71 replies to this topic

[HandyNZL]

Here ya go James....Aussie V8 Supercars and NZ V8 Supertourers thread!!

You can do the WTCC one...and maybe a DTM one?

[HandyNZL]

Round 1 highlights (sorta) of NZ V8 Supertourers (these being the cars that V8 Supercars are switching to next year).  This racing is at my home track, Hampton Downs.

[HandyNZL]

Lol...this is so gay...

[Massa]

Recommend we get away from these big general threads, show up and there are two new ones.

I'm still making individual race threads.  It's nice to space out conversations with myself.

[Massa]

SPEED is showing the races one week after they air in the U.S.  I'll be a week late in this thread.

[HandyNZL]

Pretty much right on time with me then For some reason we're a week late her in NZ too, except for our round which is live obviously, and Bathurst, which is live too.  Also sometimes the Abu Dhabi race is live.

Most likely because the east coast races are three hours behind us, which puts them right on 6-o'clock News time, so being free-to-air, the news comes first...then Sunday night movie etc etc...if only they screened on Sky TV , then it would be live, with replays during the week, and the support races too...

[Massa]

It's the rumor that would never die, and it might be dead in the next few days.

Jamie Whincup is expected to announce later in the week that he will go to NASCAR in 2013.

[JHS18]

Massa, on 07 March 2012 - 05:00 PM, said:

It's the rumor that would never die, and it might be dead in the next few days.

Jamie Whincup is expected to announce later in the week that he will go to NASCAR in 2013.

The natural cynic in me wonders why you'd do that. Away from your home country, only two (correct me if I'm wrong there) conventional tracks on the calendar that are your speciality...

Unless you're after a bigger pay packet of course...

Told you, I'm a cynic.

Ambrose is a good guy, but I never really did understand why he made the switch to NASCAR.

[Massa]

Two if he goes to Cup, three if it's Nationwide, zero if it's CWTS (but probably one in 2013).

It's a new challenge.  Whincup knows he can win in V8SC, and knows he could go back to it if it doesn't work out.  I hope, of course, he won't go straight to Cup, because that's just the wrong way to do it (Ambrose started in Truck, then Nationwide, then Cup, and he spent multiple years doing that), but like it or not, NASCAR is the most popular closed-body racing in the world, and second of all motorsports to F1, now ahead of MotoGP and WRC (admittedly, that "worldwide" following is concentrated 99.99% in the U.S., and the other .01% comes from our servicemen and servicewomen overseas watching on the Armed Forces Network).

Racers love to win, but they also love to know they can win against all sorts of different drivers in all sorts of different settings.  It's easy to get antsy when you're winning everything there is to win, and you see a guy like Ambrose, who Whincup is probably better than, going over and having some moderate success in a show that is just made to be so huge and has the potential to pay very well and you already have ties with GM and Monster Energy to help you out and you're still fairly young...

But I also hope he doesn't go right to the big show.  He has to be in this for the long haul, like Ambrose was, if he wants to succeed.  If he just wants to say he did it, and then retreat home, well, whatever.

[JHS18]

Oh yeah, I get what you're saying. Not for a moment would I disagree with that - it is just I can't see why you'd really want to try something completely new and different, and perhaps struggle at, compared to sticking with something he knows and is good at. Ambrose is a decent driver - but as you say, it has taken him many years to get where he is now. It's hard to make the switch across in any different forms of racing - looks at how Raikkonen struggled so much in WRC. What I'm basically questioning is whether Whincup would have the motivation needed to start again all over again in CWTS and build up after years of being near the front.

Drivers like to win and be competitive and if they go from that to suddenly struggling and having to learn a completely different type of racecraft...I'm not sure I'd have the motivation to do that, but then again, I'm not a racing driver.

Perhaps in a way I'm contradicting myself, because I do like to see racing drivers try new things. That's why the V8 Gold Coast race has been cool to see drivers from all different forms of racing having a go in something that is completely new and different to them. It's cool to see they're not just a one trick pony by sticking to one form of racing their entire life.

It is frustrating that unlike old days F1 drivers and others aren't allowed to try other forms of racing because of their teams etc.

If it happens - good luck to him. It'll certainly be interesting to see his progress.

[Massa]

Whincup won't win the Cup (see it?) that Sprint awards in the highest level of NASCAR competition.  Or anything else in NASCAR.  Because he's signed on for three more years with 888.

I don't think he's ever been serious about NASCAR.  Just the oldest trick in the book with trying to negotiate a contract, and it works every time, because I thought he was serious about NASCAR just a week ago.

[HandyNZL]

You just wished he was.

Most of the likely lads in V8SC won't switch to NASCAR....they've all seen Ambrose's "success" to date...why go from a household name, front runner, to well....an also ran...

Ego get's em every time

[JHS18]

I agree Craig - that's what I was trying to say earlier but you put it more succinctly.

I hate to say I told you so...but I told you so!

[Massa]

Actually, I think Whincup's a real d*ck, so I was hoping he wouldn't come over.

But then again it'd make the V8 races more open so maybe I would have liked it...

