Dick Johnson: I’m in the Sh*t

Dick Johnson at his workshop in Stapylton, Queensland

Most 68-year-olds would be celebrating their success and settling down to retire, but for V8 Touring Car legend Dick Johnson, things have taken a turn for the worst.

Johnson, who has been involved in the V8 Supercar industry for over three decades, recently came out and told the media that he is broke, simply putting it as he is ‘in the shit’, having lost $9.1m dollars in recent years due to dodgy deals surrounding sponsorship for his team Dick Johnson Racing.

A company called Westpoint came on-board with Dick Johnson Racing after Shell Helix ended their sponsorship contract with the team, with the company later becoming bankrupt and costing Dick Johnson Racing millions.

Since Westpoint’s failed sponsorship, Dick Johnson and his team have struggled to make it by. Johnson then decided to create a phone company called Firstrock, with the company one year later falling to pieces.

Jim Beam then came to DJR’s rescue, sponsoring the team until the 2013 season. Things were looking up for the team here, with Dick Johnson Racing securing their first V8 Championship in decades with James Courtney, who later moved to Holden Racing Team.

Since Courtney’s departure, Dick Johnson Racing is yet to pick up another race win. Steven Johnson (Dick Johnson’s son) was forced to leave the team this year and opted for the Porsches in the Carrera Cup series, as another driver was able to bring more money to the team.

John Reid was the driver set to replace Junior Johnson (Editor’s note: *muted laughter*) at the start of the year, but not long after the first couple of races was replaced by young Ford Performance Racing driver Chaz Mostert.

Dick Johnson is currently living on $365 per week, just getting by. Johnson also noted that he is paying his employees correctly and the only thing he owns a part of in the company is the workshop.

A new book will be released soon, highlighting the struggles of Dick Johnson Racing and also his personal life. You ought go out and buy it and give the old fella a hand!

1-2 Finish for Holden Racing at Townsville

Australian V8 Supercars, Fiasco Sports

Garth Tander wins in the streets of Townsville leading home his teammate James Courtney for a 1-2 Holden finish.

James Courtney. Photo source: Daniel Attema

Holden Racing’s Garth Tander has achieved his first win since Bathurst in 2011, with teammate James Courtney holding on in second place for a 1-2 finish.

A race full of strategy saw Holden pit its two VF Commodores, giving the drivers a soft-tyre advantage over most of the field.

Holden Racing decided to run a two-stint strategy, making its drivers pit for second-hand soft tyres.

Despite sustaining damage after kissing the wall at Turn 10 in making a move on Scott McLaughlin, Tander still managed to bring home the win.

The start saw Ford’s Mark Winterbottom get a great jump on the rest of the field, but later his decision not to pit under the Lap 9 safety car caused him to fall to fourth place.

Shane van Gisbergen took third place after running a similar pit-strategy to Holden Racing, making great progress starting closer to the rear of the field.

Russell Ingall and Tony D’Alberto made it a top six effort for Walkinshaw Performance built Commodores, with Craig Lowndes, Tim Slade, McLaughlin and Will Davison rounding out the top 10.

The race’s only retirement was Lee Holdsworth, who had engine dramas with his Erebus Motorsport Mercedes and stopped into the run of Turn 11.

After Race 21 of the championship at Townsville, the current championship standings see Jamie Whincup leading Lowndes by 111 points, with Ford’s Davison and Winterbottom closing in on the series lead.

