V8 SuperTourers in NZ - 'Car Of Tomorrow'

[promax]

looks a lot better than the video car

did he do many laps in it?

[Rugz]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

Or maybe they need to wait for funds to clear etc before they are sure.
I doubt a top Level V8 driver will contest the series

From what he said on 3 interview on Sunday, whoever it is is signed up, so you would hope the money side is sorted.

The Rat? lol lol.

[MacrosNZ]

Nah I don't think he wants to be a driver in the series.


From the Facebook Page

Ultra successful expat Kiwi racer joins V8 SuperTourers

Steve Horne, former boss of the 1986 Indy 500 winning team Truesports racing and CART’s Technical Committee and owner of Tasman Motorsport Groups Indy car team which enjoyed great success with the likes of Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and others, has returned home to New Zealand to pursue his already considerable interests in this country. These interests will include becoming a franchise and car owner for the inaugural 2012 V8SuperTourer Championship.

“Having already decided to spend most of our time living back here in New Zealand, my wife, and business partner, Christine, have both been keeping a close eye on what my former kiwi colleagues, Garry Pedersen, Mark Petch and others have been up to with their V8 Supertourer project” said Horne, who still manages Indycar ace Kanaan.

“Having now had the opportunity to view the car and the organisation behind it, to say that we are impressed with what is essentially down to good old Kiwi ingenuity, is an understatement. Frankly speaking it has reinvigorated our motor racing interest, which has been on the wane for some time in North America. We are both very proud to be accepted into the V8 Supertourer community with such a warm welcome, and we are genuinely very excited at the thought of once again sitting at the trackside here again in NZ and getting to renew friendships with old acquaintances and meet new friends alike.

“The cars themselves are inspirational and when you combine genuinely very fast big-engined V8 “tin top” race cars with real stars, the V8ST Series is going to be a big plus for motor racing in New Zealand. Christine and I can hardly wait to receive our first Supertourer racecar of what we plan to be eventually a two-car team.

“Whilst we have not yet finalised our driver line up, for our first car it will include a mix of raw young Kiwi talent, and for the enduros, a star Aussie import to lead our attack on the Endurance Series Championship. We may be new to V8 touring car racing, however we are an ambitious team, and intent on winning first up! So we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to hit the ground running at full speed come August next year 2012.

Paul Radisich, CEO V8ST, said “Steve Horne’s motor racing credentials are without peer here in New Zealand, and we welcome both Steve and his wife Christine to our rapidly expanding SuperTourers family with open arms. Steve will be much more than just a V8ST Team owner; he is somebody of vast experience and impeccable connections, which will be of significant benefit to the series as a whole.”

[GizzFan]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

Or maybe they need to wait for funds to clear etc before they are sure.
I doubt a top Level V8 driver will contest the series

Two things, u obviously dont rate Murph, even though the Kelly's still do, why else would they pay him, but hey that Ok each to his own, but for the record i still think he is a top ten man in a Kelly car.

Second thing, just checked out, www.v8supertourers.co.nz and wow Steve Horne has bought the eighteenth car, and talking about putting a top Aussie Supercar driver in it for the enduro's, man i hope the Gizz kid gets the nod in a Horne's [Tasman Motorsport's, USA] prepared entry, and i wonder who the lucky kiwi kid is?

[Ugy]

Wow this series is going to be bigger than huge.
Now all they have to do is get the crowds now

[mosscano]

Final concept rendering for JMR's new weapon:

[lms]

is that "more manufacturers" thing still happening?

[MacrosNZ]

The first sixteen cars are Holdens or Fords now so not for the first season.

[mememe]

Did I hear Shaun say on Sundays Gillette motorsport that Campbell little will Be JMR's technical advisor?

[Mr Revhead]

No not a cheap shot at all. It is entirely conceivable that JMR's 2nd driver still needs to finalise funding etc. I did not mean JMR needed to finalise funding.

2ndly no, I do not rate Murphy as a top rate V8SC driver. Nor do I rate the Kellys as a top rate team. In fact I rate them as a failure given what they started with.

And 3rdly I doubt there will be a 3rd make any time soon due to the costs involved.
Someone go ask V8ST what is needed to run a 3rd make.

[Ugy]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

No not a cheap shot at all. It is entirely conceivable that JMR's 2nd driver still needs to finalise funding etc. I did not mean JMR needed to finalise funding.

2ndly no, I do not rate Murphy as a top rate V8SC driver. Nor do I rate the Kellys as a top rate team. In fact I rate them as a failure given what they started with.

And 3rdly I doubt there will be a 3rd make any time soon due to the costs involved.
Someone go ask V8ST what is needed to run a 3rd make.

Got to agree with you concerning Murphy he's a one race wonder, anything outside Bathurst and he's very ordinary.

[GizzFan]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

No not a cheap shot at all. It is entirely conceivable that JMR's 2nd driver still needs to finalise funding etc. I did not mean JMR needed to finalise funding.

2ndly no, I do not rate Murphy as a top rate V8SC driver. Nor do I rate the Kellys as a top rate team. In fact I rate them as a failure given what they started with.

Nothing but predictable, kinda sad really, but hey each to his own.

[Chappelli]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

No not a cheap shot at all. It is entirely conceivable that JMR's 2nd driver still needs to finalise funding etc. I did not mean JMR needed to finalise funding.

2ndly no, I do not rate Murphy as a top rate V8SC driver. Nor do I rate the Kellys as a top rate team. In fact I rate them as a failure given what they started with.

