MAKING RACING SAFER

The name Goss is very familiar to motor racing fans, and Dr Michael Goss is the brother of Bathurst and AGP winner John. However Michael's speciality is medicine, and he has long been associated with providing on-track medical services at motor sport events through Meditrak (Medical Trackside Services Pty Ltd). Meditrak operates at all NSW circuits as well as events such as the Mt Bulla Hill Climb, ARC Canberra rally, the Australian Safari, AMSAG events and many more.

Medical Rescue also provide off road FIV support to rally racing with remote area and CAMS fire-trained paramedics. This Ford Falcon is a Meditrak First Intervention Vehicle (FIV) which has been loaned to the museum by Dr Goss who has had a long relationship with Medical Rescue to provide professional paramedical and ambulance support at events ranging from club days to the Australian F1 GP.

JAMES WINSLOW WINS F3, GILMOUR SETS LAP RECORD

Winslow won both races today but Gilmour's quickest lap in the race two was 2:04.6187 and a new – official – outright lap record.

In the historic debut of Formula 3 cars on the Mountain, the racing lived up to expectations with plenty of close racing and stunning lap times – but Winslow was again dominant with Gilmour leaving his run too late in today's feature race.

As such the runaway championship leader now heads the standings by 42 points, nearly a full round clear of Gilmour.

"It's been an amazing weekend overall and after some early hitches it all came together," the Briton said.

"After the technical problem earlier in the weekend where we failed the 'box' test with the rear wing after contact from another car, we recovered brilliantly and were able to come through and win both races today.

"It's one of the best tracks I've ever driven a Formula 3 car at. It is direct competition to Macau in terms of the kind of challenge it is. Coming down the mountain you need huge commitment over skyline in 5th gear, and it's flat out.

"We broke the outright lap record here this weekend – I think I was a few thousandths off – so to win the Event and be that close to the record, we're really happy.

"I've got a 42 point lead at this stage is a good start," he added.

"An unbelievable start and we couldn't have planned it better. Hopefully I can continue to win races and if I do the championship will look after itself."

Chris Gilmour finished second, but will be remembered for this weekend's dramatic second race where he and Winslow traded the fastest ever laps logged on the hallowed 6.213km circuit, the benchmark falling four times with Gilmour eventually holding the new record at the mid-2m04 benchmark.

Despite just missing out on the overall win, Gilmour said he was thrilled to create some history this weekend.

"I can die happy now," he joked.

"It's pretty amazing to be here, full stop – but to do something like set the outright lap record that gets talked about so much is pretty special. It requires so much commitment and a great car to do the job here and we had that.

"In the end our car came on a bit too late to tackle James but we're gaining momentum and looking good going into Darwin."

Nick Foster took his Money Choice Team BRM Dallara to third after a race-long battle with Gilmour, the Porsche racer enjoying his weekend with a trio of third-placed efforts in just his second F3 event.

Jordan Skinner was unable to back up his race one success, falling victim to the Mount Panorama concrete after spinning out of race two, at turn one, at half-race distance.

In the feature race he and team-mate John Magro made contact coming into Murray's corner at the end of the first lap, Magro spinning out of the race and Skinner continuing at the rear of the field after a visit to pit lane to fix some underlying damage.

The Forpark Australia F3 National Class was again an open book this weekend, Queenslander Ben Gersekowski becoming the third race winner from three rounds in the F3 'race within a race' for F304 model cars.

Gersekowski headed home the class battle in the BF Racing / Cooltemp Dallara to recover some points after a season-opening incident in the Clipsal 500 that destroyed his original Vics Timber-sponsored car.

He finished fourth outright in today's feature race despite his car sounding decidedly off thanks to a broken exhaust.

"After the Clipsal incident in race three, and a rough start in Tasmania – to bounce back here is an unreal way to get back on top. Winning here is a massive bonus," Gersekowski said.

"I was actually running with the championship class guys at the start of the race but on the fourth lap in the car started sounding different. I was speaking to Brett (Francis, team manager) on the radio and was a bit concerned, but he said 'keep pushing'.

