Virgin Australia Supercars Championship - Archive

  • Thread starter Thread starter DRIFT4EVA
  • 13,819 comments
  • 785,030 views

Holden or Ford

  • Holden

    Votes: 209 36.2%

  • Ford

    Votes: 175 30.3%

  • Ford and Holden

    Votes: 64 11.1%

  • Nismo

    Votes: 74 12.8%

  • Erebus

    Votes: 7 1.2%

  • Nismo and Erebus

    Votes: 6 1.0%

  • Volvo

    Votes: 43 7.4%
  • Total voters
    578
Status
Not open for further replies.
I really wish Will had stayed at FPR but with Richard's going to Triple 888, I laughed pretty hard considering what Luff has actually done for them (I know he didn't feel he was worthy).
 
Part of me really wants Luff to sign on with FPR. :lol:

Volvo still working on sponsors.
The first Volvo S60 V8 Supercar is already up and running, but team owner Garry Rogers remains on the hunt for a new naming rights sponsor.

Rogers’ backer of the last four season’s, Fujitsu, made the shock announcement four weeks ago that it would not continue under the team’s new Volvo Polestar guise.

Although securing Volvo’s support was a major coup for the team, the Swedish manufacturer has made it clear that it won’t be fully funding the two cars.
Click to expand...
Volvo managing director Matt Braid confirmed that the V8 Supercars will be presented in the colours of an external commercial partner.

That will set the Australian program apart from Polestar’s other current projects, which almost solely run in the firm’s signature blue hues.

“We recognise that this series is very commercial, more so than many other series around the world,” Braid told Speedcafe.com.

“Compared to other touring car categories in Europe sponsors here occupy a significant status in driving this game.
Click to expand...
 
magic_town
Any chance of a report on how you went @Mad94d?
Click to expand...

Sure! First of all, What. A. Weekend! Still really can't believe I raced at the Sydney 500!

Was extremely nervous in the lead up to the event, especially considering that I had never raced before (track days and supersprints but not actual door to door racing).

Ahead of practice, I was super nervous. The 20 minute session was plagued with yellow flags and traffic making it hard to get a clear lap in. It was cut 5 minutes short due to a huge rollover at turn 5! Certainly not confidence inspiring when you come back in and see at least 5 cars badly damaged after just 1 session!

Finished the session in 29th.

Practice crash...


Qualifying was at 5:40pm later on the friday. I went out and immediately dropped 4 seconds off my lap time in 2 laps. My best lap ended up being on lap 2 of the session as I never really got a clear lap after that. There was just constant traffic so that was a little disappointing knowing I could've got far more out of the car. But ended up 19th at the end of it all which out of 39 cars I was extremely happy with!

Race 1:
Started 18th after a car was underweight in qualifying. I was super nervous about lap 1! Being a street circuit, the possibility of a crash is hugely likely so for me I really couldn't afford to crash. But we got through it and gained a wealth of experience too. Lost a few positions on lap 1 but got back to finish the race 17th! Couldn't really be any happier with my debut race!

Onboard from that race...



Race 2:
Started 17th, got a much better start and was a little more aggressive. Fought my way forward to 13th when a spark plug lead came loose and the car dropped a cylinder. Huge loss of power resulting in a DNF. Hugely disappointing... To get that far up the field on my first weekend and have the pace to run about 10th and have that basically ruin my weekend sucked. But ah well, that's racing hey!

Here is an onboard from that race...



Race 3:
Had it all ahead of me! Started 34th after the DNF in the 2nd race. Safety Car came out almost immediately due to a crash on lap 1. With a time certain race in place, this definitely hurt me and my quest to move forward in the field. But not a bad race, passed a few cars and finished 23rd.

Race 4:
Started 25th (weekend accumulated points decide grid position for this race). Got a good start and it was all a bit close at turn 1. Then I got hit as we were 3 wide into turn 2 on lap 1. All good though, no damage done! Had a few crashes and spins happen in front of me just to keep me on my toes, also a safety car thrown in for good measures. Once again managed to keep out of trouble and brought the car home in 18th. So not a bad fight back on sunday to move from 34th to 18th!

