Race track

Here's the scenario. With a trip to Queenstown on the horizon, my two travelling companions were constantly in my ear about bungy jumping.

Cases of theft aside, the thrill of driving a new Porsche has been limited to the seriously rich.

Weighing 670kg (dry weight) the 2-Eleven pictured right is the ultimate expression of Lotus founder Colin Chapman's philosophy of performance through light weight.Giving the 2-Eleven its track-rocket performance is a supercharged and intercooled 1.8-litre engine, which puts out a maximum 188kW at peak revs of 8000rpm.Maximum torque of 242Nm arrives at 1000rpm lower with most of it on tap from just above idle.The 2-Eleven boasts a power to weight ratio similar to that of a 1960s Formula One car.“The Lotus 2-Eleven takes our core brand values to the extreme . . . not only phenomenally quick but also very user-friendly,” says Mike Kimberley of Lotus.The 2-Eleven will be built at Lotus HQ in Hethel, Norfolk, and finished in dedicated Lotus Sport workshops with each car given an individually numbered build plate.While a road-going version of the car will be available in the UK, Australian enthusiasts will be restricted to track fun in their $127,500 outlay, although they will get some extra performance goodies such as an enhanced aerodynamics package including high-downforce, single-plane, carbon-fibre rear wing, high-downforce front splitter, brake lights and and FIA approved driver's seat.

The Maserati MC12 Versione Corse, right, debuted last week at the Bologna Motor Show, is designed to be one of the most extreme supercars available on the market.And with a worldwide price of $1.7 million and only 12 produced, the potential market will be exclusive.It is based on the MC12 GT1 which won the FIA GT1 Manufacturers Championship in 2005, the Team Championship in 2005 and 2006, the Driver's title in 2006, and two consecutive editions of the Spa 24 Hours, in 2005 and 2006.However, the production car actually has more power than the race car with 563kW compared with 447kW. It is powered by a six-litre V12 engine producing maximum torque of 710Nm at 6000rpm.Maserati claims a 0-200km/h acceleration figure of 6.4sec and a top speed of 326km/h.

After a dramatic Middle East debut at the Bahrain International Circuit, Kelly has held onto a seven-point championship lead despite crashing in the second race.Before the crash he appeared to have one hand on the trophy with a 90 point buffer.Ford's Jason Bright emerged King of the Desert after an entertaining three days of racing, claiming his first individual round win at Ford Performance Racing, while Holden's Todd Kelly and Garth Tander completed the round podium.But while the battle up front was enthralling, all the focus was on former three-time series champion Lowndes and his pursuit of 23-year-old Kelly.The wheels appeared to fall off Kelly's title drive when James Courtney's Falcon blocked his path and he was ploughed into from behind, then banished to the rear of the grid for the final heat.With only a 14-point lead heading into the final race, Kelly was expected to end the round ranked second but the HSV Dealer driver produced one of the best drives of the year to burst through the field from 28th and finish fifth, maintaining a slender title lead.The result means Kelly now has 3068 points with Lowndes' fourth place for the round moving him to 3061 while Ford's Mark Winterbottom fell out of contention after gearbox drama today, back on 2792 points.Lowndes said the battle for the title now resembled his memorable and emotional Bathurst win in October when he and Kelly duelled all the way to the line.Lowndes turned dup the heat on Kelly by saying the youngster would cop all sorts of pressure over the coming weeks as Holden had not won the series title for four years."It all hinges on him," said Lowndes."I have been around long enough to not worry about (the pressure), whether Rick has I don't know."He has a strong car but we believe we can do it."We'll see what happens and see what the weather does."Kelly said he won't have any trouble coping with the pressure and anticipation of the finale, saying he had plenty of pressure to perform in today's final race and delivered in spades."I want it more than anything. I showed that with the way I drove in that last race," said Kelly."We know we can't just sail into the sunset and it won't be easy."He will be very difficult to beat down there. He was strong there last year but our car is very good this year."It is going to be a fair dinkum battle."Lowndes said a series win this year would be the best of his career and finally put the seal on his famous move to Ford in 2001 when he left Holden for a $1 million per season deal.Already this year Lowndes has delivered Ford a Bathurst win, their first in eight years, and another series crown would fit comfortably in his trophy cabinet."I think to win would be pretty memorable and one of the better (titles) I have won," he said."The whole reason I moved to Ford is to do what I hope to do at Phillip Island and win the championship."It has taken longer than I have wanted. But we have won Bathurst for the first time for Ford and now I hope I can do the same for the championship."AAP

