Surfers Saturday Notebook
“My dad finished second twice in Australia and raced there many times," said Rahal, who won in his IndyCar Series debut in April on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. “He didn’t win there so it’s up to me to get a win for the Rahals in Australia. I went there once as a kid in 1998, the last year my dad was racing in CART. It is a great place; absolutely beautiful. I was only 9 or 10 so I missed the best part, which is the girls. I wasn’t paying attention to them then. My dad was knocked out right away so I didn’t see much of the race. I went back to the hotel and jumped in the pool."
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Will Power, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon have a rooting interest in the Rugby World Cup opening-round match Oct. 26 in Sydney when Australia and New Zealand face off.
“I follow it when it’s World Cup and certainly wish the worst for the Kiwis," Briscoe said.
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The themed helmet that Conquest Racing’s Alex Tagliani is wearing for the Nikon Indy 300 is already spoken for after the race.
An auction during the Indy Gala Ball on Oct. 24 raised $25,000 (Australian), with proceeds designated for the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation Children’s Ward.
The design, which is based on the Conrad Jupiters Gold Coast Casino and Hotel, features casino-themed imagery such as slot machines, casino chips and a roulette table on the sides. The back of the helmet has Conrad Jupiters slogan “What will you get up to?’’ as well as four aces – one each that contain the names Bronte and Tagliani.
“I wanted Bronte’s name on the cards because I hit the jackpot when I met her," said Tagliani, who met his wife at Surfers Paradise in 2001.
There’s also company for Richard the Lionhearted on Dan Wheldon’s helmet. He has a beach motif, featuring a surfer, on the side of the helmet.
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| Jamie Whincup led Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom to the checkered flag for their first race today |
| Edge Photographics |
Also flying the flag for the home state was Jamie Whincup in the Australian V8 Supercar Series – with the Ford driver leading the 27 lap race from start to finish despite earnest challenges for the lead from Holden driver and championship contender Garth Tander over the closing five laps of the race with Mark Winterbottom also in hot pursuit.
Whincup was able to hold off Tander, who was close enough to almost touch in the closing three laps while the leaders negotiated lapped traffic, to claim the race win from pole position and continue his fast form of the weekend.
Also continuing to be on the pace was the Gold Coast’s Craig Baird in the Haymans Electrical Porsche Carrera Cup, with the V8 Supercar Endurance Driver who secured the 2008 championship in the Porsche series last month now holding two wins from three this weekend, with the final jaunt to be run tomorrow morning.
Set to have a day off from racing tomorrow are the Coates Aussie Racing Car and Formula 3 categories, with both wrapping up their rounds today with their third and final races for the weekend.
V8 Supercar driver Paul Morris took the round win in the Aussie Racing Cars, with the Gold Coaster steering the smaller of his two Supercheap Auto Racing cars (Morris is also competing in the V8 Supercar Series this weekend).
John Martin took the round win in the Formula 3, but the reigning Champion of the category James Winslow claimed the final and dramatic race of the round at Surfers Paradise after Martin won the previous two after topping the qualifying session earlier in the Event.
Today saw 83, 337 people come through the date, which combines with yesterday’s crowd numbers of 63,124 to give a three day total of 202,823.
Jamie Whincup: #88 Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF – V8 SUPERCARS
“Obviously it was a tough race, but we got off to a great start," said Whincup.
“We led all the way going into turn one and had a great pit. I believe Garth had some lapped traffic coming out of the pits, which was an advantage to us.
“The car wasn’t as quick (as the cars of Tander and Winterbottom) and we didn’t get the maximum power out of it, Garth and Mark were coming on pretty strong and they had quicker cars.
“We’ll have to make a few tweaks overnight and we also had a few issues in the cabin – it just wasn’t as smooth-sailing as we would have liked, but we did come out with maximum points at the end.
“It was all the championship contenders battling it out at the front… And that’s what it is all about.
“I’m pretty happy with myself. We obliviously won and got maximum points, we’ve got to improve the car tomorrow… but we’ve got the right tools to do that."