jackgarrett 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2013 got pics of the merc or are they not out yet? Thanks in advance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted February 13, 2013 Merc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2013 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted February 13, 2013 Concept Art only...but what the hey... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massa 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2013 Ew. That Mercedes is icky. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2013 I was right. I do prefer the Red Bull livery. Complete list of all the liveries here: http://www.v8scglobal.com/teams-and-drivers/2013-v8-supercars-liveries/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2013 The Mercedes cars look a lot better (in my opinion) in real life than they did on that mock-up Craig posted: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massa 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2013 Are they using a common body shape this year? The cars don't seem to reflect the shapes of the production ones, and they all seem similar. Not sure if that's by design, or just everyone moving toward the same ideal. Just from appearance, it looks like it's sort of a NASCAR-like idea: certain areas of customization for brand identity and aerodynamic exploitation, with the bulk of it being to a pretty tight shape. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2013 They have their own body shapes, and it's just coincidence that they look the same(ish). Sometimes it's hard on the road these days to pick the difference between a Holden and a Ford Falcon from a distance when you're driving, but once they are within a few hundy metres you can tell them apart with a glance pretty much. The SV8's of course have a few body panels that are control, like the the front splitter and rear diffuser panel, but after that, it's all up to the manufacturer. Cars are just similar as they all have the same design goal at the end of the day...form follows function and all that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massa 0 Report post Posted February 15, 2013 Thanks. I was curious because that Mercedes doesn't look like much of anything at all. Then again, I'm not on Australian roads, and people around here seem to drive Jaguars and BMWs more than any other luxury sedan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted February 15, 2013 Good comparative photo of the four new cars side-by-side: https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/856143_10151290563049506_833162337_o.jpg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted February 19, 2013 Driving the Merc at Eastern Creek ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted February 19, 2013 Raw footage of testing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted February 28, 2013 Qualifying for the Clipsal 500 starts this arvo, and the TV deals are falling into place...NZ even gets the races live for the first time in donkey's (used to just be Bathurst and the NZ round that were live). Anyways, Shane van Gisbergen (the d#ck) is being stopped by a possible injunction on racing...this because the silly lad thought last year to not honour his contract with Stone Brothers Racing (the SP tools sponsored team) when they switched to Erebus / Mercedes cars. SvG decides V8's aren't for him and he is going to retire at 23 or 24 years old or however young and rash he is.... ...then just a few weeks before first testing gets underway, he says he's back and racing for Tekno motorsports...so now SBR are saying he is in breach of his contract release and they will oppose him racing. Scandal! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2013 Followed the SVG thing closely. It does seem very bizarre how there was that big send off for him at the end of last season...then only a few weeks later it emerges he's signed for a different team. It has been strange since the start - as one of the championship's talented youngsters, it was a shock that he was prepared to step away from it all. Did the Mercedes thing have anything to do with it? It's a mess and I do feel sorry for him, because we all have moments of indecision in our lives, particularly when we're young, but in another way, you've got to say this was entirely self-inflicted and he has only got himself to blame. Hopefully they manage to sort it out and come to some sort of mutual agreement, whether that's a settlement for SBR or whatever, but I fear that this could rumble on for quite some time which is a shame for the championship. Interested to see how Stoner does in the development series. From the little I've read from the V8SC Facebook page, he seemed to pick up pace quite quickly in the two practice sessions. Hopefully he can have a strong run this season, but he's got a lot to learn making a transition from two wheels to four. It is good to read about though - he's probably the first leading bike guy to make that transition for some time. I know Rossi and Lorenzo have tried things on four wheels, but nothing quite as serious as this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massa 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2013 An injunction on racing...I'd love to read the terms of his contract. I've never heard of a non-compete clause in a racing contract stateside, and I'm not sure courts here would really uphold it because it's not "reasonable in geographic and temporal scope" to not allow someone to race. Moreover, sports are a whole other environment, and if you had non-competes for the drivers, it would damage the competition within the sport and be a cheap way to try to get wins; I'd think that, in the context of a sport, it's hard to uphold. They're most effective when it's someone who might have a client list, for example, and they don't want them to take all the clients with them. That said, stick-and-ball sports, where there are a team of athletes as opposed to just one driver (not discrediting the teams supporting the driver; I just mean in terms of who can "score the points" on "the field"), can enforce contracts that prevent a player from playing on another team, even if the player refuses to play for that particular team. I've just never seen it in racing before and I think it's a different scenario based on players' associations etc. in U.S. sports and team suspensions. I'm not an Australian lawyer, so maybe it's different, but I have no idea how you'd enforce an injunction on someone's participation in auto races of any kind. I suspect there are much better remedies, too. It would be more of a standard practice to sue for damages, which would mostly be the costs of hiring a new driver, and any additional salary they are paying that driver on top of what SVG would have gotten. Weird. