Soccer Great Wins Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge

17th March 2014

Former Socceroo Brett Emerton has won the 2014 Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge ahead of Grease star Rob Mills and The Bachelor, Tim Robards, in an action packed final race at the 2014 Formula One® Rolex Australian Grand Prix.

Starting from pole, Tour de France legend Robbie McEwen stalled his All-New Mazda3 as the lights went green and had a nervous wait as the remaining cars passed by without incident.

In recovery mode, the first race winner tried to claw his way back, but an off later in the race saw him finish near the rear of the field.

In what was an entertaining race, international adventurer, Charley Boorman, was aiming for a podium result, but an off track excursion saw him zig-zagging his All-New Mazda3 as he desperately tried to get it back into a straight line before spinning and collecting the concrete barrier.

Rob Mills may have finished second, but he didn't do it easily, going wide off the road on a couple of occasions, while Robards battled Olympic hero Torah Bright in an epic tussle for third place.

Bright was looking like taking the final place on the podium, but Robards gave her new generation Mazda3 a tap, sending her into the gravel and ending her dreams of a top three finish.

By the waving of the chequered flag, Getaway presenter Catriona Rowntree had climbed to fourth - her highest finish of the weekend - edging out celebrity chef Adam D'Sylva in fifth.

Torah Bright, radio personality Maz Compton, sports presenter Clint Stanaway, comedian Sam Mac and Olympic champion Lydia Lassila rounded out the top 10.

For further information on the Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge drivers go to mazda.com.au

Driver Quotes

What Brett Emerton had to say?
"This whole week has been a fantastic experience; it really took me out of my comfort zone which you don't normally do on a day-to-day basis. I've love cars and I love the speed, so being unrestricted on a race track is a dream come true for me. The people who are here including the celebrities and those at Mazda are top people and made it an even better week than what it would have been just driving the cars. Who knows, if the opportunity comes along again to race cars I'll grab it with both hands."

What Rob Mills had to say?
"I've had friends that have done the Celebrity Challenge before who said it was the best week of their life, and they were absolutely right. I'm absolutely rapt about how the week went, I just tried listening to all the advice of the instructors and putting it into action. I qualified fourth, yesterday third and today second and on the podium - it doesn't get much better than this. The rush that you get when racing is exhilarating, and the Mazda3 was a great little car to drive."

What Tim Robards had to say?
"My goal today was to get on the podium, though I knew first or second might be a bit hard, but I managed to find myself up there. I started in fifth place today, and before I knew it I was up into third and battling it out with (Catriona) Rowntree who I was surprised to see up there. It has definitely been a week of firsts, and something I will never forget."

Podium Result
1 Brett Emerton
2 Rob Mills
3 Tim Robards

Race Two Results
1 Brett Emerton
2 Rob Mills
3 Tim Robards
4 Catriona Rowntree
5 Adam D'Sylva
6 Torah Bright
7 Maz Compton
8 Clint Stanaway
9 Sam Mac
10 Lydia Lassila
11 Lauren Phillips
12 Scherri-Lee Biggs
13 Rachael Finch
14 Dave Thornton
15 Tommy Little
16 Megan Washington
17 Robbie McEwen
DNF Nathan Brown
DNF Charley Boorman

Race One Results
1 Robbie McEwen
2 Brett Emerton
3 Rob Mills
4 Torah Bright
5 Tim Robards
6 Tommy Little
7 Catriona Rowntree
8 Lydia Lassila
9 Maz Compton
10 Adam D'Sylva
11 Clint Stanaway
12 Scherri-Lee Biggs
13 Lauren Phillips
14 Dave Thornton
15 Charley Boorman
16 Nathan Brown
17 Megan Washington
DNF Rachael Finch
DNF Sam Mac

Qualifying Results
1 Brett Emerton
2 Robbie McEwen
3 Charley Boorman
4 Rob Mills
5 Tim Robards
6 Lydia Lassila
7 Tommy Little
8 Torah Bright
9 Rachael Finch
10 Clint Stanaway
11 Scherri-Lee Biggs
12 Lauren Phillips
13 Sam Mac
14 Dave Thornton
15 Megan Washington
16 Catriona Rowntree
17 Maz Compton
18 Adam D'Sylva
DNF Nathan Brown

