Top 10 Reasons I Am Looking Forward to 2013

10 - More NGTC = Better BTCC

It's a bit early in the year for motorsport over here but with drivers being announced and the prospect of more NGTC cars on the grid, 2013 should build on the momentum the series gathered last year.
 

9 - New NASCAR race cars
 

8 - Grand Am Daytona Prototypes, last year before "merger"

2013 is the last year for the Grand Am Series as we know it as next year it will merge with the ALMS series. I like the Daytona Prototypes. They look good, sound good, and as last years championship and this years Rolex 24 at Daytona show, they race good too! I hope the newly merged series keep the Prototypes as the top class next year, and don't let the overly technical, expensive, irrelevant European machinery wreck their own homegrown championship!

7 - New NASCAR race cars

 

6 - Year 2 for the new Indycar Series

With a year in the books the Indycar Series should produce more good racing as hopefully more teams and drivers will be competitive in the DW12 chassis this year. Roll on Indy 500!!

5 - NASCAR Trucks on Dirt

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series... at Eldora... on dirt... What's not to look forward to?

4 - New Air Titan technology for NASCAR
 

For a sport which relies on dry weather, the last couple of NASCAR Sprint Cup seasons have been blighted by rain delays early on in the season. The most famous effect of rain was the JPM vs track drier fireball incident at last years Daytona 500. This new technology, developed by NASCAR basically blows the water off of the track so the track driers can dry the track and not the water on the track. Once the water is on the apron another machine sucks the water up. It is a bit like washing your hands and then using a hot air hand drier, the quickest way to dry your hands is to shake the water off and then put your hands under the drier. This should dramatically reduce rain delays. Simply put, in the event of rain, more racing, less waiting!
 

3 - New NASCAR race cars
 

 

2 - Mercedes and Nissan join V8Supercars

The new spec V8Supercars look great! Mercedes and Nissan have joined stalwarts Ford and Holden on the grid this year under the championships new rules package. The Mercedes is especially tasty!! I can't wait to see how they race. The only pity for me is that after years of supplying the pace car, Chrysler have not joined the grid with the 300C SRT, oh well at least the pace car is still a Mopar!

 

1 - New NASCAR race cars, have I mentioned it?

OK I am in love with the new Ford, Chevy and Toyotas in the Sprint Cup Series! You might have gathered, I am of the opinion that if a car looks right it probably is right, and these look... right! I hope the American press and the fans give NASCAR, the teams, the drivers and Goodyear the time to get the racing package right at all tracks. The prospect of 43 of these 2 and 3 wide, nose to tail at all types of race track is one I look forward to. This will be a learning year but the sport has the right goals for this car!
 

2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 - V8 Supercars!!

Touring Car racing...

at...

its...

BEST!!!

The Wonders of Modern Technology

The NASCAR Sprint Cup season is now well under way and thanks to the wonders of modern TV broadcasting and satellites I can sit at home in England and watch every race. If the race is on in the middle of the night UK time I can record it and watch it the next day. I can also do the same thing with this seasons Nationwide races. So with this in mind life is good...

This season, via the very same medium known as television I can also watch every Grand Am race, every BTCC race along with all the support races and every V8 Supercar race, all from the comfort of my own sofa! Again as a race fan life is good...

I could, if I paid the necessary monies, also watch every IndyCar Series race... But I am not able to do so.

Life as a race fan has come a long way from having to read about your favourite championships and drivers in Autosport the following Thursday.

This month is the month of May and my mind instantly focusses on the Indy 500! I was preparing myself for the dark day at the end of the month where I would miss the great race however there is now light at the end of Mays tunnel.

It has come as a nice surprise to discover that all of this years IndyCar races are being uploaded onto the modern medium known as the internet, courtesy of YouTube and the IndyCar Series themselves!

http://www.youtube.com/indycars

Even if it is available later in the week, I now have the chance to watch the great race and am looking forward to it. The new DW12 cars look good in oval spec and I hope they enable the drivers to race closer together than the old cars while also staying safe!

Thanks to modern broadcasting technology and the internet life as a race fan has never been this good...

Only problem...

Not enough hours in the day...

It's a hard life...

