For immediate release October 02, 2005

The unique World Series by Renault Qualifying system certainly didn’t work in Will Power’s favour this weekend in Estoril, Portugal when his 7th and 4th fastest overall times put him 11th and 7th on the grid respectively providing a tough challenge for the Aussie in today’s races.

Will got a great start in the sprint race but was forced to drop down to 13th place in avoidance of an incident. Soon after, Fabio Carbone spun out and it promoted the Aussie up to 12th place and on to the tail of Fernando Rees.ÿ Will could see the tell tale signs of a radiator failure when Rees’ car started to spew water from his side pods, and backed off – the water was quickly replaced by oil and although there was a distance between them, Power’s car was completely covered in it.ÿ Unable to see properly, Will had to wait for the inevitable engine failure before he could snatch up 11th place.

Finally in a bit of clear air, but with a perilously loose front nose box, Will pumped out the fastest lap of the race on lap 8 of 19.ÿ He soon caught up with Adrian Valles and Simon Pagenaud and resumed battle, loosing his fastest lap but gaining one point for crossing the line in 10th place after passing Valles with 6 laps remaining.

The pit-stop race held plenty of promise from 7th on the grid, however Will was lucky to survive the carnage at turn one and suffered a broken front wing when Tristan Gommendy’s rear wheel got a touch too close.ÿ The safety car was brought out to clear the turn 1 pile up and Will came in for his mandatory tyre stop from 5th place when the safety car retired on lap 5, changing two front tyres and also fitting a new nose cone because of his wing damage.ÿ The stop was quick, but the nose cone change cost him dearly and he rejoined back in 25th place.ÿ However, the race was far from boring for Power, who in the 20 laps remaining motored through the field to finish a respectable P12 with the 3rd fastest lap.

“Qualifying stung me this weekend.” Said Power.ÿ “In session two I was fourth quickest overall and my teammate was sixth quickest but he was on the front row and I was back in 7th – work that one out.”

“I can’t say the races were boring for me though, there was so much going on the laps flew by for me – I could have done with a few more!ÿ It was very disappointing to break my wing in race two when I was up to 5th, but I concentrated on finishing both races and that’s what I managed to do.”



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October 25, 2005 - Highlight

Team Australia's newest recruit had an impressive first Champ Car weekend when he qualified 11th on Saturday. His previous and first run in the Ford-powered Lola was on the Friday in very wet coniditions.

Race day started off extremely well for the Queenslander when he avoided the first lap incident to take P8 on track and held his position for the opening sector of the race. Will continued to run in the top 10 as the second Rookie, matching the pace of those around him after his first pit-stop.

The Aussie's luck ran out there though when his Teammate, Canadian Alex Tagliani ran into the back of him, spinning him off the track. Power limped back to the pits but the damage was too extensive and his race finished on lap 28. Tagliani had used his push-to-pass button to gain on Will after he had a slow pit-stop and rejoined behind the Australaian in 9th place. Unfortunately, the Canadian wasn't aware that the team had already spoken to Power and he was getting ready to let him by on the next straight.

Tagliani went on to finish fourth and apologised later to Power for taking him out of the race. They both can only wonder where they would have finished had the incident been avoided. Power now flies out to America, then Mexico City for the last round of the Champ Car World Series.

October 14, 2005

Team Australia has announced that it will campaign three cars in next week’s Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Queensland’s Gold Coast – the 12th round of the this year’s Champ Car World Series.

The team’s third car will be driven by Toowoomba native Will Power, who has impressed many critics recently with his performances in European-based open-wheel racing.

Power has been signed to a three-year deal with Team Australia and will join Gold Coaster Marcus Marshall and Canadian Alex Tagliani as part of the Green and Gold machine in Surfers Paradise next week.

Team Australia will campaign a Ford-powered Lola for Power which has been put together at the team’s base in Indianapolis under the watchful eye of team co-owner Derrick Walker.

Team Australia co-owner and Queensland businessman Craig Gore says that he is delighted to welcome Power to Team Australia, which is set to be the focus of next week’s Queensland event.

“We have been toying with the idea of running three cars at the Lexmark Indy 300 for sometime and when Will made himself available we jumped at the chance. We have extended that further by securing him to a three-year contract,” said Gore.

“Will has had the opportunity to test with us and has done an impressive job. It is great that we not only have an Australian in a third car, but to have a Queenslander is a bonus.

“This is the next step in our on-going journey to help Australians to the highest level of motorsport.”

Walker, who is one of the most experienced team owner/managers in the business, has been very impressed with Power’s ability behind the wheel of a Champ Car.

“All the early indications are that Will could be a very competitive driver in the Champ Car series,” said Walker.

“He certainly has the pace and is professional in the way he approaches his racing.

“I am sure Will be a positive edition to our team and I am looking forward to seeing him make his debut on the streets of the Gold Coast.”

Making your Champ Car debut on the challenging Surfers Paradise street circuit would be daunting for any driver, but Power’s record at the venue is already impressive.

He took the pole for both Formula Ford support races in 2000 and then set a lap record on his way to winning race one before finishing fourth in race two after gearbox failure.

The following year he was invited to be a part of the Honda Young Guns program in which he took the pole and won race one before finishing second in race two.

In 2002 he competed in the Formula 3 support events and again took pole before having a clean sweep in the two support races.

“Team Australia is an exciting concept and I look forward to a long-term relationship with Craig Gore, John Fish and Derrick Walker,” said Power.

“The Champ Car World Series is one of the most exciting categories of racing in the world and I am excited about being a part of it with Team Australia. I got a real taste for the Gold Coast event when I competed in the Honda Young Guns event in 2001 and to finally get an opportunity in an Australian-owned and branded team is something I am going to be proud of.

“To make my debut on the Gold Coast is also going to be a fantastic experience and it would be terrific if we could have similar or better success than David Besnard did last year when he finished seventh in his one and only Champ Car race.”

In 2003 Power moved to Europe and drove in the British Formula 3 Championship with both Diamond Racing and Fortec Motorsport.

Last season he took five podium finishes in 12 meetings with the Australian-owned Alan Docking Racing team and was also provided an F1 test with Minardi, where he was the fastest of the three drivers who tested.

This season Power has been competing in the World Series by Renault Championship in Europe with Carlin Motorsport, where in his first test of the season in Barcelona he topped the time sheets and beat the 2004 pole time by a second.

He currently sits sixth in the Renault championship, but will miss the final round at Monza in Italy next week because of his Australian commitments.


Brett Murray - BAM Media