V8X Magazine Issue 97

ISSUE#97 V8X.COM.AU I N C O R P O R AT I N G

winterbottom & lowndes exclusive columns

mclaughlin one-on-one with foges

freightliner.com.au CALENDAR

Adelaide Street Circuit, SA MAR 2-5 Albert Park, Vic n Grand Prix* MAR 23-26 Formula 1 Rolex Australia Symmons Plains Raceway, Tas Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint APR 7-9 Phillip Island Circuit, Vic SuperSprint APR 21-23 WD-40 Phillip Island Barbagallo Raceway, WA Perth SuperSprint MAY 5-7 Motor Raceway, Vic Winton MAY 19-21 Winton SuperSprint Hidden Valley Raceway, NT Triple Crown JUN 16-18 CrownBet Darwin Reid Park, Qld Townsville 400 JUL 7-9 Queensland Raceway, Qld SuperSprint JUL 28-30 Coates Hire Ipswich Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW SuperSprint AUG 18-20 Red Rooster Sydney Sandown Raceway, Vic 500 SEP 15-17 Wilson Security Sandown Mount Panorama, NSW Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 OCT 5-8 Surfers Paradise, Qld OCT 20-22 Gold Coast 600 Pukekohe Park Raceway, NZ ITM Auckland SuperSprint NOV 3-5 Newcastle, NSW le 500 NOV 24-26 Coates Hire Newcast Clipsal 500 Adelaide

.com.au

*Non-championship round.

Dates correct at time of printing.

Magnet-2017.indd 1

V8X97 p01 Cover stars.indd 1

slade & percat BJR’s crow-eaters

blanchard cool drive

DAVID VS GOLIATH WHEN TORANAS, MINIS & MAZDAS RULED VOLVO IN MEMORIAM WITH PLUS GRM’S RETURN TO HOLDEN exclusive supercar roundtable

Season Guide 2017 AUS $9.95 NZ $10.50 ISSN 1442-9926

HIP 2017 CHAMPIONS

7/12/2016 6:13 pm

25/01/2017 5:44 pm

CELEBRATING 75 YEARS. The year was 1942. A man by the name of Leland James searched high and low but couldn’t find a truck that met his high efficiency standards. So he did what a true trucking visionary would do. Leland built his own. It was that bold endeavor that led to the birth of Freightliner Trucks. A company that has been fueled by innovation and driven by customer input for the past seven and a half decades. And we’ll continue to serve our customers by doing the hard work on job sites everywhere for many years to come. freightliner.com.au/75years

V8X97 p11 ad-Freightliner.indd 11

1/02/2017 4:41 pm

SUPERCAR MAGAZINE #97 SEASON GUIDE

FEATURES 23 SUPERCARS 2017 SEASON PREVIEW A look ahead to the teams, drivers and changes for the upcoming season.

26 2017 DRIVER PROFILES The drivers of 2017 and their prospects for the new season.

36 2017 EVENT GUIDES Calendar and event guides for the 2017 Supercars season.

V8X97 p03 Contents.indd 3

REGULARS 46 FRATERNISING WITH FOGES: GIVING IT SOME JANDAL Foges goes one-on-one with new DJR Team Penske recruit Scott McLaughlin.

52 O Tim Slade and Nick Percat’s journey to Brad Jones Racing.

58 COOL DRIVE Tim Blanchard on his future in and outside the car.

62 SUPERCAR ROUNDTABLE: PART I Discussing the state of Supercars with key players in the game.

68 FLASHBACK: AS THE DECADES ROLL ON The key decade-on anniversaries in Australian touring cars.

72 WHEN DAVIDS BEAT GOLIATHS The small cars that upstaged their bigger opponents.

6 ANALYSIS: BATTLES OF ’17 The head-to-head battles to look out for this season.

8 ANALYSIS: RANKING MOVERS & SHAKERS How last season’s driver changes turned out.

10 ANALYSIS: HOLDEN RULES Examining Holden’s dominance of Supercars.

12 ANALYSIS: VOLVO IN MEMORIAM Volvo’s brief but impressive stint in the series.

14 O The latest headlines from Speedcafe.com 16 MARK WINTERBOTTOM COLUMN Frosty welcomes back Jason Bright as his teammate.

18 CRAIG LOWNDES COLUMN Lowndes on gearing up for the new season.

20 GARRY ROGERS COLUMN Rogers on the return of Holden and Tander.

80 SUBSCRIPTIONS Sign up with V8X Supercar Magazine.

82 THE SHOOTOUT The biggest off-season driver moves in the V8 era.

31/01/2017 12:41 pm

V8X app

V8XMagazine

V8X.com.au

@V8X_Magazine

V8XSupercar

SUP E RCA R M AGA Z IN E

EDITOR

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

Allan Edwards Published by Raamen Pty Ltd PO Box 225, Keilor, Victoria, 3036 SUB EDITOR

Cameron McGavin ART DIRECTOR

Craig Fryers CONTRIBUTING JOURNALISTS

Mark Fogarty, Andrew Clarke, John Bannon, Cameron McGavin, Mark Winterbottom, Craig Lowndes, Garry Rogers PHOTOGRAPHERS

Peter Norton, Autopics.com.au, Glenis Lindley, James Baker, inetpics.com, Mark Horsburgh, P1 Images, Paul Nathan, Scott Wensley, Daniel Kalisz ADVERTISING

Brendon Sheridan Mobile: 1300 551 735 Email: brendon@v8x.com.au EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

Phone: (03) 9372 9125 Fax: (03) 8080 6473 Email: office@v8x.com.au ACCOUNTS

Kevin Whiting Email: accounts@v8x.com.au MERCHANDISE

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.

CAN DJR TEAM PENSKE STOP TRIPLE EIGHT?

T

riple Eight added another title with new recruit Shane van Gisbergen last season; its customer car won the Bathurst 1000; the Red Bull-backed entries now carry the Holden Racing Team name with sole factory status; and the team is charged with developing the new-generation Commodore for 2018 and beyond. Other teams have emerged from the pack to challenge, but only intermittently.

Heading into 2017, DJR Team Penske shapes as the biggest threat.

The team entering its third season with Team Penske as its owners has recruited renowned car designer and engineer Ludo Lacroix and Pirtek Endurance Cup-winning co-driver Alexandre Prémat from Triple Eight. But it’s the arrival of Scott McLaughlin that sets the team up for a championship tilt.

The 23-year-old New Zealander is already a proven product and his signing sets up the mouth-watering prospect of Kiwis van Gisbergen and McLaughlin battling for the title in coming seasons.

freightliner.com.au

2017 CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR MAR 2-5

Clipsal 500 Adelaide

Adelaide Street Circuit, SA

MAR 23-26 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix* APR 7-9

Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint

Albert Park, Vic

Symmons Plains Raceway, Tas

APR 21-23 WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint

Phillip Island Circuit, Vic

MAY 5-7

Barbagallo Raceway, WA

Perth SuperSprint

MAY 19-21 Winton SuperSprint

Winton Motor Raceway, Vic

JUN 16-18

CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown

Hidden Valley Raceway, NT

JUL 7-9

Townsville 400

JUL 28-30

Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint

Queensland Raceway, Qld

AUG 18-20 Red Rooster Sydney SuperSprint

Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW

Reid Park, Qld

SEP 15-17 Wilson Security Sandown 500

Sandown Raceway, Vic

OCT 5-8

Mount Panorama, NSW

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

OCT 20-22 Gold Coast 600 NOV 3-5

ITM Auckland SuperSprint

NOV 24-26 Coates Hire Newcastle 500

.com.au

Surfers Paradise, Qld Pukekohe Park Raceway, NZ Newcastle, NSW *Non-championship round.

Dates correct at time of printing.

The 2017 Freightliner fridge magnet.

Magnet-2017.indd 1

Winterbottom, Craig Lowndes and Garry Rogers on their prospects.

The print edition also comes with a free Freightliner fridge magnet, so you’ll never miss a 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship event.

Elsewhere in this edition, we bring together the likes of Winterbottom, Larry Perkins, Jason Bright and others for the first of a two-part roundtable to discuss the state of Supercars.

We profile new Brad Jones Racing (BJR) teammates Tim Slade and Nick Percat ahead of their home event in South Australia and speak with their fellow BJR teammate Tim Blanchard on his future in the sport.

We also look back at this year’s decade-past anniversaries and reflect on the times when small cars took it their bigger rivals.

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.

We hope you enjoy the 2017 Supercars season!

– Adrian

7/12/2016 6:13 pm

McLaughlin sat down with Mark Fogarty for an exclusive interview in this edition to discuss his hopes for DJR Team Penske and what we can expect from the Shell-backed #17 entry.

We preview the 2017 season in this edition with event guides, driver profiles, the 17 head-to-head battles to watch, the winners and losers of the driver moves from last season and hear from columnists Mark

LARGE FORMAT POSTERS! NO FOLDS! NO STAPLES! NO CREASES! O

GREAT GIFT IDEA!

O O

V8X SUPERCAR MAGAZINE is now selling our 540 x 420mm reproductions of our popular poster collection – uncreased, unfolded, unstapled and on high-quality photographic stock! Promptly delivered in protective mailing tube.

POSTAGE & HANDLING $55 EACH INCLUDING

SEE OUR ENTIRE RANGE!

97B 2016 CHAMPION

95B 2016 BATHURST WINNERS

ORDER ONLINE AT V8X.COM.AU

4

V8X97 p04 Welcome.indd 4

25/01/2017 5:42 pm

STRENGTH TO SUCCEED

FORD FALCON FG X | 5.0-LITRE V8 | EST. 635+ BHP

MARK WINTERBOTTOM, 2015 V8 SUPERCARS DRIVERS CHAMPION

“IT IS JUST AWESOME TO PUT THE NO. 1 ON THE CAR – TO BE THE 2015 CHAMPION IS REALLY THE ULTIMATE REWARD.” CastrolRacingAU

@CastrolRacingAU

CastrolRacingAU

castroledge.com.au

V8X96 p05 ad-Castrol.indd 5

30/11/2016 4:38 pm

There are many storylines throughout the field for the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

These are the battles to look out for this season…

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN VS JAMIE WHINCUP ▼

Van Gisbergen prevailed in their first season as teammates, with eight wins to seven, seven pole positions to six, seven fastest laps to five, 18 podiums to 17 and a margin of 200 points.

The winner of this head-tohead battle could again be crowned champion.

TRIPLE EIGHT VS DJR TEAM PENSKE DJR Team Penske is building a strong case as Triple Eight’s

strongest opponent with the acquisition of driver Scott McLaughlin, designer/engineer Ludo Lacroix, co-driver Alexandre Prémat and more.

But will the Ford team be in a position to challenge for the title just yet?

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN VS FABIAN COULTHARD

Coulthard won out over Scott Pye in the former’s first season at DJR Team Penske. But the team’s highly-prized new recruit will present a stern test as the New Zealanders face off for superiority and regular podiums.

WALKINSHAW RACING VS PRODRIVE RACING AUSTRALIA

Walkinshaw Racing has followed Prodrive Racing’s path in rebranding following the loss of factory status and funding.

Both teams have been forced to readjust their funding model to stay competitive with Triple Eight, so where will they be relative to each other?

MARK WINTERBOTTOM VS CHAZ MOSTERT

Winterbottom scored Prodrive Racing Australia’s only race wins in 2016 but Mostert had the edge in qualifying. With Mostert having a season under his belt following his Bathurst 2015 injuries, he needs to end his winless run and match Winterbottom’s race pace.

GARRY ROGERS MOTORSPORT VS TIME

Garry Rogers Motorsport took the safe option by switching back to running its own Holden VF Commodores

6

V8X97 p06-7 Analysis.indd 6

25/01/2017 5:41 pm

For all the latest news and features visit V8X.COM.AU

WILL DAVISON VS DAVID REYNOLDS

Reynolds will climb up the grid in his second season at Erebus Motorsport. And like the aforementioned Team 18, Reynolds and Erebus will be aiming for Tekno Autosports and Davison in the battle of the Holden customer teams.

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO VS DALE WOOD

rather than accommodate a Chevy engine into the Volvo S60 chassis following the legal dispute around Volvo’s withdrawal. But the switch left the team with just 10 weeks to build two new Commodore Supercars.

JAMES COURTNEY VS SCOTT PYE ▲

Courtney will have a teammate other than Garth Tander for the first time since 2010. Pye will be out to make an immediate impact in his first season with the new-look Walkinshaw Racing, facing stiff opposition in the form of his more established counterpart.

MICHAEL CARUSO VS THE KELLYS

Caruso has emerged as the leading Nissan entrant in recent seasons, breaking the manufacturer’s winless run in Darwin last season. Rick and Todd Kelly will need to be matching his top-10 performances to drive Nissan further up the grid.

HOLDEN VS THE REST

Sixteen of the 26 entries are Holden VF Commodores in 2017. Volvo’s withdrawal leaves just three manufacturers and fewer challenges to Holden.

Ford fans will be relying on DJR Team Penske’s continued

progression and a rejuvenated Prodrive Racing Australia for Blue Oval pride. Meanwhile, Nissan looks increasingly isolated as the last remaining ‘new’ manufacturer under Car of the Future and still facing questions marks over an engine deficiency compared to the Ford and Holden powerplants.

NICK PERCAT VS TIM SLADE

The former Walkinshaw Racing teammates will reunite at Brad Jones Racing as Nick Percat looks to follow Tim Slade’s path by becoming a regular in the top 10. How the South Australians match up in equal machinery will define which emerges as team leader, while also potentially driving the team up the grid.

Expectations are low for de Silvestro’s first full-time season in Supercars. But the Swiss is a determined racer and won’t be content with learning at the back of the grid. Dale Wood, who she replaced at Nissan Motorsport and now drives for Erebus Motorsport, could be a target for de Silvestro to aim for.

EREBUS MOTORSPORT VS LUCAS DUMBRELL MOTORSPORT

The two customer Holden teams have been increasingly locked in a battle for sponsors off-track and getting off the back of the grid on the track.

Erebus seems to have the edge heading into 2017 with what appears to be a better driver and sponsorship package.

GARTH TANDER VS JASON BRIGHT ▼ The veterans were facing uncertain futures with their

respective teams opting for younger options in 2017. Yet they both landed on their feet by returning to teams where they have previously won races.

Tander and Bright have the chance to revitalise their careers at Garry Rogers Motorsport and Prodrive Racing Australia respectively.

MATT CAMPBELL VS ALEXANDRE PRÉMAT

Prémat scored a podium in each race alongside Shane van Gisbergen to win the Pirtek Enduro Cup. Now, though, he’s off to DJR Team Penske to reunite with former teammate Scott McLaughlin, while Triple Eight has acquired young-gun Matt Campbell following his impressive spell at Nissan Motorsport. Can Campbell match Prémat’s results? Or will DJR Team Penske be in a position to challenge Triple Eight in the enduros?

ENGINEERS VS TYRES

Dunlop introduces a newconstruction tyre in 2017, while the soft tyre (yellow signage) becomes the standard rubber along with the introduction of the new-spec super soft (white signage). Which engineer/ driver combos get on top of the new rubber will likely dictate results in the first part of the season.

TEKNO AUTOSPORTS VS TEAM 18 The single-car entrants both run customer Triple Eight-built Holden VF Commodores. Tekno Autosports continued to punch above its weight in 2016 with victory in the Bathurst 1000 and fifth in the championship for Will Davison. Team 18, with the same Triple Eight-built equipment, will use Tekno’s achievements as inspiration in its second season running independently.

7

V8X97 p06-7 Analysis.indd 7

25/01/2017 5:41 pm

RANKING THE MOVERS & SHAKERS The 2016 season saw close to half the grid swap teams in the silliest silly season in Supercars. One year on, how are those drivers faring heading into the 2017 season?

T

he 2016 Supercars grid looked very different to 2015’s thanks to wholesale driver changes across most teams. Fittingly, then, the championship and Bathurst 1000 winners were new to their teams in 2016. And the changes from the last off-season will once again define the championship battle in 2017. These are the power rankings from last season’s movers and shakers…

1 SHANE VAN GISBERGEN

Won the title in his first season with Triple Eight Race Engineering, taking little time in transitioning from customer team Tekno Autosports and overcoming the experience of teammates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes. He will again be in the title mix and only overseas ambitions look to take him away from Triple Eight.

2 WILL DAVISON

A Bathurst win and top five in the championship saw Davison return to the front-end of the grid after a couple of challenging seasons at Erebus Motorsport.

Further progression depends on how much speed the single-car customer Tekno Autosports team can extract from its Triple Eight-built package.

3 TIM SLADE

Slade’s career had stalled at Walkinshaw Racing and he could have been out of Supercars if first-choice David Reynolds had ended up at Brad Jones Racing. But Slade landed the drive and repaid the faith with an event sweep at Winton, becoming the team’s undisputed team leader in 2016.

4 FABIAN COULTHARD

Coulthard couldn’t repeat his race wins from Brad Jones Racing in his first season with DJR Team Penske. But his move was about long-term potential, so a step forward is expected in 2017 when he will be up against stiff opposition in the form of new teammate Scott McLaughlin.

5 DAVID REYNOLDS

Reynolds may have gone from third in the standings with Prodrive Racing Australia to 16th with Erebus Motorsport, but he now has a team that’s built around him and seems to better suit his personality.

6 JAMES MOFFAT

Results seemed to be on par for Moffat between Nissan Motorsport and Garry Rogers Motorsport. And hopes of further gains now depend on what Moffat can extract from the team’s new VF Commodore.

7 CHRIS PITHER

Surprised many with his pole position at Ipswich and glimpses of speed for Super Black Racing. However, the passing of team owner Tony Lentino left the New Zealander with few other options for 2017 and on the outer of the Prodrive Racing Australia stable.

8 CAMERON WATERS

The 2015 Dunlop Development Series champion held his own in the main game with pole position in Perth and fourth at Bathurst for Prodrive Racing Australia, though the limit on testing severely hurts rookies trying to get up to speed against more experienced opponents so his second season shapes as vital.

9 TIM BLANCHARD

Blanchard dropped from 21st to 23rd in the standings despite moving from Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport to Brad Jones

Racing. His driving future depends on improving results in his second year with Brad Jones Racing after securing his future by purchasing a license to remain with the team.

10 ANDRE HEIMGARTNER

After losing his drive at Super Black Racing to Chris Pither, Heimgartner found a home at Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

But he rarely troubled teammate Nick Percat and failed to break into the top 10, finishing 25th and last amongst the fulltime entrants.

11 AAREN RUSSELL

Russell appeared out of his depth in his seven rounds with Erebus Motorsport in the first half of 2016, leaving him on the outer when the team split with sponsor Plus Fitness.

Twelve months on, how will this season’s movers, including race winners Scott McLaughlin, Nick Percat, Garth Tander and Jason Bright, fare?

8

V8X97 p08 Analysis.indd 8

25/01/2017 5:40 pm

V8X96 p09 ad-Clipsal.indd 9

30/11/2016 4:37 pm

Holden was the first manufacturer to commit to Gen2 and has more than half of the grid running its Commodores in 2017. But changes are coming…

T

he 19th of January 2017 will go down as a significant date in the history of Holden’s involvement in Supercars.

At Holden’s Port Melbourne headquarters, the new-look Red Bull Holden Racing Team was launched. Triple Eight’s Red Bull-backed entries were introduced as the only factorybacked Holden entries, with Walkinshaw Racing stripped of its manufacturer funding and Holden Racing Team name.

Yet there was no mention of the Red Bull Holden Racing Team moniker on the cars of reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup.

Gone, too, is the emblematic lion and helmet logo of the Holden Racing Team, shelved given its incompatibility with the Red Bull branding. There was no mention of the launch on Holden’s social-media channels. And, most significantly, Holden Motorsport boss Simon

McNamara’s tenure with the company was coming to an end.

Holden signed a three-year commitment to Supercars in 2016. Triple Eight not only has the factory backing and Holden Racing Team name but is also charged with designing and building the new-look imported Commodore into a turbocharged Supercar under the Gen2 rules from 2018.

But the uncertainty that hung around the future of Holden Motorsport and the discontent from fans over the Holden Racing Team switch and Red Bull-dominated branding has called into question Holden’s involvement in Supercars.