V8 Supercars from the Australian GP

Australian Grand Prix supporting V8Supercars Races

Race 1 Highlights and Race 2 part1




Race 2 part 2



Race 3 part 1



Race 3 part 2

V8 SUPERcars

The first round of this years V8 Supercar Championship, the Clipsal 500, took place last weekend on the streets of Adelaide.

Two races, two different winners, Holden won the first, Ford the second. What both races had in common was a high level of competition, a high level of respect between drivers, along with the high level of driving standards.

The two races which made up the Clipsal 500 showed what touring car racing should be all about. No silly moments, no overly aggressive driving, no heavy contact. Just close, hard racing, and there was a lot of racing.

The first race came down to Ford vs Holden. Will Davisons Falcon on a fuel saving strategy, with Jamie Whincup in a fully fuelled Commodore hunting him down. The lead changed on the last lap as the Holden came storming through. Ford got their own back in the second race with a one-two finish, and Davison won the round overall.

The Adelaide circuit has to be one of the most successful of its kind I can think of. When I say successful I mean in terms of taking everyday streets and turning them into a race track which in turn enables the cars on it to produce great racing. As a track layout it gives the big Aussie sedans room to manoeuvre, fast and slow corners, lots of overtaking places and several big kerbs to bounce over!

The reason I mention this now is because the highlights were on TV here last weekend, and as you can gather the coverage left quite an impression.

I have always been a fan of what is now known as V8 Supercars. Big cars, with big engines and rear wheel drive! I was glad to see that nothing has really changed.

I genuinely look forward to following the Championship all year.

Now I have to decide... A matter of great importance...

Ford or Holden!

2011 Review Gallery

V8 Supercars "Car of The Future"

V8Supercars have unveiled the future of their series.

Faced with a limited number of elegible cars, and high development and running costs, the organisers put legendary driver Mark Skaife in charge of the next generation of Australian touring car regulations, known as the Car of the Future or COTF. 

Under the skin the cars are very different, while still being the same cars from the outside.

I had not realised this until now but the current V8Supercars still have live rear axles. The new spec cars will finally have modern independent  rear suspension. The cars also move to a transaxle at the back to help weight distribution. To aid safety a new stronger roll cage with improved side impact protection is mounted to a new floopan. The fuel cell also moves from the boot to inside the new rollcage, again a move to improve safety limiting the chances of the cell being damaged if the car is hit from the rear. The cars also get bigger wheels, now 18" instead of the 17's of the current race cars. Along with bigger wheels also come bigger brake discs.

To me the best thing about the new spec car is what stays the same. The cars will still have the same big V8 engines driving the rear wheels. The cars also look the same as they still have the same production based bodies.

What the V8Supercars web site is not making a big deal of, if I am right, is that the cars will be mechanically identical with the exception of the engines and bodies. This is to keep costs down and to keep competition close. The other big point of the new spec cars is to make it easy for other manufacturers to join the series.

Currently the series is based around cars from Ford and Holden (GM). Historically these have been the Falcon from Ford and the Commodore from Holden, both rear-wheel-drive sedans. However we all know that the vast majority of modern road cars are front-wheel-drive, and with the continued threat of the Falcon and Commodore going front-wheel-drive,  it looked tough for the series to ensure a rear-wheel-drive future.

The COTF regulations should ensure that top level touring car racing in Australia continues to be rear-wheel-drive and V8 powered as the chassis and mechanical package is standardised, regardless of whose body (Toyota?) is on the car.

The V8Supercars organisers seem to have a very good handle on equalising the aero packages across the Fords and Holdens while still basing the cars on production bodyshells. I hope this continues with the new spec cars and is as successful with any new manufacturers joining in.

Basically the series faced the same issues as NASCAR, with the COT, and BTCC, with the NGTC, those of cutting costs, improving safety, ensuring close competition, and encouraging  brand buy in.

NASCAR went for a standardised body and chassis, and have been developing and enhancing the identities of the cars ever since. COT mark 1 was not very successfull at differenciating between a Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Toyota. COT mark 2 or the Nationwide car to you and me, is much better, still standard bodies in terms of aero but with very different "faces". It will be interesting to see what COT mark 3, the next Cup car, due to be updated for 2013, looks like.

