MOTORSPORT: Time for some on-track V8 drama!

Supercars CEO James Warburton and his management team must be thanking the motorsport Gods that the category goes racing this weekend in Perth.

It was just nine days ago that a justifiably excited Warburton was in Brisbane announcing a new five-year multi-million dollar naming rights sponsorship with Virgin Australia and the name-change to Supercars (dropping ‘V8’) in preparation for the bold new Gen2 era in 2017.

It took exactly one week for the euphoria to be expunged. That’s when Volvo confirmed it was ending its backing of Garry Rogers Motorsport at the end of 2016 and withdrawing its S60 V8s from the championship, leaving only Holden and Nissan as potential factory participants beyond this year.

The bad news doesn’t end there. Once Perth is done with Warburton will have to deal with the Kuala Lumpur street race. Legal wranglings, changes of management, questions over funding --there are plenty of people along pitlane who will be surprised if the championship round scheduled for August 12-14 actually happens.

The doom-sayers are out in force this week in the wake of the Volvo decision, so if the championship doesn’t go to Malaysia it will deliver another round of ‘told you so’ kicking to a thin-skinned organisation that always struggles with criticism, be it justified or not.

So what really needs to happen right now is for some first-class racing to break out at Barbagallo Raceway and reinforce to every one that despite all the off-track drama the on-track action is as strong as it has ever been.

Barbagallo is just the place for that to happen. This little bullring in the Wanneroo dunes is lapped in under a minute, so that means tight action. But it’s the surface and layout that holds the key. It is coarse and constantly swept with sand, tearing tyres to bits. Long-loaded right-hand corners put immense pressure on left-side rubber too. Throw in the new format for 2016 which means the round is all Dunlop soft tyre and Saturday’s 120km race and Sunday’s 200km mini-marathon have every chance of being thrilling encounters.

Last year it was Will Davison who swept to the Sunday win, riding his luck and the excellent tyre life of his Erebus Motorsport E63 AMG. It was his one and only win for Betty Klimenko’s team and a significant moment; Davison has since exited to Tekno Autosport and Erebus has parked the Benz in favour of Holden Commodore for 2016 recruit, David Reynolds.

Barbagallo 2015 also marked the first pole position for Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert. He went on to take the Armor All pole award for the year despite crashing in qualifying at Bathurst and missing the last four events of the season. His team-mate Mark Winterbottom swept both Saturday races in his Falcon last year, setting him up for his first drivers’ championship win after decade of trying.

This year Winterbottom arrives in Perth third in the championship and winless since the Sandown 500 last September. But considering Prodrive and Holden arch-rivals Triple Eight (racing as Red Bull Racing Australia) have split 17 of the last 20 races in WA, his chances of standing atop the podium look good if Prodrive can deliver him a car with tyre life.

Sitting on top of the drivers’ championship pile is RBRA’s Jamie Whincup, who has been consistent rather than dominant so far this year, claiming the very first race of the year at the Clipsal 500 and going winless since then. The six-time champ hasn’t won here since 2013, but that only means his hunger levels will be higher than ever.

But the combination every one might be chasing is Scott McLaughlin and that ‘bloody Volvo’. Second in the championship only 15 points behind Whincup, the young Kiwi superstar swept qualifying and both races at Phillip Island three weeks ago, resisting awesome pressure from Whincup in the process. It was yet another mature drive from the ‘jandal’ man, backed up by flawless pit work and strategy from GRM – something the team has not always been renowned for.

McLaughlin broke through for the program’s first championship race win at Barbagallo back in 2014 and there would be a certain symmetry to proceedings if he were to win in WA just days after the axe fell.

McLaughlin will be the centre of attention no matter what happens this weekend as speculation in the wake of Volvo’s decision ramps up that he is exiting GRM and on his way to DJR Team Penske in 2017. Coincidentally, team owner Roger Penske will be at the races this weekend, viewing his Aussie Supercar team in action live for only the third time.

Other drivers and teams to watch out for this weekend could include:

Team Nissan: The Altimas traditionally struggle here but upgraded engines mean they might finally have the power to qualify near the front. Excellent tyre wear would then put Michael Caruso, Rick Kelly and carsales.com.au’s Todd Kelly in with a shot at a podium.

Tim Slade: Has yet to star in the seat vacated by Fabian Coulthard over the summer. But this is the type of track where the Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodores traditionally works. They also love soft tyres, so don’t bet against the South Aussie posting strong results in the Freightliner Commodore.

Shane van Gisbergen: Stunning in Tasmania, less impressive at Phillip Island, van Gisbergen struggled at Barbagallo in his Tekno days. But now in a Red Bull Commodore he should be a front-runner this weekend.

Holden Racing Team: Winless in WA for 10 years, the factory team is struggling to find competitive pace and headed to the sort of track its cars don’t traditionally like. No doubt drivers James Courtney and local hero Garth Tander will be hoping a recent test has unlocked speed.

Meanwhile here's what to look out for at Barbagallo this weekend:

>>The Perth SuperSprint comprises 1 x 120km race on Saturday and 1 x 200km race on Sunday. Practice is on Friday and Saturday. There will be 1 x 15 minute qualifying session on Saturday and 1 x 20 mins on Sunday. This is the third outing for the new Saturday format.

>>All practice, qualifying and racing will be conducted on the Dunlop soft tyre.

>>All cars will have to make at least one stop in the 120km races and change four tyres. They will have to make two stops on Sunday to comply with the minimum 120 litre fuel drop.

>>The 2.42km track has a top speed of 252km/h and an average speed of 157km/h. The primary set-up focus is on tyre life. Jamie Whincup owns the qualifying lap record at 54.9898 sec. Jason Bright has the race lap record at 55.9440 sec. This time was set all the way back in 2004.

>> Team Vortex’s Craig Lowndes holds the record for the most ATCC/V8SC wins at Barbagallo with 15. Only three of these have come since he joined T8 in 2005.

>>Since the Car of the Future era began in 2013 Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom have each won here twice and Scott McLaughlin, Will Davison and Chaz Mostert once.

>>Jamie Whincup can this weekend become only the second driver to achieve 100 championship race wins after Lowndes. He sits on 98 wins at the moment.

>>Will Davison and Lee Holdsworth (Preston Hire Racing) will celebrate their 150th championship rounds this weekend. They become drivers number 21 and 22 to achieve that milestone.

>> Fox Sports will telecast the action live. Channel 10 will replay highlights.