V8X Issue 92 by Supercar Xtra Magazine

FORD VERSUS HOLDEN SPECIAL EDITION ISSUE#92 V8X.com.au

FALCON VS COMMODORE A TRIBUTE TO THE ICONS OF ADVERSARY THE ORIGINS

THE RIVALRY

Apr/May 2016 AUS $9.95 NZ $10.50 ISSN 1442-9926

THE CARS

THE PASSION

THE BATTLES

THE WINNERS

CRAIG LOWNDES

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ISSUE 92 A RIL MA

FEATURES

REGULARS

22 THE GREAT DIVIDE Introducing the Falcon versus Commodore special edition. 24 TRUE BLUE Where it all began for the Ford Falcon. 3O LION HEART Where it all began for the Holden Commodore. 36 TECH BATTLEGROUND How the Falcon and Commodore shaped up in the V8 era. 46 HOW HOLDEN WON THE WAR Why the Commodore got the better of the Falcon.

6 ANALYSIS A look at the driver playbook for 2016. 10 ANALYSIS The future of the Ford versus Holden rivalry. 12 ANALYSIS The records and milestones to track in 2016. 16 MARK WINTERBOTTOM Frosty on maintaining a competitive edge. 18 CRAIG LOWNDES Lowndes pens his first column. 20 GARRY ROGERS Rogers on the state of play in the series. 82 THE SHOOTOUT The best non-Ford or Holden racers.

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52 TOP 10 FALCONS The most successful and influential Falcons. 58 TOP 10 COMMODORES The most successful and influential Commodores. 64 THE DEFECTORS The most notable drivers to swap between Ford and Holden.

68 THE LOYALISTS The most notable drivers to stick with Ford or Holden. 70 STARS OF TOMORROW Introducing the young guns to watch in the Dunlop Series.

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Adrian Musolino Email: editor@v8x.com.au PUBLISHER

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Phone: (03) 9372 9125 Email: office@v8x.com.au V8X Supercar Magazine is printed in Australia by Webstar. Material in V8X is protected by copyright laws and may not be reproduced in full or in part in any format. V8X will consider unsolicited articles and pictures; however, no responsibility will be taken for their return. While all efforts are taken to verify information in V8X is factual, no responsibility will be taken for any material which is later found to be false or misleading. The opinions of the contributors are not always those of the publishers.

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Welcome RED VS BLUE: AN APPRECIATION

he Falcon versus Commodore rivalry has been the foundation of the V8 era of Australian touring cars. When Dick Johnson’s Falcon and Peter Brock’s Commodore fought it out for the championship 35 years ago, it marked a new chapter in the Ford versus Holden battle. The small versus big car battle of the Torana and Falcon years had been replaced, yet the ‘Blue versus Red’ rivalry lived on and was strengthened by equally matched (sometimes!) full-sized sedans. With V8 Supercars moving on from the Falcon versus Commodore exclusivity and the Falcon nameplate to be retired at the end of the year, now is a good time to sit back and reflect on the rivalry that’s defined the modern era of Australian touring cars. In this edition of V8X Supercar Magazine, we pay tribute to the Falcon and Commodore rivalry, their origins, the great cars, the

1965 FORD XP FALCON Blue (also available in Teal)

rivalry on and off the track and the winners from those battles. But while we take time to pause and reflect back on the Falcon and Commodore legacy, we also look ahead to how the 2016 season is likely to pan out, profile the stars of tomorrow and examine how the passion that’s driven the Ford versus Holden rivalry will live on beyond the Falcon and Commodore. We’d also like to officially welcome the great Craig Lowndes to V8X Supercar Magazine. Lowndes pens his first column for us in this edition, joining Mark Winterbottom and Garry Rogers as our star columnists in 2016. As we welcome Lowndes, we’d also like to thank Mark Larkham for his contributions to V8X Supercar Magazine over the years. His work in this magazine and on the V8 Supercars television coverage has always been insightful, and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

As you read through this edition, remember V8X Supercar Magazine is also available in digital form in the official V8X app (in the App Store and Google Play), online at DigitalEdition. V8XMagazine.com.au and in the Magzter app store. And keep up to date with the 2016 V8 Supercars season and interact with us on our social media channels, @ V8X_Magazine on Twitter and at facebook.com/V8XMagazine on Facebook. Enjoy!

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ANALYSIS IMAGES Peter Norton, James Baker

After sweeping changes to the V8 Supercars grid in 2016, how are the 26 entrants settling into the new season? Here’s a look through the field and their prospects for the rest of 2016. 88 JAMIE WHINCUP

97 SHANE VAN GISBERGEN

888 CRAIG LOWNDES

19 WILL DAVISON

Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VF Commodore

Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore

Whincup appears to be back to his best after an uncharacteristically lacklustre season in 2015. A strong start has traditionally set up his championship wins, so Whincup should be back in title contention in 2016. But the challenge within his own Triple Eight Race Engineering team is greater with the arrival and strong form of Shane van Gisbergen, setting up a fascinating inter-team battle at the pointy end of the grid.

Van Gisbergen didn’t take long to get up to race-winning pace at Triple Eight, dominating the non-championship Australian Grand Prix event for his first win in Red Bull colours. Van Gisbergen has made a quick transition from the customer Tekno Autosports to the factory Triple Eight team. His battle with Jamie Whincup looks set to shape the 2016 championship battle.

Lowndes has lost none of his speed in the transition to Triple Eight’s second garage, maintaining his speed and form from last season. But Lowndes and engineer Ludo Lacroix must continue to work on improving qualifying speed if Lowndes is to challenge for the championship, especially given the extra competition within the Triple Eight team.

Of all the drivers who moved in the off-season, Davison had arguably the biggest shoes to fill in replacing Shane van Gisbergen. The latter had galvanised the one-car team around him and exceeded expectations during his tenure in the customer VF Commodore. So Davison will need to rally the team around him as he looks to improve on a solid start to the season.

BACK ROW: Todd Kelly, Dale Wood, Aaren Russell, David Reynolds, Nick Percat, Will Davison, Tim Blanchard, Andre Heimgartner MIDDLE ROW: C R C P C G T T L FRONT ROW: Chris Pither, Chaz Mostert, Cameron Waters, Mark Winterbottom, Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup, Shane van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth

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1 MARK WINTERBOTTOM

Prodrive Racing Australia Ford FG X Falcon

The defending champion is showing his experience by collecting valuable points on his bad days and maximising the results on the good days. The arrival of young gun Cameron Waters into the garage provides a new source of motivation and challenge, while the team insists there are further gains to be made with the Ford FG X Falcon.

6 CAMERON WATERS

Prodrive Racing Australia Ford FG X Falcon

Waters has clearly benefitted from filling in for Chaz Mostert in the latter rounds of 2015, starting his first fulltime season in the main game strongly with top-10 results and impressive qualifying pace. He should only improve throughout the season, especially later in the year at tracks where he has V8 Supercars experience.

55 CHAZ MOSTERT

Prodrive Racing Australia Ford FG X Falcon Mostert has shown that there’s been no easing off following the season-ending injuries sustained at Mount Panorama last season. The crash and repaired bones aren’t slowing him down, but Mostert must channel

Chaz Mostert

his speed into consistent race results. Pushing beyond the limit has already proved costly in the championship.

111 CHRIS PITHER

Super Black Racing Ford FG X Falcon

It was a rough initiation for Pither at the start of 2016, wrecking his Ford FG X Falcon in Adelaide. The Kiwi needs to rebound and edge closer to his Prodrive Racing Australia stablemates given his experience in the car and within the team in the latter stages of 2015.

2 GARTH TANDER

Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore The Holden Racing Team seems to have made gains

since last season through its downsizing to two entries and technical changes that include a move to the Supashock dampers that proved so important to Prodrive Racing Australia last season. Tander, though, has his hands full, with teammate James Courtney leading the way for the factory Holden team in the early stages of 2016.

Tim Slade

22 JAMES COURTNEY

Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore

A strong start to the season for Courtney, who states that the aforementioned technical developments and focus on the two Holden Racing Team VF Commodores is paying dividends for the team. Courtney’s early pace suggests he could take the title fight to the likes of Triple Eight, if the Holden Racing Team can maintain that consistency and improved drivability across all types of circuits.

8 JASON BRIGHT

Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore

James Courtney

Brad Jones Racing up against new recruit Tim Slade. Bright remains as consistent as ever, though the team needs him to be using his experience to climb further up the grid.

After being outperformed by Fabian Coulthard in recent seasons, Bright will be out to reclaim number-one status at

14 TIM SLADE

Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Slade had a tough start to life with Brad Jones Racing at the opening events of the season, though both team and driver insist they have gelled well as the team transitions into the season without Fabian Coulthard. Slade needs to be racing in the top half of the field to truly take over from where Coulthard left off.

21 TIM BLANCHARD

Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore

Blanchard has been outpaced by teammates Tim Slade and 7

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ANALYSIS

33 SCOTT McLAUGHLIN

Garry Rogers Motorsport Volvo Polestar S60

McLaughlin and the Volvo Polestar S60 pace remains as strong as ever, especially in qualifying trim. But as the team overcomes its reliability issues from last season, it needs to rediscover its race-winning pace to truly get back to the heights of the S60’s debut year in 2014.

34 JAMES MOFFAT

Garry Rogers Motorsport Volvo Polestar S60 Rick Kelly

Jason Bright so far this season, continuing the struggles for the third Brad Jones Racing entry in recent years. The challenge for Blanchard will be to get on a par with his teammates by the end of the season.

18 LEE HOLDSWORTH

Team 18 Holden VF Commodore

It’s been a mixed start for Team 18 in its first season running independently with a Triple Eight-built Holden VF Commodore. Holdsworth’s results may appear on par with those when running out of Walkinshaw Racing last season, but the team insists the potential is greater as the operations and car development improve.

15 RICK KELLY

Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima

There’s no doubt the Nissan Altima has made gains in 2016, benefitting from entering a season for the first time without significant aerodynamic and engine changes. That’s reflected in the consistency of results across the Nissan entries and Kelly’s early-season pace.

7 TODD KELLY

Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima Todd Kelly is enjoying his strongest start to a season in years, certainly in a Nissan Altima – when the package has been reliable. Buoyed by the progression of the Altima, Kelly’s benchmark will be keeping pace with his brother Rick and Michael Caruso.

23 MICHAEL CARUSO

Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima

The early-season championship leader has been a model of consistency in recent years, matching it with the more Michael Caruso

experienced Kelly brothers. Caruso is in a good position to benefit from the Altima gains this season and will be looking to be a regular in the top 10.

96 DALE WOOD

Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima

While Michael Caruso and the Kelly brothers have three years experience with the Altima and are now reaping the reward of its relentless development, Wood is in a period of adjustment with the team and car. But he needs to be joining his teammates in the top half of the grid sooner rather than later to avoid being the odd one out at Nissan Motorsport.

Moffat has taken some time to find his feet in the Volvo Polestar S60 following his move from Nissan Motorsport in the off-season. Putting extra emphasis on his transition period is the speed of teammate Scott McLaughlin at the front of the field, relative to where Moffat is on the grid. Moffat will need to start challenging McLaughlin by mid-season to start making his mark in the S60.

12 FABIAN COULTHARD

DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon

Coulthard didn’t take long to get acclimatised to the FG X Falcon and DJR Team Penske, taking a pole position at his first event for the team and fighting at the front of the field. Coulthard will only get stronger as the season goes on as he and engineer Phil Keed get more acquainted with the car and an ever-improving team.

17 SCOTT PYE

DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon

Pye was the biggest benefactor of DJR Team Penske’s decision to expand to two entries, continuing his progression from

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Aaren Russell (right) and David Reynolds (below)

natural speed and tenacity. Now the challenge is to continue the team’s trajectory with consistent top-10 results.

3 ANDRE HEIMGARTNER

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden VF Commodore

last season, when he steered the team’s development of the FG X Falcon after replacing Marcos Ambrose. His battle for inter-team supremacy with Fabian Coulthard will be intense, given the latter’s strong start with the team.

222 NICK PERCAT

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden VF Commodore The Clipsal 500 win was a just reward for the hard-working Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport outfit and confirmed Percat’s

Heimgartner faces a tough ask to match the pace of his more experienced teammate. But Heimgartner hasn’t been too far off Percat’s pace so far this season in what shapes as a career-defining year for the young Kiwi, after his interrupted rookie campaign at Super Black Racing in 2015.

9 DAVID REYNOLDS

Erebus Motorsport Holden VF Commodore

Early results have been encouraging for Reynolds, but

don’t discount the challenge facing Erebus Motorsport in its change of cars for 2016. Reynolds will need to maintain faith on the bad days and build the now Melbourne-based team around him in his new-look role of team leader, with the likes of Campbell Little, Mat Nilsson and team boss Barry Ryan handy talent to have in the garage.

4 AAREN RUSSELL

Erebus Motorsport Holden VF Commodore

Russell faces a steep learning curve in 2016. Coupled with Erebus Motorsport’s restructure, relocation and getting to grips with the Walkinshaw Racing-built VF Commodores, he will do well to get off the back of the grid as his confidence grows throughout the season.

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ANALYSIS

The Falcon will race on in V8 Supercars beyond the retirement of the nameplate from the production line, but for how much longer and what of the future of Ford vs Holden?

s you’ll see throughout this edition of V8X Supercar Magazine, Ford Australia’s erratic commitment to its motorsport program has defined the Falcon versus Commodore battle over the last 35 years. Into 2016, Ford Australia has somewhat back-flipped on its previous decision to withdraw support for Prodrive Racing Australia (PRA) and DJR Team Penske with parts, panels and minimal branding for the teams running the Falcon FG X. Ford dealer Bayford has thrown its support behind PRA, while Roger Penske’s links to Ford head office in Detroit helped gain some level of support for DJR Team Penske into 2016. The Falcon will be raced past the end of road-car production later this year, with PRA confirming it will run the FG X for another two seasons at the least. Beyond then, discussions will continue over whether the current Ford teams and the local dealers can muster up the backing to develop the Mustang into the Gen2 era, designed to allow such two-door coupes to race in the series. Ford Performance has so far proved reluctant, with the manufacturer’s motorsport focus on its Ford GT sportscar and NASCAR commitments, though Penske’s links with Ford head office leave the door ajar for a continuation of a Blue Oval presence in Australia.

Despite the absence of a factory-backed presence, Ford has a competitive representation on the grid.

While Ford’s future remains in a state of flux, Holden looks set to race on in the series with the new-look imported Commodore. Ford’s V8 Supercars representatives insist passion for the brand remains despite the lack of an official factory presence, so long as the Blue Oval is represented on the grid. “Gen2 gives people the option to change, but I don’t know how many will,” says PRA champion and Ford loyalist Mark Winterbottom. “The Ford and Holden rivalry will still be there, even if it’s a Mustang against a Commodore. Other makes will still come in, but Ford and Holden have the heritage.

“When we go to places like Bathurst, you’re reminded of how intense the Ford and Holden rivalry still is… and that’s with the history of Mustangs, Sierras and Falcons. “We still gain more satisfaction from beating the Holden entries at those big events for the bragging rights over Bathurst wins and championships.” Ironically, Ford’s lack of significant support comes at a time when Winterbottom’s PRA entry carries the #1 plate as the defending champion and DJR Team Penske expands to two entries and is on an upward trajectory. Holden retains a significant numerical supremacy this

season with seven teams and 14 entries to Ford’s two teams and six drivers, while Volvo and Nissan’s factory-backed two and four-car entries respectively have enjoyed strong starts to 2016. Holden’s support of its V8 Supercar teams relative to Ford saw the former outperform the latter in all key records in the Falcon versus Commodore V8 era from 1993 to 2012 (see page 46). Erebus Motorsport recently joined the likes of Triple Eight Race Engineering, Tekno Autosports, Brad Jones Racing and Charlie Schwerkolt Racing to join the Holden ranks, despite previous Ford connections.

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ANALYSIS

Triple Eight’s Craig Lowndes is now top of the all-time round starts list, but teammate Jamie Whincup is closing in on some of his other records.

raig Lowndes moved clear of Russell Ingall on the all-time round starts list at the 2016 Clipsal 500 Adelaide, becoming the first driver to exceed 250 round starts. It’s the latest record Lowndes has added to his impressive resume, which includes most race and round wins; most race wins at Phillip Island, Barbagallo Raceway, Queensland Raceway and Sandown Raceway; most championship race wins and podiums at Mount Panorama; youngest-ever champion (21 years old); most race wins in succession (eight in 1996); and most race wins in a season (16 in 1996). But Lowndes’ teammate Jamie Whincup is coming. Now running from separate garages, Lowndes and Whincup will nevertheless squabble over the record for most race wins, round wins and podiums throughout 2016. Despite having 80 less event starts and 202 less race starts, Whincup pulled ahead of Lowndes on the all-time podiums list at the start of 2016. And he’s fast approaching in the round and race wins tally. Whincup will achieve the 100 race wins milestone in his 13th full-time season, compared to Lowndes who reached the mark in his 19th season. Meanwhile, both are racing towards 50 round wins, with Lowndes currently two ahead on 47. Other significant milestones/ records to watch out for in 2016: Holden becoming the first

manufacturer to win 500 races. Triple Eight approaching its 150th race win, second only to the Holden Racing Team. Triple Eight and the Holden Racing Team in a race to become the first team to score 100 pole positions. Will Davison and Lee Holdsworth to make their 150th round start at Perth in May. Rick Kelly to make his 200th round start at Winton in May. James Courtney to make his 150th round start at Sandown in September. Garth Tander to make his 250th round start at Bathurst in October and moving to second on the all-time starts list at the Gold Coast. Follow the records as they happen @V8X_Magazine on Twitter and at facebook.com/ V8XMagazine.

ATCC/V8 SUPERCARS MOST ROUND STARTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DRIVERS Craig Lowndes Russell Ingall Garth Tander Jason Bright John Bowe Mark Skaife Todd Kelly Peter Brock Glenn Seton Dick Johnson

STARTS 251* 250 239* 230* 226 220 216* 212 209 204

YEARS 1996-present 1996-2015 1998-present 1997-present 1986-2007 1987-2011 1999-present 1972-2004 1984-2010 1970-2000

*To the 2016 Clipsal 500 Adelaide

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ROUND-UP Scan the QR codes with your smartphone to link to the full article. QR-code reading apps are available from your preferred app retailer.

A look at some of the topics making news on Speedcafe.com in recent weeks

AXE FALLS ON SYDNEY V8 UTES TAKEOVER OLYMPIC PARK EVENT This year’s Coates Hire Sydney 500 will be the last held at the Sydney Olympic Park street circuit, V8 Supercars has confirmed. The event’s demise, which has been expected for some months, has been announced in conjunction with a new date for this year’s season finale. Now set to take place over the December 2 to 4 weekend, the race has been moved back a week to avoid a clash with other events taking place at the precinct. V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton said in a statement that the category is exploring other venues within the New South Wales market to replace the Sydney race. “We are continuing discussions with Destination NSW about the best location for 2017 and beyond but we believe the time is right to

move from Sydney Olympic Park,” he said. As previously reported, the category has held extended talks about shifting the event 100km north of Sydney to Gosford. Although pushing for the Gosford alternative to commence as early as this year, it is understood that a deal for 2017 has yet to be concluded. High costs have strangled the viability of V8 Supercars’ Sydney Olympic Park showpiece, which was introduced to much fanfare in 2009. Efforts to reduce the costs borne by V8 Supercars included a proposal to shorten the circuit, which ultimately failed to gain traction. The final event this year will be marked by free entry for fans on Friday. Scan to read the full story.

