IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU 12th NOVEMBER 2014VOLUME 4 - ISSUE 21

Castrol-backed V8 Supercar crews head to the famous Phillip Island circuit this weekend eager for further success as the season draws towards its climax.

Ford Performance Racing is looking to regain its front-running form at Victorian circuit with a return to the Dunlop hard tyre.

The fast-paced seaside track historically favours FPR’s cars and is a standout favourite amongst the drivers.

A winner at Phillip Island in 2012, Mark Winterbottom’s championship campaign continues into the penultimate round where only wins can push him closer to the top of the leaderboard.

Winterbottom, who is lying second in the championship standings, will be

CASTROL CREWS EYEING PHIILIP ISLAND SUCCESS

desperate to keep his title hopes alive.

“We’ve almost finished the season so it’s all coming to an end,” said Winterbottom.

“Phillip Island is a place that should be good to us as it’s very similar to Bathurst. We had good car speed at Bathurst so I think Phillip Island will suit the cars that we’ve got.

“We need a good couple of results just to finish the year off and get our confidence back for next year. It’s an important round even though the championship is looking a bit out of reach so we need to regroup and finish on a high.”

Chaz Mostert is also keen to climb further up in the ranks, with a podium

finish at the world-class circuit likely put him in the top five after a strong run in the Enduro Cup.

“I’m pretty pumped about Phillip Island,” said Mostert.

“It’s an awesome track; you can see the ocean as you come over the straight. It’s a good place to go. It’s kind of the home round for us, we don’t get to test there through the year but it’s a high speed and exciting track.”

Supercheap Auto Racing’s Tim Slade hopes to keep the strong results flowing after a hard fought podium finish at the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.

The 29-year-old battled rising temperatures inside his Commodore to finish third in Race 31 followed by

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2014 V8 Supercars Championship

Championship Points

1 Jamie Whincup 2835

2 Mark Winterbottom 2433

3 Shane Van Gisbergen 2357

4 Craig Lowndes 2331

5 Fabian Coulthard 2192

6 Chaz Mostert 2147

7 James Courtney 2135

8 Scott McLaughlin 2019

9 Garth Tander 1806

10 Michael Caruso 1688

11 Will Davison 1626

12 Nick Percat 1620

13 Rick Kelly 1577

14 Jason Bright 1560

15 James Moffat 1526

16 David Reynolds 1504

17 Scott Pye 1482

18 Russell Ingall 1362

19 Tim Slade 1323

20 David Wall 1205

21 Lee Holdsworth 1186

22 Jack Perkins 1103

23 Todd Kelly 1076

24 Dale Wood 996

25 Paul Dumbrell 810

26 Robert Dahlgren 783

a fourth in Race 34 on the Surfers Paradise streets.

“The track (Phillip Island) was resurfaced last year – there’s more grip and the degradation is not quite as high as what it was so that’s always nice,” said Slade.

“I think with the changes to the Supercheap Auto Commodore, we can roll up near the mark and be somewhere near the front again.”

Meanwhile, Nissan Motorsport head to Phillip Island feeling confident after securing another podium courtesy of Michael Caruso at last month’s Castrol EDGE Gold Coast

The event will see Jack Daniel’s Nissan driver Todd Kelly make his 200th V8 Supercar event start.

“You go along racing, and once every now and then a stat like this is brought to your attention, you reflect back on all of the races you have been involved in, and all of the highs and lows experienced along the way,” said Kelly.

“So to bring up that number, especially at Phillip Island, which has had some good memories, is pretty cool.

“I love driving at Phillip Island; any track that has a good mix of high speed corners is a favourite of mine.”

After scoring a third place finish at the Gold Coast last month, Caruso currently

sits 10th in the championship fight.

With just six races remaining, Caruso is keen to finish the year off strong and maintain – or even improve – on that position.

“We just need to keep the flow going. The speed of the car has been really good, so the biggest thing for us is to keep that going consistently inside the top 10,” said Michael Caruso.

“We are consistently progressing and moving up the field, but now is the time to cash in. It’s vital for us to come away with a big bag of points this weekend."

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Castrol-oiled Volkswagen Motorsport head into final round of the World Rally Championship in Wales with the luxury of having already wrapped up the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles.

Sébastien Ogier (Polo R WRC #1) retained the world championship title with victory in Spain, and second and third place overall have likewise already been secured, by Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC #2) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Polo R WRC #9) respectively.

There therefore won’t be any tactics involved in the proceedings at Wales RallyGB all that matters in the final event of the season is scoring the win.

This is an interesting situation ahead of one of the toughest rallies of the season. The teams will have more to contend with than merely gravel tracks that will be sodden in Wales come the end of November.

CASTROL BACKED VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT PREPARE FOR RALLY GB

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2014 FIA DRIVERS´ STANDINGS

Pos Driver Total

1. Sebastien Ogier 242

2. Jari-Matti Latvala 211

3. Andreas Mikkelsen 150

4. Mikko Hirvonen 108

5. Mads Ostberg 92

6. Thierry Neuville 91

7. Kris Meeke 84

8. Elfyn Evans 71

9. Martin Prokop 42

10. Dani Sordo 40

An extra adrenalin rush will be provided by the fog and by the later sunrise and earlier onset of dusk than in other rallies.

Newly crowned double world champion Ogier has admitted the pressure is off and is looking forward to the final event of the year.

