V8SC: Curtain to go up on V8 future

MOTORSPORT REPORT

While the prototypes of the VE Commodore and FG Falcon built to the Car of the Future rules will be seen at this weekend's Sydney 500, news of any new participants in the sport is still likely to be some way away.

Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan and Mazda keep being mentioned, but all have publicly downplayed it or ruled it out.

Skaife has claimed there is "great interest" in V8 Supercars from Asian and European car companies.

"At the moment lots of discussions are being held," he told OneHD's motorsport show RPM.

"There'll definitely be one. But, if you were a betting man, you'd say there'll be two.

"We need to open our sport up, to future-proof the sport for fans, to have other manufacturers involved. So, from the start of 2013, we'll not only have Ford and Holden but we'll have some other manufacturers."

Chrysler is the latest whisper this correspondent has heard. Contrary to early hype about German manufacturers, Mercedes, BMW and Audi are preoccupied with the DTM series – the German Touring Car Championship.

Any new badge in V8 Supercar racing is more likely to involve a team putting a bodyshell over the new generic chassis rather than full manufacturer-funded participation.

The cars still have to have four doors and be rear-wheel-drive.

The Cars of the Future originally were scheduled to come in next season, with the Holden and Ford prototypes to have been rolled out 10 months ago at this year's season launch at Sydney's Eastern Creek.

But the introduction of the cars to racing was pushed out early this year to 2013.

One reason may be that any team intending to field a new badge could still be contracted to Holden or Ford until at least the end of next year.

The teams most mooted to be candidates to represent a new brand in V8 Supercars are Kelly Racing, Garry Rogers Motorsport, Stone Brothers and Triple Eight. Triple Eight has been dominant in recent seasons first with Fords and now Holdens.

When V8 Supercars Australia officially announced the first details of the Car of the Future in late March last year it said an engine equalisation program for any manufacturers wanting to participate with an engine other than a pushrod 5-litre V8 would be finalised three months later.

There has still been no news on equivalency rules or details of a mooted generic engine. Perhaps this weekend.

New Zealand's new SuperTourers, developed – like the V8 Supercar prototypes – by Paul Ceprnich's Pace Innovations on the Gold Coast, are set to start racing from next February using a 7.0-litre control-spec V8 from America's Performance Build Centre, derived from a Corvette engine and like that in the Mosler GT3 sports car.

Skaife told RPM he was "a little disappointed" Australia and NZ had adopted different engine rules.

"It would have been clever for the two countries to be on the same path," he said.

Car of the Future has been projected as necessary to cut the cost of building V8 Supercars, especially as the championship moves to expand within a couple of years to 18 rounds – with up to six overseas.

The initial price targets were $250,000 for a rolling chassis and $50,000 for an engine.

The figure on the chassis has crept up, but Skaife told RPM: "The (prototype) cars we've built already are a 30 per cent reduction in cost. Teams will be able to build four cars for the cost of three today.

"As we try to get to 18 events in 40 weeks teams will need more cars. So to make them viable they've got to be cheaper to build.

"They'll [also] be cheaper to run in terms of their crash repair cost."

They should also be safer – the fuel tank has been moved forward ahead of the rear wheels and there is greater crash protection for the driver. Apart from the engines and bodywork, almost all components will be identical across the brands.

A few observers believe that part of the project's agenda is to create a new revenue stream for V8SA from fees on contracts for the supply of components. Most components must be sourced from single or very limited approved suppliers.

So what are these Cars of the Future that fans will see at Sydney's Homebush this weekend? And what will it mean for the racing from 2013?

"The cars inherently are lighter," Skaife said.

"They've got better lateral grip, so the vehicle mass makes a big difference to the feel of the car. They've got 18-inch wheels. The weight distribution is different, because the engine has come back [in the chassis]... So the overall weight distribution is better.

"To drive they will feel more like a Porsche – like a Carrera Cup car. And that will make a difference in terms of what fans see in a racing quality sense. The driver will be able to get down the inside and get around the middle of the corner better."

Skaife said that in testing – the Ford by Mark Winterbottom and Holden by Rick Kelly – at Victoria's Winton circuit the cars had lapped 0.01 second apart.

While Skaife reckoned the sport's regulations had served it well for two decades and there was parity base between the two brands was good, he said: "What we want to do is advance that.

"So for us the vehicle mass, the new tyre, and improving the braking quality – because we're going to go to a larger front brake rotor – the thermal capacity of the brakes will mean that you'll be able to overtake at more of the circuits where now we're right on the threshold of how good the brake is for the whole race.

"Overall, as a racing quality, the entertainment package will be better," he stated.

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