Virgin Australia Supercars Championship - Archive

[05XR8]

There was good racing at Albert Park this year. Imagine adding the points payout, to the tally, from that race. Whincup and Lowndes being two of the eight drivers disqualified, might have made a difference.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The silly season is in full swing, and rumour has it that Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport will be split up, with one of their RECs going to Ford Performance Racing to give them a fifth entry (possibly merging with Nash or Schwerkolt), while the other REC could go to Tekno and be run as a satellite team for Russell Ingall.

 

[05XR8]

Question: Any chance of Randy Pobst getting a drive in the enduros for Polestar next year? I remember he raced the blue and yelow AWD S60. I used to follow him when he raced the Neuspeed Accord in Super Tourers. One of my favourite drivers back in the day.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I very much doubt it. GRM will likely take Greg Ritter and possibly a Swedish driver like Robert Dahlgren or Thed Bjork.

 

[Spacegoat]

I very much doubt it. GRM will likely take Greg Ritter and possibly a Swedish driver like Robert Dahlgren or Thed Bjork.

Imagine that's the most likely scenario. Though I read that Dahlgren is a chance to take Premat's place.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I believe he ruled out a full-time drive when Volvo first announced their plans.

 

[Spacegoat]

Big image of the rear of the Volvo at the recent aero test.

 

[05XR8]

Looks tough. It almost looks like the Focus GTC V8.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I'm no expert, but I wonder if the Volvo will have a bit of an aero advantage with that "long-tail" thing going on there with the rear wing support.

Also, was Nissan at the aero test or will their re-homologation go on at a later time?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I'm pretty sure that was a closed test for Volvo.

 

[05XR8]

I'm no expert, but I wonder if the Volvo will have a bit of an aero advantage with that "long-tail" thing going on there with the rear wing support.

I was thinking about that with the rake of the rear window. Im sure it is the angle but, the car looks compact and the angle from the "B"pillar rearward appears like Volvo may gain some aero. It'll all be evened out if Holden have any say.

 

[CodeRedR51]

That's a weird photo. Everything from the A-pillar forward looks huge, and everything from there back looks tiny.

 

[Spacegoat]

or will their re-homologation go on at a later time?

Fairly sure there's going to be an aero test for all five manufacturers sometime this month. Seem to recall reading that somewhere.

Edit: From here. 👍

“When we go to the aero test (in January) we’ll have four or five different parts to the car that we’ve modified and can evaluate".

 

[CodeRedR51]

Fairly sure there's going to be an aero test for all five manufacturers sometime this month. Seem to recall reading that somewhere.

Edit: From here. 👍

That says "four or five parts". Like the Altima with multiple changes.

 

[Spacegoat]

Simon McNamara tweeted this sneak preview of HRT's livery.

 

[05XR8]

Big "HOLDEN" on the wing and white tip endplates. Will be interesting to see if they keep the SPTOOLS tribal graphics as I dont know of any key members in HRT from enZed.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I doubt they'll keep the "tribal" design. It would clash with the lion and driver decals. I'm expecting something similar to what they had last year, but with slightly bigger logos.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Pardon the double post, but two rumours are doing the rounds at the moment.

The first is that Betty Klimenko has unofficially confirmed Will Davison as joining Erebus next year. It's been an open secret for a while now, but it's nice to have some movement on that front.

The second is that there is a bidding war going on between Ford and Holden to get Roger Penske into the category. Dean Fiore's REC has apparently been returned to VESA, and it is believed that Lucas Dumbrell might be forced to give up his, paving the way for Penske to establish a team. Holden apparently want to be associated with the Penske name and don't want to lose two more cars on the grid - but at the same time, they cannot be seen to be spending big on getting Penske so soon after announcing their withdrawal from Australia. Ford have no such problems and are seen as the favourites, but it has been speculated that Holden would rather have the series run with 26 cars than have another manufacturer pick up two of their entries

 

[05XR8]

I tell you, if PENSKE reunite with GM, that may be more of an influence to bring in the coupes. Camaro and Mustang rivalry. With that said, on the subject of Volvo, Honda are running an estate in BTCC for this season. If V8SC opens the number of doors rule book for 2015/2016...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The consensus is that if Penske were to join, then they would join with Ford, and that Holden are just stalling to keep up the ratio of Commodores to other cars. They can't afford Penske and they know it, so Simon McNamara is just trying to spoil everyone's fun.