With Triple Eight the exclusive builder of the next-generation Commodore and Holden’s Supercars commitment channelled through the team rather than Holden Motorsport, other Holden teams could be in a position where they will need to be customers of Triple Eight to continue running Commodores.

Meanwhile, according to a poll Motorsport, Tekno Autosports and Team 18) to two Ford teams run by V8X Supercar Magazine, 76 per cent of fans believe (Prodrive Racing Australia and Holden should have retired DJR Team Penske) and one the Holden Racing Team name Nissan (Nissan Motorsport). rather than transfer it from The imbalance must be dealt Walkinshaw Racing to Triple with by Supercars heading into Eight. Also, 68 per cent believe Gen2. Fears of a ‘Commothe Commodore name should dore Cup’ are growing louder have been retired following the and must be addressed given end of Australian production, Holden’s own mixed messages rather than rebranding the in terms of its commitment to incoming Insignia model as a the series.

Commodore.

POLL! Should Holden have retired the The fan angst comes at a time Holden Racing Team name? when 16 of the 26 entries on the YES: 76% 2017 Supercars grid are Holden NO: 20% VF Commodores, including UNSURE: 4% Garry Rogers Motorsport, which was forced to revert back to run- POLL! Should Holden have retired the Commodore nameplate? ning Commodores for the first YES: 68% time since 2013 following the NO: 28% departure of Volvo.

UNSURE: 4% That leaves eight Holden teams (Triple Eight, WalkinBelow: Entries per make in season 2017. shaw Racing, Garry Rogers Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing, Erebus Motorsport, 4 NISSANS Lucas Dumbrell

6 FORDS

16 HOLDENS

10

V8X97 p10 Analysis.indd 10

25/01/2017 5:40 pm

2016 TRIPLE EIGHT VF COMMODORES DIE-CAST SIZES AVAILABLE 1:64, 1:43 & 1:18

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN Championship-winning entry for 2016

CRAIG LOWNDES Record-breaking 251 round starts (2016 Clipsal 500 Adelaide)

JAMIE WHINCUP 100th championship race win (Sydney SuperSprint)

Prices start from $18.95 plus postage & handling within Australia

ORDER NOW AT V8X.COM.AU OR CALL US NOW ON 03 9372 9125

V8X97 p13 ad-Car Models.indd 13

2/02/2017 5:49 pm

VOLVO… IN MEMORIAM The Volvo S60 Supercars are no longer, benched following Volvo’s withdrawal from Supercars and its legal stoush with Garry Rogers Motorsport. Here we remember its brief but impressive stint in the series and ask some key questions around Volvo’s involvement in Supercars.

H

with GRM. When Volvo head office announced in 2015 that it had purchased Polestar Performance, its head-office edict of moving away from V8 engines and motorsport took hold over the key technical player in the Supercars program.

How involved Volvo head office was in the original deal is now being questioned considering the decision to withdraw once Polestar was brought in-house, especially given the insistence on a total withdrawal following 2016.

Even with the Gen2 regulations allowing Volvo to move away from a V8, which hasn’t featured in its road-car line-up since 2010, Supercars wasn’t considered an option moving forward as the brand realigns

“THE TRADITIONALIST IN ME KNEW IT WAS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO RUN A CHEV ENGINE IN A VOLVO CHASSIS IN A O O .

– ARR R R

its image to more environmentally-friendly cars with three/ four-cylinder engines and electric options.

Did Volvo gain from Supercars? In terms of branding, it did seem there was a positive influence on a brand more associated with safety than performance. Volvo notched up record sales in Australia in 2016, nearly 19 per cent up on 2015. But it was the luxury SUV range that produced significant increases, while sales of the S60 model were down.

What direct impact Supercars had on the perception of Volvo in the marketplace and, therefore, on those sales figures is unknown. But considering the immediate impact Volvo had on the track that did translate into off-track traction in areas such as merchandise sales, it stands to reason there was some correlation.

Volvo’s motorsport involvement is now centred on its Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and World

Touring Car Championship programs, while Garry Rogers Motorsport has been forced to revert back to running Holden VF Commodores.

What lessons can Supercars learn from Volvo’s decision?

That manufacturers are fickle and ultimately at the beck and call of head office, complicating commitments to a domestic series. While Volvo Car Australia appeared keen to continue, it could only accept the decision from Sweden.

Without tangible evidence that racing in Supercars results in a direct sales boost to that particularly model, getting manufacturers to commit is incredibly difficult.

With GT3 booming and having a direct link between the race-track and the road and electric cars the way of the future, selling international manufacturers on Supercars is proving troublesome, even with the open technical regulations of Gen2. And, as Volvo proves, getting them into the series is one thing, getting them to stay is another!

VOLVO IN SUPERCARS

RACES 103 WINS 6 POLES 17 PODIUMS 23 CHAMPIONSHIP BEST 3rd (Scott McLaughlin, 2016)

BY THE NUMBERS

istory does repeat!

After winning the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship with Robbie Francevic, the Volvo 240T disappeared from the grid as the Swedish manufacturer withdrew from global motorsport.

Thirty years on, following further success with another New Zealand driver, Scott McLaughlin, Volvo pulled the plug on its Supercars involvement. Despite being on the pace from the outset with its S60 Supercar, Volvo walked away from Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) and the series after its initial three-year deal and insisted its engines were not to be used by the team in a privateer capacity moving forward.

GRM could’ve retained the S60 body panels on the control Car of the Future chassis and run the generic Supercar Chevrolet engine. But, according to team boss Garry Rogers, “The traditionalist in me knew it was not the right thing to run a Chev engine in a Volvo chassis in a touring-car category.”

So why did Volvo pull the plug? The initial deal incorporated Volvo Car Australia and Volvo’s independent performance arm Polestar together

BATHURST 1000 BEST 5th (Scott McLaughlin & Alexandre Prémat, 2015)

12

V8X97 p12 Analysis.indd 12

25/01/2017 5:40 pm

GENUINE CARBON FIBRE MEN’S ACCESSORIES These high quality accessories come in an elegantly presented gift box.

Order yours today by calling 03 9372 9125 or by visiting nobrac.com.au Travel Executive Watch Available with leather band or carbon fibre band (pictured)

$695.00 plus p&h

Traditional Pen (with lid) and Modern Twist Pen

$39.95 plus p&h

Executive Pen (with lid)

$89.95 plus p&h

Watch face made of genuine carbon fibre with patented time-zone changing mechanism. Perfect for the business traveller. This clever system allows you to change time-zones in an instant, simply by rotating the dial surrounding the watch face.

Laptop Briefcase

$895.00 plus p&h

All prices in Australian dollars

Nobrac V8X fpa 2017.indd 100

1/02/2017 5:51 pm

News 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

GT REALIGNS WITH SUPERCARS The Australian GT Championship has heavily revised its sprint-series calendar, now featuring more Supercars events to appease disgruntled competitors.

A strong contingent of teams and drivers were unhappy with the championship’s decision to move away from Supercars events announced last year.

A decrease in television exposure by being cut adrift from Supercars’ Foxtel package is believed to be among the key grievances, which has forced the belated adjustments to the schedule.

Speedcafe.com understands emergency talks between competitors and organisers were recently held to mend differences.

The new sprint-series calendar sees three more Supercars events added to the five-round schedule.

Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 opener (March 2-5) and the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (March 23-26) are the only GT sprint events unaffected by the late changes.

Perth, Townsville and a Sandown finale, which were not part of the initial 2017 schedule, have now been added.

The championship will feature at the Supercars Perth SuperSprint from May 5-7 before heading to the Townsville 400 (July 7-9) and concluding at the Wilson Security Sandown 500 (September 15-17).

The events replace visits to Phillip Island, a standalone meeting at Symmons Plains and the annual finale at Highlands Motorsport Park in November.

“We have accepted the

requests of the competitors and worked with Supercars to ensure our racing formats are accommodated,” explained Australian GT manager Ken Collier.

The Australian Endurance Series and Australian Trophy Series schedules remain largely unchanged.

However, the second round of the Endurance Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park will be held in conjunction with Supercars’ Red Rooster Sydney SuperSprint event (August 18-20) instead of the Shannons Nationals SMP event on July 7-9.

Series boss Tony Quinn had previously been against running Australian Endurance Championship events alongside Supercars, having been disappointed by the timeslot the championship received at Sydney last year.

Scan QR code to read the full article and see the calendars.

TAILEM BEND EDGES CLOSER Australia’s largest motor-racing complex, currently under construction, is ‘very close’ to signing a firm deal with Supercars to host a round of the series from 2018.

After previously entering into a Memorandum of Understanding, the facility located 100km south-east of Adelaide is confident of securing a Supercars deal.

Construction of the largest motorracing venue to be built in Australia in the modern era is expected to be finished by the end of 2017.

The 7.77km circuit, one of four circuit configurations, is believed to be the second longest permanent layout in the world behind the Nurburgring.

A 5km layout is expected to be used for Supercars and other international events that are currently being investigated by operators of The Bend Motorsport Park.

Variations of the circuit also include 3.7km and 3.5km layouts, with all configurations meeting FIA category 2 standards.

Paul Trengove, motorsport development operations manager at The Bend, said talks with Supercars and potential international categories are continuing positively.

“We don’t have a signed

agreement at this point but we are very close,” Trengove told Speedcafe.com.

The $100 million-plus facility features a 300-metre long pit building and a 50-room hotel with balconies overlooking the pitlane.

Peregrine Corporation, the company responsible for the project, said inspiration for the design was drawn from classic European venues.

“The Bend’s racing circuit is worldclass, with inspiration drawn from the best racing circuits around the world, including Spa, Red Bull Ring, Paul Ricard, Nurburgring, Suzuka and Silverstone,” said Dr Sam Shahin, executive director of the Peregrine Corporation.

“The circuit will be a permanent bitumen race track of international standard with 35 turns, a one-kilometre long main straight and a width of 15 metres that continues into turns two and three for fantastic side-byside racing action and top speeds approaching 300km/h.”

The SA government has invested $7.5 million, with Premier Jay Weatherill saying the project will become a tourist drawcard and inject millions into the state’s economy.

Scan the QR code to read the full article and see video of the complex.

14

V8X97 p14-15 SpeedCafe.indd 14

25/01/2017 5:39 pm

Keep up with all the latest motorsport news FREE Supercars Live Event Updates

Our valued Platinum Parners

V8X97 p14-15 SpeedCafe.indd 15

1/02/2017 4:45 pm

Expert Insight

BEYOND THE WHEEL Column by Mark Winterbottom

WELCOME BACK, BRIGHTY!

W

hen I first joined the team then known as Ford Performance Racing, I was really young and inexperienced. So having Jason Bright alongside me in the garage was really good, as he was on top of his game and taught me a lot.

I loved working with him then and, 11 years on, here we are teaming up yet again. It’s great to have him at Prodrive Racing Australia this season.

He’s very technical and that adds another dimension to the team. When you’re young and a bit raw, like I was back in 2006 and the likes of Cam Waters are now, it’s hard to have that technical nous.

Jason has been around a long time and now he can add another element to our team. Also, the good part is he doesn’t have any ego and he’s not worried about what he tells you; he’s very open with his feedback, which not all drivers are…

We worked really well together and even when we weren’t teammates over the last decade we still had massive amounts of respect for each other and got along really well.

It’s almost like rewinding the clock and taking up where we left off… even if we do look a bit older when you look at old photos! But he just got straight in and it’s funny because there are still a handful of guys who were there a decade ago. So he’s come back in, learnt a few new names and off he goes… a pretty easy transition.

Back in 2006 we won the Sandown 500 together, which was quite bizarre for me to win my first race in the series while watching on from the garage as he took the chequered flag!

It was the best I’ve ever seen him drive, with the Kellys breathing down our necks and us battling braking problems with the car. Jason wrested the lead back and we won.

He then went on to run and race for his own team, so he understands how teams operate, how the business operates and how to drive different cars.

Bringing that experience back into our team can really help.

Any advice or ideas to go better is a good thing, so it’s interesting to see what he has to say, what’s good about our team, etc. When you’ve

“It’s almost like rewinding the clock a d a i up here e le o eve if we do look a bit older when you look at old photos!” been there a long time, it’s sometimes hard to see what’s happening on the inside and out, so his help will be a benefit.

Heading into the new season, it’s frustrating to be dealing with another change of engineers.

It seems to happen to me a bit, for whatever reason; if they get offered good money and good opportunities, or they get their weekends back…

But we’ve worked hard over the off-season and hopefully we can turn up and be competitive

in the opening races of the season and go from there. We will have to learn a new language within the engineering group and that can take some time.

When you get someone new in they’ve got to understand the car, they’ve got to understand the team environment and what I need out of the car at that specific circuit.

Add in the new tyre construction and there are a lot of variables in place.

– Frosty

16

V8X97 p16 Frosty column.indd 16

31/01/2017 12:42 pm

Advanced Reflex Twin Disk valving

Reinforced by superior damping control,

technology, places Monroe GT Sports

responsive steering and stability, and a lowered

at the forefront of its competitors

shock absorber producing unrivalled street appeal

V8X97 p17 ad-Monroe.indd 17

At Monroe we recognise you deserve the optimum on road experience so we invest in it. www.monroe.com.au

31/01/2017 12:30 pm

Expert Insight

RIGHT ON TRACK

Column by Craig Lowndes

GEARING UP FOR THE NEW SEASON

W

e don’t get much of an off-season these days, so there’s no real break from continuing on where we left off in 2016 to the start of 2017.

For me, it’s all about trying to maintain my fitness so it’s not a big start again in the new year.

So we need to keep maintaining a base fitness and then ramp it back up before getting into the car once again.

The focus is on our cardiovascular and, of course, strength; making sure you’ve got core strength as well as endurance.

That means one day it’s all about long-distance training and doing longer durations in either the gym or on the bike.

There’s no one favourite thing I have in terms of training. The good thing for me is I don’t dislike doing any of it, so some days I try and mix it up for fun.

Obviously your body gets used to a certain way of training, so you’re always looking

for new ways of doing things differently.

Pre-season training is even more important now we are racing the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, which is a great way to start the year. Last year we actually missed that event with a broken collarbone, which helped me be very mindful to not repeat that!

But the 12 Hour is a great way to get your bum back in a seat, back in a car and, obviously, switching on to

very different cars. You’re still, though, in the mindset of racing and driving at a track that we know very well.

Then we head to Adelaide for the Supercars season opener, one of the toughest events, especially being the first one up given the nature of the circuit.

Depending on the weather, we never really know what we will encounter when we get over there. As we saw last season, we can go from extreme heat to extreme rain in the one day!

It can be extremely hot inside the cars and that’s something that puts all the drivers to the test, so you need to try and be as fit as you can.

So doing the 12 Hour, or doing any sort of racing beforehand, gives you better conditioning for the season ahead. That’s something we’re very mindful of.

I have total confidence that we can improve on last year.

‘Irish’, my engineer John McGregor, has stepped up and we spent some time in the offseason working together to gel as a combination and work out what our goals are for 2017.

With the soft tyre now the standard tyre, there’s a challenge to extract the best out of it and qualify well. But, by the same token, we need to make sure it’s going to last through the race distance.

That’s the sort of challenge I enjoy. We had great success last year with it, so I’m really looking forward to more of the same this year.

– Craig

CRAIG LOWNDES & STEVEN RICHARDS’ 2016 SANDOWN RETRO ROUND LIVERY

1/18 SCALE

Item No.18621 RRP $169.00 Delivery 1st Quarter 2017

1/43 SCALE

Item No.888-20 RRP $34.95 Delivery 1st Quarter 2017

1/64 SCALE

Item No.64246 RRP $18.95 Delivery 1st Quarter 2017

• 2016 Sandown Retro Round Livery • Commemorative Packaging • Numbered Certificate Of Authenticity For more details contact Classic Carlectables on Freecall 1800 088 564 www.classiccarlectables.com.au

18

V8X97 p18 Lowndes column.indd 18

31/01/2017 12:36 pm

V8X97 p19 ad-Caltex.indd 19 CAL0968_Vortex Relaunch_V8X FPC_275x210mm_FA.indd 1

3/02/2017 1:13 pm 2/2/17 4:49 PM

Expert Insight

GARRY THE GURU Column by Garry Rogers

BACK TO HOW THINGS WERE

T

he past few months have been the busiest off-season in my 50-plus years of racing. Following Volvo’s withdrawal, our plan was to still use the Volvo S60, which we had invested thousands of man hours and, obviously, a considerable financial sum to first design, develop, build and homologate. But the hurdle we encountered was engine supply.

I know that there was talk of us potentially running a generic Supercar engine (Chev) in the Volvo S60, but this did not sit well with me. Having tried extremely hard to secure the Volvo V8 engines that had been developed and built in Sweden, which had absolutely no use except in Supercar racing, we ultimately failed.

I like to think that as much as I am getting on in years I am also a modern thinker, but also a traditionalist. The traditionalist in me knew it was not the right thing to run a Chev engine in a Volvo chassis in a touringcar category.

Having exhausted all potential avenues, including offering to buy the Volvo engines, I felt as though I had two choices.

One was to say, “Well, the last 50 odd years have been great, but it’s time to give it away.”

This thought barely entered my mind because I truly love what I do and I admire and respect every one of my 34 employees.

The second option was to build two new cars. This decision was made in early December and we have been absolutely flat out ever since.

I cannot emphasise how proud I am of all the girls and boys who changed holiday plans and other family events in an effort to complete a task that many would see as impossible. The normal build time for a Supercar from the first chassis bars being welded to the time it would debut is approximately 16 weeks. We had to build two brand-new cars in less than 10 weeks!

We had to build those two brand-new cars in less than 10 weeks while also completing the final build stages on the two new Development Series (DVS) cars we are preparing for the 2017 Dunlop Series. In effect, four new cars were being built inside five months, with no additions to our workforce!

This could only happen with the commitment, generosity, assistance and input of many people. Of course, the core of

“We chose to build Commodores because we had raced them in the inaugural Car if the Future season in 2013 and were familiar with them.” this are the GRM workers. We chose to build Commodores because we had raced them in the inaugural Car of the Future season in 2013 and were familiar with them.

Following the 2013 season we sold our two VFs and many of the associated parts, moulds and accessories. Tony Klein of Dragon Motorsport owns the 2013 cars and much of the associated equipment.

Tony has been a great help in giving us access to much of this equipment so as we can have these cars built. Walkinshaw Racing also assisted with engine supply. This is not as simple as

it seems because engines for Supercar racing are certainly not of the ‘off the shelf’ variety.

Adrian Burgess quickly assembled his workforce to produce engines to cater for our needs.

The most important component, apart from the human side, is having the budget to do what was required. It would have been very easy for our sponsor group to look for other opportunities but they stuck by me and for this I am enormously grateful. And we welcome back Garth Tander to the team in a Commodore once again!

– Garry

20

V8X97 p20 Rogers column.indd 20

25/01/2017 5:37 pm

Real Race Driving

EXCITE YOUR FRIE EXCIT FRI FRIEND END WITH DR DRIVE RIIVE WITH A V8 D R AND AN ND DH HOT APS OT LAPS LLA Why V8RACE is # 1 Affordable

Drives from only $199 Australia-wide

Track Record

Over 130,000 drives and hot laps experiences since 2004

Credentials

The only CAMS accredited experience at Mount Panorama Bathurst

Popular

The # 1 seller of 2,000+ experiences on Red Balloon

Choice

27 V8RACE cars with Holden and Ford, Manual and Auto

Safety

Only team using new Hankook racing slicks and DBA and Ferodo brakes

V8X96 p21 ad-V8Race.indd 21

30/11/2016 4:35 pm

3 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE PHONE 1300 853 259 and quote code V8X97MW POST TO V8X Subscriptions PO Box 225, Keilor, VIC, 3036 ONLINE V8X.com.au

NEW ZEALAND SUBSCRIBERS

PHONE +61 3 9372 9125 and quote code V8X97MW POST TO V8X Subscriptions PO Box 225 Keilor VIC, 3036, Australia ONLINE V8X.com.au

WIN! FROSTY’S 2013 BATHURST-WINNING HELMET SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW TO V8X SUPERCAR MAGAZINE BETWEEN NOW & NOVEMBER 30, 2017 for your chance to win Mark Winterbottom’s 2013 Bathurst-winning helmet. Competition also includes monthly prizes of signed Frosty caps, Frosty posters or V8Race vouchers. Visit V8X.com.au for full competition details and T&Cs. Prizes supplied by Monroe, V8Race and V8X Supercar Magazine.

