Taste Of Exotica For Jones, Murphy At Australian Gp
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday December 15, 1997
Alan Jones and Greg Murphy - both still seeking full-time drives next season - will at least be busy at the Australian Grand Prix, driving Lamborghini Diablos in the exotic sports car feature support races.
Twenty-six 550-horsepower V12-engined Diablo SV-Rs - each worth $600,000 - from the one-make SuperSport Trophy series in Europe are heading to Albert Park for races on each of the four days of the grand prix.
Joining Jones and Murphy on the grid is a colourful catalogue of professionals and amateurs, including two Formula One drivers of recent years - Olivier Grouillard, a veteran of 41 F1 starts, and Jean-Marc Gounon.
The Lamborghinis, which have featured in some horrendously expensive crashes in their two seasons of racing, have been described as the wildest single-make category in international motor sport. Panel beaters rejoice when more than $15 million worth of Italian exotica takes to the track.
The 1980 world champion, Jones is looking forward to the experience of driving the Diablo in front of his old Formula One confreres: "I've driven a couple of [road] Lambos, but I've never raced one," he said. "It's not every day you get asked."
Murphy, the 1996 Bathurst 1000 winner, still desperately chasing a V8 or super touring car drive next year after being let go by the Holden Racing Team, is hoping the Lamborghini drive may lead to other opportunities in Europe.
"Get a good result at Albert Park and you never know what doors might open," he said.
Murphy has also accepted an offer to drive a NASCAR Chevy Monte Carlo at the Calder Thunderdome later this month, replacing owner/driver Kevin Schwantz who is committed to testing in the US.
Oval racing will be a new experience for Murphy, who has never as much as driven around the Thunderdome. "At this stage I'll be doing four NASCAR championship races for the KS Motorsport team," he said. * * * CHINA is on the brink of securing its first-ever Formula One grand prix, while France has been dumped from the world championship for the first time since 1955.
On a 1998 calendar released by the FIA, Belgium and Portugal have just two weeks to satisfy the world controlling body that they should be included in the 16-race world championship, while China and South Africa are on standby to take their places.
The not-quite-firm FIA schedule for next season starts with the Australian Grand Prix on March 8 and concludes with the Japanese Grand Prix on November 1.
The French Grand Prix has gone from the calendar after an inconclusive dispute over television rights. On notice are the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, facing the chop because of a national ban on tobacco advertising, and the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, which will be confirmed only contingent on an undertaking to complete an expensive works program.
A decision on those two races will be made on December 31.
If China is confirmed as a host country, the grand prix will be held at Zhuhai.
The FIA also has indicated it will not hold any future grands prix at Jerez, Spain, where the 1997 season-ending and title- deciding European Grand Prix was staged.
The boycott has nothing to do with tobacco advertising difficulties, or television disputes, or a requirement to modernise facilities. No, the FIA is patently unhappy with the local mayor and other local government officials, who hijacked the podium ceremony at the recent grand prix.
"This disruption caused embarrassment and inconvenience to those presenting the trophies," said a miffed FIA.
The mayor, Pedro Pacheco, is hardly going quietly. "It's an outrage," he thundered, when learning of the loss of the prized grand prix. "[But the ban] is going to be impossible, because there will be Formula One in Jerez."
Just how the mayor proposed to get a race to proceed was not immediately obvious.
The problems facing the promoters of the popular Belgian Grand Prix are sheeted to the Government's decision two weeks ago to ban tobacco advertising - a massive source of revenue for Formula One organisers and teams.
© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald