CLIPSAL 500 FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 1, 2015 V8 Supercars Clipsal 500 I Welcome/Contents 3 CLIPSAL 500 Contents FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 1, 2015 IN EVERY ISSUE! EDITOR IN CHIEF: Gordon Lomas 3 WELCOME/CONTENTS 23 T KELLY/ R KELLY 7 CIRCUIT GUIDE 24 CARUSO/MOFFAT JOURNALIST: 9 V8 SUPERCARS ENTRY LIST 25 BRIGHT/COULTHARD Tom Howard 11 PREVIOUS CLIPSAL 500 WINNERS 26 WOOD/ HALF PAGE PIC 13 TV 27 MCLAUGHLIN/WALL DESIGN: 14 2015 V8 SUPERCARS CALENDAR 28 AMBROSE/ VAN GISBERGEN Kirstie Fuentes 16 WHINCUP/LOWNDES 30 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONS 17 TANDER/COURTNEY 32 SUPPORTS ENTRY LIST SALES/MARKETING: 18 SLADE/HOLDSWORTH 39 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Leisa Emberson 19 BLANCHARD/PERCAT 20 WALSH/DAVISON PARTNERS: 21 WINTERBOTTOM/MOSTERT SUBSCRIBE AND NEVER Armor All REYNOLDS/HEIMGARTNER 22 MISS A COPY! Castrol Edge Pirtek Coates Hire Crimsafe Dunlop Tata Motors Apex Jobstop GearWrench SUPPORT ENTRY LIST DID YOU KNOW SUpercheap Auto STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup starts the hunt in Adelaide for Four Australians will be among an unprecedented seventh V8 Supercars the field for the debut of Robby Championship.... Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks 37 Series at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide... 4 Let Battle Commence t’s time for the talking to stop and the With a season under his belt in the Volvo Polestar racing to begin. Racing S60, Scott McLaughlin will be a contender The annual season opener on the alongside Tekno Autosports Shane van Gisbergen, I Adelaide streets never fails to disappoint who finished as the runner-up last year. producing a fitting spectacle for the V8 Predicting the outcome for this weekend’s races is Supercars curtain raiser. a tough prospect. This weekend should provide a glimpse as to who While the V8 Supercars will take centre stage, there has done their homework during the off season will be plenty to cater for all motorsport fans with a break and who will need to play catch up. capacity grid set for the Australian GT Championship At times last season Jamie Whincup appeared to featuring 11 manufacturers. be struggling, but once again he rose to the occasion There will also be spectacular action from Robby assuming the championship lead by August, which Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks, while Jean-Eric he never gave up. Vergne will demonstrate a screaming 2009 Ferrari F1 The now six-time champion, behind the wheel of car around the Parklands circuit. the Red Bull Racing Holden Commodore, will again Dunlop Series, V8 Utes, Porsche Carrera Cup and be the man to beat despite showing lacklustre pace in the classic touring cars from the Touring Car Masters the pre-season SuperTest at Sydney Motorsport Park. complete a bumper line up of supports. Although considered a favourite, Whincup will surely face stiff competition from several angles this season. The Holden Racing Team will aim to continue its Tom Howard resurgence last season with James Courtney and Garth Tom Howard Tander, while Prodrive Racing Australia will certainly Multimedia Journalist, have their eyes fixed on stopping Red Bull Racing. Speedcafe.com 4 V8 Supercars Clipsal 500 I Did You Know Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup starts the hunt in Adelaide for an unprecedented seventh 1V8 Supercars Championship. He is also aiming to become the first driver to win five crowns in a row, currently sitting alongside the late Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan as the only driver to win four championships in succession. His RBRA team is also aiming for history of its own – to become the first to claim the Team’s Championship six times in a row. Holden pilots Garth 2 Tander and Craig Lowndes will rack up their 17th Clipsal 500 appearance this year, making them the only drivers to have competed in each and every Clipsal 500 since it began back in 1999. The retirement of Russell Ingall – who joins the FOX SPORTS TV team for the season and competed in every Clipsal from 1999 to 2014 – also leaves Lowndes as the most experienced driver in the championship with 236 ATCC/ V8SC round starts. THE 2015 V8 SUPERCARS GRID The return of Marcos Ambrose means that 3all bar one of the 10 Clipsal 500 victors from the event’s 16-year history will be on the grid for the 2015 event. Craig Lowndes (1999), Garth Tander (2000, 2010), Jason Bright (2001), Ambrose (2004, 2005), Jamie Whincup (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011), Rick Kelly (2007), Will Davison (2012), Shane van Gisbergen (2013) and James Courtney (2014) will line up among the 25-car field. The only other Clipsal 500 winner, Mark Skaife (2002, MARCOS AMBROSE SET 2003), will also be in Adelaide as part of the FOX Sports FOR CLIPSAL 500 RETURN TV team. V8 Supercars Clipsal 500 I Did You Know 5 The new model Ford Falcon FG X makes its 4racing debut at the Clipsal 500 and the new car desperately needs to