Onboard from that race...



Overall, couldn't be much happier with how the weekend went! Had a ball! Racing at an event like that was an awesome experience and hopefully I get to do it again some time. Thanks to everyone for all their support, it was fantastic all weekend. Had so many sim racers come and wish me well and say g'day so thanks heaps for that!

Here are a few pictures from the event...

1473003_10201238106300309_810801846_n.jpg


1472889_10201238106900324_429415318_n.jpg


1501632_10201238111380436_150213195_o.jpg


1506084_10201238113380486_1480683454_o.jpg


1491439_10201238113500489_1406876041_o.jpg


857494_10201238113540490_743718725_o.jpg
1412619_10201238114820522_1184673030_o.jpg


1500849_10201238116220557_69988280_o.jpg


1504302_10201238116780571_1706124986_o.jpg
1486118_10201238120180656_942952351_o.jpg
993508_10201238130940925_106007763_n.jpg
993508_10201238135141030_2018295290_n.jpg
 
That's funny, because Nissan in Japan have described the 2013 season as a "$5 million waste".

But the article is by James Phelps. Tells you everything you need to know, really. Teams and manufacturers have been running PR spin past him for years, knowing ythat he will write it like a proper article. He's like Andrew Bolt: he just parrots the party line, then gets all puffed up thinking he's a serious, hard-hitting journalist.

I'm surprised Holden didn't go to him when the news of their departure from Australia first broke.
 
RIP JR. My wife and me were there at Turn 1(Allan Jones section) watching Jason Richards hold his own. I also got to meet him on Fathers Day at Eastern Creek when he drove the Rothmans 962. Bone chilling...
 
Has it really been two years already? :( Geez, time flies. :crazy:
05XR8
Bone chilling...
Click to expand...

It was. 👍 Never got to meet the guy, but it was a big highlight for me to see the 962 in action. Never thought I would ever get to see one in the flesh.
 
Oh for sure. Ill dig up a couple of pics from the AGP and Fathers Day event. I was standing right at pit exit next to the blue R35 GT-R before the Nissan driver gave a few of us a hot lap in that.
6hg8YYM.jpg


F5Jkjyz.jpg


hZXUGGu.jpg


xOz5CHz.jpg

HOT LAP IN R35
euGVP8W.jpg


AiQjjLm.jpg

2011 AGP
 
Last edited:
Nice pics, thanks for sharing. 👍

David Wall to DJR.
Dick Johnson Racing has locked in driver David Wall alongside sponsors Wilson Security and Payce Consolidated for the 2014 season.

Following Wilson Security’s last-minute backing of DJR for 2013, the new multi-year deal will see its two cars run in Wilson Security colours for the full season.
Click to expand...
The team will run the #16 and #17 numbers next season following the REC change.
Click to expand...
Burgess free to go to HRT.
Triple Eight Race Engineering owner Roland Dane says he has released a contractual hold on former team principal Adrian Burgess which would have stopped him joining Walkinshaw Racing until February.

Burgess informed Dane in August he would be leaving the Red Bull-sponsored operation to take over as managing director of Walkinshaw Racing from fellow Englishman Steve Hallam in 2014.
Click to expand...
“He is irrelevant to us,” added Dane. “I don’t need to protect our position any longer, so he can go and do what he wants.”

“Honestly, is HRT going to regularly beat us? I wouldn’t put any money on it.”
Click to expand...

Adventure-Time.gif
 
Last edited:
Gee, Roland Dane seems a little bitter. I understand that it must be a bitch when a competitor is luring in your staff but that's sport. They're a very successful team, Burgess' move probably wont change that, why does he have to be a dick about it?
 
Not being American, I have no idea. I do, however, hope that you do.

