Take a journey back in time and discover what was making Supercars and F1 news this fortnight over the last five decades as AUTO ACTION delves into its archives.
2013 – Supercars go to America
Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup line up on the front row for the start of the one-off Austin 400. Image: Supercars.com
The Supercars world spun around America 10 years ago with a historic US based race and a US manufacturer primed to join the category.
For the first and only time Supercars raced in the United States with the staging of the Austin 400 at Circuit of the Americas.
In a well attended event by more than 68,000 Americans, four 27-lap races were held around a twisty shortened version of the Grand Prix circuit.
Jamie Whincup dominated winning three of the four races with the other to stand on the top step Fabian Coulthard.
Coulthard continued Brad Jones Racing’s form and took the first American pole on offer, but Whincup took control to cross the line first by just 0.9s ahead of car #14 in the first race.
Race 2 was a repeat result with Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Coulthard sharing the podium spots once again.
But Whincup’s hope of a fifth straight win after also winning the final two races at Perth disappeared as he suddenly slid down the leaderboard in a dramatic third race as documented by Lewis Isaacs in issue #
“Unlike Saturday, Sunday showed the American crowd what Aussie V8 Supercars is about and the excitement included the cars at the front,” read the review.
“Mark Winterbottom jumped from the line to move to second, yet as hard as he tried to put his eyes forward and focus on Jamie Whincup, BJR standout Coulthard had not given up.
“It all played well into Whincup’s hands as he waltzed into the lead at least until lap three when Winterbottom closed in and had him a lap later. As did Coulthard. Another lap later so did Lowndes.
“Whincup’s five-in-a-row streak was disappearing into the Texan dust. Unfortunately for the win-starved Winterbottom, when his pit window opened, his window of opportunity closed.
“A stuck wheel nut held up the race leader in the pits and with the lost time he reemerged in traffic and a proverbial mile from the leaders.”
Coulthard survived a Safety Car caused by David Wall’s “sharp Turn 1 apex” putting him into two wheels and into Scott Pye’s door, which sent the LDM Commodore into a spin.
The BJR driver recorded his third and final win of 2013, while normal service resumed in the fourth and final race when Whincup secured another commanding win.
In closing Isaacs wondered about the possibility of Supercars joining Indianapolis into the American May madness, but the category has never returned.
“Within the blink of an eye, the first race weekend in Austin, Texas, was done. Unlike previous attempts to race overseas the local crowd came out in relative droves to see the Aussies do their thing.
“Whether the event can join the famed mad month of May remains to be seen, but those who visited the track could certainly put forward a compelling reason why it should.”
GRM poised to race Chrysler in 2013
Chrysler and not Volvo appeared in pole position to join Supercars with GRM in 2013.
In the aftermath of the Supercars race in America, Chrysler emerged as the leading contender to be the fifth manufacturer to join the sport after discussions with Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Rumours from the Austin 400 suggested the Italo-American brand and not Volvo was poised to join Holden, Ford, Nissan and Mercedes on the Supercars grid.
“Chrysler is leading the charge of new manufacturers joining the sport next year, and we can expect an announcement sooner than later,” wrote Mark Fogarty.
“It is understood that Chrysler has decided to enter V8 Supercars next year with a factory backed effort, aligning with either GRM or BJR as an official manufacturer-supported entry.”
However, very soon GRM was suddenly in bed with a Swedish interest and the rest is history.
2003 – Murphy receives another controversial penalty
Marcos Ambrose’s dominant Winton win may had taken the cover of issue #1041 but all the talk was about Greg Murphy.
Marcos Ambrose was well and truly the man to beat in the 2003 V8 Supercars season after recording a second-straight round win at Winton, but the biggest headlines were created by Greg Murphy and Craig Lowndes.
The moment in question arrived at the Turn 5 sweeper when Murphy made unavoidable contact with an out of control Lowndes, who took a trip across the grass.
Despite Lowndes stating “I know that Murf did not do it intentionally” car #51 was slapped with a “seemingly unwarranted” drive-through penalty.
