In a survey of almost 2000 members of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports (CAMS), an overwhelming 72% believe driver education is necessary in schools, while 82% trust it will reduce the road toll.

Defending Champion Whincup has been an avid spokesperson for road safety and believes the issue should be embedded from a young age.

“I’m a big believer that there needs to be more education on driving standards and behaviour, together with a better understanding that drivers are, in fact, behind the wheel of a lethal weapon,” Whincup admitted.

“In my opinion, making drivers better drivers is the key to fewer accidents, so there’s no denying that driver education will reduce the road toll. Young drivers need to be taught about their vehicles, alcohol consumption and the issues of distraction.

“They need to realize they hold their own lives and the lives of other in their hands and be shown the consequences of what can happen in an unfortunate situation, and how it can affect them and their family and friends.

“We are the best people to look to for an example of why we race on a race-track and not on a public road. When racing on the track, we’ve got a huge safety net with paramedics, ambulances and flag marshals on stand-by along with our roll cages and specially made race-suits,” he continued.

With the road toll reaching more than 700 this year, the #1 driver warns the initiative needs to be implemented correctly to avoid repercussions.

“The in-school instructors need to be certified and the message to young people needs to be consistent. The one thing you don’t want to do is confuse them,” Whincup stated.

Only 2% of Australian motor enthusiasts say a standardised young driver educated program should not be enforced in schools whilst one if four think it should be optional.

CAMS is requesting for the Commonwealth to introduce and fund the Ignition Program for all secondary schools in order to promote a generational attitude shift towards driving.

CAMS President Andrew Papadopoulos said, “This shows the motor sport community believes past attempts to reduce road tolls have not been successful and a focus on widespread Commonwealth funded education is needed.”

“Every week young Australians are killed or injured on the roads. A standardised driver education program specifically designed for pre-learner drivers, such as CAMS Ignition Program, will not only improve driving attitudes and knowledge before they take to the roads, it will save lives,” he concluded.

The four Year 9 students, known as the Nitro Monkeys, are headed to Singapore to represent Australia as part of a collaborative team with the United Arab Emirates after winning the Apprentice Class Champions Award.

The students were given an inspiration boost today with an opportunity to visit the workshop of dominant V8 Supercar team, TeamVodafone.

The teams Technical Director Ludo Lacroix has been an avid patron of the young team and believes the tour was a valuable learning experience.

“As I’m advising the team on research, I saw the tour through the garage as an excellent opportunity to show them what we do and how we do it,” Lacroix stated.

“The young team is showing an excellent level of talent and things are looking promising for the World Championships.

“All they have to do is stay focused for every step of the way. If they can do that, I’m certain they will succeed,” he continued.

The Re-Engineering Australia Foundation (REA) initiative inspires students to learn about the principals of engineering in a competitive and exciting way through the design and manufacture of miniature
Formula 1 cars.

The Pine Rivers State High School students have triumphed in a number of divisions, including Best Engineered Design and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation Fastest Car.

The schools senior team, Red Hawk Racing, has also shown excellent results, winning the runners up prize for the Professional Class Senior Champions category and Best Team Marketing.

The challenge has over 20 countries competing, including Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia.

It was a bittersweet end to Race 15 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, with the sweet being Jamie Whincup’s first placing from pole position, whilst team-mate Craig Lowndes suffered a lap one incident that robbed him ten laps and any chance of a solid championship point’s accumulation.

To add insult to injury he was forced to do a drive through penalty for a pit-lane tool infringement that cost him more time.

Both drivers battled it out in Townsville’s moderate heat, with Whincup enjoying good race pace throughout the 72 laps, finishing eight seconds ahead of second place Garth Tander.

“It was probably the best win of the year for me and I couldn’t be happier with the results,” Whincup stated.

“We nailed the car’s set-up and I was working hard. At the end of the day, we had pace and I just wanted to show the crowd what TeamVodafone is all about.

“It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. We have a few more changes to do to the car, so it could be a totally different story,” he continued.

After using four sets of his green tyres in today’s qualifier, Lowndes was forced to run shootout on used tyres.

The #888 driver suffered a delay after an untimely lock-up at Turn 11, leaving him in tenth spot.

Although Lowndes was thwarted by today’s race, he is confident his car’s set-up will give him a turn-around result for tomorrow.

“It was a disappointing day. We had a really good car for qualifying and in shootout we got three-quarters of the lap together but I made a mistake at Turn 11,” Lowndes admitted.

“I got a reasonable start to the race but then I hit the wall in the first lap, which damaged the front and rear-end of the car.

“We didn’t have the best speed but we gained enough in the finish 26th and gain some points. Despite that, I’m feeling confident for tomorrow.” he said.