Practice Two Results
1 Brett Emerton
2 Charley Boorman
3 Robbie McEwen
4 Sam Mac
5 Rob Mills
6 Nathan Brown
7 Tim Robards
8 Torah Bright
9 Lydia Lassila
10 Adam D'Sylva
11 Catriona Rowntree
12 Clint Stanaway
13 Dave Thornton
14 Scherri-Lee Biggs
15 Rachael Finch
16 Tommy Little
17 Maz Compton
18 Lauren Phillips
19 Megan Washington

Practice One Results
1 Robbie McEwen
2 Brett Emerton
3 Rob Mills
4 Torah Bright
5 Tim Robards
6 Nathan Brown
7 Tommy Little
8 Sam Mac
9 Catriona Rowntree
10 Scherri-Lee Biggs
11 Adam D'Sylva
12 Clint Stanaway
13 Lydia Lassila
14 Lauren Phillips
15 Dave Thornton
16 Maz Compton
17 Charley Boorman
18 Rachael Finch
19 Megan Washington

The Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge Grid

Car# Name
#01 Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin - Snowboarding World Champion
#02 Rachael Finch - TV presenter and model
#03 Charley Boorman - TV presenter, travel writer and actor
#04 Lydia Lassila - Olympic gold medallist
#05 Tim Robards - The Bachelor 2013
#06 Rob Mills - Singer, entertainer and TV presenter
#07 Nathan Brown - Ex AFL player and media personality
#08 Adam D'Sylva - Celebrity chef
#09 Clint Stanaway - Nine News presenter
#10 Sam Mac - Ten TV presenter
#11 Lauren Phillips - TV host and Mazda ambassador
#12 Megan Washington - Musician
#13 Dave Thornton - Comedian, radio and TV presenter
#14 Maz Compton - Radio and TV presenter
#15 Robbie McEwen - Australian cycling legend
#16 Catriona Rowntree - Travel presenter and author
#17 Brett Emerton - Former Socceroo
#18 Scherri-Lee Biggs - Model and former Miss Universe Australia
#19 Torah Bright - Olympic gold medallist
#20 Tommy Little - Comedian, radio and TV presenter

Mazda6 Celebrity Challenge Details:

Circuit: Albert Park Street Circuit
Location: Melbourne, Vic
Circuit Length: 5.303km

Format:
Thursday: 1 x 20min practice
Friday: 1 x 15min practice & 1 x 15min qualifying
Saturday: 1 x 5 Lap race
Sunday: 1 x 5 Lap race

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
The times below are in Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time

Thursday, March 13:
Practice 1: 12.30pm - 12.50pm
Practice 2: 2.40pm - 3pm

Friday, March 14:
Qualifying: 3.30pm - 3.45pm

Saturday, March 15:
Race 1: 11.55am - 12.10pm (5 laps)

Sunday, March 16:
Race 2: 12.35pm - 12.50pm (5 laps)
Followed by podium presentation

TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Melbourne/Sydney ADST, please check local guides for other capital city broadcast times:

CHANNEL 10/ ONE HD
Friday, March 14:
12.00pm - 7pm (ONE HD)
Saturday, March 15:
11.00am - 6.30pm (TEN / ONE HD)
Sunday, March 16
12.00pm - 7.30pm (TEN / ONE HD)

About the Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge

Following on from the success of the Mazda6 Celebrity Challenge in 2013, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation along with Mazda Australia have joined forces to bring the Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge to the 2014 Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix. The Mazda3 Celebrity Challenge will bring together 20 celebrities from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines to compete at Melbourne's spectacular Albert Park street circuit.

About All-New Mazda3 with a 2.5L SKYACTIV-G petrol engine

Re-designed from the ground up, All-New Mazda3 adopts the stylish 'KODO - Soul of Motion' design language and the full suite of efficient SKYACTIV Technologies. Drivers will be better connected than ever before thanks to a new car connectivity system that allows easier access to phone, email and SMS, as well as Stitcher™, Aha™ and Pandora®. Including an Active Driving Display, All-New Mazda3 with SKYACTIV-G 2.5L petrol engine has 138kW of power, 250Nm of torque and sips as little as 6.0L/100km - an improvement of 30 per cent over the outgoing model. With over four million global sales, All-New Mazda3 went on sale in February and is available in either sedan or hatch, and with a 2.0 litre or 2.5 litre petrol engine.