V8 Supercars has completed a deal with CAMS to take over the running of the V8 Ute Racing Series for the remainder of the 2016 season. The category ran at the season-opening Clipsal 500 Adelaide with V8 Supercars acting as ‘caretakers’ following the pre-season demise of Australian V8 Ute Racing Pty Ltd. The Ute Racing company, which contracted Spherix to administer the category, was put into voluntary administration as franchise holders looked to exit the series. V8 Supercars has now confirmed that the Utes will complete their full eight-round schedule following the

new CAMS agreement. “The V8 Utes provide an action-packed, highoctane brand of racing that aligns perfectly with our core brand principles,” said V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton. “It’s a great fit, and a fantastic support category loved by fans nationwide.” Scan to read the full story.

FUEL-DROP DEBATE RAGES A minimum fuel drop has been a frequent requirement in the longer V8 Supercars races since the end of 2013, when the category introduced it to even up the economy differences between the two and four-valve engines. Controversy over the fuel drop reigned from the outset of the Sunday race at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, where confusion as to whether the race had officially started under the Safety Car led to disagreements over the legitimacy of early stops. Importantly, others later took full advantage of the fact that teams can ‘vent’ fuel through the cars in their pitstops as part of the minimum drop. The practice sees the fuel flow out of the rig, into the car and back up the vent line, which subsequently gets drained by

the team in the garage. V8 Supercars Commission member and prominent team owner Brad Jones, meanwhile, cautions against any calls to abandon the fuel-drop process altogether for wet races. “We all know what we’ve got to do with the fuel drop,” Jones told Speedcafe.com. “What made it confusing were the terrible conditions, but almost all the teams knew what they had to do to get to the end. “The thing about the fuel drop is that when it’s dry, it stops us from running really lean cars. It’s more than just evening up fuel use between teams. “You can’t start a race and say, ‘It’s wet, so let’s throw that rule out’. Everyone is prepared for that rule.” Scan to read the full story.

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EXPERT INSIGHT

BEYOND THE WHEEL Column by Mark Winterbottom

PUSHING THE LIMITS OF DEVELOPMENT

ou can’t stand still in V8 Supercars, otherwise you’ll be left for dead. So there’s been no resting on our laurels at Prodrive Racing Australia as we get into the swing of the 2016 season. Given the limits on testing, we did a lot of developing on the run at events last season. But with three days of testing at Winton this year and a list of things we want to try on the car, we can really look for areas to improve this season. Fundamentally, it’s about tuning up the weaknesses without impacting on your strengths. For example, if you have good drive but poor turn, you’ll have to rub off a little of the drive to improve the turn. But it’s about maximising the gains where you can. There are so many different areas to work on, from dampers, ride heights, roll centres, springs, etc. There can be so many ways to extract speed through so many different avenues, which can be counterproductive in understanding where the gains were actually made. There are something like 3000 changes that can be made to the car, so piecing those potential changes together seems like a never-ending process with ongoing developments changing the equation even more. Within the garage, Cameron Waters is a great addition to the team given his pace and enthusiasm. He’s had a strong start to the season and it’s good

to be working with him. Even though he’s moved into the second garage, Chaz Mostert is still a short walk away and it’s been great to see him get back up to speed right away on his return from injury. He’s an important asset to the team and great for the sport to have him back; especially for him personally after five months of pent-up frustration on the sidelines. For me, it’s important to have the same engineer in Jason Gray for a second consecutive season. We approached the opening events of this season with a few different ideas from the bank of knowledge we developed last season. Looking at the opposition, DJR Team Penske has clearly

“There are something like 3000 changes that can be made to the car, so piecing those potential changes together seems like a never-ending process.” made big gains in 12 months and it means there’s another Ford team up there at the pointy end of the grid. It’s a strong combination of Team Penske’s international experience and Dick Johnson Racing’s V8 Supercar experience, with two hungry drivers and a good technical package. There’s no doubt this is one of the most competitive grids in V8 Supercars history, with so many determined drivers getting established within

new teams. And, as we’ve seen already, anyone can win on their day. But winning the championship isn’t just about race wins. The wins will be there, but it’s the other results that probably count more towards your championship position. So the key in such a competitive season and amongst such a deep field is to maximise your bad days. So the quest to improve is truly never ending. – Frosty

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EXPERT INSIGHT

RIGHT ON TRACK

Column by Craig Lowndes

THE START OF SOMETHING BIG

’m already enjoying my first season racing under the Team Vortex banner. While the Caltexsponsored car may look different to my 2015 Red Bullliveried Commodore, not a lot is really different to last year. We have a different sponsor in Caltex, who have been fantastic, but at the end of the day we all come out of the same factory. The cars get prepped together, we have debriefs as one and I still go into the Triple Eight workshop, so none of that side has changed. One extremely positive change is that Ludo Lacroix is back in the garage as my engineer this season. It took a little time to get used to hearing his French accent on the other end of the radio, but once I worked out what he was saying all was good! Ludo is a very clever man. He’s got great credentials, he’s very enthusiastic, which is a great thing. And now it’s just a matter of getting used to working with one another and finding the

boundaries, understanding his process and the direction he wants to go with the car. I’m convinced that we’ve got a car that’s now capable of winning races. The equipment we’ve got is no different to the Red Bull cars in the other garage. It’s just a matter of us massaging the car and finding the setup that suits the various tracks. There’s no question we can win races and compete for the championship. It’s been a long time since my last one but I am still hungry and capable of winning another. I’ve got a desire to hold up that trophy at the end of the year – you can

rest assured I will be working really hard to achieve that. Winning a championship is all about consistency and being able to have fast cars at every event. And that’s something we are working towards, having that consistency and a fast car every race weekend. It can be very difficult to run three cars from the same team. I’ve been in a team before where we’ve run three cars and, to be honest, it’s been a nightmare. So it’s something we are all very focused on; making sure that it works and that it runs smoothly. Roland Dane commands excellence from everyone in the

team and the drivers are not excluded from that. He told me that if he was going to run a third car for me, he wanted to do it properly. He wanted it funded properly; he didn’t want to do half a job and, thankfully, through Caltex we’ve got the sponsor giving us that opportunity to do it properly. At present we’re still in that phase of fine-tuning, but it’s definitely coming together. It’s exciting times for us in the Team Vortex garage. The challenges are in front of us, but we’re up for it. See you at the track! – Craig

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EXPERT INSIGHT

GARRY THE GURU Column by Garry Rogers

V8 ENGINES HERE TO STAY FOR SOME TIME

here’s been a lot of talk about different engine configurations under the Gen2 rules from 2017, but I don’t think that any manufacturer will change for next season. The engine rule is flexible enough that if people want to change the engines they can, but I don’t think anybody will for a while. Most people have invested heavily in V8s; they’ve got great reliability and that’s more important than having some new engine that may not go the distance. So I can’t see anything really changing in the engine department just yet. Holden has already been testing a non-V8 engine – that’s pretty common knowledge – but I’m not convinced that they will rush to put it in a car for next year. We know Volvo are running a four-cylinder turbo for its World Touring Car Championship campaign, but those engines are not designed for endurance races. At Bathurst you need engines that can do 1000 kilometers and still be reliable. History has shown that those four-cylinder turbos are okay in the short distance races, but they have a big question mark hanging over them when it comes to endurance races. I see no reason why with the reliability, the speed and the performance these V8 engines have currently got, anyone would change, unless there was a financial gain – and I

can’t see there being a financial gain on the table for any of us. That is the case for the manufacturers already in the series, but it’s a completely different story for a new manufacturer that would have to invest in the development of a new engine any way. Others will join in and you only need one of them to come along and produce a fourcylinder engine or V6 and have some success, then everyone will say we better try this. There are other manufacturers out there. We have had interest from other parties.

I People are really interested in this category here in Australia. I spend a lot of time in Europe during our off-season and I’ve certainly got contacts in the USA. And I know there’s nothing that compares with our category television-wise – and the manufacturers all know that. So I don’t think we will see non-V8 engines in the short term; I think that we’ll all be running V8s in the next couple of years at least. But I think once someone does it, others will follow. From our point of view, we wouldn’t want to change,

because other than our problems we had last year, which we are now through, our engines are bloody good and I wouldn’t want to be going down that experimental road just now. Clearly, if Volvo wants us to do it we would, but they would have to understand that it would cost them a lot of money to do so – and I don’t think it would make financial sense for them to do it at the moment. After all, there’s an old adage that says, ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it’! – Garry

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HOLDEN VS FORD

The Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore rivalry has sustained V8 Supercars for more than 20 years. With the Falcon set to disappear from production, this is a tribute to the iconic Aussie models.

he Falcon nameplate will be retired when Ford Australia ends Australian production in October 2016, while the Commodore will live on as a rebranded imported nameplate when Holden also wraps up local manufacturing in 2017. What does that mean for V8 Supercars? The new-look Commodore is set to race on into the Gen2 era, which opens the door for the Falcon replacement, the two-door Mustang, to race in the series. When that happens, the Falcon and Commodore era will be over. Thirty-five years ago, the Falcon versus Commodore rivalry

FALCON VS COMMODORE AT BATHURST YEAR

DRIVER

1967 1970 1971 1973 1974 1977 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Harry Firth/Fred Gibson XR FALCON GT Allan Moffat XW FALCON GTHO PHASE II Allan Moffat XY FALCON GTHO PHASE III Allan Moffat/Ian Geoghegan XA FALCON GT John Goss/Kevin Bartlett XA FALCON GT Allan Moffat/Jacky Ickx XC FALCON Peter Brock/Jim Richards VC COMMODORE Dick Johnson/John French XD FALCON Peter Brock/Larry Perkins VH COMMODORE Peter Brock/Larry Perkins/John Harvey VH COMMODORE Peter Brock/Larry Perkins VK COMMODORE Allan Grice/Graeme Bailey VK COMMODORE SS GROUP A P Brock/P McLeod/D Parsons VL COMMODORE SS GROUP A Win Percy/Allan Grice VL COMMODORE SS GROUP A SV Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford VP COMMODORE Dick Johnson/John Bowe EB FALCON Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall VR COMMODORE Craig Lowndes/Greg Murphy VR COMMODORE Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall VS COMMODORE Jason Bright/Steven Richards EL FALCON Steven Richards/Greg Murphy VT COMMODORE Garth Tander/Jason Bargwanna VT COMMODORE Mark Skaife/Tony Longhurst VX COMMODORE Mark Skaife/Jim Richards VX COMMODORE Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly VY COMMODORE Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly VY COMMODORE Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly VZ COMMODORE Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup BA FALCON Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup BF FALCON Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup BF FALCON Garth Tander/Will Davison VE COMMODORE Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife VE COMMODORE Garth Tander/Nick Percat VE COMMODORE Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell VE COMMODORE Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards FG FALCON Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris FG FALCON Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards VF COMMODORE

CAR

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came to life when Dick Johnson bounced back from ‘The Rock’ to go head-to-head with Peter Brock for the 1981 championship in the first real shootout between the two nameplates that became Australian icons. The Falcon may have had a history that dates back to the formative years of the sport, but it was the introduction of the Commodore from 1980 and rivalry that followed that embedded the models in the hearts and minds of Ford and Holden fans. This issue of V8X Supercar Magazine is a chance to reflect on the Falcon and Commodore legacy, from their origins, on and off-track battles, the greatest models and drivers to looking ahead to what will be the final generation to be part of this rivalry.

FALCON VS COMMODORE CHAMPIONSHIPS YEAR

DRIVER

1973 1976 1977 1980 1981 1982 1984 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

ALLAN MOFFAT ALLAN MOFFAT ALLAN MOFFAT PETER BROCK DICK JOHNSON DICK JOHNSON DICK JOHNSON GLENN SETON MARK SKAIFE JOHN BOWE CRAIG LOWNDES GLENN SETON CRAIG LOWNDES CRAIG LOWNDES MARK SKAIFE MARK SKAIFE MARK SKAIFE MARCOS AMBROSE MARCOS AMBROSE RUSSELL INGALL RICK KELLY GARTH TANDER JAMIE WHINCUP JAMIE WHINCUP JAMES COURTNEY JAMIE WHINCUP JAMIE WHINCUP JAMIE WHINCUP JAMIE WHINCUP MARK WINTERBOTTOM

CAR XY FALCON GTHO PHASE III XB FALCON GT XB/XC FALCON GT VB COMMODORE XD FALCON XD FALCON XE FALCON EB FALCON VP COMMODORE EF FALCON VR COMMODORE EL FALCON VS/VT COMMODORE VT/VS COMMODORE VT COMMODORE VX COMMODORE VX COMMODORE BA FALCON BA FALCON BA FALCON VZ COMMODORE VE COMMODORE BF FALCON FG FALCON FG FALCON VE COMMODORE VE COMMODORE VF COMMODORE VF COMMODORE FG X FALCON 23

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FA L C O N W H E R E I T A L L B E G A N

WORDS Cameron McGavin IMAGES Autopics.com.au, inetpics.com

The Falcon may have won the last Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island in 1962, but it wasn’t until the V8-powered Falcon XR GT conquered Mount Panorama that the name entered Australian motorsport folklore. Here we retrace the rise of the Falcon on the race track. alcon was already a name with winning credentials in the Great Race when the new XR GT model fronted up to 1967’s Gallaher 500 at Bathurst. Harry Firth and Bob Jane, after all, had won the Armstrong 500, the precursor to the Bathurst event, in an XL Falcon in 1962. But that was an age ago… a deed done with a different Falcon, a full generation older, with six-cylinder engine, not a V8, on a different track. Touring cars had moved on and small, quick fourcylinders were the winning ticket. Ford’s Cortina GTs and GT500s cleaned up the first three 500s at Bathurst (1963 to 1965), then the Mini Cooper in 1966. A big V8 was a leap of faith. Sure, there was this new V8 Falcon – then the fastest, most exciting car ever foisted on buyers by an Australian carmaker – but also the memory of big barges like the Studebaker

Lark. They’d torn smaller cars to pieces up Mountain Straight with their bountiful torque, even led the race, but always self-destructed with tyre, brake and fueleconomy issues. By the end of that weekend, however, a new era had dawned and the Falcon badge was on its way to being an Australian institution for racers, petrolheads and everyday car buyers alike.

THE PRODUCTION SERIES YEARS

The 1967 XR Falcon GT was something else. The official story is it was the brainchild of then Ford Australia MD Bill Bourke; he had sampled an XR V8 prototype being developed as police-pursuit car and, being an American with a fine sense for the then burgeoning muscle-car culture in that country, thought a hot Falcon might go down well with young Aussies. Bathurst clearly entered into the equation pretty early, too. Ford factory racing team boss Harry Firth, who’d mastered the art of the Bathurst special with

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Fred Gibson and Harry Falcon win at Mount Panorama in 1967.

1965’s Ford Cortina GT500, was one of the engineers charged with its development. There’d never been an Australian car like it. Ford’s famous 289 cubic-inch V8 (4.7-litre) had just joined the Falcon line-up with the XR – and that was already about the most exciting thing to happen to an Australian family hack; in the GT it picked up a host of changes to crank out 225 horsepower (167kW). A four-on-thefloor manual gearbox, unique suspension, bigger wheels and radial tyres were its other key features. The first GT could cut a 15.8-second 0-400m sprint

on its way to a top speed of 122mph (195km/h). All of the nearly 600 built were bronze with black stripes, excepting of a half-dozen in a fetching silver/red-stripe combo for the Gallaher tobacco company that was then sponsoring Bathurst. The Ford factory team fronted up to Bathurst that year with three of its new babies. It cleaned up the front row in qualifying and – after being threatened by some Alfa GTVs early on – cleared out to finish a dominant one-two. There was a sprinkle of rain on the factory Ford team’s parade. A lap-scoring error initially gave the chequered flag to the Leo Geoghegan/Ian Geoghegan car rather than its Harry Firth/Fred Gibson sibling. But when the dust settled and the order was reversed it was still a one-two for the very first Falcon GT on its very first Bathurst outing. And with that the legend was born. For a long time in Australia the Falcon had been associated with the suspension-durability problems of the original XK series. Now it stood for something else. The following year wouldn’t be so easy. A new Falcon, the XT, had arrived and with it a new GT. It had a bigger 302ci V8 (five-litre), only a little more powerful (230hp, 171kW) but a lot torquier. Its suspension had been refined and it came in five colours, including the XR’s bronze. You could even have an auto gearbox. At Bathurst the Ford factory again fielded three cars, one of them an auto, but there was a new threat, Holden and its Monaro GTS 327, powered by a Chev 327ci V8 (5.4-litre). The template for the tribal Ford versus Holden battle was being set. And in this first Bathurst stoush the General had the bigger V8 club. Fred Gibson and Bo Seton drove out of their skins in their XT GT to threaten for the win until a holed radiator ruined their chances, but when the flag flew the new Monaros had a grip on the top four spots. 25

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FA L C O N W H E R E I T A L L B E G A N

BELOW: A enjoyed Ford backing until the end of 1973, though the factory would return.

These first tentative jabs in the growing Ford versus Holden battle were nothing compared to the haymakers that were about to come. By 1969 Firth had departed to run the first iteration of the Holden Dealer Team – now with access to 350 Chev-powered Monaros – and big, brash American Al Turner had taken his place. That year’s XW Falcon GT was a brash altogether more hardcore package than its predecessors – an even bigger V8, the first of the 351s (5.8-litre), with 290hp (217kW), bigger brakes and a Bathurst-friendly 164litre fuel tank, plus the first appearance of the famous SuperRoo decals on the front guards. And that was the feeble one. With this GT you could now spec the HO pack (for Handling Option), which added a front spoiler, beefed-up suspension, thicker tailshaft and unleashed more grunt from the 351 (300hp, 223kW). With that your GT would now be an XW Falcon GTHO and – if you matched the best published times for this beast – you could hose the quarter (and most cars then on the road) in a sizzling 14.8 seconds. But 1969 would be another year for the Monaro at Bathurst. New factory Ford driver Allan Moffat and John French gave the first HO a debut win in the Sandown curtain raiser but the factory team’s issues with new semi-slick tyres killed its Mountain chances. The pole-winning Geoghegan brothers popped their first while leading a little more than an hour into the race… then the Seton/Gibson popped one and rolled before the two-hour mark.

ABOVE: A

the loss of support from Ford Australia.