make an impact and stop Holden’s recent domination of the event. Ford has won just one of the last 11 individual races in Adelaide from 2010 onwards. History is also against Pepsi Max Crew pilot Mark Winterbottom, who has never claimed a race win or a pole position at the Clipsal 500. He also remains the last driver to claim a pole position for Ford – way back in November 2013 at Phillip Island. It’s the longest pole position drought Ford has had in the DAVID WALL WILL MAKE HIS 50TH V8 championship in the last 30 years. SUPERCARS ROUND START The Holden Racing Team THE FORD FGX SET FOR CLIPSAL 500 DEBUT 5begins a very special season in Adelaide given 2015 is the 25th anniversary of the creation of the team in 1990. HRT has won more Clipsal 500s – six – than any other team in the event’s history and holds the record for most race wins (175) and pole positions (89) in ATCC/V8SC history. Team BOC’s Jason Bright, 6aged 41, becomes the oldest driver on the grid following the retirement of 2005 V8 Supercars Champion Russell Ingall. Craig Lowndes now becomes the second oldest (aged 40) while 19-year-old Super Black signing Andre Heimgartner is the youngest on the grid. The average age of the grid in Adelaide is 30.6 with 14 drivers in their 30s and eight in their 20s. Dunlop will celebrate a special milestone at the Clipsal 500 – 8the season opening race on Saturday will be its 400th race as control tyre supplier to the V8 Supercars Championship. Wilson Security GRM Volvo The company has provided the control tyre to both the V8SC and Dunlop Series 7pilot David Wall will celebrate a milestone in his debut for since 2002. Garry Rogers’ team – his 50th V8 Supercars Championship round start. Ash Walsh (Erebus Motorsport V8) and Andre Heimgartner Now in his fourth full-time V8SC 9 (Super Black Racing) are the two rookies in this year’s Clipsal season with his third different team, Wall 500 field. finished eighth in Race 3 in Adelaide last Neither has competed in the main Clipsal 500 event before, however both have year and won the Australian GT round experience in Adelaide in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series and Heimgartner has there in 2010. also raced there in Porsche Carrera Cup. Another driver making a ‘50’ in Walsh won a race in each of the last two years in Adelaide in the DVS and was Adelaide is new Lucas Dumbrell runner-up in the 2013 series. Motorsport recruit Nick Percat. The 2011 Bathurst 1000 winner will start his 50th V8SC race in the season opener on the Saturday. V8 Supercars Dunlop Series Champion Paul Dumbrell makes Erebus Motorsport V8’s Will Davison is 10history in Adelaide as the first champion in the series’ 16- set to start his 300th V8SC race in Race 2 year history to return and attempt to defend his title. on Saturday at the Clipsal 500. He will also become the first DVS champion in history to run with the number 1 after a change during the off-season opened up a separate pool of numbers for the DVS rather than utilising the same pool as the V8 Supercars Championship. V8 Supercars Clipsal 500 I Circuit Guide 7 Legend GATE GATE Grant Ave Kensington Rd 9 Corporate Facilities 10 Fullarton Rd GATE GOLD (Gold Zone Access) Feature Race Paddock 2 ZONE PUBLIC Grandstands BRABHAM 8 GATE STRAIGHT CAR PARK PIT ENTRY Heritage Grandstands for people with a disability Grandstand 9 RACE CAGE HAIRPIN 119-125 Showtime FMX Platforms (Gold Zone Access, excluding Grandstands) BMXRAMPage E D C B A Tractionzone 74-84 26 Feb - 1 Mar 2015 13 14 126-134 Oasis (Oasis Access, Gold Zone Access & Corporate Access) GOLD NATIONAL PHARMACY OVERPASS Holden ZONE GATE WATER Gold Zone (Gold Zone Access & Corporate Access) Heaven PIT PAVILION CLUB GATE PLATFORM 9 STATION 139-135 11 PIT PAVILIONS Trackside (Trackside Access, Gold Zone Access & Corporate Access) Brabham Straight 10 V8 Supercars Paddock TURN 10 CLUB 12 CLIPSAL General Admission Viewing Media Centre Pit Straight BARRY SHEENE 114-115 PIT STRAIGHT FUIC OVERPASS RED ZONE Red Zone 98-104 11 113 10-11 BROCK 9-1 Highway 500 V8 Supercars Paddock STRAIGHT 105 106-110 8 CLIPSAL Feature Race L K J I H G F E D C BCOOPERS A AA CHICANE OVERPASS PODIUM TURN 8 GRANDSTAND Paddock 1 BAR CLUB 38-27 ADRENALINE Fence Line & TURN 8 PLATFORM GOLD A ZONE GATE B GOLD GATE 1 13 ZONE Ticket Sales Outlet 7 Rd Wakefield GATE CLIPSALADMIN 500 & SENNA CLUB & CREDENTIALS Ferrari CAR PARK 1 SENNA PLATFORM Gate Entrance Ticketek Ticket Scanner Australian Chicane Supercar ENTRY & EXIT Defence Force 50-39 18-14 WATER Display Oval 2 STATION Tunnel Access GATE GATE Gate Entrance Entrance SIDESHOW DISABLED CAR PARK ALLEY 1 1A Senna GATE DISABLEDRose CAR PARK Gates (Gold & Corporate Access) Gardens 3 26A-19 2 Gates (Officials Only) DISABLED East Tce South Tce VIEWING AREA 51 Superscreens Dequetteville Tce - Adelaide Concert 62 Halifax St STAGE Oval Bowling Club CONCERT Marshals’ Headquarters WATER OVERPASS STATION CLIPSAL OVERPASS Turn Numbers DISABLED GATE VIEWING AREA 3 Official Event Merchandise & Programs Angas St Feature Race Paddocks St.