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION AVAILABLE FROM ONLY

$29

PURCHASE DIRECT FROM

V8X.COM.AU

V8X SUPERCAR MAGAZINE IS A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE (6 ISSUES PER YEAR)

Australian $65 Australian $125

One (1) year Premium Subscription PRIORITY POST Two (2) year Premium Subscription PRIORITY POST

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

YES I WANT TO SUBSCRIBE TO V8X MAGAZINE

Full Name

Street Address

State

Town/Suburb

Postcode

One (1) year subscription Two (2) year subscription

New Zealand $80 AUD New Zealand $150 AUD

One (1) year subscription

Rest of the world $175 AUD

PLEASE FIND ENCLOSED Cheque Money order Credit card All cheques and money orders to be in Australian dollars only Please make cheques/money orders payable to: Raamen Pty Ltd Mastercard

Name on card

Daytime Telephone Number

Credit card number

Email Address

Signature

Expiry date

MAIL TO V8X SUBSCRIPTIONS PO BOX 225, KEILOR, VIC, 3036, AUSTRALIA V8X97 p22 Frosty Helmet Comp.indd 22

Visa

CCV Number

V8X97MW

3/02/2017 1:11 pm

The stars come out to play…

23

V8X97 p23-24 Season Preview.indd 23

25/01/2017 5:58 pm

Preview

TEAM CHANGES

Triple Eight becomes the sole Holden factory team. Its two Red Bull entries are now called the Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Walkinshaw Racing loses factory Holden status and the Holden Racing Team name.

Jason Bright’s Britek license replaces Super Black Racing’s at Prodrive Racing Australia.

Super Black Racing is out of the series, selling its license to Tim Blanchard.

Tim Blanchard’s license replaces the Prodrive Racing Australia-bound Britek entry.

Newcastle street circuit replaces Sydney Olympic Park as Garry Rogers Motorsport switches to Holden VF the season finale.

Commodores.

CALENDAR CHANGES

DRIVER CHANGES

Scott McLaughlin to DJR Team Penske.

Scott Pye to Walkinshaw Racing.

Garth Tander to Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Nick Percat to Brad Jones Racing.

Jason Bright to Prodrive Racing Australia.

Simona de Silvestro to Nissan Motorsport.

Dale Wood to Erebus Motorsport.

FORMAT CHANGES

Dunlop introduces a super-soft tyre to be used at all rounds except Adelaide, Phillip Island, Bathurst and Auckland. Standard soft tyres to be used at those four events.

Two 250km races in Adelaide and Phillip Island.

Two 200km races in Auckland.

24

V8X97 p23-24 Season Preview.indd 24

25/01/2017 5:58 pm

SUPER-LARGE FORMAT MURALS FOR YOUR FEATURE WALL This magnificent range of authentic Mike Harbar automotive artworks is now available in large format adhesive vinyl prints for your pool room, your office, your workshop or your own private man cave!

Bring your space to life with these classic motor racing scenes.

$200 per square metre supplied –or– $275 per square metre (plus site fee) installed

Call Pole Position Productions now on 03 9372 9125

DON’T HAVE THE ROOM? PANORAMA OF LEGENDS All these prints and more are also available as standard size prints from V8X.com.au A4 $40 A3 $60 A2 $100 A1 $250

Available from V8X.com.au in these sizes…

Small (13cm x 42cm) – $55 Medium (30cm x 96cm) – $110 Large (42cm x 134cm) – $220 Extra Large (60cm x 191cm) – $330

Prices do not include delivery costs. Standard Australia Post rates apply.

V8X97 p11 ad-Harbar.indd 11

2/02/2017 4:51 pm

Drivers

97

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN

TEAM TRIPLE EIGHT RACE ENGINEERING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1989 BIRTHPLACE Auckland, NZ LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 188cm WEIGHT 95kg NICKNAME SVG PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden Calais wagon FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 134 RACE STARTS 303 RACE WINS 19 POLE POSITIONS 16 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 2nd (2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 1st 2016 BATHURST 1000 2nd

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2007 Oran Park Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Team Kiwi Racing (2007), Stone Brothers Racing (2008-12), Tekno Autosports (2013-15), Triple Eight Race Engineering (2016-17)

REIGNING CHAMP: Van Gisbergen secured his first Supercars championship win in his first season with Triple Eight. And despite electing to retain his preferred #97 over the #1 as the defending champ, he will be the driver to beat with the Red Bull Triple Eight cars now flying the Holden flag as sole factory entries for the General.

88

JAMIE WHINCUP

TEAM TRIPLE EIGHT RACE ENGINEERING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1983 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 178cm WEIGHT 80kg NICKNAME JDub PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden Commodore FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 184 RACE STARTS 408 RACE WINS 104 POLE POSITIONS 73 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2006, 2007, 2008, 2012) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 2nd 2016 BATHURST 1000 11th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2002 Queensland Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Garry Rogers Motorsport (2002-03), Perkins Engineering (2004 enduros), Tasman Motorsport (2005), Triple Eight Race Engineering (2006-17)

FIGHT BACK: Whincup could feel hard done by in 2016. A penalty for co-driver Paul Dumbrell at Sandown and that controversial collision with Scott McLaughlin and Garth Tander at Bathurst ultimately proved costly in the championship. Whincup will again be the main competitor to his teammate and the reigning champion in 2017.

888

CRAIG LOWNDES

TEAM TRIPLE EIGHT RACE ENGINEERING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1974 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Brisbane, Qld HEIGHT 182cm WEIGHT 83kg NICKNAME Lowndesy PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden Colorado FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Phillip Island

EVENT STARTS 264 RACE STARTS 610 RACE WINS 105 POLE POSITIONS 41 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (1996, 1998, 1999) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (1996, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 4th 2016 BATHURST 1000 16th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 1996 Eastern Creek Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Holden Racing Team (1996-2000), Gibson Motorsport (2001-02), Ford Performance Racing (2003-04), Triple Eight Race Engineering (2005-17)

RESTART FOR #888: Lowndes’ bid to claw back on his Red Bull-backed teammates has been yet again impacted by an engineering change, with Ludo Lacroix moving to DJR Team Penske and John McGregor entering his first full-time season as engineer. Building on the relationship that began at the final events of last season will be vital to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

26

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 26

31/01/2017 12:47 pm

19

WILL DAVISON

TEAM TEKNO AUTOSPORTS CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1982 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 180cm WEIGHT 76kg NICKNAME Davo, Wilbur PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden Colorado FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 160 RACE STARTS 363 RACE WINS 19 POLE POSITIONS 17 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 2nd (2009) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2009, 2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 5th 2016 BATHURST 1000 1st

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2004 Winton Motor Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Team Dynamik (2004), Dick Johnson Racing (2005-08), Holden Racing Team (2009-10), Ford Performance Racing (2011-13), Erebus Motorsport (2014-15), Tekno Autosports (2016-17)

BUILDING ON BATHURST: Davison secured fifth in the standings last season off the back of victory in the Bathurst 1000, continuing Tekno Autosports’ impressive run in the championship despite Shane van Gisbergen’s departure. Davison will be looking to cement his top five in the standings, leading the way for the Triple Eight customer teams.

2

SCOTT PYE

CAR WALKINSHAW RACING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1990 BIRTHPLACE Adelaide, SA LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 182cm WEIGHT 73kg NICKNAME Scotty PERSONAL VEHICLE Insignia VXR FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Spa-Francorchamps

EVENT STARTS 56 RACE STARTS 133 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 1 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 15th (2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 5th (2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 15th 2016 BATHURST 1000 5th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2012 Sandown Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (2012-13), Dick Johnson Racing/DJR Team Penske (2014-16), Walkinshaw Racing (2017)

NEW BEGINNING. After a three-year stint with Ford at DJR Team Penske, Pye returns to Holden as replacement for Garth Tander at Walkinshaw Racing. While it’s a period of adjustment for Walkinshaw Racing post the Holden Racing Team, Pye will be determined to settle in quickly and match it with teammate James Courtney in what will be a career-defining stint.

22

JAMES COURTNEY

CAR WALKINSHAW RACING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1980 BIRTHPLACE Penrith, NSW LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 181cm WEIGHT 73kg NICKNAME JC PERSONAL VEHICLE Insignia VXR FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 153 RACE STARTS 349 RACE WINS 15 POLE POSITIONS 10 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (2010) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 2nd (2007) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 11th 2016 BATHURST 1000 13th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2005 Sandown Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Holden Racing Team (2005 enduros), Stone Brothers Racing (2006-08), Dick Johnson Racing (2009-10), Holden Racing Team/Walkinshaw Racing (2011-17)

FAMILIAR FACE, NEW COLOURS. For the first time since joining the team in 2011, Courtney won’t have Garth Tander as a teammate.

This makes the former champion the most experienced driver in the team under its new guise, determined to get back to winning ways despite the loss of factory Holden funding and status.

27

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 27

31/01/2017 12:46 pm

Drivers

33

GARTH TANDER

TEAM GARRY ROGERS MOTORSPORT CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1977 BIRTHPLACE Perth, WA LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 192cm WEIGHT 80kg NICKNAME GT PERSONAL VEHICLE HSV Gen-F II GTS FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 252 RACE STARTS 577 RACE WINS 54 POLE POSITIONS 30 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (2007) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2000, 2009, 2011) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 9th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 1998 Phillip Island GP Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Garry Rogers Motorsport (1998-2004), HSV Dealer Team (2005-07), Holden Racing Team (2008-16), Garry Rogers Motorsport (2017)

BACK TO WHERE IT BEGAN. Tander returns to his first home in V8 Supercars after 12 seasons within the factory Holden stable. Tander is likely to end his career at Garry Rogers Motorsport and could transition into a management role, though will this season be looking to lead the team as it returns to running Commodores.

34

JAMES MOFFAT

TEAM GARRY ROGERS MOTORSPORT CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1984 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 180cm WEIGHT 80kg NICKNAME Moff PERSONAL VEHICLE Unknown FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 87 RACE STARTS 199 RACE WINS 1 POLE POSITIONS 1 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 16th (2014) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 2nd (2014) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 20th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2010 Phillip Island GP Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Ford Performance Racing (2010 enduros), Dick Johnson Racing (2011-12), Nissan Motorsport (2013-15), Garry Rogers Motorsport (2016-17)

RISING UP THE GRID. Moffat made significant gains in the second half of his first season with Garry Rogers Motorsport last year, though he only managed one top-five finish for 20th in the standings. Moffat will need to step it up despite the off-season troubles the team has faced following Volvo’s decision to pull its funding.

5

MARK WINTERBOTTOM

TEAM PRODRIVE RACING AUSTRALIA CAR FORD FG X FALCON DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1981 BIRTHPLACE Sydney, NSW LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 181cm WEIGHT 75kg NICKNAME Frosty PERSONAL VEHICLE Ford Mustang FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 182 RACE STARTS 413 RACE WINS 38 POLE POSITIONS 36 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (2015) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2013) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 6th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2003 Sandown Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Stone Brothers Racing (2003 enduros), Larkham Motorsport (2004-05), Ford Performance Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia (2006-17)

SEEKING REDEMPTION. Winterbottom’s championship defence never really got going in 2016, though he was the only driver from the Prodrive Racing Australia stable to win a race. Further engineering changes pose another variable, though the arrival of former teammate Jason Bright adds some welcome experience to the line-up.

28

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 28

31/01/2017 12:47 pm

6

CAMERON WATERS

TEAM PRODRIVE RACING AUSTRALIA CAR FORD FG X FALCON DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1994 BIRTHPLACE Mildura, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 180cm WEIGHT 77kg NICKNAME Cam PERSONAL VEHICLE Ford Mustang FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Adelaide, Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 23 RACE STARTS 44 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 1 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 19th (2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 4th (2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 19th 2016 BATHURST 1000 4th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2011 Bathurst 1000 SUPERCARS TEAMS Shannons Supercar (2011-12 enduros), Charlie Schwerkolt Racing (2014 enduros), Prodrive Racing Australia (2015-17)

SOPHMORE SEASON. Waters showed flashes of speed in his first full-time rookie season, highlighted by a pole position in Perth and fourth at Bathurst, though he struggled for consistency. He will need to improve on his 19th in the standings to justify his place in the team.

55

CHAZ MOSTERT

TEAM PRODRIVE RACING AUSTRALIA CAR FORD FG X FALCON DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1992 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 185cm WEIGHT 83kg NICKNAME Mozzie PERSONAL VEHICLE Ford Mustang FAVOURITE CIRCUIT All

EVENT STARTS 49 RACE STARTS 118 RACE WINS 8 POLE POSITIONS 15 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 7th (2014, 2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2014) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 7th 2016 BATHURST 1000 19th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2013 Barbagallo Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Dick Johnson Racing (2013), Ford Performance Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia (2014-17)

TIME FOR VICTORIES. Mostert returned from injury at the start of the 2016 season and lost none of his speed, scoring the first of his five pole positions at the season-opening Clipsal 500 Adelaide. But Mostert hasn’t won a race since August 2015 and, together with Mark Winterbottom and new arrival Jason Bright, needs to get Prodrive back onto the podium on a regular basis.

56

JASON BRIGHT

TEAM BRITEK/PRODRIVE RACING AUSTRALIA CAR FORD FG X FALCON DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1973 BIRTHPLACE Moe, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 180cm WEIGHT 87kg NICKNAME Brighty PERSONAL VEHICLE Unknown FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 243 RACE STARTS 548 RACE WINS 20 POLE POSITIONS 17 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 3rd (2001, 2004) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (1998) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 17th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 1997 Symmons Plains Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Garry Rogers Motorsport (1997), Stone Brothers Racing (1998-99), Dick Johnson Racing (2000 enduros), Holden Racing Team (2001-02), Team Brock/PWR (2003-04), Ford Performance Racing (2005-06), Britek Motorsport (2007-09), Brad Jones Racing (2010-16), Prodrive Racing Australia (2017)

REVIVING BRITEK. Bright returns to the team formerly known as Ford Performance Racing a decade later, following on from a sevenyear stint at Brad Jones Racing. Bright brings his license with him to replace Super Black Racing within the Prodrive stable in what shapes as the second coming of his own Britek team.

29

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 29

31/01/2017 12:47 pm

Drivers

12

FABIAN COULTHARD

TEAM DJR TEAM PENSKE CAR FORD FG X FALCON DATE OF BIRTH July 28, 1982 BIRTHPLACE Burnley, England LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 188cm WEIGHT 80kg NICKNAME Fabs PERSONAL VEHICLE Ford Falcon FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 146 RACE STARTS 325 RACE WINS 5 POLE POSITIONS 7 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 6th (2013) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 4th (2015) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 12th 2016 BATHURST 1000 6th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2004 Oran Park Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Tasman Motorsport (2004-05), Paul Morris Motorsports (2006-07), Paul Cruickshank Racing (2008-09), Walkinshaw Racing (2010-11), Brad Jones Racing (2012-15), DJR Team Penske (2016-17)

BUILDING ON LAST SEASON. Coulthard scored two podiums and one pole position in his first season with DJR Team Penske, but he and the team will be determined for more in 2017 with the engineering team boosted in the third season of Penske’s ownership and with fellow New Zealander Scott McLaughlin across the garage.

17

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN

TEAM DJR TEAM PENSKE CAR FORD FG X FALCON DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1993 BIRTHPLACE Christchurch, NZ LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 184cm WEIGHT 84kg NICKNAME Scotty, Nigel PERSONAL VEHICLE Ford Ranger FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 59 RACE STARTS 141 RACE WINS 8 POLE POSITIONS 17 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 3rd (2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 5th (2015) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 3rd 2016 BATHURST 1000 15th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2012 Sandown Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Tekno Autosports (2012 enduros), Garry Rogers Motorsport (2013-16), DJR Team Penske (2017)

HITTING THE BIG TIME. McLaughlin moves on from Garry Rogers Motorsport to DJR Team Penske at what appears to be a perfect time, with the Ford team looking likely to challenge for the title in the coming seasons following an aggressive recruitment of wellcredentialed personnel.

8

NICK PERCAT

TEAM BRAD JONES RACING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1988 BIRTHPLACE Adelaide, SA LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 189cm WEIGHT 72kg NICKNAME Perdog PERSONAL VEHICLE HSV VF V8 FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 50 RACE STARTS 107 RACE WINS 2 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 12th (2014) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2011) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 18th 2016 BATHURST 1000 3rd

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2011 Phillip Island GP Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Holden Racing Team (2011-13 enduros), Walkinshaw Racing (2014), Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (2015-16), Brad Jones Racing (2017)

STEPPING UP. Percat’s form with minnows Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport has been rewarded with a move to Brad Jones Racing, replacing long-time driver of the #8 entry Jason Bright. Percat will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of teammate Tim Slade and score race wins in his first season with the Holden team.

30

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 30

25/01/2017 5:57 pm

14

TIM SLADE

TEAM BRAD JONES RACING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1985 BIRTHPLACE Hornsby, NSW LIVES Gold Coast, Qld HEIGHT 172cm WEIGHT 65kg NICKNAME Sladedog PERSONAL VEHICLE HSV Gen-F Clubsport FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 113 RACE STARTS 246 RACE WINS 2 POLE POSITIONS 2 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 5th (2012) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 7th (2009, 2012, 2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 8th 2016 BATHURST 1000 7th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2009 Adelaide Parklands Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Paul Morris Motorsport (2009), Stone Brothers Racing (2010-13), Walkinshaw Racing (2014-15), Brad Jones Racing (2016-17)

LEADING THE LINE. Slade impressed in his first season with Brad Jones Racing with two wins at Winton and a top-10 finish in the championship, quickly establishing himself as team leader. He will have a greater challenge to that title with new teammate Nick Percat, which could drive the team further up the grid in 2017.

21

TIM BLANCHARD

TEAM TIM BLANCHARD/BRAD JONES RACING CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1987 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 178cm WEIGHT 75kg NICKNAME Timmy, TB PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden Cruze FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Spa-Francorchamps

EVENT STARTS 54 RACE STARTS 119 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 21st (2015) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 10th (2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 23rd 2016 BATHURST 1000 10th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2010 Phillip Island GP Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Paul Morris Motorsport (2010 one-off), Kelly Racing (2011-12 enduros), Dick Johnson Racing (2013), Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (2014-15), Brad Jones Racing (2016-17)

NEW RESPONSIBILITES. Blanchard secured his place on the grid by purchasing Super Black Racing’s licence to form Tim Blanchard Racing, which replaces Jason Bright’s licence used to underpin Blanchard’s entry last season. Blanchard is the first to admit his results must improve if he’s to remain in the driver’s seat for the new entry beyond 2017.

18

LEE HOLDSWORTH

TEAM TEAM 18 CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1983 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 170cm WEIGHT 73kg NICKNAME Leethal, Leeroy, Holdsy PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden SS-V FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 157 RACE STARTS 360 RACE WINS 3 POLE POSITIONS 4 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 7th (2010) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 3rd (2009) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 24th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2004 Sandown Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Smiths Trucks Racing (2004-05), Garry Rogers Motorsport (2005-11), Stone Brothers Racing/Erebus Motorsport (2012-14), Charlie Schwerkolt Racing (2015-17)

HOPING FOR BETTER LUCK. Team 18’s first season running independently was derailed by the injuries sustained by Holdsworth in Darwin. A fit Holdsworth will have a growing team around him to rebound back into the top 10 on a regular basis in the customer Triple Eight-built Holden VF Commodore.

