2016 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship - Results and TalkTouring Cars 

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cap'n Jack
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05XR8
With the international drivers getting the call up, wouldn't it be amazing if Jenson Button got a call next year?
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Are there any teams that could actually afford him?
 
Northstar
Are there any teams that could actually afford him?
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Get Supercars to pay for him. They seem to be up for that sort of thing at the moment :rolleyes:
 
Would Button necessarily ask a high price to race, though? Sure, he was expensive for a Formula One team, but doing twenty-one Grands Prix is very different to sharing a car for four races.
 
Can't be any more expensive than the drivers they currently have that make tons of money as it is.
 
It would only be for the enduros. I bet he'd accept a call, unlike Webber...
 
V8 teams have quite a bit of money to spend compared to other series you would be surprised.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Can't be any more expensive than the drivers they currently have that make tons of money as it is.
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I think that the appeal of Button to the fans is the way he always comes across as genuine. When he drove one of the Vodafone cars at Bathurst a few years ago, he really seemed to enjoy it. With any other driver, it would be easy to take a cynical view and dismiss it as PR-friendly rubbish for the sake of appeasing the sponsors, but not Button.
 
prisonermonkeys
I think that the appeal of Button to the fans is the way he always comes across as genuine. When he drove one of the Vodafone cars at Bathurst a few years ago, he really seemed to enjoy it. With any other driver, it would be easy to take a cynical view and dismiss it as PR-friendly rubbish for the sake of appeasing the sponsors, but not Button.
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I don't know I feel it's genuine out of any driver really. Be it Button with the V8 supercar, Grosjean or Hamilton with NASCAR, Hulkenberg and Alonso with P1s. I think when you've raced a certain category for so long and you get into something that is "exotic" to them and even more brutish, you see genuine excitement and fun.

I'd welcome any pairing with one of the top F1 drivers. I think people want to see Button cause he's fast for one, an F1 wdc and available and drove one of these cars.
 
I seem to recall Jenson Button, at some point, said that he grew up watching the Bathurst 1000 on TV and has a genuine interest in the event. When he first announced his "sabatical", my first thought was if this would open up an opportunity for him to do the great race.

Alternatively, how about Button partnering SVG in a McLaren at the 12 hour?
 
Just depends on what the driver wants, alot of the F1 drivers have money coming out of their eyeballs and what they do Post F1 tends to be what they enjoy.

Webber has always been a fan of Endurance racing and he always saw it as an unfinished Chapter, he always said he isn't a fan of touring car racing so that is really why he isn't doing it.

Button on the other hand likes Touring cars and I don't really see a situation where he wouldn't do it based on money as he has said countless times even in F1 that he would race for free if he could get a successful seat.

on the other hand you have the likes of Ricciardo who is a Big fan of Nascar since he was a kid and actually said it inspired him most to get into racing, so even though he went the F1 route you can definitely see him going that way post F1.

Anything can happen, racing is a sport where you can have long careers in multiple disciplines and be successful so nothing is out of the question really.
 
Didn't Button also do a car swap at Albert Park (2010?)

In any case, I'm hoping to see Button do a little bit of everything next year. He has a great opportunity to do it :)
 
Cap'n Jack
Alternatively, how about Button partnering SVG in a McLaren at the 12 hour?
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I don't see it happening myself. Button and van Gisbergen have radically different driving styles, so setting the car up to suit both of them would be extremely challenging, if not downright impossible.
 
I could see Button in a Nissan or a ride with Whincup. The only other team/drivers I can see, would be DJRTP.

Moffat is a driver who likes his car perfect when he gets in. I can't see Button with him. Maybe Percat but, depends what team Percat joins.
 
GTracer38
Didn't Button also do a car swap at Albert Park (2010?)

In any case, I'm hoping to see Button do a little bit of everything next year. He has a great opportunity to do it :)
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Yes, he drove one of the 888 cars at Albert Park for a lap or two.
 
Button for another T8 Wildcard? Went alright last time.
Might not work now that they are running the three cars and Ludo is busy, but still a thought.

Also, weren't all of those drives a Vodafone tie in?
 
GTracer38
Button for another T8 Wildcard? Went alright last time.
Might not work now that they are running the three cars and Ludo is busy, but still a thought.

Also, weren't all of those drives a Vodafone tie in?
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Button was never associated with the 888 wildcard, and with Red Bull being the main backer of 888 I doubt Button would be allowed due to other sponsor clashes.

05XR8
Any sponsors from McLaren in VASC?
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Mobil is only one I can think of, with HRT being sponsored by them as well.


To be honest though, were never going to actually see him race one next year, it's a good 'what if', but it won't actually happen.
 
05XR8
Any sponsors from McLaren?
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Fixed.

Although to be fair, they have picked up a few "minor" ones. I say it in inverted commas because they have changed their business model - rather than finding one corporate identity to align with, they are more about doing business-to-business deals with big companies and promoting individual products. They have a pretty sizeable tie-in with GlaxoSmithKlien, and have run Sensodyne (toothpaste) and Maxi Muscle (protein supplement) logos in the recent past. And they also promote Chandon, a high-end alcohol label; I think they have something to do with the champagne used on the podium.

In that sense, McLaren are probably most closely aligned with the Penske model; the maim difference being the Formula One teams aren't allowed to totally revise their liveries mid-season (at least, not without permission; they did it last year because they wanted to move away from the chrome look that was synonymous with their Mercedes partnership).
 
LumpiestFish
Button was never associated with the 888 wildcard, and with Red Bull being the main backer of 888 I doubt Button would be allowed due to other sponsor clashes.
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Didn't think he was, just playing on the fact T8 had a good wildcard a few years back with some International drivers and have had a couple of internationals running in the '2nd car' before the rule change. Just would be the best team to be with for a wildcard.

I agree with the sponsorship clash part.

LumpiestFish
To be honest though, were never going to actually see him race one next year, it's a good 'what if', but it won't actually happen.
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Agreed 👍
 
I still wish that place would have run-off like Paul Ricard.
 
GTracerEHTeam
... Are you Hermann Tilke himself?
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Tilke didn't design Paul Ricard.

05XR8
I still wish that place would have run-off like Paul Ricard.
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It's not an option. Paul Ricard's abrasive run-off is a result of tungsten embedded in the tarmac. But tungsten is ridiculously expensive and there is only a finite supply worldwide.
 
prisonermonkeys
Tilke didn't design Paul Ricard.


It's not an option. Paul Ricard's abrasive run-off is a result of tungsten embedded in the tarmac. But tungsten is ridiculously expensive and there is only a finite supply worldwide.
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No he didn't but I'm sure he has happy time just looking at the sheer amount of run-off.
 
GTracerEHTeam
No he didn't but I'm sure he has happy time just looking at the sheer amount of run-off.
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You do know that that wasn't his idea, right? The whole point of tarmac run-off was to prevent roll-overs because cars have a tendency to somersault if they hit a gravel trap at an angle.

In fact, Paul Ricard was redeveloped for an entirely different purpose: officially, its name is "Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track". In addition to having tungsten compounds in the run-off to forcibly degrade tyres, the entire circuit precinct can be flooded.

And the architect of this grand plan? Bernie Ecclestone. When he owned the circuit, he knew that it couldn't compete with Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix, and that without something to revitalise the circuit, it would be forced to close. So the facility was redeveloped, preserving its integrity as a racing circuit, but making it appealing to the automotive industry as a high-performance testing venue offering wet- and dry-weather testing year-round.
 
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