Re: 2012 V8 Supercars Discussion

by **NoRecoil** Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:31 pm

I Racing clarko

by **JamieWhincup#1** Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:16 pm

Bali linked to V8 Supercars event

V8 Supercars continues to work at increasing the number of international events on its calendar, with the Indonesian province of Bali the latest destination to be linked to the Australian championship.

According to a report from The Daily Telegraph, authorities in Bali have garnered funding for a permanent race track near its capital of Denpasar, which it hopes to have operational by 2014.

The track is said to be chasing events for both the V8 Supercars Championship and MotoGP World Championship in time for their respective 2015 seasons.

The Daily Telegraph quotes an unnamed V8 Supercars source confirming that initial discussions regarding a Bali event have already taken place.

“The category has met with representatives from the proposed circuit,” said the source.

“They are building a track, which is about an hour away from Denpasar. They are looking at a large investment and have targeted V8 Supercars to be one of two major global racing categories to put the track on the map.

“Obviously V8s are very appealing as Australian’s are very important to their tourism market. It will help them push their message.”

The proposed Denpasar circuit would join the recently upgraded Sentul International Circuit as one of two locations in Indonesia licensed to run a V8 Supercars event.

The category has been chasing a race in South East Asian for some time, with the hosting of an FIA Asian Zone member at last year’s Armor All Gold Coast 600 fuelling widespread speculation of future locations.

WTF Evil or Very Mad

by **JamieWhincup#1** Sat Aug 18, 2012 9:57 am

Lowndes to take on Australian GT field at Phillip Island

2012 V8 Supercars Discussion - Page 10 36363610

TeamVodafone V8 Supercars star Craig Lowndes will return to the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS when the Australian GT Championship heads to Phillip Island in late September.

The 38-year-old has competed with Audi’s factory effort at the last two Bathurst 12 Hour races, but is yet to race in the GT Championship.

He will drive one of five Melbourne Performance Centre-prepared R8s at the Shannons Nationals event.

“I am very pleased to be stepping back aboard an Audi R8 LMS again, and particularly at a track like Phillip Island,” said Lowndes.

“I’ve enjoyed my two outings with the factory Audi team at Bathurst in the 12-Hour but have yet to win in the car, so hopefully Phillip Island will give me the chance.

“The guys at Melbourne Performance Centre have been involved with the factory cars all the way, so I expect we will be very competitive again. I am looking forward to it.”

Lowndes’ entry utilises one of the two cars left in the country following this year’s Phoenix Racing Bathurst assault, and will run in the same One World Bar livery that proprietor Rod Salmon has competed with this season.

While the deal is a one-off, MPC owner Troy Russell has expressed his desire to see Lowndes join the team for a full campaign next year.

“Our aim is for this to be an ongoing program,” said Russell.

“Craig obviously has V8 Supercar commitments, and we’re thankful to Triple Eight for releasing him for the Phillip Island weekend, but … for us this is just the start. We’d like to have a professional driver in the car alongside our current team at every round in 2013.”

MPC is the Australian agent for Audi’s global customer GT program, and is likely to spearhead the marque’s attack on the 2013 Bathurst 12 Hour in the expected absence of an international Audi presence.

by **NoRecoil** Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:28 am

by **sempeR** Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:29 pm

99% Certainty Stoner will drive a Triple Eight run car in the development series next year. So thats the word on the street anyway.

by **Envy The Best** Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:18 pm

Dat C63....

by **JamieWhincup#1** Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:12 pm

Envy The Best wrote:Dat C63....

E63

And 99% certain Stoner won't be racing anything next year, well at least for the first half of the year anyway.

by **sempeR** Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:55 pm

Call me out if I'm wrong, word in the industry is he will be in the Dunlop series next year with a car to be run by triple eight. Smile

Once some journo can confirm the source of information, then you will believe me Sad

by **NoRecoil** Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:57 pm

Bumper TV deal to hold V8 Supercar races in prime time

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V8 Supercars drivers have had experience driving under lights in the UAE. Picture: Mark Horsburgh
Source: The Daily Telegraph

V8 SUPERCARS is set for a scheduling revolution, with up to 16 hours of twilight racing to be shown in prime time next year under a new $350 million media rights deal.

