V8 racers must keep cool

New V8 Supercars driving standards observer Tomas Mezera will be under pressure to keep a lid on tempers in round 2 of the Championship Series at Sydney's Eastern Creek, starting on Friday week.

Several collisions and controversial passes triggered an unprecedented level of trash talk among drivers and team owners at the Clipsal 500 at Adelaide last weekend.

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The normally measured David Richards, team principal of Ford Performance Racing, was seething after his driver Mark Winterbottom's race ended when he was an innocent victim of the Craig Lowndes and James Courtney incident.

Stewards investigated the incident between the pair at turn 10 and declared there was no breach of the rules.

Mezera, at his first V8 meeting in the role, had been unfairly blamed for letting Clipsal winner Jamie Whincup's forceful pass on Winterbottom in Saturday's opening 250km race go without reprisal.

“This mess was endorsed on Saturday,” Richards fumed.

“It leads to someone getting seriously hurt and that is a disaster for the championship and we are all victims in this at the end of the day.

“The sponsors don't want it and the car manufacturers don't want to see their cars smashed up every day.”

Richards plans to approach Mezera, who has stepped into the policing role this year to replace Colin Bond, to address the driving standards issue.

Points: 1 Jamie Whincup (Ford) 300, 2 Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 258, 3 Rick Kelly (Holden) 192, 4 Steven Johnson (Ford) 186, 5 Todd Kelly (Holden) 180.