The Kmart Racing Kiwi was livid with the call and immediately left the circuit after the race without providing comment, with his famous five-minute penalty at Bathurst the previous year still fresh in the mind.
It even attracted scathing criticism from the top, with AVESCO chairman Tony Cochrane stating it was a “joke”.
“I thought it was an absolute joke,” he told AUTO ACTION at the time.
“It was a farcical decision and it is not the first time either. The fine of (Marcos) Ambrose at Eastern Creek where he stood on the wall to cheer for the fans when there was not a single car on the track was so facial, I paid the fine myself.
“I cannot do the same for Greg, but I do not understand how they came to such a conclusion.
“I will be raising merry hell at the AVESCO management meeting this week.”
“The onus is on the car attempting to overtake to do it cleanly, and felt that did not happen” defended V8 Supercars driving standards adjudicator Colin Bond.
“It was a black and white decision: Murphy punted Lowndes in the back.
“I can’t see any excuse. Even though Lowndes was in a bit of a slide, Murphy should have backed off. It is simple as that.”
Schumacher overcomes fire and water to claim famous victory
Not even a pit stop fire could stop Michael Schumacher from winning the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix. Photo by Motorsport Images
It is Austria and two Ferrari drivers quietly stand to attention as the Italian national anthem sings with Michael Schumacher winning from an unlikely position.
But unlike in 2002, there were far more jovial scenes on the podium as Schumacher did his trademark leap in the air to mark one of his most famous wins.
The 2003 Austrian Grand Prix was one of the most crazy races of a memorable season with Schumacher forced to fight off all the elements to claim a hat-trick of wins.
The Ferrari #1 led from pole and even after two aborted starts and rain started to fall, everything was going to plan as he entered the pits on Lap 23.
Schumacher slumped from first to third as the routine pit stop turned into a scary disaster as flames engulfed the back of his Ferrari F2003-GA.
Fortunately no one was hurt after the potentially serious 20s stop and Schumacher eventually drove away. He soon passed Kimi Raikkonen for the eventual lead as Juan Pablo Montoya’s BMW blew up terminally.
Despite luck clearly being on his side, when quizzed Schumacher firmly replied “no” and claimed he was unlucky to receive the problem.
However, he paid credit to his team’s bravery and reactions to make the win possible and admitted luck was a factor in the Montoya situation.
“Honestly, the performance of the car was no surprise. Seeing the fire was not nice, but I felt the guys reacted very well with their extinguishers and setting them off immediately, Schumacher recalled in the press conference.
“Although I kept going, at that stage I did not know whether we had done any damage to the car or not.
“Naturally, fighting back from a low position gives you greater satisfaction. We had been down into third position and then we got ahead due to some lucky circumstance with Montoya’s engine blowing up.”
1993 – Skaife spun yet again
Mark Skaife claimed he was a “marked man” after another tangle with a Falcon in the 1993 ATCC.
As Ford continued its domination of the 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship, Holden hero Mark Skaife believed he was a “marked man” after his latest incident.
Two rounds after his infamous verbal clash with Alan Jones, Skaife had another wild ride at Winton where he claimed he “was launched” by John Bowe.
The reigning champion led a bunch of cars including Bowe, Jones, Tomas Mezera, Tony Longhurst and Peter Brock on the second lap of the first race of the fifth round of the championship.
However, the #1 Gibson Motorsport driver was “nudged” by the #18 DJR Falcon and sent into a spin.
Skaife believed it was deliberate and the stewards agreed with a $3000 fine being served by Bowe.
“There is no doubt (that I have been served up a couple of times),” Skaife told AUTO ACTION at the time.
“Let’s be realistic, when I was coming through the field I touched Neil (Crompton) a couple of times, but there was never a big enough touch or the intent to drive the guy off the road.
“We still want everybody trying their hardest to overtake, but blatant contact like Bowe’s example needs to have some penalty for it.”
Bowe accepted blame for the spin, but stated it “ was a racing incident.”
“I am very dismayed at the consistency of the (stewards) actions,” Bowe said.
“It was not deliberate. I accepted the blame, but it was a racing incident.