Channel Nine have re-entered the fight to snare the fast-growing sport from Channel Seven, emerging as favourite to secure the Supercars series under a deal which would include at least four live races to be shown after 6pm. Nine were expected to drop out of the race after paying an estimated $90 million a year to secure free-to-air rights for the NRL, but they held discussions with V8 officials last week and signalled their intent to make a major play for the sport.
With the existing V8 Supercars media rights deal, worth $168 million, to expire at the end of the year, industry insiders have revealed all three major networks are vying to have races shown in prime time next year.
V8 Supercars have committed to moving at least 16 hours of racing into the 6pm-11pm time slot with two early-season and two late-season races to be run at either twilight or at night. V8 Supercars are also in negotiations with Fox Sports, with the pay TV network vying to gain the rights to show simulcast races live. Fox Sports, through the SPEED channel, have a deal which allows them to show only replays of races.
Fox Sports are exploring the possibility of using red button technology to show multiple race views in High Definition.
Officials have also held discussion with several parties about digital rights, including Telstra, Optus, Yahoo and Sportal.
The combined media rights deal for V8 Supercars is tipped to fetch up to $350 million over five years, with a Commsec report obtained by The Sunday Telegraph claiming that the rugby league rights deal has highlighted the importance of live sport to television networks.
Nine are understood to be interested in broadcasting V8 Supercars races before or after NRL matches in a bid to complement their sporting coverage.
They stopped negotiations while finalising the NRL deal but have since expressed a renewed interest.
V8 Supercars chief executive David Malone was reticent to discuss negotiations but admitted the organisation was in discussions with all major networks.
"We have had constructive conversations with all the players in the market," Malone said.
The normally talkative V8 Supercars executive chairman Tony Cochrane was also holding his cards close to his chest when we approached him about prime-time racing.
"We have spent the last three or four months in detailed discussions," Cochrane said. "The sport is in great shape when it comes to the future. In particular, we want to make sure the sport has a greater engagement through the next rights deal.
"We want to offer them as much as we can."
V8 Supercars have considered night racing in the past but have not been able to justify the expense of lighting up a track.

by **TEEROY 34** Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:19 pm

hmmm the last sentence says it all.
our expiring tv deal for 168 million is coming to an end this year, and we cannot/could not afford to pay for lighting at a track to create a good racing environment for fans...... FU Tony!
hopefully the 1 mill required to put a lighting setup into a track will be doable within the new 350mill deal, at least put enough pit bays in to avoid pit stacking that shit is embarrasing!

by **NoRecoil** Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:57 pm

Don't Tekno for an answer

This year's V8 Supercar season has been so comprehensively dominated by Ford Performance Racing and Triple Eight that events happening further down the field have been obscured.

Sure, there have been the continuing struggles of the Holden Racing Team and the occasional Stone Brothers Racing podium finish, but even further down the grid there is the story of the little team that could.

You may have caught glimpses of Tekno Autosports' cars on the race broadcasts this season. They stand out if nothing else, because they are currently the only team running around without sponsorship.

Completely white cleanskin cars are nothing new in the world of motorsport - it was only in 2009 that Brawn GP turned out feature-less cars in Formula One.

With the exception of Brawn GP, these cars are usually reserved for the strugglers - those with plenty of passion for the sport but not enough funds to be competitive with the bigger teams in any given competition.

While not being on the Brawn GP level, there is plenty of evidence that Tekno Autosports is punching well above its weight this season.

Drivers Michael Patrizi and Jonathon Webb sit 19th and 20th in the championship respectively but digging further into the race results this year tells a different story.

Patrizi has had three top-10 finishes this year, with a best result of fifth in the third race at Barbagallo. Compare his results to Dick Johnson Racing veteran Steve Johnson, who sits 15th in the championship with a much-better funded team and you start to get an idea of what Tekno has been able to achieve. Johnson has also managed three top-10 finishes for the year but is yet to finish higher than 10th position.

Patrizi's record also compares favourably to Russell Ingall, who has the most experience of any driver in the field and has also finished top 10 on three occasions, with a best result of fifth.

Webb's results are perhaps more telling, managing five top-10 finishes this season with a best result coming when he finished seventh in both Phillip Island races. HRT's James Courtney has managed just four top-10 finishes this season, as has Kelly Racing's Todd Kelly.

The team has a history of punching above its weight. When it first came into the category as a satellite operation of the Dick Johnson Racing team in 2010, Webb managed to win the first race of the Sydney Telstra 500 against all odds. His victory owed plenty to the wet conditions that sent a number of the leading cars crashing out, but it still showed Webb had the necessary resolve to succeed.

In 2011, when the team severed ties with DJR, there was every expectation the team would go downhill fast and disappear from reckoning. It didn't happen though, with Webb taking four top-10 finishes including a fourth-placed finish at the Sydney Telstra 500 and finishing ahead of experienced racer Jason Bargwanna and DJR driver James Moffat.

The decision to expand to a two-car operation this year after losing the sponsorship deal with Mother energy drinks was meant to be the straw that broke the camel's back, but so far the results show that it is not just money alone that drives results in this sport.

So keep an eye out for the all white cars this weekend. They may not be pretty but they are a welcome sign that passion can take teams a long way in a sport traditionally dominated by money.

by **NoRecoil** Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:02 pm

FPR: No Change Despite Ford/FPV Deal

FORD Performance Racing has moved to allay fears of its future in the wake of Ford announcing this morning that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Ford Performance Vehicles to purchase the assets it requires to engineer, manufacture and market the FPV brand in Australia.

The team, which runs three cars in the V8 Supercars Championship and will next year add a fourth, issued a statement this afternoon stating that the ownership change of the road car company would not affect FPR or its future.

“Ford Performance Racing’s partnership with Ford Australia remains unchanged following news the team’s primary backer is set to assume sole responsibility for fellow Prodrive-owned company, Ford Performance Vehicles,” it read.

“The news is positive for FPR as it confirms Ford’s commitment to performance vehicles in Australia which is led by the team’s multi-car assault on the V8 Supercars Championship.

“FPR operates as a separate business and this announcement will not inhibit the team’s expansion to a four car operation from 2013.

“FPR is currently enjoying its best-ever V8 Supercars season and its preparations for the upcoming endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst are continuing as planned.”

Team Principal Tim Edwards stressed the lack of effect on FPR that today’s news brings.

“Next year’s change of ownership at FPV in no way affects the future of FPR,” he said.

“The race team’s future is secure and we are in a very healthy position. We are a separate business and all our plans for 2013 and beyond remain.

“The FPV brand continues which is very pleasing for us as it is one of the team’s founding commercial partners. Ford’s ownership will further strengthen our ties with them as we are intrinsically linked to the brand’s performance credentials.

“Obviously as the specific details of the new structure evolve we will discuss with Ford the nature of our relationship with the FPV brand.

“However, our immediate focus is on the enduros and the development of our Car of the Future program.”

The next event of the V8 Supercars Championship will be the Dick Smith Sandown 500 in Melbourne on September 14-16.

by **JamieWhincup#1** Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:17 pm

Go Tekno

On another note:
From this weeks Auto Action.

2012 V8 Supercars Discussion - Page 10 Img_4510

by **NoRecoil** Sun Sep 02, 2012 12:02 pm

by **JamieWhincup#1** Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:14 pm

Ford Performance Racing’s first Car of the Future V8 Supercar has completed an interrupted first day of its two-part shakedown at Winton Motor Raceway.

Driven by Mark Winterbottom, the 2013-specification Ford Falcon undertook two single lap and a pair of two-lap runs as the team worked through oil surge issues.

Once the laps were complete, the factory Ford crew took the engine out of the car in order to remove the oil tank, which is located in the engine bay in all COTF vehicles.

The Pace Innovations-supplied tank has been sent back to FPR’s headquarters where it will be opened and assessed before returning to Winton to complete the remainder of the car’s 20 lap shakedown tomorrow.

Winterbottom and Will Davison are scheduled to take turns behind the wheel in the second part of the shakedown as the team simultaneously continues its test program with its three current V8 Supercars Championship entry.

The squad’s first full COTF test day will then take place on January 10.

See below for Speedcafe.com’s video from Winton today, featuring FPR team principal Tim Edwards and driver Mark Winterbottom

by **NoRecoil** Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:41 pm

2012 V8 Supercars Discussion - Page 10 60998_7_1

EMAHGERD QURD CURM!

NISSAN has unveiled the engine that will power its entry into the V8 Supercars Championship in 2013.

Designated the Nissan Motorsport VK56DE, the engine was launched to the media this morning at Kelly Racing headquarters in Melbourne in the team’s brand new, state-of-the-art engine department.

Nissan Australia Managing Director and CEO William F Peffer Jr joined team drivers and co-owners Rick and Todd Kelly to unveil the engine to the Australian racing world.

“Our entire team is very excited to reach a key milestone with the unveiling of our Nissan Motorsport engine,” says two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Rick Kelly.

“2012 is a massive year for our team, with the Nissan program housed in the brand new section of our facility.

“With new cars and engines and all-new facilities these are exciting times for our team.”

The engine department that hosted today’s launch is housed in the extension to the Kelly Racing facility, which will house all 19 departments of the team by the time it is rebranded as Nissan Motorsport on 1 January 2013.

The facility extension includes brand new engine assembly, dyno cell, CNC machining, carbon fibre and composite, paint and spray booth areas.

Nissan will become the only manufacturer in V8 Supercars to use a production engine, utilising the same engine that will feature in the all-new Patrol on sale in Australia early next year.

The VK56 engine is made at the Nissan facility in Decherd, Tennessee in the United States and brings new technology to V8 Supercars, which has featured push-rod V8 engines for the past two decades.

A NISMO-developed version of the VK56DE powered the FIA GT1 World Championship-winning Nissan GT-R in 2011.

The Nissan V8 Supercar engine is 90 degrees in configuration, has an all-aluminum block and heads, double overhead cam (DOHC) and 32-valve configuration (as opposed to the 16 in the current generation of Holden and Ford V8 Supercars).

The engine has been ‘sleeved’ and the bore and stroke adjusted to fit within current V8 Supercars regulations, resulting in a reduction in engine capacity from 5.6-litres to five-litres.

While the appearance and specification of the Nissan Motorsport VK56DE may differ from the Ford and Holden engines currently used in the V8 Supercars Championship, the team will work closely with V8 Supercars on achieving a fair playing field for the 2013 season.

Vastly different to the currently V8 Supercars engines, many areas of the engines will be adjusted to comply with category technical regulations.

SPECIFICATIONS RUNDOWN

Block: Nissan VK56 – Cast Aluminium 90 degree V8
Heads: Nissan VK56 – Quad Cam, four valve per cylinder
Bore x Stroke: 102.69 mm x 75.31 mm
Capacity: 4990cc
Induction: Naturally aspirated, individual runner
Fuel: E85
Liners: Dry Cast Iron
Valve Train: Chain driven quad cam with direct acting DLC coated bucket followers
Ignition: Direct fire coil on plug
Injection: Sequential
Compression Ratio: 10.0:1
Maximum RPM: 7500

KEY SUPPLIERS
Blocks: Nissan
Heads: Nissan
Crankshaft: Pankl
Bearings: ACL
Camshafts: Piper Cams
Timing Drive Components: Nissan/NISMO/Albins
Pistons: Mahle
Pins: Mahle
Rings: Total Seal
Conrods: Carrillo
Valves: Del West
Valve Springs: Performance Springs International
Ignition System: Nissan
Plugs: NGK
Engine Management: MoTeC
Water Pump: Nissan Motorsport
Oil Pump: Dailey
Inlet Manifold: Nissan Motorsport
Exhaust: Nissan Motorsport

Click here for more on Nissan Motorsport.

