Auto Action Archives: Multi 21 Seb? Lowndes takes FPR’s first win and Senna stuns all

Take a journey back in time and discover what was making news this fortnight over the last five decades as AUTO ACTION delves into its archives.

2013 – Vettel sends a clear message

Sebastian Vettel leads Mark Webber at the infamous 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. Image: Alastair Staley/LAT Images

“Multi 21 Seb…Multi 21???,” said a furious Mark Webber to Sebastian Vettel during a frosty one-way exchange in the drivers’ cool-down room after the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix.

This was as a result of Vettel’s controversial call to defy team orders and pass his Australian teammate to win the second race of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship.

The pair of Red Bulls were dominating the race with Webber leading Vettel, while the battling Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were well back.

Webber had led 28 of the first 45 laps was instructed to turn down his engine after the final round of stops to confirm the expected win.

But on Lap 45 Vettel ignored team orders and launched an unexpected attack on the Australian.

After a short wheel-to-wheel battle, the German squeezed his way by on pit straight to deny what would have been Webber’s final F1 win and create extremely icy podium presentation.

Mark Webber was not in the mood to talk to Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel on the podium. Image: Charles Coates/LAT Photographic

Having been robbed of what appeared to be a certain win, Webber was “seething with rage”.

“After the last stop obviously the team told me the race was over,” Webber recalled post-race.

“We turned the engines down and win the end Seb made his own decision and will have protection and that is the way it goes.

“There were a lot of things going through my mind in the last 15 laps. Not just from today, but also in the past. We will see what happens.”

Mark Webber and race winner Sebastian Vettel during the tense post race Press Conference.
Image: LAT Images

Vettel apologised to the team, Webber and even the Australian’s father Alan, with then clear Red Bull team leader realising he “f****d up”.

“I did not do it deliberately, so I did not realise I made a mistake,” Vettel said.

“Only when I came back by the team’s reaction, I realised.

“I had a very short word with Mark and then it hit me quite hard and I realised that I f****d up.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Vettel “ignored” team orders.

“He’s chosen to hear what he wanted to hear,” Horner said.

“He had the communication and chose to ignore it. He put his interest beyond what the team’s position was.”

By the end of the season, Vettel won nine straight Grands Prix en route to a crushing four-peat of championships, while Webber retired after a winless, but competitive and unlucky final campaign.

BJR announces its championship challenge 

Fabian Coulthard gaps the field on his way to a maiden Supercars win at Tasmania in 2013. Image: Supercars Facebook

There were no inter-team dramas at Brad Jones Racing, which recorded a historic clean sweep of wins in the second Supercars round at Symmons Plains.

The Tasmania 365 was also the first ever running of the short-lived Saturday 60/60 Sprint race, split in two different stages.

Fabian Coulthard won the race to record his first ever Supercars Championship race win after overtaking Jamie Whincup immediately after the two-wide restart after the half-time break.

The good times kept on rolling for BJR on Sunday where Jason Bright and Coulthard shared the two Sunday sprints to give the team a perfect weekend and stamp its authority on the Car of the Future era.

Behind the dominant BJR VF Commodores there was plenty of action with David Reynolds climbing up the guard rail on the exit of the Hairpin and Scott Pye experiencing a scary crash, which saw his LDM Holden suffer a break failure and going vertical after charging head-on into the wall at Turn 1 at high speed.

But the focus was on BJR, which claimed “we are going for the title” after its best weekend yet.

“If we carry this form, I see no reason why we could not be championship contenders,” said team owner Brad Jones to AUTO ACTION.

Ford holds ‘one-way ticket out of Supercars’

The looming exit of Ford from Supercars was all over the cover of AUTO ACTION issue #1534.

Having not won any of the first five Supercars races, Ford’s Supercars future appeared numbered after the brand informed Ford Performance Racing squad of its intention to stop all factory support.

“AA understands Ford Australia has informed FPR – not unexpectedly – that it won’t be continuing its factory backing beyond this (2013) season,” read the AUTO ACTION cover story.

