2012 V8 Supercars

[Rhys Gardiner]

Anyone else seen this?

Chrysler's performance tuning engineering group SRT is considering to enter the V8 Supercars in 2013 when the new "Car of the Future" regulations are set for introduction.
"I am extremely interested. It's not the first time I have heard of it but I don't want to let on that we are committing just yet," said SRT Brand and Motorsports CEO Ralph Gilles to Drive. Chrysler Group Australia, CGA, is positive towards the initiative of interest taken in V8 Supercars by SRT.
"We are in constant communication with SRT, which is a brand we are trying to build. Ralph is relatively new to heading up the SRT brand and he is certainly a motorsport fan. The Car of the Future concept looks like it would suit in that regard. Certainly we haven't closed the door, it's something we are looking at. But at this stage it's so preliminary we can't say whether we are in or out," said CGA managing director Clyde Campbell.

Chrysler has dipped its toe in the V8 Supercars championship before by supplying the safety car in the form of a Chrysler 300C SRT8.
"It's very unique to that market so it may work beautifully in the Australian market, so I am willing to help out if they are wanting to find a way," said Gilles.

Source

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

The 300C would be awesome to see in the series.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/m...petition-in-2013/story-e6frfgb6-1226266051719

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NISSAN is set to be a shock inclusion on the V8 Supercars grid next year with powerhouse Japanese manufacturer to announce tomorrow it will be taking the fight to Holden and Ford.​

In an historic inclusion which V8 Supercars claim will bulletproof the future of the sport, Nissan have agreed to re-join the series in 2013 in a move which will inject hundreds of thousand of dollars into the sport and place a wedge between the iconic battle between Holden and Ford.​

The bombshell entry will also give several lowly placed teams the ammunition to take on the likes of Holden backed team Vodafone, with the manufacturer to pull out the cheque book in a bid to upset their manufacturing rivals.​

Made possible by the Car of the Future program headed by Holden legend Mark Skaife, the coup has been three years in the making.​

The Kelly Racing Team will tell Holden they are defecting to the Japanese company.​

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News Limited also understands the announcement, to be made by V8 Supercars and Nissan tomorrow at Crown Casino in Melbourne, will be the first of many.​

Several other manufacturers, including Chrysler, have been in talks with the fast growing series and are also expected to join the Aussie bred fight.​

Both Holden and Ford have welcomed the new competition with Nissan’s inclusion likely to help address the uneven split which this year saw 17 Commodores taken on 11 Falcons.​

Holden backed driver Jamie Whincup won the series.​

Nissan were last in the series in 1992, with the manufacturer ironically supporting Skaife, the man who helped court them back after a 20 year absence.​

Car of the Future has helped make Nissan’s inclusion possible with a host of control parts to be used next year.​

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I am speechless.​

 

[Ivo Simons]

Hmm. Back in the day it was oke. But imo in this era it just needs to be Holden and Ford and no other cars.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Hmmm... I think the exact opposite. The whole reason I stopped watching V8 Supercars was because I was getting bored with just Holden and Ford racing... the more the merrier I think!

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

The Kelly Racing Team will tell Holden they are defecting to the Japanese company.

That will fill some newspapers

Good for the series though! Nice

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Come to think of it, I might have found a new manufacturer to support.

trollface.jpg

 

[William Levesque]

Nissan, beurk !

 

[Lee Palmer]

I agree with Ivo tbh. Then again if it means the sport is more viable going forward (Japanese Audience) I'm all for it.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I don´t watch the sport but i agree with Ivo, it´s just a sacred series and should be only Ford and Holden

 

[Ian Craft]

Maybe Iam wrong, (so please correct me if)
But the V8 Supercars are all the same? The engine, the chassi, and so on.
The emblem is just different. right?

 

[Dave Oliver]

The problem is guys the Falcon will cease in a few years, also both the Commodore and Falcon use to be the top2 selling cars in Oz and they just aren't anymore.

TBH, I'm more pumped about the Bathurst12hr cause of the GT3 cars & euro interest then i am with the 1000 this year. Also $50 for the weekend compared to $160 at the V8s.

So they need to get more cars in. Its been nearly 20years with the current format, its been a good run time for something new.

 

[William Levesque]

It'd be nice if they'd bring back some kind of Group A racing with lots of different cars with their strong and weak points !

 

[Dave Oliver]

Exactly William, its why i like GT racing. aka like LeMans, GrandAm, GT3.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

I got slightly bored of Ford v. Holden as well just as much as I was bored with Citroen v. Ford in WRC.

IDK, I'm not invested at all in V8 Supercar's history so maybe my opinion doesn't really matter that much. But from an outsider's perspective i think it's time the sport continues to grow with it's market. After all as Dave pointed out, Holden and Ford aren't as massive as they once were before and the Falcon's going FWD now.

Times change, people change, thus racing series change. The Ford v Holden has been a very nice fight but it's been 20 years. It can't last forever. IMO the negative opinion that FvH HAS to be V8 Supercar forever is just like the NASCAR fans complaining when Toyota's the "All-American" series. Change isn't always comfortable but that isn't necessarily a bad thing

 

[Fredrik Arbegard]

I'm gonna say the more the merrier.
More manufacturers getting involved is always good for the sport and I don't think it 'has' to be only Ford and Holden.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

I wouldn't call the Holden v. Ford rivalry "sacred", at least not now. It may have been the case in the past, but the two makes are shrinking as the years go by - the Falcon and Commodore are not suited to the current economic climate and the average modern Australian lifestyle; they're too big, too expensive, too heavy and too thirsty to be popular in the road car market anymore. Ford and Holden can't recoup this lost profit from V8 Supercars publicity alone - plus, their brand image won't be helped by only competing against each other. They need a foreign manufacturer(s) to use as a benchmark and for which to gain publicity from if they beat them on the track, and Nissan joining is the best way to do it.

And on a lighter note - if Nissan win Bathurst, I'll die of laughter just seeing the looks on the faces of the die-hard reds and blues!

 

[Harry Platt]

And on a lighter note - if Nissan win Bathurst, I'll die of laughter just seeing the looks on the faces of the die-hard reds and blues!

They have done it twice. They can do it again.

 

[William Levesque]

Problem is, they'd get beaten by a kit car... Let's face it, Nissan doesn't have a single proper V8 car to compete with.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Problem is, they'd get beaten by a kit car... Let's face it, Nissan doesn't have a single proper V8 car to compete with.

Well, to be fair, all V8 Supercars are kit cars technically... V8 Supercars use 5.0L V8s, and there isn't a single 5.0L V8 in Ford's or Holden's ranges.
The biggest difference with Nissan's entry will probably be that the road car will be front-wheel drive. They're most likely using the Altima, which will probably be introduced to the Australian market very soon...