 

[Spacegoat]

Only just heard about the Fiore REC, that one slipped under the radar. If this speculation is true. Going to be real interesting to see who Penske gets to fill those two seats. I know that the original rumours had them potentially entering this series on '15 with Ambrose as the lead driver. Obviously Ambrose won't happen (well, for this year at least). Maybe Ingall and (Alex) Davison? Pretty much the only two experienced guys I can think of at the moment.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Penske's right-hand man has been down here as a guest of FPR. Ostensibly, it's a fact-finding mission; Roger Penske is apparently looking to expand his trucking business into Australia, and is looking at using sponsorship as a platform to grow the local business. But rumours suggest that Ford know there are RECs with uncertain futures - Fiore's, Dumbrell's, D'Alberto's, and Paul Morris' second REC (his first having been sold to Dick Johnson) - and that Penske could establish his own team and keep his head above water without much in the way of factory support. I have even heard it suggested that Penske could buy up the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport HQ and their cars, then swap the engines out and re-skin them as Fords.

Most of this seems to be coming in the wake of Holden announcing their withdrawal. Ford seem to know that Holden cannot really afford to keep up factory support of every team, even if it is indirect (LDM run Triple Eight chassis, with T8 providing support), because that will lead to awkward questions about why they were so quick to back out when they can afford to keep funding V8 Supercar teams. Ford, who announced the end of production ages ago, are no longer faced with that sensitive issue, and so apparently think Holden are vulnerable. Nissan are busy overhauling their aero package, so they can't expand. Erebus struggle with development in 2013 and can't even hold onto a third car, so they're in no position to pick up two. And Volvo are busy preparing the two GRM cars, so expanding to four is out of the question right now. There is a chance for Ford to pick up another two cars and have eight on the grid.

I have even heard that they could try and pick up a ninth car, but I have no idea how they could do that unless RNR or CSR expanded to become a two-car operation, or if they could somehow convince Penske to pick up three cars.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Holden would rather have the series run with 26 cars than have another manufacturer pick up two of their entries

Me me me, mine mine mine.

More reason for me to despise Holden. I hope Penske comes in, and I hope they go Ford. Would they have enough time to get things rolling for this year though?

Oh and Erebus posted something a couple days ago about an announcement on the 6th, so we all know what it is.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

More reason for me to despise Holden. I hope Penske comes in, and I hope they go Ford.

I'm just cobbling rumours together to try and get something that might happen. And I have to admit that some of these are pretty thin.

Though it wouldn't surprise me if true. Simon McNamara always has behaved as if he owned the series.

Would they have enough time to get things rolling for this year though?

I'd say so. If they acquired existing cars, they might be able to do it. The plan appears to be to get Penske into the sport, and go from there.

 

[Spacegoat]

I'd say so. If they acquired existing cars, they might be able to do it.

Not saying it can't be done. But even if they were to acquire existing cars, I think it's a tough ask to put an entirely new team together in such a short amount of time.


Edit: Another sneak peak at HRT's livery.

 

[05XR8]

say, did Brawn do that in the same amount of time? or was it just getting sponsorship from Virgin? I know that was a pretty quick exchange.

Hmm.. Will we see black, chrome, or back to white rims this time around?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

That's why LDM keeps coming up. Dumbrell holds one REC and Paul Morris the other. If Penske could acquire two RECs, they could take control of LDM (and maybe use the name "Penske Dumbrell Racing" or some such). They could even pick up the Fiore and Morris RECs and run Dumbrell's as a satellite team. They don't need to establish a team if they buy one. The hardest part is acquiring the cars, especially if they take control of a Holden team with the support of Ford. A new engine and a re-skin seems to be a possibility, but that seems to be getting resistance from Holden - they don't want a Ford team winning races with a chassis they built, even if it is only the control parts that Penske keep.

 

[Spacegoat]

They don't need to establish a team if they buy one.

Ah okay, wasn't thinking of it like that, makes much more sense. 👍 And re-skinning cars would be a definite possibility, it's been done in the past.

Hmm.. Will we see black, chrome, or back to white rims this time around?

Like to see Black rims myself but judging from the first teaser pic, I'd say more than likely it will be white rims.

 

[Wilbur]

I really would love to see some Penske cars running with FPR support! We need more Ford's regardless of what brands people like.

 

[Spacegoat]

Oh and Erebus posted something a couple days ago about an announcement on the 6th, so we all know what it is.

And what we all already knew for months has finally been confirmed. Will Daivson to Erebus.

Multiple V8 Supercars race winner Will Davison has been officially confirmed at Erebus Motorsport for the 2014 season.

In a poorly kept secret, the former Ford Performance Racing driver’s future has been a topic of discussion throughout the second half of the 2013 campaign, with the move to the AMG customer squad originally coming to light in October.