Kelly, who has a narrow 73-point series lead, arrived yesterday with only time to grab some sleep before today's practice session. The actual races are tomorrow and Saturday.Both his main rivals, Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom — and indeed most of the field — had arrived days earlier to acclimatise.As Kelly tried to get some rest yesterday after an 18-hour flight via Singapore, rival drivers were trying to sneak some experience at the new $33million track in the middle of the Bahrain desert.Many walked the 3.6km circuit earlier this week, and offered a variety of opinions.One, experienced Ford driver Brad Jones, reckoned the course designed for F1 racing would favour the leading V8 Supercar teams.Holdens Jason Richards disagreed, suggesting the opportunity was ripe for a surprise or two in the Top 10.The rugged Paul Morris promised a better show than the F1 for the Bahrain fans experiencing V8s for the first time and predicted some of the drivers who hadn't featured much all year would relish the chance to get stuck in at the Bahrain circuit.

Holden young gun Kelly assumed the lead of the V8 title race at the Tasmanian round earlier this month and heading into the penultimate round in the Middle East, the 23-year-old said he won't be resting on his 73-point lead over Ford champion Lowndes.Kelly said the fact HSV Dealer teammate Garth Tander, and older brother Todd Kelly, had already done a few laps around the Bahrain International Circuit as part of the Formula One grand prix earlier this year would put the Commodores at an advantage."One of the strong points of our team is how we get together and nut out a track," Kelly said."We have been doing our homework and Garth has given us some idea of what to expect."I reckon it will probably take the other drivers about two laps to get back on par with Garth and myself. That's how long it normally takes to dial in to a new track."The only real advantage that Garth and I might have is that we can word up our engineers on how to set the car up for the first session."Even though Kelly has yet to win a V8 round this season he said he won't risk the best shot of his short career at claiming the coveted series trophy in the selfish pursuit of a round win."We've just got to do what we've done all year - be consistent and make sure we don't do anything silly," he said."There are still 660-odd points up for grabs so it's a long way from the end."The championship remains our priority. Our second priority is to win the Manufacturer's Championship with the other Holden teams, and then the Teams' Championship for the Toll HSV Dealer Team."I'd like to think we can not just keep our championship lead, but extend it."Holdens dominated last year's first big offshore venture of the V8s, running in the top four places in Shanghai.But Tander, winner of the most recent round in Tasmania, said the Middle East is nothing like the Asian circuit although he still expects Commodore's to get the places sorted ahead of Ford."Bahrain should suit our cars better as it is more like a traditional circuit in several corners," he said.The Bahrain Desert 400 will have a practice session on Thursday.Qualifying, top 10 shootout and a 100km first race take place on Friday with two 140km races on Saturday.AAP

Power got the gong for the fastest aggregate race lap - the "passion for excellence award" - decided by the best time when a driver's quickest laps over the 14 series events are added up.It capped a fine season for Power who collected his first Champ Car podium finish with a third place in the final round in Mexico City a week ago.The Toowoomba-born driver collected $US15,000 ($A19,550) with his rookie of the year award after finishing the championship in sixth position, the best result ever by an Australian. But Power seemed more impressed with his aggregate lap speed award."This is certainly the most unique trophy I have ever received," Power said of the custom-made painting by motoring artist Jim Swintal, depicting the driver's pole position at his home event, the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast."The picture will remind me of one of the most special weekends in my life and I'm grateful to have won this award.Previous winners of the rookie award include Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Nigel Mansell.Team Australia's striking green and gold cars won the $US20,000 ($A26,000) award for the best paint-job.And Power's teammate, Alex Tagliani finished eighth overall, the fifth straight season the Canadian has finished in the series' top 10.AAP

