Two of V8 Supercars' leading drivers have called for the Australian Grand Prix to become an official V8 Supercars Championship event.
V8 Supercars legend Craig Lowndes says the V8 Supercars should be racing for points at the Grand Prix and that the category is a key part of the event’s line-up.
Lowndes – who breaks the record for most V8 Supercars starts at this week’s 2016 season opener and is a former Australian Grand Prix ambassador – voiced his opinion this morning on the hot topic on SEN.
“It’s one of those weekends we all enjoy as race drivers, obviously the audience, the cars and the race teams we get to race in front of,” he said of the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix.
“In the past, the argument was with the commercial side – it was a different line-up with the TV. But it does [line-up] now and obviously we would be keen to see it as part of the championship.”
Lowndes acknowledged there had been reasons other than conflicting broadcasters in previous years that stopped the event hosting a fully-blown championship round for the V8 Supercars – but those have now been ironed out.
“There were a lot of things in the past we should say didn’t allow us to have that opportunity to be a part of the championship. But we have our own pit lane now, so we can do pit stops and everything else if we needed to, and as I said the TV stations line up.”
This will be the 12th year V8 Supercars is part of the line-up at the Albert Park event, though the category was off the bill in 2007. Data shows crowd numbers were down that year, and even as a spectator himself Lowndes noticed a difference in attendance.
“It’s something Australians love, V8s,” he said. “V8s … is a great spectacle, I think it does draw a good crowd.
“I was actually at the Grand Prix the year we weren’t racing – we were all down there watching anyway and we did see a difference in the crowd numbers, and something that does indicate that V8 Supercars have got a place.
“For us, we love being there, love racing there and we do unfortunately bang cars up because we do take it very seriously. So you do that, you’d rather have the championship points than no championship points.”
Current champion Mark Winterbottom agreed the races should count towards the title. He won all four races at Albert Park last year and was not awarded any points.
“Now that [television] is all lined up, there’s probably no reason why not to have Championship points,” Winterbottom told Triple M this morning.
“The issue is Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 boss. He signs off and controls it – so if he says yes, it’s yes, if he says no, you just do whatever he says.”
While there are no points on offer at the four-race event, the drivers and teams take it just as seriously as a regular round. The format has been tweaked over the years to try new rules and ideas, and this year consists of qualifying, four 12-lap races and rolling starts.
“We don’t race any less as a non-championship race,” Lowndes said.
“If you look at the weekend, we all go out and we all want to win the Grand Prix because it is one of the prestige races.
“To stand on that top step – if you’re lucky enough to get on that podium – you know that later in the day the F1 guys are going to be out there and be on that same one.
“I know Roland Dane, our boss, is very keen to make sure we give 110 per cent. We do try and win races, we’ve been lucky enough over the many years to have a connection through our sponsors to a Formula One team – and of course with Red Bull they’re very keen to see the cars up the front as well.”
Winterbottom likes the chance to race in front of a potentially new audience when at the grand prix.
“It’s big, it puts us in front of a different crowd. The Formula One crowd isn’t necessarily V8 Supercar crowd – they think we’re nuts!
“You work as hard to have an exhibition race as you do to have a championship race.
“The drivers do anything to win regardless, so even if it’s an exhibition race, we’re still pushing hard. Either way it’s a race.”
