BROOKES TO RIDE IN WORLD SUPERSPORT IN 2006 (NOV 30, 2005)
- Josh Brookes,
2005 Australian Superbike and Supersport Champion has today signed
with Team Caracchi NCR Ducati to compete in the 2006 World Supersport
Championship riding a Ducati 749RS. Team Caracchi NCR Ducati is
factory supported team with a great deal of experience in both
Superbike and World Supersport racing. Both Josh and Team Caracchi
NCR are delighted to join forces for 2006 and look forward to
a successful year.
- The well
deserved move to WSS with NCR Ducati is on the back of a double
Championship win in both classes for Joe Rocket Honda at Phillip
Island just over two weeks ago. The signing caps off a great year
for Josh which not only includes the two Australian Championships,
but a sixth place in the Suzuka 8 Hour, where he beat many factory
teams.
- Honda Australia
congratulate Josh on this very exciting move to the international
arena. "We're sorry Josh won't be riding for an international
Honda team next year, but are pleased that he has been able to
secure a place with a highly competitive outfit," said Honda
Australia's General Manager of Motorcycles, Tony Hinton. Upon
signing, Josh extended his thanks to Honda MPE and the entire
team that has supported him since 2002; in particular, the unwavering
support of Joe Rocket Honda during his recovery to full health
from a devastating racing accident in 2004.
HALLIDAY FOR GP2 TEST (NOV 25, 2005)
- New Zealand
racing driver Matt Halliday will undergo an official one day test
for the 2006 Formula GP2 Series in Europe on the 2nd of December
at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France. The test eventuated
following his impressive performances in the A1 Grand Prix series
in which he has been racing for A1TEAM.NZL. Formula GP2 is currently
seen as the last step to Formula One as the series forms the main
support races to the European rounds of the Formula One Championship.
- Halliday
will test for the French based DAMS team who have been motor racing
front runners since it was formed in 1988, now including the very
successful French A1GP Team. The team have claimed several European
titles including the 1990 F3000 and the 2003 Formula Renault V6
Championships. In the 2005 inaugural GP2 Series, DAMS finished
in 9th place overall and are looking to improve on that result
in 2006.
- It is a busy
time for Matt as he arrived back in New Zealand on Tuesday after
a good result in the Malaysian round of the A1GP Series where
he qualified 5th and ended the weekend 3rd overall on cumulative
points. He will leave for France on Monday and after the test,
return to Dubai for the next A1GP series round.
- "This
is a great opportunity with an excellent team" said Halliday.
"We have been talking to Jean Paul Driot and Eric Boulier,
from DAMS, since qualifying on pole at Monaco in 2003. It's excellent
to get a test organised and start working towards a GP2 drive
for next year which will make us even stronger for A1TEAM.NZL."
- The Formula
GP2 Series is a pure bred, high tech, single-seater racing format
where all chassis are designed and built by Italian manufacturer
Dallara. Power comes from a 4.0 litre, V8 Renault engine developing
580 brake horsepower via a six-speed semi automatic gearbox. The
"stepping stone to Formula One" reference has been endorsed
by the 2005 GP2 Series winner, Nico Rosberg, being signed for
the Williams Grand Prix Team for the 2006 F1 Championship.
GLENN ALLERTON TO RIDE FOR JOE ROCKET HONDA (NOV 18, 2005)
- Fresh on
the heels of Honda Australia’s two most successful road
racing years ever, Glenn Allerton has officially been signed to
ride in the Superbike and Supersport class for Joe Rocket Honda
in 2006. Over
the past four years, Allerton has progressively made his mark
on the tar after honing his skills on dirt bikes from the tender
age of nine.
- The 24 year
old, Camden, NSW based rider spent the next seven years roosting
national championship motocross tracks, but after a badly broken
leg in 2001 forced him to sit back and think about his future,
Glenn decided a road racing career was the next logical step.
“I had a pretty good first year out in 2001. I finished
third in the 250cc production class and then in the following
year, I only raced three rounds but still managed to finish third
overall.”
- In 2003,
Allerton made the step up to the 600cc class, and clearly showed
his talent by winning two rounds as a privateer at Phillip Island
and Queensland Raceway. As a result he took the trophy home for
top privateer that year. Glenn’s success continued into
2004 where he put in a consistent season, including a win in the
World Super’s support races, enough to place him second
overall in the Championships. That
was also enough for the amenable lad to land a factory ride in
Superbikes for 2005.
- “This
past year has been okay for me, but I suppose it could have been
better too,” he said. “I
had a win at Queensland raceway and a few other good races and
finished sixth overall which I think is pretty good for my first
year in the big class.” “What
I’m really looking forward to now though is getting started
with Honda. I haven’t had the chance to ride the race bike
yet, but I did take a new CBR1000RR out for a ride on the street
and it felt like an awesome machine. I know the new model is going
to be even more incredible.”
- Allerton
will compete in all rounds of the Australian Superbike Championships
alongside team mate and 2004 Dual Champion Adam Fergusson. After
three years with the Honda Team, newly crowned Dual Champion Josh
Brookes will move on to an international outfit, news of which
is yet to be confirmed.
- “We
were on the look out for someone who has the talent and dedication
required to be a part of the Joe Rocket team,” said Team
Manager Paul Free. “Glenn
is exactly the kind of rider we were hoping to get and I’m
confident we will see some excellent results from him in 2006.”
