Australian V8 Supercars

Russell Ingall said:
?It?s absolutely disgusting that a factory team and a professional driver like Richo is carrying on like a stuffed chook because he made a mistake,? Ingall said.

?It?s typical of the way that this category is going at the moment. The majority of the teams are to blame.

?There are only a couple of teams up and down pitlane who actually get it, but they (the others) will find out when the factory money dries up; when the dough runs out, because the category is not doing very well because the racing is boring and there is no entertainment for the crowd and the journos have got nothing to write about, and the media falls away from it.

?They will learn when they are all out of a job; and we?ll see where they end up then.?
Fair to say The Enforcer is back? :D Good to see him in a Holden again, being competitive, not crying and having a red hot go.
 
Congrats to Jamie and 888, they had a superb year. I was hoping Winterbottom would take out the championship this year, but there is always 2009. ;)

^ Russell did better then I was expecting this year, hopefully he can build on it next year an have a great season. It was fitting to see him and Skaife having one final battle in Race 3.

Nice photos stevanford1, thanks for sharing them.
 
Thought it was funny that the Ford boss, Ray Price tried to steal some of the limelight making a B-line for Jamie after he won. Roland Dane is reported to have shoved him away.

Still seems daft that Ford don't give T8 any dough.
 
:blink:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24888481-5001023,00.html

FORMER Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve is being groomed for a race place in V8 Supercars this year.

The retired grand prix ace is the first choice to become the new team mate for Bathurst winner and touring car champion Russell Ingall at Super Cheap Racing.

Villeneuve has been targeted by Paul 'The Dude' Morris, who retired at the end of last year, and is a strong chance to race in Australia.

"This is real. Absolutely. He is pretty keen to do it," Morris told the Herald Sun yesterday.

"It would be the full season. Not just one race.

"If we can make a bit of a buzz about it then I think it can definitely happen. We would have to write about $2 million in sponsorship so we could run the car and pay him to drive."

The Villeneuve deal surfaced halfway through last year when Morris was talking to one of the the French-Canadian's management team, expatriate Australian Barry Green. He knows Green from the time when he raced in the USA and Green is linked to Villeneuve in much the same way as he competed in Champ Cars and won the Indianapolis 500 before graduating to Formula One.

"Barry contacted me about getting him a ride for Bathurst last year.

But it was a bit late," Morris said.

He re-activated the link after retiring and deciding to put some guest drivers into his second Super Cheap Commodore alongside Ingall.

Morris has already tested Leanne Tander, and considered young gun Steve Owen, but was also drawn to American racer Boris Said who co- drove for him last year in the Bathurst 1000.

But he is hot for Villeneuve and wants to get him to Australia.

"Yes, I want it to happen. And I think it can," Morris said.

Villeneuve is a global superstar despite fizzing through the final years of his grand prix career with the BAR, Renault and Sauber-BMW teams before retiring in 2006.

He was second at the Australian Grand Prix in his first F1 start, with Williams in 1996, and would have won but for an engine drama which gifted the race to his team mate Damon Hill.

He won his world championship with Williams in only his second year in F1, but his results in Australia were marred by the crash which killed a track marshall Graham Beveridge in 2001.

Since his retirement from Formula One, and after a failed attempt at a music career, Villeneuve has made sporadic starts in other categories.

He has competed for Peugeot in the Le Mans 24-Hour race in France, raced Speedcar sedans in the Middle East and has also been trying to crack a regular drive in the Nascar series in the USA.

Morris believes he would be ideal in V8 Supercar racing and is pushing hard for a deal.

"Man, how good would it be? How long since we've had a Formula One car in touring cars in Australia?," Morris said.

"The last one was Alan Jones. And if he drives as good as AJ he will be alright."

Morris leaves next week for a business and racing trip to the USA when he is likely to meet Green to push the deal further.

"The next step would be to get him out here to drive the car," Morris said.

"He also has some sort of connection with French television, so I'm looking at how we could make that work."
 
Now Paul Morris has retired from driving, and creating this news, I like him a LOT better.
 
JV? In the V8s? Hmm, can't see it happening, but it sure is a juicy rumour. I don't see it working though - I think he'd struggle initially, and no doubt receive some 'welcome-to-the-club-mr-fancy-pants-F1-driver' roughing-up from the field, after which he'd have a whinge, shrug his shoulders, and wander off again.
 
Tander and Davison at HRT is a good combo for '09 i reckon.