1	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:04.1639	1:14.0127
2	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:04.4830	1:13.9505
3	TEKNO Team VIP	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:13.5491	1:13.9319
4	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:25.7667	1:14.3657
5	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:31.6601	1:14.1909
6	Team HIFLEX	Tony D’Alberto	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:31.9113	1:14.0973
7	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:32.5797	1:14.2647
8	Heavy Haulage Australia Racing	Tim Slade	Mercedes E63 AMG	01:30:34.2168	1:14.0378
9	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:38.6971	1:14.4242
10	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:41.0017	1:14.3212
11	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:41.1436	1:14.3661
12	Tekno Autosports	Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:41.7028	1:14.4280
13	Wilson Security Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:50.6356	1:14.3521
14	Norton 360 Racing	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	01:30:51.9295	1:14.4995
15	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	01:30:53.7465	1:14.4089
16	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:56.0802	1:14.3670
17	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:56.7994	1:14.5728
18	Jeld-wen FPR Ford	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:59.3225	1:14.2479
19	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Alexandre Premat	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:59.7491	1:14.4371
20	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	01:31:03.8867	1:14.5206
21	ekol Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	01:31:04.1821	1:14.4103
22	Norton 360 Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	01:31:12.7810	1:14.4376
23	Wilson Security Racing	Tim Blanchard	Ford Falcon FG	01:31:12.8491	1:14.3125
24	Dodo Insurance Racing	Dean Fiore	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:14.2590	1:14.6014
25	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:41.8085	1:14.1332
26	The Bottle-O FPR Ford	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG	01:31:03.2834	1:15.4498
27	SP Tools Racing	Maro Engel	Mercedes E63 AMG	01:30:48.6833	1:16.2359
DNF	Irwin Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG	7:49.4783	1:15.960

Written by Loren Hazelwood @LorenHazelwood

– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/1-2-finish-for-holden-racing-at-townsville/#sthash.ZVmWIWyF.dpuf

Whincup Wins in the Top End

Australian V8 Supercars, Fiasco Sports

Published on: http://www.fiascosports.com

Jamie Whincup running in at Darwin. Photo: Helen Orr

Red Bull Racing’s Jamie Whincup has extended his championship lead by winning race 17 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Whincup steered clear in the action-packed race early on, grabbing first position in the second stint of the 60/60-format race, leading Shane van Gisbergen and James Courtney to the finish line.

Ford Performance Racing’s David Reynolds showed his pace in the top-ten shootout and the first stint of the race, grabbing pole position. Unfortunately within the dying stages of the race, Winterbottom made contact with Reynolds going into the hairpin.

Reynolds finished in 14^th, with Winterbottom awarded a drive-thru penalty causing the teammates to not finish on the podium for FPR.

Rick Kelly produced the best-ever result for the Nissan Altima, finishing in fifth position, as well as Tim Slade who brought home the Erebus Mercedes AMG in sixth.

Newcomer to the category Chaz Mostert placed his personal best, finishing in seventh place for Dick Johnson Racing.

A further two 35-lap races will be held tomorrow to complete the Skycity Triple Crown event in Darwin.

Pos	No.	Team	Driver	Car
1	1	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF
2	97	TEKNO Team VIP	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF
3	22	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF
4	19	Tekno Autosports	Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore VF
5	15	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima
6	47	Heavy Haulage Australia Racing	Tim Slade	Mercedes E63 AMG
7	12	Wilson Security Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG
8	8	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF
9	3	Team HIFLEX	Tony D’Alberto	Holden Commodore VF
10	36	Norton 360 Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima
11	33	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Holden Commodore VF
12	14	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF
13	2	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF
14	55	The Bottle-O FPR Ford	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG
15	360	Norton 360 Racing	James Moffat	Nissan Altima
16	9	SP Tools Racing	Maro Engel	Mercedes E63 AMG
17	7	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima
18	4	Irwin Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG
19	21	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Holden Commodore VF
20	18	Jeld-wen FPR Ford	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG
21	34	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Alexandre Premat	Holden Commodore VF
22	5	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG
23	66	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF
24	88	Dodo Insurance Racing	Dean Fiore	Holden Commodore VF
25	80	ekol Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF
26	888	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF
DNF	6	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG
DNF	17	Wilson Security Racing	Tim Blanchard	Ford Falcon FG

V8 Supercars in America for Austin 400

Australian V8 Supercars

Published on: http://www.fiascosports.com

The Australian V8 Supercar series hit America for the first time ever over the weekend, racing at the internationally re-known circuit in Austin Texas.

Red Bull Racing’s Jamie Whincup dominated over the two days racing, taking three out of the four race victories; with Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard taking out the win in the third race.

The three-day event attracted over 68,000 spectators and used the infamous four-race layout, with two qualifying sessions for each day of racing and a one-hour break between the two 100km races on the Saturday and Sunday.

The first qualifying session for race 13 in the championship saw Fabian Coulthard take pole, with Jamie Whincup starting from first for race 14.