Tomorrow’s on-track V8 Supercar action starts with qualifying at 11:00am followed by Race 16 at 1:35pm.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Series Race 15 Results – Sucrogen Townsville 400

1. Jamie Whincup, 150pts
2. Garth Tander, 138pts
3. Mark Winterbottom, 129pts
4. Lee Holdsworth, 120pts
5. James Courtney, 111pts
6. Russell Ingall, 102pts
7. Jason Richards, 96pts
8. Shane Van Gisbergen, 90pts
9. Steve Richards, 84pts
10.Paul Dumbrell, 78pts

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Standings – After Race 15 of 26

1. James Courtney, 1809pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 1791pts
3. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1502pts
4. Craig Lowndes, 1479pts
5. Mark Winterbottom, 1473pts
6. Garth Tander, 1380pts
7. Lee Holdsworth, 1338pts
8. Rick Kelly, 1286pts
9. Michael Caruso, 1187pts
10.Steven Johnson, 1112pts

TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes have both finished in the top ten following today’s practice sessions  at the Sucrogen Townsville 400.

Things are looking positive for the pair heading into tomorrow’s race with Whincup posting the second quickest time while teammate Lowndes was fourth.

The team spent todays sessions putting the cars through a number of set-up changes and, although confident, Whincup believes they have a task ahead of them before tomorrow’s race.

“I’m not completely happy with the car. The front is bouncing in one place and the rear is sliding in another spot,” Whincup admitted.

“The track is a little slippery because of the dirt but there has been great improvement’s on it since last year, which is good.

“It’s a reasonably quick car, hence why I made top three, but for it to be quick enough for tomorrow’s race, there’s a lot of work to be done,” he stated.

Despite falling short of the top three today, team-mate Craig Lowndes is confident going into the weekend.

“We tested a number of set-up changes that we thought were going to balance the car off. It wasn’t too bad, we just struggled a little bit to begin with,” Lowndes said.

“The final run today was just about fine tuning the car and getting it set-up and putting on a fresh set of rubber, which we did.

“I ended up fourth overall and we have some great data for tomorrow’s race, which has given us a great confidence boost for tomorrow,” he continued.

Earlier in the day, both Whincup and Lowndes took to the track with two new differentials as part of a valuation for the V8 Supercars.

The V8 Supercars will be back on track for qualifying at 10:50am tomorrow with the Top Ten Shootout to follow at 11:55pm. Race 15 (72-Laps) of the V8 Supercar Championship Series will commence at 3:05pm.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Practice Results – Sucrogen Townsville 400

1. Jason Richards, 1:12.9513
2. Jamie Whincup, 1:12.9670
3. Garth Tander, 1:13.0602
4. Craig Lowndes, 1:13.2816
5. Tony D’Alberto, 1:13.4446
6. Jason Bright, 1:13.4638
7. Steve Richards, 1:13.4654
8. James Courtney, 1:13.5104
9. Will Davison, 1:13.5975
10.Mark Winterbottom, 1:13.6101

Vodafone is inviting the people of Townsville to join in on the fun and get up close and personal like never before to TeamVodafone drivers’ Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, and enjoy a performance from music sensation, Operator Please, at a secret location party in Townsville on Thursday night, 8 July, 2010.

Vodafone will SMS guests the location of the party at midday on 8 July, 2010.

Vodafone still has 20 double passes to the TeamVodafone Secret Party up for grabs. To enter, visit Vodafone Australia’s Facebook page and follow the instructions.

Feeling positive about set-up, the team has high hopes for the Townsville track which will hold Race 15 and 16 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

After his triumph at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway, Whincup is eager to continue his success on the street circuit where he won the opening race in 2009.

“We’ve got momentum going into the Townsville round because of our Darwin success,” Whincup explained.

“Everything’s under control in relation to the car being on track and with my training, so I couldn’t be more confident. The circuit is really physically demanding and I’m hoping my fitness gets me through.

“Townsville is definitely a highlight for me. The people of far North Queensland have been deprived of motorsport for many years and I feel they have really embraced the event as their own,” he added.

Team-mate Lowndes, who came in fourth and ninth place respectively in last year’s event, is excited to make a return to Townsville and will tour the East Coast in the lead up to race day.

The #888 driver is confident he can master the circuit and gain valuable points towards his championship standing.

“It’s a great event, everyone gets right behind it and were expecting crowd numbers to be bigger and better this year,” Lowndes stated.

“During last year’s race, we had some radio communication problems which shouldn’t be an issue this year.

“This will be the last sprint round before the endurance races so it will be a great opportunity to score maximum points before the big break,” he explained.

TeamVodafone is giving V8 fans the chance to win tickets to the hottest party in town featuring Australian pop band, Operator Please.

For details on how to enter and secure your spot at the gig, visit the TeamVodafone website at www.teamvodafone.com.au.