Moffat, in the third car, lost time when he was pulled into the pits for tyre checks. As it turned out his tyres were fine, but in any case his chance for the win in his first Bathurst had evaporated. By 1970, even with its Bathurst underperformance, the XW GTHO had established itself as a force in Production Series racing, but Ford was still chasing Bathurst glory with total commitment. In August, just months before the new XY Falcon was due to appear, it committed to an even more focused XW GTHO, the Phase II. The Windsor V8 that had underpinned other models in various capacities was ditched for the new Cleveland 351, which wasn’t a lot more powerful than the old 351 but had more torque and could rev harder. It had an even bigger four-barrel carburettor than its predecessor, bigger front brakes and other changes. With arch-rival Holden having retreated from the

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MODEL & RACING DEBUTS FIRST GENERATION XK Falcon XL Falcon

1960 1962

SECOND GENERATION XR Falcon GT XT Falcon GT XW Falcon GTHO XW Falcon GTHO Phase II XY Falcon GTHO Phase III

1967 1968 1969 1970 1971

THIRD GENERATION XA GT Hardtop XB GT Hardtop XC Falcon GS XC Falcon Cobra

1973 1974 1977 1978

FOURTH GENERATION XD Falcon XE Falcon

1980 1983

FIFTH GENERATION muscle-car arms race and fielding the smaller, sixcylinder Torana GTR at Bathurst that year, the XW GTHO Phase II absolutely mauled the field. Twenty-three of them filled the grid and Moffat and Bruce McPhee, both driving solo in their factory cars, cleared out to finish a dominant one-two. The Bathurst trophy was now back in Ford’s corner. And still the Blue Oval wouldn’t let go of the bone. In 1971 came the XY GTHO Phase III, with its even bigger carby, baffled sump, bigger radiator and famous ‘Shaker’ air intake that popped through the bonnet. Its power officially remained pegged at the 300hp (223kW) mark but is reputed to have been closer to 290kW in reality. At Bathurst, Moffat slashed more than 10 seconds off the 1970 lap record in practice on his way to pole position. In the race his biggest challenge was a VB carton that got stuck to his grille. He walked to his second straight Bathurst crown by more than a lap and GTHOs filled the first six places. In just five years the Falcon had gone from a name treated with suspicion to a giant of the Australian road and touring cars. And another Bathurst special, the XA Falcon GTHO Phase IV, was being readied for 1972. But the Phase IV would never make it to the track or the showroom. A front-page story in Sydney’s SunHerald on June 25, 1972 about the upcoming Falcon and V8-powered versions of Holden’s Torana XU-1 and Chrysler’s Charger kicked off a scare campaign that quickly enveloped the political class. All of these ‘supercars’, as they were called, were canned by their makers, who came under serious gov-

ernment pressure – the subtext was they could build their racers for the road or sell cars to the government, but not both. Four XA GTHO Phase IVs made it through the production process before Ford pulled the pin, and three of these mythical ‘nearly-were’ GTHOs survive today. The supercar scare also led to massive changes to the touring-car scene. In 1973 the Production Series and Improved Production regulations would both make way for the new Group C formula, which allowed competitors significantly more freedom in terms of the modifications they could make to their cars. The Australian Touring Car Championship, which had long been the domain of Improved Production, and the Bathurst enduro would now be the domain of a single variety of more track-biased touring cars. The days of manufacturers selling Bathurst-ready racers to the public were over.

EB Falcon EF Falcon EL Falcon

1992 1995 1997

SIXTH GENERATION AU Falcon BA Falcon BF Falcon

1999 2003 2007

SEVENTH GENERATION FG Falcon FG X Falcon

2009 2015

THE GROUP C YEARS AND BEYOND

Holden would continue the Australian muscle-car madness through the 1970s with homologation-special road cars that helped to increase the competitiveness of its LH Torana SL/R 5000 and LX Torana SS hatchback racers, but it was done on the sly – their existence wasn’t widely publicised and Holden dealers had a strict vetting process (i.e. if you weren’t a racer or didn’t have the right contacts, you weren’t getting one). The glory days of the Falcon GT, contrastingly, were drawing to a close. The 1972 XA GT would continue on with 351 grunt and a rakish new two-door Australian-designed hardtop body, which complemented the staple four-door. 27

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FA L C O N W H E R E I T A L L B E G A N

G legendary XY Phase III at Mount Panorama in 1971.

Some of the Phase IV parts would even make their way onto a special batch of XA GTs, but the single-minded HO option was gone – and with it much of the madness and magic. By the time the XC Falcon rolled around in 1976, the GT – which had softened further with the imposition of a pollutionspec engine in 1973’s XB series – had been put out to pasture. In any case, the Falcon name stayed up in lights on the track through much of the 1970s. Allan Moffat, after winning the 1973 ATCC in an XY Phase III, gave the XA hardtop a Bathurst win on debut in 1973 and John Goss followed up in his XA in the big wet of 1974. 1976 brought another ATCC crown for Moffat in an XB hardtop. 1977, the year after the GT officially departed the road scene, was a whitewash for the big Ford, with Moffat winning the ATCC and leading home a famous one-two at Bathurst. Even into the 1980s, when Ford had all but washed its hands of overt involvement in the sport, the Falcon – now into the XD and XE generations, and being steered by a certain Queenslander called Dick Johnson – would keep on winning. Not for long, though. By 1982, Ford had parlayed the Falcon’s good name to market leadership after decades of chasing Holden. It was now a different company with different priorities and performance cars and racing were no longer part of its agenda. By the end of that

same year, the curtain on its V8 production would come down. This was the death knell for the Falcon on the track. When Group A regulations were announced for 1985 that tightened the relationship between road and race cars again and required a greater level of manufacturer involvement, Ford was left holding the can. The Falcon, without a V8, was never going to be a competitive proposition, and Ford racers like Johnson were forced to look overseas for Mustangs and Sierras. It would take until 1992 for a Falcon touring car to reappear on Australian tracks. By then Ford had done an aboutface on its no-V8s/no-performance-cars policy and wanted back in with the sport that had helped make the Falcon’s name. It would get its wish, and the Falcon would once again make its presence felt on the Bathurst and ATCC honour roll, but that’s another story.

MR. FALCON

Fred Gibson, along with Harry Firth, brought the Falcon GT its first Bathurst success in 1967. His racing career is inextricably linked to the Falcon, but when the XR GT first appeared he had no idea of the significant role this new performance car would be play in his career. Like any petrolhead of the day, though, he was bowled over by it. “It was the first of the muscle cars, wasn’t it?” he says.

“Everyone was like, ‘Wow!’ They had the 289 in the Falcon bodyshell and that’s what it was all about. For Australia to have a V8 in a normal road car, a family car, was pretty unique. “I think Ford took a pretty big gamble to do that… and it really paid off.” Gibson only found out he’d be driving for the factory Ford team at Bathurst a fortnight before the event when Frank Matich had to pull out and his name was put up as a substitute. It didn’t leave much time to get acquainted with his new ride. “They leant me one to virtually drive around the block… and that was the first time I ever drove one at all,” he says. “I didn’t sit in the race car until the first practice session at Bathurst.” Even then he suspected the new Falcon was going to be a pretty competitive prospect. “I drove a gold road car and I thought, ‘Wow, what a good car this is to drive’,” says Gibson. “Then you thought about the name Harry Firth. Anything he seemed to do back in the day right through to the Monaros was going to be a winning package; he had the expertise for doing that thing. “So I knew there was a chance the car would go pretty well if it would last the distance.” As it turned out, Firth was right on the money and Gibson would finish the weekend with a Bathurst win next to his name.

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“They were just the car to have on that particular weekend,” says Gibson. “You could drive the wheels off them, you could do it all day; we had no reliability worries. “As far as Harry was concerned, we could drive it as hard as we had to drive it and it would be okay… and that’s exactly what happened.” Gibson would go on to race all of the XR GT’s successors for the Ford factory team, plus the XA two-doors of the Group C era. “The XW with the Windsor engine, that was the best HO racer as a track car,” he says. “It was nice to drive and reliable. Anyone could have raced one of those for a year and not touched it, just put tyres and brakes on it. “Once we got the Cleveland engine, boy, were they a drama. It was a harder working car, it had a lot more power, and it wasn’t easy finding tyres to do the job properly on the small rims. “It was just a testing time for the car and I suppose developing that car, the more power you put into it, the worse it got. “They got better as they went along, but the more we got the handling and tyres

E HAD ALL THE E CAR ECAU E ONCE YOU U ED THE OR YEAR ORD DIDN T ANT THE AC I I D EPT THO E OLD CAR THIN O THE ONEY THEY D E ORTH NO – FRE GI SON better, that’s when we had big oil-surge problems. You drove the Phase III by the oil-pressure gauge. “We used to have to count it out... ‘One, two, three, four, five’ before you could put your foot down again because you had no oil pressure.” Gibson’s personal favourite of all the Falcons he raced is the XA hardtop that thrived in the early Group C era. “With the big rubber and everything on it, it was a great car,” he says. “They were just powerful, good beasts to drive. And being able to get harnesses and proper seats in the car was a big advantage. But you couldn’t compare them to the production-series cars, they were a different thing.” Mind you, if he could choose any Falcon

GT for road duties today, he wouldn’t be able to go past the legendary XY Phase III. “The Cleveland was an issue on the track but as road car it just honks on – you gas it and it just goes,” he says. “And the skinny wheels, it didn’t have a lot of grip, so it’s still a nice car to drive; an exciting car to drive.” Like many from the era, though, he’s still kicking himself for not recognising their future value then. “I had HOs sitting around the workshop there, Max Douglas had one of my old cars next door in the panel shop, we had another one in a shed,” he says. “We had all these cars because once you used them for years, Ford didn’t want them back. If I’d kept those old cars, think of the money they’d be worth now!”

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CO M M O D O R E W H E R E I T A L L B EGA N

WORDS Cameron McGavin IMAGES Autopics.com.au, inetpics.com

The Commodore had big shoes to fill when it became Holden’s flagship model in 1978, replacing the Kingswood on the road and the Torana on the race track. Here we retrace key early developments in its journey from unknown quantity to Australian road and track giant. ustralian touring cars was at a crossroads when the 1980 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) kicked off at Symmons Plains in Tasmania on March 2. The first era of Group C, starting in 1973, had come to an end. Ford and Holden had pulled their backing from the sport and the Falcon hardtop and various iterations of the Torana that dominated the grid up until the end of 1979 had been superseded in the showroom. Teams faced a new decade with new cars, revised regulations and factories unwilling to play ball. The days of showroom models being built specifically to bring speed on the track, it seemed, were over… except they weren’t.

A new name had arrived, one that would deliver Holden even more on-track success than the celebrated Monaro and Torana and draw the line between hot Australian road cars and their racing brethren closer than at any time since the production-series days of the late 1960s and early 1970s. That name? Commodore.

THE GROUP C YEARS

The Commodore was a success right off the bat. Peter Brock and his Holden Dealer Team took the first VB Commodore racer to victory in its first race, that opening round of the 1980 championship at Symmons Plains. More wins and the ATCC followed, then – in its VC successor, which had gone on sale that year – Brock snared the Sandown 400 and Bathurst 1000 as well. The Commodore scored a debut win at Mount Panorama in the hands of Peter Brock and Jim Richards in 1980.

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ABOVE: Peter Brock became

synonymous with the Commodore, winning the championship, Sandown and Bathurst in the model’s

The Holden Dealer Team’s (HDT) racing activities were more deeply intertwined with the latest road car than just merely racing it. When Holden pulled the pin in 1979, Brock bought the team and called on a network of Holden dealers to help him finance the reborn racing operation for 1980. They said yes, but only if he’d supply them with a hot Commodore to tempt punters onto the showroom floor. And so HDT Special Vehicles was born. Its first car, September 1980’s VC Commodore HDT, was not specifically built for homologation purposes in the manner of a Torana A9X or some of its successors, but the team would never have made it onto the grid that year without it. In a roundabout way, it would drive the future direction of both road and racing Commodores. HDT might have achieved vast success with the VB/ VC in 1980, but by 1981 Dick Johnson and his Ford XD Falcon had grabbed the ATCC ascendency. The Commodore had excellent aero/road-holding qualities for the era but lacked the grunt from its fivelitre V8 to match it with Ford’s 5.8-litre equivalent, and Holden’s ‘factory’ team would lobby governing body CAMS hard for a solution during this time. For HDT the answer was its hot new road car; the revised-for-1980 Group C regs had mandated the use of production cylinder heads and the big-valve units fitted to the HDT Commodore were far more efficient than the small-valve ‘pollution’-spec equivalents currently fitted to the racers.

But the big-valve VC was trouble for HDT from the start. First, production issues meant the last few of the 500 Commodore HDT road cars weren’t delivered in time to make the homologation cut-off for the 1981 enduros. Then, when it was finally homologated for 1982, CAMS slapped it with a 50kg weight penalty, owing to the big-valve HDT road car being based on the heavier Commodore SL/E body rather than the small-valve base model. By this stage the VH had superseded the VC and HDT chose against racing the big-valve VC in 1982. But after a thrashing from Johnson in the 1982 ATCC opener at Sandown, Brock fronted up at the next round at Calder with the newly-homologated VC ballasted up to the new minimum weight. He won from fifth but was excluded from the results for an alleged illegal manifold. Then he was slapped with a three-month suspension. HDT’s fight to get the big-valve VC homologated meant there were already tensions between it and CAMS. The Calder exclusion and suspension turned it into a full-on legal battle that saw Brock take CAMS to court and race under a Supreme Court injunction for much of the year. The case was eventually dropped but Brock lost points under a back-dated suspension, clearing the way for Johnson to take his second consecutive ATCC title. 31

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CO M M O D O R E W H E R E I T A L L B EGA N

A valuable lesson had been learnt, though. HDT’s next key road car, the VH Commodore SS series, was deliberately built around a base SL model, and when it was homologated for the 1982 enduros, HDT and other Holden teams finally had the big-valve/lightbody combo they were looking for. Allan Moffat and his Mazda RX-7, then Johnson again in his XE Falcon, denied the Commodore another ATCC crown to go with its lone 1980 success, but the VH was a much more competitive prospect. Consecutive Bathurst wins in 1982, 1983 and – in the visually freshened but conceptually unchanged VK SS successor – 1984 sealed its place in the lexicon of classic Australian racers and muscle cars.

THE GROUP A YEARS

“CONSECUTIVE BATHURST WINS IN 1982, 1983 AND 1984 SEALED ITS PLACE IN THE LEXICON OF CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN RACERS AND MUSCLE CARS.”

Group C’s increasing freedoms had taken Australian touring cars away from their production-car roots, but the adoption of the international Group A formula in 1985 saw things swing the other way. Engine modifications were much more limited than Group C – pistons, compression ratios, bearings, fuel pump, camshaft, valve shape/material/timing and the clutch were free and you could use a homologated gearbox, but fundamentals like the original conrods, crankshaft and suspension mounting points had to be used. If you wanted wings and other aero body bits, they had to be on the production car. The first Group A Commodore racer was a much more timid beast than its predecessor, producing just 300hp-odd compared to the 415hp of the last of the VK Group C cars. It was slower – Brock’s best at Adelaide that year was 61.0 seconds versus his 56.4 the previous year – and HDT and other Commodore teams were outgunned on the track by the new benchmarks, BMW’s 635CSi and Jim Richards. Durability issues with the Commodore V8’s singlerow timing chain, meanwhile, killed its chances at Bathurst that year. But Holden and HDT would turn the Commodore’s track fortunes around with the first in a series of the most single-minded Australian road cars since the days of the Falcon GTHO.

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LEFT TO RIGHT : Peter Brock took the Commodore to Bathurst wins under both Group C and A regulations.

ELO

MODEL & RACING DEBUTS FIRST GENERATION VB Commodore VC Commodore VH Commodore VK Commodore VL Commodore

1980 1980 1982 1984 1987

SECOND GENERATION VN Commodore VP Commodore VR Commodore VS Commodore

1991 1992 1995 1997

THIRD GENERATION VT Commodore VX Commodore VY Commodore VZ Commodore

1998 2001 2003 2005

FOURTH GENERATION VE Commodore VF Commodore

2007 2013

Holden was the first brand in the world to capitalise on the ‘evolution-model’ aspect of Group A regulations. This allowed makers to piggy-back the key 5000 production-unit requirement (1000 for Australia) with 500 ‘evolution’ models that could incorporate whatever bits might help its charger on the track. Its evolution car, the VK Commodore SS Group A, was launched in March 1985 and addressed many of the issues that had limited the base car on the track. The capacity of Holden’s venerable five-litre V8 was reduced from 5044cc to 4987cc, dropping the racing Commodore into the sub-5000cc class and allowing it to shed 75kg from its minimum homologated weight. Stronger conrods, roller rockers, twin-row timing chains, extractors and other tricks paved the way for more power and better durability. HDT’s plan was to build all 500 between March and June to achieve homologation by August 1 and race the VK Group A in the enduros. But production issues meant progress was slow and the run wasn’t finished until October, so it and Holden runners had to use the uncompetitive original Group A Commodore racer for the remainder of the 1985 season, albeit with some concessions to help it along. However, the VK Group A did do the business when it finally appeared in 1986. There was no ATCC crown again – Nissan’s Skyline and Volvo’s 240 Turbo had the legs on it in shorter races – but it won on debut at New Zealand’s Wellington 500, then again at Pukekohe. Allan Grice showed the turbos a clean set of heels at Bathurst to make it five wins at the Mountain for the Commodore in seven attempts. HDT and Grice also contested several rounds of the European Touring Car Championship in 1986. While wins were not forthcoming, they put the wind up the locals, especially Grice, who led on occasions. By this stage Holden and HDT were already well on their way with their second evolution car, 1987’s VL Commodore SS Group A. It picked up bigger front/rear spoilers, a bonnet intake that force-fed the carby and stronger, lighter conrods for more on-track revs, plus stronger crankshaft, roller rockers and extractors with their first flange joint just an inch from the cylinder heads, allowing teams to fine-tune the exhaust for different tracks.

Holden and HDT now had the production process down to a fine art and all 500 were built between October and December 1986, allowing the new racer to be homologated on January 1, 1987. It was clobbered by the Skyline and BMW’s M3 in the shorter ATCC events, but victory for John Harvey and Allan Moffat at Monza in the first-ever World Touring Car Championship round, plus another Bathurst win in the hands of Peter Brock, meant it wasn’t unsuccessful, even if those wins had only come after the exclusions of winning rivals, a familiar theme of the short-lived WTCC series. The big news of 1987, though, was Brock and HDT’s bust-up with Holden. That sent the maker into the arms of Scot Tom Walkinshaw and led to the founding of Holden Special Vehicles, which would now look after Holden’s racing and special-vehicle ambitions. HSV’s first serious contribution to the hot-Commodore genre, 1988’s VL Commodore SS Group A SV, was the most hardcore evolution Commodore yet – Holden’s five-litre V8 picked up fuel-injection and myriad other changes, while the wildest body kit in Australian muscle-car history reduced the co-efficient of drag by 25 per cent while producing downforce. But the latter’s complexity (there were 27 separate panels!) led to production troubles that delayed its homologation, and it didn’t make its track debut September 1988’s Sandown 500. By then Ford’s Sierra had become the Group A weapon to have and successes for the new Commodore were few and far between. Relentless track development, however, meant it ended up quick enough to steal a celebrated, againstthe-odds Bathurst win in 1990 against the Sierras and Nissan’s new touring-car dominator, the Skyline GT-R. The last hot Holden to be built specifically with racing in mind – 1990’s HSV VN Group A SV – was the first evolution Commodores to be based on the all-new VN model that had gone on sale in late 1988. It had modified heads, stronger block, a six-speed gearbox and other advancements to help it deliver on the track, while the VN’s naturally more slippery shape allowed much less complex (and confronting) body kit to be used. By 1991, though, the whole Group A ship was 33

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CO M M O D O R E W H E R E I T A L L B EGA N

ABOVE & BELOW: John Harvey played a key role with the Holden Dealer Team’s development of the Commodore.

sinking and CAMS gave the new Holden the go-ahead for track use despite just 302 being built. A now all-but unbeatable GT-R, though, meant it rarely got a look in at the front of the field. By 1992 the Group A experiment had run its course and next generation of touring cars proposed for Australia – the five-litre V8s that morphed into our current V8 Supercars – would no longer require manufacturers to commit the same kind of costly and complex road-car derivatives to fulfil track-homologation requirements. From now on the Commodore’s road and

track advancements would occur in largely separate universes and eventually the link would be all but severed, leaving us with today’s purpose-built, highly-specialised ‘silhouette’ racers.