The first race at the Austin circuit was a testament to the circuit’s special features, with long and steep straights and sweeping corners, the track’s design made it difficult to overtake during the racing. Whincup although gained the lead early, taking the jump at the start from pole-sitter Coulthard. Craig Lowndes then made a pass on Coulthard on lap 7 to take second place.

The first race saw Whincup and Lowndes make it 1-2 for Red Bull, with Fabian Coulthard rounding out the top three on the podium.

After a win in the first race at Austin, Jamie Whincup started from pole position alongside his Red Bull teammate Lowndes. The pair drove away from the rest of the field, with Fabian Coulthard guarding his third position to Tekno Autosport’s pair Jonathon Webb and Shane van Gisbergen.

After securing two races wins the day prior, Whincup once again topped the charts in qualifying to take pole position for both Sunday races.

Race 15 of the championship saw Jamie Whincup fall back at the start, as he struggled with the handling of his VF Holden Commodore. Mark Winterbottom then made a pass on Whincup for the lead, but lost a considerable amount of time during his pit stop. This then saw Coulthard take the race lead and eventually cross the chequered in first position.

The third race for the Austin round saw Fabian Coulthard break Red Bull Racing’s winning streak, with Lowndes in second and Whincup rounding out the top three.

Race 16 of the V8 Supercar calendar was the fourth and final race for the weekend. Whincup started from pole after qualifying first prior, getting a great jump on previous race winner Coulthard.

A racing incident occurred between Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison and young-gun Scott McLaughlin, with Davison slamming the rear of McLaughlin’s Holden. Davison was out of the race, with the team at Gary Rogers Motorsport able to get McLaughlin back on the circuit.

The final race of the weekend at Austin Texas saw Whincup take the victory, alongside Fabian Coulthard. Shane van Gisbergen raced hard to finish in third, with Garth Tander from Holden Racing Team rounding out the top four.

This victory saw Whincup take his third win for the weekend and seventh race win for the season.

Jamie Whincup has now extended his championship lead by 142 points to his teammate Craig Lowndes. After not finishing the final race, Will Davison moved down to third in the championship.

Stoner in Australia? Bloody Oath

Australian V8 Supercars, MotoGP, Spultured

Published on http://www.spultured.com

I remember it was about this time last year, when the media was talking about Casey Stoner retiring and how much it was going to hurt the MotoGP category. Everyone had their opinion about why Stoner should stay, how useless he was going to be in a V8 Supercar and how Honda would not be able to find a replacement for the Australian world champion.

Well look who’s laughing now.

If anything, the 27-year-old made his best decision of a lifetime. I mean, he has a family now and with the recent death of Marco Simoncelli, it’s definitely safer to be on four wheels than two.

And not even that, Stoner made way for a true star in the making. Marc Màrquez who is only 20 years old, a few weeks ago became the youngest ever rider to win a MotoGP race. Incredible! Màrquez also finished second at the Spanish Grand Prix to his teammate Dani Pedrosa from Repsol Honda. If anything the team is on better form than what they were this time last year, with the team not even barely damaged with the loss of world champion Stoner. Now whoever said Stoner was “irreplaceable” was clearly not thinking about the future.

Even though Casey Stoner is only racing in the Dunlop Development Series (category below V8 Supercars) he has been working with arguably the best V8 team in the main game (RedBull Racing Australia – Triple 8 Race Engineering) and is now an official representative for Holden Australia. Not only is Casey’s credibility growing, he’s now getting a lot more media attention. The MotoGP champ has only raced two championship rounds this year so it is still early days to determine whether he is good enough for the main game next year, but the team I’m sure will focus on Casey’s early development in the Holden VE Commodore and will see out the rest of the season in the development series.

Unfortunately with MotoGP being apart motorsport, it receives minimal media attention, either in print or broadcast journalism as of course, it isn’t as popular as the AFL, NRL etc. Not only has Casey Stoner grabbed the media, he’s also promoted the Dunlop Development Series, which for years has been underrated, with no coverage what-so-ever. Only problem here is that the only person who gets coverage in the series is Casey and the focus has been stolen from the young kids winning the races in the series.