“He (Skaife) propped in the middle of the corner and that is when I hit him. But I did not keep pushing him, he gassed it and went sideways, kept his foot in it and spun.”
“The penalty was excessive.”
Up front, Seton scored a fourth straight win for his Peter Jackson team.
1983 – ATCC hit with major parity changes
The cover of AUTO ACTION issue #319 was all about the latest changes to hit the ATCC.
Parity was also a hot topic 40 years ago when CAMS announced “massive changes” to the Australian Touring Car Championship regulations.
After a special meeting, including all factories and entrants meet at CAMS headquarters in Melbourne where proposed modifications to the Holden Commodore, Mazda RX7, Ford Falcon, Nissan Bluebird, BMW 635 and Toyota Celica.
AUTO ACTION believed the changes included the wheel width of the Commodores to be increased, larger disc brakes, the introduction of a bonnet scoop.
The Falcons also enjoyed increased wheel width and a new inlet manifold, while the larger 13B motor was permitted for the Mazda RX7.
A bigger turbo and a boost were allowed for the Bluebirds, while the BMW 635 received a four valve 3.5 litre engine.
News surfaced that reigning British Open Rally champions Jimmy McRae and Ian Grindrod were going to be big-name arrivals for possibly the Dunlop2Go Rally in August.
Over in Monaco, defending champion Keke Rosberg won the Monaco Grand Prix. A feat his son Nico would also achieve 30 years later.
The first Rosberg win at the Principality was a special one, with the 1982 world champion rising from fifth on the grid to take victory.
The Williams driver overcame Nelson Piquet by 18s, while pole-sitter Alain Prost could only manage third as only four cars finished on the lead lap and seven greeted the chequered flag.
There were 13 drivers who did not reach the finish including Nigel Mansell and Michele Alboreto, who were tangled up in a first-lap collision.
1973 – Brock beats Moffat to score maiden ATCC win
Peter Brock scored his first ATCC win by prevailing in another memorable battle with Moffat.
Peter Brock finally overcame Allan Moffat, to end the Ford hero’s winning streak in the 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship season and score his maiden championship win.
Moffat had won the first four races, but Brock hit back by overcoming a pole start and “convincingly” winning a race-long duel at Surfers Paradise.
The race was decided with seven laps to go when Moffat had a rare “lose” coming out of the tricky Repco Corner.
The Holden Dealer Team star made his intentions clear by smashing the record lap time by almost two seconds to take pole position.
However, Brock still had to do it the hard way to win his first ATCC victory after dropping sixth having been forced off at Repco Corner on the first lap.
But by Lap 9 Brock had charged up to second by “using the superior handling and braking of the Torana around the twisty area from Goodyear to Castrol, offset the speed advantage of the Falcons”.
The Holden Dealer Teams star set his sights on Moffat and got the job done to secure his first of 48 ATCC race wins.
“Then, on Lap 10, accompanied by a roar from the large crowd, Brock outbraked Moffat into Lukey to hit the front for the first time,” reported Keith Shaw.
“Brock and Moffat (then) hurtled through STP on full power, to be confronted by a sideways Mini (driven by Kev McCloy).
“Brock swerved in front and Moffat behind the sliding Clubman. This exercise cost Brock his hard won lead as light ran began to fall.
“Moffat was hanging out the tail as he dared to keep Brock behind – the crowd loved it!”
After another dice for P1, which saw Moffat use his Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III power to regain the lead, the battle for the lead then took an unexpected turn nobody saw coming.
“Into Lucky on Lap 17 and Brock again duked under Moffat. Moffat tried to repass in Shell straight but the late braking Torana was first into Firestone Corner,” continued Shaw.
“Then it happened! Moffat tried a little too hard in Repco and sailed off the circuit in a most un-Moffat-like fashion.
“By the time he found traction, with his slicks on the grass, Brock and Pete Geoghegan had gone.”
Brock eventually held off Geoghegan by 12s with Moffat a further 20s away in a disappointing third.
At that moment, the stunning drive from sixth to first, plus forcing the all-conquering Moffat into a mistake, it was clear Brock was something special and it would be the first of many ATCC wins.
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