31

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 31

31/01/2017 12:48 pm

Drivers

7

TODD KELLY

TEAM NISSAN MOTORSPORT CAR NISSAN ALTIMA DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1979 BIRTHPLACE Mildura, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 179cm WEIGHT 75kg NICKNAME TK, Toddler PERSONAL VEHICLE Nissan Patrol FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 229 RACE STARTS 515 RACE WINS 19 POLE POSITIONS 6 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 4th (2005) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2005) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 14th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 1999 Eastern Creek Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Holden Young Lions (1999-2000), Kmart Racing (2001-02), Holden Racing Team (2003-07), Perkins Engineering (2008), Kelly Racing/Nissan Motorsport (2009-17)

KEEPING PACE. The senior Kelly had his best season in a Nissan Altima in 2016, recording his first top-15 finish in the standings since 2008. But Todd and brother Rick Kelly will be looking to follow teammate Michael Caruso’s example and fight within the top 10 on a consistent basis in 2017.

15

RICK KELLY

TEAM NISSAN MOTORSPORT CAR NISSAN ALTIMA DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1983 BIRTHPLACE Mildura, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 183cm WEIGHT 73kg NICKNAME Ricko PERSONAL VEHICLE Nissan Pathfinder FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 209 RACE STARTS 466 RACE WINS 12 POLE POSITIONS 8 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 1st (2006) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 1st (2003, 2004) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 13th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2001 Queensland Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Kmart Racing (2001 enduros), Holden Young Lions (2001-02), Kmart Racing/HSV Dealer Team (2003-08), Kelly Racing/Nissan Motorsport (2009-17)

PRESSURE MOUNTING. Kelly dropped outside the top 10 in the standings in 2016, largely due to a disastrous Bathurst 1000. Kelly, like his experienced Nissan Motorsport teammates, needs to be challenging in the top 10 on a regular basis in the Altima’s fifth season in the series.

23

MICHAEL CARUSO

TEAM NISSAN MOTORSPORT CAR NISSAN ALTIMA DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1983 BIRTHPLACE Sydney, NSW LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 165cm WEIGHT 72kg NICKNAME Caruse, MC PERSONAL VEHICLE Nissan Murano FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 130 RACE STARTS 289 RACE WINS 2 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 10th (2014, 2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 3rd (2009) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 10th 2016 BATHURST 1000 8th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2006 Bathurst 1000 SUPERCARS TEAMS Brad Jones Racing (2006 enduros), WPS Racing (2007 enduros), Garry Rogers Motorsport (2008-12), Nissan Motorsport (2013-17)

NISSAN’S NUMBER ONE. Caruso yet again led the way for the Nissan Motorsport quartet last season, recording his second top-10 finish in the standings from the last three years off the back of victory in Darwin. Consistency has been key to Caruso’s recent campaigns, though he and his teammates need more speed from the Altima to challenge for more wins.

32

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 32

25/01/2017 5:57 pm

78

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO

TEAM NISSAN MOTORSPORT CAR NISSAN ALTIMA DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1988 BIRTHPLACE Thun, Switzerland LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 170cm WEIGHT 68kg NICKNAME Iron Maiden PERSONAL VEHICLE Nissan Patrol FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 2 RACE STARTS 2 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 53rd (2016) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 14th (2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 53rd 2016 BATHURST 1000 14th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2015 Bathurst 1000 SUPERCARS TEAMS Harvey Norman Supergirls (2015-16 enduros), Nissan Motorsport (2017)

HIGH-PROFILE ROOKIE. After two wildcard appearances in the Bathurst 1000, de Silvestro will enter Supercars full-time with Nissan Motorsport on a three-year deal. The ground-breaking deal brokered by Supercars to promote female talent allows the Swiss openwheel ace the chance to ease her way into the series in 2017.

4

DALE WOOD

TEAM EREBUS MOTORSPORT CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 9, 1983 BIRTHPLACE Melbourne, Vic LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 174cm WEIGHT 69kg NICKNAME Woody PERSONAL VEHICLE Unknown FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Phillip Island

EVENT STARTS 61 RACE STARTS 129 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 20th (2015) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 9th (2011, 2016) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 22nd 2016 BATHURST 1000 9th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2008 Phillip Island GP Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Tasman Motorsport (2008 enduros), Kelly Racing (2009-10), Tony D’Alberto Racing (2011-12 enduros), Dick Johnson Racing (2013 enduros), Brad Jones Racing (2014-15), Nissan Motorsport (2016), Erebus Motorsport (2017)

THIRD TIME LUCKY. Wood joins his third different team from as many seasons following stints with Brad Jones Racing and Nissan Motorsport. And while he’ll benefit from Erebus Motorsport’s experience with its Walkinshaw Racing-built Holden VF Commodores, it remains to be seen how often he can challenge teammate David Reynolds.

9

DAVID REYNOLDS

TEAM EREBUS MOTORSPORT CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1985 BIRTHPLACE Albury, NSW LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 176cm WEIGHT 65kg NICKNAME Daffid PERSONAL VEHICLE Holden Calais FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 106 RACE STARTS 230 RACE WINS 3 POLE POSITIONS 7 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 3rd (2015) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 2nd (2012) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 16th 2016 BATHURST 1000 18th

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2007 Sandown Raceway SUPERCARS TEAMS Paul Weel Racing (2007 enduros), Walkinshaw Racing (2008-10), Kelly Racing (2011), Rod Nash Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia (2012-15), Erebus Motorsport (2016-17)

TEAM LEADER. Reynolds stood up in his role of team leader at Erebus Motorsport, ending his first season with the team with a podium in Sydney. There were plenty of changes for Erebus last season. This year he will have a new car and off-track stability in his bid to drag the team up the grid on a more regular basis.

33

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 33

31/01/2017 12:48 pm

Drivers co

3

rmed a ime of pri i

.

ANDRE HEIMGARTNER*

TEAM LUCAS DUMBRELL MOTORSPORT CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1995 BIRTHPLACE Auckland, NZ LIVES Melbourne, Vic HEIGHT 183cm WEIGHT 76kg NICKNAME None PERSONAL VEHICLE Volkswagon Scirocco FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Bathurst

EVENT STARTS 27 RACE STARTS 60 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT 24th (2015) BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT 11th (2014) 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP 25th 2016 BATHURST 1000 DNF

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2014 Bathurst 1000 SUPERCARS TEAMS Super Black Racing (2014-15), Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (2016-17)

CONTINUITY: Heimgartner remains with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport for a second season despite struggling to match the pace of more experienced teammate Nick Percat in 2016. Heimgartner will be hoping the continuity of remaining with the Triple Eight customer team will deliver results after finishing in 25th in the standings last season.

62

ALEX RULLO*

TEAM LUCAS DUMBRELL MOTORSPORT CAR HOLDEN VF COMMODORE DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 2000 BIRTHPLACE Perth, WA LIVES Perth, WA HEIGHT 152cm WEIGHT 65kg NICKNAME None PERSONAL VEHICLE None FAVOURITE CIRCUIT Phillip Island

EVENT STARTS 0 RACE STARTS 0 RACE WINS 0 POLE POSITIONS 0 BEST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT N/A BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT N/A 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP N/A 2016 BATHURST 1000 N/A

SUPERCARS DEBUT 2017 Adelaide Parklands Circuit SUPERCARS TEAMS Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (2017)

ROOKIE TEENAGER: Rullo steps up into the main game after a meteoric rise through the ranks. The Western Australian teenager spent last season driving a Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport-prepared Holden VF Commodore in the Dunlop Development Series, though he will be thrown in the deep end in the main game. He holds the record for youngest winner of a national CAMS circuit racing event at 14.

FOR THE LATEST IN DRIVER & TEAM CHANGES PLUS ALL THE NEWS & FEATURES V8X app

V8X.com.au

V8XMagazine

@V8X_Magazine

V8XSupercar

34

V8X97 p26-34 Drivers.indd 34

3/02/2017 1:26 pm

172

PAGES OF ICONIC PHOTOS & LEGENDARY MOMENTS!

Celebrating 50 Years of The Great Race Large commemorative hardcover (285x225mm) river pro les comprehensive results Foreword by racing legend Dick Johnson

ONLY $35 WITH FREE P&H*

t Digital version now available for $24.95 (online orders only) Order now at V8X.com.au or call 03 9372 9125

*Australian address only

V8X93 p71 ad-BathurstBook.indd 71

24/05/2016 4:02 pm

2-5 MAR

Clipsal 500 Adelaide Adelaide Street Circuit, SA

SuperStreet

23-26 MAR

2017 Formula 1® Australian Grand Prix** Albert Park, VIC

International SuperSprint

7-9 APR

Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint Symmons Plains Raceway, TAS

SuperSprint

21-23 APR

WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint Phillip Island Circuit, VIC

SuperSprint

5-7 MAY

Perth SuperSprint Barbagallo Raceway, WA

CALENDAR

SuperSprint

19-21 MAY

Winton SuperSprint Winton Motor Raceway, VIC

SuperSprint

16-18 JUNE

CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway, NT

SuperSprint

7-9 JULY

Townsville 400 Reid Park, QLD

SuperStreet

28-30 JULY

Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint Queensland Raceway, QLD

SuperSprint

18-20 AUG

Red Rooster Sydney SuperSprint Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW

SuperSprint

15-17 SEPT

Wilson Security Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway, VIC

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama, NSW

Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise, QLD

ITM Auckland SuperSprint Pukekohe Park Raceway, NZ

Coates Hire Newcastle 500 Newcastle, NSW

Pirtek Enduro Cup

***

5-8 OCT Pirtek Enduro Cup

20-22 OCT Pirtek Enduro Cup

3-5 NOV International SuperSprint

24-26 NOV SuperStreet

Events and dates are subject to change. Correct at time of printing.

Non Championship Event *** Non Championship Dunlop Series Event *

**

36

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 36

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

ADELAIDE 500 MARCH 2-5 The former home of the Australian Grand Prix was shortened from its full length to 3.2 kilometres, first hosting a V8 Supercars championship round in 1999. Popular with drivers and fans alike, the Clipsal 500 Adelaide is the ultimate street circuit in terms of challenge and atmosphere.

FORMAT The event reverts back to its original format this year with two 250km races across the Saturday and Sunday.

9 13

GETTING THERE The parklands circuit is on the eastern side of Adelaide’s CBD, a 15-minute drive from Adelaide Airport. It’s better to rely on public transport as there are road closures around the city for the event. It’s often free for fans with event tickets. Book early as accommodation options are limited.

2016 WINNERS R1: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight) R2: James Courtney (HRT) R3: Nick Percat (LDM)

14

10 12 11

8

1 2 3

Adelaide

5 4

7

6

TRACK: Adelaide Parklands (Adelaide, South Australia) LENGTH: 3.22km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 146km/h TOP SPEED: 251km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:20.0084 (2015) – Shane van Gisbergen, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 1:21.0507 (2012) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VE

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

TRACK: Albert Park (Melbourne, Victoria) LENGTH: 5.30km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 164km/h TOP SPEED: 256km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:55.085 (2012) – Shane van Gisbergen, Holden Commodore VE RACE LAP RECORD: 1:55.9682 (2011) – Craig Lowndes, Holden Commodore VE

MARCH 23-26 A street circuit in the sense that it’s a public road for most of the year but, unlike the Adelaide Parklands Circuit, a fast, wide and sweeping track. First used in 1996, V8 Supercars have raced every year at Albert Park except for 2007.

FORMAT Two races on Friday, one race on Saturday, one race on Sunday.

Melbourne

GETTING THERE Albert Park is a five-minute drive south of Melbourne’s CBD, easily accessed by public transport thanks to a tram stop just outside the circuit. This service is free for those with tickets to the event.

2016 WINNERS R1: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight) R2: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight) R3: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight) R4: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight)

8 6 7 9 10

5

12 13

11

4

15 3

2 1

16

14

37

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 37

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

Events

TASMANIA SUPERSPRINT APRIL 7-9 A short yet fast lap, where the majority of time is spent on full throttle. Overtaking opportunities are limited to the Turn 4 hairpin and the Turn 6 left-hander at the end of the back straight. Brakes are worked hard on both big stops.

TRACK: Symmons Plains Raceway (Launceston, Tasmania) LENGTH: 2.4km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 167km/h TOP SPEED: 270km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 0:50.9676 (2014) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 0:51.4713 (2009) – Rick Kelly, Holden Commodore VE

GETTING THERE Symmons Plains Raceway is a 30-minute drive south of Launceston, along the Midland Highway. It’s even closer to Launceston Airport, with the highway easing traffic concerns.

Flights, though, tend to be limited from the mainland.

2016 WINNERS R1: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight) R2: Will Davison (Tekno)

FORMAT One 120km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.

6

7

Launceston

5 1

2

4

PHILLIP ISLAND

TRACK: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (Phillip Island, Victoria) LENGTH: 4.445km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 174km/h TOP SPEED: 290km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:30.3918 (2016) – Scott McLaughlin, Volvo S60 RACE LAP RECORD: 1:32.0246 (2013) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF

Phillip Island

9

3

APRIL 21-23 The motorbike grand prix circuit is popular amongst drivers for its fast and flowing nature. It’s second only to Mount Panorama in terms of top and average speed with much of the lap spent on full throttle, including the run from Turn 1 to Turn 4 and the run out of the hairpin across Siberia.

FORMAT The event changes to two 250km races on the Saturday and Sunday.

GETTING THERE Phillip Island is a 90-minute drive south-east from Melbourne, along the M1 Highway. Once on the Island, the circuit is to the south just after Smith’s Beach and a 10-minute drive from the main township of Cowes.

Accommodation options are limited, so look to sort out your plans early to avoid a daily trip back to Melbourne.

2016 WINNERS R1: Scott McLaughlin (GRM) R2: Scott McLaughlin (GRM)

7 6 5

8 11

3 4

10 1

12

2

38

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 38

31/01/2017 12:50 pm

PERTH SUPERSPRINT

GETTING THERE

MAY 5-7 A tight and technical circuit where overtaking is difficult and, therefore, qualifying is key. The surface is also one of the toughest on tyres, so the use of the softer tyre will add a real strategic variable. Other challenges include the high winds that sweep across the circuit and the deep gravel traps.

FORMAT

Barbagallo Raceway is a 45-minute drive north of Perth along the Mitchell Freeway, north-west from the Perth Airport. Be prepared for track congestion into and out of the circuit, though once you’re on the freeway it’s a smooth drive to Perth. Most teams choose to stay along the coast.

One 120km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.GETTING

R1: Craig Lowndes (Triple Eight) R2: Mark Winterbottom (PRA)

TRACK: Barbagello Raceway (Perth, Western Australia) LENGTH: 2.42km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 157km/h TOP SPEED: 252km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 0:54.9898 (2011) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VE RACE LAP RECORD: 0:55.9440 (2004) – Jason Bright, Holden Commodore VY 6

2016 WINNERS

Perth 5

3

4

2 1 7

WINTON SUPERSPRINT

TRACK: Winton Motor Raceway (Benalla, Victoria) LENGTH: 3km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 131km/h TOP SPEED: 225km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:18.7603 (2016) – Chaz Mostert, Ford Falcon FG X RACE LAP RECORD: 1:19.7092 (2016) – Fabian Coulthard, Ford Falcon FG X

MAY 19-21 Recently resurfaced, Winton is a tight circuit where overtaking is difficult and handling is vital in order to qualify well. Overtaking opportunities are limited to Turn 3, a dive bomb into Turn 7 and Turn 10 and 11, though they require big commitments on the brakes. It is also the slowest circuit on the calendar, with a total of 12 corners linked by short straights.

Benalla

9 7

FORMAT One 120km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE Winton is a two and a half hour drive north of Melbourne between Benalla and Glenrowan/Wangaratta and an hour’s drive south of Albury.

2016 WINNERS R1: Tim Slade (BJR) R2: Tim Slade (BJR)

8 6

11

5 10

12

4 1

2 3

39

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 39

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

Events

DARWIN SUPERSPRINT JUNE 16-18 The Hidden Valley circuit features a long front straight and a tight and twisty infield, so there’s a compromise between outright speed and handling.

The warm conditions mean tyre conservation and strategy will be critical.

FORMAT One 120km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.

TRACK: Hidden Valley Raceway (Darwin, Northern Territory) LENGTH: 2.9km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 149km/h TOP SPEED: 271km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:06.0259 (2016) – Craig Lowndes, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 1:06.8659 (2015) – Rick Kelly, Nissan Altima

GETTING THERE Hidden Valley is a 10-minute drive south-east of Darwin Airport and 15 minutes east of the centre of Darwin, so it’s one of the easier circuits to navigate to and from. But big crowds can cause traffic congestion, though there are public transport options.

2016 WINNERS R1: Michael Caruso (Nissan) R2: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight)

6

1 2 4

3

7 10

9 8

11

5

Darwin

12 13 14

TOWNSVILLE 400

TRACK: Townsville Street Circuit (Reid Park, Queensland) LENGTH: 2.86km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 144km/h TOP SPEED: 260km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:12.1443 (2016) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 1:13.3474 (2016) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF 3

4

6 8 9

5

7 13

2

10

JULY 7-9 The Townsville circuit combines public roads and a parkland section, so it’s a challenge for drivers from the tight concrete-lined first sector to the fast parklands section. It’s been a popular addition to the calendar since 2009 with its big crowds and party atmosphere.

FORMAT One 200km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE Reid Park is a short walk across the Ross Creek, south of the centre of Townsville and 15 minutes east of the Townsville Airport. Townsville’s remoteness from other major cities means flying in is essential, so lock in travel plans early as accommodation options are snapped up quick.

2016 WINNERS R1: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight) R2: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight)

1 12

Townsville

11

40

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 40

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

IPSWICH SUPERSPRINT JULY 28-30 The ‘Paperclip’ has a simple six-turn design, but it’s more complicated than it looks. Resurfaced in late 2011, it still features the odd bump that can make car setup difficult and test drivers out.

Overtaking opportunities are limited, so qualifying well is vital. It’s also the home test track for the Queenslandbased teams and has been on the calendar since 1999, when it replaced Lakeside International Raceway, despite recent concerns over safety.

3 2

FORMAT One 120km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE Queensland Raceway is a 20-minute drive south-west of the centre of Ipswich and 45 minutes south-west of Brisbane, along the A15 National Highway.

2016 WINNERS R1: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight) R2: Craig Lowndes (Triple Eight)

4

6 5

1

Ipswich

TRACK: Queensland Raceway (Ipswich, Queensland) LENGTH: 3.12km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 162km/h TOP SPEED: 255km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:09.0593 (2013) – Will Davison, Ford Falcon FG RACE LAP RECORD: 1:10.0423 (2014) – Lee Holdsworth, AMG Mercedes-Benz E63

SYDNEY SUPERSPRINT

TRACK: Sydney Motorsport Park (Sydney, New South Wales) LENGTH: 3.93km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 154km/h TOP SPEED: 265km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:28.8272 (2016) – Chaz Mostert, Ford Falcon FG X RACE LAP RECORD: 1:30.9123 (2015) – Garth Tander, Holden Commodore VF 12

1 10 9

11

8

4 3

2

5

6

AUGUST 18-20 Sydney Motorsport Park is now the sole host of a round in the New South Wales capital following the demise of the Sydney Olympic Park circuit.

Sydney Motorsport Park features a range of low to high-speed corners, so is popular with drivers.

FORMAT One 120km race on Saturday, one 200km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE Sydney Motorsport Park is a 45-minute drive west of Sydney along the M4 Western Highway. If driving from Sydney Airport, allow an extra 10 minutes and take the M5 and M7 to avoid the city and Sydney’s notorious traffic.

2016 WINNERS R1: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight) R2: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight)

7

Sydney

41

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 41

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

Events

SANDOWN 500 SEPTEMBER 15-17 A fast and flowing circuit that is the home of the pre-Bathurst endurance race and first round of the Pirtek Endurance Cup. Sandown features two long straights and the fast Dandenong Road Corner in addition to the tight and twisty sections in the first and third sectors. Sandown has hosted more championship events than any other circuit since first appearing in 1965.

TRACK: Sandown Motor Raceway (Melbourne, Victoria) LENGTH: 3.1km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 164km/h TOP SPEED: 270km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:08.5730 (2014) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 1:09.3416 (2015) – Chaz Mostert, Ford Falcon FG X

FORMAT Two 60km qualifying races on Saturday, one 500km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE Sandown Motor Raceway is a 45-minute drive south-east of Melbourne Airport along the M1 and M2 Highway, past the city. Melbourne CBD to Sandown is about 30 minutes.

