RACE WRAP
HIGH COUNTRY WIN FOR TARGA ACE
Targa tyro Steve Glenney has done it again in the Victorian alps.
The perennial pace-setter in major Targa events, first as a driver and then as a co-driver, guided rookie Dean Lillie to victory in the Targa High Country tarmac rally.
There were tough weather conditions at times, although nothing as bad as the snow last year, but the pair were comfortably quickest in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and won by more than two minutes.
Tony Quinn, now a Supercars team owner with Triple Eight, continued his driving career with second in his Nissan GT-R as well as victory in the GT class.
“I’ve wanted to do this event since I first came to the Mt Buller Sprint back in the early days,” Lillie said.
But it was still Glennie who could claim a lot of the credit.
“As with everything we do, we came prepared because we always want to do the best job we can. I suppose you could call it a bit of a giant-killing performance but we are not surprised that we have done so well,” Glenney said.
PITLANE SET FOR SUPERCARS STOUSH
Will Davison has taken his first Supercars pole position of the 2021 season, grabbing the Number 1 spot in the pitlane that was earned by Scott McLaughlin and Shell V-Power Racing.
The 24-car line-up starts with Davison and finishes with Zane Goddard of Matt Stone Racing.
The big winner is Tim Slade, who has been allocated garage #8 with the rookie Blanchard Racing Team and will slide into the single-car slot alongside Jack Le Brock at Tickford Racing.
Pit bays are allocated based on the previous year’s championship results, which means Shell V-Power Racing continues at the top end of the line, although there are some adjustments to fit team needs.
The full pitlane allocation, based on team ownership and not sponsorship, is:
- Will Davison, DJR; 2. Anton de Pasquale, DJR: 3. Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight; 4. Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight; 5. Cam Waters, Tickford; 6. James Courtney, Tickford; 7. Jack Le Brocq, Tickford; 8. Tim Slade, Tickford; 9. Will Brown, Erebus; 10. Brodie Kostecki, Erebus; 11. Mark Winterbottom, T18; 12. Scott Pye, T18; 13. Chaz Mostert, WAU; 14. Bryce Fullwood, WAU: 15. Nick Percat, BJR; 16. Todd Hazelwood, BJR; 17. Macauley Jones, BJR; 18. Jack Smith, BJR; 19. Andre Heimgartner, Kelly-Grove; 20. David Reynolds, Kelly-Grove; 21. Fabian Coulthard, Tekno; 22. Garry Jacobson, Tekno; 23. Jake Kosteki; 24. Zane Goddard, MSR.
HONDA COMMITS TO MOTOGP UNTIL AT LEAST 2026
A tough year in MotoGP in 2020 has not stopped Honda extending its involvement in grand prix racing for another five years.
The Japanese company has committed to at least the end of 2026 in the premier MotoGP class, extending an involvement in top-level motorcycle racing that began in 1954.
Honda has taken more than 800 GP wins with 100 different riders, as well as 25 riders’ world titles.
“Honda believes MotoGP racing is vital to our motorsports activities. It allows us to develop various technologies, and through fierce competition, teach our engineers and nurture their skills,” said Noriaki Abe, managing officer for motorcycle operations at Honda Motor.
“Honda will continue to bring dreams and joy to its customers worldwide through its motorsports activities, including MotoGP.”
KARTS READY TO START
The delayed start to top-level karting in Australia is finally over.
The five-round Australian championship, with backing from SP Tools, will begin at Ipswich in Queensland on February 19-20.
It will run, as intended before a Covid-related postponement, as a day-night meeting on Friday and Saturday.
The second round of the championship will run as originally intended, in Melbourne on March 12-14, but the host clubs for the following events are still to be decided.
The remaining events on the calendar are April 30-May 2, June 25-27 and August 27-29.
ANOTHER SECOND-GENERATION DRIVER IN WORLD RALLY
Oliver Solberg, the 19-year-old son of former world champion Petter Solberg, will graduate to the big league in the World Rally Championship in Finland.
He has been given an extra car by the factory Hyundai team and will drive it for the first time in the Arctic Rally.
Solberg’s promotion comes off the back of successful Rally2 starts in 2020 and is an obvious move for Hyundai, as the young Norwegian is familiar with the snow-and-ice conditions that will make the Arctic the only true ‘winter’ rally in this year’s WRC series following the loss of the Swedish Rally.
Solberg has already competed successfully for Hyundai in the Lapland Rally, an event in the Finnish championship, but that was only in a R5 car and not the full-house WRC i20 he will use for the Arctic.
PORSCHE JUNIORS CHASING $300,000 PRIZE POOL
Youngsters in this year’s Carrera Cup Australia and Sprint Challenge Australia will be rewarded from a $300,000 prize package provided by Michelin.
The French car company has renewed its support for a program which has already boosted Matt Campbell, Jaxon Evans and Jordan Love up the Porsche motorsport ladder in Europe.
This year the top three juniors from each series will receive a set of Michelin competition tyres every round, while the top-placed Junior driver at each event will also get a complimentary entry for the round.
But the big prize is the spot at the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme Shootout, where drivers compete against Carrera Cup Champions from the leading one-make Porsche series around the world. The three-day, expenses-paid, Shootout is head at the Portimau circuit in Portugal.
