur-rently be the class of the field, there is precious little to separate him by. In the final he was just 0.03s faster than Kapiris, who’d taken an early lead courtesy of gaining the holeshot.It might have been Gary Phillips who claimed the golden Christmas tree

in Top Alcohol, but the round really belonged to the man in the lane opposite.On his way to the final, Craig Glassby recorded the fastest ever pass for a methanol fuelled funny car anywhere in the world with a 5.410 second time, a mantle Phillips was far more concerned about than the win itself. Phillips ran consistently in the 5.4s bracket all night but had to cede the fastest time, at least for now.

Image: Luke Nieuwhof

zappia doubles-up

velocity

get involvedfollow us on facebook

formula one | v8 supercars | shannons nationals exclusive interviews, expert analysis

facebook.com/velocitymagazine


72 Velocity

race traVel

malaysian grand prixTravel Guide:


73Velocity

race traVel

Early in the new season motorsport fans are spoilt for

choice. Those on the east coast can head to Bathurst for the annual 12-Hour, or those in Adelaide can head out to Victoria Park for the Clipsal 500. There’s speedway out west, rallying in Tasmania, Superbikes at the Island and of course the grand Prix in Melbourne itself.But those keen to look a little further afield can head into Asia, which hosts the second round of the Formula One world championship at Sepang in Malaysia. For Formula One fans it can

make for an inexpensive holiday combined with a grand prix.Landing in Kuala Lumpur, the circuit is just the other side of the motorway from the airport and can be seen from the plane depending on the approach. A num-ber of teams will stay at the Sam-Sama Hotel attached to the airport, making the short trip by car each day, while oth-ers will stay further out.The majority of the traveling circus stays in Kuala Lumpur itself, some 50 kilometres out from the airport. There is a train service from the airport into the heart of u


74 Velocity

race traVel

KL.Accommodation in Kuala Lumpur is not especially expensive but as ever costs do rise when there is a major event in town. It can also be worth looking a little further out as there are some great diamonds in the rough to be found, though many will necessitate hiring a car.If you do hire a car we’d strongly recommend grabbing a GPS too, as relying on your mobile

phone can be expensive and unreliable.Getting to the circuit is easy. The roads are relatively good if you decide to drive, or take a taxi (Awana Limo Cab is the circuits official taxi provider), but for those staying in the city there are also trains and buses which can ferry you to and from the circuit eas-ily. Buses have pickup points around the circuit, making getting to your gate easy and have a

number of stops around the city making get-ting back to your hotel straight forward.At the track itself grandstand passes with excellent views can cost as little as $112 for the three days, with a big screen opposite. There are other grandstands available, ranging up over $700, but there is no need to splurge for the sake of it. Sitting on the front straight might give you a view of the pits


75Velocity

race traVel

but at the cost of some of the other parts of the circuit behind the pit complex, whereas over-looking the back straight or in the grandstand up the back of the circuit offer a far better viewing experience at a fraction of the cost.There are also general admission and stand-ing tickets available, and while they’re cheap and there is some cover from the elements we’d recom-mend grabbing a covered

grandstand pass because the sun can bake you and the rain wash away what’s left.Away from the track there is plenty to do in and around KL. You can check out the Petronas Towers – two towering skyscrapers linked by a bridge about halfway up, which is open to the public. There are also temples and parks to check out, not to mention the shopping in Bintang Street, or you could

venture a little further out and check out the Batu Caves. There’s also a theme park at Berjaya Time Square, though not all the rides are included with your entry.Flights to Kuala Lumpur, from Sydney, start from around $750 per per-son return, flying in on the Thursday ahead of on-track action on Fri-day before departing on Tuesday, giving you a day to spare in KL.


76 Velocity

It’s difficult to imagine that Australia held it’s first Grand Prix 30 years ago.


77Velocity


78 Velocity

FEBRUARY 1 - 4FORMULA ONEBarcelona

FEBRUARY 5 - 7BAHTURST 12 HOURMount Panorama

FEBRUARY 6 & 7V8 SUPERCARSSydney Motorsport Park

FEBRUARY 7TARgA AUSTRALIATarga Hellyer Gorge

FEBRUARY 12 - 15WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPRally Sweden

FEBRUARY 14 & 15FORMULA VEE 50th ANNIVERSARYWakefield Park

FEBRUARY 19 - 22FORMULA ONEBarcelona

FEBRUARY 19 - 22FORMULA ONE

Barcelona

FEBRUARY 21WORLD SERIES SPRINT CARS

Perth Motorplex

FEBRUARY 22NASCAR

Daytona 500

WORLD SUPERBIKESPhillip Island

FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 1DRAg RACINgPerth Motorplex

FORMULA ONEBarcelona

FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 1V8 SUPERCARS

Clipsal 500

MARCH 1NASCAR

Atlanta Motor Speedway

coming attractions

Date post:	07-Apr-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	mat-coch
View:	215 times
Download:	0 times

Velocity Issue 5

Documents