2016 WINNERS Garth Tander/Warren Luff (HRT)

Melbourne 6 8

7

9 10

4

5

3

2

11 12

1

13

TRACK: Mount Panorama (Bathurst, New South Wales) LENGTH: 6.213km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 178km/h TOP SPEED: 300km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 2:05.0481 (2016) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 2:06.2769 (2016) – David Reynolds, Holden Commodore VF 18

17 16

19

15 14

13 12

11

10

9 8 7

6 5

2

BATHURST 1000 OCTOBER 5-8 The most challenging and popular circuit on the calendar. Constructed in 1938 as a scenic tourist drive, the circuit is characterised by the two long straights up and down the mountain and the twists, turns and undulations of the second sector. The Dunlop Development Series race at the event is now non-championship in a bid to entice second-tier teams to enter the Bathurst 1000 as wildcards.

FORMAT One 1000km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE Bathurst is a three-hour drive west of Sydney along the Great Western Highway. The road trip from Sydney is a big part of the Bathurst adventure, especially for those camping at the top of the mountain. The circuit lies just south of central Bathurst.

2016 WINNERS Will Davison/Jonathon Webb (Tekno)

4 3

20

Bathurst

21 22

23

1

42

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 42

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

GOLD COAST 600 OCTOBER 20-22 A high-speed, concrete-lined street circuit that was shortened for the new-look event in 2010. The temporary street track has proven to create carnage in the past, especially across the kerbs at the Turn 1, 2 and 3 chicane and the back chicane section. It’s the final round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup and has hosted a championship event since 2002.

FORMAT One 300km race on Saturday, one 300km race on Sunday.

GETTING THERE

The street circuit is right in the heart of the Surfers Paradise precinct, a 30-minute drive north of Gold Coast Airport. You can also fly into Brisbane Airport and use the train service to the Gold Coast, though allow for a couple of hours of travel.

TRACK: Gold Coast Street Circuit (Surfers Paradise, Queensland) LENGTH: 2.96km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 146km/h TOP SPEED: 265km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:10.3169 (2016) – Jamie Whincup, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 1:10.0851 (2011) – Will Davison, Ford Falcon FG 14 15

12

11

13

2016 WINNERS

R1: Shane van Gisbergen/Alexandre Prémat (Triple Eight) R2: Jamie Whincup/ Paul Dumbrell (Triple Eight)

10 9

8

7

6

Gold Coast 1 2

3 5 4

AUCKLAND SUPERSPRINT

TRACK: Pukekohe Park Raceway (Auckland, New Zealand) LENGTH: 2.91km DIRECTION: Clockwise AVERAGE SPEED: 166km/h TOP SPEED: 258km/h QUALIFYING LAP RECORD: 1:02.2186 (2016) – Shane van Gisbergen, Holden Commodore VF RACE LAP RECORD: 1:03.2524 (2015) – Craig Lowndes, Holden Commodore VF 4 5 3

7

2 6

8 9 1

10

11

NOVEMBER 3-5 The popular circuit features a fast and flowing layout with the Turn 5 to 7 complex providing the main overtaking opportunity. Pukekohe first hosted the series in 2001 and returned in 2013 after a five-year absence and major redevelopments to track and facilities.

The 2017 race format includes the addition of pitstops.

FORMAT The event changes to two 200km races on the Saturday and Sunday.

GETTING THERE Fly into Auckland and take the SH 1 Highway south for the 45-minute drive to Pukekohe. Allow extra time when driving around Auckland given the high level of traffic, so look for accommodation options close to the circuit.

2016 WINNERS R1: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight) R2: Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight) R3: Mark Winterbottom (PRA) R4: Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight)

Auckland

43

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 43

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

Events

NEWCASTLE 500 NOVEMBER 24-26 Newcastle joins the Supercars calendar as a replacement for the Sydney Olympic Park street circuit.

The Newcastle coastline will provide the backdrop to the new 2.6km circuit, which also incorporates parts of the central business district and local landmarks such as Nobbys Beach, Fort Scratchley and the Harbour Foreshore.

The circuit features undulation that’s unusual for a street circuit, with the layout reminiscent of the Adelaide Parklands Circuit.

Supercars Chief Executive Officer James Warburton says: “This is a world-class circuit that will make

TRACK: Newcastle Street Circuit (Newcastle, New South Wales) LENGTH: 2.6km DIRECTION: Anti-clockwise

for exciting racing for the people of Newcastle. We can’t wait to come to Newcastle and deliver great entertainment on and off the track and showcase the city to the rest of Australia and the world.”

FORMAT Two 250km races.

GETTING THERE Newcastle is a two-hour drive north of Sydney through the Central Coast. The circuit sits just east of the central business district, with accommodation options likely to be limited. Newcastle airport is a half-hour drive north of the central business district.

Newcastle 10 1

11 9

7 2

5

3 4

6

8

FLYOVER

Scan to watch a flyover look at the brand new Newcastle circuit.

44

V8X97 p36-44 Events.indd 44

25/01/2017 5:56 pm

d clude not in Chain

GREAT GIFT IDEA!

Available in two alternative finishes. One is highly polished with a diamond etched background and the other highly polished with a darkened finish around the edge of the track.

These Bathurst track designs are available as solid sterling silver, brass or bronze.

Bathurst track pendants to be worn on a chain or used on a keyring.

Chain/keyring not included.

JUST $99

PLUS P&H Available exclusively via V8X.COM.AU

RPM Jewellery fpa.indd 1

6/12/2016 5:36 pm

Fraternising with Foges IN T ERV IE W BY M A RK FOG A R T Y

Fan-favourite Scott McLaughlin explains the ins and outs of his move to DJR Team Penske in a typically candid and colourful conversation with Mark Fogarty.

MAGES Peter Norton, Daniel Kalisz, James Baker

t was the moment that made Scott McLaughlin a star. “I just plucked it in first, gave it some jandal and f--k yeah!”

He had just beaten Jamie Whincup after an epic battle in the closing stages of the second race of the 2014 Clipsal 500. Their duel was decided in the final corner and McLaughlin’s description of how he scrambled past Whincup became the foundation of his popularity. His unfiltered elation immortalised a performance that was memorable on its own. In just the second race for the Volvo S60, McLaughlin went wheel-towheel with the reigning champion and came out on top.

Rarely has a fight for second place in a race been so celebrated, but it was of such high quality it heralded McLaughlin as a fast-rising force. His unrestrained reaction endeared him to the fans and the wider public and his engaging personality has continued to shine through.

He is the most characterful top-line driver to come along in a generation, with his combination of talent and fan-friendliness likened to the appeal of Craig Lowndes. Add his candour and the New Zealander has the attributes to become the next superstar of the sport.

McLaughlin rapidly rose to prominence with Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM), winning two races in his debut season in the main game in 2013. Since GRM’s switch to Volvo in ’14, he has helped make the Swedish brand cool, winning six championship races and 17 pole positions in the past three seasons.

He was third in last year’s driver’s championship and led Wilson Security Racing GRM to third in the team’s title amid the shock of Volvo’s unexpected decision to withdraw from Supercars at the end of the season.

Volvo’s departure triggered McLaughlin’s big-money move to DJR Team Penske (DJRTP) on a multi-year contract. His signing alongside fellow Kiwi Fabian Coulthard raises expectations and, along with other changes, signals the team’s intent to establish the Shell V-Power Racing Ford Falcon FG Xs at the front of the field.

A big change for this season, so how are you feeling about the move?

I’m probably more nervous than I have been in previous years. It’s weird, I’m like a nervous excited. I’m excited for what’s ahead. I know there’s plenty of resources there and I’m looking forward to working with Fabian.

46

V8X97 p46-51 McLaughlin.indd 46

25/01/2017 5:55 pm

Mark Fogarty is Fairfax Media’s award-winning motorsport writer.

Foges also enlivens the Inside Supercars TV show every so often.

47

V8X97 p46-51 McLaughlin.indd 47

25/01/2017 5:55 pm

Fraternising with Foges

But I’m nervous because it’s not like the car I had was bad. I made my decisions around a lot of support and what happened at the back end of last year. It’s a weird feeling… really weird. I’m probably more excited, but there’s a touch of nervousness there. I have to prove my decision and I understand that. It’s my first big change and I have to make it work.

The move is obviously about the long-term but short-term there’s a big risk, isn’t there? There’s no guarantee you’ll be more competitive than last year.

Oh, short-term, absolutely, but having seen the team and how they gel, I’m already confident DJR Team Penske will move forward this season. How they’re working out the problems they had and re-evaluating where they go is pretty cool. It’s definitely on another level compared with where I was in regards to how they go through debriefs and how they run things off-track.

But, obviously, on-track we need to find that speed as a team. So, yeah, I think that you’d be an idiot to say that they were as good as GRM last year because they weren’t. They had flashes of brilliance but we had a better car at GRM. I’m prepared to go through the hard rows and I’m lucky Fabian has gone through those already. They did a lot of the work last year, so I’m stepping into something that’s three quarters of the way there. We just need to finish off that last quarter and we’ll be okay.

How do you think you and Fabian are going to get on? There’s going to be some friction, isn’t there?

Oh, look, there’s only friction if you want there to be.

Fabian and I already get along really well.

We’ve said to each other that we know one of us is going to beat the other one more times, so we understand that.

As long as it’s moving the team forward, it’s going to work out better for both of us.

It’s different to the Red Bull guys because they knew they had that package, where at the moment we have to work together to get our package going. It’s an interesting situation but, honestly, I think we’ll work together really well. I really do believe that and I’ve felt that vibe already, probably better than I’ve ever had with any of my teammates.

So what are you seeing at this stage that gives you confidence the team will step it up this year?

I think it’s just the belief everyone there has. Everyone believes that we’ll get there and we’ll be one of the top teams and that’s really all you need. The thing with GRM was we didn’t have the resources of other teams, but we believed that we had the car to beat them and that’s all you really need. And to have that belief at DJRTP is a big plus. Everyone is working together really well, so I think it’s a recipe that’s going to work.

As it turned out, DJR Team Penske had been after you for a long time. The first sounded you out at the back end of 2015…

I contacted them a lot earlier than that. I just sent them a general email and it wasn’t about Supercars. It was just to say, “Hello, here’s my number and this is my email” and that was before they’d ever decided they were doing Supercars. It was just an email to Tim Cindric. And you know who gave me his email address? Marcos Ambrose.

You contacted him because you knew Penske was coming into Supercars?

I had a feeling they would, but it wasn’t about Supercars at all. It was just to introduce myself. Who wouldn’t want to drive for Roger Penske?

When was this exactly?

Early 2014. I was looking way into the future. It wasn’t about the next year or the year after. I didn’t actually think it would happen so quickly, but at that stage it was more about racing for them overseas sort of thing.

48

V8X97 p46-51 McLaughlin.indd 48

31/01/2017 12:51 pm

To me, it always seemed inevitable you were going to join DJRTP in 2017. Was it inevitable?

Honestly, it wasn’t. It was a pretty cool to have them chasing me but, honestly, I was really happy at GRM. I found a really happy place there. The GRM family was a great bunch and, really, until that Volvo thing was thrown up, I was happy to continue there. Once the Volvo thing happened, that’s when I really decided to take the Penske offer.

So right up until Volvo pulled the plug, in your mind there was a good chance you were going to re-sign with GRM? There was a good chance, yeah. I was probably 60/40 GRM’s way. I had my doubts about staying. Obviously, I was thinking long-term as well and I knew businesswise it was probably going to be better for me to go to Penske. But Garry gave me my break and I know a lot of people have poached his drivers along the way, and I felt like I owed him some loyalty. He was great through the whole process, though, and when it all turned to shit he understood my decision 100 per cent. The whole Volvo thing was very hard for Garry.

After dominating at Phillip Island, you took up the invitation to race for Volvo in Sweden. While you were there, was there any indication they weren’t going to continue in Supercars?

They weren’t like, “Let’s move forward with everything”, but they weren’t at all negative. I was very shocked when we got the news and how abrupt it was – and I know Garry was as well. It was a really weird time. You could tell from that point on after Phillip Island that things were different. Once we had that setback, we had to think about funds and some of the development stuff we had to put on the backburner.

Once Volvo announced its decision, that pretty much made up your mind, didn’t it?

Yeah. In my mind, I was pretty gutted about the whole situation. I remember at the round afterwards in Perth, you have to put a brave face on it for the team, but it was hard for me. I’m so close to Richard Hollway and he said to me, “Oh, you’re gone now, aren’t you?” And I was like, how do you respond? It was a very awkward time. It’s very special to have two good offers on the table, but it was hard. I didn’t sign with DJR Team Penske until the day we announced it, but it was agreed before then.

Was DJRTP the only other team chasing you?

No, there were a few of others. There was potential at Walkinshaw and a couple of others, but GRM and DJR Team Penske were the main ones.

McLaughlin opens up to Foges on his big career move for 2017.

AB

Walkinshaw had been after you for a while, going back to 2013.

Yeah, they’d been interested for ages.

How difficult was it to tell Garry that you’d be leaving?

Oh, I was so scared, so nervous. I remember walking into his office and saying, “Look, deal’s done.” I was probably more nervous about just moving forward with the team and keeping good relations with everyone. We were in a good spot in the championship and trying to win more races – which we didn’t do, but we got plenty of podiums. Looking back over the year, I felt like we did it the best that we’ve done it for a long time. Full credit to Garry and Barry Rogers, they encouraged the boys to stick around and push on for me, which was cool. Telling Garry that I was going was tough.

Third in the championship exceeded your expectation, didn’t it?

Absolutely. My goal for the year, if Triple Eight was going to go one-two-three, was I’d like to be best of the rest.

Initially I was aiming for top five and then it turned into maybe a championship, then when the championship chance went away, it was like, well, let’s just be best of the rest. It was pretty cool to jump Lowndesy, although as much as I was talking about spoiling Roland’s party, it wasn’t really about that. It was just a cool thing to be in the top three. It’s something pretty special.

“I WAS VERY SHOCKED WHEN WE GOT THE NEWS AND HOW ABRUPT IT WAS O AS WELL. IT WAS A REALLY WEIRD TIME.” – C TT McLAUGHLIN 49

V8X97 p46-51 McLaughlin.indd 49

25/01/2017 5:55 pm

Fraternising with Foges Lowndes in terms of popularity. Do you like being a big personality?

Oh, I’d rather be a big personality in a good way than a shit way! I probably worry too much about what people think and I think I need to worry about that less. People’s judgement does affect me sometimes. When you have a lot of fans and people wishing you all the best, it’s a pretty cool feeling, so I try to emulate Craig. You’d be stupid not to. He has such a great profile, not only in the sport but outside it, too.

You’re yet another find by Garry Rogers, although it was actually Stone Brothers Racing that gave you your break in the Development Series.

Stones were good, but I owe so much to Garry. GRM was a great place to learn about racing in Supercars and also to learn how to be myself. I have a lot of fans because of what Garry taught me about being myself.

People like you for who you are, which comes through in interviews. I’ve really enjoyed the years with Garry.

He not only taught me on-track but probably more so off-track about being a person. He was a fatherly sort of figure to me. I could speak to him about anything and we had a very close bond – and still do. He’s a great guy.

ABOVE: McLaughlin raced

a Ford to his 2012 Dunlop Development Series championship win.

Among fans and the media, you’re regarded as one of the big personalities of Supercars and down the road we all expect you’ll become the new Craig

The jandal comment after beating Jamie Whincup in that Adelaide race went a long way towards establishing you as a popular character. Was that a spur of the moment thing?

Completely spur of the moment. I have no idea where it came from. I’m only human and I swear from time to time and I just let go. I got so excited. The crowd was pumped and I was pumped. I jumped out of the car and I was like the happiest second-placed guy ever. But I think it was just so cool because we had so much pressure and so many people commenting on how we were going to go shit. It was a pretty special moment and the comments just came out. I’d been saying it all weekend and it just popped out when I least expected it.

The way you battled with Jamie and held him off was an important marker to put down, wasn’t it?

It was important for me. It showed me I could beat Jamie. I’d come off second best against him before that, so to battle him hard at the end there and get the better of him was great. It definitely cemented my profile in Supercars. In one night, 25,000 people ‘liked’ my Facebook page, I had 10,000 following me on Twitter and Instagram went crazy. It showed everyone who I was.

50

V8X97 p46-51 McLaughlin.indd 50

31/01/2017 12:53 pm

You’ve talked about how joining DJR Team Penske was a long-term decision. Does that long-term in your mind include future opportunities to race for Penske in NASCAR? Yeah, of course. Or IndyCar or whatever. It’s nice to have something that’s there. At the end of the day, I’ve been signed on to be a Supercars driver, but there may be other opportunities. I’ve signed with them for a long time and if I go well, hopefully, it may get rewarded in some way and I might be allowed to try something else with them. They’ve been very open, just saying, “Let’s not worry about it at the moment, let’s just focus on the goals here.” And my focus is 100 per cent on that.

Hopefully, if we go well, the other stuff will take care of itself. But right now, my focus is 100 per cent on here.

Winning the Bathurst 1000 is a more realistic goal this year than winning the championship, right?

Absolutely. And that’s the one I want to win, probably more so than a championship. That’s a personal thing.

Before my gran passed away last year, we made winning Bathurst a goal. And when you get so close like last year, it puts it a lot higher. Championship’s cool, but Bathurst would be pretty special. The start of this year’s going to be tough, but if we can get our act together midway through the year, contending at Bathurst would definitely be realistic.

What was your call on what happened with Whincup at Bathurst last year?

I made a mistake coming out of the Elbow. He got a run on me and I was still trying to save fuel, obviously. But all I had to do was stay in front of him and pray for a safety car. If not, I was going to be on fumes at the end of the race. But I felt like I had it pretty under control and then he threw the move, which is all fair game and I probably should’ve been a bit harder. But I felt the move’s not on when you’re out of control – and I’ve always stood by the fact that he was out of control when he hit me.

ABOVE: McLaughlin’s new-

look helmet for 2017.

After you’ve achieved your Supercars goals, is the aim to race overseas in, say, GTs like van Gisbergen or would your preference be NASCAR? My main goal is here, then I’ll think about doing something further afield. The GT thing doesn’t really appeal to me. It’s great concept, but I see myself dabbling in it.

If I were going to go anywhere it’d be America.

51

V8X97 p46-51 McLaughlin.indd 51

31/01/2017 12:54 pm

SLADE & PERCAT

WORDS Andrew Clarke IMAGES Daniel Kalisz, Peter Norton

South Australian natives Tim Slade and Nick Percat have done the hard yards in Supercars. Now they reunite at Brad Jones Racing to take the next step in their careers in one of the most exciting new driver line-ups of 2017.

52

V8X97 p52-56 Slade and Percat.indd 52

25/01/2017 5:54 pm

t seemed Tim Slade’s career was going to end with the journeyman tag. Then he found his new home and was off to Albury to re-ignite his career after some upand-down years.

The same fate may have hit his new teammate and fellow South Australian Nick Percat. He may have a Bathurst win to his name but from there the pickings have been slim.

Their stories are remarkably aligned through unsatisfying stints at Walkinshaw Racing that could easily have ended their careers.

In Percat’s case a sacrifice was required with some time at Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, while Slade simply needed enough patience until the right door opened.

That door led to Brad Jones Racing (BJR) for 2016.

The door for Percat is the same one, just a year later.

Slade won his first Supercars races in 2016 after settling into the team and learning the car and the operating system.

His stuttering start to the season hit fever pitch with a double win at Winton. Then, a string of the top-10 finishes to finish eighth in the standings.

“Fortunately for me the whole David Reynolds stuff turned out the way it did and I managed to slide in there,” says Slade on the BJR deal.

“Right from the first day I met those guys it was just such a good feeling; they’re just such an awesome bunch of people.