“We achieved the biggest goal of the season at the Rally Spain, so the pressure is off. I want to enjoy the last rally of the season, which means getting a good result,” said Ogier.

“Our tests in Wales mean we have prepared perfectly for the complex conditions. The unpredictable weather, in particular, makes the Rally Great Britain very complicated and a real challenge.

“Experience shows that every driver wants to end the season as strongly as possible at the final rally of the year, before heading into the well-earned break.”

“I can well imagine that Jari-Matti will be looking to celebrate his third win of the season in Wales.”

Meanwhile, Castrol-oiled M-Sport are hoping to finish the year on the high as legendary driver Mikko Hirvonen gears up for his final WRC event after announcing his retirement last week.

M-Sport will also prepare entries for regulars Elfyn Evans and Robert Kubica along with a car for Brit Matthew Wilson.

“This is going to be a very special event for me, my last in the FIA World Rally Championship,” said Hirvonen.

“It was actually my first WRC event in a world rally car and I can’t wait to get out there and experience it all for the final time. The stages are really nice – fast and flowing – and I’m sure that I’m going to enjoy every single corner.“I’ve always enjoyed this event. It’s a tough one, but I think that’s one of the reasons why I like it so much. The conditions are really challenging and the grip is changing all the time. There can

be mud, fog, even snow and that makes it one of the biggest tests of the year for the drivers.

“It felt really good to be on the podium in Spain, and to do it again at my last event would be amazing. I think we’re going to have an emotional day on Sunday, and it would be great to say our final farewell from the podium.”

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Newly crowned World Superbike champion Sylvain Guintoli has agreed a deal to join the Castrol-oiled Pata Honda squad for next season.

The move comes just hours after the Frenchman secured his maiden world title with a double win at the season ending round at Qatar for the factory Aprilia team.

Guintoli will be joined at the Dutch squad by Michael van der Mark who will graduate from Pata Honda’s supersport setup.

The announcement will see Northern Irishman Jonathan Rea, who finished third in the standings this year, and Leon Haslam leave the team.

Rea will join 2013 world champion Tom Sykes at the works Kawasaki outfit while Haslam is evaluating his options.

PATA HONDA SIGNS NEW WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPION SYLVAIN GUINTOLI

“The events of this season and especially last night are still buzzing in my head, but I’m delighted to be joining the Honda family and to be reuniting with Pata,” said Guintoli.

“The last time we worked together was a very unexpected but successful partnership. I brought Pata their first victories and we have a strong relationship.

“I’m looking forward to tackling this new challenge and I can’t wait to get going. Johnny [Rea] has obviously been strong on the Honda all season, and sometimes he’s been very strong. So I think there is definitely a big potential with the bike and I think the new rules for next year will suit it.

“For us this is good news and I can’t wait to understand how it works; but

it looks like a really good package and I’m looking forward to getting the first impressions soon.”

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Castrol’s automotive partner Jaguar Land Rover has joined forced with British World Land Speed Record team Bloodhound SSC.

In conjunction with the announcement of the new partnership, the Bloodhound SSC squad and Jaguar teamed up to conduct a test of vital communications software, using Jaguar’s all new F Type machine. The test took place at Hakskeen Pan desert in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

The test marks the start of a major technical partnership between Jaguar and

CASTROL AUTOMOTIVE PARTNER ANNOUNCES BLOODHOUND SSC PARTNERSHIP

to the Bloodhound Project. This is a very fine match – Jaguar is very strong on innovation and with its huge drive in advanced technology, education and motorsport track record, we have the perfect partner.

“Together we have developed outstanding inter-team synergy and this is a very special relationship. We are proud to carry the Jaguar branding on Bloodhound SSC.”

Bloodhound SSC is hoping to stage an attempt to claim the Land Speed World Record next year.

The Bloodhound Project, with the ultimate aim of raising the world land speed record above 1,000mph and to assist in inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers, which is the overall objective of the project. The current record stands at 763.035mph and was set by Andy Green in Thrust SSC in 1997. Andy will drive the Bloodhound Supersonic car.

The AWD F-TYPE R Coupé was driven was driven flat-out by Bloodhound Project Director and former World Land Speed Record holder, Richard Noble, who said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce Jaguar as a Main Partner

FLOCK AND SIEMENS

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FLOCK AND SIEMENS

STEFAN MARJORAM

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Loyal Castrol supporters the Solitaire Automotive Group were once again involved in the prestigious John Blanden’s Climb to the Eagle hillclimb run at Adelaide last week.

The event hosted by Sporting Car Club South Australia, was once again proudly supported by Solitaire Automotive, who added a number of interesting vehicles to the field, which included the stunning Jaguar F Type Convertible and Maserati GranTurismo MC Sport that led the field away, waved off by Glen Dix’s expert flag waving, which every entrant gets to experience each year.

This year’s run marked the 30th anniversary of the event which was orginally held as a fringe event for the Australian Formula Grand Prix when it was held in Adelaide.

The traditional route out of the City and via Eagle On The Hill saw the field arrive at the Belair Country Club for morning tea and to hear from this year’s guest speaker, former Australian touring

A field of around 200 cars took part in the event.

CASTROL SUPPORTERS SOLITAIRE AUTOMOTIVE ENJOY CLIMB TO THE EAGLE RUN

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