Race track

Lowndes was fined $15,000 yesterday for irate comments he made after twin penalties at the Indy meeting last month.He had seen a 101-point championship lead reduced to just 30 after Indy and responded unwisely to reporters' questions about the stewards' penalties.Lowndes left open the interpretation that the stewards' decisions had had the effect of ensuring a close finish in this year's championship.While he clarified his statements the next day, saying he never meant stewards were trying to manipulate the championship, he was charged with bringing the sport into disrepute.After an initial hearing last week before the sport's prosecuting officer, Peter Wollerman, Lowndes decided to fight the charge.However yesterday, with a further points penalty possible, Lowndes changed his mind and pleaded guilty.He repeated the clarification of his comments but this time the statement also came with a full-blown apology."I recognise some of the comments I made were inappropriate and I therefore apologise unreservedly to the stewards and officials for any offence I caused," he said.Of the total $15,000 fine, $5000 was suspended and with no points penalty Lowndes takes his lead into the Tasmanian round of the championship this weekend.The races at Launceston, ahead of the international round in Bahrain and the season-ending Phillip Island round, will decide this year's V8 Supercar champion.Lowndes' main rival is Holden driver Rick Kelly although Ford driver Mark Winterbottom also harbours some aspirations from third place.

Lowndes has every right to be under pressure after being asked to attend a stewards hearing at Tasmania's Symmons Plains just hours before the crucial next round starts at the track.The Gold Coast-based driver faces losing precious championship points or a hefty fine for post-race comments at the Gold Coast round last month.He has been accused of claiming Gold Coast officials deliberately conspired to reduce his lead over his rivals and so produce a closer finish to the series.And after having his championship lead chopped to just 30 points by Holden young gun Rick Kelly with three events left, Lowndes can ill afford to have any points deducted.But Lowndes today kept his eyes on the prize, opting to focus only on his race set-up for the Tasmanian round near Launceston which starts with a practice round on Friday.Lowndes said he would unveil a brand new Ford Falcon at the round that may just determine whether he breaks a 10-year drought and claims another Australian touring car crown.His teammate Jamie Whincup will take control of the Bathurst-winning Falcon.Lowndes said the new Falcon had a test day at Ipswich's Queensland Raceway last week - and he liked what he saw."The new car is very, very good and the team is delighted with the way it has come on," he said."I am extremely happy with the way the new car performed at last week's test day and I am looking forward to using it for the remainder of the championship."Lowndes is buoyed by the fact that he is a two-time champion at Symmons Plains but is wary of the tight course's perils."We have not yet had a wet race at Symmons Plains so things could certainly get interesting if we have rain," he said."It is also a track that is semi-difficult to pass on so team strategy and qualifying position will be the keys to getting a good result."After winning six of the 10 rounds to date, Ford can wrap up the manufacturer's title with victory at Tasmania.AAP

The Ford star's decision comes just two days before he is due to front an inquiry into remarks he made during the recent Surfers Paradise round of the championship.

Following the inquiry I attended last week with the IPO, Peter Wollerman, in Melbourne, I today advised that I have had time to reflect on the matter and have entered a plea of guilty to the charge of having brought the Sport into disrepute.I also wish to further clarify my position regarding the comments which I made to the media after race three at Surfers Paradise.I recognise that some of the comments that I made were inappropriate, and I therefore now apologise unreservedly to the Stewards and the Officials of the Meeting for any offence that I caused.I do not believe that the Stewards and Officials act in anything other than a manner that is fair, unbiased and in the best interests of the Sport and they have my complete support in their execution of a difficult and often thankless task.My comments were made in the heat of the moment, but I recognise that is no excuse.At no time have I believed that V8 Supercars or any of the Officials that assist us in our championship are trying to manipulate the outcome of the series and I am truly sorry if I have given any of them, or our fans, any other impression.The V8 Supercar Series is the best Touring Car Championship in the world, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to compete within it.Without the unstinting work - on a voluntary basis - of the Stewards, plus the continuing efforts of V8 Supercars Australia and the Officials, we would not have the series we have today.