Stoner I don’t believe has the amount of race craft at the moment on four wheels as some of the younger drivers in the development field, so he will have to test like crazy with his team from Triple 8 Race Engineering. Not only is the MotoGP with the best team, he also can receive some of the best V8 mentoring from current V8 Supercar Champion Jamie Whincup and also newly crowned all-time-best V8 driver Craig Lowndes. I mean Stoner has some of the best help on offer, so by the end of this year’s development series Stoner should be on the money.

I know Casey Stoner has a massive fan base from many Australians – on the other hand there are also many Australians who dislike Stoner and would rather someone like Valentino Rossi win races. It is a massive culture change for Stoner to come back and live in Australia so I believe we should all stop bagging him and support the Aussie who wants to race over here. Yes, he has a long way to go, but he’s only raced at Clipsal and Barbagallo. There is plenty more tracks for Stoner to prove himself to the V8 field and I can tell you, it will be one interesting year with the MotoGP champ in V8s.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t end up like Wayne Gardner…

Driven to Succeed: Scott McLaughlin

Australian V8 Supercars, On The Record

Published on: http://www.ontherecord-unisa.com.au/?p=3414

As Bathurst celebrates its 50th anniversary at Mt Panorama this weekend, one of Australia’s best young drivers is set to make his debut.

Scott McLaughlin, a 19-year-old New Zealand native, will be pairing up with V8 Supercar teammate Jonathon Webb in Tekno Autosports’ Holden Commodore.

V8 Supercar fans will be treated to cars whizzing past at more than 300km/h over 161 gruelling laps, in a circuit promising to challenge drivers regardless of their experience.

I recently caught up with Scott and asked him about Bathurst and his promising motor racing career.

Loren: So with you currently leading the championship in the Dunlop Development Series and having a successful run at Sandown the other weekend, what are your thoughts and feelings co-driving at Bathurst?

Scott: It’s going to be pretty cool. There is a bit of pressure on me, but the team has hired me to do the job because they believe in my ability and I am looking forward to my first Bathurst!

Loren: As you would be! Considering you are only 19, it is a great achievement and shows you have what it takes to tackle the mountain. But in saying that, with Mt Panorama being one of the most daring racing circuits in Australia, are there any parts of the circuit you are concerned about?

Scott: Definitely the chase; it’s so fast and (it) takes you a few laps really to get up to speed through there, (but) considering it’s 300kph I don’t think I’m the only driver working up to that part of the circuit!

Loren: I can definitely see what you mean! It takes great skill and courage to be able to reach such high speeds. I am sure Jonathon has been helping you out and giving you his advice – what are his tips for you over the weekend?

Scott: Just go out and enjoy it. He knows it’s a big weekend for me and my family, so just enjoy the moment, bring the car back straight and see where we end up.

Loren: Sounds like a pretty good plan, I’m sure your family is very excited also! Seeing that this Bathurst is also the 50th anniversary of racing at the mountain, I’m sure growing up as a kid you watched every race. What message would you send to other up-and-coming kids dreaming of one day racing at Bathurst?

Scott: Yeah, well, this year will be 10 years exactly since I watched my first ever Bathurst! All I can say is just keep pushing towards your dream. If it’s what you want keep going and going and don’t let anyone tell you, “you can’t do that, you don’t have enough money.” Just keep pushing towards your dream.

Loren: I know the Australian and New Zealand racing world is very proud of what you have achieved and can’t wait to see what you bring for the future. What will we see you doing next after Bathurst this weekend?

Scott: I’ll be off to New Zealand in a couple of weeks’ time with Jonathan for round 2 of the Enduro Championships of the V8 Supertourer series, which will great fun!

Loren: Sounds great, you’ll be back on home soil! I’ve noticed you’ve previously raced in the series – what is the V8 Supertourers like compared to the Australian V8 Supercars Championship?

Scott: It obviously hasn’t got as bigger following as the V8 Supercars, but is doing pretty well in New Zealand; they are great cars, which can create great racing which is awesome.

Loren: Great racing is what it is all about. With you previously racing categories like go-karts, the Australian Mini Championship and Formula Ford, what did you find the most challenging and exciting?

Scott: Go-karts really I did more of. It was really tough and competitive and (I) had some really good battles over the years!

