MOTORSPORT: Nissan-V8 Supercar love affair over

The end of the honeymoon is because of Nissan's refusal to accede to V8 Supercars Australia's wish that the new-generation GT-R safety car and Murano course vehicle carry XXXX Gold beer livery from the next round in Darwin on June 19-21.

This is an extraordinary upheaval so soon in a corporate partnership.

We can well understand a car manufacturer's concern at being associated with alcohol, well known to be a major contributing factor in road accidents.

It is one thing for the Jim Beam and Jack Daniel's brands to adorn V8 Supercars, but quite another for XXXX Gold -- or any alcohol brand -- to be associated with a SAFETY car.

We are seeking to establish whether Nissan knew at the time it signed up to provide its two vehicles to V8SA whether it was told it would be required to carry alcohol sponsorship at any point.

At a time when V8SA wants, perhaps even needs, more car companies involved with it, such a storm so early in an association could be a deterrent to other manufacturers, if indeed any are interested.

Three months ago today Nissan Australia managing director Dan Thompson said the company was "delighted to become a corporate partner (of V8 Supercars) from this season".

V8SA chief executive Cameron Levick hailed it as "a welcome return for the manufacturer" which was a big player in Australian touring car racing in the 1980s and early '90s, culminating in the success of the original GT-R in the Bathurst 1000, driven by Mark Skaife and Jim Richards.

That success did not go down well with traditional Bathurst fans, who preferred Aussie V8 Commodores and Falcons to the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged Godzilla.

When those fans vented their feelings during a victory presentation Richards returned fire by calling them "a pack of arseholes".

But almost 20 years later Levick was welcoming Nissan's return to the tracks, albeit in a different role, as "a valuable addition to the sport and a fantastic new partner".

But after just four rounds of this year's V8 Supercar Championship, this week's Auto Action magazine reports that V8SA chairman Tony Cochrane claims to have organised a new safety and course car provider already.

"We're going to change our safety cars in time for the Darwin round," Cochrane is quoted by AA as saying.

"Let's say we have a difference of opinion with Nissan and what we want to do on the safety car.

"We want to use the safety car as an ongoing message for our fan base, particularly relevant to road safety messages and as a community billboard in that respect, and they have a difference in opinion on that -- so we are going to part company."

Nissan corporate communications manager Jeff Fisher is quoted by AA as saying Cochrane may have been "a bit premature" with those comments.

"We asked that the car not go on the track with the Lion Nathan (XXXX Gold) colors and that was complied with," Fisher told AA.

"Would we continue? Yeah, of course. If V8 Supercars wanted to remove the brewery sponsorship then we're back to normality again and the car would continue to fulfill its expectations for the rest of the year and next. But at the moment that seems to be a sticking point."

Fisher has not yet returned our message seeking clarification of the situation since the publication of AA.

We're also seeking clarification from V8SA. Among questions we have put to V8SA are:

+ Did V8SA's contract with Nissan stipulate that the manufacturer may be required at some point to carry alcohol sponsorship?
+ What make/model of car will the safety and course cars be at next V8 Supercar round?

We await answers.

A report by Sports Business Daily says that the ratings 10 days ago for the Indianapolis 500 -- once almost universally regarded as the world's greatest race -- were the lowest in at least 36 years. The numbers were down 13 per cent on last year and 7 per cent on 2007 -- and the lowest since at least 1973.

So much for the reunification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car 15 months ago after the infamous 12-year split. And no wonder that there is now a power struggle within the Hulman George family that controls the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Perhaps the global economic crisis has made things worse, but these numbers are diabolical. Is interest in motorsport evaporating?

As much as we still enjoy American motor racing, here is more of the bad news on the scene. Since 2005 the ratings for the Indy 500 have declined 38 per cent.

Since 1992, the year of the closest finish in the race's long history (and which this author was lucky enough to witness at The Brickyard), ratings have tumbled 63 per cent.

Sports Media Watch commented: "For the decade 2000-2009 the Indianapolis 500 averaged a 5.0 rating, down 36 per cent from the 7.8 rating the race averaged during the 1990s, and down 55 per cent from the 11.2 the race averaged in the 1980s."