BTCC, with the NGTC, went for standardised mechanicals to keep costs down but still keeps the manufacturers happy by using road based shells to contain those mechanicals. The issue for me with the NGTC is that there appears to be a strange mix of front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive, not always being based on the layout of the equivalent road car... rear-wheel-drive Audi anyone? 

I like the concept of the COTF, still V8 powered and to start with still Ford vs. Holden! I like that the series will be protected from the threat of front-wheel-drive road cars with the new standardised mechanical package. If the cars are safer and cheaper too, whats not to like?? 

Paying attention Mr Gow?

NASCARs DW at the 2011 Bathurst 1000

Darrell Waltrip on The Mountain



American coverage gives the world DW's "Boogity Boogity Boogity" at the start of a V8 Supercar race!?!

2011 Bathurst 1000!!

The 2011 Bathurst 100 came down to this...

1000 km's... 161 laps...

Garth Tander vs Craig Lowndes...



You've just gotta love it!!

but not this, ouch..



But this is great!!

Wrecks to Riches

V8 Supercars

Start line crash. It's never good to see flames!



NASCAR Sprint Cup

The "Big One" from Richmond which took out Jeff Gordon, one of the main rivals to Kyle Busch.



Montoya Vs. Newman
What started out as a "racing incident" turned into retaliation. Just the latest part of this long running rivalry.

This is why I like JPM and Ryan Newman. Both drivers are passionate about their racing and are not affraid to show it... in their own ways!

Now Thats What I Call A Vodafone Freebie!

Cool!

2011 V8 Supercar Racing

Great V8 Supercar action... and at a Grand Prix track no less!!

Bored With No Racing? part 3

Some more racing clips to help you pass the time...

BTCC

 

 BTCC RS500 - TOP GEAR

 

V8 SUPERCARS - BATHURST

INDY 500 / IRL

IROC

Bored With No Racing? part 1

Are you are bored, with no racing to fill your Sundays?

Heres my contribution towards passing the time...

NASCAR

Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed plays taxi driver on the streets of Chicago - "TAXI!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeFAEKDadC

Red Bull Racing and Brian Vickers, doing a pit stop in Times Square NY - "Fill 'er up!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZbnR7rKR6k

INDYCAR

World Famous 1959 Watson Indy Roadster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-93bwHynFAk

Indy Roadster Running

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_5HcO1qMzA

My new Indy god... and its for sale!!

http://www.babineaumetalworks.com/Built_By_Hand.html

V8 SUPERCARS

Top Gear Australia driving a V8 Supercar on the streets of Sydney - "which way to the shops?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XHHA2HqoHw

Great 1994 wet race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nflj21etu5E&feature=related

BTCC

Tim Harvey testing his old RS500 15 years after he last raced it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6fnrP92YOg

Part 2 coming soon...

Favourite Race Cars Part 1 - UK

With the motor racing off season upon us I find myself questioning... what does the author of a topical motorsport based blog write about when there is no racing??

The first answer I have come up with is to talk about what I love about racing, starting with my favourite race cars, so here we go... Part 1, UK racing 

BTCC

I grew up watching the likes of Andy Rouse, Rob Gravett and Tim Harvey racing 600+ BHP Ford Sierra RS500's. The cars were rear wheel drive, had 5 speed H-pattern gearbox's and were a "mans" car. The drivers had to manhandle the cars around the track and compared to todays front wheel drive econo-boxes were "real race cars". Oversteer anyone??




The day the BTCC went front wheel drive was a dark day for me. However the first few years did contain some very good racing! I was a John Cleland fan. So my favourite car of the FWD era has to be his Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000. Before Alfa Romeo came along the cars were still very production based, devoid of wings and splitters, and big arches. These were the big selling family cars of the day racing door-to-door, hard but generally fair (Mr Soper aside) across the UK. This picture must have been taken in practice as the car has both mirrors lol... 


UK CLUB RACING

In the mid 90's British club racing was pretty dull. Until the Eurocar package came along. Eurocar started out at a couple of short tracks including Birmingham Wheels with about six cars, and rapidly grew to the be the big hit of the 1990's.