Fortunately for Australian viewers, V8 Supercars is returning to Channel Ten for six years. Which means no more Matt White!

Hopefully, the deal will also sort out a few REC movements and we can keep a full grid.

Also, Jack Perkins has been tipped for a return to full-time racing with Schwerkolt. Steve Owen was the favourite for the seat, but with Steven Richards moving to T8 for the enduros, FPR moved to secure Owen's place in the team.
 
So glad that the series will be returning to Channel Ten, but it doesn't sound like they will be airing every event on the calendar. I hope I'm wrong about that because there's no way I'm getting Foxtel. In the past I wouldn't have minded too much but this year the championship really came back to life and it felt a lot like when I first got into the sport 11-12 years ago.


Which means no more Matt White!
Click to expand...
No more Mark Beretta too! I can't believe I put up with 7 Network personalities for so long.
 
To be honest I don't mind the broadcasters. Better than what we get for NASCAR...
 
I'm fine with Crompton, Skaife and Larkham. They're great commentators, who truly know the sport and the banter between them is always entertaining. It's just White, Beretta and the roving reporters they throw in for Bathurst are unbearable, typical upper-middle class yuppies. Also, hopefully this move also has Crompton part of the Channel Ten Formula One broadcast again.
 
Cap'n Jack
I'm fine with Crompton, Skaife and Larkham. They're great commentators, who truly know the sport and the banter between them is always entertaining. It's just White, Beretta and the roving reporters they throw in for Bathurst are unbearable, typical upper-middle class yuppies. Also, hopefully this move also has Crompton part of the Channel Ten Formula One broadcast again.
Click to expand...
Broadcasters like to divide their commentary team into "experts" who know the sport - usually because they used to compete - and "everymen" who make it relatable to the viewer. If it is a prominent sport, it will often be a network personality. It is a good system when you have a sport that is esoteric; curling or equestrian dressage events spring to mind. The problem is that the everyman knows the least but talks the most, and in this day and age, it is very easy to learn about the sport on your own. So we wind up in a situation where we get mindless drivel from the lead commentator (and it really shows in Seven's coverage - White rarely contributes anything beyond what can be seen on-screen, and the others don't draw him into discussions). Hopefully, Ten have the sense to bring Bill Woods back, rather than give the job to Greg Rust. It could be worse, though. I remember when Nine had the rights to Formula One, and decided it would be a good idea to have Eddie McGuire host the coverage. And another time they had Darryl Eastlake actually commentating on the race ...

Also, I hope this means an end to those over-indulgent, over-produced and over-dramatic ten-minute race introductions Seven has subjected us to. You know the ones - the gratuitous use of slow-motion and out-of-focus shots, the original soundtracks, the drivers staring down the camera after having been doused in cold water (Garth Tander always look like he wants to punch someone) and the florid, flowery prose describing the race delivered in the speaker's best MOVIE TRAILER NARRATION (I keep waiting for one to start with "In a word where ...").
 
Thank god for that! Now channel 7 will never be seen on my tv again! The description of the intros and close ups that you gave @prisonermonkeys was enough to make me cringe.
As long as they can keep Skaife, Crompton and Larkham I'll be happy!
 
Seven does have "Castle", so it's not completely hopeless.

That said, Ten News has literally just had a story on the deal, and Greg Rust was front and centre for interviews. Although I get the impression that Ten have intervened and cut down his pre-race show for Formula 1, because all he does (or at least did) was talk up Mark Webber, and he was starting to look silly when Webber wasn't winning.
 
Hope channel 10 have the same rights that 7 did. Would hate to see another sport lose its free to air rights to Foxtel
 
Honestly, I don't mind that much if is split. The Clipsal, Sandown and Bathurst are the only events I really tune into (and even then, if I'm otherwise occupied, I'll skip Sandown), and maybe the finale if the title fight is still alive.
 
@prisonermonkeys Don't expect to see Bill Woods back. He's hosting a late night sports show on 7 Mate.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back