MOTORSPORT: Bathurst all uphill for new makes

In the field of 29 cars this time will be four Nissans Altimas – a model not yet released in Australia – and three AMG Mercedes-Benz E 63s, which are run by wealthy Betty Klimenko’s Erebus Motorsport but without support from Mercedes-Benz Australia.

Dedicated followers already know all this well as the Nissans and Mercs have run in the 28 V8 Supercar Championship races held so far around Australia and in New Zealand and Texas this year.

However, the audience – certainly on national television -- for Sunday’s ‘Great Race’ will be 50 to 200 per cent bigger than that for any of those earlier races, and many viewers will not have seen the newcomers.

Under the ‘Car of the Future’ rules introduced this year, all V8 Supercars are essentially the same (because of the requirements to use control parts) other than the bodywork and engine.

Nissan Motorsport and Mercedes associates AMG and HWA in Germany adapted multi-valve engines to Australia’s 5.0-litre formula – the VK56DE in Nissan’s case and the M159 from Mercedes Customer Sport – to compete against the tried and true pushrod V8s in the 16 Holden Commodore VFs and six Ford Falcon FGs.

So what chance do the Nissans and Mercs have in Australia’s major motor race this Sunday at Bathurst’s famed Mt Panorama circuit?

The form guide gives them little to no hope of winning, and the fans who flock to The Mountain will still favour Holden and Ford overwhelmingly.

It’s not a popularity contest though, but it is almost impossible to envisage a Nissan victory.

Let alone the need for the post-race crowd on the start-finish straight to be reproached as “a pack of arseholes” as the great Jim Richards did 21 years ago when he and Mark Skaife were given a hostile reception for back-to-back wins in Nissan’s ‘Godzilla’ GT-R, which then was outlawed as the V8 Holden-Ford era was introduced.

Nissan Altimas driven by James Moffat – yes, son of the legendary Allan – and Michael Caruso finished first and second in a race at Victoria’s Winton track in late August, running on E70 fuel (70 per cent ethanol and 30 per cent unleaded petrol) which was promptly prohibited.

That pair and the other two Nissans driven by Kelly brothers Todd and Rick have not looked like winning since on the regular E85 fuel.

They and the Erebus/Mercedes camp wanted to use E70 in the championship’s endurance races – last month’s Sandown 500 in Melbourne, Bathurst and the Gold Coast 600 later this month – for better economy in their thirstier engines.

But the Holden and Ford teams campaigned successfully against that – the Holden camp arguing particularly strongly that E70 would give the newcomers greater power as well as economy.

In an effort to achieve parity among the makes officials have decreed a minimum number of refueling stops – seven on Sunday.

Nissan and Erebus say they will still be at a disadvantage because they have to stand still in the pits longer because they require more fuel.

Despite that factor, at Sandown – where four stops were compulsory – the Mercedes of Lee Holdsworth and Craig Baird finished a surprise fourth, within 20 seconds of the victorious Holden of Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell.

Erebus, in association with the Germans and the remnants of the long-time Ford team Stone Brothers racing it took over, seems gradually to have overcome many of its disadvantages early in the season.

Klimenko’s camp has been remarkably low-key in the lead-in to Bathurst, where its GT team won the international 12-hour race in February with one of its Mercedes SLS AMG GT3s, but another top-five finish must be a distinct possibility for it in the Great Race.

That will depend on its ability to get its machinery to the chequered flag after 1000km at sprint pace and the attrition rate among others.

But a podium is still probably beyond a Merc just yet, particularly at this most arduous of V8 Supercar races.

Nissan has had 18 top 10 finishes with its four Altimas to date, but 11th was its best at Sandown – and, sadly lacking top speed in comparison with the other three makes, it does not have a lot to look forward to at Mt Panorama.

“Bathurst is almost the same scenario as Sandown – you have two groups of corners with a ‘drag strip’ (Mountain Straight and Conrod Straight) in between each,” said Todd Kelly, who has overseen the engineering of the Altimas.

“We will lack a bit of straight-line speed and we don’t know until we get a few laps under our belt what our fuel economy will be.

“The key for us will be from The Cutting to make sure we make as much gap as we can by the time we get to Forrest’s Elbow.

“We really need to nail that part of it so that we’ve got lots of speed over the top, which will make us less vulnerable down Conrod Straight.

“And then the same effort through the last few corners and on to Mountain Straight.

“Those areas are critical. If we don’t get that right it will certainly be a tough day. If we get it right it will be a little more manageable, but it will still be a pretty tough weekend for us.

“Hopefully it won’t be as bad as what we are expecting.”

The Kelly brothers have made 27 starts between them in the Great Race, with Rick victorious in 2003 and ’04 and Todd in ’05 – all in Holdens.

A top 10 is probably as much as can be hoped for from any of the Altimas this Sunday, and Taz Douglas – co-driver to Moffat junior – has said that “even inside the top 15 in this category is nothing to sneeze at”.

Maybe for now, but Nissan will be wanting much more next year -- and the onus has been put on its Nismo performance arm to greatly improve the engines for the second season.

For this year the Bathurst 1000 most probably is still Holden’s or perhaps Ford’s domain.   

Bathurst 1000 practice, qualifying and race schedule (Australian Eastern Daylight times):

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