Articles by Mark Oastler

The annual Sandown 500 is one of Australia's oldest, best-known and loved touring car endurance races. Its origins can be traced to 1964 and it has been held 48 times in the 55 years that have since passed.

Australia’s 4x2 ute market is dominated by the Toyota HiLux. It’s a favourite for many tradies, small business operators and government/private fleets due to its brand familiarity, load-carrying ability, reliability, variety of body configurations and resale value. And, no doubt, Toyota’s proven success in maintaining and growing fleet business.In 2019 the HiLux commands more than 36 per cent of the local 4x2 ute segment. However, unlike the battle to be top dog in 4x4 ute sales, Toyota’s closest 4x2 competitor is not Ford’s Ranger but Isuzu’s venerable D-Max, which currently attracts more than 13 per cent of sales. We recently trialled a one tonner from the D-Max 4x2 range to find out why it’s such a strong performer in this workhorse-focused market.

The lack of a cab-chassis variant could well be a factor in the relatively small Australian sales of the Fiat Ducato, which with only 5.0 per cent market share currently sits near the bottom of a long list of quality competitors. So, is this largely the result of not offering a cab-chassis variant, or are there others factors at work? We recently put a Ducato through its paces to find out.

Here's a list of things you might not know about Mark Webber...1. How old is Mark Webber?42. He turns 43 on August 27, which also makes him a Virgo.2. How tall is Mark Webber?184cm or 6 feet on the old scale. This height is relatively tall for a racing driver which presented a challenge for Mark in being able to find a comfortable seating position in single-seaters. From Formula Ford to Formula One, the long-limb Aussie was always marginal on cockpit comfort, which makes his achievements even more impressive.3. Where is Mark Webber from?A small NSW regional town called Queanbeyan, with a population of less than 40,000. It’s located on the banks of the Queanbeyan River. In fact, this name evolved from the Aboriginal word ‘quinbean’ meaning ‘clear waters’.4. Where does Mark Webber live?A small village called Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, UK with a population of less than 4000. Must be something special about growing up in a small town which stays with you. He also owns a home at Noosa in Queensland.5. How many Formula One races did Mark Webber win?A total of nine Grand Prix wins from 215 starts, in an F1 career which started in 2002 and ended in 2013. He also scored 42 podium finishes, 13 pole positions and 19 fastest race laps.6. What was Mark Webber’s best result in a Formula One championship?Third and he did it three times in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Beyond F1 he also drove for Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship, which he jointly won in 2015 with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.7. Which teams did Mark Webber drive for in Formula One?Minardi (owned at the time by fellow Aussie Paul Stoddart), Jaguar, Williams and Red Bull as team-mate to Sebastian Vettel.8. What are the most memorable moments from Mark Webber’s Formula One career?His Formula One debut in 2002 which occurred at his home event - the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Minardi was a struggling back-marker team but Webber showed ‘Aussie grit’ by finishing in a fighting fifth place, after starting 18th out of 22 cars and nursing a broken differential. At that time, he became only the fourth Aussie driver to have scored F1 world championship points. He was also twice winner of the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix.9. What were the biggest crashes of Mark Webber’s career?These all occurred in sports car racing. At Le Mans in 1999 he was driving for the Mercedes-AMG team. During practice for the famous 24-hour race, his car suddenly became airborne on Mulsanne Straight at more than 300km/h and did a somersault in mid-air before crashing heavily. A new car was prepared for the race but Webber suffered the same terrifying high-speed flip during the pre-race warm-up. Another car driven by team-mate Peter Dumbreck suffered the same fate a few hours into the race, which forced Mercedes-Benz to cancel its sports car program.Fortunately, Webber (and Dumbreck) escaped uninjured from these fearful accidents which were blamed on an aerodynamic imbalance in the German cars.Webber survived another huge crash driving for Porsche in the 2014 World Endurance Championship. This high-speed accident, which occurred when Webber was passing a slower Ferrari, resulted in his Porsche literally breaking in two. Amazingly, he also avoided serious injury.10. What is Mark Webber’s net worth?Forbes ranks his estimated net worth at around $10 million.11. Who are Mark Webber’s parents?Alan and Diane Webber. Alan owned a Yamaha motorcycle dealership in Queanbeyan when Mark was growing up which is why he spent a lot of his early years riding dirt bikes.12. Who is Mark Webber’s wife?British-born Ann Neal. She emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s where she met Mark in 1994.13. What is the age difference between Ann and Mark?Ann is 13 years older which caused some friction early in their relationship, particularly with Mark’s mum Diane who initially did not approve of her son having a much older woman as his partner.14: Does Mark Webber have any children?Ann Neal has a son from a former relationship named Luke Barrett. There was a story doing the rounds a few years ago which claimed that Mark and his wife Ann were celebrating the arrival of a daughter, which he chose to name ‘GT3’. The story was published on April 1…15: Who is Mark Webber’s manager?For much of his racing career Mark’s future wife Ann Neal was also his manager, but for professional and commercial reasons they chose to keep their personal relationship secret during that time.16: Has Mark Webber been in any movies?None that we’re aware of. And hopefully he’s not in any that he’s not aware of either.17: Has Mark Webber written any books?In 2015 he released his autobiography titled Aussie Grit, which tells the compelling story of his journey from Queanbeyan to the high-speed world of Formula One racing.18. Is Mark Webber on social media?Yes. He has his own website plus Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Australians don't normally associate utes with Korea given that its most prominent automotive brands, Hyundai and Kia, do not offer such a popular vehicle.

With sharp launch pricing of $29,990 driveaway for ABN holders, the Life's low-cost specification certainly hits a sweet spot.

Holden is facing its biggest challenge yet, given its inexorable slide down the national sales charts since it ceased local car manufacturing in 2017. However, one roaring lion fighting this downward trend is the Colorado 4x4 ute.

If not for Allan Moffat, the Falcon GT-HO would not command the same reverence that it does today. Moffat was ‘the man’ when it came to racing and winning in GT-HOs.

If you're wanting a one tonne ute that offers the highest payload and/or load length, the single cab cab-chassis is usually the way to go.

Triton evolution is very much a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'