53

V8X97 p52-56 Slade and Percat.indd 53

25/01/2017 5:54 pm

SLADE & PERCAT

SUPERCAR JOURNEY TO BJR YEAR

TIM SLADE

NICK PERCAT

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Paul Morris Motorsport Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing Erebus Motorsport Walkinshaw Racing Walkinshaw Racing Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing

Walkinshaw Racing* Walkinshaw Racing* Walkinshaw Racing* Walkinshaw Racing* Walkinshaw Racing Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Brad Jones Racing * Endurance co-driver

TOP: Pecat and Slade were teammates at Walkinshaw Racing in 2014. ABOVE: Slade, Percat and

co ye are yi he a for ou h us ralia i upercars he rs of he e era io i spired to race by the Adelaide Grand Prix. BELOW: Slade and Percat battle at Winton in 2015. Watch out for more wheel-to-wheel battles as teammates in 2017.

“There’s no egos, there’s no finger pointing, there’s no arse covering, just a good bunch of people that genuinely get along and want to achieve the same thing together.”

The first test session at Winton gave him a lot of confidence and then Adelaide sucked the air out of his lungs.

The car was completely different and he struggled to tune the car and get it just the way he wanted, as do many drivers when they change teams.

“There were positive signs from every single race meeting up until Winton,” he says. “Even if it wasn’t the greatest weekend, we saw good things. Like in the final stint of the Sunday race at Perth; we were as fast anyone even though we weren’t at the front. I knew when everything clicked that we would get a good result. There was always a lot of potential there.”

A dominant win from pole was what you could call clicking and after more than 200 races he was now a winner.

James Rosenberg had been a name associated with Slade since his go-karting and open-wheeler days.

Rosenberg indicated he was interested in getting involved again, just a little more seriously.

Some other regular faces were helping out. Ben Small (son of Les) and James Moffat picked up tools to pave the way for a ‘Slade Speed’ entry in the Development Series. The next year he was in the main game with Paul Morris Motorsport.

“Paul’s obviously a pretty unique character,” he says with a smirk that says that’s all that will be revealed today.

“It was pretty, tough; a bit of a baptism of fire, really.

It’s something that you look forward to your whole life and then I don’t think I finished the first four races of the year.

“Looking back, I was pretty hard on myself at the time. Paul actually did an awesome job of helping me out during that phase. We just took things back to basics a lot and concentrated purely on driving and feel and everything else rather than working on data and all the other jazz that goes on with it.

“That car was pretty fragile; it wasn’t a good car to learn in. I look back at cars that I drove after that, you could run over kerbs, hit tyre bundles and the thing would hold together. I was probably a little bit too hard on myself at the start of that first year.”

54

V8X97 p52-56 Slade and Percat.indd 54

25/01/2017 5:54 pm

Rosenberg was now a critical player for Slade and he bought a license and moved him over to Stone Brothers Racing for the next season. It was a better year and set him up for an impressive fifth in the championship in 2012. Then, just as momentum was building, SBR sold to Erebus Motorsport and Slade’s career went backwards, rapidly.

“The whole Erebus thing looked really exciting and everything on paper was awesome,” he reflects. “We’ve got all the existing smarts from SBR. We had HWA in Germany that employ 50 engineers and builds DTMwinning cars. There’s a clean sheet of paper essentially to be able to make a new package and there was money.

“It’s a shame the way it panned out because it had all the potential in the world but it never really eventuated.

It was extremely frustrating because 2012, especially the last half, we just found our groove and we were the best of the rest.”

The 2013 season was a disaster and that hastened Slade’s exit from the Erebus operation into the equally frustrating Walkinshaw Racing operation that was fielding four cars. His lesson here was about priority. And with two Holden Racing Team cars to feed he was, at best, only ever going to be third in the pecking order.

“I wouldn’t go anywhere again not being in a car that was a priority,” he admits.

“Again, it looked really good on paper: you had Adrian Burgess there, who has a pretty good resume.

Then you’ve got Mat Nilsson, Blake Smith and others. I thought all these guys have seen cars from other teams and if they can put the best bits together, then we’d be good. For whatever reason it never really eventuated into what I wanted.

“At the end of 2015, to be honest, there weren’t any concrete options for me. When you’re not getting results, and we weren’t, you really have to wait on other people to decide what they’re doing. Then the rest falls into place after that. I knew Brad’s was definitely an option and it was at the top of my list… and it worked out.”

Early in the season it looked like more of the same from the outside, but each race the relationship between driver and team was growing and it returned the results at Winton.

Two dominant wins marked his arrival in the series after a tougher journey than most. Now he wants to really upset the apple cart and take on the mega teams to win the 2017 title.

For Percat, the journey to BJR has been a little quicker and also with some bigger highlights. As a rookie he won Bathurst with Garth Tander in 2011 but he had to wait for opportunities with the team in the main game.

He had Walkinshaw behind him but that operation was struggling to get it right from one race to the next.

Like Slade, in his time there, he began to look for a way out and a way forward. When the team shrunk, though, he was out of a drive.

He ended up with the minnows of pitlane, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, where he really learnt about racing on a budget.

A stunning win in the Clipsal 500 was a freak result

“THERE’S NO EGOS, THERE’S NO FINGER POINTING, THERE’S NO ARSE COVERING, JUST A GOOD BUNCH OF PEOPLE THAT GENUINELY GET ALONG AND WANT TO ACHIEVE THE SAME THING TOGETHER.” TIM LAD N BRAD N RACIN and his management team set about finding the right drive for 2017. It turned out to be replacing Jason Bright at BJR. “I’ve wanted to drive for Brad probably about since 2013,”says Percat. “I see the way he treats his team members and you can see he doesn’t have a high turnover of staff. His drivers love driving for him. Brighty’s been there for so long it tells a story.

“I also have the same manager as Jason Richards and they always raved about how much he loved being at BJR.

“I’VE WANTED TO DRIVE FOR BRAD PROBABLY ABOUT SINCE 2013. I SEE THE WAY HE TREATS HIS TEAM MEMBERS AND YOU CAN SEE HE DOESN’T HAVE A HIGH TURNOVER OF STAFF. HIS DRIVERS LOVE DRIVING FOR HIM.” NIC RCAT 55

V8X97 p52-56 Slade and Percat.indd 55

25/01/2017 5:54 pm

SLADE & PERCAT

“For me, it was about getting into a good environment. I was at Walkinshaw for so long and they did so much for me and if it wasn’t for them I’d be working at my old man’s workshop in Adelaide and not racing.

But I needed to move on.”

Walkinshaw Racing actually sacked the Bathurst winner after a crash at Mount Panorama in 2012, which he found interesting given the cars were so hard to drive and they had invested so much in him. As well as confusing him, it toughened him up a little bit more.

Craig Wilson, Tom Walkinshaw and John Kelly were the three main people who originally got Percat to Walkinshaw Racing, but none were there anymore.

He got pushed aside while watching those he raced against in the Development Series, the likes of Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert, go straight into the main series and have an impact.

“It was extremely frustrating, but that’s why, I think, when it came to my next contract after Lucas’s, I knew it wasn’t a place I wanted to go back to,” says Percat.

“There was an offer on the table and a lot of chat to drive alongside James Courtney but end of the day it was an easy decision to go to Brad instead. I wanted a good home.

“I wanted Sladey as a teammate because I think he’s just a good guy off track and there’s no political bullshit. We just go racing, simple.

“I know the Slade family well and they didn’t have the money to do it and they knew we didn’t have the money to do it. Coming out of Adelaide was hard to compete with all

Slade will be looking to add to his wins tally for Brad Jones Racing in 2017.

like the Victorians and the Queenslanders and we actually took a very similar journey. We went through Sonic Motor Racing, worked for Mick Ritter for years and years on the Formula Ford. We’re both pretty well grounded on that side.

“We were teammates in 2014 and we have quite a strong friendship. I just can’t wait to be in a good team environment where they support the driver. There’s no number one or pecking order; you’re both there to win races and have fast cars.”

Percat hopes he can just slip into the team and continue its momentum from 2016.

Like Slade, he knows knocking off Triple Eight is a big job, but he’s up for the task. He’s also a realist and understands that, owing to the competitiveness of this series, it won’t be an overnight transformation.

“Signing with BJR was a massive relief, but I’m super excited… if I could have pushed fast forward at that stage I would have, I just wanted to get there and get into the car,” he says.

“I think my patience levels are pretty high now. I just want to be back in the top 10 on a regular basis to start with. I might not be a contender for the championship first year

56

V8X97 p52-56 Slade and Percat.indd 56

25/01/2017 5:54 pm

with Brad but I’m there for a long time (four years) and I’ve said to Brad I want to win a championship with him and that’s my goal there.

“I imagine the first three rounds are going to be difficult. I saw Sladey, he battled a little bit, but once it clicked with the car he’s been really fast even since.

“I imagine he’ll be a bit more consistent than me throughout the whole year. But by the end of the year I probably shouldn’t be too far behind in terms of looking at titles.”

A serious tilt at the title is what Slade has on his mind. And he thinks they can upset the Triple Eight apple cart.

“There were times when I was pretty down and out. Then I’d think, ‘Hang on, two years ago I had a pole at Homebush and finished second, I finished fifth in the championship’.

It’s not even just the equipment, it’s everything. You need everything to be working for you. That’s what I feel like I’ve got now.

“Everyone’s behind me and everyone supports me and backs me. That allows me to get the most out of myself. I feel as though at times I hadn’t had that in the past.

“Our team is no different to any other

“MY MINDSET WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT NOW BECAUSE I’LL KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND I KNOW WE CAN WIN.” – TIM LAD team in pitlane; it’s made up of people. We might not have as much money as some other teams but money’s not everything.

We’ve got some really good people and we’ve got some good smart people.

“I think potentially with some of the new regulations it could potentially open up again. Change is good for us. But the good teams are still going to be good, they’re good for a reason.”

Slade knows BJR has some weaknesses but he also knows they are working on those to try and give him a car that performs at every track.

“To win a championship you have to have the consistency to be at the front week in and week out,” he says.

“It’s always nice with a new team to get a whole year under your belt so then you can

go back to tracks you’ve driven in that car with that team so.

“My mindset will be completely different now because I’ll know what to expect and I know we can win.

“Everything has to be firing; there’s obviously me as the driver, there’s your engineer, there’s obviously the guys that screw the thing together.

“There’s everything in the team but you just have to have that combination right.

“It has been a long hard tough slog for me but I am happy with where I am at and we’ll see what we can do.”

All we know is Brad Jones Racing in 2017 is in pretty good shape with its new driver line-up and it will be great to watch two relatively young and hungry drivers fighting their way to the top.

AUSTRALIAN TOURING CAR LEGENDS * HDT * BROCK * PERKINS * GRICE *

LOWNDES/MURPHY

OVER 4000 PRODUCTS!

Australia’s biggest car enthusiast lifestyle outlet

Holden VF Commodore BOOKS Ñ DVDS Ñ PRINTS Ñ MODELSÑ 1996 AMP Bathurst 1000 Winner Retrospective Livery

Classic B18R16A Scale: 1:18 RRP: $250 OURS: $237 Members: $225

Holden VN Commodore SS Group A - 1991 Tooheys Bathurst 1000 Perkins/Mezera

NEW

RETRO Scale: 1:18 Biante: B182706E RRP: $250 OURS: $237 Members: $225

NEW

BROCK

Holden VN Commodore SS Group A HRT 1991 Tooheys 1000 Runner Up

Holden VC HDT Commodore

Drivers: Win Percy Allan Grice

NEW Scale: 1:18 Biante B182706F RRP: $250 OURS: $237 Members: $225

BROCK

PERKINS

A9X 1978 Bathurst Winner

in Palais White

Scale: 1:18 Biante: B182707B RRP: $250 OURS: $237 Members: $225

VISIT•RING•CLICK! 5/9 Mirra Court Bundoora (Melbourne) VIC 3083

NEW

1300 227 489 CAR GUY

www.cargoodies.com.au

PRE-ORDER TO AVOID MISSING OUT

Scale: 1:18 Classic: 18623 RRP: $279 OURS: $265 Members: $251

DISCOUNT COURIER DELIVERY AUST-WIDE!

SAFE COURIER DELIVERY AUS-WIDE

Just $7.50 per model!

57

V8X97 p52-57 Slade and Percat.indd 57

1/02/2017 4:38 pm

TIM BLANCHARD WORDS John Bannon IMAGES CoolDrive

After fleeting full-time stints at Dick Johnson Racing and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, Tim Blanchard has finally found continuity with a second season at Brad Jones Racing with his own license, giving birth to Tim Blanchard Racing. econd-generation racer Tim Blanchard candidly admits his results need to be better in 2017 if he’s to have a long-term future as a driver in Supercars, despite purchasing a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) from Super Black Racing at the end of 2016.

The REC provides the Brad Jones Racing (BJR) driver with a license to race, ensuring the team’s stability as family-business CoolDrive sees commercial benefit in its continued association with the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. While CoolDrive plan to be around in the long term, the 29-year-old is quick to point out

that purchasing a REC isn’t about securing his own driving career.

“The main reason for buying the license is that the whole family enjoys being involved in everything,” says Blanchard.

“My grandfather and father have had extensive experience in motorsport… from a personal driving point of view I wouldn’t say my results at this stage have been up to scratch and I feel like I have a lot more potential in me and hence why I’m going around this year. But if we get to the end of this year and the results haven’t improved… then I’m not just going to do it for the sake of it. I’m not here to make up the numbers; I want to get results and be competitive.”

Blanchard says a repeat of last year’s results, 23rd in the standings, would not be a pass mark in 2017.

“I need to be qualifying better,” he says.

“I’m not unrealistic. I’m not in a position where I’m going to go out and win races. I’d obviously love to and I’m determined to get to that point. Realistically, we need to have more top-10 results, we need to get off the back row of the grid and really start knocking out quite a few top-10 results.”

The Victorian is keen to put some leaner times behind him after single-year deals with Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) in 2013 and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (LDM) in 2015.

“I think while the DJR and LDM years were very good experience, they were also quite tough,” reflects Blanchard.

“There were a lot of external challenges with those teams going through a bit of turmoil off track at the beginning of those years, so I’m enjoying BJR, which is a stable environment.”

58

V8X97 p58-61 Tim Blanchard.indd 58

31/01/2017 12:55 pm

CoolDrive has locked in its place in Supercars by purchasing a license from Super Black Racing for 2017.

This year will mark the first time Blanchard has raced for the same main-game squad for two consecutive full-time seasons.

Naturally, he sees it as a major plus.

“I wanted to stay with BJR for a second year and that was the plan,” he says.

“Obviously with the license movements we had to make a few changes, so we’ve done that. I’m really excited to have a future for CoolDrive locked away long-term and a future for me for 2017… I get on with the whole team really well and I enjoy working with Brad and Kim Jones.

“So for me to have a second year in the same environment was really important. To go into this year with a car I know, with the same engineer, is something that I’m really looking forward to and something that I wanted to lock down.”

Like any driver who’s yet to reach their potential in the main game, Blanchard has copped his fair share of criticism in some sections of the media and online. The Melbourne resident says he does occasionally look at what’s being said.

“I have a bit of a laugh because at the end of the day people don’t understand what’s going on behind the scenes,” he says.

“Ask Cam Waters how hard the jump is. He dominated in the Development Series and he found it hard last year. He’s done a very good

job but I think you’ll struggle to find anyone in the Development Series who’ll jump in and do very well straight away.

“It’s very difficult… it is one of the toughest series in the world just to be on the grid and with the whole field separated by a second or within a second of Whincup and those guys. It’s not easy, it’s not something everyone can do.”

BJR team boss Brad Jones says both the team and Blanchard are pushing hard to turn his fortunes around.

“There’s only one winner out there on a Saturday or Sunday,” says Jones. “CoolDrive do an amazing job at making their involvement in motorsport work for their company and Timmy is part of that. I think CoolDrive really enjoy their motorsport and Timmy definitely wants to go better and it’s up to us to try and help him achieve that, so we’re working as hard as we can to get that side of it sorted out for him.”

Blanchard admits it has taken him longer

to adapt to Supercars and suggested he probably hasn’t received quite as much as help as some of his peers who graduated to the main game at a similar time.

“I think a Supercar probably doesn’t suit my driving style as well as other categories did so that has probably impacted my performance a little bit,” he says.

“Not taking anything away from Nick (Percat), but his first introduction into Supercars was with Walkinshaw, where they held his hand quite a bit and showed him how to go about it. Whereas the way I did it, I probably had to learn a little more of it myself which made the learning process a little longer. And my confidence probably took a bit of a beating while going through that and it’s taken a bit of time to get that back.”

Blanchard’s impressive junior resume includes winning the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2007, finishing runner-up in the British Formula Ford

O V O O 0 NEED TO GET OFF THE BACK ROW OF THE GRID O O O 0 . – TIM BLANCHARD 59

V8X97 p58-61 Tim Blanchard.indd 59

25/01/2017 5:52 pm

TIM BLANCHARD

Eyes on the prize: Blanchard says improved results are vital in 2017.

Championship in 2008 and finishing second to Steve Owen in his debut Development Series season against the likes of Percat and James Moffat in 2010.

“I feel like earlier in the career I could match it with those guys,” he says.

“So I think talent-wise I can match it with the Percats and these sorts of guys but I just need to unlock it in my head. So going into a second year with the same team, same car and engineer, that’s the key to it.”

While Blanchard is working hard to

improve his performance on track, he’s working equally hard off it. Blanchard mixes his racing responsibilities with a full-time job as general manager of marketing at CoolDrive, the family business that supports his racing.

He holds accounting and business-management university qualifications, which he acquired while racing Formula Ford, and has moved up through the business to his current role, which he’s held for three years.

“We’ve got a team of eight in the marketing department and they all understand my dual responsibilities,” he says.

“They are very understanding and very helpful. They step up and take more responsibility when I’m not in the office. That’s probably the key to it, making sure I’ve got the right people around me. It definitely creates quite a few challenges; trying to make sure that it doesn’t effect my racing can be difficult sometimes.”

Team boss Jones agrees there are challenges when combining work with racing, something regular Supercars enduro driver Paul Dumbrell discovered. Dumbrell stepped back from full-time driving in 2011 when his responsibilities as CEO of Automotive Brands P/L took over.

60

V8X97 p58-61 Tim Blanchard.indd 60

25/01/2017 5:52 pm

“It’s always hard when you are not 100 per cent focused on your motor racing,” says Jones. “But he does do a good job and it does make him a bit unique. He does get enough time off to do all his racing but he’s one of the very few that do have a day job.”

CoolDrive is a supplier of automotive air conditioning, engine cooling and enginemanagement systems. That’s why his family business is a good fit for a Supercars audience, says Blanchard.

“My driving aside, it’s a very beneficial program for CoolDrive itself and gives us a great connection with our customer base,” he says.

“It’s such an important part of CoolDrive’s marketing strategy. We just didn’t want to be involved in a car; we wanted to have a vested interest in the sport if we were going to be involved.

“So the idea of buying a license was to ensure that our family and CoolDrive has a long-term involvement in the sport.”

Blanchard isn’t committing to racing beyond 2017 at this stage. But he has one eye on combining his love of motorsport with his business knowledge into the future beyond his driving career.

Blanchard will be part of the Brad Jones Racing team for a second season.

“I guess it’s the opportunity to combine my business aspirations with my personal aspirations and join them together,” he admits.

“I’d enjoy running a team, working with a group of people and achieving the best we can.

“If I can do that in the sport I love that would be pretty cool.”

But, for now, it’s time to ignore the critics

and put his best foot forward during the 2017 Supercars season.

“If I didn’t have the results in the junior categories before I got into the main game then I would see what they were saying,” he says. “At the end of the day, these cars cost money to put on the grid and I feel like I’ve got the results and the funding to do it, so why wouldn’t I?”