I'm itching for the first round.....i wonder if Ford will struggle with their new car as was the case with Holden and the VE.

Team Perkins for the win! :D
 
I'm itching for the first round.....i wonder if Ford will struggle with their new car as was the case with Holden and the VE.

Eh? Remember the first half of the 2007 season, when the VEs of HRT & Toll won basically everything?

They struggled in 2008 because their teams weren't doing as good a job as 888 or FPR, nothing to do with the VE's competitiveness.
 
I think it was more to do with Ford being off their game in the early stages of '07.
Everytime a new car is introduced in this category, it is slightly uncompetitive.

You're right about 2008 though, fbc, Holden definitely have some catching up to do, even with Ford running a new car.
 
Is there any amount of truth to the "Villeneuve to V8SC" rumours?

I'm sure Paul Morris is trying to get him but i don't think it will happen TBH.
 
International racing stars making occasional appearances could boost the profile of the category. Would be good to see how the Aussies square up to some big names.

Hopefully JV at least does Bathurst this year.
 
^ JV has said that if he was to do the series, he'd do it properly and run the entire year. I can't see it happening.
 
^ JV has said that if he was to do the series, he'd do it properly and run the entire year. I can't see it happening.

In that case, he'll probably skip it and aim for a move in 2010. I'm sure that this year he's more focused on Le Mans than ever before. He was part of the second-placed crew last year and hopes to go one better this year. And if he does that, he'll probably also play a part in Peugeot's LMS programme, so no time for Australia.
 
Porsche support category axed
Release date: 10/02/2009


V8 Supercars has been dealt an economic blow on the eve of the 2009 season kicking off with the traditional blue riband Clipsal 500 street race next month.

The shock cancellation of the main support category for the V8 Championship series, Carrera Cup, has left a hole in the revenue stream for the touring car show.

While the exact make-up of the deal remains confidential, it is understood that Carrera Cup pays V8 Supercars TV several hundred thousand dollars to bring its package to air.

It leaves V8 Supercars with a sizeable hole to fill on its undercard as the Carrera Cup was not only a major show in its own right but many V8 team owners looked to the purpose-built 997 GT3 racers as a unique breeding ground for future touring car stars.

In recent years those who have made the jump from Carrera Cup into V8 Supercars include Fabian Coulthard, Jonathon Webb, David Reynolds, Alex Davison and the highly experienced Craig Baird.

V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane downplayed the development saying that it didn't alter the life of the series ?all that much.?

?In all honesty it doesn't change our life that much,? Cochrane commented.

?Yes it makes a marginal differenced to our television unit but not very much.?

V8 Supercars officials will continue to hold talks this week to consider alternatives for a replacement support category.

?We've got a bit of time up our sleeve because none of this really affects us until May,? Cochrane explained.

?The first even is Clipsal, then the AGP and then New Zealand so its not for a few months (Winton in May) where we have to get concerned about support categories.?

Porsche Cars Australia public relations manager Paul Ellis said the Carrera Cup championship was ready to roll for 2009 but the decision was made to pull the plug at the last minute because of the inability of teams to commit to the full series.

?We were ready to go and had a series sponsor in place but we had to bite the bullet and everyone involved including V8 Supercars said the while it was a difficult decision they fully understood,? Ellis said.

?But I want to stress that Porsche is not pulling out of motorsport in Australia.

?Where-ever our customers race we will be there with our service truck and we will still be there this year to help and assist them.

?Motorsport is a strategic and integral part of our business and it's not merely a hobby for us.?

Porsche Cars is working with CAMS to alter the eligibility of the 997 GT3 machines so they can be accepted in the 996 populated GT3 Cup series and the Australian GT championship.

Author:Gordon Lomas
Source:BigPond Sport - copyright
 
No more Carrera Cup, it was a good support series. :(

Edit - FPR's 2009 Liveries.

https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2009/02/13/FPR_2009_livery1.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2009/02/13/FPR_2009_livery2.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2009/02/13/FPR_2009_livery3.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2009/02/13/FPR_2009_livery4.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2009/02/13/FPR_2009_livery5.jpg
 
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And FPR's tradition of having some of the most average looking cars on the grid continues...
 
^They really do look ugly, I think these are the worst liveries they've had so far.
 
That "day glo" red/orange or whatever you want to call it looks better on TV which is why both HRT & 888 adopted it at the same time.

Still looks weird to me when your at the track though.
 
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