THE V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP is set for an overhaul, with series boss Tony Cochrane calling upon car manufacturers to join an expanded series in 2012.

Cochrane has formed a new ‘Car of the Future’ committee, headed up by five-time Bathurst champion Mark Skaife, which will seek to secure involvement from additional manufacturers, breaking the current Ford and Holden duopoly.

All manufacturers are welcome to submit proposals to join the ever-growing Supercar circus, although the cars must meet certain conditions, including the mandatory use of a V8 engine and a top-end cost of $250,000.

With series participants beginning to feel the effects of the global financial crisis, Cochrane’s plan seeks to ensure the championship’s long term security; a scenario being replayed in a number of racing series around the world, including Formula 1.

In addition to plans to incorporate new manufacturers, Cochrane plans to impose 14 cost-cutting measures and expand the championship to 16 rounds.

Cochrane said his proposal has received the blessing of Ford and Holden, who will each provide one representative to the ‘Car of the Future’ committee.

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• reply ” like !

  

  Steven says,
  3 years ago

  I can see Lexus and Hyundai taking part but who else?
  
  Does it have to be based on a production car and does that car have to be sold and marketed in Australia?
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  Wheelnut says,
  3 years ago

  All manufacturers have been able to compete in the Championship ever since the V8s started 10 years ago - the only restriction being that the cars had to be made in Australia..
  which will probably be removed.
  
  However; which ever manufacturers decide to join won't be able to go all out and build an ultimat supercar - they will still have to meet the requirements of Project Blueprint.. inorder to ensure the level of close competition that the V8s have ATM
  That is they will still be Large RWD Sedans with a [Pushrod] V8 capable of producing 620-700BHP
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  Wheelnut says,
  3 years ago

  The other alternative of course is to have something like the Australian Touring Car Championship Series of yesteryear wheere you had a number of sub-categories within the overall category.. which would then include RWD FWD and AWD Sedans Hatches Utes Coupes etc and maybe even Wagons Cross-Overs
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  Wheelnut says,
  3 years ago

  One thing to consider - is that AVESCO are also looking at reducing the number of cars on the grid from the current 30 to about 20-24 by 2015.
  This means that whilst they are inviting more manufacturers to compete it won't necessarily mean more teams or cars..
  infact its more likely that the new manufacturers will have to do deals with the existing teams to switch from Holden or Ford to their cars.
  Which would involve paying substantial compensation etc to Holden and Ford - thereby increasing the new manufacturers set up and development costs which could mean they decide not to enter at all
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  Godspeed says,
  3 years ago

  I was gonna ask the same thing Steve. I think Wheelnut is the expert in this field. The current regulations must differ significantly from before, as homologation is no longer as strict as it used to be in the era of the Sierras, GT-Rs, M3s and Walkinshaws? For starters, the engines in the comp-spec race cars seem to bear no resemblance to the offerings in production trim (XR8, SS etc). I was thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity for Lexus to enter with a RWD GS430 based car, or Toyota to do some sort of equivalent as that would give the brand the real shot in the arm that it needs, and it would be great to see. However I think that TMC is more or less dedicated to reviving its core operations (as well as sticking it out with F1), after all it has deemed WRC too futile, so why go down the V8 route? It's a shame...
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  Mick says,
  3 years ago

  The current series is well past its use by date! Bringing in more manufacturers is not enough.
  Currently it is pretty much a sillhouette formula.
  Anyone here remember the sillhouette sportscar formula in the 70s?
  Probably not.
  Drop the V8 criteria, and just set a cc limit.
  Normally aspirated for petrol, work something out for turbo diesel.
  Gotta be a winner.
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  Will says,
  3 years ago

  This had to happen. The Commodore V8 will go the same way as the DoDo in the not too distant future. The Taurus or Mondeo will replace the Falcon in 2011, if not before.
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  Sam says,
  3 years ago

  If they had asked Chrysler, im sure they would have entered a factory backed 5.7 hemi 300c....years and years ago. No good to ask now because no bugger has any money. How good would the racing 300c look too! Oh well.
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  george says,
  3 years ago

