2010 V8 Supercars

Bram

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The central Super V8 2010 season thread for all your news, rumors, and race reports
 
Team and driver changes for 2010:

On July 29, 2009, it was officially annouced that Team Vodafone would switch from Ford to Holden following Ford's withdrawal of funding from all of their teams except for Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers Racing.

Rod Nash Racing, owners of the #55 Racing Entitlement Contract which has been operated by Tony D'Alberto Racing for the last two years, will be switching their operating teams for 2010 and will support a third Ford FG Falcon for Ford Performance Racing. Paul Dumbrell was confirmed as driver a week later.

Fabian Coulthard was released from his Paul Cruickshank Racing contract to join Walkinshaw Racing. Andrew Thompson will join the team with expanded support from Bundaberg Rum.

Paul Cruickshank Racing sold their Racing Entitlement Contract, which was acquired by the sponsors of Tim Slade.

Tasman Motorsport was officially disbanded on November 20th, with the team selling their Racing Entitlement Contracts to Tony D'Alberto Racing and the newly formed Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Jason Bargwanna was announced as a new signing for Kelly Racing joining Rick and Todd Kelly. The teams fourth driver has yet to be announced.

Greg Murphy has joined Paul Morris Motorsport to drive the teams second car alongside Russell Ingall. The car is branded with Castrol signage.

Brad Jones Racing team owner, Kim Jones, confirmed that Jason Bright will be joining the team for the 2010 season.

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport was formed by Paul Dumbrell's brother, Lucas Dumbrell. The team has acquired the driving services of Daniel Gaunt for 2010.
 
Rule changes:

Following the success of the all-in Sunday qualifying session at V8 Supercar events this year, the category has implemented the session for the Saturday in 2010.
Qualifying on Saturdays will now consist of a 20-minute all-in session followed by the Top 10 Shootout to determine the grid order for the 10 fastest cars from the earlier 20-minute session.

Practice at the endurance events will no longer be time certain, while an extra practice session has been added for sprint events.
In 2010 there will be four 30-minute practice sessions for each sprint event with the first two sessions allocated for rookies and drivers who are outside the top 15 in the Championship.

Windscreen tear-offs, introduced at this year’s L&H 500, will continue to be used in 2010 and the left-hand front door on the VE and FG V8 Supercars are now able to be made up of a composite material.
And the definition of composite material has been updated to allow the use of technological advancements such as Innegra (reputedly half the weight of carbon fibre), E Glass and Twin Tex.

In terms of safety upgrades, V8 Supercars Australia (V8SA) has updated the 2010 Operations Manual to include a FIA-approved carbon fibre racing seat, although many teams were already using the seat this year following a recommendation from V8SA.
According to FIA documentation, the new seat improves strength and support during rear impacts and provides more support to the pelvis, shoulder and head during side impacts.

[v8supercars.com.au]
 
Possibly the biggest news for 2010:

A new rule will come into effect stopping fulltime drivers from pairing up at next year’s endurance races, the L&H 500 and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

On Monday, the V8 Supercars Australia Board approved the rule change although the final wording is yet to be determined.

The rule states a primary driver is not permitted to compete under more than one Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) in a calendar year unless specifically approved by V8 Supercars Australia.

It allows more track time for all of the fulltime drivers – the stars of the sport – because team strategies will in future dictate that co-drivers complete not much more than their minimum required laps.

A change in the rules will see experienced endurance drivers become hot property as teams scramble to secure a competitive partner for their fulltime drivers, but it will also even up the playing field for teams without two gun drivers.

Those co-drivers will now be available at a premium, but it will also now put a lot more pressure on them to perform if they are paired with a championship contender.

The last time a part-time driver won the Bathurst 1000 was in 2002 when Jim Richards paired up with then Holden Racing Team driver Mark Skaife.

Following the 2009 endurance races, when the rule change was mooted, Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Michael Caruso was one of a number of drivers to express concern.

“It makes it hard for us little guys but more importantly for me I would like to do it again with Lee,” Caruso said.

“It’s hard to find a driver that is the same height and all that sort of stuff so there’s a lot of factors that come into it, not just who you can find or who you can afford to get.

“You want to be comfortable in your car all weekend and not have to put seat inserts in if you don’t really need to.”

Caruso also questioned the fairness of a non-Championship driver guaranteed to win Bathurst without putting in the hard yards throughout the year as a fulltime driver.