Lowndes will be feeling the heat even before the drivers begin practice laps on Friday afternoon on the Symmons Plains track near Launceston.The Ford champion will arrive at Symmons Plains on Wednesday in preparation for Friday morning's stewards hearing into his controversial comments at last month's Gold Coast round.He has been accused of claiming Gold Coast officials deliberately conspired to reduce his lead over his rivals and so produce a closer finish to the series.Lowndes received two separate penalties that resulted in his disappointing 10th overall placing on the Gold Coast and cut his championship lead over Kelly to just 30 points with three events left.He could be docked precious championship points at the hearing or receive a hefty fine.Not that any of it concerns Kelly who is licking his lips at the prospect of leapfrogging Lowndes at Tasmania."I don't care at all about what's going on in other people's garages or what problems they have," Kelly said."We're worried about what happens in our own garage."The 23-year-old two-time Bathurst winner is further buoyed by the fact his Holden team dominated the Tasmanian round last year.His team-mate Garth Tander won the round, Kelly came third and Lowndes placed fourth overall - although the under pressure Ford driver is a two-time Symmons Plains champion."The results from last year certainly help," Kelly said."But it's important we're on the pace straight away from the first practice session."Certainly we had good results at Symmons Plains last year but others had misfortunes and problems that I'm sure they won't have this year so it won't be easy."The pressure on Lowndes won't be just coming from Holden.Defending V8 Supercar champion, Ford's "Enforcer" Russell Ingall has vowed to "do what it takes" to claim back to back titles from his current fourth overall placing, starting at Tasmania."No one has won this championship yet. We have three rounds to go and we are still in the hunt," Ingall said."We are not conceding to anyone. We are in it to win it. We will do what it takes and take it to the last round."Meanwhile, veteran Ford driver Brad Jones will celebrate his 100th touring car championship start at Symmons Plains.A former teammate of the legendary Peter Brock, Jones, 46, will become the fifth driver to crack the ton this season following Garth Tander, Paul Radisich, Steven Johnson and Jason Bright."It might have taken me 20 years, but I got there," Jones laughed.AAP

The following looks at some of the best and the worst of the 37-year-old German's 246 races since his debut in 1991.SIX OF THE BESTBelgium 1992:Schumacher's first race win, in the wet, and one in which he showed all his tactical brilliance.Overtaken by Benetton team mate Martin Brundle after sliding off, Schumacher noticed that the Briton's tyres were worn out.Reckoning that his must be as well, he pitted immediately for rain tyres.It was a masterstroke of timing that won him the race.Belgium 1995:A victory from 16th place on the starting grid in changing conditions and with the German staying out on slick tyres in the wet.The outcome was also tainted by controversy, with the German receiving a suspended one-race ban for weaving on the straights to prevent Damon Hill overtaking.Europe 1995:In his last race in Europe for Benetton, Schumacher reeled in Jean Alesi and overtook him two laps from the finish to win in front of his home fans at the Nuerburgring in a race hailed as the greatest of his second championship year.Spain 1996:Schumacher's first win for Ferrari, again in the rain, and he lapped the entire field bar the two men on the podium with him - although he was 45 seconds clear of second-placed Alesi."If anyone had asked me how much I would bet on me winning here I would have said not one penny," declared Schumacher.Hungary 1998:An inspired drive, coupled with a three-stop strategy at a circuit where overtaking is deemed almost impossible.Schumacher had to drive a series of sprints after technical director Ross Brawn asked him to make up 25 seconds in 19 laps.Schumacher replied 'Thank You' and did just that.Japan 2000:The race that clinched Schumacher's first title for Ferrari, ending their 21-year wait for a drivers' crown.Schumacher had trailed McLaren rival Mika Hakkinen for almost 40 laps before getting ahead with pitstop strategy.Not the most thrilling of races, but one of the most emotional.THREE OF THE WORSTAustralia 1994:Schumacher faced furious accusations of cheating after an infamous collision with Briton Damon Hill in the title-deciding Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.The incident on the 31st of 81 laps knocked both drivers out of the race and Schumacher won the crown by one point.Europe 1997:Another collision, this time at Jerez with Schumacher trying to ram Canadian Jacques Villeneuve off the track in the title decider.This time it backfired, Villeneuve won the championship and Schumacher was excluded from the final classification.Austria 2002:A black day for Formula One, with worldwide outrage after Ferrari ordered Rubens Barrichello, who had dominated the entire weekend and led from start to finish, to slow and allow Schumacher to win. He did so at the last corner. There was no need for it.The German had won four of the five previous races and ended up winning the title by a record margin.A BIT OF BOTHMonaco 2006:Schumacher again revived accusations of cheating when he was sent to the back of the grid for deliberately blocking the track in the dying seconds of qualifying, preventing rivals from beating him to pole position.He atoned for it during the race, storming through to finish fifth and with the fastest lap.REUTERS

In an entertaining 20-minute qualifying session, Holden stars Kelly, Todd Kelly and Garth Tander - took turns at lowering the lap record set by Ricky Kelly during practice earlier in the day.But HSV Dealer Commodore driver Rick Kelly ensured he kept the record, lowering the benchmark in the qualifying session with a time of 1min 49.1004sec - almost 1.5 seconds faster than Mark Skaife's 2004 lap record.Tander, Kelly's HSV Dealer teammate, was second quickest with a time of 1min 49.2448sec while Ford driver Mark Winterbottom made a late charge into third position with 1min 49.2563sec.Todd Kelly, Rick's elder brother, was fourth in 1min 49.3668sec.Provisional pole position is an ideal start to the weekend for Rick Kelly, who sits second in the overall championship title just 101 points behind series leader Craig Lowndes.Lowndes, the defending Gold Coast champion, wasn't quite up to speed in his Falcon - qualifying eighth with a time of 1min 50.1445sec.However, Lowndes will have a chance to steal his first pole position of the year tomorrow when the top 10 qualifiers return for the shootout to determine the lead grid positions for race one.