  I would welcome more manufacturers into the sport the problem is with it being so controlled and getting more controlled it's fast becoming too much like nascar.. Project blue crap pretty soon the only differences between the cars will be the bodies on top it's a joke.. The rules should be updated hell the holdens racing in it now are not even the same size as regular VE's because the VE didnt fit inside project blue crap the VE body namely the back doors have had a few mm cut out of them..
  Should be anyone with a 4 door rwd V8 sedan, make them use factory body kits, and the same engines as the factory puts in their road cars.. Get rid of compulsary pit stops, it's a huge joke now that the races are won and lost in the pits and not on the race track. The races are getting two predictable, I would also love to see them get rid of the overseas races except for New Zealand and reduce the number of street circuit races as well..
  V8 supercars say they are the premier motorsport catergory in this country but are putting less and less back into the sport because they bringing in more street races at the expense of permanent race tracks.. They should also reduce the cost to get into races as well tickets prices are a joke, food prices at tracks are a joke. The fact that some places now are placing restrictions on what you can bring in that makes it even more of a joke..
  They really starting to price families out of going these days who can afford to drop a couple hundred dollars on going to a race..
  Despite what the ***roach and friends say the sport are lossing more of the traditional fans, becuase it's boring and too expensive to go.. They have no chance at knocking rugby league off and are dreaming if they think they can...
  V8's are my fav sport and has been for years I used to live and breathe V8's and anything to do with it, but over the last couple of years I find my interest wanning..
  I am starting to get bored with it and dont even bother watching every race now, because they are boring and predictable..
  I use to be a regular visitor to oran park and eastern creek a number of yrs ago and use go with a group of 10 mates, but the increasing ticket prices means none of think it's worth throwing away a couple hundred dollars going there when we can sit at home and see it..
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  Godspeed says,
  3 years ago

  A 300C touring car would look awesome!
• reply ” like !

  

  Dave says,
  3 years ago

  Audi RS4, M3, Lexus IS-F......plenty of great cars out there that could compete.
• reply ” like !

  

  Lee says,
  3 years ago

  So George, it's your favourite sport, but you think it's a joke ? Just wanted to clarify.
• reply ” like !

  

  Bavarian Missile (.)(.) says,
  3 years ago

  Dave I doubt you will see the likes of Audi RS4, M3, Lexus IS-F ,not with a budget of $250,000.
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  Wheelnut says,
  3 years ago

  Another thing that makes me think it will be unlikely that we will ever see a Nissan GT-R on our tracks again is the fact that the Nissan GT-R is no longer the Pacecar for the V8s.. why? because Renault didn't want to have certain series sponsorship logos [including alcohol] on the car.
  Therefore; if they did enter a GT-R in the competition and they didn't want alcohol sponsorship where else would they get a major part of their sponsorship funding from?
• reply ” like !

  

  george says,
  3 years ago

  I think it's joke because it's becoming, more and more controlled, races are not being won because of drivers skill but because of a pitstop.. Street races are dull and boring and the only reason alot of people watch them is the guaranteed crashes there will be..
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  Wheelnut says,
  3 years ago

  George - there hasn't been a major crash since the Clipsal 500 where JC severly damaged hsi new FG Jim Beam Falcon
  
  On Topic: I personally don;t see the point in having a Pace Car; except for TC [Our Bernie Ecclestone} wanting to get more corporate sponsorship.
  I mean Legends like Brock Richards Perkins Moffatt Johnson and the Geogheans raced for years without a Pace Car didn't they?.
  back then the crash scene was covered by a Yellow Flag at the preceding flag point and a Green Flag at the following flag point - with the emergency vehicles being covered with a progressive White flag as they made their way around the track.
  
  Which meant that once the drivers had passed the crash scene they could resume racing and passing until they came upon the yellow flag again.
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  Daniel McCoey says,
  3 years ago

  Like it or Loathe it but 'Control' in Motorsport is very much a part of modern Motorsport today!
  
  All of the upper levels of Motorsport irrelevant of discipline run extreme cases of 'control' whereas here in this Country it was only a little while ago that control Tyres were causing uproar. Take the Super 2000 class of Rally car; they share a common gearbox & drive train. NASCAR is super controlled although it was only around 14 years ago that they put a ban to the drivers smoking in the cars! Seriously, in some of the older in-car footage you can see a lighter and a few smokes sticky-taped to the console, and in some footage you’d see the drivers light up a smoke while ripping around Darlington Raceway at 300km/h!
  
  The point I’m making is that Motorsport is a thing of change and control tyres or any other type of control isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different. And while the romantic nature in me would love to see the old format of the ATCC brought back, I know it’s not going to happen as those days are over ( just like tobacco advertising on racecars) and that’s what you need to do. Understand that nothing is forever, the V8’s in their current form are all but about dead and new life needs to be given to the sport if it’s going to go on into the next decade. If control is the way to do it, then so be it. Just embrace what we have now, and learn to appreciate what will come. After all, ALL motorsport is interesting.
• reply ” like !