MR. COMMODORE

Brock may be the person most closely linked to the Commodore legend, but one man comes close… John Harvey. He was not only intimately involved in HDT’s racing and special-vehicles operations but also those of its successor, Holden Special Vehicles. His fingerprints, if not his signature like Brock, are all over every hot

road Commodore and racer from that vital first decade. Harvey had his first sample of the Commodore ahead of its October 1978 release at Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground. Its racing future wasn’t known then, but he immediately knew it would be the business if it ever made it to the track. “The first thing I noticed was the MacPherson strut front suspension, as one of the problems with the Torana was it had double-wishbone front suspension with a very small shock absorber and it wasn’t very flash on the track,” says Harvey. “You could change to a different brand but it still had to be the same size to fit in the car, so it had a smaller oil capacity, which meant it used to overheat. So you’d start to lose the front end, the shock absorber would lose its performance and it would be a difficult thing to drive. “The Commodore, with its MacPherson strut, had a huge shock absorber, a really long one with a far greater oil capacity and, of course, that could be changed. You just knew it would work a whole lot better.” Harvey wasn’t wrong. What he couldn’t have predicted, though, was the key place he, Brock and HDT would occupy in the future road development of this exciting new Holden. It was a stunning success but also hard work. “To do it all Holden had to make engineers available, they had to make changes on the assembly line for the cars we were building and we had to sell the whole deal to the dealer network,” says Harvey.

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“We had a lot of help from Holden but we used it to good effect. It was all a huge success. And had we not done it HDT would have faded away, I guess.” Trying to juggle a successful racing outfit with production-car commitments wasn’t without its challenges for this small organisation, especially in the Group A days. If there was a problem on the road-car production line, it could have direct consequences on the track. “We weren’t able to build enough of those VK Group A Commodores the way we wanted them in time, with the double-row timing chains and so on,” says Harvey. “So we had to race the cars mostly bogstandard in 1985; we had the stock carby on it, I think the exhaust was free, but it was mostly just a bog-standard car. “At Bathurst that year we were running second and third and I think my car broke the chain on lap 98. Peter did more laps but broke before the end as well.” The challenge of the VK Group A, however, was nothing compared to that of its 1988 VL successor, built by the nascent Holden Special Vehicles organisation after

the famous Brock/Holden split of February 1987. “That car was all about aero track performance and it was a good car; it won at Bathurst and that was what it all about,” says Harvey. “But it was a complex car, not so much from the race-car point of view but production. That was the biggest task I think that HSV ever faced. It was a complex thing to build. “The first time we started assembling the car one of the guys came over to me one day and said, ‘The side skirts don’t fit properly’. “He took me over, I had a look and, no, they didn’t fit. Then another bloke said the same thing. “At this stage we had the supplier fullsteam ahead making them! “Then I tried them on another Commodore and they fitted. I thought, ‘Something’s wrong’. “So I spoke to Holden and they said, ‘Oh yeah, those cars were made at the Dandenong plant’. “The last car they ever built at that plant was the VL Group A; they closed the plant

because it was the oldest plant they had and a lot of the machinery had, I suppose, seen better days. “So we had to redo the side skirt in two pieces and concertina it in so it could fit every car.” The touring-car world has moved on from the days when there was a deep connection between race cars and their road-going equivalents, but Harvey doesn’t think it’s a bad thing. “Today it’s totally different, they’ve designed the thing themselves, they’ve built this thing that’s strong everywhere,” he says. “It’s a proper race car, whereas we were fiddling around with road cars and trying to make them into a race car, which was a bit difficult.” Not surprisingly, perhaps, the 1983 Bathurst winner still drives the car that is most prominently associated with his touring-car career. “I’ve got a Commodore still,” he says. “I bought a 60th anniversary model that had a few features on it. It’s just a six, I don’t need a V8!”

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THE V8 ERA WORDS Bruce Newton IMAGES Autopics.com.au, inetpics.com, James Baker

The V8 era pitted the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in head-to-head combat for two decades. What followed with the introduction of the locally-built V8 racers from the end of 1992 was an intense battle for technical supremacy. e are in the last days of a great era of Australian touring cars. As this is written, the Holden Commodore VF and the Ford Falcon FG X do battle in the 2016 V8 Supercars season. Holden rear-wheel drive V8 sedan versus Ford rear-wheel drive V8 sedan in a classic battle… treasure it folks, because it won’t last much longer. We now have Volvo and Nissan in the championship. Next year the mandatory rule that the cars must be sedans and V8s will be abandoned. Even the name will change to simply ‘Supercars’. It seems highly unlikely we will see a coupe or a V6 turbo next year, but move further out and inevitably change will come. It has to, as production of the Falcon ends this year and Ford is no longer a backer of the teams that race its cars. The locally-built Holden Commodore will disappear at the end of 2017 and will be replaced by an import that won’t have a V8 option.

It is expected Holden will stay in the championship with a racing facsimile of this car and it will be powered by a V6 engine. So we enter a period of uncertainty and change, but if there is good news it shapes as far less traumatic than the era that prompted the exclusive Holden versus Ford years. Indeed, younger fans may not remember an era where the Commodores and Falcons weren’t fighting it out in a red versus blue tribal scrap of immense proportions. But the reality is the championship that we enjoyed from the early 1990s onwards grew out of a period of failed internationalism, when Australia tried to become part of a global touring-car formula. Group A was a homologation formula that required manufacturers to build a certain amount of production cars as the basis for their race cars. Holden was the only Australian manufacturer who played that game with a series of Commodore Group A specials. But sticking true to its V8 rear-wheel drive ethos meant in the end it couldn’t compete with the turbocharged terrors from Europe and Japan.

The AU Falcon’s inability to compete with the Commodores led to the Project Blueprint era.

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ABOVE: G BELOW: L

R P

99 H

Group A replaced the local Group C rules that were the stomping ground of legends such as Peter Brock, Dick Johnson, Larry Perkins, Allan Moffat, Colin Bond, Bob Morris and Allan Grice and the legendary cars the raced such as the Holden Torana A9X and the first iterations of the racing Commodore. On the Ford side it was a cavalcade of Falcons. But the Group C era eventually became bogged down in politicking and seat of the pants rule making. Group A had issues of its own, too. In the late 1980s it was the Ford Sierra RS500 that dominated the show, with Dick Johnson and John Bowe in their Shell Sierras. Then came the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 prepared and raced with factory backing by Gibson Motorsport. ‘Godzilla’ chewed up and spat out the opposition in 1991-92. By then the writing was very much on the wall for Group A in Australia. The development war was financially draining; the racing was strung out, the grids tiny, crowds drifting and television ratings falling. It was against this backdrop that a few key players began plotting the succession to Group A stirred on by Channel Seven’s motorsport chief Mike Raymond. “Mike Raymond worked fairly hard on it,” recalls Jeff Grech, who became famous as team manager of the Holden Racing Team in this brave new era. “He took it to the Dicks and the Larrys who had come through the Group C era. Mike really wanted to work with the punters on the Ford versus Holden thing and at least start it back there. There was a lot of work done in a short time. They wanted the cars to have a wing and a spoiler and look a bit racey.” The formula was dubbed Group 3A. The fundamentals were: sedan, V8, rear-wheel drive formula still applies today, 23 years on. Evolutionary this formula has undoubtedly been. And that applies to the technical development of the cars as the rules that dictate their performance envelope have become more and more stringent through the years.

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THE V8 ERA

ABOVE & BELOW: While the

Holden Racing Team

Commodore entries, Ford’s factory-backed team was other Falcons.

The first technical steps into the new formula were led by Dick Johnson Racing (DJR), which built a bold and highly modified EB Falcon that was dubbed a sports sedan. Meanwhile, Holden had a Group A base to develop its first new era racer, a VP Commodore. The technical rules were a little grey and loose in those early days, recalls Glenn Seton, who owned and led the Ford factory-backed Peter Jackson Racing team and debuted his first EB at the 1992 Sandown 500 in preparation for a full-on tilt at the championship in 1993. “The rules weren’t massively clear and that’s why

the 1992 car never ever raced again after I crashed it at Adelaide in the last race of the year,” he explains. “Although we could repair it, the rules changed over Christmas regarding things you could do around the rear-diff housing and also the top of the wheel arches. So us and Johnson basically built new cars for 1993.” Seton burst into the 1993 season and led teammate Alan Jones to a one-two in the championship. “Ford came out with a ripping good aero package for the first car,” Seton recalls. “I never forget one of the Holden people at the time said, ‘One of us has got this (aerodynamics) wrong and I think it is us’.” That first Commodore didn’t even have an undertray, a situation that was corrected by the Mallala round of the 1993 championship when the Holdens were granted an aerodynamic upgrade by CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motor Sports), which was still in charge of regulating the technical aspects of the new category. Remember these were also the days before the arrival of Tony Cochrane and SEL, the creation of V8 Supercars and CAMS’ move to a background role. Back then races were on late-night delayed telecasts, teams were paying to enter championship rounds and the back half of grid made up of ancient Group A VL Commodores. The story of the development of Holden’s aero pack for the VP is indicative of the seat of the pants work that was going on at this time. Richard Hollway, then an engineer at the Holden Racing Team (HRT) and now at Garry Roger Motorsport, recalls: “That first undertray was developed running up and down the Monash Freeway in the old workshop ute at crazy speeds. We still have that splitter today, which is pretty freaky.” Throughout these early years of the V8 formula, the fight back and forth between the two brands over performance parity was constant. It primarily boiled down to aerodynamics, but the vague nature of the rulebook created plenty of opportunities for ‘interpretation’. Lobbying and politicking was constant as one brand and then the other sought to gain the advantage. Adds Grech: “It was an interesting time in the rules. From my memory of it there was a lot of changes and a lot of politics in those changes. “But at the end of the day it ended up a pretty good

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V8 ERA RACE WINS COMMODORE MODELS

ACTIVE YEARS

RACE WINS

VL Commodore VN Commodore VP Commodore VR Commodore VS Commodore VT Commodore VX Commodore VY Commodore VZ Commodore VE Commodore VF Commodore

1993-1994 1993 1993-1999 1995-1998 1997-2001 1998-2002 2001-2004 2003-2005 2005-2007 2007-2012 2013-present

0 0 17 27 35 63 45 23 37 103 77*

FALCON MODELS

ACTIVE YEARS

RACE WINS

EB Falcon EF Falcon EL Falcon AU Falcon BA Falcon BF Falcon FG Falcon FG X Falcon

1993-1997 1995-1998 1997-2001 1999-2004 2003-2006 2007-2010 2009-2015 2015-present

21 23 19 23 51 39 55 16* *To the Clipsal 500 Adelaide

Mark Skaife’s run of three championships in a row was the height of Holden’s domination.

category with two pretty good cars. After all, to go to Bathurst and have six and a half hours of neck-and-neck racing is a pretty good achievement.” Some of the controversies included HRT’s interpretation of the shock tower rule at Bathurst in 1994. It was typical innovation by Ron Harrop, an engineering genius, who was in charge of development at HRT. The team also focused on shock development, moving from Bilstein to Ohlins dampers. Then there was rulebook maestro Larry Perkins. His decision to swap back to the VP Commodore at Bathurst in 1996 because he thought it was a superior aerodynamic package to that of the newer VR was typical of his lateral thinking. It was a move that backfired because LP and Russell Ingall only finished sixth. But back in 1993 LP, co-driven by the late great Gregg Hansford, had won the race and built on his following amongst the General’s faithful by doing it with the Holden pushrod V8, rather than the Chev motorsport engine that other top Holden teams had migrated to. Over at Ford, the combination of the Ford SVO five-litre V8 and Yates heads was universal. In 1995, LP and Ingall famously come back from a lap down to win the Bathurst 1000, using a trick braking system developed by Perkins Engineering that enabled their Castrol Commodore to get through the race without a pad change. There was lots of that sort of stuff going on. In those days there were certainly more freedoms for tuners to express themselves. There weren’t only significant differences between Commodores and Falcons but between different cars within the same brand built by different teams. “There were people doing lots of different stuff with different cars and I remember we were puzzled with how some cars could run so low,” says Hollway. Back then the racers were based on production floor pans and body shells. Even the standard metal guards were hand formed to accommodate the racing slicks. By comparison with today’s control chassis introduced under Car of the Future in 2013, the cars of the 1990s were more expensive and time-consuming to build. “They were a nightmare,” says Hollway. “Because you had to retain the body they were expensive to make. It was crazy the amount of hours that went into them, because you started with a full complete body and then put the cage into them.” And the rollcages became a focus of development as well. As computer aided design became an accepted part of the armoury, the hunt for more torsional rigidity became paramount. The first breakthrough car was HRT chassis #033, the VR Commodore designed by Hollway and his talented fellow engineer Chris Dyer. That car was famous because of its ‘Petty bar’, a diagonal tube that ran from above the driver’s head down to the left-hand footwell. Grech believes it delivered a 35 per cent increase in torsional rigidity. CAMS stepped in and tried to ban it. But after much toing and froing the bar stayed in #033. Craig Lowndes used that car and Bridgestone tyres developed for it to win his first title. 39

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THE V8 ERA

Project Blueprint launched in the 2 immediately parity.

Which brings us to a key point. While the pushrod engines, shocks, brakes and rollcages were being developed, an important factor was the three-cornered tyre war between Bridgestone, Dunlop and Yokohama. “Back in the early days the Yokohama was probably the best stop-go tyre, the Dunlop probably had the best suitability across the year in terms of working at the most places, while the Bridgestone probably had the best md-corner speed and lateral grip,” explains multiple champion in this era, Mark Skaife. “So that disparity in terms of where the tyres were almost forged the way in the way each of the teams developed their cars. The rate we were chucking tyres at it was unbelievable. We were going to race meetings with 300 tyres.” By late in the 1990s with Cochrane presiding over AVESCO, the show on a far healthier financial footing and now in charge of its own technical path, there was a push to try and get beyond the constant parity bickering and to reduce costs of build and development. Enter Project Blueprint. Driven by then category CEO Wayne Cattach with category technical chief Paul Little, it sought to equalise the cars in a significant number of ways. Most importantly, a concerted effort was made to even up aero parity. Wheelbases also became identical, the Commodore got the double wishbone front suspension of the Falcon, cylinder head porting was standardised and much more. A bunch of componentry became controlled or part of a basket of approved components. Crucially, too, a control tyre had been introduced from the 1999 season.

The equalisation of the cars for competitive and cost reasons continued on through the 2000s. One high profile change was the move to control the weight of engine components, then later a control camshaft was introduced. A sequential gearbox, E85 fuel, control brakes and testing restrictions all continues to define the technical box the teams worked in as the years went on. But one constant factor in making these cars go fast is still the locked diff, says Hollway. “It’s still understeer in and oversteer out and tricking the spool, basically.” There was no doubt Ford desperately needed the reset that Project Blueprint delivered. The AU Falcon was a failure, totally dominated by HRT’s VT Commodore and its successors. For Seton, the halcyon championship winning days were long gone. “There were two things wrong with the AU,” he explains. “One was you couldn’t ever get enough aero on the front to get the downforce because it had a reasonably big wing on the back. The balance front to rear wasn’t great. Also, the shape of the car being quite round meant it had a bit of lift as well. We always had mid-corner understeer, just could not get rid of it.” Grech understandably remembers VT fondly and rates its significance highly in terms of the technical development. “We were charged in those days to do the homologation for all the Holden teams and where we are headed today really started back with VT. Instead of getting standard road car body panels and cutting them up to make the clearances, they allowed us to then start manufacturing unique stuff for

V8 Supercars. It became more practical to build a car and easier to build.” Ford more than got back on an even keel with the BA Falcon. Combined with Stone Brothers Racing and Marcos Ambrose it proved an unstoppable force in the championship in 2003 and 2004, while Russell Ingall followed up in 2005. The HSV Dealer Team then delivered two championships for Holden in 2006 and 2007. Later in the decade, newcomers Triple Eight continued the streak, winning three Bathurst 1000s in a row in the BA and BF and two drivers’ championships in the BF and FG. Technical director Ludo Lacroix brought a European philosophy to building V8 race cars, the Frenchman derisively dismissing the cars he first encountered here as “tanks”. “I can’t design a tank, I’m not interested in tanks, and when we come here some of the cars were tanks, big Panzers. We don’t do that,” he told V8X in 2009. Project Blueprint’s mandatory 2822mm wheelbase meant 2007’s VE Commodore had to have its wheelbase reduced from standard and, therefore, its body truncated to keep it in proportion. That was achieved by shortening the rear doors. It also had to have its roofline lowered. Twelve months later, Ford had to do the same job with the FG Falcon. This was a car developed aerodynamically by Lacroix. It continues to be regarded as perhaps the best execution of a V8 Supercar in that era, which concluded with the introduction of the Car of the Future regulations in 2013. Triple Eight’s record was quiet sensational in those last years few leading into Car of the Future. It made the dramatic off-season change from Ford to Holden in the 2009-10 off-season, winning Bathurst but just missing out on he drivers’ championship. Still, the title winner James Courtney was driving a Triple Eight-built Falcon FG for DJR. Lacroix’s philosophies of race design are straight forward. Understand what the tyre needs so you can extend its its working life as long as possible, keep the centre of gravity low and build the car stiff, adjustable and light. Sure these cars aren’t exactly light weights, but building lighter gives you the ability to place ballast where it is most advantageous. And he points out one other factor that is a key if you want to develop a winning V8 Supercar. “I believe only in work,” say Lacroix. “It’ s just about how much work you put in and how clever you are at doing it.” The proof he and Triple Eight continue on the right track shows in the results.

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HOLDEN VS FORD

Holden has a significant numerical advantage over Ford on the 2016 V8 Supercars grid and won in the head-to-head numbers when they had the series to themselves from 1993 to 2012. This is why the General conquered the Blue Oval. WORDS Andrew Clarke IMAGES inetpics.com, Autopics.com.au, Peter Norton, James Baker

t may be one of Australia’s greatest sporting rivalries but it now appears Ford versus Holden is falling in a lop-sided mess. With the advent of the Group 3A in 1993 that morphed into V8 Supercars, there was more than 20 years of those two manufacturers going mirror to mirror. That battle was weakened with the introduction of other manufacturers under the Car of the Future, which given Ford’s imminent withdrawal and lethargic attitude to the series was not a bad thing at all. Not that it would be the first time that Ford teams have had to go it alone. Only now with the sort of money needed to keep racing, manufacturer support is deemed necessary.

