MOTORSPORT: Hyundai and Lexus linked to V8 Supercars

Hyundai and Lexus have emerged as the front-runners among up to five new brands that could contest Australia's premier motorsport category in 2017, when new 'Gen II' regulations will open up the V8 Supercars title chase to coupes as well as sedans, and four-, six- and even 12-cylinder engines as well as V8s.

In preparation for the brave new world of Australian touring car racing in just two more seasons, V8 Supercars organisers will announce a significant rebranding of the 2015 championship in the lead-up to the 2014 finale, the December 5-7 Sydney NRMA 500.

Along with revealing the new name of next year's championship, which is expected to lose the 'V8' reference from its title, category CEO James Warburton will provide an overview of plans to shake up the race car specifications from 2017.

Warburton led the development of a white paper earlier this year for Gen II, partly based on meetings with a number of car companies. There are follow-up meetings underway now to explain to manufacturers what will be publicly released in early December.

motoring.com.au understands that between four and five brands not currently in V8 Supercars are attracted to the new engine regulations, or have previously been deterred by the current V8-only rule. V8 Supercars management now considers these brands as “warm to hot” prospects for 2017.

That means up to 10 brands could contest the title in just two years' time if the five brands that currently contest V8 Supercars series (Holden, Ford, Nissan, Volvo and Erebus/AMG) all remain. Of the existing five, Ford is yet to commit to backing the championship beyond this year while the Erebus/AMG effort is on a privateer basis.

Based on our poll of the majority of brands represented in Australia, Hyundai appears to be the most surprising new prospect for the Gen II series.

Although he did not confirm it, Hyundai Motor Company Australia's Director of Marketing Oliver Mann gave the strongest hint yet that it intends to take its new Genesis luxury sedan racing Australia.

"It's probably too early to discuss our long-term plans for Genesis," he said.

"For the time being, Hyundai's global motorsport efforts will be focused on the World Rally Championship which returns to Coffs Harbour in September 2015. There's no further interest in Gen II Supercar at this point."

The new-look 2017 Supercar title appears a good fit for Hyundai, whose new rear-drive large V6 sedan may be available here with a 5.0-litre V8 as part of a mid-life upgrade by then.

Alternatively but less likely, the Korean brand – whose Australian COO is former Holden marketing chief John Elsworth -- could enter the second-generation Genesis Coupe, which is yet to be confirmed.

Lexus Australia has stated its interest in V8 Supercars since 2010 and new chief executive Sean Hanley told us in September he was open to the idea.

Now Lexus Australia's Corporate Manager, Adrian Weimers, has provided the strongest indication yet that Toyota's luxury brand intends to join the Supercars action with its new V8-powered RC F Coupe, which goes on sale here this month.

"V8 Supercars has visited Lexus and provided an overview of the proposed changes," he said.

"We are open to the concept, especially if the series allows coupes, with the imminent launch of the RC F.

"Until we have a better understanding of the proposed rule changes, we're not able to make further comment."

Aside from Hyundai and Lexus, no other brands have confirmed definite interest in Australian touring car racing beyond 2016.

However, Holden has previously flagged its desire for V8 Supercars to remain a sedan formula, presumably to help promote its imported front/all-wheel drive four/six-cylinder Commodore replacement post-2017, when GMH walks away from Australia's rear-drive V8 market.

"If the business case stands up, we'll look at what package we may run," GM Holden Motorsport and Sponsorship Manager Simon McNamara told us.

Ford's Australian factory closure occurs a year earlier than Holden's and Toyota's, in 2016, and it must decide soon whether to renew its deal with the factory Ford Performance Racing team and/or embrace the new Roger Penske-owned DJR Team Penske operation for which Marcos Ambrose will drive next year.

If Ford pulls out, the only guarantee is that FPR and Penske will stay in Falcons in 2015. FPR will race Ford's upgraded FG X Falcon in 2015 but, longer-term, Ford could choose to race either the new Mustang coupe or new Mondeo sedan, both of which will be launched here next year.

A senior Ford spokesman told motoring.com.au at last week's SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas that Ford is more likely to stay in the category now that it will be open to different engines, suggesting it could use Gen II Supercars to market the new Mondeo, which will be its largest passenger car by 2017.

Erebus is again expected to race Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMGs under a Customers Sports arrangement in next year's championship.

Nissan has a three-year program with its Altima sedan and Australian CEO Richard Emery is on record as saying the Japanese brand's campaign will continue into 2017 if it likes the new formula.

