2018 Virgin Australia Supercars ChampionshipTouring Cars

[Cap'n Jack]

... Aaaanyway.


The 2018 season leaves Championship mainstays in the past, brings in new circuits, events and drivers. Here’s where a few Aussies, Kiwis and a couple of Arizona natives will ramble on about some sedans driving around in circles.

Calendar:
Adelaide 500: 3-4 March
Australian Grand Prix: 24-25 March
Tasmania SuperSprint: 7-8 April
Phillip Island 500: 21-22 April
Perth SuperSprint: 5-6 May
Winton SuperSprint: 19-20 May
Darwin Triple Crown: 16-17 June
Townsville 400: 7-8 July
Ipswich SuperSprint: 21-22 July
Sydney SuperNight 300: 4 August
The Bend SuperSprint: 25-26 August
Sandown 500: 16 September
Bathurst 1000: 7 October
Gold Coast 600: 20-21 October
Auckland SuperSprint: 3-4 November
Newcastle 500: 24-25 November​

 

[05XR8]

*ahem*and an ex-New Yorker, living in Newcastle.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

*ahem*and an ex-New Yorker, living in Newcastle.

You’re one of us now. Sorry.

 

[05XR8]

 

[CodeRedR51]

I wanna be one of you.

 

[05XR8]

I wanna be one of you.

Just do it. Beautiful continent.

Should be an exciting season with the young guys at every race. Albert Park is going to be a interesting one.

How will Simona go at Tailem Bend? New track for everyone again.

Do WAU improve?

Do we get an Asian race contract for 2019?

 

[Spacegoat]

Do WAU improve?

Maybe a little more consistency on non street circuits but I'm not expecting too much in their first year.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Yeah, they're going to have to get a bigger team behind the drivers to take on the likes of T8 and DJRTP.

 

[Spacegoat]

Yeah, they're going to have to get a bigger team behind the drivers to take on the likes of T8 and DJRTP.

Courtney mentioned in an interview a few months back, that Walkinshaw only has three full time engineers and one part time. Not sure how many T8, DJRTP and other teams have on staff but I'm guessing it's more than four.

 

[05XR8]

Pye seemed to pull his weight though. He's never been a bad driver, just had bad luck.
From Bathurst to yesterday, he did damn good. Hopefully, they can at least battle GRM.

Holden had a ZB VXR and a Colorado SuperUte on display. The ZB just blends in with any other car.
That SuperUte looked the business. Much lower than the standard Colorado next to it.

 

[Spacegoat]

From Bathurst to yesterday, he did damn good.

Totally. 12th in the championship is solid result.

Courtney's deal is up in 2019? Think there's going to big pressure on JC, if he doesn't improve next year.

The ZB just blends in with any other car.

There was one outside the dealership in Singleton. In comparison to the VF's next to it, it looked quite boring.

 

[Pharaoh 117]

Do the races get streamed online? To this day I've only watched a few Bathurst 1000 races but I enjoyed it very much. Some really, really close finishes.

 

[ScottPuss20]

So what's the situation with the new Holden Commodores? Who will update their cars? When will the V6 be made available for all teams? How much longer will the V8 last for? Also, what's the deal with Ford and Nissan? Things are definitely going to change next year.

 

[Litening1]

Courtney's deal is up in 2019? Think there's going to big pressure on JC, if he doesn't improve next year.

If it does expire in 2018 I think 2018 could be his and Lowndes last as they are both decreasing in form. Lowndes not as likely but Courtney unless he has a stellar season he will be out I'd say.

 

[05XR8]

Do the races get streamed online? To this day I've only watched a few Bathurst 1000 races but I enjoyed it very much. Some really, really close finishes.

Depends where you live. Superview is the way to go outside Australia. You have to pay for it. Some countries, supposedly Asia and Europe, have live tv packages.

So what's the situation with the new Holden Commodores? Who will update their cars? When will the V6 be made available for all teams? How much longer will the V8 last for? Also, what's the deal with Ford and Nissan? Things are definitely going to change next year.

RBHRT/Caltex, BJR(and possibly Tim Blanchard), Erebus, Tekno, GRM, Preston Hire and Britek(?), will be running the ZB. The V6 will be available 2019.
DJRTP, PRA/Tickford, 23Red Racing(former LDM) and Britek(?), will run "Fords". Who knows what they'll run in 2019.
Nissan/NISMO. I definitely can't call that one.

 

[Pharaoh 117]

Depends where you live. Superview is the way to go outside Australia. You have to pay for it. Some countries, supposedly Asia and Europe, have live tv packages.

Nice! Thanks for the info. I guess I'll wait for the 2018 season to subscribe.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Nice! Thanks for the info. I guess I'll wait for the 2018 season to subscribe.

If you are in the US, it's worth the roughly $32/yr for all qualifying sessions, top 10 shootouts and races. Plus you have access to previous races so if you miss one you can watch it whenever you want. One negative is the quality is iffy.

 

[Furinkazen]

The whole V6 Turbo VS V8 NA thing has me interested, with fuel mileage, power band etc might be some interesting differences in where cars are quick at on certain point of the track.

 

[05XR8]

The whole V6 Turbo VS V8 NA thing has me interested, with fuel mileage, power band etc might be some interesting differences in where cars are quick at on certain point of the track.

