Around the tracks 26 November 2010

STEVE Owen is set for his second Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series crown in Sydney in two weeks after victory at Sandown at the weekend. Owen won his sixth race of the season on Saturday and finished fifth in the reverse-grid race on Sunday to take the round. He now has a 218-point lead over David Russell with 300 points on offer in Sydney but will drive conservatively in the final round.

"We were in this situation in '08 Fujitsu Series where we had a really big points lead and had mechanical problems in Race 1 of the final round," he says. "We'll be a little bit conservative, I'd imagine, in the first race of Sydney and have a bit of a go in the last race on Sunday and try to wrap up the round. The last thing we'll want to do is wind up with a DNF, which could cost you the championship, which is our number one priority." Owen partnered Jamie Whincup in the endurance rounds, with a win in the Gold Coast 600.

ON the same weekend he was named fourth greatest Australian touring car driver, Jim Richards stamped his racing authority with a round win in the Touring Car Masters at Sandown. He also reclaimed the championship lead in his Falcon Sprint with his second pole position of the season and a first and second place in the three races. The second race was red flagged and declared a non-race. John Bowe won the first race and failed to finish the third race with a broken accelerator cable, dropping him to third place in the title behind Gavin Bullas. Leanne Tander sidelined her Falcon with engine failure in qualifying, ending her weekend and dropping her from fourth to fifth in the standings. The championship will go down to the wire at Homebush in two weeks with Richards only 20 points in front of Bullas and Bowe another 54 behind.

MARCOS Ambrose is still confident of starting the 2011 NASCAR season in Daytona in February despite financial troubles with his new Richard Petty Motorsports team. "I'm hungrier than ever to succeed with my new team," the Australian says. He finished his fifth year in the championship in 26th place after another 26th in the final round in Miami at the weekend. In a thrilling finish for the season, Jimmie Johnson came from behind to finish second to Carl Edwards and wrap up a record fifth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.

PORSCHE Carrera Cup returns next year with the first race at the Australian Grand Prix in March. Porsche Cars Australia boss Michael Winkler says they have "substantial interest from a number of teams and the full support of the Porsche factory". Others who have signed up for next season are Mark Cini and 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion Craig Baird. The 2011 racing calendar is yet to be confirmed.

ALMOST 30 drivers have declared they will compete in the return of production car endurance racing next year. The new Australian Endurance Championship will run under AASA regulations and will include cars not previously eligible under CAMS rules. Each race is a day-night six-hour enduro, starting at Calder in April. Other rounds will be held at Winton in June, Ipswich in August and Wakefield in October.

AMERICAN rider Josh Hansen won both motos in the fifth round five of the Australasian Super X on a wet and slippery Dunedin track in New Zealand at the weekend. The Kawasaki open rider scored both holeshots and stayed clean out the front of the pack. He leads the championship with two rounds to go ahead of Jay Marmont (Yamaha) and Jake Moss (Suzuki). Moss's brother, Matt (Suzuki), was the overall winner in the lites category and leads the series. The penultimate round will be held at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday, 27 November 2010.

DAVID Wall has scored back-to-back Australian GT Championships, even though his Porsche Cup S, came in underweight at the end of race one at Sandown at the weekend. That put him at the rear of grid for Sunday's race. Both races at the weekend were won by veteran Queensland campaigner Tony Quinn who also set the fastest lap of the second race in his Mosler.

CHAZ Mostert has completed a record-breaking Australian Formula Ford Championship season with a triple win in the final round at Sandown at the weekend. The Brisbane driver has beaten Steven Richards's 1994 tally of 13 race wins in a season and sits equal fourth of all-time race winners in the 41 year history of national competition. Mostert, who wrapped up the championship at the previous round in Tasmania, is tied on 15 wins with Ash Walsh, who'll join him at Miles Racing in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series next season.

B8 SUPERCAR driver Jason Richards has undergone successful surgery to remove a tumour from his abdomen and is now recovering in a private Melbourne hospital. Tests are being carried out to establish what type of tumour it is; results are not expected until next week. Richards has pulled out of the last two rounds of the season with his Brad Jones Racing seat taken by Andrew Jones.

SYDNEY teenager Pierce Lehane, crowned CIK Stars of Karting Series Champion earlier this year, recorded the best finish by an Australian junior driver in the 10-year history of the Rotax Max World Challenge Final in Italy at the weekend. The 14 year-old finished third in the event which attracted 250 drivers from 55 countries in identical Rotax-powered 125cc karts.

Fellow Aussies Jonathon Venter and James Macken, finished 21st and 23rd. For the first time Australia had two representatives in the main event with Victorian Matthew Wall and Queenslander Kel Treseder lining up against world karting champions and IndyCar driver Raphael Matos. Treseder finished 14th and Wall 20th.