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Around the tracks 07 May 2010


STEVE Owen rules the Fujitsu V8 Supercar series after a round win at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland last weekend, even though former main-  game regular Paul Morris won the first of three races in his Castrol   Commodore. Owen, who will race with TeamVodafone in the V8 Supercar enduros later in the year, finished 1-2-2 in the three races in   Queensland and leads the Fujitsu table with 580 points, ahead of Tim Blanchard on 439, Ant Pederson on 397, Nick Percat on 395 and James Moffat on 358.

JASON White scored his second victory in Targa Tasmania with his uncle   Ray alongside in their Lamborghini Gallardo. The pair led from the start and eventually took victory over Ray Vandersee in a Kelta by 63 seconds, as Rex Broadbent/Chris Randell won the classic category in a   Porsche, Rony Warren/ Natasha Deniese took the showroom competition in a Mitsubish Evo, Andrew Richmond/Chris Thomson were first in early modern with a Nissan GT-R and Wayne Clark/Roger Richardson won the vintage rallye category in a 1938 Dodge Speedster.

MARCOS Ambrose finally got back into the top 10 with a strong run from 20th to the flag in the latest Nascar race at Richmond last weekend.  The race was won by Kyle Busch and Ambrose's solid bag of points improves him to 28th on the championship table, 925 behind series leader Kevin Harvick.

MITCH Evans swept his Formula 3 rivals aside in the latest leg of the national championship at Phillip Island, taking all three wins on the Shannons Nationals program. He beat out Tom Tweedie, Ben Crighton and Kristian Lindbom on a program where Stuart Kostera and Inky Tulloch shared Australian Manufacturers Championship wins with their   Mitsubishi Evos and Nick Parker was successful in the Commodore Cup.

NICK Foster took the lead in this year's Australian Formula Ford champinship with two wins from three starts at Queensland Raceway last weekend. Series rookie Ben Jurczak was second for the weekend but it's Foster, in a Mygale, who tops the table with 58 points to the 49 of Chaz Mostert, with Adam Graham currently third on 42.

SERIES raider Warren Luff trumped the Mini Challenge regulars to take top points at Queensland Raceway last weekend with a matched set of   second places. The V8 Supercar enduro ace beat out Paul Stokell, who improved to second in the championship behind Chris Alajajian.

A costly qualifying error cost Daniel Ricciardo his lead in the World Series by Renault championship at the Spa meeting in Belgium last weekend. He ran off the road in the time trial for the first leg and started from the back of the field - a total contrast to his earlier   pole positions in the series - and could only

BATHURST has won again thanks to Channel 7, which took this year's Logie award for best sports coverage for its telecast of the 2009 running of The Great Race. It's the sixth time in the past 11 years that the Bathurst telecast has won, although Network Ten got the earlier Logies.

RYAN Briscoe was the best of the Aussies, but still only sixth after starting from pole, in the Kansas Speedway leg of this year's IndyCar World Series in the USA. The race was won by New Zealander Scott Dixon ahead of his Ganassi team mate Dario Franchitti, with Briscoe's Penske team mate Will Power only 12th but still ahead in the IRL pointscore.

SIX-time title holder Sebastian Loeb is out to extend his World Rally Championship lead in Rally New Zealand this weekend. The Citroen star holds a 40-point advantage in this year's championship battle after three straight wins and is the odds-on favourite for another victory in the WRC's biennial visit to New Zealand, which currently alternates with Repco Rally Australia on the calendar.

BRUCE Garland is already getting set for another run in the Dakar Rally in South America, even though it does not start until January 2, 2011. Garland and Harry Suzuki are readying their Isuzu D-Max pickup for the South American adventure and are keen to improve on their 11th overall spot in 2009, as well as making amends for their early retirement from this year's event.