2001 V8 Supercars

Tony Cochrane has announced in this weeks AutoAction that next years calender for The 2001 V8 Supercars is now 1 month away from being announced and he promises "revolutionary" style changes.

What do you guys think this means or better still what changes would you like to see made ?

I was thinking of maybe sticking to the 3 sprint race format where pit facilities aren’t the best like Oran Park and maybe 90 minute Indy Car Style Races for the tracks with pit facilities capable of handling such a race like Eastern Creek.

I’m not so sure about the addition of more street circuits as speak to anyone who went to Canberra for the GMC 400 and they said the spectator facilities just plain sucked and to me the perception I got from watching it on TV was that the whole event just seemed to be geared towards corporate viewing.

Anyway, What do you all think ?

i think that winton i the best round/weekend in victoria and if that aint on the calender then i would not be impressed. canberra gmc is not in the class of the adelaide 500. the sprint rounds could be 2 by 45 min races with pitstops and 2 diff qualifying session. reckon the f1 GP and CART GP support acts should carry points for the championship. 15 or 16 round championship we can accommodate. reverse grids are a good idea. should be plenty of changes in 2001, i'm sure avesco will get in wrong....

Arrggghhhh....i think i have let out all of my anger on this topic at aus.sport.motor.....;)

If Winton loses their round....well someone aught to be shot. The place has spent millions to bring the place up to AVESCO standards....

I was standing in pit lane at Oran Park as the V8 pit crews were setting up. A guy from one team said to another team that it would be their last time at Oran Park. When questioned why he said that Oran Park was not going to be on the 2001 calender because OP weren't willing to provide the first class pits asked for by all the V8 teams.

It seems that street races are all the rage, probably because Cochrane has full control. I hope OP doesn't lose the round because without the big drawcards our tracks will end up becoming housing estates like Amaroo. OP is a great spectator track too. Street circuits are only good for TV.

It will end up hurting the up and coming drivers too because even now OP and EC are lucky to have one practice day available per month and for the last few months they have chosen the same day. It becomes hard for young guys without big budgets to be able to practice.

As for the V8's. I like gomicks idea on the points for support races. Stops them wheeling out the crappy cars. Do you mean qualifying like Superbikes/Toca you start where you qualified for each sprint? I like it. I don't like the 3 spint races much I prefer 2 races on Sunday and some good supports.

yep, qualifying for one race and qualifying for another race, just like btcc

1. 32 cars? **** off!
2. Overseas- NZ, OK, everywhere else....when they go they will fail, and fail badly. DONT GO!
3. Street circuits- not at the expense of permanant tracks. If V8s are so professional and big cash, they can afford to do some extra rounds.
4. Motorsport in Australia is in crisis -apart from V8 Supercar, the only class to truely grow since the inception of AVESCO is GTP...everything else has gone down the tube or stagnated somewhat. Coinicidence?

NO!!

32 car grids is a ****ing terrible idea. There are more than 32 good, well driven cars. How **** weak will it look on the tracks where the grid capacity is 40+? 3 sprint races don't hold much appeal. 2 45 minute races could be fun.
I'm very much against street races, they cost a fortune and do nothing at all to help club/state level racing. Every time the shell series goes to a street circuit, a permanent circuit misses out on their annual cash injection, without which the place just isn't viable and very likely to become, housing estate, farmland, golf course, etc. :(

I struggle to see how Asia, South Africa or the middle East would take to V8 supercar. Two of the greatest factors in the appeal/success of the class is the Holden v Ford thing and all the name drivers. Outside of Aust and NZ, they don't have these factors working for them.