A Day At The ... V8 Supercars
The Sunday Age
Sunday March 17, 2002
BRAZILIAN WITH A BUZZ
They haven't quite started doing the samba in the grandstand yet, but such has been the buzz caused by Brazilian V8 supercar new boy Max Wilson that it can only be a matter of time before crowds from Darwin's Hidden Valley to Victoria's Phillip Island are bedecked in Brazilian soccer shirts and barracking for the sport's most exotic recruit.
Max Wilson might not be the most Brazilian sounding of names, but he is, nonetheless, a son of Sao Paulo, hometown of Ayrton Senna and present F1 star Rubens Barrichello, among others.
Well, that's where he grew up. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, in August, 1972, and his family moved to Sao Paulo in 1973.
Wilson became the story of the moment at the weekend when he rocketed from nowhere in the warm-up and practice to take fifth place on the grid in Friday's top-15 shootout.
This was not a bad effort for a man who, before Friday's practice and qualifying sessions, had completed only 25 laps in a V8 during limited pre-season testing and the exhibition races at the grand prix.
His performance did not shock John Briggs, the entrepreneur who runs Briggs Motorsport. The Queenslander was smart enough to hire the Brazilian for a vacant seat in his three-car team. Wilson spent time with the Williams F1 team as a test driver (alongside none other than Colombian sensation Juan Pablo Montoya) and has rather more impressive credentials than most V8 rookies.
``He's a terrific talent and a great person as well," Briggs said yesterday. ``I think he's definitely got what it takes to win the championship. Perhaps not this year, but next year."
HARD DAY'S NIGHT WASTED
Several of the Dick Johnson team mechanics had a hangdog look about them yesterday but it was nothing to do with all-night partying. They had been up round the clock, but it was work, rather than pleasure.
After the team's hotshoe driver Paul Radisich had crashed the Falcon in Friday morning's warm-up session, everyone associated with the Gold Coast-based team knew they were going to be in for a hard day's night, rebuilding a racecar that had smashed into a concrete wall at 240kmh and received more than $65,000 damage.
The car was taken back to the Victoria Park street circuit at 6.30am. The five team men who had been up all night went back to their hotels for a snooze and the day crew took over. The car missed the morning warm-up session, but was ready for Radisich to take his place at the back of the grid for yesterday's race.
But, they probably wished they hadn't bothered. Within five minutes of the start, the Kiwi star had parked the car after its engine gave up.
NOW, NON-STOP BATHURST
Procar series chief Ross Palmer yesterday sought to steal some of the V8 boys thunder by announcing his group's plans to put on the first Bathurst 24-hour race later his year.
Palmer, a Queensland-based businessman and motor sport entrepreneur, has been running the Nations Cup series in Australia for several years under the Procar banner. The aim is to eventually have the Bathurst 24-hour race regarded in the endurance racing world in the same light as the other great day/night tests - Le Mans, Spa, the Nurburgring and Daytona - on a circuit Palmer describes as one of three motor racing icons in the world.
``Australia has never seen a race like this. Many of the world's top drivers have been hoping for years for an opportunity to race at Bathurst and we predict a strong international entry list. We have already had inquiries from the UK, Europe and the United States," said Palmer, who has driven in the Nuremburg 24-hour race for the past four years. Palmer is forecasting a massive 83-car grid for the event.
BROCK FANS READY TO ROAR
You can't beat a great brand name. It doesn't matter that he last raced five years ago, but Peter Brock is never far from the consciousness of dyed-in-the-wool Holden fans.
And now that he has announced plans to front his own V8 supercar team, the true believers are out in force again.
Typical of the Holden fans in the crowd yesterday were 27-year-old Andrew Edwards and 25-year-old Sarah Cannell, from Port Pirie. Both were decked out in Holden Racing Team gear, but said they would have little trouble switching their allegiance to Team Brock.
``We drove to Bathurst to see his last race and we would support him again - unless he moved to Ford," said Sarah.
© 2002 The Sunday Age