“While FPR maintains that it is still in talks with Broadmeadows, there appears to be little prospect that the company will renew its multi-million dollar support as Falcon sales are at an all-time low.

“In the final year of its existing agreement with FPR, Broadmeadows is not in a position to continue as the team’s primary backer.”
Ford Performance Racing carried factory backing until the end of 2014 before switching to Prodrive Racing Australia in 2015 when Mark Winterbottom gave the team its first and only championship.

2003 – Lowndes scores “unbeatable” FPR’s maiden win

Craig Lowndes’ Phillip Island win in just Ford Performance Racing’s second Supercars round took centre stage on issue #1035.

A decade earlier Craig Lowndes walked on water to secure Ford Performance Racing the first of its 62 V8 Supercars win in atrocious conditions at Phillip Island.

The race was red-flagged due to the arrival of a major storm, which gave Lowndes his first round win for Ford in his third season at the “Blue Oval”.

The success left FPR in a buoyant mood with boss David Flint warning the squad could soon be “unbeatable”.

“There is no doubt the car is not on the pace. In a straight line it deserves position five or six,” he said to AUTO ACTION.

“You think how good we will be when the car is right and the strategy is good – we will be unbeatable.”

Lowndes was also ecstatic after the success and said there was more success to come.

“I am delighted to get it (first Ford round win) behind me now,” he said.

“We have light at the end of the tunnel. This year was about getting set up, but we know 2004 will be a hell of a lot better.” 

Craig Lowndes leads the field at a dark, gloomy and soaked Phillip Island. Image: Mark Horsburgh/LAT Photographic

Off the track TEGA threatened Holden could lose its Supercar franchise if it did not speed up the sale of the six-car superteam formerly owned by TWR.

On the eve of the Supercars season, the calliopes of Tom Walkinshaw Racing forced the Holden Racing Team, Kmart and Team Brock cars all up for sale.

“TEGA laid down the law to Holden at Phillip Island over its ownership of the former TWR empire and creation of its alleged six-car super team,” read the report.

“Kevin O’Reilly, the chairman of the TEGA met with Holden’s executive director of sales and marketing Ross McKenzie to instruct the manufacturer to pick up the pace on the sale of its investment in the HRT and Kmart Racing after it was forced to pluck it from TWR in February.”

“We are confident we can resolve it quickly, if not we will take the gloves off it completely,” O’Reily told AUTO ACTION.

There was also wet-weather chaos in Formula 1 with the rightful winner of the saturated Brazilian Grand Prix only getting the trophy at the following event in Imola.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Jordan were finally awarded victory after an FIA meeting in Paris discovered an error in the results count back, which initially ruled McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen P1.

“This is fantastic. We so desperately wanted to win the race and the right decision was made,” said Jordan owner Eddie Jordan.

1993 – Seton win sparks handicap debate and Senna’s famous Donington drive

The Dick Johnson and Glenn Seton Falcons at the front on cover #574.

Glenn Seton led home Alan Jones in a crushing 1-2 for the Peter Jackson EB Falcons in the third round of ATCC ’93 at Phillip Island.

Behind the blue Falcons were two more Fords in Dick Johnson and John Bowe, leaving the Holdens to fight for fifth.

It continued Ford’s perfect start to the first season of the five-litre era and sparked calls the Falcons should be handicapped.

Falcons had claimed round honours at each of the first three events at Amaroo Park, Symmons Plains and Phillip Island, while all Holden had to show for were a pair of three-lap Peter Jackson Dash wins.

Responding to the claims his Falcons should be handicapped, Seton was not impressed.

“We have got our act together, they (Holden) should be told to get their act together,” said a “defiant” Seton at Phillip Island.

“We do all our testing here (Phillip Island) so we expected to do well.”

HRT driver Wayne Gardner believed CAMS had to take action.

“It should be lower and the wings obviously don’t work,” Garnder – who noticed wing dramas after he set his fastest lap at Amaroo Park without a front splitter – said.

“Our cars will get better, but unless CAMS give us something like a new wing package, I can’t see how we will catch the Falcons.”