Hackett Crowned F4000 Champion (NOV 14, 2005)
- Peter Hackett’s
classy final round performance at Wakefield Park Raceway this
weekend saw him wrap up the 2005 Australian F4000 Championship
title to become the first driver in history to win both an Australian
Formula 4000 and Formula 3 Championship.
- Driving the
N#1 Reynard faultlessly all year for RALT Australia, Hackett drove
his team to their fourth consecutive F4000 Championship victory
by securing pole, winning both races, clocking three fastest lap
times and setting a new lap record of .56.30 seconds, breaking
the lap record previously set by Johnny Reid in the same car and
team.
- All year
he clearly demonstrated he is a leader not a follower. Winning
nine out of 10 F4000 races and 10 out of 12 GT races in 2005 Hackett
has established himself as one of Australia’s top drivers,
totalling 19 races wins from 22 starts which earned him the lead
in the F4000 and GT Championships simultaneously.
- Hackett,
who is also Team Lamborghini Australia’s number one driver,
lead the GT Championship by 54 points going into the final round.
His success in the “Black Bull” has not been easy,
the result of the team incurring strict parity regulations after
each race win. This eventually took its toll on the Diablo (8000/6300
revs) when it counted most and the Lamborghini was sidelined this
weekend as a result of mechanical problems. Hackett’s DNF
resulting in the Championship points being awarded to a rival
team.
- “Motor
sport can be cruel at times,” states Hackett who now has
his sights set on taking his career to the next level.
- Hackett,
the newly crowned F4000 Champion, maintains that “Focus”
has been the key to his success this year.
- “I’m
well on my way to taking the next step in my career. Earlier this
year I tested with the Australian A1GP Team and Team Australia
Champ Car Atlantic Team and achieved great results. I have been
approached by teams and am currently in negotiations to take a
partnership to the next stage and am seeking external, combined
with long standing current sponsorship.
- “It
has been a big year for me, the highly professional Team at RALT
Australia have done an outstanding job on the Reynard all year,
the car has been faultless and I couldn’t have won the Championship
without them.
- “A
special thank you to Marco Caputo (The Benchmark Property Group)
for directing and promoting my career and to all my sponsors and
supporters, I can’t thank them enough for their continuing
support. The next few months are going to be very exciting,”
said Hackett.
MARCUS MARSHALL LOSES CHAMPCAR DRIVE (NOV 3, 2005)
- Marcus Marshall
will miss the final round of Champcars after being sacked by Craig
Gore's Team Australia. The move was imminent but was kept under
wraps during the Gold Coast Indy. Marshall's place will be taken
by Dutchman Charles Zwolsman who won the Atlantic Series championship
this year.
- TEAM AUSTRALIA
STATEMENT: it has been decided to terminate the agreement between
Marcus Marshall and WPS because of certain breaches. Consequently
Marcus Marshall will no longer be driving for Team Australia in
the Champ Car World Series. The breaches were serious and substantial
and occurred before the Surfers Paradise event. Given the significance
of the Surfers Paradise event to Champ Car, Queensland and Australia,
there was a resolve to defer all decisions until after the Surfers
Paradise race. This allowed time for proper consideration of all
the circumstances. After careful consideration of the breaches
it was unanimously agreed to by all team owners (Craig Gore, Derrick
Walker, John Fish) to terminate Marcus Marshall's driver and sponsorship
agreement effective immediately. It is disappointing for all concerned,
however the breaches were considered incapable of being remedied
by all team owners. Given the termination and the form and nature
of the agreement, no further comments can be made.
JAMES COURTNEY JOINS STONE BROTHERS V8 SUPERCAR (OCT 31, 2005)
- 25 year old
James Courtney will join V8 Supercar full-time and fill in Marcus
Ambrose's seat at Stone Brothers Racing. Courtney is Australia's
most promising open wheeler chanmpion having won the world karting
championship, British Formula Ford championship and the Japanese
Formula 3 championship. He has been racing in the Japanese GT
championship with Toyota for the last 2 years and finished runner-up.
Courtney's debut with V8 Supercar is similar to Ambrose when he
returned from the European open wheel racing.
- COURTNEY:
“This last couple of weeks has been amazing as I had some
incredible offers both in Japan and Australia for 2006 onwards
so the pressure was really on to decide where I would go. It was
only on Thursday that the decision was actually made and the contract
signed ... Having raced around the world, I’m now really
looking forward to racing in my own country. The timing was spot-on;
the championship is great, the team is great, the car is great
and it certainly ticked all the right boxes for me. The offer
from both SBR and Ford was one that I simply couldn’t refuse.
Like me, Ross and Jimmy Stone are real racers through- and-through
and always produce the goods. It’s a whole new era for SBR
with a new team sponsor in JELD-WEN, a brand- new car with the
BF Falcon and myself as the new driver. I know that together,
we can really achieve something.”
- ROSS
STONE: “Courtney became a priority signing for
the team soon after he made his debut at the Super Cheap Auto
1000 at Bathurst earlier this month. It was during one of the
early practice sessions that Jimmy (co-owner Jimmy Stone) and
I were keeping a close eye on the lap times of all the drivers.
Very early in the first session James’ lap times flashed
up and Jimmy and I turned to each other and without saying a word
we both knew that James had to be a priority signing for us ...
To run the way he did so early at such a difficult track proved
the caliber of driver he is. Marcos is a very hard driver to replace
and leaves a great legacy but we believe that James can match
his feats in the years to come.”
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