We, as fans of the sport, know there is very little correlation between the race car and the road car. The first series of designs used the entire road car as the ‘base’, then Project Blueprint uprooted the running gear and standardised components that led into Car of the Future, which generated cars that really only differed by bodyshell and engine. At each step, despite winning races and championships, Ford numbers dwindled as Ford’s support dissipated. Team after team seemed to move across to Holden. So how did it happen? When Group 3A first arrived in 1993, the number were heavily skewed in Holden’s favour, which made sense since given that the Ford teams from the older Group A format were running Sierras, while the Holden teams had Commodores.

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It wasn’t a straight transition but many teams were geared up to run the Commodore. There were 20-plus Commodores that competed in that first series, including the part-timers, and only four Falcons, which claimed first to third in the championship. By 1997, of the 17 cars that ran more than five rounds of the series, ten were Commodores and seven were Falcons. If you brought the part-timers into play it was 36 Holdens to 12 Fords. Project Blueprint was Ford at its peak. An aggressive push under the late Howard Marsden saw the recruitment of Craig Lowndes two years earlier and the numbers were 18 Fords for the full series to 15 Holdens. The final years of Blueprint saw 17 Holdens fight 11 Fords as the pendulum began to swing back to the General. And that shifts into this season with 14 Holdens and only six Fords. Perhaps more indicatively, Holden has seven teams to two in Fords. In all that time, Dick Johnson has been running Fords, committed to the Blue Oval despite limited factory funding, including the dropping of support in 2008 that also impacted Triple Eight. “We’ve had a good run with them,” says a collegiate Dick Johnson, who started with Ford in the 1970s. ‘The Rock’ changed his relationship with the manufacturer, but it certainly had its peaks and troughs over the next few decades. “We have always been working on our own, so to speak. Obviously things are somewhat different now because I’m not behind the wheel anymore, but in the years that I’ve had with them, there were people that really worked hard. Probably one of the best guys ever was Howard Marsden, obviously with the motorsport background he knew how to make it work. “There were others, too. For me in the early years Ford was virtually on top with things like car sales and guys like Geoff Polites, Peter Gillitzer and Jack Nasser made it happen. I remember sitting in front of Jack Nasser when he was the boss and he felt there was value in it. But things changed and people move on.” Marsden was a pioneer for Ford. He was the man in charge of the early-1970s program that scored Bathurst wins and kept the young Peter Brock honest. The company pulled out of racing in 1974, rejoined in 1976 at his behest, bailed again, joined again, then bailed again. There was no continuity despite Marsden’s input and drive. His resignation from Ford and death from cancer a year later signalled the decade-long slow death of Ford’s motorsport program. While support from Ford has been up and down for four decades, Johnson has never really thought of leaving the Blue Oval. In fact, you can still hear the sparkle in his voice if you talk of the prospect of V8 Supercar Mustang, even without Ford’s support.

TOP: T H logical as the Commodore had raced in the preceding Group A era and the Falcon hadn’t. ABOVE: The Commodore dominated into the early 2000s, forcing V8 Supercars to adopt new parity measures with the Project Blueprint regulations of 2003. BELOW: The Falcon versus Commodore years ended in 2012 with Holden’s 11th V8 era drivers’ championship courtesy of Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup.

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HOLDEN VS FORD

“WE DO WANT TO WIN RACES BUT WE DON’T WANT TO OWN THE FIELD, OTHERWISE WE’LL BE RACING OURSELVES.” – SIMON McNAMARA

BELOW: Holden enjoys numerical supremacy on the grid with a notable presence at V8 Supercars events in contrast to Ford.

The same wasn’t true, however, of other teams running Ford badges. Famously, when Ford started scaling back in 2008, Roland Dane’s Triple Eight jumped ship when the money dried up. His team had worked with Ford developing the aero package for the FG racer, which took his driver, Jamie Whincup, to the 2009 title. One of the cars his team built also won the 2010 title with James Courtney at Dick Johnson Racing, while Triple Eight was getting on top of its new Commodores. With a string of Bathurst and championship wins with the Commodore since 2010, it was a coup for the brains’ trust at Holden. “I go back obviously to that period in 2008 where we had developed the FG aero kit for Ford,” says Dane. “As soon as it was signed off they told us that we were not a part of the plans going forward. We were in a very invidious position going into the six-month period

before the beginning of the next season; it was far too late to make any changes at that point. We ran the FG in 2009 and as a package we were very happy to run that car and proved we had done a good job with the aero kit. “I’d worked with GM in Europe extensively and enjoyed a very good relationship. Simon McNamara was very proactive in trying to seek out an arrangement with us over a period of time because he felt that was the best way of ensuring ongoing success for Holden with their racing program. “So it made sense on an emotional level with GM, a practical level with GM, and their overall enthusiasm for the sport and recognising what it did for them in the marketplace.” Dane said he approached the process of change in a logical manner: ‘If someone doesn’t pay you to work, do you still carry on working for them?’ “It might have been seen by people who don’t understand economics as a dummy spit, but there’s a practical side of life,” he says. “Clearly being able to align with a manufacturer with a high level of commitment to the sport in general makes sense. I like Simon McNamara’s attitude towards motorsport and wanting to win; for me it isn’t just about participation, it’s about winning. “The only thing that was emotional about it is I was extremely pissed off with Ford at the time for basically setting us up to do all the work on the FG and then literally the following week coming and telling us that they were reneging on a verbal promise to extend their backing into 2009.” He says the remarkable run for his team since the switch would have been hard to maintain without that manufacturer backing. If you look deep enough at the data and results, getting Triple Eight on board was critical to Holden. Obviously if you talk titles, four out of six isn’t a bad return, but it is deeper than that… There have been 194 championship races since Triple Eight switched over in 2010 to the end of 2015. Dane’s main outfit has won 49 per cent of the races with customer team Tekno Autosports kicking in another four per cent. Putting that in perspective, Holden Racing Team is Holden’s next best at 15 per cent with Ford Performance Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia Ford’s best at 23 per cent. In that time, Holden has won 69 per cent of the races. For Holden and its motorsport boss Simon McNamara, this is what it was all about… winning. So when the door was open and Triple Eight was up-forgrabs, he took Holden through that door. “We’ve been pretty strong in V8 Supercar land for many years,” says McNamara. “We are quite aggressive and we make no apologies about that – we’re there to win races. So we want to make sure that we’ve got the best possible teams to represent our brand. “‘Up-for-grabs’ is probably not the word, but yes, it was a long negotiation between Mr Dane and myself. “But we had a core support of the then management of GM and they were supportive of what I was trying to do.

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Ford withdrew funding from Dick Johnson Racing and Triple Eight for 2009.

TALE OF THE TAPE

HOLDEN COMMODORE VS FORD FALCON 1993–2012 CHAMPIONSHIPS RACE VICTORIES FASTEST LAPS PODIUMS POLE POSITIONS BATHURST WINS BATHURST POLE POSITIONS BATHURST PODIUMS BATHURST FASTEST LAPS SANDOWN/QR/PI 500 WINS

HOLDEN 11 350 324 501 167 15 11 39 12 11

FORD 9 218 242 394 130 5 9 21 8 9

In their exclusive battles in the V8 Falcon and Commodore era over 20 years, Holden comes out on top in each key battle.

“It’s been proven to be quite a good investment. They’ve done exceptionally well and they’ve delivered themselves to be the benchmark operation for certainly the last six years, if not before then.” McNamara is Holden to the core and he has always loved his motorsport; he is a significant part of the success it enjoys today. When he started at Holden more than 20 years ago, he got in touch with John Lindell who held the role he holds today. He wanted to connect into that kind of role and he did. He rode through Project Blueprint and Car of the Future, gently guiding the teams that were developing the cars and working up and down the grid. Blueprint was a biggie. The car’s fundamental structure was changed; the chassis was shortened and there were a whole lot of mechanical changes. The Holden Racing Team was also in ownership trouble, which was just bad timing. But they got through that after bleeding a trio of titles to Stone Brother Racing. A pair of titles to the second-string Walkinshaw HSV-backed team highlighted that Holden was not just the Holden Racing Team… then the Triple Eight era started. The latest VF Commodore racer was launched well before the road car, which was only possible because GM in America decided to use the bodyshell for NASCAR and that season started in February at Daytona. So the first the Australian public really knew about the VF was through racing, which tells you a little bit about how the company sees the importance of the sport. The weight of numbers is now dominated by Holden, but that for McNamara is just a bonus. “We do want to win races but we don’t want to own the field, otherwise we’ll be racing ourselves. The number shows how strong our brand is to that customer base and Betty (Klimenko) coming across this year is another indication of that,” he says. “We’re pretty proud of what we’ve achieved. We’re pretty proud of the legacy that we’ve developed and if people want to race a Holden, more power to them, we’re happy to help where we can. But it’s certainly not what we strive to do; we strive to win races for our customer and our brand. “It’s not about beating Ford anymore; there’s other people we want to beat, too.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Triple Eight’s evolution from Ford to Holden, from Blue Oval support into 2008 and an unbranded non-supported entry in 2009 to the General in 2010.

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HOLDEN VS FORD

Erebus Motorsport joined the Holden ranks in 2016, taking the tally of teams racing Commodores to seven.

“We just want to race the best, so if it’s Ford, Volvo or Nissan, if it one day ends up being Mazda, Toyota, whoever, we just want to race the best that we can race and challenge ourselves. “We feel that we’ve got a pretty good mouse trap. If someone comes along that’s better, like the start of last year, we have to work hard to make sure we get back the ground that we lost. All credit to Triple Eight specifically for doing that. (Winning) 11 of the last 12 races was an unbelievable achievement and six manufacturers’ titles in a row is satisfying. We’re pretty proud of that but we take it in our stride and move on. “We don’t know what the future looks like, but we’re working through that internally. There’s a number of stakeholders who have an opinion and we have those discussions internally and see where that goes. “As a company we feel motor racing is part of our DNA, but at the end of the day it needs to stand up as part of the marketing mix and something that the business feels is right for the brand.

“These days it’s a more robust discussion given that we’re trying to reinvent the brand and talking to different audiences. Some might argue that V8 Supercars holds us back to a degree, but at the end of the day we will have an all-new car, we will have an all-new package and we’re looking to lead the way.” Which means Holden isn’t at the same risk as Ford, which has officially left the sport for the time being. Whichever round we are up to in the Ford versus Holden battle, it would appear it is now leaning very heavily towards Holden. But is it a knockout blow? Logic says yes it is, but Johnson isn’t so sure it is over yet. With his new partners at Team Penske, he knows a commercial decision will drive the outcome, he doesn’t think the future of his team is written without blue blood, even if there is no Ford money at present. “It’s been a great journey for us over many years and I just hope like hell that it continues. I don’t want to be walking down the street and cop a hit in the back of the head with a Ford badge.”

BELOW: While Holden branding and support

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport minimal Ford branding on

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As a racing driver, Greg Murphy saw the highs and the lows of the sport, and through it all he wore his heart on his sleeve. At his peak, he was one of the most loved sportsmen in New Zealand and he divided opinion in Australia. He was known simply as Murph. Love him or hate him, his talent behind the wheel was never questioned. Four wins at Bathurst plus the greatest lap ever driven at the iconic centrepiece of the Australian motorsport world stand him near the top of the pile. That qualifying lap stood unmatched for more than a decade. He was runner-up in the V8 Supercar Championship twice and climbed to the top step of the podium 37 times in a V8 Supercar with wins in both Championship and nonChampionship events. He also won the Bathurst 24-hour race with childhood hero Peter Brock and scored back-to-back Championship wins in New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s V8SuperTourers. In the troughs, he stood on the wrong side of the officialdom, scoring the infamous five-

minute penalty at Bathurst as well as an erroneously applied drive through penalty at Winton that cost him a chance at winning the 2004 Championship. He also had to endure some tough times as a driver as teams buckled around him and fate dealt a cruel hand. He was fiery and never took a backward step, either on or off the track. His emotions carried him to a period of absolute domination at Pukekohe in New Zealand, and also took him to many a verbal stoush with rivals. Today, his honesty is known well enough to see him active in motorsport media on both sides of the Tasman. This is Greg Murphyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story.

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WORDS Adrian Musolino IMAGES Autopics.com.au, inetpics.com

Amongst the long list of racing Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores, there are certain models that stand out from the crowd for their success on track and popularity off it. These are the most influential and successful derivatives of our local duo.

R GT Aussie-made V8 Bathurst winner.

SUCCESS

The XR GTs locked out the front row in qualifying with Ian Geoghegan on pole from Gibson. Positions were reversed in the race results, with Gibson and Firth taking the win ahead of the Geoghegans, though lap-scoring confusion saw the Ford entries disagree over the winner. Intriguingly, the lap-time and winning margin over the leading Alfa was minimal.

LEGACY

10 XR FALCON GT

ON THE TRACK

ROAD DEBUT: 1966 RACE DEBUT: 1967 RACE WINS: None BATHURST WINS: 1967 CHAMPIONSHIPS: None

The Harry Firth-led Ford works team took the XR GT to Mount Panorama in 1967, having sat out the previous year. Three of the factory XR GTs entered, with Firth pairing up with last-minute recruit Fred Gibson; the first Australian-built V8s to enter the endurance classic.

ON THE ROAD

OPPOSITION

The XR marked the launch of the secondgeneration Falcon, dubbed the ‘Mustangbred Falcon’. It borrowed most of its styling cues from the North American version of the Falcon and was the first Australian Falcon to feature a V8 engine. The GT version of the XR, introduced in 1967, sourced its V8 engines from the Mustang.

The Ford works team faced off against the three-car factory-backed Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV challenge, in addition to a big field of Morris Coopers, the car that had dominated the Great Race the previous year. The factory-backed Holden HK Monaro GTS 327s raised the stakes into 1968, by which time the works Ford team had moved on to the XT Falcon GT.

The XR GT’s Great Race win in 1967 changed the face of the event. V8-powered cars were said to be too cumbersome and unreliable to tackle Mount Panorama before the XR GT’s success. The win was the first for an Australian V8-powered at Mount Panorama and paved the way for the Holden and Ford V8 battles that would follow.

9 EL FALCON ROAD DEBUT: 1996 RACE DEBUT: 1997 RACE WINS: 19 BATHURST WINS: 1998 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1997

ON THE ROAD

The final iteration of the fifth-generation Falcon, which started with the EA, saw Ford Australia attempt to refine the EF with a focus on driveability. There were also some styling changes to the EL, most noticeably a new-look front grille.

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ON THE TRACK

Glenn Seton took the EL to the championship win in 1997.

A limited-production version of the XA, the GTHO Phase IV, fell victim to the ‘supercar scare’ that put an end to extra-high-performance models being made for the road but with motorsport considerations at the forefront. So Ford opted to race the twodoor hardtop coupe under modified Group C regulations from 1973, led by factory driver Allan Moffat.

OPPOSITION

Holden entrants were running the 1972 Bathurst-winning Torana LJ GTR XU-1 by the time the XA GT debuted and into the 1973 Bathurst 1000. They upgraded to the LH Torana SL/R 5000 by 1974, by which time some of the few Ford runners moved on to the XB.

ON THE TRACK

The EL’s introduction came off the back of a dominant season for the Holden Racing Team in 1996, so the pressure was on Ford teams. Glenn Seton Racing ran just one EL for owner-driver Glenn Seton, while Dick Johnson Racing, Larkham Motor Sport, Alan Jones Racing and Longhurst Racing also contested the season in ELs.

OPPOSITION

The EL debuted alongside the VS Commodore in 1997 and raced through to the end of the 1998 season, by which time the VT beat the AU onto the race track. Holden retained numerical advantage in these seasons, significantly outnumbering Ford-backed teams, though the General was without rookie sensation Craig Lowndes, who ventured to Europe in 1997.

8 XA FALCON GT ROAD DEBUT: 1972 RACE DEBUT: 1973 RACE WINS: None BATHURST WINS: 1973, 1974 CHAMPIONSHIPS: None

ON THE ROAD

The first version of the third-generation Falcon was the first to be completely designed and manufactured in Australia. The XA featured an all-new body shape compared to the preceding XY, including a two-door hardtop. The so-called ‘Coke bottle’ shape would become a trademark of the XB and XC that followed.

SUCCESS

The XA GT continued the winning pedigree of its predecessor, the Falcon XY GTHO Phase III. Moffat and Ian Geoghegan overcame the Holden Torana GTR XU-1 challenge at Mount Panorama in 1973, the first Bathurst endurance to run to 1000km. Despite Ford’s withdrawal and the upgraded XB debuting, John Goss and Kevin Bartlett took the McLeod Ford privateer XA GT to a second Bathurst win in 1974.

LEGACY

After the stillborn Falcon GTHO Phase IV, the weight of expectation fell on the XA GT to continue the success of the XY GTHO Phase III. The XA GT did so at Mount Panorama, at least, crucially winning for the Blue Oval despite the withdrawal of a

SUCCESS

Ford entrants took the EL to a one-two in the 1997 championship, with Seton winning as a single-car entrant ahead of Dick Johnson Racing’s John Bowe. The EL added a Bathurst 1000 win in the hands of Stone Brothers Racing’s Jason Bright and Steven Richards in 1998.

LEGACY

The EL’s success proved crucial for Seton and the brand, considering he had downsized to one entry with Ford helping out as a sponsor. The EL’s Bathurst win was the only Ford victory between 1995 and 2005, while the EL disrupted the Holden Racing Team’s run of championships (six from seven from 1996 to 2002)

The XA won a second consecutive Bathurst in 1974.

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6 FG FALCON

T E championship winner of the V8 era.

ROAD DEBUT: 2008 RACE DEBUT: 2009 RACE WINS: 55 BATHURST WINS: 2013, 2014 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2009, 2010

ON THE ROAD

factory-backed presence. The XA GT helped launch the success that followed with the XB and XC. Also, the XA is the only non-V8 Supercar Falcon to win the Great Race on more than one occasion.

7 EB FALCON ROAD DEBUT: 1991 RACE DEBUT: 1992 RACE WINS: 21 BATHURST WINS: 1994 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1993

ON THE ROAD

The second iteration of the fifth-generation Falcon that launched in 1991 was almost identical to its EA predecessor. However, while the styling was very similar, the EB was the first Falcon road car to be powered by a V8 since the XE that debuted back in 1982.

ON THE TRACK

SUCCESS

The EB dominated the 1993 championship with seven from nine round wins, as Glenn Seton Racing claimed a one-two in the standings led by Glenn Seton himself. After missing out on the championship into 1994, the EB triumphed at Mount Panorama in the hands of Dick Johnson and John Bowe.

LEGACY

The success of the EB in that 1993 season proved vital for Ford and the series, considering the imbalance in favour of Holden in terms of grid numbers. With Glenn Seton Racing winning a title and Dick Johnson Racing a Bathurst in the EB, Ford’s V8 campaign started strongly and the competitiveness between the two makes legitimised the new-look series.

