Tag: V8SC

Categories
Mercedes-Benz Motorsports

Erebus & SBR to lead Mercedes V8SC assault

Bettey Klimenko, Erebus Racing and Ross Stone, SBR

The worst kept secret in V8 Supercars was confirmed yesterday when Erebus Motorsport and Stone Brothers Racing announced they would form a new team to tackle the 2013 season. The partnership paves the way for the introduction of the Mercedes brand to the V8SC category under new Con of the future rules.

The Erebus–SBR alliance will see three cars entered in the 2013 V8SC season, with the E Class body to be used as the base.

Erebus has created a name for itself in the Australian GT Championship running a superb looking Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. They were also prominent at the Bathurst 12 Hour race early this year, in another partnership formed with slick German outfit Black Falcon.

It’s important to note that it is Erebus writing the cheques on behalf of Mercedes; this is not a factory-funded entry into Australia’s most popular motorsport category. Mercedes, through their AMG arm, will of course offer support to Erebus and Stone Brothers, who are ending their 15 year association with Ford.

Erebus Motorsport CEO, Ryan Maddison, spoke at yesterday’s press conference and said: “Our entry into V8 Supercars is an entirely Erebus Motorsport funded initiative as a private race team that is accessing the Customer Sports program of AMG.

“There is a lot of work required between now and the first event next year; by no means will it be an easy road with V8 Supercars being such a highly competitive environment.”

Here at AUSmotive we’ve previously expressed distaste at the COTF direction, despite this, we wish Erebus and SBR all the best and would love nothing more than seeing them upset the Ford–Holden duopoly.

[Source: Erebus Racing | Pic: SBR]

Categories
Motorsports Nissan

Con of the future

Kelly Racing Nissan Altima V8 Supercar rendering

A little while back you may have heard the news that Nissan will be coming back to top level touring car racing in Australia next year. But they don’t really have a V8 sedan, so what car would they enter?

We can tell you they will be using a Nissan Altima and Speedcafe.com has produced this artist’s rendering of the Kelly Racing Nissan Altima V8 Supercar. You can download it for yourself, if you like.

The latest fifth-generation Altima was only revealed a few days ago, at the New York Auto Show. It’s a front-wheel drive model, powered by a 2.5 litre four-cylinder or a 3.5 litre V6.

Let’s repeat that: a front-wheel drive model powered by a 2.5 litre four-cylinder or a 3.5 litre V6.

But, under the new V8 Supercar “Car of the Future” regulations the Nissan Altima is eligible for entry into the series when the category commences its new world order next year. All of a sudden the Altima will become a rear-wheel drive, V8 powered racing taxi. (Actually, that last bit is true, too, thanks to a deal that will see the new Altima introduced to the NYC taxi fleet.)

That’s right, thanks to the introduction of a control chassis and a control engine all that will differentiate one V8 Supercar from another will be its outer skin and bagdes; which, you’ll be pleased to know, are real. Yep, the badges will be about the only real things on the bloody car.

What a con!

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Categories
Holden Motorsports

AusGP: V8 Supercars don’t stack up

V8 Supercar crash at 2012 Australian Gramd Prix

An impromptu experiment to see if you can stack V8 Supercars one on top of the other failed at the Australian Grand Prix yesterday.

Tipped off by James Courtney, Jamie Whincup set up the all-Holden Commodore experiment by parking his car in the middle of the track. Karl Reindler, Taz Douglas and Russell Ingall then obliged by trying to squeeze Douglas’ car on top of Ingall’s, using the other two V8s as barriers.

Despite the best efforts of the four men the experiment didn’t work, although they did go close and with more work that might pull it off. Thankfully, no driver was hurt in the incident.

Check out the video after the break.

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Categories
Ford Motorsports

Shane van Gisbergen “Darwin drifter”

Shane van Gisbergen

AUSmotive takes a rare foray into the world of V8 Supercars to tip our collective hat to young Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen. You see, after taking the honours at the recent round at Hidden Valley, van Gisbergen slowed down on his victory lap, allowed the field to pass him and then drifted his way home.

We’re not so sure the suits will be too happy, but the crowd loved it and so do we. Drift on with video of the action after the break.

[via Autoblog]

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Categories
Motorsports

Karl Reindler and Steve Owen talk about their firery crash

Here’s a couple of videos featuring Karl Reindler and Steve Owen talking about their dramatic crash in the V8 Supercars event at Barbagallo Raceway on the weekend. Amazing that both drivers were able to escape relatively unharmed.

You’ll see the bandages on Riendler’s hands where he has suffered second degree burns, but he expects to be racing again at the next round at Winton three weeks from now.

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Categories
Holden Top Gear

Jeremy Clarkson drives TeamVodafone V8 Supercar

Jeremy Clarkson and James May are in Australia for their Top Gear Live tour and to welcome them down under Craig Lowndes took them for a bit of a drive.

The promo event took place at the Holden Driving Centre in Norwell, Queensland. Clarkson was also granted some time of his own behind the wheel of Lowndes’ 888 Commodore declaring it, “The most perfect car without getting too technical. It’s heaven to drive a car like that. I thought it was epic.”

There’s two more clips after the break as well.

[Source: Speedcafe | Thanks to Mark & Ryan for the tip]

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Categories
Formula 1 Motorsports

Formula One: Now more popular in Australia than V8 Supercars

Formula 1: 2010 Hungarian GP

Support for Formula One in Australia is currently riding a wave popularity, thanks largely to the exploits of local lad Mark Webber. The Australian, of course, is currently leading the drivers title race and is in with a real chance of being crowned this country’s first F1 World Champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

Despite this, many F1 fans might be surprised to learn that the television ratings for the sport have knocked the V8 Supercars off its perch as the most watched motorsport category in Australia.

Based on figures published in The Age numbers for the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, won by Webber, peaked at 345,000. Keep in mind the live broadcast was available on the digital only channel One HD. In contrast, viewing audiences for recent rounds of V8 Supercars have reportedly fallen below the 300,000 mark.

This figure represents a drop of more than 25% from V8 Supercar audiences from a couple of years back. Meanwhile, the introduction of the One HD channel in 2009 has given Australian audiences access to live telecasts for the majority of Grands Prix and qualifying sessions for the first time ever.

We shall have to wait and see how sustainable the popularity of F1 remains in future years when we’re unlikely to see an Australian leading the charge. For now, though, One HD, while far from perfect, must be quite content with the way things sit.

[Source: The Age via motorcentral | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Categories
Ford Motorsports Random wallpapers

High resolution Ford FG01 V8 Supercar images

Ford FG01 V8 Supercar

Ford has released images of its new Falcon-based FG01 V8 Supercar ahead of the car’s track debut. Craig Lowndes will drive the only FG01 in the field in this weekend’s Sandown 400. There are five images in all, simply click on an image for a high resolution download (all images 3800px wide, approx 1.5mb).

Ford’s press release and additional high resolution images can be seen below.

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