Pit lane starts, last lap incidents and safety car shenanigans... the Australian GT moved to Melbourne and the Moslers were in the thick of the action again.

Craig Baird had blistered the Mosler/Shell/Stahlwille to the head of the grid with a sub-two-minute record-breaking qually lap. But such pace led to the Mosler being issued with an intake restrictor on top of the 100kg of penalty weight being carried. Come the start of race one, Baird failed to make the rolling start and joined from the pitlane... and then swung back in having failed to complete a full lap.

It transpired that team owner and Mosler Australia distributor John Teulan had decided to change the engine mapping on Baird's car, leaving Baird concerned that he would be swamped at the start.

Things didn't run smoothly for Teulan either, locking up the rear on lap 5 to leave his Mosler in the kitty litter.



Race two therefore saw both Moslers starting at the back of the grid. John Teulan didn't last long - another rear lockup saw him off track and into the wall on lap three. Craig Baird, meanwhile, set off to scythe through the pack. Having made 18th place by the end of lap one - passing half the field in doing so - he continued to pressure the pack and was running in ninth by lap five.

Then on the last lap, Baird went one Lambo too far. In trying to pass Dean Grant's Gallardo, he took both cars off circuit and out of the race.

So, race three saw Baird at the back of the grid again. And, as in the previous race, Baird set about butchering the field as he moved from 35th to 12th in the space of a lap. The safety car was soon out as an Elise took a liking to the barriers before an Exige and Porsche had a coming together. After two laps, a flag was out on the start/finish line... the chequered flag! Race three had turned into a one lap sprint and two-lap safety car parade! It seems the race was halted early in order to get the day's scheduel back on track - that's what happens when you share a stage with those pesky F1 prima donnas I suppose.

No points awarded for the farcical race three and two DNFs for Baird and Teulan made for a frustrating Mosler Melbourne weekend. Two wins for David Wall in the PR Technology Porsche GT3 Cup S puts him at the top of the championship, Craig Baird slipping to eleventh. John Teulan is one spot from propping up the table in 22nd.

Photo by drinking_black_coffee on Flickr

Hard rain, hail and GTs. Must be Silverstone in the springtime. Britcar 2009 got underway with four Moslers vying for honours in both the overall championship and the UK's first Mosler Challenge.

Qualifying saw the Moslers strung through the top end of the order; the McInerneys highest placed in third, the KRM combo of Riley and Flux one row back in sixth and the factory car with team boss Martin Short and ex-Formula Palmer Audi graduate Dan Brown in eighth. Rachel Green and Henry Fletcher started the Topcats car down in fourteenth place.


As the field rolled round to the grid, Martin Short pulled swiftly into the pits. This was worrying - had the car sprung a problem already? The pack took two warm-up laps before being unleashed but still Short hadn't re-appeared. As I froze myself into my seat at Woodcote, the lights went green. When the field reappeared at the end of the first lap, there were two surprises - Flux had bludgeoned the KRM car into the lead from their sixth slot start and Short was back out hunting the pack down. It appeared he'd dove in to don slicks, anticipating the drying circuit, but there had then been confusion about pit-lane-starting procedure which held him (and several others) back.


Sean McInerney took Eclipse up to second early on. Initial tyre choice seemed to become an issue, as some of the pace-setters seemed to start struggling and end up as overtaking fodder for Short. The factory Mosler was tearing through the order, already up to eighth by the end of lap six. Flux had pushed hard to open out a reasonable lead, but Short was whittling the gap away and had taken the lead by lap twenty.


As Dan Brown took over the Rollcentre Mosler at its mandatory pitstop with less than an hour to go, he kept it out in the lead with both the earlier-stopping KRM and Eclipse cars still running in the top ten. The former came in for a quick splash and Ian Flux put the hammer down to try and improve on fourth place. Sadly, the engine couldn't take the strain and the Mosler was forced to retire with about half and hour to go. Also, somewhere around was the Topcats Mosler although it wasn't troubling the front-runners.


In his first competitive Mosler outing, Dan Brown brought Rollcentre home to take the chequered flag and top spot in the Mosler Challenge. The Prosport LM3000 came second and the superb looking Ginetta G50Z took third (as well as the Class 1 win). Fifth place for Eclipse gave them second place in Class 1 as well as the Challenge.
Topcats finished down in 24th and the retired KRM in 25th.

Good to see a Mosler take the win with a lush piece of driving by Mr Short. Hopefully the Mosler Challenge can still attract a few more entries, even in these straitened times, perhaps even by the time Britcar reaches round two at Donington for their May Bank Holiday meeting.