There was also technical drama in the James Hardie Bathurst 12 Hour with both Peter Fitzgerald Porsche 968 Club Sports being excluded from second and third.

The “Stuttgart stormers” were rubbed out when post-race scrutineering found the front-wheel off-set on both cars to be 10mm outside the accepted tolerances. 

Ayrton Senna holds the Sega Sonic the Hedgehog trophy aloft after famously dominating the 1993 European Grand Prix. Photo by LAT Images

In Europe, Ayrton Senna put on a masterclass in the wet to win the European Grand Prix at Donington Park.

In what is hailed as one of his greatest drives, Senna climbed from fifth to first on the opening lap and was never seen again, winning by more than a lap.

“I am over the moon with the victory,” an elated Senna said.

“I want to enjoy it the same way as I did in Brazil. Technically Williams are the superior cars, but only in conditions like this can you do something about it.

“Conditions like this call for gambling and this time it paid off.”

Whilst Senna described the race as a dream, the likes of Damon Hill and Alain Prost in the more dominant Williams thought the wet race was a “nightmare”.

1983 – AJ makes a comeback in famous race

Auto Action issue #316 was full of international and global news.

Alan Jones made an unexpected return to Formula 1 a fortnight earlier than anticipated on the streets of Long Beach.

Despite missing the opener at Brazil Jones raced for Arrows “just for the fun of it” and started well in practice by beating his teammate Marc Surer, but ultimately retired from the race due to a bent steering arm.

“I have returned to Formula 1 racing because I want to – for the fun of it,” Jones said at Long Beach.

“I found sheep are boring. After retiring I thought I could compete in the Australian Sports Sedans Championship for sun, but I found I was putting as much into it as when I was in Formula 1, so I came back.”

At the front of the field John Watson took a sensational win from 22nd on the grid, which remains the lowest starting position for a winner.

John Watson drove his McLaren MP4-1C Ford from 22nd to first to win the USA-West GP on the Streets of Long Beach in 1983. Photo by LAT Images

To make the feat even more extraordinary, it was the first time in the eight-year history of the Long Beach Formula 1 Grand Prix up until that point the winner was not from the front row.

Another big McLaren charger was Niki Lauda, who started even lower from 24th and soared to second, 27.993s behind Watson.

The low starting McLaren drivers were already in the top four at the halfway mark after pole sitter Patrick Tambay and defending champion Keke Rosberg crashed 

Watson admitted the success caught him by complete surprise.

“I am really surprised,” he said post race. “I did not know at first I was in front.

“I‘d expected other cars on other tyres to be faster.

“It just seemed to happen. Personally I would rather start at the front then I don’t have to pass everybody except for lapping.”

Steven Masterton escaped a three-month suspension after a CAMS Tribunal hearing of the charge laid against him for “knowingly presenting an illegal car” at the Amaroo Park 

Instead he received a one-week suspension and a $1000 fine.

1973 – The Great Race gets an upgrade

The cover of Auto Action issue #57 revealed the news the Great Race will become the Bathurst 1000.

The annual Mount Panorama production car classic became known as the Hardie Ferodo 1000.

From 1963 to 1972, the race was run as a 500 mile race, but in a “surprise” announcement it was revealed the event will be extended to 1000km.

Other sweeping changes ensured the race was the richest in Australia with the winner to receive at least $10,000, which is over $106,000 in today’s money.

The race start time was also changed from 9.00 to 9.30 am.

When making the announcement, general manager of Hardie Ferodo George Hibbert said the changes were made to make the Great Race a “true test”.

“We have been associated with the Bathurst classic for many years and have watched the Hard Ferodo grow to International standing,” he said.

“We are proud to be associated with this latest step which must make the race on of the plums of the international calendar.

“With the change to metric we are faced with the prospect of decreasing or increasing the distance of the Hardie Ferodo.

“It has to be a real marathon, a gruelling test of both man and machine. I am sure 160 laps or more will test any car or driver.” 

On the driver’s front there was also plenty of chat with John Goss losing his Sports Sedan Porsche drive for unrevealed reasons, while Bob Jane was rumoured to join the Holden Dealer Team for the Sandown.

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

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