Motorsport: Team in race against time to get engine for Supercars

By BOB PEARCE

Ford driver Steve Ellery and his team were working flat out yesterday to have his BA Falcon repaired in time to be loaded on the boat today for the Pukekohe round of the V8 Supercar championship next week.

Ellery hit the concrete barrier after a tyre burst during the second race at Surfers on Sunday and initially it was thought he would have to ship an older AU Falcon to New Zealand.

But he believes the repairs can be done in time.

Less promising is the availability of an engine. He blew two at Surfers and will probably have to airfreight a replacement from his engine-builder.

Ellery's misfortune follows an outstanding result at Bathurst where he was third behind Greg Murphy.

The top 30 cars in the championship will be shipped to Auckland for the 12th round, sponsored by PlaceMakers, on November 7-9 at Pukekohe.

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Palmerston North driver Geof Argyle will start the Rally of Thailand on Friday as leader in the Asia Pacific championship.

Argyle has never rallied in Thailand, but he is expecting fast, open roads and hot weather in the Rayong region to the south, where the three-day event will be staged.

His Mitsubishi has been thoroughly overhauled since the last round in Japan and he will be concentrating on tyre choices before the start.

Two other Kiwi drivers, Andrew Hawkeswood and Brian Green, are teaming with Argyle in Thailand, and will share information in this penultimate round. The final round is in India early in December.

Meanwhile, the world championship is set for a thrilling climax at the Rally GB in Wales from November 7. Carlos Sainz (Citroen) and Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) lead the championship on 63 points. Petter Solberg (Subaru) is one point adrift and Richard Burns (Peugeot) on 58 could also take the driver's title.

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BOX BOX BOXThe Targa rally, now making its way down the North Island to Wellington, has its own travelling padre.

Expatriate Kiwi Marty Woodward, a full-time minister in New South Wales and an active motorsport enthusiast since his teens, is a special guest as the official chaplain.

Woodward is back by popular demand in the Dunlop-sponsored event after being involved last year. He fills a similar role at Targa Tasmania.

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Paul Tracy, who won the Champ Car title at his 13th try on the streets of Surfers Paradise on Sunday, says he will be back to defend his crown next season because he is too old to head for Formula One.

The 33-year-old Canadian, who had a season of Formula Pacific in New Zealand as a teenager, clinched the championship with one race remaining, despite finishing out of the points at Surfers.

He started the race with a 28-point edge over Bruno Junqueira and looked likely to surrender most of that when he lost three laps having a rear wishbone repaired.

But Junqueira, who had been leading, crashed into the wall and out of the race starting the 37th of 47 laps.

The contest was again disrupted by Queensland's fickle weather and, in the lottery of rain delays and safety cars, rookies Ryan Hunter-Reay and Darren Manning finished first and second, with Jimmy Vasser third. Tracy finished 13th.

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Pakuranga driver Paul Manuell has a secret weapon in his bid to regain the national V8 touring car championship he won two seasons ago.

Manuell's Team Orix has built a new Holden VY Commodore under the guidance of Mike Anderson, an old workmate of Manuell's, who has returned home from working with a number of motorsport teams overseas, including the Indy Racing League.

Manuell has a good Pukekohe racing pedigree - he served his apprenticeship with Oxton Motors, the business owned by David Oxton, who won the 1983 Grand Prix at the track.

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Kiwi V8 driver Paul Radisich might be tempted away from his Queensland home with the news that plans are being made to revive the Touring Car World Cup.

The cup was run between 1993 and 1995, and the former Aucklander won two of the three titles driving for Ford. He still drives for Ford but in a Falcon in the V8 Supercar championship, where he lies 10th coming to the 12th round at Pukekohe next week.



European championship boss Marcello Lotti is behind the revival of the cup. The leading contenders from the Swedish, Danish and German series would be eligible to compete.

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The countdown to the first round of the 2003/04 New Zealand SuperGT series has begun with a capacity field of high-performance cars confirmed for two support races at the V8 Supercar meeting at Pukekohe.

Leading the charge are the newly-rebuilt Porsche Le Mans Turbos of Owen Evans, and Bill and Dean Fulford and Ray Williams with his Porsche 911 GT2 Turbo.

Carl Hansen's TVR Tuscan will be chasing another class win.

Among the newcomers will be Auckland truck-racer Calven Bonney, who has bought the seven-litre Holden Monaro built and run last year by Derek Mitchell.

Also making their class debut will be former kart and single-seater driver Jason Liefting and Formula Challenge champion Gene Rollinson.

Liefting will drive a purpose-built Subaru 22B Turbo coupe and Rollinson a Mazda RX7 turbo, formerly piloted by Robbie Francevic.

Another one to watch will be Christchurch rally and race driver Jeff Judd.