Nelson Piquet & Cameron McConville karting at Albert Park
March 25, 2009 by thomasrdotorg
The pre Australian Formula One Grand Prix distractions and attractions continued today in Melbourne and CarAdvice was there.
This time Albert Park’s karting circuit was the centre of attention when Renault driver Nelson Piquet was joined by V8 Supercar driver Cam McConville alongside 2008 Australian Formula Ford Champ Luke Ellery and Aussie Karts champions Gary Jacobsen and Matt Wall.
The drivers each took a turn in a sedate four-stroke kart and of course the lowest timed driver would be declared the winner. These were not the superkarts they might have been used to, but rather karts from the local “pay and play” karting centre.
The karting centre at Albert Park is part of a promotion to foster the “next Australian Formula One Champion”.
From the GP website: “This promotion is open to all age groups above seven years of age, with scheduled times set for each age group“.
As one cynical GP pundit said to me when I asked about Mark Webber’s chances in 2009: “The next Australian GP winner has not yet been born…”
While Nelson Piquet was taking his turn (claimed by Cam McConville to be two laps more than everyone else) Tom Reynolds chatted to Cam about karting, the best path to F1 for a young Australian driver and the new qualifying rules for V8s in 2009.
Oh and the winner? Watch the video right to the end…
Print it: 
Cam says he ’s not a fan of the new Qualifying system thats been adopted for the 09 V8 Championship.. as he said:
He qualified 29th for race 1 in Adelaide…made his way through to finish 9th then got kicked back to the rear of the rid to try and do it all over again.
Yet When asked about whether its better or worse than a reverse grid.. Cam says “nothings worse than a reverse grid”
is he kidding.. The new V8 Qualifying system is a joke
At least a reverse grid effects the entire field and its dependent on how you and your car goes after 40 odd laps not just one lap on a Thursday/Friday afternoon.
Not only that but the new V8 system is an easy way out for some drivers whose car has a slight mechanical problem etc
Instead of continuing and nursing the car they can decide to pull out knowing that if they don’t finish they won’t start any lower than where they started.
like what happened to Garth Tander who Qualified 4th but didn’t finish race one – however he started race 2 in 4th position again
which isn’t fair on those who qualify behind them but actually did finish the race in a higher position than they did
For the record, GT qualified 3rd not 4th.
Also a reverse grid doesnt reverse the whole field. Usually just the top ten get reversed.
I wonder why they only interviewed the big losers from the new system such as Cam and Ingall????
interesting how the biggest winners in Tander and lowndes kept quiet ha ha ha ha ha.
I think the system is wrong anyhow. If the focus is on racing, then why does the biggest reward come from a good qualifying run???
The idea of the system was to encourage passing. they figured that if people werent trying to be conservative to ensure a good grid spot for next race, that they might be more inclined to have a harder go.
I also see that out of the weekend that DJR will now be busy pulling the stickers off of Grant Denyers car and throwing Jim Beam stickers on it for Courtney since he did a good job on their new number.
They had asked for a pardon/exclusion from the F1 GP round, but were denied (even though its not a championship round)
In the past they have done full grid reversals though Andrew M –
I’d like to know why the high profile drivers hate reverse grids so much
Because if they are the best drivers in Austalia they should be able to pass the slower less experienced drivers who are usually at the back of the grid “cleanly” and easily shouldn’t they? well most of them should be able to!
I mean the other drivers aren’t that bad when you consider that sometimes the full grid of 30 cars is covered by less than 5 seconds [after qualifying]
As you say Andrew the focus is meant to be on Racing which involves passing not just maintaining position
i know full reverse grids have been tried, but typiclly a reverse grid only involves the top 10.
the thing with being back in the pack is you get caught up in other peoples trouble.
also the reason that the other drivers are actually pretty talented and close matched is the reason why its hard for them to continually make their way through.
you need to be more than a few tenths quicker to easily pass someone
“I’d like to know why the high profile drivers hate reverse grids so much”
Easy. The hopeless slower drivers at the rear make it easy for the faster qualifiers to race their own pace. When the grid is reversed, the bunch-up happens at the front ant there are always crashes and blocked tracks, usually the slow one taking out one or more of the faster ones. When it’s only the first 10, it’s not as bad, but it’s pointless.
The current system is flawed and ridiculous, but even more obvious is the new “rules”, different to last year, which evidently outlaw contact. Last year Lowndes frequently tagged the back of a car so he could slide past, but this year he didn’t nudge Tander at all. For ex go-karters, the slight nudge at the rear and slip past is second nature.
at first i thought the new quali system might be ok, but this weekend it was a complete joke and it needs to be changed, NOW!
Reckless – I don’t know that a slight nudge to pass is illegal or not.. but what IS unfair is when someone gets turned around or put into the wall. It doesn’t take much for a “slight nudge” to turn into a major incident when these guys are on the absolute threshold under brakes… its the potential for harm which i think is V8supercar is thinking about
Cam did say later that the rule will probably only get addressed “when Whincup blows an engine during qualifying”
He’s probably right.
Tom
Reckless – that may be so…. but what’s the difference between Tander Whincup and co having to try and pass the slower drivers [who are usually at the rear of the grid] at the start of the race then having to pass them in the middle or at the end of the race?
I mean Tander Whincup and co are probably going to have to try an pass them at some stage of the race aren’t they?
And by having the slower drivers infront of the more experienced ones at the start it shows who has the better strategy – who drives with his head not just his hands and feet – inorder to finish first; first you have to finish
Wheelnut,
why does the best performer deserve to be thrown to the back.
whether its a reverse grid or the new qual format, why does the good race performance result in a penalty???
sure Whincup, Tander and Co might be best drivers in the best cars, but you need to be a lot faster than 3 tenths to rocket through the field no matter how good you are.
At the end of the day reverse grids have been tried and subsequently scrapped for obvious reasons. The past doesnt lie, and the format didnt work.
I can see this Qual format going to the bin aswell.
The biggest question is will it last a full season of trial???
I sort of doubt it…….
Did Cam really say it will only get addressed when whincup blows an engine in Qual????
Surely he isnt that silly to believe that.
the days of favourtism have been stamped out.
There was once a time when they never brought in the front runner for a penalty, now i feel they are delt a little more fairly
To summarize, V8 supercar “racing” should be renamed to V8 single formula TV circus show on wheels.
It’s clear to me thay are trying hard to keep people interested, even though the cars are so much the same now it can no longer be called Holden vs Ford racing. It’s the V8 supercar formula parade, complete with insanely stupid rules. Not to mention virtually everyone allowed the others to pass easily, and my aforementiond “no-tagging” from Lowndes, makes it a Gentleman’s Sunday Drive Exhibition.
The only good thing is gone – that damn E85 doesn’t throw flames, just a puff of white occasionally.
Good thing noone makes you watch it then reckless.
Its still the number one motorsport in OZ though, so your comments count for nothing really
do you also say they are struggling to keep people interested in footy and cricket aswell since they have ongoing rule changes???