The Sucrogen Townsville 400 will get underway on Friday July 9 with the first of four practice sessions to start at 10.20am. Qualifying and Race 15 (200km) of the V8 Supercar Championship Series will be held on Saturday. The event concludes on Sunday with the final 200km race.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Standings After Race 14 of 26

1. James Courtney, 1698pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 1641pts
3. Craig Lowndes, 1452pts
4. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1412pts
5. Mark Winterbottom, 1344pts
6. Garth Tander, 1242pts
7. Rick Kelly, 1226pts
8. Lee Holdsworth, 1218pts
9. Michael Caruso, 1139pts
10.Steven Johnson, 1040pts

The defending champion opted to run his soft compound tyres at the start of the race and endured a sensational battle with Todd Kelly for second place throughout the opening stint.

Whincup changed to the control tyres on Lap 23 and passed pole sitter Alex Davison for the lead on Lap 36.

Today’s victory is Whincup’s seventh of the year and marks his 40th Championship career win.

“The feeling I got crossing the line was huge knowing that we had gone out there, battled for 69 laps all on different strategies. It all came down to which team did the best job and which driver kept it on the
limit for the longest,” Whincup explained.

“It was a massively rewarding race and part of that was gaining success on the soft tyre. I had a huge battle with Todd Kelly at the start which was great fun, I couldn’t be happier with the result.

“My tyres hung in there and held out a bit better than the rest of the drivers and I came home strong,” he said.

An uncharacteristic error by the pit-crew cost Lowndes valuable time during his second pitstop with the #888 Commodore dropped off its jacks before the front left hand side tyre was put on.

Lowndes, who qualified in seventh place today, tried to reclaim the lost time but was unable to catch James Courtney and came in fifth.

“I got a lot of wheel spin off the start then got swamped into the first turn which lost me a few spots,” Lowndes explained.

“The car balance was good on all sets (of tyres) but I started to get understeer at the end of each run. The last pitstop cost me a lot of time and I pushed as hard as I could, I definitely didn’t have anything left at
the end, the rears were gone.

“It was an eventful race so to be honest I was happy to finish fifth and we maintained third placing in the championship,” he added.

TeamVodafone will head back to Brisbane to prepare for the Sucrogen Townsville 400 which will be held on July 9 – 11.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Series Race 14 Results – Hidden Valley Raceway

1. Jamie Whincup, 150pts
2. Mark Winterbottom, 138pts
3. Shane Van Gisbergen, 129pts
4. James Courtney, 120pts
5. Craig Lowndes, 111pts
6. Tim Slade, 102pts
7. Jason Richards, 96pts
8. Todd Kelly, 90pts
9. Rick Kelly, 84pts
10.Steven Richards, 78pts

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Standings – After Race 14 of 26

1. James Courtney, 1698pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 1641pts
3. Craig Lowndes, 1452pts
4. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1412pts
5. Mark Winterbottom, 1344pts
6. Garth Tander, 1242pts
7. Rick Kelly, 1226pts
8. Lee Holdsworth, 1218pts
9. Michael Caruso, 1139pts
10.Steven Johnson, 1040pts

The defending champion started off the front row of the grid after qualifying second for today’s 42 lap race.

Despite not getting the best of starts, Whincup retained second but could not gain any additional spots during the pit stop and returned to the race following Winterbottom.

Team-mate Lowndes slipped a spot at the start but then progressively gained places throughout the race finishing seventh, earning valuable points in the championship race.

Both drivers were concerned about tyre degradation given the warmer conditions and the longer race for tomorrow.

“We didn’t get the best start and we need to fine tune our set-up so we can pick up the pace tomorrow,” Whincup explained.

“All in all, our race was strong, we fought hard and showed great teamwork.

“We didn’t have as much pace as we had last year. The tyres were too hot and I think whoever can keep them the coolest for the longest will definitely have an advantage tomorrow,” he said.

After using two sets of his green tyres in qualifying, Craig Lowndes was forced to run the Shootout on used rubber and ended the session ninth.

Lowndes got a good start but was shuffled back at the first turn and ran on his worst set of control tyres. After the pit-stop, he was able to make ground and finish seventh.

“We have now run the worst of our tyres and the car balance came good towards the middle of the race, which meant we could attack,” Lowndes said.

“I had a great battle with Tim Slade and James Courtney but as the tyres went off I just couldn’t find a way around them.

“The biggest plus for us is that we have now used the odd batch of tyres and we have all good tyres for tomorrow,” he continued.

