Around The Tracks 25 March 2011

NICK Percat is the early leader in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar championship after two strong results at the Clipsal 500. Cancer fighter Jason Richards and youngster Andrew Thomson took the individual heat wins but Percat's 2-3 weekend for Walkinshaw Performance gave the Commodore driver the overall lead ahead of Tim Blanchard with 4-4 results in a Falcon and Scott McLaughlin with 7-2 finishes in his Ford.

DAVID Brabham came home second for Acura as the fancied Audi and Peugeot factory cars stumbled at the Sebring 12-hour sports car race in the USA. Brabham has a mix-and-match race program this year, including V8 Supercar duty with Stone Brothers Racing, and started well with Highcroft Racing as the privateer Peugeot driven by Olivier Panis-Loic Duval-Nicolas Lapierre won at Sebring.

MARCOS Ambrose is up to 18th in the NASCAR championship after a solid 15th place in the gruelling 500-lap contest on the high-banked Bristol oval last weekend. Ambrose qualified 14th with his Ford Fusion and led a lap in a race won by Kyle Busch.

YOUNGSTER Tom Williamson was a race and round winner in the Formula Ford contest at the Clipsal 500. Cameron Waters won the first heat but Williamson's victory in the second-heat crashfest got him maximum points for the weekend ahead of Jesse Fenech and Nick Cassidy.

CHAD Reed is now second in the AMA Supercross standings and closing on series leader Ryan Villopoto after another podium for his TwoTwo Motorsports team last weekend. Reed finished second in Jacksonville Florida on his Honda as Villopoto failed to score.

JOHN Bowe took top points from the opening round of the Touring Car Masters series at the Clipsal 500 meeting. The former V8 Supercar star was the pacesetter on the streets of Adelaide with his Ford Mustang and finished on top of a quality field including fellow legends Jim Richards and Andrew Miedecke.

A huge hit in the rain-lashed fourth race didn't stop David Sieders taking first-round honours in the V8 Utes championship in Adleaide. He limped over the line in the final race of the weekend to take top points ahead of Ryal Harris and Chris Pither.

Aussie youngsters Molly Taylor and Brendan Reeves begin their junior challenge in the World Rally Championship this weekend as part of the Pirelli Star Driver Academy. Both are driving Ford Fiesta R2s in the Rally Portugal, Taylor with Rebecca Smart as her co-driver and Reeves with his sister Rhianon Smyth alongside.