  

  george says,
  3 years ago

  I remember hearing Peter Brock talk about a big crash at Bathurst think it was 69 or 70 the was only a small gap but he said every lap they just kept going quicker and quicker through that gap..
  Some form of control in motorsport is good but too much control has to opposite effect..
• reply ” like !

  

  LEE says,
  3 years ago

  I haven't been watching Bathurst for a number of years... but this year the commentary really made the race...
  I believe there are too many rules... if the driver and the pit crew get it wrong... there IS something drastically wrong after the money spent on getting the car.to the track....
  
  there was a Magna with a Chrysler V8 in it racing in QLD in sports sedans [??] a few years ago, and then there was talk that it may start something in the supercars.... but nothing happened.
  
  I cannot see any other makes wanting to enter apart from maybe Toyota - Lexus - BMW - AUDI... but the rules on what can actually race could stop them too... What would happen if a Lexus starts winning EVERY race???? apart from the $250k limit
  
  LEE
• reply ” like !

  

  stefan says,
  3 years ago

  v8's are crap to begin with. blueprint crap ruined the ingenuity of the sport, and the way its marketed to bogans drove it into the ground. to be honest, the sport was ruined when they changed the format from group A to v8s. such a shame that other categories have to take a back seat to this garbage category (thinking of nations cup, carrera cup etc). I want to see real race cars fight it out, not these hotted up taxi's. I'll stick to F1, WRC and DTM. if only Japanese touring car series were televised in aus...
• reply ” like !

  

  Ivan says,
  3 years ago

  i am getting really sick, tired and bored of seeing the same two manufacturers go around the racetracks. we need cars like the 370z etc just dont give me anymore holden or ford
  
  LONG LIVE GODZILLA!!!
• reply ” like !

  

  LEE 68Autobug says,
  3 years ago

  the racing is never going to be equal..
  unless the cars are the same... with basically a different engine..
  
  the sports sedans can be interesting to watch with Lancers etc overtaking late model Fords and holdens... lol
  
  unless they have an engine size limit like the 2 litre world championship..
  back in the 60s there were engine size classes and at one stage there were cost of the car classes...
  Both classes were cars off the showroom floor..
  and many cars were actually driven to the race track... lol
  
  I used to follow group N rally cars a few years ago...
  was very interesting... seeing standard cars rally..
  Lancers did very well.. and were reliable.. so I bought Mitsubishi Lancers... lol
  
  LEE
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  George says,
  3 years ago

  what i would like to see is a move back to classes, we could have 3 different classes 4cyl, 6cyl and V8 classes..
  Cars can be FWD and RWD just no 4wd and no turbo's and they run factory engines not these motorsport engines they run in the V8's now.. Reducing the field anymore I think is just going to have more people walking away..
  My kids took me to the muscle car masters this year at eastern creek and it was bloody unreal part of the reason was the old muscle cars racing around another part was the fact there were more then 2 types of cars running. It was great to see a mix of 4,6 and 8cyl cars mixing it up in the same race..
• reply ” like !

  

  The Fleecer says,
  3 years ago

  Today I was watching a bit of the V8 Supercars from Barbagallo, that was OK I guess, but then I flipped channel to SBS. On Speedweek they had some footage from the Australian Manufacturers Championship. Most of the cars you see on the road nowdays were there. They had different categories, RWD, AWD etc. It was like a flashback to the old days, where you could see all the different makes, Holden, Ford, Misubishi, Toyota, BMW, etc - FANTASTIC!
  
  This competition deserves far more promotion then it currently receives and I for one wish it was the premium motorsport category in Australia.
• reply ” like !

  

  68autobug says,
  3 years ago

  Sorry I missed that fleecer....
  Yes,
  I agree... I would love to see that again...
  every few weekends...
  and it does deserve far more promotion than it currently receives...
  which is probably very little..
  
  The V8 supercars are excellent compared with the US Oval races where ALL the cars look the same shape and don't have working headlamps etc... just a shell... and go round and round.
  at least the V8s look like normal cars You can buy...
  
  [but group N..] Showroom cars racing used to be excellent...
  bring em back...
  
  LEE
• reply ” like !

  

  The Fleecer says,
  3 years ago

  Lee, I couldn't agree with you more about the Nascars. I like motor racing but they just go ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND!!! (It would probably be cool if you were actually there though).
  
  Yes, the supercars are excellent, but the only thing they have in common with the road cars is the body shell. Probably the best thing about them is the parity in the formula, so it makes for good close racing. In the old days it was a problem when one car would dominate (Brocky won Bathurst once by six laps I believe!).
  
  Having said that, a well resourced Australian Manufacturers Championship could have the great leveller - the pace car!
  
