THEM'S THE BRAKES

No shortage of action in store for Tassie’s V8 Supercar supporters

What was the Ferodo Triple Challenge is now the Ferodo Tasmania Challenge. While the subtly different new name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, no one is unhappy to again head south to Symmons Plains.

It will be interesting to see if the crowds continue to flock to the northern Tasmanian circuit in record numbers. In 2004, the pre-event hype centred on the circuit’s return from exile, while last year, the buzz was whether former Launceston schoolboy Marcos Ambrose could win his home round before saying sayonara.

This year, the FTC is just a rank-and-file round, albeit one that will play a crucial role in determining who will be ’06’s Supercar supremo.

Mind you, we will likely see an outpouring of emotion from Tasmanian Peter Brock fans. As this is the first Apple Isle V8 visit since the great man’s death, Taswegians are likely to turn the affair into another big tribute. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s worth remembering that Brocky won four rounds at Symmons during his illustrious career – in ’74, ’78, ’80 and ’84.

Tander reigned supreme last year. Can he do it again?

That last sentence provides a strong hint to the 2.4km circuit’s long and distinguished career as a host venue. A round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (forerunner to the V8 Supercar Championship Series) was first held here in 1969, during the inaugural series. This year will be 34th time it has hosted a round, third behind Sandown (37) and Oran Park (36).

In short, it just feels right that Symmons is back on the championship trail.

You won’t get any argument from Garth Tander. The West Aussie dominated last year’s round and he’s again set to exploit his Toll Commodore’s power advantage. Of course, he’ll have to fend off the three other drivers out of the Walkinshaw Performance Group stable – Rick and Todd Kelly and Mark Skaife.

The FTC will again comprise three races, but with longer runs on Sunday compared to last year. 2005 saw three 100km affairs, this year Saturday’s sprint is again 100 kays, but both Sunday races are 40km longer than last year. Hey, more racing can only be a good thing.

LOOK FOR Don’t forget JB John Bowe will be giving it his all in front of a home crowd. Sorry to harp on about brakes, but those with the best anchors are going to figure prominently in the results, especially as Sunday’s races are significantly longer this year. Therefore, V8X recommends trackside fans wander down to the old Brambles Hairpin to see the stars make their stoppers suffer. Many a driver has overcooked this corner and speared up the escape road. Oh, we mustn’t forget to mention that the leading Tassie native is now John Bowe TRACK FACT Crooked straight Symmons Plains has a well-earned reputation as brake-breaker. This is easy to understand when you consider that it is the series’ fourth fastest circuit – only Pukekohe, Bathurst and Phillip Island have a faster average lap speed – but it features the championship’s slowest corner. The hairpin is negotiated at a snail-like 55km/h. Interestingly, it leads onto the bent back straight, which, despite the slow entry speed, is the eighth fastest on the schedule.

AT THE TRACK

Ticketing

General Admission
Friday – $15 ($12.50 concession)
Saturday – $36.75 ($27.75 concession)
Sunday – $47.75 ($37.75 concession)
3-day – $67.75 ($52.75 concession)
3-day stand – $115 ($94.50 kids U13).
Book at www.ticketek.com or 13 28 49.

Program

Event times unavailable at time of print, but format as follows:
Friday – 1 x practice
Saturday – Qualifying, shootout, 1 x 100km race
Sunday – 2 x 140km race

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Can you remember these incidents?

Monster Supercar shunts have thankfully not featured at Symmons’ last two V8 meetings, although the venue does seemingly have a penchant for tossing up odd incidents. The strangest thing last year was Craig Baird’s attempt to squeeze between the two HSV cars on the cool down lap of race three. The WPS machine clipped the nose of Rick Kelly’s car and turned hard into the wall. "He might have had an early flight or something," was Rick Kelly’s summation. "I don’t know what he was doing. The only worse thing you can do than that is hit the Safety Car." The year before, polystyrene advertising signs must have had magnets in them, as cars kept smashing them to smithereens

FLASHBACK Party on Garth Garth Tander gave us a crystal ball-like look at 2006 at last year’s Tassie round. He displayed superior car speed to sweep the three-race round, indicating he would be a force in the year ahead. The best of the rest were Steve Tander (centre), Steve Richards (left) and Rick Kelly enjoy the spoils of success last year. Richards and Tander’s HSV teammate Rick Kelly. The departing Marcos Ambrose had a shocker – with no less than three spins in one race due to SBR’s dodgy brakes – which virtually ended his championship hopes. 2005 round results 1 Garth Tander Holden 2 Steven Richards Holden 3 Rick Kelly Holden 4 Craig Lowndes Ford 5 Paul Dumbrell Holden 6 Steven Johnson Ford 7 Russell Ingall Ford 8 Greg Murphy Holden 9 Todd Kelly Holden 10 Jason Richards Holden OFF TRACK What’s on when the V8s aren’t The meeting features the penultimate rounds of both the Australian Formula Ford and Australian Performance Car championships. The latter is essentially another struggle between the blue and red corners – FPV and HSV machines – with EVO Lancers, Subarus and BMW M3s thrown in to further spice things up.