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted March 1, 2013 From reading between the lines, he had a clause in his release contract (not his race contract) that he would not race in V8 Supercars this year. At the time he said he was going to race in our V8 Supertourers which is what V8 Supercars are moving to this year as their Car of the Future. (we've had 'em for two years, so once again, Aussie is stealing from Kiwi's, just like pavlova, Phar Lap, Lord of the Rings (it was Australasian don't you know), and Russell Crowe) He had just signed for three years with SBR, then virtually less than a month later he want out of the contract. This coincided with the Mercedes deal...SvG said he signed to race Fords not Merc's and the team was changing, so therefore he wanted out. Now he wants back in, albeit with a smaller "family" style of team (and small is a relative term when it is a multi multi millionaire that owns the team and is rich enough to go racing without sponsorship...by choice. SvG, by all reports, is not too well liked amongst the drivers in the first instance, so these drama's don't go far in improving that. And to top it off, he got on pole yesterday for the Clipsal 500. http://www.v8supercars.com.au/news/svg-in-the-spotlight-again-with-clipsal-500-pole Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Shadow 0 Report post Posted March 2, 2013 So the Nissans are smokey and the Mercs burn your foot, starting on the 1st row becomes a disadvantage, Holden still out front. Thats what I learnt today from V8SC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted March 2, 2013 Bit of a naff race really. Though a highlight was young Scotty McLoughlin getting 6th. Kid's (at 19) got a future. And Lowndes is now equal first in all time wins on 90 with Mark Skaife. Could move into the lead tomorrow with race 2. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massa 0 Report post Posted March 2, 2013 Still not sure they'd enforce it in a rescinding contract. That's based on the assumption that Australia, like the U.S., operates mostly on centuries-old English common law. I would assume they're threatening the injunction because they know their damages are pretty small. Going after damages wouldn't scare SVG, but maybe they can trick him into thinking they'll get the injunction and scare him into a settlement above the fair amount. Just my guess, but again, I'm way too American to understand. I saw the opening stint of the race or so. Too bad you guys don't like Shane, because I've always just blindly supported the Pet Foods Commodore. I do like the Nissans, of course, and Dean Fiore's purple and yellow Holden. I think the Mercedes is ugly and understand why van Gisbergen didn't want to be part of that experiment in year one, but I'll say this: it has the nicest-sounding engine from what I heard. Sure is nice to watch touring car racing where they aren't spinning every corner. Sometimes you forget that hard racing doesn't mean silly racing! Caught the Dunlop Series race (I think that's what you call it), too. Casey Stoner was in it. Those Komatsu decals make the headlights look like they're from the Commodore from many years ago and that bothers me so I was hoping they'd show him less. Made a few decent overtakes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted March 2, 2013 I've not seen the race yet, just read the report on Autosport. Hoping it gets uploaded to the official YouTube account soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted March 3, 2013 From maybe facing a legal challenge, to a stuffed up race start in race one, SvG follows up on Sunday by claiming a second pole for the weekend, and then took it home for the win, leading 51 of the 78 laps. And a cracker last 12 laps after the SC period. Pity that both Kelly brothers got hammered in the same accident, with one Nissan looking more Tida than Ultima... The COTF cars are good - playing field is more open, so I expect a good season (which will be a change from the yawn fests of the last few years - only two teams have won the last thirty odd races.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2013 Sounds like a much better race than yesterday. Hopefully I'll get to see some of it soon. I did manage to get to see a bit of qualifying though. It was on at 1am our time, and good to see the V8's are now streaming stuff on their official website. That's the way that motorsport (in fact, any sport in general) should be heading. Online coverage is more important than TV coverage these days. Anyway, I digress. I was amazed at how close it was and how quickly the times at the top were changing. Saw the tangle between Fabian Coulthard and Garth Tander too, which ended up with a confrontation in the pits and Tander telling him to turn his ****ing lights on. Gave me a chuckle at that time in a morning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHS18 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2013 Also, liked this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04ke2bwmDl8&list=UUdfcihvHuUwihYWISPyQOBg&index=2 Still beats me as to why drivers in F1 get fined for doing a burnout or doughnut. If I was in charge, it'd be the other way around. You'd get fined for not doing one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted March 3, 2013 Tander actually walked past Coulthards car and knocked off Fabians driverside mirror. Those cheeky drivers. TBH, Tander was throwing his weight around a bit....I'm Mr Big sort of thing. Was trying to muscle Scott McLaughlin and he ended up paying for it big time by rolling the tyre off the rim...nur nur. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites