38 replies to this topic

[AdrianM]

It's a massive weekend for the Australian V8's. For the first time a championship round will be held outside of Australia and New Zealand.

In the first session Skaife was fastest from Bright, Murphy and Tander.

What do we think? Is this move good for the championship?

They are already talking about another international race in the Middle East. It has been tough for the teams with regard to transporting the field to China but they seem to have managed well enough. The teams are happy that it is increasing exposure in one of the biggest markets - all the races go live into China already.

But Aussie fans fear that their championship will be lost to the world.

What do you think?

[SennasCat]

World stage. Good. Huge audience, etc. But I still don't things are 100% back home.

For the last couple of years though, despite the quality of the racing, it is feeling a bit too much like a product - witness the idiotic point system contrived to kill racing and ensure a 'grandstand finale' finish. Also the way that Bathurst is turning into a cruise around most of the day, and wait for one of the all-to-hastily deployed pace cars in the last 20 or so laps.

Tony Cochrane et al have done a good job of getting a pretty much moribund formula and giving it the spit & sizzle in a similar way to what Bernie did for F1.

But I feel the line between sport and product/manufacture has been crossed.

[V10 Fireworks]

It's a very interesting race meeting.

The series would have to be a bit strange missing all the trucks, and usually parafinalia. Just the cars and some forgein supports. No stunning-looking AVESCO truck and media truck, no VB challenge, without the usual supports like Aussie Racing cars and v8 utes, blank garages as it appears the teams weren't able to take their usual garage hoardings due to the air freight restrictions. Certainly they are doing international racing much less extravagantly than F1!

Shame Audi didn't continue with Aussie Bernie's (TC) pay-through-the-nose safety car deal, because that made it feel a bit more "F1" to have an up-market safety car. So we have Chrysler taking up that deal instead, and apparently they weren't able to import the safety cars so they have sourced some cars from the local MD?

A funny old practice session, starting out in the wet then drying out such that times improved by about 15 seconds and the top time dropped to about 27th in the space of a few minutes! For the first time at a new track I think the field is not too far spread out, about 3 seconds covering the field, and about 1 second over the top 10 and a bit cars.

[Witt]

Hey All!
Anyone else got the Bigpond coverage? I've had access to it for a while but have barely used it. This weekend though i've actually been constantly reminding myself to check it out. Guess it's the novelty factor more than anything, 'our' V8s running around a track in china. I think the series can sustain 2-3 international events like this (including NZ). Any more than that, and the series will be too big for its boots, it would only detach the fans from the series. Still, i can't help but think that i could be out at Calder Park in the pouring rain right now instead...

Anyway, qualy is starting in 15 mins!

[275 GTB-4]

Originally posted by V10 Fireworks
It's a very interesting race meeting.

The series would have to be a bit strange missing all the trucks, and usually parafinalia. Just the cars and some forgein supports. No stunning-looking AVESCO truck and media truck, no VB challenge, without the usual supports like Aussie Racing cars and v8 utes, blank garages as it appears the teams weren't able to take their usual garage hoardings due to the air freight restrictions. Certainly they are doing international racing much less extravagantly than F1!

Get yer head out from behind the pits V10.....or I'll start calling you a rig-spotter

Overall...it is something home grown from Australia being presented on (dare I say it) a world stage and that can't be all bad....no such thing as bad publicity

I'll be happier when they start the cheap charter flights from here for fans....you listening Paul

I agree that they also need to lay off the rule changes and get back to basics....good racing....but politics pokes it head into every facet of life these days....(expletive deleted)

[A Wheel Nut]

LG - Lowndes is God! What an absolutely fantastic overtaking manouver on Ambrose!

[Alfisti]

Originally posted by Steve Williams
World stage. Good. Huge audience, etc. But I still don't things are 100% back home.

For the last couple of years though, despite the quality of the racing, it is feeling a bit too much like a product - witness the idiotic point system contrived to kill racing and ensure a 'grandstand finale' finish. Also the way that Bathurst is turning into a cruise around most of the day, and wait for one of the all-to-hastily deployed pace cars in the last 20 or so laps.

Tony Cochrane et al have done a good job of getting a pretty much moribund formula and giving it the spit & sizzle in a similar way to what Bernie did for F1.

But I feel the line between sport and product/manufacture has been crossed.

Yeah agreed, I have been OS a lot and haven't really missed them except for Bathurst. it feels too much like NASCAR with both cars being homogenised and drivers switchign camps .. there are no Ford or Holden guys now .. they chop and change too much ... there's no anger between teh fans on either side.

[Sith]

Sounds like they're having good racing at that track! I'll get someone to tape Sunday for me. I look ofrward to seeing it when i get back to Aus! I forgot they were racing in China this weekend!

[A Wheel Nut]

Lowndes' move on Ambrose was fantastic. Coming down the long 1.4km back straight Lowndes was close, but didn't look close enough to make a move in to the right hand hairpin. He feigned left, to make it look as though he was going to go around the outside of the corner and cross back on exit, but then at the last second shot over to the right, broke so late I'm surprised he didn't lock his brakes, and took Ambrose on the inside.

[djned]

Originally posted by Steve Williams
World stage. Good. Huge audience, etc. But I still don't things are 100% back home.

For the last couple of years though, despite the quality of the racing, it is feeling a bit too much like a product - witness the idiotic point system contrived to kill racing and ensure a 'grandstand finale' finish. Also the way that Bathurst is turning into a cruise around most of the day, and wait for one of the all-to-hastily deployed pace cars in the last 20 or so laps.

Tony Cochrane et al have done a good job of getting a pretty much moribund formula and giving it the spit & sizzle in a similar way to what Bernie did for F1.

But I feel the line between sport and product/manufacture has been crossed.

yeah it's really become a sponsor's benefit, hasn't it?

i really like them taking it to shanghai though, great racing around a challenging track. i question how relevant it is to local fans though, as the falcon and commodore aren't exactly common in china. same goes for the middle east?

so while i welcome international races i don't see how it can continue to make sense for the pr/business-minded people at avesco without expanding into other makes/models. which would be a shame, i think. i enjoyed the skyline/sierra/bmw years, but V8s is all about two iconically aussie cars.

[A Wheel Nut]

I didn't realise how much damage was done to the Mark Winterbottom car by the drainage grate.

It absolutely ripped the **** out of the bottom of the car and almost turned Winterbottom in to nobottom - it took chunks out of the seat. The floor of the car was ripped open and the diff housing was damaged. The ROLL CAGE was torn apart.

I would hate to see the effect these grates could have on an F1 car. Considering how low the drivers sit to the ground, one of these grates sticking up could be almost fatal.

[bluetentacle]

Originally posted by A Wheel Nut
I didn't realise how much damage was done to the Mark Winterbottom car by the drainage grate.

It absolutely ripped the **** out of the bottom of the car and almost turned Winterbottom in to nobottom - it took chunks out of the seat. The floor of the car was ripped open and the diff housing was damaged. The ROLL CAGE was torn apart.

I would hate to see the effect these grates could have on an F1 car. Considering how low the drivers sit to the ground, one of these grates sticking up could be almost fatal.

I haven't seen the V8 race, but your account of this incident is very reminiscent of what happened at DTM's Shanghai exhibition race last year. That event, which consisted of two mini races, was held on a street circuit (not the Shanghai International Circuit). Immediately after the start, one of the Benzes hit a loose manhole cover, which flew up and severely damaged the car. This caused the first race to be red flagged and cancelled as they spent the next FIVE hours welding shut all of the manhole covers on the track. The second race was then allowed to proceed against a setting sun.

[A Wheel Nut]

I am really starting to dislike Marcos Ambrose - arrogant son of a bitch. Car controller tells him to wait, he lights it up and nearly knocks over a few marshalls at the exit of pit lane.

Skaife proves why the pit lane entry is extremnely dangerous. Who was the ****ing genius who decided to have a pit lane entry ON the racing line, when the cars on the racing line are going to be slower than those entering pit lane.

All in all this round was an absolute farce. One car ripped to **** by grates on the side of the track, an accident at pit lane entry that was just waiting to happen, thankfully it wasn't worse.

[confucius]

And to top it all off, Nikki Webster sang the national anthem

[A Wheel Nut]

Originally posted by confucius
And to top it all off, Nikki Webster sang the national anthem

Are you SERIOUS?

[Mat]

Originally posted by A Wheel Nut
All in all this round was an absolute farce. One car ripped to **** by grates on the side of the track, an accident at pit lane entry that was just waiting to happen, thankfully it wasn't worse.

Why does that make it farcical? Not everything can be controlled all of the time. The grate was dangerous, and the pit lane entry is a bad idea.

The only farce was Nikki Webster.

[confucius]

Originally posted by A Wheel Nut
Are you SERIOUS?

Sadly my friend, I am

[wiligates]

Originally posted by AdrianM

But Aussie fans fear that their championship will be lost to the world.

What do you think?

I don' think it matters where they hold the races , unless your city losses a race to acommodate it , its irrelevant . As far as O/S races i think New Zealand probably deserve two races .

I'm not really sure what angle there aiming for by going to China .Is it the TV side of things ?Did China make a sizable contribution for them to come ? (If so then more power to the V8 fraternity).Or do the two manufacturers hope to release Falcons and Commodores over there ?



Nikki Webster singing the national anthem .Could have been worse ,at least it wasn't an Australian idol reject .

[confucius]

Originally posted by wiligates




I don' think it matters where they hold the races , unless your city losses a race to acommodate it , its irrelevant . As far as O/S races i think New Zealand probably deserve two races .

I'm not really sure what angle there aiming for by going to China .Is it the TV side of things ?Did China make a sizable contribution for them to come ? (If so then more power to the V8 fraternity).Or do the two manufacturers hope to release Falcons and Commodores over there ?



Nikki Webster singing the national anthem .Could have been worse ,at least it wasn't an Australian idol reject .

I think the Australian Idol winner (i.e. Casey) would've been worse than any Australian Idol reject.

I'm not entirely sure what they hoped to achieve either, although it was very good to see how ful the main grandstand was. I guess they're just trying to introduce the sport around the world and see how it goes. If it takes off, great. If not, they still have the successful Australian home base.

What was CART like when it first left American shores?

[Mat]

I think they were aiming at what every other westerner wants out of china. A piece of the action. China is a huge market and if they can convert any of that into sales, bigger fan base, etc, they can start asking for more money from sponsors, or create new sponsors from asia.

[V10 Fireworks]

This international races seem to be a winner. I am suprised that such a strong crowd (70,000 on the Sunday ) bothered to turn to see an obscure foreign series, even if plently of free tickets were released by the sponsors & corporate partners.

This Aussie series to the world point of view is interesting. Only by keeping strongly grounded in aussie Ford v. Holden marketing, fan-base and technical matters has the Australian Touring Car Championship been able to develop to a massive field of sponsors and teams... And thus have a product good enough that they could take to the world.

I think to have two marque international events in China and hopefully Bahrain too each year could be very interesting, plus two rounds in New Zealand could be a good balance. Shame they can't go a just a little further west than Bahrain, to an extra non-Asia continent and qualify themselves as a world championship! hehe

Shame that a "stuff-up" for the weekend has Tilke's second-rate $600m circuit ... Metal drainage grate rips whole in floor of car Do'h! and that is seriously dangerous. Pit entry speed is higher than those attempting to make the final corner, such that pitting cars plough into cornering cars Do'h!

I thought the pre-Race 3 presentation was very well done (yes, very formal with all the politicians and someone was having a laugh when they hired Nikki Webster). The crowd looked a bit lost after the end of the race, was there an extra Formula Renault race or something, or perhaps an after-race concert? It would of been nice to open the track to the crowd (instead of sending a motorcycle stunt rider on the track strange timing...) and it would of been nice to fire some fireworks to mark the end of the weekend. The podium presentation seemed a bit amateur hour in terms of no one knew what trophy to give to who (a rehearsal would of been a good idea) and the Rat (an excellent third place for the smallest team in pitlane ) dissapeared before the champagne?

[crYnOid]

Murphy trying to be superman, who knew a v8supercar could get that far off the ground?

http://imagestore.ug...de264daf8957cc2

http://imagestore.ug...8af34bbf3e64592

http://users.on.net/...ghai/murphy.avi right click, save as. (1.5meg)


The grate pics and video too.

http://imagestore.ug...e83499e85e15e0a

http://imagestore.ug...7eb95ceb40eb14e

http://users.on.net/...nghai/grate.avi right click, save as. (11meg)


Hope those work.

[Sith]

Originally posted by Mat
The only farce was Nikki Webster.

Don't tell me that little tow-rag was over in Shanghai????

[cosworth bdg]

A typical SUPERCAR :yawn: :yawn: :yawn: : : event.

[JForce]

Originally posted by V10 Fireworks
This international races seem to be a winner. I am suprised that such a strong crowd (70,000 on the Sunday ) bothered to turn to see an obscure foreign series, even if plently of free tickets were released by the sponsors & corporate partners.

This Aussie series to the world point of view is interesting. Only by keeping strongly grounded in aussie Ford v. Holden marketing, fan-base and technical matters has the Australian Touring Car Championship been able to develop to a massive field of sponsors and teams... And thus have a product good enough that they could take to the world.

I think to have two marque international events in China and hopefully Bahrain too each year could be very interesting, plus two rounds in New Zealand could be a good balance. Shame they can't go a just a little further west than Bahrain, to an extra non-Asia continent and qualify themselves as a world championship! hehe

Shame that a "stuff-up" for the weekend has Tilke's second-rate $600m circuit ... Metal drainage grate rips whole in floor of car Do'h! and that is seriously dangerous. Pit entry speed is higher than those attempting to make the final corner, such that pitting cars plough into cornering cars Do'h!

I thought the pre-Race 3 presentation was very well done (yes, very formal with all the politicians and someone was having a laugh when they hired Nikki Webster). The crowd looked a bit lost after the end of the race, was there an extra Formula Renault race or something, or perhaps an after-race concert? It would of been nice to open the track to the crowd (instead of sending a motorcycle stunt rider on the track strange timing...) and it would of been nice to fire some fireworks to mark the end of the weekend. The podium presentation seemed a bit amateur hour in terms of no one knew what trophy to give to who (a rehearsal would of been a good idea) and the Rat (an excellent third place for the smallest team in pitlane ) dissapeared before the champagne?

Are Team Kiwi the smallest in Pitlane? Just asking, I didn't know that...I knew they'd be close to it, but they seem to get by ok

The Rat

He was exhausted and collapsed, due to the heat

[hsvone]

It was great to see Holden back in front again after the recent domination by farking Fords.

Skaife really needs to sort out his starts because he loses positions all the bloody time!

And big ups to Paul Radisich doing us Kiwis proud in a round where Murph went fom bad to worse. :

And who the hell is Nikki Webster?

[iconic]

Originally posted by hsvone
And who the hell is Nikki Webster?

here ya go



nice street meat ;)

[confucius]

Have u folks seen the un-airbrushed version?

[Sith]

Nikki Webster WISHED she looked that good (in her Fckn dreams!!!!)

[A Wheel Nut]

Originally posted by Sith
Nikki Webster WISHED she looked that good (in her Fckn dreams!!!!)

She looks like a little girl. Oh wait, she is a little girl!

[Nasty McBastard]

the idea of niki webster in FHM is quite disturbing......

so is the actual 'vision'.


regarding that grate. it must of been STUCK in that upright position. if someone had just run over it and kinda tipped it on end, the second the splitter of that car whacked it, it would of layed back down.

so how did it get 'knocked' into such a position and how did it obviously get jammed in there?

[Xbix]

Originally posted by hsvone

And big ups to Paul Radisich doing us Kiwis proud in a round where Murph went fom bad to worse. :

You do realise that Steven Richards is a Kiwi as well?

He finished ahead of Radisich for the round, and is currently the best Holden Driver in the Championship and going extremely well

[JForce]

Originally posted by Xbix


You do realise that Steven Richards is a Kiwi as well?

He finished ahead of Radisich for the round, and is currently the best Holden Driver in the Championship and going extremely well

Yeah but he doesn't count himself as one. It's like Jim Richards is a kiwi too, but he's an Aussie....like Russell Crowe ;)

Murph and The Rat are proud kiwis if you know what I mean

[djned]

is that drainage system only on the non-f1 section they were using or is it on the f1 track as well? pretty scary stuff.

[Mat]

its only on the non-f1 part of the track. but they will still have to fixed id imagine.

[JForce]

Originally posted by djned
is that drainage system only on the non-f1 section they were using or is it on the f1 track as well? pretty scary stuff.

Didn't know they weren't running on the same track but yeah, imagine an F1 car hitting it....

"****ing grate, what a ****ing idiot...it broke my ****ing ass"

[A Wheel Nut]

Originally posted by JForce


Didn't know they weren't running on the same track but yeah, imagine an F1 car hitting it....

"****ing grate, what a ****ing idiot...it broke my ****ing ass"

If by broke, you mean "****ed".

[Moanaman]

Originally posted by JForce
Didn't know they weren't running on the same track but yeah, imagine an F1 car hitting it....

"****ing grate, what a ****ing idiot...it broke my ****ing ass"

Timo Rautiainen anyone??

[djned]

Originally posted by JForce
Didn't know they weren't running on the same track

it was only a small section that was different. here is the track the V8s used: