[V8 Supercar] 2010 Discussion Thread.

WTCC, BTCC, DTM and Aussie V8s
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Everso Biggyballies
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#31

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Abu Dhabi or Bahrain? Bahrain was better in my opinion. And I am no real fan of the V8's these days.

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#32

Post by DoubleFault »

Abu dhabi, it was on motors tv. I wasn't 100% focused on it though, had a parrot talking over it!
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Everso Biggyballies
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#33

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Got to be better than JA though (not that he was commentating.)
God, totally off topic, but dont play a re-runs of GPs with JA commentaries. If the parrot picks up on ...'and Lewis Hamilton wiiiiiiiiiiiins' at the top of its voice you will have to shoot it. :omg:

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#34

Post by DoubleFault »

Everso Biggyballies wrote:Got to be better than JA though (not that he was commentating.)
God, totally off topic, but dont play a re-runs of GPs with JA commentaries. If the parrot picks up on ...'and Lewis Hamilton wiiiiiiiiiiiins' at the top of its voice you will have to shoot it. :omg:
Got a Virgin Box (LOL) which can pause, rewind etc so I am always putting adverts on mute or forwarding through them, the last thing I want him picking up is WE BUY ANY CAR DOT COM or GO COMPARE.
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#35

Post by Rainyday »

My name is Alexander, founder of the compare the meerkat dot com.
You red it in his voice, didn't you?
Square numbers are just like women, if they're under 13 just do them in your head.
caneparo wrote:considering what you wrote I must say you smoked antifreeze
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Everso Biggyballies
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#36

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

BMW and Mercedes AMG look to joining V8SC

Best news I have heard in a long time. An article today in the Melbourne Age confirms details of both Mercedes and BMW considering putting up their own V8 Supercars for the local championship. This will of course break up the getting very stale concept of Holden V Ford seeing as they are no longer what everyone drives.

Mercedes has already confirmed it will have its own V8 Supercar 'Ride Car' at Albert Park for the GP in a few weeks time, and say a decision may be made very shortly with a view to joining the 2012 competition.

As the article says, that will really piss off Holden and Ford.... To be honest who cares if they are pissed off. They dont support the sport to anything like the level they used to. Bring it on I say, the more the merrier.

March 9, 2010
German car makers could join the V8 Supercar championship by 2012.

Germany's Mercedes-Benz and BMW could be racing bumper-to-bumper with Ford and Holden in Australia's domestic V8 Supercar championship as soon as 2012.

Pitlane and industry sources both here and in Europe have confirmed that Mercedes' performance arm, AMG, is seriously looking at entering the championship. An announcement could come as soon as the Melbourne Grand Prix at the end of this month.

Mercedes has added to the speculation by confirming it will display a V8 AMG customer ride car at the Grand Prix.

BMW's potential involvement is also an open secret in pitlane, although its investigation is not thought to be as advanced. Company spokesman Toni Andreevski was flat in his denial: "BMW has no interest in the V8 Supercars franchise," he said.

The V8 Supercar championship, which has built its success on tribal rivalry between Ford and Holden since 1994, is looking to move away from its blue-collar roots with more overseas racing and more upmarket manufacturers.

The trigger for Benz and BMW's potential interest in the championship is an overhaul of the technical regulations for Australia's premier motorsport category.

The new rules, which now allow more sophisticated V8 engines, have been drafted to broaden the sponsorship net for the series to compensate for Ford and Holden's dwindling financial support for the sport. The recent slump in sales of the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore has seen the two makers pull back from multi-million dollar sponsorship deals.

The two companies now only directly support 12 of the 29 cars on the grid.

The chairman of V8 Supercars, Tony Cochrane, confirmed the expansion talks this week.

"Some of the teams are already talking to potential new manufacturers," he said.

"I would say there would be a low-end one and a high-end three new manufacturers joining the championship in 2012.

"Clearly as a sport today we have much less reliance on the budgets of Ford and Holden."

The championship is looking to move away from its reputation as a 'bogan' sport and attract more families, young people, women and corporate guests through the new direction.

"We've well and truly moved on from those days. We're now very much a family sport. It's mum, dad and the kids. It's very safe, a very decent environment for fans which is why females have grown so much in our demographic," Mr Cochrane said.

"If you go back 10 or 12 years ago, V8 Supercars was unashamedly male-dominated, 45 to 50 years plus and typical blue collar. Today that's changed dramatically," he said.

More than a third of V8 fans were now female, while younger fans were being wooed by a new advertising campaign involving entertainer Pink.

Mr Cochrane said the sport was looking to stage more events overseas, following on from races this year in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Singapore is tipped for 2011.

"It's stepping stones and there's no question that in the future we would probably like that to grow into five or six international events," he said.

One team thought to be in the frame for the Benz deal was Team Vodafone, which runs dual V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup and category legend Craig Lowndes. However, after being dropped from a sponsorship deal with Ford in 2008, the team has been locked up by Holden until the end of 2012.

Mercedes-Benz Asia-Pacific spokesman David McCarthy said: "We are not permitted nor does it interest us to be involved in motorsport. However, a number of our customers do, and the opportunity may arise in the future.

"At this stage I would have to say we are sticking by our official position."

The new V8 Supercar formula, known as Car of the Future, will still feature V8-engined sedans that power their rear wheels.

However, the requirement that race cars be based on locally manufactured models is to be scrapped.

And new engine eligibility rules mean the Germans could run sophisticated multi-valve V8 engines. Simple but effective 5.0-litre push-rod units are currently employed by Ford and Holden V8Supercars.

Other key aspects of the new rules that potentially add appeal for new players is the change from live axle to independent rear suspension, and the possible use of transaxle gearboxes.

These moves are important for the Germans with their high-tech reputations. Any previous interest was quelled by the perception that V8Supercars were technical dinosaurs. It is believed AMG has begun initial engineering studies for a race car probably based on the next generation CLS.

The new regulations have been developed by a committee chaired by former Supercar champion Mark Skaife and should be presented publicly for the first time in late March or early April.

They are intended to make the cars cheaper to build, dropping from $350,000 to $250,000 for a rolling chassis. Ongoing maintenance should also be cheaper and the cars safer with the driver moved to a more central seating position.

Reducing build and maintenance costs are key to V8SA's future profitability plans, which not only include more manufacturers but also as many as six overseas races in a more tightly packed calendar.

A more international series would probably appeal to the likes of Benz and BMW, as will the championship's recent announcement of a wider international TV coverage.

Ford and Holden, which are involved in V8 Supercar to promote locally built cars to an Australian audience, are unlikely to be as impressed.
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/g ... -pvdm.html

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#37

Post by DoubleFault »

Didn't Ford and Holden block Toyota or Nissan from rejoining a couple of years ago? If they did do that then they can go fuck themselves, I would love to see Merc or BMW come in!
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#38

Post by Hamster »

Would much rather see a beemer and/or merc in the series than a hashed up rwd v8 toyota, which is what I previously thought was the only likely contender.

It sounds like the so called car of the future is going to be more high tech, so the V8 supercars series is going to become a quasi-DTM. But they're cheaper than the current cars, so is modelled to be more like NASCAR?
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