by **JamieWhincup#1** Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:12 pm

by **sempeR** Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:57 pm

Okay folks got the low down on on Stoner for next year. He wont be doing anything, basically. He has decided he wants a year off. Though he might do a drive or two. He will definently be involved with triple 8 when he does. Im sure most of you know that he has spent a bit of time in the triple 8 test car up at Norwell. Also Casey was the instigator for the Red Bull sponsership of triple 8 as he was pushing for it for some time untill things became official. Oh well maybe 2014 then Sad

by **JamieWhincup#1** Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:48 pm

sempeR wrote:Okay folks got the low down on on Stoner for next year. He wont be doing anything, basically. He has decided he wants a year off. Though he might do a drive or two. He will definently be involved with triple 8 when he does. Im sure most of you know that he has spent a bit of time in the triple 8 test car up at Norwell. Also Casey was the instigator for the Red Bull sponsership of triple 8 as he was pushing for it for some time untill things became official. Oh well maybe 2014 then

See, I told you he wouldn't be doing anything tongue

by **JamieWhincup#1** Fri Sep 14, 2012 2:35 pm

Crashed Lockwood car to be repaired for Saturday

The #14 Lockwood Racing Holden Commodore will be repaired for tomorrow’s track action at Sandown Raceway after it was extensively damaged in an accident today.

The entry’s co-driver David Besnard crashed during Practice 2 at the Melbourne circuit, collecting the tyre wall after running off at the fast Turn 6.

The car has sustained damage to its front and right-side, with team officials confirming that the car will miss Practice 3, but will be repaired for tomorrow.

Besnard is partnering the car’s regular driver Fabian Coulthard, who currently sits eighth in the V8 Supercars Championship.

Besnard emerged from the incident without injury and said that he is not sure what occurred to send him off the road.

“I’m not really sure what happened, I won’t know until I look at the data,” Besnard told Speedcafe.com after being released from the medical centre.

“I got on the brakes at the end of the back straight and it went straight ahead.

2012 V8 Supercars Discussion - Page 10 Bjr-3410

“I’d done a couple of laps after the rain to see if it was OK to have a crack at a good lap time. When I started braking for Turn 7, it just went straight into the fence. Either something on the car has failed or I’ve stuffed up.”

Besnard hopes it won’t be an all night repair job for the team.

“The team will get it fixed up. It wasn’t a hit that would have bent anything vital,” he said.

“They’re going to have a lot of work to do unfortunately, but the damage looks only cosmetic at the moment. Hopefully it isn’t too late a night for the team.”

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by **NoRecoil** Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:25 pm

Wonder if he just stopped for a pad change again?

I hope they get it together on time

by **sempeR** Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:26 am

No lock ups he just went down the back straight, washed off some speed turned in and kept heading into the wall lol, he looked pretty shattered in the garage yesterday. Crying or Very sad

JamieWhincup#1 wrote:
sempeR wrote:Okay folks got the low down on on Stoner for next year. He wont be doing anything, basically. He has decided he wants a year off. Though he might do a drive or two. He will definently be involved with triple 8 when he does. Im sure most of you know that he has spent a bit of time in the triple 8 test car up at Norwell. Also Casey was the instigator for the Red Bull sponsership of triple 8 as he was pushing for it for some time untill things became official. Oh well maybe 2014 then
See, I told you he wouldn't be doing anything

lol you did. But my guess is we will see him hanging around the paddock next year, just like this weekend Very Happy

by **sempeR** Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:31 am

Actually hanging around the paddock yesterday a few people from HRT, SBR, T8 are just casually like "oh yeah coz when Nissan and Mercedes come in next year" and "now theres Mercedes we'll have three manufactures to keep behind us"... i was like wtf??? But you never know!!!!!!!!!!!! Very Happy

by **NoRecoil** Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:55 am

Yeah, the Merc deal has been an odd one.

SBR with 3 Erebus built mercs.

But Merc Australia have had a sook, reckon that its not an even field price wise.

by **RRT_DemoN** Sat Sep 15, 2012 4:49 pm

geez am i watching an ozfm replay on channel 7 lmao

dive bombs
touch ups
pushing people wide
turning in on people

now thats how v8s should race

by **JamieWhincup#1** Sat Sep 15, 2012 5:25 pm

Some fantastic "Quali" races today.
Top stuff.
Very Happy

by **NoRecoil** Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:24 pm

(whincup goes into the tyre wall)

..... I fist pump the air and wake up my Mrs in happiness!

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