But V8 Board member and Ford Performance Racing Team Principal, Tim Edwards, said the rule change was about making the endurance races better for fans.

“If there’s eight cars with 16 top drivers you’ve got eight top drivers sitting in the garage at the end of the race and I think anyone would agree it would be good to have 16 good drivers racing at the end rather than eight,” he said.

“From the feedback we have had from the press and the public they believe it is best for the sport.

“It’s good for the sport, (though) not necessarily good for all the teams,” he added.

“Of course I would like to put Richo (Steve Richards) and Frosty (Mark Winterbottom) together, but you can’t always think about your own team; sometimes you have to put the sport first and that’s obviously what the majority of the teams thought.

“We knew it would be a contentious decision which is why all of the teams were asked and the majority said it would be good that drivers stay in their own cars.”

[v8supercars.com.au]
 
With the rule change for enduros I think HRT are best set up. They can obviously call on Skaifey and Baird.

Triple Eight are a bit uncertain, but I think if I were a team owner I'd be beating a path for Besnard, Ritter and Simonsen's doors.
 
One of the silliest silly seasons in V8 Supercars is almost over with most of the driver seats locked away.

A raft of driver changes has occurred while a number of teams have folded with new ones ready to take their place.

One of the most important and contentious changes is that of TeamVodafone, which joins the red side in 2010 and will run Commodores.

What remains to be seen is whether the Commodores will be quick out of the box, but considering they are Triple Eight-prepared cars it would not be presumptuous to believe they will be.

Paul Cruickshank Racing will not field an entry in 2010 and former driver Fabian Coulthard is another driver who is following TeamVodafone to Holden.

Coulthard will drive a Walkinshaw Racing Commodore while Bundaberg has extended its sponsorship of the team to cover both Coulthard’s car along with fellow Walkinshaw recruit Andrew Thompson, who returns as a fulltime driver after a year-long hiatus from the main game.

Two new teams – Tony D’Alberto Racing and Lucas Dumbrell Racing – have been born out of the closure of Tasman Motorsport and drivers Greg Murphy and Jason Bargwanna have found new homes.

Bargs has joined Todd and Rick Kelly at Kelly Racing although the team’s fourth driver is yet to be confirmed while Murph will join Paul Morris Motorsport driving a Castrol-liveried Commodore.

Jason Bright is another Ford defector, joining Brad Jones Racing alongside Jason Richards although Paul Dumbrell has defected the other way, leaving Walkinshaw to drive the Ford Performance Racing-prepared Bottle-O Falcon under the Rod Nash Racing entry.

Holdens make up two-thirds of the 2010 V8 Supercar field, meaning the remaining Ford teams have their work cut out for them.
Ford has indicated it will pump more money into supporting more teams than it did in 2009, but to date its exact plans have not been forthcoming.

2010 driver line-up:

Brad Jones Racing: Jason Richards, Jason Bright and Karl Reindler (TBC)
Ford Performance Racing: Steve Richards and Mark Winterbottom
Garry Rogers Motorsport: Michael Caruso and Lee Holdsworth
James Rosenberg Racing: Tim Slade
Dick Johnson Racing: James Courtney, Steve Johnson and Jonathon Webb
Kelly Racing: Rick Kelly, Todd Kelly, Jason Bargwanna and a fourth driver TBA
Lucas Dumbrell Racing: TBA
Paul Morris Motorsport: Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy
Rod Nash Racing: Paul Dumbrell
Stone Brothers Racing: Alex Davison and Shane van Gisbergen
TeamVodafone: Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup
Toll Holden Racing Team: Garth Tander and Will Davison
Tony D’Alberto Racing: Tony D’Alberto
Walkinshaw Racing: Fabian Coulthard and Andrew Thompson
Triple F Racing: Dean Fiore
 
v8sc09121701.jpg

One of the silliest silly seasons in V8 Supercars is almost over with most of the driver seats locked away.

A raft of driver changes has occurred while a number of teams have folded with new ones ready to take their place.

One of the most important and contentious changes is that of TeamVodafone, which joins the red side in 2010 and will run Commodores.

What remains to be seen is whether the Commodores will be quick out of the box, but considering they are Triple Eight-prepared cars it would not be presumptuous to believe they will be.