The seventh and what would be final generation of the Falcon launched with the FG in 2008. The FG borrowed many of its styling cues from the preceding BF. However, as the last generation Falcon, Ford Australia rejigged its range. Given the uncertainty over local production at the time of its launch, the FG spent six years as the designated Falcon before the introduction of restyled FG X in 2014.

ON THE TRACK

The FG replaced the championship and Bathurst-winning BF for the 2009 season. But it entered the fray just as Ford Australia decided to pull funding from Triple Eight and that team ran without Ford branding in 2009 before defecting to Holden in 2010. The FG remained in service into the Car of the Future era, when its body panels were adapted to the control chassis used by all entrants.

OPPOSITION

The FG faced off against the VE Commodore from its introduction in 2009 until the conclusion of 2012, the final season of the exclusive Falcon versus

The Triple Eight-built FG won the title two years in a row.

The Falcon had been benched in the eightyear Group A era, so the new-look V8 class paved the way for the return of the Falcon, starting with the EB. The model debuted in the 1992 endurance races and underwent some aerodynamic upgrades heading into the 1994 season. The cars of the new formula featured multi-link live rear axles with large spoilers and rear wings and were powered by five-litre V8s.

OPPOSITION

The EB faced off against Holden’s VP Commodore in the first season of the V8 regulations. While Ford’s challenge centred on Glenn Seton Racing and Dick Johnson Racing, Holden teams included the Holden Racing Team, Gibson Motorsport, Perkins Engineering, Advantage Racing and more. 54

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Holden runners updated to the VZ into 2005, the final year the BA was the Falcon of choice for the leading Ford teams.

SUCCESS

The BA was an instant hit, with Stone Brothers Racing’s Marcos Ambrose winning the championship in 2003. He backed that up in 2004, while teammate Russell Ingall made it a three-peat for the BA in 2005. Triple Eight added a Bathurst win to its tally thanks to Triple Eight’s Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup victory in 2006.

LEGACY Marcos Ambrose won his two titles in the BA.

Commodore era ahead of the introduction of the Car of the Future. By then the opposition included the Nissan Altima, AMG Mercedes-Benz E63 and Volvo Polestar S60.

SUCCESS

The FG won the title on debut with Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup in 2009. And even when the team defected to Holden the following season, Dick Johnson Racing’s James Courtney took a Triple Eight-built FG to the championship in 2010. Factory team Ford Performance Racing added two Bathurst 1000s to the FG’s list of wins, led by Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

LEGACY

The FG’s championship success came at a time when Ford Australia’s funding decreased and marked the end of an era with Triple Eight. Courtney’s win for fan-favourite Dick Johnson Racing gave Ford fans hope, despite the funding shortfall, while the FG broke factory team Ford Performance Racing’s Bathurst 1000 drought. Its longevity means the FG is the most successful Ford racer in terms of race wins.

5 BA FALCON

sixth-generation Falcon and a significant change from the AU. Ford sought to revitalise the range following the mixed reviews for the AU with substantially revised styling featuring cues from the fifth generation E-series, in addition to mechanical upgrades to the engine, transmission and suspension.

ON THE TRACK

The BA racer would be built to the Project Blueprint regulations, ensuring parity with the Commodore through the use of the same design blueprint, suspension pick-up points, common front axle weight, common front undertrays and rear wing chords from 2003. Ford’s increased support of V8 Supercars at the start of that decade saw a strong line-up of teams, including the newlook factory outfit Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers Racing.

OPPOSITION

The BA’s introduction coincided with the debut of Holden’s VY Commodore and saw an even spread of Commodores and Falcons throughout the grid. The leading

The success of the BA revitalised the Ford versus Holden battle following on from the Holden Racing Team’s five-year championship run. The BA was a marked improvement on the AU, assisted by Project Blueprint, allowing Stone Brothers Racing and Triple Eight to emerge from the Holden Racing Team’s shadow. The BA also set the foundations of its Bathurst and championship-winning model that followed, the BF.

4 XB GT FALCON ROAD DEBUT: 1973 RACE DEBUT: 1974 RACE WINS: 15 BATHURST WINS: None CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1976, 1977

ON THE ROAD

The XB was the second version of the third-generation Falcon and retained much of the styling and specifications of the preceding XA. There was a noticeable change in the grille with minor updates to the body panels and new front disc brakes.

ON THE TRACK

Ford Australia pulled out of motorsport at the end of the 1973 season, leaving Allan The XB GT didn’t win at Bathurst, but did the job in the championship.

ROAD DEBUT: 2002 RACE DEBUT: 2003 RACE WINS: 51 BATHURST WINS: 2006 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2003, 2004, 2005

ON THE ROAD

The BA was the second version of the 55

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Moffat, John Goss and Fred Gibson to run XB GTs, complete with the updated body trims, as privateer entrants. Ford would reinstate its funding to Moffat in 1976.

The Phase III became a Ford

OPPOSITION

The Holden entrants were in the midst of transitioning from the LJ Torana GTR XU-1 to the LH Torana SL/R 5000 when the XB GT debuted. The Holden Dealer Team led the way for the General, though Peter Brock would split with the team following the 1974 season.

SUCCESS

The XB GT kept pace with the betterfunded Holden teams in 1974, with Moffat winning two rounds. But the XB GT would truly hit its stride with the return of Ford funding. Moffat won the 1976 title in the year he rebranded as the Moffat Ford Dealers, going on to win the first six rounds of the 1977 season to set up backto-back championship wins.

LEGACY

The 1976 championship win was the start of a golden two-year period for Ford and Moffat. The XB GT benefitted from the return of factory funding with the crushing success in the 1977 championship setting up Ford’s most famous victory at Mount Panorama later that year.

3 XC FALCON ROAD DEBUT: 1976 RACE DEBUT: 1977 RACE WINS: Four BATHURST WINS: 1977 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1977

ON THE ROAD

The XC marked the third iteration of the third-generation Falcon that started with the XA. Ford yet again tinkered with the styling of the model, including a reprofiled front-end with a reworked grille and headlight setup.

OPPOSITION

As the likes of Moffat upgraded from the XB GT to the XC, so too did the Holden entrants from the LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 to the LX Torana SS A9X during the 1977 championship and at Mount Panorama and through to 1979.

SUCCESS

The XC continued where the XB GT left off with two race wins into the second half of the 1977 season as Moffat wrapped up the championship. Moffat, co-driver Jacky Ickx and teammates Colin Bond and Alan Hamilton took the XC to a one-two formation finish at Mount Panorama that season. Two more championship race wins followed for Moffat in 1978.

LEGACY

The XC may not have had the number of successes or longevity of other models, but its role in the famed formation finish at Mount Panorama ensured its place in Blue Oval folklore. The XC rounded out an incredibly successful spell for the thirdgeneration Falcon (XA, XB, XC), which won a total of two championships and three Bathurst 1000s in a five-year spell, despite Ford’s flaky support in this era.

2 XY GTHO PHASE III ROAD DEBUT: 1971 RACE DEBUT: 1971 RACE WINS: Six BATHURST WINS: 1971 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973

ON THE ROAD

The Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III was built for homologation purposes and featured an upgraded engine, gearbox, differential, brakes and handling package, all with an eye on racing success. The XY, the fourth and final iteration of the second-generation Falcon, was an upgrade of the XW with a new-look grille and headlights.

ON THE TRACK

The Phase III marked a significant improvement over the preceding XW, with Allan Moffat lapping 11 seconds faster at Mount Panorama in the XY at a faster average speed than the previous lap record. Most of those gains were in handling and under brakes. The XY became the Falcon of choice into Group C from 1973, replacing the Mustang and Super Falcon (a version of the XW GTHO Phase II).

ON THE TRACK

Allan Moffat upgraded to the XC midway through the 1977 season and for the Bathurst 1000, equipped with a raft of upgrades such as new front and rear spoilers amongst other componentry. The XC remained in service following Ford Australia’s withdrawal of funding in 1978, while Cobra limited-edition versions of the models appeared in 1978.

The XC delivered Ford its most famous Bathurst success in 1977.

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OPPOSITION

The change from Improved Production to Group C meant the XY’s competition would come from the Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1, led by the Holden Dealer Team and its star driver Peter Brock.

SUCCESS

Moffat broke through for his first championship win in the XY GTHO Falcon Phase III in 1973, winning the first four rounds and holding on for the title despite his car being stolen at the Adelaide International Raceway round and later recovered. Moffat had already dominated at Mount Panorama in the Phase III in 1971, rewriting the record books with a commanding performance. Wet weather favoured the nimble Torana at Bathurst in 1972, though championship success would follow.

LEGACY

The XY GTHO Falcon Phase III’s significant gains in lap time at Mount Panorama showed the strength of the high-performance model. It marked a turning point for Australian touring cars into Group C and the beginning of Moffat’s long association with the Falcon. The racing success coupled with the value of the road-going versions made the model an all-time classic.

1 XD FALCON ROAD DEBUT: 1979 RACE DEBUT: 1980 RACE WINS: 12 BATHURST WINS: 1981 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1981, 1982

ON THE ROAD

The fourth generation of the Falcon launched with the XD in 1979, a significant styling departure from its XA, XB and XC predecessors. The XD featured a smaller body than the preceding models, inspired by the Ford Granada in Europe. In keeping with the new styling, Ford moved away from two-door hardtops by only offering the XD in four-door options.

ON THE TRACK

Without factory support, the XD appeared on the race track through the efforts of designer Wayne Draper and Bob McWilliam, who homologated the necessary equipment for the 5.8-litre V8 for privateers Murray Carter, Garry Willmington and, for the Bathurst 1000, Allan Moffat and Dick Johnson.

OPPOSITION

Holden debuted the Commodore on the race track under the updated Group C regulations in 1980. Though the XD was developed for a handful of privateers, the Commodore ran with the Holden Dealer Team amongst a group of Holden teams.

SUCCESS

The XD looked on course for an unlikely Bathurst win with Dick Johnson in 1980, until ‘The Rock’ got in the way. Johnson rebounded in spectacular fashion by defeating Peter Brock in head-to-head showdown for the title in 1981 before making amends with a Bathurst win. Johnson added a second championship win in 1982.

LEGACY

It took ‘The Rock’ incident for Ford Australia to reengage with Australian touring cars. The underdeveloped XD Falcon took it the Commodore at Bathurst in 1980, in doing so setting the foundations for the Falcon versus Commodore rivalry. Without Johnson and the XD, the rivalry might not have had developed at all.

Dick Johnson’s XD proved a turning point for the Ford Falcon.

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WORDS Adrian Musolino IMAGES inetpics.com

The Commodore has enjoyed success across the Group C, Group A and V8 Supercars eras. These are the most influential and successful Commodores from on and off the track.

10 VB COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 1978 RACE DEBUT: 1980 RACE WINS: Seven BATHURST WINS: None CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1980

ON THE ROAD

General Motors Holden managing director Chuck Chapman promised the all-new Commodore would “reshape the whole structure of the Australian passenger-car market” when it launched in 1978. The Commodore used GM’s V-body platform and was smaller and lighter than traditional Australian family cars and more fuel efficient, in response to the oil crisis of the 1970s. The VB won the title on debut in 1980.

ON THE TRACK

The Commodore made its motorsport debut off road in the Repco Reliability Trial, with Peter Brock leading home a Commodore one-two-three to highlight the model’s strong reliability. The Commodore debuted in the touring-car championship as a replacement for the Torana in 1980 under revised Group C regulations, though had been updated to the VC by the endurance events.

OPPOSITION

There was little in the way of competition for the VB in its championship debut in 1980. Privateers such as Murray Carter developed the Ford XD Falcon, though there was no Holden Dealer Team equivalent from Ford. Kevin Bartlett’s Chevrolet

Camaro Z28 emerged as Peter Brock’s closest rival in the championship.

SUCCESS

Following on from its Repco Reliability Trial success, the VB Commodore scored a dominant win in the 1980 Australian Touring Car Championship with the model winning five of eight rounds and Brock scoring a comfortable title victory, having finished either first or second in each round.

LEGACY

The VB kick-started the Commodore’s winning pedigree with the comfortable championship success in 1980. It’s cosmetic upgrade, the VC, continued that winning run at Mount Panorama later that year, but the Commodore would not win another title until the V8 era in 1994, meaning the VB remained the only championship-winning Commodore in Group C.

9 VY COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 2002 RACE DEBUT: 2003 RACE WINS: 23 BATHURST WINS: 2003, 2004 CHAMPIONSHIPS: None

ON THE ROAD

The VY was the third update to the thirdgeneration Commodore, introducing notable styling changes to the preceding VT and VX. Holden introduced more aggressive and angular lines to the front and rear, 58

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changes to the styling of the VP compared to the VN, though the VP was the first Commodore to offer an independent rear suspension.

Back-to-back Bathurst wins for the VY in 2003 and 2004.

ON THE TRACK

as opposed to the more rounded front and rear styling of the VT and VX models.

ON THE TRACK

The VY’s introduction coincided with the implementation of the Project Blueprint regulations, designed to create better parity between the Falcon and Commodore. The cars would share the same design blueprint such as suspension pickup points, common front axle weight, common front undertrays and rear wing chords. Off the track, the collapse of Tom Walkinshaw Racing would impact the fortunes of the Holden Racing Team in this era.

OPPOSITION

The VY faced stiff opposition against Ford’s new BA Falcon, a significant improvement on the preceding AU Falcon with the Project Blueprint rules guaranteeing greater parity between the models. Stone Brothers Racing’s Marcos Ambrose loomed as the VY’s greatest challenge into 2003.

Commodore’s winning run at Mount Panorama with its fifth and sixth win in a row in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Also, Greg Murphy’s ‘Lap of the Gods’ Shootout effort in 2003 ensured the VY’s place in Holden and Bathurst folklore.

8 VP COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 1991 RACE DEBUT: 1992 RACE WINS: 17 BATHURST WINS: 1993 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1994

ON THE ROAD

The VP marked the first upgrade of the second generation Commodore that began with the VN. There were only minor

The VP Commodore is where it all began for Holden teams into the V8 era in 1992. The five-litre V8-powered cars featuring multi-link live rear axles with large spoilers and rear wings set the groundwork for the series that became known as V8 Supercars. Gibson Motorsport, Holden Racing Team, Peter Brock’s Advantage Racing and Perkins Engineering were amongst the teams running the VP, though Larry Perkins did begin the 1993 season with the older VL model. The VP underwent aerodynamic changes in the second half of the 1993 season following the EB’s dominant start to the championship.

OPPOSITION

Ford teams began the V8 era with the EB Falcon, with the EB and VP models going head to head in both 1993 and 1994. Twolitre cars such as the BMW E30 M3 and Toyota Corolla Seca AE93 were permitted to race in 1993, though rarely troubled the V8s.

SUCCESS

Although the VP lost out to the EB in the 1993 championship battle, Perkins and co-driver Gregg Hansford took an updated VP powered by a locally developed engine to victory at Mount Panorama. Gibson Motorsport’s Mark Skaife took the championship win in 1994, though the Commodores lost out at Mount Panorama that year. T P Bathurst 1000 of the V8 era in 1993.

SUCCESS

The Project Blueprint regulations did result in better parity between the Commodore and Falcon, so the VY couldn’t emulate the dominance of the VT and VX. The BA defeated the VY to the championship in 2003 and 2004, though the VY claimed consecutive Bathurst 1000 wins in the hands of Kmart Racing’s Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly.

LEGACY

The VY may have lost out to the BA in the championship but it continued the 59

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LEGACY

The VP and EB models hold special places in the Australian touring-car history books, being the launching pads for the V8 era. The VP may have needed new-look front and rear wings to regain ground on the EB, but its success in 1994 came at a time when the EB underwent its own aero changes and Holden’s numerical advantage on the grid was starting to pay dividends.

7 VR COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 1993 RACE DEBUT: 1995 RACE WINS: 27 BATHURST WINS: 1995, 1996 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1996

ON THE ROAD

The VR marked the most significant upgrade to the second-generation Commodore and its predecessor, the VP. Holden claimed that more than 80 per cent of the VR was new, most noticeably the more rounded, aerofriendly body shape and the new twin-port grille design that became synonymous with its third-generation Commodore successor.

ON THE TRACK

The VR debuted at the start of the 1995 season and got off to unhappy start when defending champion Mark Skaife wrote off the new car in a pre-season testing crash, forcing him to miss the opening round with a back injury. The leading Holden teams ran the VR for the 1995 and 1996 seasons. The racing version of the VR saw the Commodore move away from the endplated rear wing and adopt central pillars.

Jamie Whincup took the VF to a maiden title win in 2013.

OPPOSITION

The VR’s introduction coincided with that of the EF Falcon in 1995, pitting the brands against one another in the first car upgrades of the V8 era. But while the VP to VR was a significant upgrade, the EB to EF represented a greater step up in terms of development.

SUCCESS

The VR was no match for the EF in the 1995 title race, though Skaife’s injuries and the peculiarities of a three-way tyre war also helped sway things Ford’s way. The VR went from last to first at Bathurst in the hands of Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall in 1995, while rookie Craig Lowndes lifted the Holden Racing Team to the top of the charts with a dominant 1996 season that included the championship, Sandown and Bathurst sweep. Craig Lowndes dominated the 1996 season with the VR.

LEGACY

The VR was the start of the Commodore’s dominance and elevated the factory-backed Holden Racing Team to the top of the General’s pecking order. Its grille and rear wing styling set the groundwork for what would follow into the third-generation Commodore, while Lowndes’ 1996 season remains the most successful for a driver in terms of wins in a year.

6 VF COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 2013 RACE DEBUT: 2013 RACE WINS: 77 BATHURST WINS: 2015 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2013, 2014

ON THE ROAD

The current VF is an evolution of the preceding VE model, retaining the GM Zeta platform base. The VF featured new front and rear styling, though retained the same body shell of the VE. The VF will be the final Australian-built Commodore.

ON THE TRACK

The VF debuted on the race track six months before the road-going version went on sale in order to coincide with the introduction of the Car of the Future regulations from 2013. The regulations enforced a control chassis across all entrants with the respective engine and body panels unique to each manufacturer. The VF race car notably saw a move to an end-plated rear wing structure. Seven Holden teams fielded the VF in 2013, increasing Holden’s numerical advantage. 60

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RX-7, BMW 635CSi, Nissan Bluebird and Chevrolet Camaro Z28, in the finals years of Group C.

The VH completed a Bathurst threepeat for the Holden Dealer Team.

SUCCESS

The VH lost out to the XD/XE Falcon and Mazda RX-7 in the championship but it was at Mount Panorama where the model would shine with back-to-back wins from the Holden Dealer Team in 1982 and 1983.

LEGACY

OPPOSITION

Ford team’s retained the FG Falcon into the Car of the Future era, eventually moving to the FG X from 2015. New manufacturers entered the fray in the form of the Nissan Altima, AMG Mercedes-Benz E63 and Volvo Polestar S60.

