MOTORSPORT: Dawn breaks on new V8 Supercar era
Four makes revved up for V8 Supercar Championship blast-off in Adelaide, and a broader field in Australian rallying's new era as wellNow it's not only Holden versus Ford but the traditional makes against Nissan and Mercedes AMG. All politics aside, it's going to be unpredictable and, you would have to think, exciting.
Holden still has the weight of numbers, with 15 VF Commodores in the field of 28, there are six FG Falcons, four Nissan L33s and three Mercedes AMG E63s.
Four body shapes and four different 5-litre engines – the Nissan VK56DE derived from the Patrol, the AMG M159 with flat-plane crankshafts – all on a generic chassis and 18-inch wheels after two decades of Commodores and Falcons on 17-inch.
The format for the Clipsal 500 is the usual two 250km races, but the schedule for many of the later rounds of the championship has been revamped, with more shorter sprints and more racing on soft-compound tyres.
All the changes have created great anticipation about this new era. Track attendances and more particularly television audiences – and ultimately road car sales – will be the test of how successful it all is. The live telecasts remain on the Seven Network in Australia, while in New Zealand they move to Sky pay TV now.
But the immediate attention will be on who is fastest and who wins in Adelaide.
The one official, all-inclusive pre-season test day in Sydney a fortnight ago indicated that the Holdens have an edge on the Fords and that Nissan, or at least Ricky Kelly in one, is ahead of Mercedes AMG.
Parity could be back as a big issue this year as the new era shakes down.
Although it has had the shortest preparation, the surprise packet could be the AMG Mercs. AMG and its racing arm HWA in Germany have loads of expertise and experience in touring car racing.
In league with Betty Klimenko's Erebus Motorsport, which has taken over Stone Brothers Racing, they could be a sudden challenger to Holden's top team Triple Eight and Ford Performance Racing.
Kelly Racing, transformed into Nissan Motorsport, is getting input from Nismo – and that is likely to increase.
Adding to the interest at the start of this new season is the debut in the development series of dual MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner.
So the exterior of the show is looking bright and shiny, although on the inside all is not well.
Just days after stalwart team Dick Johnson Racing averted collapse, it has been revealed in Auto Action magazine this week that the V8 Supercar teams will not receive a dividend this year from the business they still 35 per cent own, with private equity company Archer Capital the majority owner.
Less than two years after the deal that brought in Archer, and just months after the exit of long-time V8 Supercars executive chairman Tony Cochrane, Auto Action's editor-at-large Mark Fogarty reported that "V8 Supercars' income from media rights, sponsorships and race fees (are) all falling short of forecasts".
"The sport's financial situation has deteriorated alarmingly in the tough economic conditions," Fogarty wrote.
"It (the notice of no dividend) is also another blow to the teams as they struggle with rising costs and the tightest sponsorship market in living memory.
"Most of the teams – even the well-funded ones – are facing shortfalls in their budgets as sponsor revenues decline, while the cost of the Car of the Future conversion soars.
"There are rumblings that (David) Malone's so-far-unconvincing tenure as chief executive officer will come under threat if he doesn't oversee significant new revenue-producing initiatives this year.
"The teams are further aggrieved that the cost of car construction and re-equipping for COTF has blown out, with the price of a new car up to 30 per cent more than the old spec."
These are dark clouds ... but for now let's just look forward to seeing what the new dawn brings on track in Adelaide.
2013 V8 Supercar driver line-up by make:
Holden – Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander, James Courtney, Russell Ingall, Tony D'Alberto, Jonathon Webb, Shane Van Gisbergen, Jason Bright, Fabian Coulthard, David Wall, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Premat, Scott Pye, Dean Fiore.
Ford
Nissan – Rick Kelly, Todd Kelly, Michael Caruso, James Moffat.
Mercedes AMG – Tim Slade, Lee Holdsworth, Maro Engel.
2013 V8 Supercar calendar
Feb 28-March 3 – Clipsal 500, Adelaide.
March 14-17 – Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne (non-championship).
April 5-7 – Tasmania Challenge 360, Symmons Plains.
April 12-14 – Auckland 400, Pukekohe.
May 3-5 – Perth Challenge 360, Barbagallo Raceway.
May 17-19 – Texas 400, Austin, US.
June 14-16 – Triple Crown 360, Darwin.
July 5-7 – Townsville 400, Townsville.
July 27-28 – Ipswich 360, Queensland Raceway.
August 23-25 – Winton 360, Victoria.
September 13-15 – Sandown 500.
October 10-13 – Bathurst 1000, Mt Panorama, NSW.
October 25-27 – Gold Coast 600, Surfers Paradise.
November 23-24 – Phillip Island 360, Victoria.
December 6-8 – Sydney 500, Homebush.
In an exclusive behind the scenes look at Nissan and Kelly Racing’s journey to take Nissan back to Aussie racetracks – We chart Team Nissan's course from V8 Supercar dream to reality. Get the real story from the people who made it happen.
Variety adds spice to ARC but it's still light on visibility
It's not only a new era for V8 Supercars but Australian rallying, also starting this weekend – in Canberra.
The ARC is now a two-wheel-drive championship, with Honda Jazzes, Ford Fiestas, a Mazda 2, Renault Clios, Volkswagen Polos, Nissan Silvias, a Peugeot 207, a Holden Commodore, a Falcon ute and a Subaru Forester.
The superseded 4WDs will still feature heavily at four rounds but without top billing.
Scott Pedder, who has steered rallying managerially in its new direction, or back to its old 2WD direction, returns to competition this season in one of the Renaults.
Internationally-experienced young gun Brendan Reeves is in the series this year in the Mazda, driven in the second half of last year by Simon Evans, and British star Elfyn Evans is contesting the National Capital Rally in a Fiesta.
Eli Evans is defending his 2012 success in a Honda, but the championship again is missing older brother and multiple champion Simon and the likes of the even better-performed Cody Crocker and Chris Atkinson, still trying to rekindle his world championship career.
Pedder is proud of the 18 2WD entries "in the third year of a three-year plan" and that three makes (Honda, Ford and Renault) are registered for manufacturers' championship points, claiming another is "in the wings" for later this season and yet another potentially for next year.
Optimism springs eternal in rallying but it remains a distant – and largely invisible – cousin of circuit racing.
Australian rallying created a Hall of Fame this week and named 13 foundation members, but that too went almost unnoticed outside the sport's inner circle.
The 13 are Neal Bates, Peter "Possum" Bourne, Garry Connelly, Ross Dunkerton, Harry Firth, John Large, Jack Murray, George Shepherd, Tom Snooks, Doug Stewart, Donald K Thomson, Ken Tubman and Bob Watson and there's more on them at rally.com.au and rallysportmag.com.au
2013 Australian Rally Championship calendar
March 1-3 – National Capital Rally, Canberra.
April 5-7 – Forest Rally, WA.
May 24-26 – Rally of South Australia.
July 12-14 – International Rally of Queensland.
September 12-15 – Rally Australia, Coffs Harbour, NSW.
November 15-16 – Rally Victoria.
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