Paul Cruickshank Racing will not field an entry in 2010 and former driver Fabian Coulthard is another driver who is following TeamVodafone to Holden.

Coulthard will drive a Walkinshaw Racing Commodore while Bundaberg has extended its sponsorship of the team to cover both Coulthard’s car along with fellow Walkinshaw recruit Andrew Thompson, who returns as a fulltime driver after a year-long hiatus from the main game.

Two new teams – Tony D’Alberto Racing and Lucas Dumbrell Racing – have been born out of the closure of Tasman Motorsport and drivers Greg Murphy and Jason Bargwanna have found new homes.

Bargs has joined Todd and Rick Kelly at Kelly Racing although the team’s fourth driver is yet to be confirmed while Murph will join Paul Morris Motorsport driving a Castrol-liveried Commodore.

Jason Bright is another Ford defector, joining Brad Jones Racing alongside Jason Richards although Paul Dumbrell has defected the other way, leaving Walkinshaw to drive the Ford Performance Racing-prepared Bottle-O Falcon under the Rod Nash Racing entry.

Holdens make up two-thirds of the 2010 V8 Supercar field, meaning the remaining Ford teams have their work cut out for them.
Ford has indicated it will pump more money into supporting more teams than it did in 2009, but to date its exact plans have not been forthcoming.


2010 driver line-up:

Brad Jones Racing: Jason Richards, Jason Bright and Karl Reindler (TBC)
Ford Performance Racing: Steve Richards and Mark Winterbottom
Garry Rogers Motorsport: Michael Caruso and Lee Holdsworth
James Rosenberg Racing: Tim Slade
Dick Johnson Racing: James Courtney, Steve Johnson and Jonathon Webb
Kelly Racing: Rick Kelly, Todd Kelly, Jason Bargwanna and a fourth driver TBA
Lucas Dumbrell Racing: TBA
Paul Morris Motorsport: Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy
Rod Nash Racing: Paul Dumbrell
Stone Brothers Racing: Alex Davison and Shane van Gisbergen
TeamVodafone: Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup
Toll Holden Racing Team: Garth Tander and Will Davison
Tony D’Alberto Racing: Tony D’Alberto
Walkinshaw Racing: Fabian Coulthard and Andrew Thompson
Triple F Racing: Dean Fiore
 
Some interesting announcements from V8's, although nothing groundbreaking,

good rule change with the driver pairings, agreed that watching 16 drivers be better to watch than 8 at the end IMHO, harden up pills to the whinging teams I say along with a few boxes of Kleenex :D:D:D

who is going to Bathurst this year? I shall be there, cannot wait, bring on October I say!!!
 
I'm a UKer and a relative newcomer to V8s, having watched from afar (figuratively and physically) in previous seasons until 2009 and I have to agree the drivers staying in their own car rule is an excellent one for the fans.
 
Not a clue Bram - a quick perusal of the MotorsTV forum has yeilded nothing. They publicised the 210 V8 calendar in their news but that means nothing. Aside from their Bathurst coverage they got a lot of stick for their coverage.
 
I'm a UKer and a relative newcomer to V8s, having watched from afar (figuratively and physically) in previous seasons until 2009 and I have to agree the drivers staying in their own car rule is an excellent one for the fans.

well my best advice is to enjoy it whilst can you can!

I feel it may not (or should not? lol) last in it's currents giuse, cannot see how it can last with the current markets etc, those cars are high chance of not being manufactured in another 3-4 years, so back to the WTCC scene I would think.

How do you OS guys find it? having watched touring cars in Aus my whole life I now find it particulary boring, not sure if im tired of the Ford vs Holden thing (hard to get eslewhere in the world where Falcons are not available isnt it?) or just the Tony Cochrane reign, 2009 season I watch one race, being Bathurst...
 
I find it brilliant - as I'm sure others have noticed on RD :D

The racing is so close for such powerful cars and the TV coverage is fantastic. I hope it doesn't die out, maybe in 3-4 years time the recession will be over? I find WTCC especially boring tbh, all too 'arranged', BTCC is very entertaining however, the tracks help.
 
Only 44 more sleeps till the start of the season, not that i'm counting or anything. But it will be interesting to see where the powers that be take the series over the next few years, and especially to see what the COTF commitee and V8SA come up with as a final, or near enough to a final proposal for the sports future direction.
 

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