Loren: Go-karts are the stepping stone for car racing, that’s for sure. Well it was a pleasure talking with you once again, all the best for the Bathurst 1000 this weekend! I will be watching the race at home and cheering you on!

Scott: Thank you and talk soon!

The Bathurst 1000 will be on this Sunday, starting at 6.00am on Channel 7.

Casey Stoner announced his retirement, is Australian V8 Supercars now an option?

Australian V8 Supercars, MotoGP, On The Record

Published on: http://www.ontherecord-unisa.com.au/?p=3080

Current World MotoGP champion Casey Stoner recently announced that he will retire from the MotoGP category at the end of the 2012 season, after a long family decision.

The Australian is only 26 years old, with his decision to retire shocking the motorsport world. Although the rider is still young, Stoner believes the sport is changing and he doesn’t have the passion to race in MotoGP anymore.

“After so many years of doing this sport which I love, and which myself and my family made so many sacrifices for, after so many years of trying to get to where we have gotten to at this point, this sport has changed a lot and it has changed to the point where I am not enjoying it,” he said in a press release.

“I don’t have the passion for it and so at this time it’s better if I retire now.

“There are a lot of things that have disappointed me, and also a lot of things I have loved about this sport, but unfortunately the balance has gone in the wrong direction. And so, basically, we won’t be continuing any more.

“It would be nice if I could say I would stay one more year, but then where does it stop? So we decided to finish everything as we are now.”

With the two time world champion still young, it is believed that Stoner has his sights set on racing in the Australian V8 Supercar category within the near future, similar to what other Australian MotoGP World Champion Wayne Gardner did, who retired from the MotoGP category and raced in V8 Supercars.

Over the 2011 V8 Supercars season, Casey Stoner was seen at Bathurst and the Sydney Telstra 500 supporting Team Vodafone’s Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

It was believed then that Stoner was looking into racing in the Australian series, alongside the Triple 8 Engineering race team.

Since the Sydney Telstra 500 last year, Stoner has test driven one of Triple 8 Engineering’s VE Holden V8 Supercars, and seemed he was on the pace and could be ready to race within the near future.

“It is something I am definitely interested to do in the future, but whether I will be fast enough or not is another thing,” said Stoner at the press conference.

For now, Casey Stoner will continue racing MotoGP for the 2012 season and currently sits in second place in the MotoGP World Championship to Jorge Lorenzo.

Clipsal 500 Wrap-up

Australian V8 Supercars, On The Record

Published on: http://www.ontherecord-unisa.com.au

Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom finished first and second place at the opening round of the championship at the all popular South Australian event Clipsal 500, held at Adelaide’s intrepid street circuit.

This was Ford’s first victory in the streets of Adelaide since Jamie Whincup led them to victory in 2009, but also Will Davison’s first victory within the Ford factory team.

Davison was very unfortunate during Saturday’s race, running low on fuel while in first position on the final lap, causing him to drive ‘conservatively’.

Davison then came in second, handing the win over to Jamie Whincup with just six corners to go.

Mark Winterbottom also suffered the same issue, but called into the pits with just one lap to go to refuel.

But Ford Performance Racing ensured this wouldn’t happen again during Sunday’s final race.

This time it was triple eight’s Jamie Whincup who suffered from a slight engineering error with the fuel mapping, which caused him to hand over the race lead to Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander.

As the race continued, the Ford Performance Racing team mates became the fastest cars on the circuit.

In the second stint of the race, Davison passed Tander to take the lead for the final Sunday race, with team mate Winterbottom also taking advantage of Davison’s passing manoeuvre on Tander, slipping into second position.

Later in the race, Ford’s two FG Falcons led the race with, for the first time ever on Adelaide’s street circuit, no safety cars interfering with the final race of the Clipsal 500.

The top five positions for Sunday’s race saw Will Davison in first, Mark Winterbottom second, Garth Tander in third, Jamie Whincup in fourth and Craig Lowndes completing the top five.

Will Davison currently leads the V8 Supercar’s driving championship by 18 points to Holden’s Jamie Whincup, with the next round being held at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, at Albert Park in Melbourne.

Media by Loren Hazelwood

Motor sport media, marketing and content specialist