Around the tracks 18 March 2011

JASON Richards is planning to be cancer free and ready for Bathurst, starting with a Ferrari cameo this weekend at the Clipsal 500 meeting.  The BOC Commodore racer has stepped down from his V8 Supercar seat while he battles cancer but could not resist a guest drive in the  Australian GT Championship opener in Adelaide.

TODD Kelly joins the 150 club in Adelaide this weekend when he clocks  up a milestone V8 Supercar start at the Clipsal 500. The Jack Daniel's  racer is the 16th driver to hit the 150 mark and will do it at a track  where he was a winner with the Holden Racing Team in 2007.

MARK Webber's young protege, New Zealander Mitch Evans, heads to the  GP3 championship in Europe with another title in the bag. The 16-year-old has just become the latest Toyota Racing Series champ after dominating the series in New Zealand.

SCOTT Pye has had a promising start to his campaign in the British F3  International Series, setting the fifth-fastest time in a shakedown at  Silverstone with his new team, Double-R Racing. Pye was only three-tenths of a second behind the pace setter and is looking forward to  his race debut at the Monza circuit in Italy in early April.

MARCOS Ambrose has become a team owner in the USA with a late-model  stock car program including another transplanted Australian racer,  George Miedecke. Ambrose plans to mentor Miedecke as he tries to  follow him into NASCAR racing after some promising starts last year in  America.

DAVID Brabham is facing another busy year, joining Stone Brothers  Racing for the V8 Supercar endurance races while racing a sports car  in the USA's major events and tackling the FIA GT1 series in Europe.  Brabham will race a Nissan GT-R in the GT1 title, driving for the  British Sumo team that includes former F1 drivers Riccardo Zonta and  Enrique Bernoldi.

ELEVEN of Australia's brightest young talents will compete in a Fujitsu-backed development program this year, aiming for a test drive  that could take them to the next level. The Cool Driver initiative  sees seven kart racers - Jason LeCocq, Brody Appleby, Renee Gracie, Damon Strongman, Joey Mawson, Royce Nott and Todd Hazelwood - vying for a test in a Formula Ford and four Formula Ford drivers - Cameron  Waters, Nick Foster, Shae Davies and Rhett Noonan - hoping to win a  test in a V8 Supercar.