  I used to hate the pace car when the Supercars started but now I love it because it closes up the field and makes for more dicing, closer finishes, etc.
  
  Anyhoo, bring back KB's Camaro rolling over I say!
• reply ” like !

  

  68autobug says,
  3 years ago

  Hi Fleecer
  I heard yesterday that the V8 supercars will shown next year on US TV... After watching those oval cars... Aussie V8 Supercars will be sensational...
  High speed and on flat ground...lol and then right and left hand corners... YIKES.... lol
  cars with 4 doors and glass and headlamps that work...
  
  Yes, the pace car really changes the race...
  I watched a complete race recently and the excellent commentary by Aaron Noonan and Neil Crompton made it exceptional to watch...
  
  but I would still love to see all the classes racing...
  My Son said He saw a race recently on TV and there were all makes of cars racing... including heaps of Holden/Opel/Chevrolet/Vauxhall etc Cruze's racing.... not sure what country but thats what I'd like to see...
  
  cheers
  
  LEE
• reply ” like !

  

  jamie123 says,
  2 years ago

  I heard that there are 2 manufacturers currently invited (and they are KIA and Hyundai)
• reply ” like !

  

  Wheelnut says,
  2 years ago

  Lee the Magna with the Chrysler Hemi V8 engine in it that you mention; could well be one of the RWD Prototypes that they built..
  
  Former Mitsubishi CEO Tom Phillips had plans to make the next generation Magna [the 380] RWD inorder to make it appeal to a different demographic as well as make it eligible to compete in the V8 Supercars.. but he was knocked back by Tokyo - Pity
• reply ” like !

  

  D says,
  2 years ago

  I say let the Holden race around the track by them self. The Aus super car series have been modifying the rules eliminating the competition for 20 years. And now they have eliminated it down to one car.
  
  Let Holden S/C race them self and start up a new production series where you run what you buy from the manufacture. Send it to the race officials to get it checked and sealed for factory authenticity, race cage and seat and go racing. Any production car sold in Australia under 250k None of this ‘let’s make up rules to rule out cretin cars that might win’
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  Wheelnut says,
  2 years ago

  You could say the same thing about F1.. that their rules and regulations are [just as] restrictive and favour the "traditional" rivals - Ferrari; Merc-Benz; BMW
  
  Yet if you read through the AVESCO handbook you will see that nowhere does it state " No other manufacturers/cars except Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons can compete"
  
  There already is a"production car" racing category in Australia - where the cars are the same as what's in the showroom with an approved roll cage in them
  
  ...and I'm not going to go through the facts about the GT-R again
• reply ” like !

  says,
  2 years ago

  if we bring more manufacturers in dont you think that will destroy the rivalry between ford and holden?
  and sure, performance wise the cars will be the same, but what about design? if we start bringing in euro cars that are so much more developed than our cars, think of the aero dynamic difference.
  
  ive loved the ford v holden atmosphere, i dont think it should change
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  Wheelnut says,
  2 years ago

  Not really because even when Toyota was an "also ran" in F1 - the traditional rivalry between Ferrari and Merc-Laren remained just as strong as before they Toyota entered the category
  
  At this stage the very few of the Europeans have said that they have any plans to enter a factory backed team into the new competition in 2012.. but Hyundai are apparently interested
  
• reply ” like !

  

  Tomas79 says,
  2 years ago

  I doubt the Euros will bother.
  V8 Superscars has too much of a bogan image to associate with. Hell even the v8 Supercars logo is so cheap and tacky....
  Doubt they would gain to many sales from the Falcadore v8 supercars fan group....
• reply ” like !

  

  Wheelnut says,
  2 years ago

  1 like

  Thats your opinion Tomas
  
• reply ” like !

  

  Wheelnut says,
  2 years ago

  2 likes

  There already is a "Production Car Series where you can buy what ever Production Car you want from the manufacturer - whack a roll cage in it and make a number f other safety mods then race it against other Production Cars - including Porsches BMWs WRXs EVOs etc.... its called the GT-Production Car Series [surprise surprise] and is support category to the V8SC
  
  
• reply ” like !

  

  Wheelnut says,
  2 years ago

  2 likes

  Your "Average V8 Supercar fan" isn't necessarily a "Bogan" - quite a considerable number of V8 Supercar fans are Trades people - Labourers such as Plumbers Brick-layers Carpenters Electricians Mechanics etc people who can and in some cases do earn just as much if not more than your average Accountant or other white collar professional does
  
  I doubt there are that many "Bogans" who can afford to pay anything between $300 to $500 to take their family to the V8s - or fly interstate to watch a race [such as the Clipsal 500 or Bathurst 1000].. and that's just to get in