"Both Hayden and Adrian have picked up extremely well. I've had to work for it this weekend. It's really tough and from here it's a matter of consistency – this weekend has got my confidence back."

Less than 20 points cover round one winner Hayden Cooper, round two winner Adrian Cottrell and Gersekowski in the Forpark Championship with four rounds to go.

The next round of the F3 Australian Drivers' Championship will be staged at Darwin's Hidden Valley Raceway and will feature the second running of the City of Darwin Cup on June 15-17.

Article source: bathurstmotorfestival.com.au    Image: bathurstmotorfestival.com.au

RECORD BREAKING SUNDAY AT BATHURST MOTOR FESTIVAL

IT TOOK A LITTLE longer than expected, but the outright Mount Panorama circuit lap record fell today at the Bathurst Motor Festival.The three-day Easter festival of motor sport concluded today in overcast conditions, but that didn't keep people away with Event organisers announcing an improved three-day attendance of 10,134 – up approximately 1,000 people over 2011.

Patrons donated generously to official charity, Legacy, with officials reporting pleasing results from the charitable efforts.

The big story of the day occurred in the Formula 3 races, where Chris Gilmour now holds the new outright Mount Panorama lap record at 2:04.6817 after breaking it in the second of three races contested.

British driver and Championship Leader James Winslow won two of the three races and the weekend overall and says Formula 3 on the Mountain could have a big future.

"There is a real opportunity for this to become a major event on the global Formula 3 landscape," he said.

"This is one of the very best race tracks in the world and if it can be built into a key global event for Formula 3 the Japanese and European competitors will come, there's no doubt about it.

"A lot of people have been watching overseas and paying attention to what happened this weekend – and the lap times don't hurt either!"

The FW1 Aussie Racing Car Series ended in thrilling fashion after a bruising weekend on the Mountain not without its fair share of drama.

Adrian Cottrell edged out Kyle Clews for the race four win by just 0.06 seconds after a thrilling race, but Clews had done enough to secure the overall round victory, with Cottrell on the podium in second and Peter Carr third.

A major crash in the earlier race saw driver Shane Howard airlifted to the Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney, however the driver is in a stable condition and underwent further tests in the afternoon.

A safety-car free one-hour Production Sports Car race ended with Porsche GT3 Cup racer Neale Muston ending his dominating weekend on top again, taking the flag first by nearly a full minute.

Tim Mackie and Scott Bargwanna combined to take their Lotus Exige HPE to second place with Andrew Miedecke teaming with regular driver Jamie Augustine in the thundering Daytona Coupe to finish third. A pair of Lotuses completed the top five.

The Kenda Tyres HQ Endurance challenge also completed a one-hour race, their second of two for the weekend.

Several safety cars affected the outcome, with drivers not required to execute a driver change choosing to pit earlier in the race and gain an advantage, leaving yesterday's winners Paul Butler and Rod Dawson back in sixth place, despite setting the quickest lap.

Rod Raatjes won the race, David Keleher second and Warrin Trewin third.

Greg Toepfer was unable to complete a sweep of the Historic Touring Cars Group N races, failing to finish today's third and final race and leaving the win to Bathurst driver Michael Anderson in his Ford Falcon GTHO. Cameron Warner and Leon Bell completed the podium.

The final two outings for the NSW Road Racing Club regularity were dominated by Roger Ranflt, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. The Evo lapped within just a few tenths of a second of its nominated time of 2:44.0 seconds and thus scored the lowest penalty points on each outing today.

Alex Veryinis (HSV Clubsport) and Les Smith in his Renault Clio were also in contention throughout the day. A massive 47 cars competed across the weekend.

The Porsche Club of NSW was all change, with Saturday's pace setters down the order in the first run today, with Tim Bickford scoring the least number of penalty points in the first run this morning. Paul Dortkamp (Porsche 928) was on top of the standings in the second session.