Quality & Service You Can Rely On • Air Conditioning • Electrical Accessories • Engine Cooling • Engine Management

• Rotating Electrical • Tools & Equipment • Underbody & Suspension • Workshop Parts 61

V8X97 p58-61 Tim Blanchard.indd 61

25/01/2017 5:52 pm

CONFERENCE WORDS Andrew Clarke IMAGES Adrian Musolino, Peter Norton

ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS 1 The Legend Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering 2 The Fan Lisa Burge Nissan Motorsport fan 3 The Marketer Peter Trevaskis Marketing director, Prodrive Racing Australia 4 The Team Owner Charlie Schwerkolt Team 18 5 The Driver/Owner Jason Bright Prodrive Racing Australia/ Britek 6 The Driver Mark Winterbottom Prodrive Racing Australia

In late 2016 we assembled a group of six to discuss the state of play in Supercars from their point of view. We looked to cover as many aspects of the sport as we could to get the broadest view possible. elcome to the first part of our V8X Supercar Magazine roundtable! Our first topic of discussion, Where is Supercars at?

Since May 2011, when Archer Capital bought a controlling interest in the sport, Supercars has been through some interesting times. It now has a television deal that incorporates pay TV as well as free-to-air TV, it has stumbled again with overseas expansion and it has seen the Car of the Future concept roll out and the next generation of cars announced.

Tony Cochrane left and we have ended up with James Warburton. The office moved from the Gold Coast to Sydney. Nissan arrived. Volvo has come and gone.

Ford support has gone. And one of the world’s largest motorsport operations, Team Penske, has arrived. So before we switch to two-door Mustangs and turbocharged Commodores, where do we stand?

Jason: I feel like a lot has changed in 12 months. In 2015 it probably stabilised and last year I feel like we’ve seen a lot more interest from guys who actually have money to put a car on the grid. It’s the first time in a while the value of the licenses have changed direction and gone up in value.

It was tough out there finding sponsors to put a car on the grid. I think James has done a good job on the stuff he’s done with sponsorship. Some of the events are better than what we’ve had previously and all of a sudden the teams are a little better off with income coming from Supercars, which reduces the amount of money you have to find as a driver or a team to get on the grid.

4

2 1 3

5

6

62

V8X97 p62-66 Roundtable Pt1.indd 62

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

PART 1 Charlie: We’re getting a good return on our license now. Going back, when we changed to Archer Capital, we went to rock bottom getting absolutely nothing and we’re along the way back up for sure. It is easier to put a car on the grid.

However, it’s still tough out there getting sponsorship. It’s really, really tough, signing them up. They’re out there, though, you’ve just got to work hard at getting them to sign. I also think the demographics are changing a little bit, but I think we’re in better shape.

Peter: Obviously our model is quite different in that we run six cars, so we’re technically the biggest team in the category in terms of the amount of personnel and cars that we run but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Mark being champion and having a lot of exposure made a difference; it made conversations easier and opened the doors.

We’ve had a very tough two or three years with the loss of the Ford budget and change in our financial model, but it’s taken us a good few years of graft and also success to bring it back to where we’d like it to be.

The cost of running a team is always going up but I think it’s at a point now where it’s manageable and

we’re seeing that with people having budgets and people coming back into the marketplace chasing a number of licenses. It shows that we’re in a healthy state.

Lisa: For me, I think in the last 12 months, being a female who loves motorsport having more females in the garage, even mechanics, is fantastic. I love to see that. As far as TV and the way they’ve done things for fans, I think its heaps better. I begrudgingly got Foxtel and now I love it. Friday to Sunday, don’t talk to me when there’s car racing on because I’m just on the couch.

TELEVISION DEAL

When V8 Supercars announced the Foxtel deal there was outrage from the fans; the last bastion of free-toair sport in the country had fallen.

Today is a very different world to when Tony Cochrane lambasted the A-League for not being able to get onto free-to-air TV and the best and biggest

63

V8X97 p62-66 Roundtable Pt1.indd 63

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

CONFERENCE

ABOVE: Debating the big

Supercars issues around the roundtable.

BELOW: Crowds could be impacted by the move to the pay-TV model.

sports have an effective mix between the two forms.

Is Supercars one of those?

Lisa: From a fan’s point of view, I’d rather sit at home and watch it on TV than go to the track and watch it because I can get in the garage with the commentators.

I can sit in the car and watch the boys drive, so in that respect it’s bad for getting people to the track because you get everything on TV. We went to Sandown and it cost more than $400 for me and the hubby. That’s why I pay $50 and sit on the couch and I get everything.

Mark: When you win a Foxtel-only race, the social media feedback’s a lot lower, so it does impact you. If you win a marquee event like Adelaide, Bathurst, Sandown, Townsville or whatever, everyone’s watched it. But you win a Pukekohe and they read about it, they don’t necessarily watch it. I think it impacts a bit and the whole package could be a lot better.

The Foxtel side is fantastic but the highlights package

is a bit of a letdown. The feedback is, ‘I read it on Twitter’ or ‘I didn’t get to see it but well done’ type thing. It’s an anticlimax on the feedback side.

Peter: When Mark won that race in Pukekohe it was part of the highlights package that got minimal coverage, almost to the point where you didn’t actually really see him win the race. But as a total package I think it’s been a big benefit.

Larry: I was one of the certain number of fans out there that was like, I don’t want to spend a hundred bucks a month or whatever it is. The decision to have the racing with Foxtel, though, is the right decision without the slightest doubt in my view. We all sort of moan about the costs, but what you get I think is fantastic.

Peter: The feedback we’ve had from fans is they held off doing it but when they got it, it’s been great.

Larry: The Formula 1 is fantastic on Foxtel; it’s a better production and the locals could take lesson from it. At the end of the day it’s only racing, but they need to break some of the mould of what they’re doing because, in my view, it is a bit boring, it’s a bit stale. What we don’t know when you are sitting at home as almost an outsider like Lisa, you don’t see a lot of the guys and you think, “What’s bloody old Brigthy doing today?” If you’re not one of the front-runners it is no better than before.

I personally don’t watch any of the support stuff at all, I find that deadly boring. I would prefer to see more of genuine behind the scenes stuff of the V8. As I say just a bit more diversified.

CALENDAR & FORMATS

One of the bugbears about the sport in recent years has been the constant fiddling with the calendar and the formats.

Mark: I think that having two different formats and not five different formats is good. The fans can actually understand what it is they’re watching; is it a sprint round or something else?

Lisa: I really enjoyed the New Zealand format of four sprint races; I thought that was really good. Just the quick turnaround and practice, I liked that. I thought that was exciting.

Jason: I hated New Zealand... it was boring and decided by qualifying and the start. Without pitstops that was it. I think there should be a 250km race each day. I don’t think 120km is long enough; we all stop at the same time and that probably comes back to the minimum fuel drop, which I hate. You want to have guys out of sequence and strategising around two stops, one stop, all those key trigger moments.

I think the one thing we need to get better is qualifying. Now we do a run and then we all sit in the pits for 10 minutes and then we all go again at the same time.

That is the stupidest thing I think I’ve ever seen, but you have no choice. Imagine if you had four sets of tyres to run, that’d be awesome because you could reach the pole at any point of the session.

Larry: I reckon qualifying is the most intense time for a driver. When you’ve only got one set of tyres it mixes up the grid, which creates better racing. When you’ve got two sets, you’ve got two sets to get it right

64

V8X97 p62-66 Roundtable Pt1.indd 64

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

and the grid just follows the natural order, whereas when you’ve only got one set and if someone has a bad lap or someone screws up their lap, it mixes up the grid that little bit and we need that.

Mark: When you have only one opportunity you drive 95 per cent and you’ll end up within the top whatever spots. I want to operate a car and have my hands sore because I was wringing that neck. You can’t do that now.

Jason: I know we’ve all got budgets, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with spending on tyres. That helps the show.

V8X: Given the way it is with tyres and the cost of getting everyone to the track for Fridays, do we need Friday anymore?

Charlie: I think yes because now with Foxtel covering Friday we are getting paid to go onto the track.

Lisa: For me Friday is more interesting and I like going to the track on Fridays more than the other days.

It’s more that you get to see what happens behind the scenes with teams as they aren’t in that race mode and are a bit more relaxed.

happens in sport. Triple Eight has done a fantastic job; we’ve got to do a better job. It’s the same rulebook for everyone and obviously if they’ve got more in the kitty and they’re spending more, then we’ve got to get more.

Lisa: I think if there is parity on the cars there needs to be parity in the pits. You cannot have a team, I’ll just use Red Bull as an example, who’ve got the best of everything. They’ve got three championship drivers in there, god knows what other engineers and what have you. Top notch compared to someone like Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport. The rich get richer and the poor are just left to struggle.

Peter: It comes back to the cost of being competitive. If Lucas didn’t have to spend so much money on

ABOVE: Triple Eight

domination could be seen as a negative for Supercars.

BELOW: Winterbottom and Bright give their thoughts on the state of the series.

TRIPLE EIGHT DOMINATION

For the best part of a decade, Triple Eight Race Engineering has been the dominant team, reaching a climax last year with first, second and fourth in the championship race and winning the past seven team’s championships. As we’ve seen before, though, motorsport empires don’t tend to last. But that doesn’t look like happening, so can they be beaten before the switch to turbocharged Commodores?

Charlie: I think they do a great job, it would be nice if there were lots of other different winners but this 65

V8X97 p62-66 Roundtable Pt1.indd 65

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

CONFERENCE

other components on the car then he could employ better guys; that comes down to the rules of making sure no matter how much money you spend on that part of the car it doesn’t make you faster.

Larry: To me the difference between Lucas Dumbrell’s team and Ferrari is the rulebook. The rules control how much you can spend; if someone is indeed spending much more on one part of the car, that is the rules that allow it.

CUSTOMER CARS

Is the customer-car model working and is it sustainable?

We’ve touched on competitiveness, but can a Team 18 or a Tekno Autosports beat its supplier? And is that model sustainable when you give someone like Triple Eight more money to spend?

V8X: Charlie, customer teams... can you jump up and beat the people you’re buying your equipment from or do you think that’s a bit of a stretch?

Charlie: It’s hard but obviously Tekno has done a great job there; Will Davison was fifth last year and they won Bathurst. It’s possible to be up there and I know I can get better with Lee Holdsworth, it’s just about team and resources and everything that we’re talking about.

It’s a tough gig but we’re going to try our hardest to get up there better and improve.

Larry: That’s why Charlie and people like Charlie got into the sport, they’ve got to have their own challenge.

Charlie: I want to get better. I’ve got other businesses and I’m right at the top with those and I’ve got to get my race team up there. Money obviously helps but it’s about the team, the people, the resources and how we do it.

There’s lots of ways to do it better. Being a customer of Triple Eight, I know exactly what’s on my car; if I want to put another upright I know I have to go and spend another $100,000. Those options are there for me and I’ve got to pay for them if I want to do that.

Jason: It’s hard to develop and that’s why it’s hard

to catch a Triple Eight or a Prodrive. I don’t think it’s going to happen with the structure we have. We’d be better off if we could just test at the tracks we are racing at with new tyres than having test days. It’s very hard to catch people where a team has spent time and money on simulation and engines and a lot of the other stuff they’ve been able to do away from the track. They’ve done it right and it’s very hard to catch them when you can’t test.

Stay tuned for part two of the roundtable in issue #98, where we discuss the future of Supercars heading into Gen2.

ABOVE: Lisa Burge

represented the fans at the roundtable discussion.

BELOW: Can customer teams such as Tekno Autosports and Team 18 ultimately dethrone their supplier, Triple Eight?

66

V8X97 p62-66 Roundtable Pt1.indd 66

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

s d e i f

i ss

a l C

GOT SOMETHING TO SELL? LIST IT ON SPEEDCAFE.COM CLASSIFIEDS FREE

V8X96 p59 ad-SpeedCafe classifieds.indd 59

30/11/2016 4:34 pm

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

Heading into the 2017 season, let’s take a moment to look back at the key decade-on anniversaries in Australian touring cars…

1967 THE YEAR OF THE V8

The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) single-event decider returned to Lakeside International Raceway, the second time the fast and flowing Queensland circuit would host the national decider.

The Ford Mustang was the car to have in the third year of the Improved Production regulations, so its numbers began to swell against the Morris Coopers that still dominated the grid.

Reigning champion Ian Geoghegan defended his crown with a new Mustang, equipped with a five-litre V8, while rival Norm Beechey kept faith in a Chevrolet Nova from the previous year’s campaign.

Beechey claimed pole position with Geoghegan rushing to have his new car ready for the event, running his first laps at the circuit just hours before race start.

Beechey raced away from the start, pulling a 10-second advantage over Geoghegan and looking on course for a comfortable win. But with only a handful of laps remaining, Beechey’s left-rear tyre exploded and pitched him into the armco. He could

The V8-powered Mustang driven by a eo he a .

only sit on the bonnet of his stricken Nova and watch as Geoghegan went on to win his third championship.

At the Bathurst 500 in October, where the Mustangs were ineligible, the factory Ford team led by manager/driver Harry Firth entered the Ford XR Falcon GT. He and co-driver Fred Gibson would lead home a Falcon one-two, the first win for an Australian-built V8 at Mount Panorama.

V8s ruled in the championship and at Bathurst in the same year for the first time.

It would soon become the norm.

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER Ian Geoghegan (Total Team, Ford Mustang) BATHURST WINNERS Harry Firth/Fred Gibson (Ford Australia, Ford XR Falcon GT)

ord o e

o a familiar sce e i

9 .

1977 BLUE OVAL DOMINAITON

First it was Peter Brock who had left the Holden Dealer Team. Then fellow Holden protégé Colin Bond followed suit, switching makes and joining Allan Moffat at the Moffat Ford Dealers Team for 1977.

The team led by Carroll Smith steamrolled the opposition, with Moffat winning the opening five rounds and Bond opening his account at the sixth in Adelaide.

Brock, now at Bill Patterson Racing, fought back late in the season with two consecutive wins at Lakeside and Sandown but Moffat returned to the top in the new Ford XC Falcon GS500 to win the title by a comfortable margin from Bond.

That domination continued at Mount Panorama, where Moffat and grand prix race winner Jacky Ickx led home Bond and Alan Hamilton in a one-two formation finish, LEFT: eechey a d his ova lead he eld i 9 BELOW: o a a d o d domi a ed i 9 .

.

68

V8X97 p68-71 Flashback.indd 68

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

rounding out a perfect season for Ford.

While it would be Moffat’s final successes for the manufacturer, the next Blue Oval hero Dick Johnson made his first championship start in a Falcon at Oran Park and scored pole position at Lakeside that season.

The rebranded V8 Supercars series at allala o orspor ar .

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER Allan Moffat (Moffat Ford Dealers, Ford XB/XC Falcon) BATHURST WINNERS Allan Moffat/Jacky Ickx (Moffat Ford Dealers, Ford XC Falcon)

e er roc

o

a hurs i

98

eve ually .

1987 CONTROVERSIES RULE

The international Group A formula produced its most competitive championship battle in 1987 between the nimble normally-aspirated BMW M3 of Jim Richards and the turbocharged Nissan Skyline DR30 RS of Glenn Seton.

They won three rounds each heading into the season finale at Oran Park, where the season-long pattern of the Skyline taking an early lead only for the BMW to claw its way back with better tyre durability continued.

Richards closed in and attempted an audacious pass on Seton that ended with the Skyline facing the wrong way. Richards went on to win the race and the title, the last championship win for a non-turbo car in Group A.

Nissan would only gain momentum following the close championship call, while the future dominator, Ford’s Sierra, debuted that season. The seeds of the demise of Group A were being sown and the discontent only grew at Bathurst.

The Bathurst 1000 welcomed leading entrants from around the globe as a round of the World Touring Car Championship, with the Ford Texaco Sierras disqualified from a one-two finish for illegal wheels-arches, handing a ninth Great Race success to Peter Brock in the midst of his split with Holden.

Shell had stepped up as title sponsor for the championship, with Channel Seven increasing its coverage of the series. But a year of controversies did little to endear Group A to Australian audiences.

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER Jim Richards (JPS Team BMW, BMW M3) BATHURST WINNERS Peter Brock/Peter McLeod/David Parsons (HDT Racing, Holden VL Commodore SS Group A)

1997 BIRTH OF V8 SUPERCARS

The V8 era began to great acclaim in 1993 but it wasn’t until years later that its success materialised into genuine commercial gains for teams and the series itself.

Touring Car Entrants Group of Australia (TEGA), promoters IMG and the Australian Motor Sports Commission formed the Australian Vee Eight Super Car Company (AVESCO) in late 1996 in order to grow the series’ commercial base in the coming years.

The ‘V8 Supercars’ name was adopted in time for the 1997 season, the first to be televised by Network Ten under the new television-rights deal.

But these deals would prove troublesome at Mount Panorama, with former television partner Channel Seven backing a Super Touring version of the Bathurst 1000 in opposition to the V8-powered event held two weeks later.

On track, defending champion Craig

The JPS-backed BMW team won its seco d i le i hree seaso s i 98 .

69

V8X97 p68-71 Flashback.indd 69

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

Lowndes ventured to Europe to race in Formula 3000, paving the way for Bathurst-winning co-driver Greg Murphy to step up into the full-time role.

But despite winning on his championship debut under lights at Calder Park, it was Ford’s Glenn Seton who prevailed for the title over fellow Falcon runner John Bowe.

Holden got its revenge at Bathurst for the V8-powered endurance event, with Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall winning for the second time in three years.

Lowndes returned for the enduros and won at Sandown with Murphy, while Mark Skaife moved across from the cashstrapped Gibson Motorsport to partner Brock. It was Brock’s final full-time season, highlighting the winds of change sweeping through the new-look series.

It was a three-way battle for the title between HSV Dealer Team, Holden Racing Team and riple i h i 00 .

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER Glenn Seton (Glenn Seton Racing, Ford EL Falcon) BATHURST WINNERS Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall (Perkins Engineering, Holden VS Commodore)

2007 TANDER TO THE TOP

The 2006 season ended in controversy following the championshipdefining tangle between Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes at Phillip Island.

The battle between their HSV Dealer Team and Triple Eight Race Engineering operations continued into 2007, a year in which the series returned to Channel Seven following a decade at Ten, though it was their teammates who would battle for the championship into the final race of the season.

Triple Eight’s Lowndes and Jamie Whincup won at Sandown and Bathurst to apply the pressure on HSV Dealer Team’s Garth Tander, who was the form driver of the season with 13 races wins heading into Phillip Island.

He added a further two wins at Phillip Island and scored a fourth in an edge-ofyour-seat final race to win his first title by just two points from Whincup, while Lowndes took third in the standings ahead of Kelly.

Triple Eight had narrowly missed out on the title yet again. But the team in its first season with title sponsorship from Vodafone would soon break through in the championship and make up for lost time.

Tander celebrates his maiden title at hillip sla d.

Triple Eight’s Lowndes and Whincup won their second consecutive a hurs 000 i 00 .

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER Garth Tander (HSV Dealer Team, Holden VE Commodore) BATHURST WINNERS Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Race Engineering, Ford BF Falcon) 70

V8X97 p68-71 Flashback.indd 70

25/01/2017 5:51 pm

V8X96 p77 Untitled-1 1 ad-Autopics.indd 77

30/11/2016 4:34 pm 7/23/15 12:57 PM

WORDS Cameron McGavin IMAGES Autopics.com.au

With cars of varying size set to feature under the Gen2 regulations, we look back at the head-bashing little guys of Australian touring cars.

72

V8X97 p72-77 David Versus Goliath.indd 72

25/01/2017 5:50 pm

he 1992 season was a year of curtain calls for the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). The final year of the Group A regulations that had been in place since 1985. The final appearance of turbos and cars like the Ford Sierra and Nissan GT-R. The last time our local variety of V8-powered Holden and Ford Goliaths would experience what it was like to be on the wrong end of a fully opened can of whip-ass.

And there’s another ‘last’ of 1992 that should be noted. This was the last season when a little guy fought bigger, more powerful foes and won. The last time an Australian touring car would show that, when it comes to delivering on the track, being a Goliath isn’t always better.

That final David was BMW’s M3, but it was just one of several Australian touring-car contenders to prove that good things don’t just come in big packages. With increased car variety set to once again feature in the series, what better time to travel back and revisit them.

MINI COOPER S

This little guy was a giant of the production-car world, revolutionising small-car design with its innovative frontwheel-drive layout and wheel-at-each-corner packaging.

And thanks to the prescience of Formula 1 team boss John Cooper, who recognised its sporting potential and lobbied BMC management to let him build a high-performance version, the Cooper, it would go on to have just as big an impact on global motorsport.