[HandyNZL]

It's not so much the driver, but the car he's in.

HRT (Holden Race Team) and 888 have been the most dominant force in V8 racing for years.  The last time Ford did any real good was with Ambrose way back when Adam was a lil nipper.

Ford does not run a factory team, whereas Holden does (HRT), so Holden tends to dominate.

[Massa]

I saw the Townsville races today.  Edited into an hour a piece.  Whincup and Lowndes battling in race two was a lot of fun.  I hope there's live TV coverage of the Texas round next year; V8SC was much better to watch than the NASCAR during the commercials, for me, at least.  Some good racing there.  I have to remember to watch these more.

[The Shadow]

You Whincup fanboys.....

Go Ford team Frosty!!

[Massa]

Whincup?  No way!

I don't have a favorite yet but it wouldn't be my style to pick a guy who wins very often.

I like the Holdens more than the Fords, but I like Ford more than Holden...Honda Accord V8 Supercar please...

Silly questions about lights:

Why do some cars have the headlights on and others off?  Is it just a personal choice?  Or does it designate something, i.e. rookies have their lights on?

And then the red/orange light in the window...does that indicate something?  I thought it may have been a light that indicates a guy is either on soft tires, or has used both soft and hard tires...but both of those theories were based on guesses and not on anything that would actually suggest it being true.

I'm not sure knowing the answer to either will change my viewing experience too much but I'd like to know anyway.

[The Shadow]

I also don't really know the answers to those questions.

I just love seeing those cars go airborne through quick chicanes. Those are really stiff chassis'.

I was given to believe that you had to pick sides between Ford and Holden. Almost every Australian I know picks Holdens. I've always liked the Fords. I am even considering buying a Mondeo (that's a Ford Fusion for you, Eric) (the missus is a big fan of the Aston grille)

[JHS18]

Massa, on 16 July 2012 - 02:56 PM, said:

Why do some cars have the headlights on and others off?  Is it just a personal choice?  Or does it designate something, i.e. rookies have their lights on?

Guess its personal choice. Some drivers use their lights as a distraction tool - you know, the old trick that if you're flashing your lights at the guy ahead, he might be spooked into making a mistake. You see that quite a lot in lots of different forms of racing.

[PaulCrossling]

This is my first year of following the Aussie V8s.  I occasionally took half an interest in Bathurst to see the BTCC drivers and other international co-drivers that they use but I decided to following closer this year following last years race.

It could still be anyone of the top four that takes the title, and the team strategy in the last few events is going to be fasinating if it stays as close as it is.

[Massa]

Hello Paul, welcome to TF1.

The V8 Supercars are pretty fun.  I'd love to catch them more often.

I just saw the "car of the future" or whatever they call it Ford was testing.  Proportions looked a bit odd to me.  I wonder how the racing will change with those rules, and with Nissan joining...

[Massa]

Bathurst final lap:

[JHS18]

With the Clipsal 500 only a few weeks away, I thought it might be a good idea to bring this thread back from the dead. New cars for this year, with Nissan and Mercedes (albeit the latter not in manufacturer capacity) joining the fray. Looking forward to it - said it time and time again but it really is superb how the official V8 Supercar YouTube channel uploads every race in full so that international fans get to enjoy the action. Few liveries that have been revealed so far:

Edited by JHS18, 12 February 2013 - 07:24 PM.

[HandyNZL]

There is not actually any manufacturer involvement in the sense as in F1 or WTC etc, Jim.  Ford has pulled the plug on it's so called factory team, leaving Holden with the HSV team as the only "factory" team.  Every other team has always been a privateer, so Nissan and MErc being run that way is of no surprise, nor consequence.  The only d#cky thing about the Merc deal is that the engines have to go back to Germany for service.

It will be interesting to see if the Nissan and Merc injection can get this series moving again - it is practically stagnant, if not dropping in viewership here in Oz and NZ...they have yet (AFAIK) to even land a TV deal in Australia for the upcoming deason...this may mean that there is very little coverage of the racing this year, unless something can be sorted.  The normal channel that ran SV8's in NZ has not renewed their contract, so it could be a case of only Bathurst being shown live here in NZ, and every other race as a half hour highlights package two weeks after the event.

All this is some of the reasons Tony Cochrane was told to step down as the ring leader for the series.

[jackgarrett]

got pics of the merc or are they not out yet?

Thanks in advance

[HandyNZL]

Merc

[JHS18]

Thanks for clearing that up Craig - I'd heard from Midweek Motorsport that the TV situation wasn't great. I didn't know it was that bad. Shame to hear, but I don't think there is any racing series at the moment without problems.

Like the Mercedes - I think that they'll probably be propping up the rear of the grid this year, but both the Nissan and Mercedes will add some diversity if nothing else.

Ingall's livery. He will retire at the end of this season:



Looking forward to seeing the Red Bull livery on the 888 cars. Was never a fan of the Vodafone colours, but got a feeling that they'll look a lot nicer in Red Bull guise.

[HandyNZL]

Concept Art only...but what the hey...

[Massa]

Ew.  That Mercedes is icky.