SUCCESS

The VF won the championship on debut with Jamie Whincup in 2013 and backed that up with another comfortable title success in 2014. And while the new FG X got the better of the VF in the championship in 2015, the Commodore prevailed at Mount Panorama with Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards. The Commodore’s numerical supremacy ensures the VF will continue to rack up race wins in 2016.

LEGACY

the debut of the VB. The VH featured a new-look front end with a new bonnet and front guards, reshaped headlamps and a more slanted grille.

ON THE TRACK

The VH first appeared during the 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship. The VH SS series, deliberately built around a base SL model, overcame the previous models’ weight issues with a big-valve/ light-body combination.

OPPOSITION

The VH faced off against the championship and Bathurst-winning XD Falcon and increased competition from other manufacturers, including the Mazda

The consecutive Bathurst 1000 wins continued the Holden Dealer Team’s dominant run at Mount Panorama. The upgrades to the VH SS series also highlighted the Holden Dealer Team and Peter Brock’s strength in homologating more competitive machinery, a strong link between the road and race track that netted such success for the Commodore.

4 VK COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 1984 RACE DEBUT: 1984 RACE WINS: Two BATHURST WINS: 1984, 1986 CHAMPIONSHIPS: None

ON THE ROAD

The VK marked another significant upgrade in the design of the first-generation Commodore, continuing the changes introduced in the VH. The VK featured sixwindow coachwork, as well as the use of polycarbonate in the bumper bars, spoilers and body-side mouldings. The VK in its iconic dayglo livery at Bathurst in 1984.

The final locally-built Commodore continues the nameplate’s legacy of racing success. The VF cemented the Commodore’s dominance of the V8 Supercars grid, despite the increased opposition from new manufacturers and the FG X Falcon.

5 VH COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 1981 RACE DEBUT: 1982 RACE WINS: Eight BATHURST WINS: 1982, 1983 CHAMPIONSHIPS: None

ON THE ROAD

The VH marked the first significant cosmetic changes to the Commodore since 61

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SUCCESS

The VE won the title on debut with the HSV Dealer Team’s Garth Tander, though it would truly come into its own when Triple Eight debuted the model from 2010 and added two further championships with Jamie Whincup in 2011 and 2012, plus four Bathurst wins on the trot. The VE is the only model to win more than 100 races in championship history.

LEGACY

The VE completed a Bathurst/ championship sweep in 2012.

ON THE TRACK

The VK made a shock debut for the 1984 endurance events, the final races before the switch from Group C to Group A. The VK underwent a reduction in crankshaft stroke to comply with Group A from 1985, while the VK SS Group A upgrade with a new 4.9-litre V8 would improve the Commodore’s competitiveness into 1986.

OPPOSITION

The VK faced off against a variety of machinery in the 1984 endurance events, including the XE Falcon, Mazda RX-7, Nissan Bluebird and BMW 635 CSi. Into Group A, the opposition from foreign makes increased in the form of the updated BMW 635 CSi, Volvo 240T, Nissan Skyline DR30 RS and the Ford Mustang.

SUCCESS

3 VE COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 2006 RACE DEBUT: 2007 RACE WINS: 103 BATHURST WINS: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2007, 2011, 2012

ON THE ROAD

The fourth generation of the Commodore began with the VE, designed entirely in Australia but underpinned by the GM Zeta global platform. The VE was longer, wider and higher with a longer wheelbase than its predecessors and was followed by the VE II update in 2010, featuring minor styling upgrades.

ON THE TRACK

The Holden Dealer Team’s Group C VKs steamrolled the opposition in the 1984 endurance events, including the famed one-two formation finish at Mount Panorama. Success dried up into Group A, though the VK Commodore SS Group A machine won in the hands of Allan Grice at Bathurst in 1986 following impressive performances with the car in European events.

The bulkier VE had to be trimmed by 93mm and mounted lower on the floor plan to comply with the Project Blueprint framework. The VE debuted in 2007 and remained in operation for six seasons, with Holden teams adopting the slight VE II changes in 2010. That season saw Triple Eight switch to running Commodores, a significant swing in favour of Holden over Ford in V8 Supercars.

LEGACY

OPPOSITION

The Holden Dealer Team’s 1984 VK Commodores, with their flared guards, dayglo livery and the one-two formation finish, are arguably the most loved Commodores amongst Holden fans. The fact the VK won Bathursts in both Group C and Group A guises ensures its place as one of the greats.

The VE’s introduction coincided with Ford team’s updating to the BF Falcon in 2007. But while the Ford teams retained the following model, the FG Falcon, into the Car of the Future era, the VE would be updated to the VE II before the switch to the VF in 2013.

The VE’s tenure coincided with Ford Australia’s reduced support to its V8 Supercars teams, which eventually led Triple Eight to Holden. But nevertheless, its longevity, multiple Bathurst and championship wins and 100-win milestone ensures its place amongst the best ever Commodores.

2 VT COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 1997 RACE DEBUT 1998 RACE WINS: 63 BATHURST WINS: 1999, 2000 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1998, 1999, 2000

ON THE ROAD

The third-generation Commodore launched with the all-new VT in 1997. Holden marketed the VT as “a design for the new millennium”. The longer and wider VT’s bodyshell was designed in Australia and the sleek look was well received in the marketplace, particularly against the unconventional Ford AU Falcon.

ON THE TRACK

The VT debuted in the final rounds of the 1998 season with the Holden Racing Team and Perkins Engineering ahead of its rollout across the other Holden teams the following season. The leading Holden outfits campaigned the VT for two full seasons before the implementation of the updated VX.

OPPOSITION

The VT’s early debut at the end of 1998 saw Holden beat Ford to the track with a new model as the AU Falcon didn’t roll out until the start of 1999. The modern design and success on and off the track of the VT trumped the struggling AU Falcon, giving Holden a significant advantage in the showrooms and in V8 Supercars.

SUCCESS

The VT made an immediate impact on

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Mark Skaife claimed a championship win in the VT’s swansong in 2000.

lights and grilles, though the VX differed little from the preceding VT.

ON THE TRACK

The VX debuted in the championship in 2001. Given the minimal changes from the VT, the VX rolled out across 13 Holden teams during the 2001 championship, led by the Holden Racing Team. It marked the final Commodore to race before the Project Blueprint rules came into force in 2003.

OPPOSITION

The Ford teams retained the AU Falcon when the VX debuted in 2001. In fact, Ford wouldn’t update the Falcon until the Project Blueprint regulations were introduced in 2003, by which time the leading Holden teams had moved on to the VY.

SUCCESS the championship, with Russell Ingall and Craig Lowndes taking out a round each in the final stages of 1998. The VT would win 25 of 28 rounds when it was the Holden teams’ model of choice, including successive Bathurst and championship wins in 1999 and 2000.

LEGACY

The VT launched the Holden Racing Team’s dominant era that continued into the introduction of the VX. Its success in contrast to the AU resulted in the most one-sided period of the V8 era. Impressively, too, the VT enjoyed success across a number of teams, including Garry Rogers Motorsport, Gibson

Motorsport, Perkins Engineering and Kmart Racing in addition to the Holden Racing Team.

1 VX COMMODORE ROAD DEBUT: 2000 RACE DEBUT: 2001 RACE WINS: 45 BATHURST WINS: 2001, 2002 CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2001, 2002

ON THE ROAD

Holden sought to maintain the success of the VT with the cosmetic upgrades for the VX. This included revised headlights, tail-

The VX dominated in both the championship and at Bathurst, with the Holden Racing Team’s Mark Skaife completing a sweep of both titles across 2001 and 2002. The VX won 19 of the 26 rounds held across those two seasons, led by Skaife’s VX (chassis number 45) nicknamed ‘The Golden Child’.

LEGACY

The VX’s success marked the height of the Holden Racing Team’s domination, forcing V8 Supercars to adopt better parity measures that manifested into Project Blueprint. The VX improved on an already strong base in the form of the VT, crushing the Falcon opposition in the most dominant spell by a model in the V8 era.

The dominant VX on the way to a second title in 2002.

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THOSE THAT MOVED WORDS Adrian Musolino IMAGES Autopics.com.au, inetpics.com

We often associate certain drivers with a particular manufacturer. But in actual fact, most of the greats have crossed the manufacturer divide and driven for both Ford and Holden. These are the most-notable defectors between the Blue Oval and the General. Torana SL/R 5000 at Mount Panorama in 1974. After racing Falcon hardtops, Richards moved across to the Holden Dealer Team and won three Bathursts in a row with Peter Brock. The Kiwi went on to win championships with BMW and Nissan and a further Bathurst with the Holden Racing Team, while his co-driving appearances included stints with Ford Tickford Racing and the Caterpillar-backed entry alongside John Bowe. Holden years: 1974-1975, 1978-1981, 1993-1998, 2002-2006 Ford years: 1976-1977, 1999-2001

IAN GEOGHEGAN PETER BROCK ▲ Holden’s greatest hero did the unthinkable and drove for other manufacturers following his disbanding of the Holden Dealer Team at the end of 1987. After a season running a BMW M3, Brock joined the Ford Sierra RS500 brigade in 1989 and 1990. Brock also ran a V8 Ford XF Falcon in the AUSCAR series before he teamed up with former co-driver Larry Perkins and returned to the Holden fold from 1991.

team from 1976 began an association with the Blue Oval that continues to this day. Holden years: 1970-1976 Ford years: 1976-2000

JIM RICHARDS Richards rose to prominence with his performance in the rain in a Holden LH

Geoghegan notched up five championship wins and a Bathurst 1000 victory for the Blue Oval. He’s best remembered for his dominant run in the Mustang that netted four consecutive championships from 1966 to 1969. But later in his career, Geoghegan drove Holden Monaros, Toranas and Commodores in touring cars, sports sedans and at Mount Panorama. He also drove a Holden 48-215 in the inaugural Australian

Holden years: 1969-1987, 1991-1997, 2002, 2004 Ford years: 1989-1990

DICK JOHNSON u The Ford legend’s career started in a FJ Holden at Lakeside International Raceway, progressing into a Torana for his Australian Touring Car Championship debut in 1970 and Mount Panorama debut in 1973. He even made a one-off appearance for the Holden Dealer Team in 1974 before his link up with Bryan Byrt’s Ford 64

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champion following his success in HT Monaro GTS350 in 1970, becoming the first and only one of two drivers along with Jamie Whincup to win titles for Ford and Holden. Holden years: 1963-1964, 1969-1972 Ford years: 1965

JAMIE WHINCUP Touring Car Championship single-event decider at Gnoo Blas in 1960. Holden years: 1960, 1977-1978, 1980 Ford years: 1963-1975, 1981

ALLAN MOFFAT ▲ Like Dick Johnson, we associate Moffat with the Blue Oval and his heroics in Falcons at Mount Panorama. But when Ford pulled funding for Moffat’s team, he looked elsewhere with brief flirtations with Holden. Moffat joined Bob Morris in a Ron Hodgson-prepared Holden Torana A9X for the AMSCAR Series at Amaroo Park in 1979, before signing on with former rival the Holden Dealer Team for the Sandown 400 in 1980. He teamed with Peter Brock for selected international events and Bathurst in 1986 and world-championship rounds in 1987, though returned to Ford with the Sierra RS500 for his final driving appearances. Ford years: 1969-1980, 1988-1989 Holden years: 1979-1980, 1986-1987

BOB JANE Jane won championships for both Jaguar and Chevrolet, but spent considerable time in Fords and Holdens across a variety of categories. Jane and Harry Firth won the first Armstrong 500 at Mount Panorama in a Ford Cortina MkI GT in 1963 and backed that up with another win alongside George Reynolds in 1964. Within the championship, Jane campaigned Ford Mustangs and spent his final seasons in a Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1. Ford years: 1960, 1962-1970 Holden years: 1971, 1973-1977

NORM BEECHEY ‘Stormin’ Norm’ raced a wide variety of machinery in a career highlighted by his spectacular driving style. He was the first V8-powered champion driving a Ford Mustang in 1965 and the first Holden

Whincup’s early years were spent in Commodores at Garry Rogers Motorsport, Perkins Engineering and Tasman Motorsport before his career-defining switch to Triple Eight’s Ford Falcons. It was with the Blue Oval that he won his first two championships and three Bathurst 1000s before Triple Eight’s switch to Holden in 2010 saw him return to Commodores and become the second driver in history to win the championship for both manufacturers. Holden years: 2002-2005, 2010-2016 Ford years: 2006-2009

LARRY PERKINS Perkins’ long association with Holden began with a stint as a co-driver to Mount Panorama regular Peter Janson. A successful spell with the Holden Dealer Team netted three Bathurst 1000 wins in a row with Peter Brock. But before he formed his own Holden-backed Perkins Engineering team, Perkins partnered Dick Johnson in the Ford Mustang at Sandown and Bathurst in 1985 for his only drives with the Blue Oval. Holden years: 1977-2003 Ford years: 1985

CRAIG LOWNDES u The protégé of Peter Brock became an instant Holden hero with his immediate success for the General and link to the ‘King of the Mountain’. But, like Brock, Lowndes shocked the establishment with a spell in Fords. Lowndes, with the support of Ford Australia, left the Holden Racing Team and switched to Gibson Motorsport in 2001 for what would be a nine-year stint in Falcons, including a spell at Ford Performance Racing before moving to Triple Eight. It wasn’t until 2010 and Triple Eight’s decision to run Holdens that saw Lowndes return to the General. Holden years: 1994-2000, 2010-2016 Ford years: 2001-2009

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THOSE THAT MOVED

replacement for James Courtney and Chaz Mostert respectively in 2015. Holden years: 1990, 1994-2002, 2008-2015 Ford years: 2003-2007, 2015

KEVIN BARTLETT

GLENN SETON ▲ Seton started out in a Ford Capri alongside his Bathurst-winning father, Bo. And he continued the family’s Blue Oval links when, after a stint with Nissan, he set up his own Glenn Seton Racing and ran Ford Sierra RS500s from 1989. The Ford association continued into the V8 era, leading to two championship wins before the team morphed into Ford Performance Racing. But Seton ended his career in Commodores with spells as an endurance co-driver with the Holden Racing Team and Kelly Racing. Ford years: 1983-1984, 1989-2006 Holden years: 2007-2008, 2010

ALLAN GRICE Grice took two of Holden’s most memorable wins in his own privateer entry in 1986 and in the Holden Racing Team’s first attempt in 1990. But while most of his career was spent in Toranas and Commodores, with a brief interlude with JPS Team BMW, Grice joined Ford teams Dick Johnson Racing, Glenn Seton Racing and Alan Jones Racing in the endurance events from 1994 to 1996. This included two runners-up finishes at Sandown and Bathurst with Glenn Seton Racing in 1995, meaning he stood on the Mount Panorama podium for both Holden and Ford.

from Dick Johnson Racing following his championship success in 2010 to sign for the Holden Racing Team. Taking the #1 plate with him from the battling Ford team to the factory Holden team left the Blue Oval faithful bitter towards the championship winner. His long-term stint with the Holden Racing Team has solidified that bitterness. Holden years: 2005, 2011-2016 Ford years: 2006-2010

RUSSELL INGALL Ingall caused a storm when he ended an eight-year association with Holden’s Perkins Engineering and defected to Ford’s Stone Brothers Racing in a relationship that would net a long-awaited title for ‘The Enforcer’ in 2005. Even in ‘retirement’ Ingall drove for factory teams the Holden Racing Team and Prodrive Racing Australia as an injury

We often associate Bartlett’s touring-car career with the Channel Nine-backed Chevrolet Camaro Z28. But Bartlett also drove both Fords and Holdens, winning the 1974 Bathurst 1000 alongside John Goss in the Ford XA Falcon GT in 1974 before a number of appearances in Toranas, while his final races at Mount Panorama were in Bob Forbes-prepared Holden Commodores. Holden years: 1963, 1969, 1976-1978,1988, 1990 Ford years: 1971, 1973-1975, 1983

WILL DAVISON Davison defected early in his career when his brief stint with Holden’s Team Dynamik ended abruptly and he signed with Ford’s Dick Johnson Racing. He had stints with factory teams, the Holden Racing Team and Ford Performance Racing, and returns to a Holden with Tekno Autosports in 2016. Holden years: 2004, 2009-2010, 2016 Ford years: 2005-2008, 2011-2013

COLIN BOND ▼ Bond’s move from the Holden Dealer Team to Allan Moffat’s Ford team in 1977 was

Holden years: 1972-1980, 1982-1993, 1995, 1997 Ford years: 1994-1996

JAMES COURTNEY Courtney had already switched between Holden and Ford by the time he walked away 66

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one of the high-profile defections of the seventies. The Holden protégé may have won his only Bathurst in a Monaro but he also spent five years in a Ford Sierra RS500 and played a key role in Ford’s one-two formation finish at Mount Panorama in 1977. Holden years: 1969-1976, 1983-1984, 1994 Ford years: 1977-1982, 1988-1992

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN u Van Gisbergen looked set for a long and distinguished career with the Blue Oval. After starting out with Team Kiwi Racing, he moved to Stone Brothers Racing for what appeared a perfect match with Kiwi team owners Ross and Jim Stone. But van Gisbergen’s controversial split with the team ahead of its changeover to Erebus Motorsport saw the rising star move across to Tekno Autosports and Holden. His future appears tied to the General with his promotion to Triple Eight in 2016. Ford years: 2007-2012 Holden years: 2013-2016

FRED GIBSON Gibson and Harry Firth gave the Ford Falcon and Australian-built V8 muscle cars their first Bathurst win in 1967, the highlight of Gibson’s driving career that included stints in Falcons and the Nissan Bluebird. Gibson also drove a King George Tavern-backed Holden LX Torana SL/R 5000 A9X in the 1979 Bathurst 1000. Ford years: 1967-1974, 1977, 1980 Holden years: 1979

BOB MORRIS ▼ Morris won Bathurst and the championship in Ron Hodgson-prepared Holden

Toranas, but before that he raced at Mount Panorama alongside father Ray Morris in a Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III in 1971. Morris returned to Falcons following Hodgson’s withdrawal from racing, scoring a second place in the Bathurst 1000 in a Ford XD Falcon in 1981. Holden years: 1970, 1973-1980, 1983 Ford years: 1971, 1977, 1980-1982

TONY LONGHURST After rising to prominence with JPS Team BMW, Longhurst and Tomas Mezera gave the Ford Sierra RS500 its first Bathurst win in 1988. Longhurst’s Benson & Hedges Racing ran a Holden VP Commodore in 1994 before a switch to Falcons. As an endurance co-driver, Longhurst won a second Bathurst title with Mark Skaife at the Holden Racing Team in 2001, a year after he almost won the Great Race in a Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon. Ford years: 1988-1990, 1995-2000, 2002 Holden years: 1994, 2001, 2003-2004, 2006-2007

JASON BRIGHT One of the most active defectors in the V8 Supercars era, Bright left Ford and replaced Craig Lowndes at the Holden Racing Team in 2001; a move that flew under the radar of Lowndes’ switch. Bright drove for both factory Holden and Ford outfits following a move to Ford Performance Racing, though he returned to Holden after a stint running Fords with his own Britek outfit with his move to Brad Jones Racing in 2010. Holden years: 1997, 2001-2004, 2010-2016 Ford years: 1997-2000, 2005-2009

JOHN HARVEY The 1983 Bathurst-winning co-driver spent the majority of his career as the loyal number two to Peter Brock at the Holden Dealer Team. But before that association, Harvey drove for Bob Jane’s team that included a drive in a Ford Mustang in the 1969 championship. Ford years: 1969 Holden years: 1971-1988

STEVEN RICHARDS Richards became the first driver to win the Great Race at Mount Panorama in both a Ford and Holden, achieving the feat in consecutive years with Stone Brothers Racing and Gibson Motorsport in 1998 and 1999 respectively. Following a full-time career split between the two makes, Richards went on to win Bathursts with Ford and Holden as an endurance co-driver in 2013 and 2015. Holden years: 1994-2000, 2002-2006, 2014-2016 Ford years: 2001, 2007-2013

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THOSE THAT STAYED

Marcos Ambrose

Mark Skaife Mark Winterbottom

Greg Murphy

THE LOYALISTS

While many of the greats have driven both Fords and Holdens, there is a small group of prominent drivers who have remained loyal to a single manufacturer in the V8 era.

here’s a perception that the drivers of yesteryear were more brand loyal than their counterparts of today. But as we’ve just seen, the likes of Brock, Moffat, Johnson, Perkins, Richards and co defected at one point or another. In many cases, it’s drivers from the V8 Supercars era that stuck with either Ford or Holden. As manufacturer alliance became more important in the Falcon and Commodore era, loyalty to a particular make increased. Mark Skaife, for example, joined the Holden brigade when Gibson Motorsport moved on from the Nissan Skyline GT-R and raced Commodores from 1993. Skaife became entrenched within the Holden camp in his multiple Bathurst and championship-winning spell with the Holden Racing Team, which included assuming the role of team owner. Greg Murphy also remained loyal to Holden through stints with seven differ-

ent teams and began and ended his career with the Holden Racing Team. When Kelly Racing signed on to race Nissan Altimas, Murphy’s Holden allegiance forced him to move elsewhere. Garth Tander can also claim Holden exclusivity in his V8 Supercars career, from his debut with Garry Rogers Motorsport through to his inclusion in the factorybacked HSV Dealer Team and Holden Racing Team. Brothers Todd and Rick Kelly were both products of the Holden Young Lions driver-development program and never drove in Fords, remaining loyal to Holden until their Kelly Racing operation partnered with Nissan Australia to run the Altima from 2013. On the Ford side of the fence, John Bowe stuck with the Blue Oval from the time he signed on to drive with Dick Johnson Racing in 1988 to his final season in the series with Paul Cruickshank Racing in 2007.