73

V8X97 p72-77 David Versus Goliath.indd 73

25/01/2017 5:50 pm

fade (fifth outright in 1967, 10th in 1968, 14th in 1969) but it would continue to rack up class wins there, in the single-race ATCC runoffs and other key series production and improved production events through the late 1960s and into the ’70s. On tracks like Amaroo Park and in more challenging weather, it would remain a threat to outright contenders.

HOLDEN TORANA GTR XU-1

The Mini races away from the competition at Bathurst in 1966.

Winner of the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, ’65 and ’67 (and ’66 before it was controversially disqualified for not having the right headlights). Winner of five British Saloon Car Championship and countless other European touring-car, rally and other titles. International racing CVs don’t get much more gilded.

And its tiny fingerprints are smudged all over early Australian touring-car history.

The first Mini, the Morris 850, arrived too late onto the Australian market to contest the first Great Race at Phillip Island in 1960 but it was part of the 1961 and ’62 events.

In the very first Great Race at Bathurst in 1963, the Mini – now racing in Cooper form, which was differentiated from its 850 siblings by a bigger capacity engine (997cc versus 848cc) with twin SU carburettors, a close-ratio gearbox, front disc brakes and other tricks – stitched up its first class win.

In the 1964 race Coopers locked up the first four positions in their class.

But the Mini that would really hurt the egos of bigger rivals was the famous Cooper S, powered by a 1275cc engine with more than double the grunt of the original 850.

At Bathurst in 1965, Brian Foley and Peter Manton – two of Australia’s most successful Mini steerers – didn’t just wrap up another class win for the mighty mite but finished third outright in their S, just a lap behind the winning Ford Cortina GT500 of Bo Seton and Midge Bosworth.

David was closing the gap – in 1963, the best Mini had finished five laps down.

In 1966 the Cooper S would cement its legend not just by winning Bathurst outright in the hands of Finnish rally star

RACE TO WATCH: 1969 Series Production Touring Car Race, Warwick Farm.

Digby Cooke and his Mini Cooper S make mincemeat of the Falcon GTs and Monaros in this wet and wild race at Sydney’s Warwick Farm.

Rauno Aaltonen and local steerer Bob Holden but filling the first nine outright positions.

That would end up being the Mini’s apex in Australian touring cars. Change to the Great Race regulations that favoured bigger rivals from 1967 saw its outright fortunes

Holden, along with the Ford, was a key beneficiary of the move to more V8-friendly Bathurst regulations, winning the Great Races of 1968 and’ 69 with its Monaro GTSs. But when the mighty Munro’s inherent braking shortcomings proved to be unsolvable – and Holden started to wonder about the consequences of entering into a full-on power race with Ford – the smaller Torana GTR was anointed as Holden’s racing weapon of choice.

Holden Dealer Team boss Harry Firth, one of the key motivators behind the downsizing strategy, was charged with developing the GTR variant that would take on the series-production calendar.

Along with HDT engine builder Ian Tate, he would deliver not just one of Australia’s most fondly remembered road cars but one of its most successful touring cars ever.

The LC Torana GTR XU-1, launched in August 1970, brought a host of improvements over the base GTR, not the least a bigger six-cylinder engine (three-litres vs 2.6-litres) with triple Zenith carburettors and substantially more grunt.

That first iteration of XU-1 was never quite fast enough to do the business at

he ora a overcame a po er de cie cy to take it to the bigger Falcon.

74

V8X97 p72-77 David Versus Goliath.indd 74

25/01/2017 5:50 pm

Bathurst – both the 1970 and ’71 races went to Allan Moffat in the by-now volcanic Falcon GTHOs, with the best Toranas home in third and fourth respectively – but the little Holden soon become a thorn in the side of the big Fords almost everywhere else.

The new Torana racer would post victories at Oran Park’s Toby Lee Series, the Phillip Island 100k and series-production races at Lakeside before 1970 was out. In 1971 it would keep on winning and deliver Holden victory over Ford in the first ever Manufacturer’s Championship.

And there was more to come. In February 1972 the successor to the LC – the LJ, powered by a bigger, more powerful 3.3-litre six – was launched and more on-track success followed. When plans for a V8-powered XU-1 were shelved following the ‘supercar’ crisis that year, the XU-1 – by now equipped with Globe Sprintmaster wheels,

RACE TO WATCH: 1973 South Pacific Touring Car Series, Round 2, Warwick Farm.

Colin Bond gives a masterclass of wet-weather driving on another gloomy day at Warwick Farm. Falcon driver John Goss doesn’t see which way the Holden went, while HDT teammate Brock spins trying to keep up. Future Ford star Dick Johnson is there in an XU-1, too.

bigger rubber and other advances intended for the still-born V8 – would go on to beat the dominant GTHOs at Bathurst in the wet with soon-to-be Holden god Peter Brock behind the wheel.

In 1973, under new Group C touring-car regulations, the XU-1 kept on clocking up the wins and series crowns, even if a mistimed pitstop halted another likely Bathurst victory for Brock and the HDT. Even in 1974, when the new V8-powered LH Torana was waiting in the wings, it would be quick enough to keep Brock in the ATCC title hunt for the bulk of the season, allowing him to jump into the new LH SLR/5000 and seal his maiden ATCC crown.

MAZDA RX-7

This little Mazda stirred up a real hornet’s nest during its five-year spell on the Australian touring-car scene. In the eyes of some of the V8 set of the time, this low-slung rotary-powered car simply had no place being on a touring-car grid. When Allan Moffat powered his to victory in the Oran Park round of the ATCC in 1983, third-placed Commodore driver Allan Grice is reported to have said, “I came second in the touring-car race!” at the podium presentation.

Such barbs, though, were a long way off when three privately entered RX-7s contested the 1980 Bathurst 1000. All of

them ended the day with a DNF next to their name.

It wasn’t long, however, before the threat the RX-7 represented to the Australian touring-car establishment became clear. In 1981’s shortened Bathurst 1000, Moffat – who had controversially left Ford to lead Mazda’s touring-car attack – bagged the RX-7’s first podium finish there. He then followed it up with its maiden victory in the final round of the Australian Endurance Championship at Surfers Paradise.

The Mazda would trouble the frontrunners even more in 1982. Moffat won the Lakeside and Surfers Paradise ATCC rounds, then took out the Sandown 400 and two more of that year’s five AEC rounds (Surfers, Adelaide) to wrap up the AEC driver’s title.

The controversy surrounding the Japanese car came to a head in 1983. Moffat won four of that year’s eight ATCC rounds to take his fourth and final ATCC crown but faced open accusations of sandbagging from members of the V8 mafia, who believed he was winning at the slowest possible speed so governing body CAMS would allow him to replace his RX-7’s 1.2-litre 12A rotary with the bigger, torquier 13B in the enduros.

When the Mazda received this pickme-up as part of a range of homologation changes for enduro season, tempers flared.

75

V8X97 p72-77 David Versus Goliath.indd 75

25/01/2017 5:50 pm

RACE TO WATCH: 1983 ATCC, Round 5, Adelaide International Raceway.

The best ATCC race ever? A big call but Moffat’s battle for second with Grice and George Fury, followed by spectacular but ultimately unsuccessful attacks on leader Brock right to the line, means this race is right up there.

When CAMS then announced further freedoms for the RX-7 – including use of a fuel-injected 13B, which Dick Johnson at the time said was like “giving Grant Kenny flippers” – and it cantered to an easy win at the Sandown 400, a first Bathurst win seemed inevitable. But it wasn’t to be.

The RX-7’s predicted speed advantage didn’t eventuate – the Fords, Holdens and Nissan Bluebirds had ended up gaining freedoms of their own during the CAMShomologation bunfight that had increased their competitiveness – and pitstop troubles meant Moffat and co-driver Yoshimi Katayama had to settle for second on the day.

The RX-7 was the car to have in the early 1980s.

Mazda’s lack of a suitable Group A contender meant the final year of Group C, 1984, was also the RX-7’s curtain call.

It wasn’t a happy ATCC – Moffat won one round before crashing heavily at Surfers Paradise and missing the rest of the season – and Bathurst saw another

close-but-no-cigar-result (third). But victory for Moffat in the Valvoline 250 AEC round at Oran Park, giving him another AEC driver’s title and Mazda the AEC manufacturer’s crown, meant the Mazda RX-7 did bow out of Australian touring cars a winner.

76

V8X97 p72-77 David Versus Goliath.indd 76

25/01/2017 5:50 pm

ABOVE: The M3 never won at Bathurst but made up for it with the championship win in 1987.

BMW M3

This David of Australian touring cars was also a Lazarus, coming back from the dead to trouble bigger rivals another time.

The first M3 of 1987 was a winner straight off the bat. Jim Richards harnessed its exceptional handling and braking to win four rounds of that year’s ATCC and the title, overturning an early-season points advantage held by rival Glenn Seton in the more powerful but ill-handling Nissan Skyline Turbo.

But its first run of success was brief. In 1988 the Ford Sierra – which had become the Group A touring car to have in late 1987 – wiped the floor with all of its rivals and strode to dominant ATCC and Bathurst wins.

The M3, contrastingly, spent 1988 fighting for class-win scraps, its sole outright success a win in the Pepsi 250 enduro at Oran Park with Peter Brock – now flying the BMW flag following his bust-up with Holden – and teammate Richards.

1989 and 1990 were even darker years for the BMW. Its decreasing competitiveness saw the German brand retreat from factory backing, leaving privateers to carry the can. A new, seemingly more dominant touring car than even the Sierra – Nissan’s GT-R – appeared on the scene.

In 1991, however, CAMS introduced a series of regulatory changes for Australian touring cars aimed at closing up the competition. This, the return of a factory team helmed by ex-JPS Team boss Frank

Gardner and a new Evo version of the M3 – which had a bigger, more powerful 2.5-litre engine (up from 2.3), wider rubber and even less weight than the featherweight original – transformed it back into a genuine front-runner.

While the GT-Rs remained the cars to beat, taking a one-two in the ATCC race and the Bathurst title, the revitalised M3 was best of the rest. Longhurst, who’d switched to the Sierra in 1988 with Gardner and followed him back to BMW, was unbeatable in the tighter confines of Amaroo Park, smashed the GT-Rs at Lakeside and scored five other podium finishes to seal third in championship, with teammate and former Formula 1 champ Alan Jones uncorking a strong run in the latter stages to end up fourth. The BMW was back in a big way.

More regulatory changes for 1992, again aimed at tightening up the competition, saw the M3 cop a 50kg weight penalty but it would end the ATCC the best of the rest behind the winning GT-Rs again and, at Lakeside, score its final wins. It also equalled its previous best Bathurst result from 1988 (fourth). Even in 1993, when it was essentially a class car in a field of five-litre V8s, this giant-killer still landed podiums at Winton and Barbagallo.

RACE TO WATCH: 1992 ATCC, Round 5, Lakeside.

Longhurst holds a torch to the GT-Rs, Sierras and Commodores to come up trumps in both heats. BMW teammates Jones and Morris do their share of terrorising bigger rivals, too.

77

V8X97 p72-77 David Versus Goliath.indd 77

25/01/2017 5:50 pm

Get it seen!

Get it Sold!

From just $29.50*

Log onto my105.com, place & pay for your ad online using our secure payment system.

Robust Work Bench.

Stainless

Big Boy mobile work bench,Robust steel construction,Bench weight 240KG, Draw capacity 35KG, Wheel weight total capacity 1000KGs. Powder coated in safety orange charcoal trim, Stainless steel handles, 3mm thick Stainless steel top over 30mm of timber, quality Richmondau Casters.

Perkins- Elfin 600ff/f2

1970 Australian Championship Elfin formula ford-driven by Larry Perkins to win the 1971 Driver to Europe series, effectively launching his international motorsport career. This is one of the most recognizable race cars in Australia.

FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

www.my105.com/18160

VE GTS Commodore 6.2 Litre

VE GTS 6.2l production touring cams log book avail for shannons series production car or bathurst 6 hr comes with 1 set spare wheels fittted 100ltr aftermarket fuel tank true trac diff oil coolers for diff and gear box high volume sump pwr radiator FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

www.my105.com/18194

D3 Ford V8 Supercar heads

D3 Ford V8 Supercar heads and overhead gear. Good condition. *CNC ported. Del West Ti. valves, Jesel rockers, stands and correct hardware. PSI springs, tool steel retainers and locks. * Ex Triple 8.

Reassemble and use. *Bryant billet crank to suit SBF. 2.250”/1.888”/ 3.290 stroke.

VGC. *Pankl/Carillo 1.888”/6” rods with new 22 mm DLC pins. VGC. FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

www.my105.com/18037

Aussie Racing Car, 2016 Championship winning car, 2017 V8 Support Category 7 Round Series, The Aussie Racing Car, comes as it left the track at Pukekohe Park Raceway.

www.my105.com/18129

EXCLUSIVE AD: Group A RS500 Sierra Genuine Group A RS500 Sierra, built

by Wolf Racing Germany. Was Tony Longhurst 1989 front running car.

www.my105.com/17234

Check out the all new MY105.com Trade Directories...

Where you will find the latest new parts and services from professional automotive suppliers across Australia.

The MY105.com directory includes car importers

Perkins- Elfin 600ff/f2

FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

and manufacturers, parts suppliers, new trailers and transporters, signage, apparel suppliers and more.

2004 BA Ford Falcon

Reduced price! $85k. Bob Gill reluctantly offers for sale his BA Falcon ex V8 Supercar. 2013 State Sports Sedan championship winning car. Built by Behag, chasis # 14-2004, raced by Larkham & purchased from Stone Bros.

Seq gearbox. In the right hands could be a winner again. Spares package available.

FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

www.my105.com/14280

Road Registered Race Car

Nissan Silvia ultimate road registered race car - simply drive to the track then drive home. SR20 engine rebuilt to race spec (forged), generating a modest and reliable 312bhp (235kw) at rear wheels - all work done by BAM Garage Morningside and Romano Worx Morningside Also featured New 6 piston Alcon race brakes Adjustable Tein suspension.

FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

www.my105.com/17834

FOR CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFORMATION AND PICS:

www.my105.com/18062

V8X96 p78-79 ad-MY105.indd 78

5/12/2016 9:40 am

t , l n s s y

Still only

$

29

.50

Bikes Transporters & Trailers Classics & Prestige Road, Drift & Performance

V8X96 p78-79 ad-MY105.indd 79

Over 1.7 million page views every month

5/12/2016 9:40 am

3 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE

Never miss an issue! Get Australia’s number-one Supercars magazine delivered straight to your letterbox each and every issue.

X

JUST $65 JUST $125 PRIORITY POST

PRIORITY POST

GET YOUR FREE NOBRAC PEN WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW FOR TWO YEARS! OFFER ONLY AVAILABLE TO AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

VALUED AT

$39.95

HURRY!

PHONE 1300 853 259 and quote code V8X97 POST TO V8X Subscriptions PO Box 225, Keilor, Vic., 3036 ONLINE V8X.com.au

NEW ZEALAND SUBSCRIBERS

PHONE +61 3 9372 9125 and quote code V8X97 POST TO V8X Subscriptions PO Box 225 Keilor Vic., 3036, Australia ONLINE V8X.com.au

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION AVAILABLE FROM ONLY

$29

PURCHASE DIRECT FROM

OFFER ENDS MARCH 31, 2017 OR WHILE STOCKS LAST

V8X.COM.AU

V8X SUPERCAR MAGAZINE IS A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE (6 ISSUES PER YEAR)

Australian $65 Australian $125

One (1) year Premium Subscription PRIORITY POST Two (2) year Premium Subscription PRIORITY POST

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

YES I WANT TO SUBSCRIBE TO V8X MAGAZINE

Full Name

Street Address

Town/Suburb

State

Postcode

One (1) year subscription Two (2) year subscription

New Zealand $80 AUD New Zealand $150 AUD

One (1) year subscription

Rest of the world $175 AUD

PLEASE FIND ENCLOSED Cheque Money order Credit card All cheques and money orders to be in Australian dollars only Please make cheques/money orders payable to: Raamen Pty Ltd Mastercard

Name on card

Daytime Telephone Number

Credit card number

Email Address

Signature

Expiry date

MAIL TO V8X SUBSCRIPTIONS PO BOX 225, KEILOR, VIC, 3036, AUSTRALIA V8X97 p80-81 Subs.indd 80

Visa

CCV Number

V8X97

25/01/2017 5:49 pm

ISSUE #85

ISSUE #86

ISSUE #87

ISSUE #88

ISSUE #89

ISSUE #90

ISSUE #91

ISSUE #92

ISSUE #93

ISSUE #94

ISSUE #95

ISSUE #96

BACK ISSUES ALSO AVAILABLE $9.95 each plus $5.50 delivery. Order from V8X.com.au or email office@v8x.com.au

81

V8X97 p80-81 Subs.indd 81

25/01/2017 5:49 pm

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE

APRIL 2017

SHOOTOUT

BIGGEST SILLY SEASON MOVES IN THE V8 ERA Brothers Racing at one minute past midnight on New Year’s in 2003 due to contractual agreements and went on to claim a long-awaited title.

10 JOHN BOWE ▲

Dick Johnson Racing to PAE Motorsport

Bowe ended an 11-year association with Dick Johnson Racing with his shock move to the Catepillar-backed PAE Motorsport entry in 1999.

9 SCOTT McLAUGHLIN

Garry Rogers Motorsport to DJR Team Penske

McLaughlin’s switch to DJR Team Penske this off-season shapes as a career-defining move, with the Ford team’s acquisition of Ludo Lacroix improving its chances of taking on the current powerhouse, Triple Eight Race Engineering.

8 CRAIG LOWNDES

Ford Performance Racing to Triple Eight

6 SHANE VAN GISBERGEN Stone Brothers Racing to Tekno Autosports

Van Gisbergen shocked the paddock when he announced his decision to walk away from V8 Supercars. He soon resurfaced at Tekno Autosports for 2013, setting him up for promotion into the factory Triple Eight team for a championshipwinning move in 2016.

4 MARK SKAIFE ▲

Gibson Motorsport to Holden Racing Team

With Gibson struggling for sponsorship post-tobacco advertising, Skaife headed to the Holden Racing Team to replace the retiring Peter Brock in 1997 for what would be a dominant spell.

5 JAMIE WHINCUP

3 PETER BROCK

Triple Eight recruited Whincup to help Lowndes win at Bathurst. They achieved that feat at their first attempt in 2006, while few could’ve predicted the championship impact Whincup would have when he was signed by the team.

Brock’s switch legitimised the Holden Racing Team in 1994, setting up the championship success that would come for Lowndes and Skaife. It was also a significant return to the factory Holden fold after his split with the make in 1987.

Tasman Motorsport to Triple Eight

Advantage Racing to Holden Racing Team

2 JAMES COURTNEY ▲

Dick Johnson Racing to Holden Racing Team

In the midst of his championship-winning season, Courtney looked to move on from the offtrack turmoil at Dick Johnson Racing and eventually took the #1 to the Holden Racing Team in 2011.

1 CRAIG LOWNDES ▼

Holden Racing Team to Gibson Motorsport

The switch that shocked V8 Supercars! Lowndes’ move from the factory Holden team to the new-look Ford outfit was the highest-profile defection of the V8 era, eventually leading him to the new-look factory team, Ford Performance Racing, and then Triple Eight.

With results hard to come by at the factory Ford team, Lowndes judged his next move to perfection by signing with the up-and-coming Triple Eight for 2005.

7 RUSSELL INGALL ▲

Perkins Engineering to Stone Brothers Racing

After seven seasons with Perkins Engineering, Ingall announced his move to Stone 82

V8X97 p82 Shootout.indd 82

25/01/2017 5:48 pm

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 Zealand’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 Murphy’s story.

Online only at: www.themurphbook.com www.ad42.com.au V8X97 p83 ad-Murphy Murph V8X Ad.indd 1 Book.indd 83

2/02/2017 4:54AM pm 21/03/2016 6:34:46

V8X97 p84 ad-Slicks.indd 84

3/02/2017 1:14 pm