And 3rdly I doubt there will be a 3rd make any time soon due to the costs involved.
Someone go ask V8ST what is needed to run a 3rd make.

Originally Posted by GizzFan

Nothing but predictable, kinda sad really, but hey each to his own.

I thought Revhead's comments were fair enough.

It's no secret JMR are looking for someone who brings money with them, I suspect that money isn't insignificant and given the oft quoted (by both NZV8 and NZST supporters) "financial climate" it's probably a big ask to find someone willing/able to chock up that sort of cash... and a bigger ask again if they're after someone who also comes with a bit of talent.

As far as Murph goes, I thik his results speak for themselves. While there's no doubt he's a superstar when it comes to PR, he hasn't finished in the top 10 in the V8SC Championship for close to a decade.

[GizzFan]

Originally Posted by Chappelli

I thought Revhead's comments were fair enough.

It's no secret JMR are looking for someone who brings money with them, I suspect that money isn't insignificant and given the oft quoted (by both NZV8 and NZST supporters) "financial climate" it's probably a big ask to find someone willing/able to chock up that sort of cash... and a bigger ask again if they're after someone who also comes with a bit of talent.

As far as Murph goes, I thik his results speak for themselves. While there's no doubt he's a superstar when it comes to PR, he hasn't finished in the top 10 in the V8SC Championship for close to a decade.

Ditto.

[KLR93]

Managed this quick clip of the JMR livery on friday

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

[Icarus_nz]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

And 3rdly I doubt there will be a 3rd make any time soon due to the costs involved.
Someone go ask V8ST what is needed to run a 3rd make.

My understanding is that because the NZST was the same between the A to C pillar as the AusCOT (before they went transaxle) the cost of the bodywork development was somehow 'shared'.

I believe the NZST would love to have Toyota or BMW or whoevers bodies out there.

You are right however. It wouldn't be an insignificant exercise to fit the bodywork and of course there would need to be some testing re drag/downforce etc to ensure parity.
Given that in global terms, the majority of NZ tracks are slow speed tracks (with the exception of Puke esp T1) this is less of a hurdle.

I would have thought that Toyota should be interested.
Suzuki with its agressive marketing is taking chunks out of Toyota sales. Their single seater series isn't really an effective marketting tool now after 7 years of the same old same old.
I'm sure NZ Toyota dealers would be far more interested in a tin top project with a name star than pouring money into overseas rich kids playtime.

Maybe this is where Steve Hornes interest lies...

[Mr Revhead]

From my understanding the cost issues lies with fees and licensing a new make with V8ST.

I heard a current team looked at running another makes shell but were put off by the cost and terms V8ST wanted them to abide by.

[Icarus_nz]

Be a shame if the hurdle is too high. The Ford/Holden tribal thing is a bit tiresome IMHO

[Mr Revhead]

Yeah, I would be keen to hear the official word from V8ST what the require of a team looking at running another body.

[GizzFan]

Originally Posted by KLR93

Managed this quick clip of the JMR livery on friday

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

Hey thanks for sharing the video link, car looks way cool to me, and its pretty amazing what the sign writing on the rear wing side plates do for the look of the new wing awesome, cant wait to see them all at Hampton Downs on the 10th February, on the free public day.

[GizzFan]

Originally Posted by Mr Revhead

Yeah, I would be keen to hear the official word from V8ST what the require of a team looking at running another body.

what do u think you would like to run, assuming that your team could get a franchise etc, have you already applied, or u just kicking the tyres?

[Mr Revhead]

I am not sure where you come from sometimes Gizzfan, a lot of your posts don't make much sense. Where have I implied any of the above?

[Icarus_nz]

What sort of figures have you heard to fit a new body Revhead?

There would need to be a bit of prototyping/computer modelling done and moulds made. These would need to be pretty high quality and rigid so that furture sets of panels fit properly
There would also be the work to develop the method of attaching the body (brackets etc)

It all sounds very easy when you say it like that (a couple of mates and a slab of beer and we'll bang her up over a long weekend...) but in terms of real cost to do this work professionally I don't think the exercise would be less than $45 - 50k

Its probably worth saying at this point that I've noticed that in NZ motorsport we confuse price with real cost.
What I mean is that as 'hobby sport' we are forever getting people to do stuff for discount price or free to be part of the dream.

NZST and all associated are operating in a professional environment and as such will need to ensure they are not making a loss each year. Therefore, price will reflect true cost and to many seem extortionate.

[Mr Revhead]

The issue I had been told about was anyone wanting to enter a new body had to pay for all the development costs, and then had to turn the moulds over to V8ST for them to sell to other teams.
Mark Petch PM'd me (not sure why he didn't just post it here) and informed me that is only partially correct, the people who develop the moulds will get a royalty from the sale of the different parts which must be purchased through V8ST

[Mr Revhead]

Originally Posted by Icarus_nz

I would have thought that Toyota should be interested.
Suzuki with its agressive marketing is taking chunks out of Toyota sales. Their single seater series isn't really an effective marketting tool now after 7 years of the same old same old.
I'm sure NZ Toyota dealers would be far more interested in a tin top project with a name star than pouring money into overseas rich kids playtime.

Personally I think Toyota will be put off by the control engine.
Unfortunately Toyotas support of racing has been a little misguided and inconsistent in the past decade. However with the death of the 2ltr class there wasn't a lot left for them to support.
My suggestion to them to focus on supporting club and regional series was ignored. Instead they decided to throw all their eggs into TRS and the 4 and rotors show scene.