For repair professionals and automotive enthusiasts

The Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils includes everything from touring cars to nimble open wheelers and everything in between.

The ‘core’ categories are said to be looking stronger than ever and the addition of Australian GT and Touring Car Masters really adds to the package at several rounds some of which include a ‘double’ slot, meaning longer distance races that have become a norm for production car racing.

Additions include a seven-round Australian Swift racing series calendar, four rounds featuring the return of the Australian GT championship to the Shannons Nationals program, and Phillip Island and Sandown that will feature the Touring Car Masters series.

A modified series points system, involving bonus points for podium places, is to be part of this year’s Auto One V8 Utes series commencing with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

First place will receive 35 points, second 33, third 31, fourth 29 and then a series of reductions of one point for every position to 32nd place.

Category manager Craig Denyer, says the new system has been introduced to reward drivers who push hard to make it to the front of the field.

“We trialled a system last year where each driver received one point for every car passed, similar to Nascar and again we have taken the Nascar model and now added bonus points to the podium positions.

“It’s only a slight tweak to the system and given that in the past three years there have been over four drivers with the chance of winning the title at the final round, there is nothing really wrong with the overall matrix.

“We think this will make a number of drivers push a bit harder in qualifying, which also carries series points and reduce the opportunity for foxing to take advantage of any reverse grid draw in Race 2.”

Last year’s runner up, David ‘Sideways’ Sieders, is looking forward to the new system and stated the obvious in that it will be very beneficial for the drivers who win races.

“It will definitely be great for me. Last year I won four races but the points didn’t help me gain too much of a lead or put me in a better position for the next race.

“It will definitely make some drivers push to win races instead of coming in fourth and they’ll still gain a good spot on the grid.”

The 2012 Series consists of 24 races over eight rounds raced throughout Australia covering six states and one territory.

Pirelli has launched its new tyres for this year’s F1 season, which according to motorsport director Paul Hembery, will make the racing far more exciting…and given that the profiles are said to be ‘squarer’ excitement should indeed be the order of the day!

Pirelli say their objective is to ensure entertaining races that remain unpredictable all the way to the chequered flag, with two to three pit stops per race, a strong emphasis on team strategies and a less marked performance gap between compounds.

All of which one would have thought was a ‘given’ but then I suppose they have to try and say something different.

“After the positive experience of last year, the teams asked us to continue providing tyres with the characteristics that contributed to spectacular races in 2011,” said Pirelli president and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera, speaking at a special press launch in Abu Dhabi.

“And this is what we have done, optimising the compounds and profiles to guarantee even better and more stable performance, combined with the deliberate degradation that characterised the P Zero range from 2011.

“We’re expecting unpredictable races, with a wide range of strategies and a number of pit stops: all factors that both competitors and spectators greatly enjoyed last year.”

From a spectator’s perspective, Pirelli have made the coloured markings on the tyres’ sidewalls bigger and more easily recognisable, and the Cinturato name, which Pirelli raced and won with in the 50s, will denote the full wet and intermediate tyres.

As it did last season, the tyremaker will supply teams with four slick tyre compounds, supersoft, soft, medium and hard, along with two types of wet weather tyre as prescribed by FIA regulations.

All the P Zero slick tyres will feature a brand-new profile compared to 2011 and the soft, medium and hard will also have new compounds, said to be softer, with increased grip, better performance, a longer performance peak, but with an unaltered overall lifespan.

Of the wet-weather tyres, only the full wet Cinturato Blue has changed. The evolution of the tyres for 2012 has taken into account the regulation changes introduced by the FIA regarding blown exhausts, which should result in a reduction of aerodynamic downforce acting on each tyre. The objective of a wider and more even contact patch has been met by having a less rounded shoulder on each tyre and using softer compounds, which produce better grip and more extreme performance.

The performance gap between the different compounds has changed and all are now expected to perform better.

During the 2011 season there was a difference of between 1.2 and 1.8 seconds per lap among the different compounds and Pirelli and looking to reduce this to less than a second.

The compounds have been formulated by Pirelli’s research and development division in Milan, using the information obtained from experimental tyres tested during free practice session at last year’s GPs in Malaysia, Canada, UK, Germany, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

 Pirelli calendar girls add a touch of glamour to the F1 tyre launch…and just in case you don’t recognise them with their clothes on it’s Ines Sastre and Bianca Balti.