Are Nissan and Mercedes going to rock the V8s?
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| Vintage Bathurst action |
I used to love watching the Bathurst Races when
I was a kid. There was a large range of car makes
and models, all vying to be king of the mountain.
There was the Mazda RX7, Nissan Bluebird, Holden Torana, various English Fords including Escort and Sierra, and of course Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. They raced under different classes but they were racing at the same time on the same track. The result was some extremely entertaining racing.
Go back a few more years and Mini Coopers were biting at the heels of the mighty Ford Mustang.
This all changed for the Touring car championship in 1995 when all classes were replaced by one, the Australian 5 Litre V8. Namely Falcon and Commodore. I am not going to knock the format. It has been extremely popular and successful. It focused on driver skill and team development as the cars were all much closer in performance. It is just a shame in my opinion that it has remained a two horse race.
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| Nissan V8 for 2013 season |
That is set to change for 2013 when entrants from Nissan and Mercedes will grace the starting grid. There will be four Nissan Ultimas entered by Kelly racing and three Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs from Stone Brothers Racing in association with Erebus Racing.
Nissan is backing the campaign but speculation continues on whether Mercedes is behind Erebus Racing all the way or not.
If the format proves to be successful I imagine that more manufacturers will get the cheque books out as it will prove to be great advertising.
The new Rules call for a control chassis with the bodywork of the various makes attached to the outside. So, though the cars will look like the ones you can buy from your friendly dealer, the illusion will only be skin deep. The engine will be the real thing though. Speaking of which, both the Nissan and Mercedes units will need the internals altered slightly to meet the regulations. For instance the Nissan VK56DE V8 will be sleeved down from 5.6 to 5 litres. Apart from that you will be able to buy the same engine in a Nissan Patrol.
Other changes for the new season include an increase in wheel size to 18'' from 17, Moving the fuel tank to inside the cabin to decrease the likely-hood of damage in a rear-ender, a collapsible steering column and new independent rear transaxle. These changes and others will culminate in what V8 Supercars is dubbing "Car of the Future".
All in all, I hope that the changes in the formula as well as the new entrants will bring new thrills in motor racing, for me at least.
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| 2013 Car of the Future |
All Photos from
www.v8supercars.com.au
www.v8supercars.com.au