Marcos Ambrose became an instant Ford hero when he ended the Holden Racing Team’s rule and won consecutive championships for Stone Brothers Racing in 2003 and 2004. He only ever drove Falcons in his V8 career, including in his brief comeback with DJR Team Penske. Mark Winterbottom’s relationship with the Blue Oval dates back to winning the Ford Kart Stars scholarship championship in 2001, which earned him a factorybacked drive in the Australian Formula Ford Championship. He went on to debut in V8 Supercars with Stone Brothers Racing and continued his relationship with Ford at Larkham Motor Sport before promotion to the Ford Performance Racing team in 2006. But these drivers are in the minority when it comes to brand loyalty. And it remains to be seen whether the current drivers will remain with either Holden or Ford exclusively through the rest of their careers.

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DUNLOP SERIES

STARS OF TOMORROW The Dunlop Development Series is undergoing a refresh in 2016, with the introduction of Car of the Future racers and a new crop of youngsters. While the likes of Cameron Waters, Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Scott Pye have moved out and cemented â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rising starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tags in the main game, moving in is a young batch of drivers with varying experiences. Some have useful links to main-game teams, others have strong backing behind them. But they all share one common goal, a full-time seat in the V8 Supercars championship. WORDS John Bannon IMAGES V8 Supercars, James Baker

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GARRY JACOBSON

JAMES GOLDING

CHELSEA ANGELO

JOSH KEAN

2015 championship result: 6th with Eggleston Motorsport

2015 championship result: 10th with Garry Rogers Motorsport

2015 championship result: 33rd with THR Developments

2015 championship result: 19th with Brad Jones Racing

The 24-year-old enters his fourth Dunlop Series campaign with his best shot at the title after two strong years at Eggleston Motorsport. The battle with his equally experienced stablemate Jack Le Brocq in the championshipwinning Prodrive Racing Australia Ford FG X Falcons should be a highlight throughout the season. He says: “I had a chat with Tim Edwards [Prodrive boss] at the end of last year and here we are. “I think the tie-in from Dunlop Series to main game from drivers to engineers is a lot closer now, so it’s a great experience for me. “I’m very hungry to succeed this year. I’ve had some bad luck with injuries, but I’ve put it all behind me now. I train very hard with Phil Young and GP Human Performance. “I’ve also been working with sports psychologist Noel Blundell. And I can’t wait to execute it in a championshipwinning car.”

The apprentice mechanic at Garry Rogers Motorsport will have a busy season. When he’s not racing in the Dunlop Series, he’ll be changing tyres during V8 Supercars races. A podium in the seasonopener in Adelaide in the VF Commodore would have impressed renowned talent spotter Garry Rogers. He says: “Garry went to a few of my Formula Ford races in my last year. So he started to look at me a little bit closer. “I then had a go in a ride car at a test day, which gave me a chance. Garry obviously believes I can do it, which gives me a bit of confidence as well. “A lot of guys really struggle to get sponsorship. So I’m really fortunate that Garry gave me a go, otherwise I’d be by myself with the family support and we probably wouldn’t be here today. I’m really trying to get top-five finishes at every race. We’ve only got seven rounds, so you can’t afford to have a DNF.”

After an impressive stint in Australian Formula 3 in 2014, which netted seven race wins, Angelo had a one-off run in the Dunlop Series last year. With a full-year program locked in with a VE Commodore with Dragon Motor Racing, the Victorian will be keen to replicate her single-seater form in a V8 Supercar. She says: “I did my first V8 Supercar race with THR Developments last year and unfortunately we couldn’t raise a budget to race fulltime. “We had 12 months off but luckily we had a test day with Image Racing in November. We then got in touch with Tony Klein, who owns Dragon Motor Racing, and he signed us up for a full-time gig. “It’s good to have that connection, whether it’s advice from the drivers, help from the engineers, access to the data or getting to know Garry (Rogers) and Barry (Rogers); they’re always a great help.”

Entering his third full-time season in the Dunlop Series, Kean put his rivals on notice by qualifying his VF Commodore on the front row of the grid for the first race in Adelaide. Aided by racing in the Brad Jones Racing stable, the South Australian will be hoping to convert his speed into results. He says: “It’s great to be involved with a team like BJR. The backing is great, the support and having the Jones boys with me. “We work well as a team. They give you everything you need. The feedback they can give you, the cars they can offer you, the whole package is just phenomenal. “We’ve also got some good connections in Wynn’s. They came on board this year and want to back us the whole way. “If Macauley (Jones) and I can both push forward together, hopefully we can both drive for these guys in the main series one day.”

#6 Prodrive Racing Australia

#99 Wilson Security Payce GRM

#34 Dragon Motor Racing

#21 Brad Jones Racing

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DUNLOP SERIES

Jack Le Brocq

Alex Rullo

Todd Hazelwood

Anton De Pasquale

Shae Davies

JACK LE BROCQ

ALEX RULLO

2015 championship result: 3rd with MW Motorsport

Dunlop Series debut in 2016

#5 Prodrive Racing Australia

Arguably this year’s championship favourite, the 2012 Australian Formula Ford champion is contesting his third Dunlop Series championship. The switch from Matthew White Motorsport to Prodrive Racing Australia and an FG X Falcon should see him improve on the third in the standings he achieved last season. He says: “It’s really good to be with Prodrive Racing Australia. “We’ve got a great new sponsor on board in Go Getta Equipment Funding. It was all sorted last year going into the Christmas break. “Knowing what we were going to do has been good and has enabled us to relax and go fresh into the season. “It really stabilises where we are and hopefully we can go on and win some races and the championship. “It’s really good to come in here with some good competition.”

#62 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport was quick to snap up the youngest driver to ever enter the Dunlop Series, after he took two wins and finished second in the Kumho Series last year. At just 15, Rullo will benefit from mentoring by Clipsal 500 and Bathurst winner Nick Percat, racing a VF Commodore. He says: “Dad has worked with Lucas to get sponsors for the car, so we’re very lucky to have Castrol on board. “The livery is based on the Perkins Castrol cars, so it’s pretty cool. “It’s really good having the main-game association. Nick [Percat] is mentoring me this year, which helps a lot. “I’m learning the car and the track a lot quicker than I would by myself. “I also go to debriefs and work with the team, so it’s a big bonus. “I’m just at an early age but I’d love to race V8 Supercars, so I need to get my experience up as soon as possible.”

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TODD HAZELWOOD

ANTON DE PASQUALE

SHAE DAVIES

RICHARD MUSCAT

2015 championship result: 4th with Matt Stone Racing

Dunlop Series debut in 2016

2015 championship result: 8th with Matt Stone Racing

Dunlop Series debut in 2016

#35 iSEEK Racing

The 20-year-old returns for his third season in the Dunlop Series with Matt Stone Racing and drives an ex-Tekno Autosports VF Commodore. Hazelwood boasts an impressive resume, which includes winning the Shannons Supercar Showdown. He says: “In that first year we got the Mike Kable young gun award for the best performance on and off-track and that was one of the biggest highlights of my career. “I’ve always worked on my sponsors, but sponsorship in V8 Supercars is a whole new level. Last year we did 95 fundraiser barbecues, so I certainly know how to cook a sausage! “Last year we made a statement with probably not the best equipment and we got the job done. “This year we are running a Triple Eight car and we’re trying to utilise that Triple Eight technical partnership as best as we can.”

#67 Paul Morris Motorsport

The open-wheeler ace makes his debut in the Dunlop Series in an FG Falcon for Paul Morris Motorsport after two years in Europe. The 2013 Australian Formula Ford champion and 2014 Formula Renault 1.6 champ will take over the #67 from team boss Morris, who isn’t contesting the Dunlop Series this year. He says: “I’d like to attempt to make a career here in Australia and the Dunlop Series is where we decided to go with Paul Morris Motorsport. “I think most importantly I need to help myself. I have to be fast, not crash and do all the little things well. Paul has lot of connections on and off the track for momentum to go into the main series; having someone who is experienced in that obviously helps. “It is a learning year. But at the same time you don’t go around saying I’m just going to learn, you always chase the lap time, chase positions and race wins.”

#90 MW Motorsport

Davies enters his second full-time season of the Dunlop Series after finishing an impressive eighth last year. The former Kumho Series champ and Carrera Cup racer will be hoping the switch from Matt Stone Racing to MW Motorsport in an FG Falcon will see him challenge for podiums and race wins. He says: “I started quite late in my career. I didn’t drive a race car until I was 20. Matt [White] is a great guy; he’s a straight shooter, which is probably something I need. “Some people try and gloss over it for you and make your results sound better than they are. Matt calls it as it is and I respect that. Chris Jewell helps me out with the career development side of things, opening up some doors for us and he was the spearhead in getting this deal. “He’s done great with Cam Waters, so hopefully we can follow that path. I’d like to think we can have a good topfive year and podiums.”

#44 Wilson Security Payce GRM

The Victorian makes his Dunlop Series debut this year in a VF Commodore with Garry Rogers Motorsport after securing a string of championships, including the Porsche 944 Challenge Series, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and Australian GT Championship before a strong debut in Carrera Cup last year. He says: “Garry has been known to develop young talent. There are a lot of guys who’ve come through him and are established V8 Supercar drivers now. “Working at the shop, being with the guys, I do a lot of hard work off the track, so hopefully it pays off on the track. I picked up the Wilson Security sponsorship in 2013; the connection through GRM and Wilson Security got me this drive. “I’ve still got a lot more to learn in these cars. There’s more adjusting to do with bars and roll settings and so much more than in a Carrera Cup car. I’m just trying to get the results and keep it clean.” 73

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DUNLOP SERIES

MACAULEY JONES

KURT KOSTECKI

JAKE KOSTECKI

BRYCE FULLWOOD

2015 championship result: 12th with Brad Jones Racing

2015 championship result: 24th with Rsport Race Engineering

Dunlop Series debut in 2016

2015 championship result: 17th with Paul Morris Motorsport

The son of Brad Jones returns to the Dunlop Series with the family-run team after making his main-game debut in last season’s endurance events. The 21-year-old steps up into the VF Commodore for 2016, looking to continue his progression after a solid campaign last season. He says: “I really want to step up my game this year and I believe the next-gen car will help me to achieve my goals. “It’s been a lot of work preparing my car for the season. Two of the other Dunlop Series mechanics in our group have had some experience working on these cars before, which is great for the team and provides a great learning opportunity for me. “I’ve been asking a lot of questions and the guys are always happy to help. “The team as a whole has a lot of experience with these cars. “I’m really excited to see what we can do this year and I am keen to get on the podium and get some great results.”

Kurt debuted in the Dunlop Series last year as a 16-yearold. The Western Australian will look to take advantage of his ex-Triple Eight Race Engineering equipment, a VF Commodore, and the useful technical assistance from the main-game squad. He’ll also line up alongside his brother in the family team. He says: “I always wanted to race a V8 Supercar and now that I’m here it’s great. I’ve followed through the ranks of karts, jumped into a test day as soon as I was old enough to drive and from there we’re full steam ahead. “We are linked up with Triple Eight Race Engineering. They are good to have on our side and they help us a lot, every night on the cars with the setup and data. I don’t have high expectations, but I want to keep all four wheels on the car. “I’ll just try and finish as many laps as I can and gain experience and if we get some good results along the way it’s a bonus.”

#14 Brad Jones Racing

#55 Kostecki Brothers Racing

#56 Kostecki Brothers Racing

The 16-year-old is Kurt’s younger brother and steps up to the Dunlop Series after contesting the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series last season. He’ll also compete in the same Kostecki Brothers Racing family outfit with exTriple Eight Race Engineering equipment. He says: “It’s daunting... but I have to start somewhere. I think it’s good to start at this age while I’m still young, so I’ve got time to develop over the years. “If I started older then I might have less of a chance. Every single person in our team wants the best out of me and my brother Kurt. “It’s not like they are doing it just because they have to work, they are doing it because they want us to do the best that we can as well. “It’s a family and we all pitch in to get the best possible results. “I don’t have high expectations as it is my first year, but I’ll try and get the rookie award by the end of the season.”

#16 MW Motorsport

The Darwin native jumped from karts straight into the Dunlop Series with Paul Morris Motorsport last year at just 16. This year he moves to proven front-runners MW Motorsport in an FG Falcon. He says: “As I came out of go karts, the natural progression was Formula Ford or Formula 4, but that was all up in the air at the time. “So we thought, ‘You know what? Let’s just skip it all’. “I said to my parents, ‘If I can drive the car, we’re mad if we don’t just jump in and do it’. “I had my first year last year, which was a real steep learning curve. “I hadn’t driven on any of the tracks, let alone getting used to the car. “I have got an alliance with Prodrive Racing Australia. They’ve got a Prodrive junior academy, which I’m a part of. “If we can get close to some of the faster cars with an older chassis then that’s a win for us.”

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Genuine Holden HSV VN Group A engine brand new old stock on original GM crate. Condition: Brand New Kilometers: 000,000 Power & Torque: 215kW @ 5200rpm / 411Nm @ 4000rpm Engine Specs: Engine changes over core VN Commodore V8 include: extruded aluminium fuel rail twin throttle bodies lighter thin wall cast Group A inlet manifold high flow injectors stiffer cylinder head with improved exhaust porting anti-knock sensor revised, stronger cylinder block with provision for better cylinder head clamping large intake and exhaust valves 4 bolt main bearing caps high flow intake ports large diameter push rods and valve lifters roller rocker arms special cast aluminium rocker covers and Group A plenum chamber heavy duty valve springs special rubber camshaft drive chain damper revised camshaft with steel sprockets and heavy duty double row timing chain lighter 7kg flywheel special pistons, crankshaft and connecting rods FISA exhaust stubs heavy duty main and big end bearings cold air induction.

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FPR 806 FG V8 Supercar

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V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPION POSTER AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FROM V8X.com.au

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V8X SUPERCAR MAGAZINE is now offering reproductions of our popular poster collection for sale – as previously published in V8X – uncreased, unfolded, unstapled and on high-quality photographic stock! Delivered in protective mailing tube. Postage and handling included in total price. Available to order via the form below or online at V8X.com.au

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JUNE 2016

THE SHOOTOUT

BEST RACERS THAT ARENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T FORDS OR HOLDENS 10 NISSAN BLUEBIRD

The Bluebird was the only Group C car to lap the preChase Mount Panorama circuit in under 2m14s, ushering in the turbo era. In the hands of George Fury, the Bluebird finished second in points in 1983 and entered Bathurst folklore for that Shootout lap in 1984.

6 JAGUAR MARK II

Jaguars won the first four single-race championship in the early sixties in the hands of David McKay, Bill Pitt and Bob Jane. The latter guided the Jaguar Mark II to consecutive titles in 1962 and 1963.

battle with Bob Jane in 1971, overcoming the Ford Mustang challenge. Even when the rules forced an engine downsize to 5.7 litres, Jane won again in 1972.

9 JAGUAR XJ-S

The Tom Walkinshaw Racingprepared Jaguars conquered Mount Panorama in 1985. The three-car attack led by the team owner/driver locked out the front row, with the entry of John Goss and Armin Hahne taking the win.

8 VOLVO 240T

The four-cylinder, 2.1-litre turbocharged 240T won the 1986 championship in the hands of Robbie Francevic. And it should have achieved more in the Group A years had the Volvo Dealer Team not imploded at the end of that championshipwinning year.

7 MORRIS COOPER S

The Minis ruled Mount Panorama before the arrival of the Australian-built V8 muscle cars. The Morris Cooper S filled the first nine places in the 1966 Great Race, a record still held today. And the Minis notched up further class wins over the years.

5 BMW 635CSI

The introduction of the Group A regulations from 1985 allowed the straight six BMW 635CSi to shine with Jim Richards winning six races in a row and the championship, before being replaced by the BMW M3.

its four-year span, providing CAMS with a few headaches as the governing body weighed up technical concessions for the car that powered Allan Moffat to the 1983 title and a trio of Bathurst podiums.

2 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL-1

The seven-litre Camaro ZL-1 won a thrilling championship

1 NISSAN SKYLINE BN R32 GT-R

The four-wheel-steer, twinturbo 2.6-litre straight six GT-R pushed the technical boundaries to breaking point, forcing Australian touring cars to move away from turbos and Group A. The GT-R completed championship and Bathurst sweeps in 1991 and 1992, crushing its rivals along the way.

4 BMW M3

The M3 remains one of BMWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest serving and most successful touring cars. The original 2.3-litre naturally aspirated M3 won on debut with Jim Richards in 1987. It was still competitive in the final years of Group A against stronger turbo opponents.

3 MAZDA RX-7

The rotary-powered RX-7 had a devastating impact in

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