The former rugby league star has defied the knockers who generalise that anyone with a profile who arrives in motor sport is a mug lair who can't drive.Elsegood elevated himself above that status when he was runner-up in the ute series in 2004, his second year of ute racing.He is running second again this year, still in with a chance of winning the championship and locked in a serious battle with the championship leader Marcus Zukanovic, who lives in Melbourne.That title fight will be decided at the Creek, but regardless of the result, Elsegood has decided it's time to raise the bar.He will move into the Fujitsu series in 2007 with an aim of fulfilling his dream of driving in the main game with the likes of Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife in years to come.As a footballer for Eastern Suburbs and Manly, Elsegood was one of the more glamorous stars in the sport. A career of about 150 games produced 70 tries and his blond hair and good looks ensured a high media profile.But as soon as the footy was over Elsegood switched to cars, essentially straight to the utes. “I always wanted to race cars. I think every young bloke wants to race cars at some point of his life,” Elsegood says."It's always been a passion. As soon as I finished the footy I got into property development which gave me enough money to get started. No motor sport is cheap but utes is one of the cheaper ones and along with the TV coverage it made economic sense."V8 utes are an Australian icon and everyone relates to them," he says.Elsegood's rise in the sport is more impressive considering that when most budding motor sport stars were learning their craft racing go-karts, Elsegood was sidestepping and swerving his way around a rugby league field."I've given away between 10 and 30 years of experience to some of the other drivers," he says. “But if you are a naturally competitive person you can overcome some of that."I suppose that's why the first few years were a pretty steep learning curve, but I got up to speed pretty quickly."I've had good speed, got the odd lap record here and there and won plenty of races."Elsegood says he will need some luck to haul in Zukanovic's 40-point lead over three races."I need to win races to win the championship," he says. "Marcus might be able to accumulate a few points but I don't have that luxury. There's only ever one tactic: go out and race as hard as I can and try to win."As for the future, Elsegood points out there are not many V8 Supercar drivers living in Sydney. "Most live in Melbourne or Queensland. I'm hoping sponsors will see a bit of value in having a driver who lives in Sydney," he says.Apart from the utes there will also be racing for the Australian Performance Car championship, the GT Championship, Commodore Cup, Saloon cars and Superkarts. Racing starts at 9am next Sunday at Eastern Creek Raceway. Adult tickets are $15 and children under-13 enter free.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation was deep in discussions with the organisers of the European GT3 Championship — contested by race versions of cars such as the Dodge Viper, Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 911 and Lamborghini Gallardo — but the class will not race at the Australian Grand Prix in 2007.It is understood the bid to bring the GT3 racers to Australia was on track until late last week.Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief executive Tim Bamford said the company was involved in discussions with European GT3 series organiser Stephane Ratel."Up to the last minute we are considering options and making decisions, so the reality is there is lots of things that we think about," Bamford said.He said the fact the GT3 championship would not run at the Grand Prix did not detract from the event."I think that really it is a matter of making sure we have got the best possible package of entertainment and we are confident that with Formula One and four days of on-track action ... that is what we have got," he said.The main support races for the Grand Prix will include the Porsche Carrera Cup, Formula Three and the celebrity race, with Aussie Racers and V8 utes joining the line-up next year.Race organisers are keen to fill the void that will be left by the absence of the V8 Supercars, which will be missing from next year's Formula One festival for the first time.Many fans looked forward to the V8 Supercar races at Albert Park, even though the races did not carry championship points, because it was often the first chance to see the Ford and Holden race cars, with some drivers making their debuts for new teams at the track.Asked if having the V8 utes race at Albert Park would appeal to V8 fans, Bamford suggested the Formula Ones were already doing so."You know what, we have got V8s at the Grand Prix? We have the best, the loudest, the most exciting V8s in the world — Formula One," he said.Australian Mark Webber said the V8 Supercar class was a great category, but added the Grand Prix would draw a good crowd without it."The event is big enough and strong enough, it is an F1 event, that is the main drawcard," Webber said.While it is still unclear whether or not the loss of the V8 Supercars would hurt the Melbourne Grand Prix, it is worth noting the support card still outshines that of many Formula One races held overseas.