Volvo is at the start of a three-year deal that ends after the 2016 season. Intriguingly new Volvo Car Australia chief Kevin McCann was heavily involved with Audi’s Super Touring efforts in Australia and the region in the 1990s.

He therefore has a relationship with Brad Jones Racing which was the local factory Audi team in those days. Volvo is considering expanding its grid numbers after 2015, so it makes sense BJR could form a second Swedish squad from 2016.

A key to all this is understanding the teams play a crucial role in determining how many brands can be represented on the grid. They originally established the V8 Supercars championship and remain minority owners, with Archer Capital the majority owners.

A manufacturer cannot simply establish a team and go racing; it must first establish an alliance with the owner of a REC, which is the license that underpins each car and cannot be owned by a manufacturer.

Currently the only factory-backed V8 Supercar teams are the Holden Racing Team (run by Walkinshaw Racing), Red Bull Racing (Triple Eight Race Engineering), Ford Performance Racing (Prodrive Racing Australia), Volvo Polestar Racing (Garry Rogers Motorsport) and the four-car Nissan Motorsport squad (Kelly Racing).

Privateers teams include Erebus Motorsport V8, BJR, Tekno Autosports, DJR Team Penske and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, plus the Bottle-O and Jeld-Wen cars run by Prodrive Racing Australia and the Supercheap and HHA cars entered by Walkinshaw Racing.

Brands like Jaguar, Infiniti, Peugeot, Citroen, Honda, Volkswagen, Skoda, Suzuki and Proton are unlikely starters.

No other brands we approached for comment expressed any desire to go touring car racing, but car-makers have a history of denying they have plans or even interest in racing programs when they are in negotiations. That was evidenced by Volvo, which denied its plans to go V8 Supercar racing when motoring.com.au broke the story in June 2013, then announced it the following week.

For the record, here are the official denials.

"Kia Motors Australia has not been approached with regard to any involvement in the Supercar racing series," KMAu Chief Operating Officer Damien Meredith said. "There are no plans for a motorsport program within KMAu."

"We haven't heard from anyone and we have no initial plans to join in," said BMW Group Australia General Manager Corporate Communications Lenore Fletcher.

"No we have not been approached by V8 Supercars regarding potential future involvement in the series, nor do we expect to," said Porsche Cars Australia's Director of Public Relations and Motorsport Paul Ellis. "Porsche has its own racing series with the one-make GT3 Carrera Cup formula which has been long established and hugely successful in Australia and indeed the rest of the world.

"Mazda Australia has not had any discussions with V8 Supercars on the rollout of their future plans and it's not something we're interested in pursuing," said Mazda Australia Senior Manager Public Relations Steve Maciver.

"Audi Australia has not been approached by V8 Supercars. As the regulations stand now, there is no way Audi could consider competing in the series without the very significant costs associated with developing an all-new race car. Aside from any discussions about the suitability of such an exercise from a marketing point-of-view, this expenditure is not on our agenda," said Audi Australia Senior Product Communications Executive Shaun Cleary.

"Audi is very committed to motorsport globally, in the LMP1 WEC/Le Mans endurance category, DTM in Germany, the recently announced TT Sport Cup one-make series from 2015 and also the FIA GT3 endurance category through Audi Sport's customer racing program. At next year's Bathurst 12 Hour race, seven Audi R8 LMS ultra entries are already confirmed -- including two Phoenix Racing cars from Germany."

"We have not been approached and are unlikely to be interested," said Subaru Australia Managing Director Nick Senior.

"FCA has not been approached to be involved in the Gen II Series in 2017," said Fiat Chrysler Australia Director of Corporate Communications, Lucy McLellan. "Our prior involvement with the Supercars has been limited to supplying Chrysler 300 SRT8s as safety vehicles. Further involvement in any capacity is highly unlikely."

"I can advise it's a motorsport platform we're not interested in," said Renault Australia Corporate Communications & Sponsorship Manager Emily Fadeyev.

"MMAL hasn't been contacted by the organising body, most likely because we don't really have anything that fits the new category," said Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited Executive Director of Marketing Tony Principe.

"As you know, Mitsubishi's focus has been on the development of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle technology through motorsport and so far we've had some excellent results, especially at this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and off-road events like the Asia Cross Country Rally and Australasian Safari.

"One-off events that allow us to gather valuable information for future development will continue to be our focus in the short-term. That said, the new Supercar regulations sound interesting and we'll keep an eye on developments."