The complexity of motor racing around the concrete canyons at the Gold Coast Indy circuit can be summed up by the fact Russell Ingall broke the lap record last year. Without brakes.Ingall's novel approach didn't win him the round but he held his precarious championship lead to the end of the season."We had a few brake dramas but broke the lap record. More throttle, less brake tends to do that," Ingall said.Every corner at the Gold Coast Indy event is dangerous.Craig Lowndes won Bathurst and leads the V8 Supercar championship. He won the V8 round at Indy last year.But as he chases this year's championship he knows from bitter experience overconfidence is his worst enemy.Lowndes was cruising at Bathurst 2005 when a simple mistake put him into the wall. He has acknowledged the enormity of the mistake, saying this year's win provided some redemption.In the championship chase, Lowndes at least has an undamaged car. So, too, does fellow Ford driver Ingall.Rick Kelly, the main Holden hope for end-of-year glory drives one of the few Commodores which emerged unscathed from Bathurst.Spare cars, rebuilt cars, swapped cars and repaired cars dominate the landscape at Holden garages.Indy is probably the last of the championship killers for the leading drivers.After Indy, the tracks at Launceston, Bahrain and Phillip Island should be more forgiving.With a lot of drivers left with nothing to race for but the race itself, Lowndes and Rick Kelly are the ones with the invisible targets on the side of their cars this weekend.

"Valentino has entered Rally New Zealand privately in his own name," the Subaru team's managing director Richard Taylor told the official WRC web site."He will however be driving a car supplied by us. In fact, the car which (Australian) Chris Atkinson drove in Germany this year."There's still a little bit of work to do on the details and it may be run alongside the Subaru team. But it will certainly not be an SWRT-liveried car."The Yamaha rider, who will be fighting for his sixth successive title in the top class of motorcycling in Portugal this weekend, has entered the world rally championship once before, in Britain in 2002.That time he was driving a Peugeot 205 prepared by the Italian Grifone team and did not make it through the first day of competition.The 27-year-old Italian has also competed in non-championship rallies in Italy and was linked until earlier this year with a switch to Formula One with Ferrari.The New Zealand rally, based in Hamilton, runs from Nov. 17-19 and was chosen because it comes well after the end of the MotoGP season.Rossi is second in the MotoGP standings, 12 points adrift of Honda's American Nicky Hayden, with two races left.Reuters

There's probably a lucrative scholarship and university thesis involved in trying to sort out the motor-racing fans from the party set at the Gold Coast every October.But the combination works well with 316,000 fans last year enjoying the high-octane action over four days, on and off the track.The other arrangement that works well is the dual appearances of both the Champ cars and Australia's V8 Supercars. Twice the action, twice the fun is a good selling point.Indy's once a year appearance has its detractors. It's hard to see why. After all, F1 only arrives once a year, too, but the same voices remain quiet.The Champ cars have the regulation built-for-speed appearance and that throaty, ear-splitting noise necessary to get motor sports pulses racing.But, without headlights, they're not so flash in the wet, thunderstorm conditions which can engulf the Coast at this time of the year.As well as praying for safety, the motor sport chaplain Garry Coleman might well be praying for clear skies.Without wishing to pump up their tyres, it should be noted that Indy officials have an entertaining Champ car program coming up next weekend.Two-time series winner Sebastien Bourdais of France can be a three-time winner if he takes the chequered flag. But first he has to avoid his arch rival, Canadian Paul Tracy, before he can go on to create some history.These two bring a simmering feud to each meeting and most of the time it shows. Mind you, Bourdais is not the only driver squarely in Tracy's sights.His fellow Canadian, Alex Tagliani, who drives for Team Australia, famously crossed swords with him this year, too. Also driving for Team Australia is Will Power, currently seventh in the championship and the leading rookie in the field.He will be joined this year by another home-grown Aussie, Sydney driver Ryan Briscoe, who will add Champ cars to an impressive and growing list of motor sport achievements when he drives for the American RuSPORT team at the Gold Coast and Mexico events.Two Aussie drivers will add local interest to a race which tends to suffer in profile by comparison to Australia's V8 Supercars. Also adding interest this year will be the appearance of the English rose, Katherine Legge, the only female racer in the series.Legge walked away from a high-speed crash at the previous round in Wisconsin just days after coming to Australia to promote the Gold Coast race.That race was won by A.J.Allmendinger who, technically at least, can stop Bourdais from winning the championship at the Gold Coast. Bourdais won this race last year but Gold Coast Indy has been impossible to win twice. No driver since the first race in 1991 has ever doubled up.Perhaps it's time for a little bit of history to gladden the heart.