MOTORSPORT: Formula for success?

The return of ‘big-banger’ open-wheeler racing to Australian racetracks is within weeks of reaching a crucial gateway, when a prototype ‘Formula Thunder 5000’ makes its first public demonstration run and the order books are opened.

Category creator Chris Lambden says 12 deposits will have to be in the bank before he green-lights construction of the cars, which are inspired by the spectacular Formula 5000 racers that ruled Australian racetracks in the 1970s.

He estimates the price of a car including the engine will be around $240,000 plus GST, which is bargain-basement in national motor racing terms.

“I think we are headed in the right direction, but my view has always been that we wouldn’t get real interest until we ran the car and that’s still four to six weeks away,” he told motoring.com.au.

“When it’s ready to run we will run it and then the next key point is we won’t be pushing the green light until we have a dozen committed potential owners.

“So our kick-off point is 12 and hopefully grow from there …I am moderately confident that won’t take too long considering how we are going.”

The public debut is later than originally forecast and has prompted Lambden to push back plans for the first race until 2017.

Originally it had been intended to kick off with a 21st century version of the Tasman Series conducted in New Zealand and Australia over summer, but that has now been pushed back to the summer of 2017-18.

“In terms of getting it right first time that’s (2016-17 Summer Series) not going to happen,” said Lambden. “But in the interim there are no shortage of big, existing events that have rung up and said ‘we’d love to have these cars on our program’.

“So what I propose to do is put together a program for races at existing events through next season to build-up to the series at the end of the year.”

Lambden, a long-time motorsport journalist and publisher, as well as touring car and historic F5000 racer, has spent two years working on FT5000 and assembled a group of Australian motorsport companies to help him bring the project to reality.

Key among them is race-car manufacturer Borland Racing, which is engineering the car, engine builder Innov8, gearbox designer and manufacturer Holinger, electronics experts MoTec, Adelaide-based Supashock for dampers and Arrow wheels from New Zealand.

“There has always been this 'overseas expert' syndrome in Australia,” said Lambden. “Good things can only come from overseas.

“But the people who are involved in this are all pretty good at what they do and they are contributing really well."

The only non-ANZAC involvement comes from Singapore tyre brand Giti, which will design and manufacture a specific FT5000 slick.

FT5000 has arrived on the scene in Australia when open-wheeler racing is at a particularly low ebb at the national level. The newly-introduced Formula 4 category, which is aimed at grooming young drivers for overseas racing, has failed to attract decent grids.

FT5000 goes in a completely different direction; no under 18s will be allowed on the grid. The cars themselves have minimal aerodynamics and sealed 570hp Ford Coyote naturally-aspirated V8 engines. The chassis is a former Formula Nippon control design sold to Lambden by California racing car manufacturer Swift.

Crucially, the deal includes the tooling, so there will be an ongoing supply of chassis for the category, which will be manufactured in Melbourne by ex-McLaren F1 composites engineer Lee Casson.

“We just set out to make the best open-wheeler thing we could,” said Lambden. “Sitting down here in Australia what are you going to do? You are going to build a carbon-fibre car if you can; have a V8 in it if you can; it’s going to have big, fat tyre on it if you can; and reduced aero so we get back to that thing of not having anxious young men trying not to scrub off speed because of the aero.

“In fact it will be about mechanical grip and spectacle like it used to be.”

Lambden conceded that some knockers would point to the decision to push back the Summer Series by 12 months as evidence his plan was foundering.

“Whatever you do there are lovers and haters and social media is good at that,” he said.

“I am sure there will be a few people go ‘oh yeah’, but I think when people see the level of engineering that is going into it and the list of people involved in it … that far overrules the knockers.”