First came the V6; what looked like a Ford Mondeo was actually a space-frame, rear wheel drive, left hand drive, 290bhp 2.9 V6 powered brute! It was NASCAR for the UK, down to the steel wheels, big steering wheels and BIGGER numbers. The cars raced two or three wide everywhere (including round Clearways at the Formula Ford Festival) thanks to the organisers and drivers adoption of oval racing etiquette, grooves and respecting each other's room, on the big tracks. Brilliant racing...

Then came the V8! Looking like a two thirds scale Winston Cup Pontiac Grand Prix, the cars were good looking (Mike Jordans MacTools car was very pretty), they even had a Roush V8 providing loads of power! The V8's never achieved their full potential but they looked and sounded great!

Lastly the Pickup Trucks! Two litre 16 valve engines, this time right hand drive for the UK circuits! Big grids again ensured great racing on the circuits! When the Rockingham oval opened the trucks were converted to left hand drive, and restrictor plate racing hit the UK! They are still racing, and while numbers may not be what they once were, the quality of the show is still as good as ever! 

V8 SUPERCARS

OK, not UK based, but I had to include them - 

The earliest memory I have of touring car racing in Australia, on TV, is of an in-car camera pointed at John Bowes feet, watching them dance as he drove Mount Panarama, Bathurst in a yellow Ford EB Falcon. V8, rear wheel drive, 3 pedals, H-pattern 'box... see a pattern forming here? Great cars, great track!



In 2001 Ford raced the AU Falcon in V8 Supercars. The car raced by Craig Lowndes, with its evil green eyes, and two tone Ford paint job was especially mean looking, and goes down as my favourite V8 Supercar!





OTHERS

TVR Tuscan - Another light weight, V8 engined, rear wheel drive, space-frame chassis beast of a race car. No patttern here honest!! Best one make series ever!!





Part 2... NASCAR...

One Lap of Bathurst

1 lap of Bathurst from the drivers seat of a V8 Ute!

Bathurst 1994, A Wet Start

V8 Supercars circa 1994; Bathurst in the wet!!

2010 V8 Supercars - Gold Coast Race 2

Touring car racing at its best!!

Great cars, great noise, great track, great racing!!

I've Been Thinking...

Did not get to watch this year's Bathurst 1000 as it is not on any TV channel I can get... pity, that's one great piece of tarmac!!

Good Cup race from Charlotte. Lots of 2 and 3 wide racing... pity Jimmie couldn't get alongside Kyle at the end though... 

Chase now down to 3?? Depends if Talladega brings any upsets; have a bad day there and you won't finish in 20th, you'll finish in the wall!! Fancy partnering the 48 in the draft?? 

If Harvick or Hamlin want to beat the 48 at the end of the year, they need to start beating the 48 now!!

First pictures of 2011 Cup cars are filtering out. The new fronts look good!!

Kasey Kahne leaves RPM... In one way, I can't say I blame him as they obviously don't get on, and the results are showing this... but... he should have stayed to the end of the year!!

Autosport headline "Raikkonen to miss rally after crash"... so where's the news...

Another Autosport headline "Korean track hailed by F1 drivers"... they haven't started practice yet!!

I very rarely watch a Grand Prix live, I watch the races later in the day. The advantage is that I can miss the build-up, watch the start and when I get bored speed the race up until something interesting happens, or the race finishes. Some races I watch at 30 times speed, and the better ones at only 12 or even 6 times speed! Lets see what happens this weekend...

Go Webber!!

DTM in America?? It might give the Japanese manufacturers something to have fun with but will anybody care??

Charlotte was the last Nationwide race of 2010 for the pretty new cars... roll on 2011!!

NASCAR to use E15 ethanol next year, and fuel injection on the way... just stay away from bigger wheels, bigger brakes, and sequential shift transmissions!!

Just read the "official" top 50 jokes, no sign of Ecclestone in the list... Man walks into a bar and asks for David Coulthards personality, barman says I don't work miracles, I just serve drinks...

How do you set up 43 NASCAR drivers for a big ol' bar room brawl... Have at it boys, then near the end of the year race at a flat half mile short track and a restrictor plate track... back to back!!! Sounds like fun...