Tomorrow’s on-track V8 Supercar action starts with qualifying at 12:00pm followed by Race 14 at 2:35pm.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Series Race 13 Results – Hidden Valley Raceway

1. Mark Winterbottom, 150pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 138pts
3. Shane Van Gisbergen, 129pts
4. Jason Richards, 120pts
5. James Courtney, 111pts
6. Tim Slade, 102pts
7. Craig Lowndes, 96pts
8. Paul Dumbrell, 90pts
9. Todd Kelly, 84pts
10.Garth Tander, 78pts

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Standings – After Race 13 of 26

1. James Courtney, 1578pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 1491pts
3. Craig Lowndes, 1341pts
4. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1283pts
5. Mark Winterbottom, 1206pts
6. Garth Tander, 1194pts
7. Lee Holdsworth, 1149pts
8. Rick Kelly, 1142pts
9. Michael Caruso, 1089pts
10. Steven Johnson, 983pts

Whincup and the team, spent the two sessions putting the new car through a number of set-up changes to see how it would respond in the hot conditions.

Buoyed by today’s result, Whincup acknowledged there was room for improvement but said they were heading in the right direction.

“I am really happy to be quickest today. That was the first practice session with the new car and to go 1 from 1 is nice,” Whincup said.

“If we do the same thing tomorrow we will be struggling a bit so we need to go away and make some improvements.

“We made a heap of changes throughout that session and we put very good tyres on at the end so we expected to be up the front,” Whincup admitted.

Unlike his team-mate, Craig Lowndes didn’t benefit from putting on new tyres. The TeamVodafone driver aborted his potential hot lap due to the car not responding as they had thought and opted to save those tyres for tomorrow.

“I started a lap but we didn’t really get the tyre set up right so we opted to save the tyres for tomorrow,”Lowndes explained.

“We’ve made a number of changes to the car, some of them I felt, some of them I didn’t feel.

“Unfortunately, due to tyre degradation, it was a little hard to get an indication of balance but it’s encouraging the car is working really well on a used set of tyres,” he continued.

Earlier in the day both Whincup and Lowndes took to the track with two new differentials as part of an evaluation for V8 Supercars.

The V8 Supercars will be back on track for qualifying at 11:20am tomorrow with the Top Ten Shootout to follow at 12:20pm. Race 13 (42-Laps) of the V8 Supercar Championship Series will commence at 3:35pm.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Practice Results – Hidden Valley Raceway

1. Jamie Whincup, 1:09.8066
2. Mark Winterbottom, 1:09.8289
3. Todd Kelly, 1:09.9989
4. Steven Richards, 1:10.0262
5. James Courtney, 1:10.0289
6. Alex Davison, 1:10.1218
7. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1:10.1473
8. Tim Slade, 1:10.1562
9. Will Davison, 1:10.1612
10.Jason Bargwanna, 1:10.2182
13. Craig Lowndes, 1:10.3693

Lowndes, a three-time V8 Supercar Champion and four-time Bathurst 1000 winner, will drive a specially-modified V8 Holden Colorado 4WD for the PWR Performance Products/Holden Rally Team in this year’s event.

Lowndes is teaming with the PWR/HRT team owner Kees Weel, a winner of past Australasian Safaris as both a co-driver and team owner.

“The Australasian Safari is an event I have been wanting to take part in for years, so when the opportunity came up to drive the Colorado for Kees and the PWR/Holden Rally Team I jumped at it,” Lowndes said.

“This is the first time in my career for racing on anything other than bitumen, and the first time I’ll have raced with a passenger sitting alongside me, so it’s going to be a great experience.

“I have spoken to many people about the event and I am really excited. The PWR V8 Colorado is a potential winner, so it’s now up to me to utilise the speed and manage the terrain – I think we’ll do great.”

Weel said he was confident Lowndes’ first foray off road would be a success.

“Craig hasn’t raced off-road before and the Australasian Safari’s a whole new ball game, but his list of achievements speaks for itself and we wouldn’t have signed him if we weren’t confident of Craig doing a tremendous job,” Weel said.

Australasian Safari Event Director, Justin Hunt said Lowndes’ participation was a coup for the event, which is in its 25th year.

“Craig Lowndes is the most popular driver in Australian motorsport and we are delighted that he is contesting this year’s Australasian Safari with the PWR/Holden Rally Team,” Hunt said.

“Craig’s participation will provide an increased media spotlight on this year’s event, which is shaping up to be the biggest yet in terms of competitors, sponsors and overall interest.”

The Australasian Safari is this country’s most gruelling motorsport event, covering more than 3,500km of the Western Australian outback. The event begins on 17 September in Perth, finishing eight days later on 25 September. The course will be confirmed in coming weeks but promises to be a huge challenge for moto, auto and quad bike competitors as they travel through historic goldfields, remote desert and rugged bush.

Considered one of the world’s great endurance events, the Australasian Safari attracts international entries from countries including the USA, Brazil, China, South Africa, Japan, and New Zealand.

The event is supported by the Western Australian Government with coverage of the event broadcast into WA’s key international tourism markets.