We'll continue to keep an eye on the TV trends, including in Australia.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa has had a stranglehold on the Turkish GP, winning it the past three years. And the race has been won by the driver starting from pole position in all of its four years. Who would dare pick against Brawn GP and particularly Jenson Button again this weekend?

BMW, perhaps the biggest disappointment this season, will finally have a double diffuser on the cars of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. And Australia's Mark Webber is now very publicly on the record predicting he will win a GP this year with Red Bull Racing.

In a big feature in London's Sunday Times, Webber has said: "Am I Michael Schumacher? Maybe not. Have I the ability to win races? Absolutely. I believe I will do it this year. I really do think I'll win a grand prix this year and hopefully more than one because, for the first time in my career, I think I've the chance to do that."

And he adds: "I'm driving a car that is so bloody competitive, it's fantastic."

And he concedes: "I've always generally been on top of my teammates but I've got one now (Sebastian Vettel) who is testing me quite hard."

The Sunday Times article is an excellent, comprehensive read, and for those interested it's here.

The Times this week had a feature on what a commercial white elephant the Turkish GP is, and that's here.

There have also been reports this week that Hungary will be struggling to keep affording to host its GP in Budapest -- although Eurosport mentioned that the race fees, which reportedly will be almost US$40 million by 2016, will be payable irrespective of whether the race is run.

June 12 is now looming as the crucial date on F1 entries for next season. Most of the existing teams have lodged entries conditional on agreement with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) on rules and budgetary restraints, while as many as 10 potential new teams appear to have submitted entries, with great names of the past like Brabham and March even possibilities -- albeit unlikely starters.

We have a feeling that FIA president Max Mosley has outmanouevred the established teams. While there are doubts over the seriousness of some of the new entrants, and only three would be needed if all existing players remained, the FIA -- or Mosley (and Bernie Ecclestone) -- will have close to enough teams for a full grid if the traditional teams were to opt out.

One of the best perspectives on the situation is a feature on grandprix.com titled "The worst case scenario", see here.

Since that article was written we've noted Max Mosley reminding teams, via leading German publication Motorsport Aktuell: "We (FIA) make the rules. We have done it for 60 years and we are going to continue to do it."

Some excellent reading on whether Mosley is weaker or stronger than a year ago when embroiled in his sex scandal and privacy court case is here and the latest perspective on the profitability of Bernie Ecclestone's empire is here.

Garland and Suzuki were an excellent 11th in this year's Dakar in their "home-made" Isuzu D-MAX ute.

"We want to be the first diesel to win a 4x4 class in the Finke," Garland said this week.

The course is from Alice Springs out to the Aputula (Finke) community, with almost 600 competitors in buggies, 4WDs, cars, quads and on motorbikes.

After a prologue on Saturday to determine the starting order, competitors will race through the desert and across the Finke River on Sunday, camping overnight at the Aboriginal settlement and returning to Alice Springs on Monday.
 

What has become evident in recent days is that legislation now in the NSW Parliament to facilitate things is the result of the FIA wanting assurance that the World Rally Championship event can go ahead -- in early September and then on two-yearly rotation with New Zealand over the next decade.

What this legislation will do is negate the need for development applications to be lodged with the Tweed and Kyogle councils or, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, "comply with environmental or other laws"

An SMH report on Wednesday made the point that while $100 million of benefit for the Northern Rivers economy is projected over the next decade there will be "an undisclosed amount of taxpayer support".

Opponents of the rally are outraged that they won't have rights to object to the event. The Northern Rivers Echo newspaper's report on how the rally has been put out of the council's hands is more here.

This has been a carefully orchestrated victory for the rally organisers. Now they need to produce results -- a top quality event and evidence of the benefits.

That was the last thing the sport needed in the States in the wake of NASCAR's drug case involving Sprint Cup owner-driver Jeremy Mayfield.

Mayfield, who has been banned indefinitely, claimed he was taking Adderrall-XR for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and that he took two Claritin-D doses to combat allergies.

NASCAR said his drug test found a "dangerous, illegal, banned" substance -- but it has not said what it was.

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