At the moment, Red Bull HRT will only run the V6 at wildcard events(about 4-5 races). Who will drive the car? Not sure. Won't get a real gauge until 2019, when Holden teams switch over. Still testing to be done.

Triple 8 have been allowed to continue testing the engine. So, Holden teams running the new ZB, will run V8s in the engine bay next year.

 

[Spacegoat]

This little teaser popped up on the Walkinshaw Racing Twitter account yesterday.

Is it 2018 yet?

 

[05XR8]

This little teaser popped up on the Walkinshaw Racing Twitter account yesterday.

Is it 2018 yet?

Yesterday, someone posted, "This means WAUR!".

 

[Spacegoat]

Yesterday, someone posted, "This means WAUR!".

Shame they didn't go with Walkinshaw Andretti Racing as the team name. Would have made for a cooler acronym than WAU. The WalkAndUnite hashtag is brilliant though.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Eh...I'm still not as excited about them joining as I was Penske. Obviously there is some pay off if notable American race owners are coming and partnering with teams. Maybe this will be the thing that brings manufactures forward but I doubt it considering how a guy as trusted as Roger isn't making much ground on that front.

 

[05XR8]

I'd like to see how far Andretti will get, pulling a new manufacturer. I suspect Penske wants to keep Ford, like PRA. Still, who else would both or either teams be thinking about switching to? As a side, I've never seen so much Shell colors in a weekend, other than the Schumacher era. Which, would make having Alfas on the grid, in Shell colors, awesome.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I'd like to see how far Andretti will get, pulling a new manufacturer. I suspect Penske wants to keep Ford, like PRA. Still, who else would both or either teams be thinking about switching to? As a side, I've never seen so much Shell colors in a weekend, other than the Schumacher era. Which, would make having Alfas on the grid, in Shell colors, awesome.

Roger isn't one to stick to one manufacture only though as we've seen. I'm sure once he saw that Ford wasn't going to play or help with a solution for the future, he talked to others to see if they would be interested. I'm sure he asked Dick what he thought about it all as well. I feel if there is any one factor that wouldn't move from Ford it would be ol' DJ.

 

[05XR8]

Yeah, that would be a tough one for the team, especially for many fans. I'm fine for a switch. They'll have to hurry, because T8 are ahead in development of the body.
When DJRTP & PRA switch to whatever, I guess they'll keep the V8. At least, if the new body has a smaller engine.


I'm eager to see how the new drivers go versus Simona. They'll be in some quick cars. What's weird is, Hazelwood and Lebrocq are switching manufacturers. They might struggle for the first half. Golding should pretty much be on it and Stanaway, we know he'll be Rookie of the Year.

 

[noshog]

Does Stanaway have a confirmed drive for next year ?

 

[Spacegoat]

Probably one of the worst kept secrets has been announced. Matt Stone Racing with Todd Hazelwood are stepping up to the main series in 2018.

Maybe this will be the thing that brings manufactures forward but I doubt it considering how a guy as trusted as Roger isn't making much ground on that front.

Not holding my breath on any new manufactures coming into the series. But then again I never expected Nissan and Volvo to join, so who knows?

Does Stanaway have a confirmed drive for next year ?

Nothing has been officially confirmed yet. Pretty much guaranteed he'll be driving the fourth PRA Falcon though, taking Bright's place.

 

[05XR8]

It'll be interesting to see who fairs better with PRA or DJRTP data. Wil might have the upper hand with experience, but the engineering side could be the decider. Hazelwood having that continuity and being comfortable with his team, will definitely be the confidence booster.

I still can't unsee this, as a possibility in the future.

Edit: For those that may be new to the series, what we now so far of the driver line up
https://www.speedcafe.com/2017/11/30/supercars-2018-field-takes-shape/

Team Manufacturer Driver
DJR Team Penske Ford Fabian Coulthard
DJR Team Penske Ford Scott McLaughlin

Autobarn Lowndes Racing Holden Craig Lowndes

Red Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Shane van Gisbergen
Red Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Jamie Whincup

Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Scott Pye
Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden James Courtney

Prodrive Racing Australia Ford Richie Stanaway
Prodrive Racing Australia Ford Mark Winterbottom
Prodrive Racing Australia Ford Cam Waters
Prodrive Racing Australia Ford Chaz Mostert

Nissan Motorsport Nissan Andre Heimgartner
Nissan Motorsport Nissan Rick Kelly
Nissan Motorsport Nissan Michael Caruso
Nissan Motorsport Nissan Simona de Silvestro

Brad Jones Racing Holden Nick Percat
Brad Jones Racing Holden Tim Slade

Tim Blanchard Racing Holden Tim Blanchard

Erebus Motorsport Holden David Reynolds
Erebus Motorsport Holden Anton de Pasquale

Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Garth Tander
Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden James Golding

Charlie Schwerkolt Racing Holden Lee Holdsworth

Tekno Autosports Holden Jack Le Brocq

23Red Racing Ford Will Davison

Matt Stone Racing Ford Todd Hazelwood

 

[CodeRedR51]

https://nissanmotorsport.com.au/blo...in-augue/208-andre-heimgartner-joins-the-team