All wobbly video and slightly-Photoshopped pictures are (c) Simon H Johnson

Thirty cars, three races, one victor - the Mosler Down Under story began with a rollercoaster first chapter featuring spills, thrills and a trio of race wins for the marque.

Craig Baird took the Mosler/Shell/Stahwille team to the top of the podium after each race of the Australian GT opening weekend in Adelaide. Pushed hard in each by the Porsche of David Wall, Baird made the most of the Mosler's muscle to notch up three victories. Race three saw Baird and Wall escape early from a pack that seemed to have a fatal attraction to the concrete and kitty-litter, with four cars failing to make it round the first lap. Wall traded top spot with Baird before the Mosler stamped its authority on the race and secured a trio of victories.

But the Adelaide weekend was bittersweet for Mosler Australia distributor John Teulan. He lost his Mosler on lap five of race one and didn't make it out onto the grid again.

The 2009 Britcar GT Championship promises Moslers driven by past winners as well as fresh faces.

Eclipse, pictured above in testing, return with the McInerneys (their international committments permitting). Flux and Riley have also thrown their hat into the ring. Topcats will be back too, with Henry Fletcher and Rachel Green lining up for race one at Silverstone.

Also on the entry list for the season opener is Mosler UK's Martin Short, juggling Britcar alongside defending his Dutch Supercar crown and the occasional jaunt in the British GT. Martin has Britcar drives available and the UK's first Mosler Challenge will run through the season.

So, four Moslers are expected to line up for the first race round Silverstone International on March 28th. We'll be there to bring back our first video report of the new season.

Photo (c) Paul Cherry

A healthy grid of Moslers is predicted for the Dutch Supecar Challenge in 2009.

Martin Short will defend his title as well as race in Britcar when the races don't clash. Riley and Flux return too along with the Woodcock brothers. Berry van Elk will be looking to harry the old guard again. And Harry Mecke returns, having secured the services of Patrick Simon as a co-driver.

The season gets underway at Spa in April and visits England over the first May bank holiday - I'll be at Rockingham to watch the largest Mosler field ever!

12-04: Francorchampions, Spa Francorchamps
03-05: Britcar, Rockingham
14-06: Masters of F3, Zandvoort
28-06: Euroraces, Spa Francorchamps
19-07: Zolder Superleague, Zolder
09-08: Rizla Racing Day, Assen
04-10: Spa Racing Festival, Spa Francorchamps
25-10: DSC Finaleraces, Assen

The first Mosler outing in Europe for 2009 was at the Spanish circuit of Jarama for the opening round of the V de V GT Touring Endurance championship.


BF Racing entered their MT900R, maintained by Perspective Racing and driven by Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour. They qualified in third and finished fifth in their first competitive outing in the marque.


I don't get much information about the V de V races so, if you know of any websites that report on the series apart from vdev.fr please let me know.

Photos (c) Mario on Flickr

Another major European championship has a Mosler entry for 2009.

The VdeV test day at the end of February saw Thierry Perrier of Perspective put a GT3 specification car through its paces. It will be raced by Ludovic Bour and Manuel Ferreira in the Modern Endurance class. With the lower-spec 'Club' Mosler also being offered for racing this year, there are high hopes that more of the marque may yet make the starting grid in this popular French endurance championship.

Official championship website: http://www.vdev.fr/

Timetable:

20-22 March Jarama 4 hour
24-26 April Paul Ricard 4 hour
29-31 May Val de Vienne 3 hour
26-28 June Lausitz 8 hour
28-30 August Dijon 3 hour
25-27 September Ledenon 3 hour
23-25 October Magny-Cours 6 hour
20-22 November Estoril 6 hour

Photo (c) www.endurance-info.com

Our first preview of the 2009 season sees the Mosler venture Down Under.

John Teulan becomes the official distributor for the marque in Australia and his team, Statewide GT Racing, will run two Moslers in the Australian GT championship. He'll drive one car himself with the other piloted by former V8 Supercar driver Craig Baird.

Further Mosler orders for Oz are pending. With this year's championship including the likes of the Dodge Viper, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Maserati, the marque is up against stiff competition in its debut season.

It all kicks off at the Clipsal circuit in Adelaide, March 19th-22nd.

Official website: http://www.gtchampionship.com.au

Calendar:

Round 1, Clipsal 500 Adelaide, March 19-22
Round 2, Albert Park GP Circuit, March 26-29
Round 3, Phillip Island, May 16-17
Round 4, Eastern Creek, July 18-19
Round 5, Sandown International Raceway, November 27-29