Article source: bathurstmotorfestival.com.au    Image: bathurstmotorfestival.com.au

THE 1977 FORM FINISH

Our much loved XC Falcon, the Bathurst winning Allan Moffat car from 1977, has been joined in the museum by its famous sister.

The co-star of the famous stage-managed 1-2 finish, car number 2, another from the fabulous David Bowden collection, is no less a part of Australia's motor racing history. Driven by Colin Bond and Alan Hamilton, it actually out qualified the Moffat/Jacky Ickx car (2.25.2 versus 2.25.6) to take second on the grid, 1.1 seconds behind the Peter Brock/Phil Brock A9X Torana.

Both the XCs were jumped at the start by the Alan Grice A9X which also passed Brock to lead the opening lap. It took just six laps for the white, blue and red Falcons to take up station at the front of the field, with Bond ahead of Moffat. With scant regard for team orders, the pair swapped the lead repeatedly, but by lap 50 Moffat was ahead – Bond holding station behind and keeping third placed John Harvey at bay.

Both cars handed over to their respective co-drivers just before half distance. With Ickx aboard, the number 1 car pulled a decent gap on Hamilton, but by the time the Belgian handed the car back to Moffat the rear brakes were virtually shot.

With Moffat aboard again, the car began to limp towards the finish, lapping around 2.40, while Bond, with a much healthier car, closed right up before being given the infamous "Form Finish 1-2" pit signal. Despite the sight of the two cars staging a blanket finish at much less than full pace, officials denied that Bond had

been ordered to stay behind. To anyone present, and to the millions watching on television, the opposite was patently obvious, but when the chequered flag went out, Bond dutifully kept station behind the team owner. But if the cars had been allowed to run on their merits, the result could well have been much different... In any case, time heals all wounds, and today we're well pleased to have both these cars on display, side by side, just as they were 34 years ago.

THE FRENCH PHASE III

Just 44 seconds stood between the Colin Bond/ Tony Roberts Holden Monaro and the Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland Ford Falcon GTHO at the finish of 130 laps in the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo500, but the defeat galvanised Ford into an allout attack the following year with a Phase 2 version of the GTHO. That year, 1970, single

drivers were permitted to do the entire race, and Allan Moffat and Bruce McPhee emphatically put the blue oval on top of the heap with a 1-2 victory, a lap ahead of Don Holland's Torana.

Twelve months down the track, Ford had a further refinement, the Phase 3, ready for action. But was it ready? At the Sandown Enduro, three weeks before the 1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500, the GTHOs suffered chronic brake problems that were traced to the fact that the pads were in constant contact the rotors and overheating to the point of melting. The solution was a new material for the pads that allowed the Fords to cover the entire race without a change of pads – the first time this had been achieved.

In the XY GTHO Moffat won again, a lap up on the Phil Barnes/Bob Skelton sister car, with veteran David McKay making it a Ford 1-2-3. The dominant scene had been set from the first practice session, when Moffat carved a whopping 13.2 seconds from the lap record, with John French, in car 64E, three seconds behind him and light years ahead of the rest of the field. The Falcons took the first seven places on the gridand eight of the top ten, with only the Valiant Chargers of Leo Geoghegan/Peter Brown (8th) and Bob Beasley (10th) spoiling the whitewash.

John French of course is part of the fabric of Australia's motor racing history, having won the crash-shortened 1981 James Hardie 1000 with Dick Johnson in the XD Falcon, the 1982 Australian GT Championship, and the 1969 Sandown Three Hour with Allan Moffat.

French maintained that doing the more than six hours of the 1971 race wasn't a huge feat. "I'd spent years racing bicycles on both road and track and had won 16 Queensland titles, so I was pretty fit," he said this year at Phillip Island, where he was Patron of the annual Historic Festival, which celebrated 40 years since the Phase 3's Bathurst victory of 1971.

We're indebted to David Bowden for the loan of the iconic John French car, just one in the 70-strong Bowden collection. For a car that cost around $4,500 when new in 1971, you wouldn't get much change out of $1 million today.