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Around the tracks 17 June 2010


AUDI has drawn level with Ferrari on the all-time winners' list with   its success in the Le Mans 24-hour sports car classic last weekend.  The German brand's ninth victory was a 1-2-3 sweep - led by the 'youngster' car driven by Timo Bernhard, Mike Rockenfeller and Romain Dumas - helped by engine failures which sidelined all four Peugeot 908 coupes capable of upsetting the latest diesel-powered R15. Porsche is still the all-time champion at Le Mans.

DAVID Fellows and Bark Bergamin took full advantage the speed in their twin-turbo Toyota Jimco Buggy to win the Fink Desert Race last weekend. Brad Gallard and Scott Modistach, driving a Chevy Trophy Truck, were second ahead of Daniel Auricht and Garry Connelly in a V8 -  powered Jimco Buggy.

MARCOS Ambrose finally got something good from in Nascar season with 15th place in the Sprint Cup race at Michigan last weekend. He had an early spin but recovered for a solid result, although he is still only 30th in the championship standings and looking for better in the upcoming road-course races.

JAMIE Whincup has a brand-new VE Commodore to take into battle against the similar all-new Holdens of Garth Tander and Will Davison of the Holden Racing Team this weekend in Darwin. The only major changes to the TeamVodafone racer are a seat moved further inboard to improve driver protection and some weight reduction which allows the team to run more ballast.

SEBASTIAN Ogier has been promoted to the frontline of Citroen's effort in the World Rally Championship following his victory in the New Zealand Rally. The French youngster has been promoted into the official team alongside seven-time champion Sebastian Loeb for the gravel rallies through the rest of the 2010 series, although Spaniard Dani Sordo - who has been dropped - will return to the squad for bitumen events.

AUSTRALIAN officials will make the difference again in a new Formula One race in a deal between CAMS and the organisers of the upcoming Korean Grand Prix in October. CAMS has won a three-year deal - similar to ones previously for the Malaysian and Singapore GPs - to supply training, organisational and operation support for the Korean crew.