As the 2012 V8 Supercar endurance season lurks just over the horizon, it's becoming apparent that this year's championship is a two team, four driver street fight to claim the honours. Defending champions Team Vodafone and Jamie Whincup are once again proving to be the current benchmark by leading the series heading into the Sydney 360 event next weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park. Closely chasing the Holden driver are early season leaders Ford Performance Racing and their hugely talented drivers, Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison, who are both still accumulating points despite not quite displaying the dominance that they showed early season.
    Will FPR be able to achieve the wins they desire, including the big one at Bathurst, to wrest the championship from Jamie Whincup's and Team Vodafone's grasp? Will the endurance races produce unexpected winning drivers from teams  other than Team Vodafone or FPR? After all, every driver and team combination in V8 Supercars all desire a Mt Panorama victory in the Bathurst 1000 on their CV.
    Of course the elephant in the room if you will, is Whincup's team mate, Craig Lowndes. After coming off a superb weekend at Queensland Raceway, Lowndes must be brimming with confidence going into the enduros. Don't forget that he is no stranger to winning the Bathurst 1000, and has an excellent record in longer versions of racing with his typically competitive, felentless drives. But can he and his team muster enough points to overhaul Whincup, Winterbottom and Davison to claim the title? Can Craig Lowndes add to his Bathurst 1000 victory tally? Send us an email at: greenflag@formulafrontrow.com, or simply leave a comment.
    The Sydney 360 is on at Sydney Motorsport Park next weekend. A hectic schedule is planned with Formula Vee, Production Sports Cars, Improved Production and Aussie Racing Cars supporting V8 Supercars, who themselves have three practise sessions, two qualifying sessions, a 140km race and a 220km race over the course of the weekend. This being the last round before the endurance races, formulafrontrow.com suspects only more questions will need to be addressed after the event. See you at the Sydney 360..... 
    
    

      

    Eleven races down with nine events to go in what has been an absolutely fascinating 2012 Formula One season, sees the teams pause for the mid-season summer break to finally catch their respective breaths. In the relentless quest to improve their F1 packages by mere tenths of a second, you can bet that the traditional summer break is very welcome to all F1 personnel and their families. These teams work extremely hard. When in Melbourne, we are amazed as to how meticulous all teams are to detail. Each team member just seems to know what to do without being told, and the pit garages and cars are immaculate.
    But when racing recommences in Belgium, will anyone be able to catch Ferrari's Fernando Alonso? Despite the unpredictable nature of 2012 celebrating seven different winners by the halfway point, the cream is starting to rise to the top. Forty points clear, regardless of what happens at Spa, Alonso will still lead the driver's championship going into Ferrari's stronghold at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. A daunting prospect for Alonso's rivals.  Let's face it though, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen would still be thinking that they are all still genuine title contenders with nine races left to run. 
    With the European season winding up and some signature events still to be contested, formulafrontrow.com simply wants to know if you think anyone can stop Fernando Alonso in his pursuit of a third Formula One world title? Leave a comment or send us an email at: greenflag@formulafrontrow.com. If Alonso does win, it could spell "fine" on his team mate Felipe Massa's Ferrari career.