Motorsport: Importers free to throw lot in V8 ring

Rulebook changes aim to lower expenses for teams but Holden fears the opposite will happen. Photo / Paul Estcourt

A "car of the future" blueprint for Australia's V8 Supercars series has opened the door for more carmakers to compete in the motor racing series from 2012, but at the risk of alienating the series' long-time supporters, Holden and Ford.

The rule book for the 17-year-old series has been rewritten with the aim of not only cutting costs for V8 Supercar teams but also making it feasible for importers to throw their hat in the ring.

The future blueprint - drawn up by five-time Australian touring car champion Mark Skaife and approved by the V8 Supercars board and teams - allows for manufacturers to enter cars with any naturally aspirated V8 engine, as long as they can bring it into performance parity with the existing Ford and GM pushrod V8s that generate about 478kW of power and 900Nm of torque.

While no new manufacturer has yet put up its hand to join the series, at least two - Nissan and Chrysler - had observers at a media briefing in Melbourne.

Such manufacturers will have 18 months to consider their options between the time the full rules are released in the middle of this year to the start of the new era of racing in January 2012.

Chrysler's public relations manager Jerry Stamoulis said Chrysler was "just interested to see what's going", although it was not planning to jump into V8 Supercars in the short term.

However, he did not rule out such a move in future, saying: "As we grow our business, if there is an opportunity that we can get involved in something that suits our product plan, then maybe there is something we can do.

"At this stage it [attending the presentation] was more out of interest."

Chrysler Australia, which supplied pace cars in a high-profile sponsorship for the V8 Supercar Series from 2006 to 2008, has a ready supply of suitable V8 engines and appropriate cars, such as the 300C, for such an entry should it decide to proceed.

Stamoulis said Chrysler would be happy to receive an approach from V8 Supercars.

"I thought the ideas Mark (Skaife) and Tony (V8SA chairman Tony Cochrane) have in mind will be fantastic for the sport and I think they are moving in the right direction," he said.

Likewise, Nissan brand manager Darren Holland, who also attended the event, described the rule changes as a positive step forward.

"V8 Supercars has set itself up as an exceptional sport and entertainment platform," he said.

"From our point of view, we don't really have any plans on the future and what we will do with it, but we will have a look and see how we go."

Nissan was a giant of Australian touring car racing 20 years ago, when its turbo-charged Nissan Skyline GT-R "godzillas" reigned supreme before the demise of Group A regulations brought it to an end.

Holden motorsport manager Simon McNamara fears the move to expand manufacturer involvement from the current two participants will drive up costs through fiercer competition.

"They [other manufacturers] will only come in to win," he said. "Any team that gets a new manufacturer will need to spend money ... the more money you have got, the more chance you have of winning the race."

McNamara said the common experience worldwide was costs had gone up in all categories of racing in which new manufacturers had entered. "For the past five years, we have been trying to reduce the costs," he said.

"We are very happy with the blueprint, in terms of cost reduction, but adding other manufacturers could send costs skyrocketing again."

Both Holden and Ford have cut the number of teams they support over the past few years in line with trimmed marketing budgets.

According to figures presented by Skaife, top-flight teams capable of winning races spend about $10 million a year on their two-car teams - double what they were spending in 1994.

By comparison, said Skaife, the cost of showroom cars had appreciated just 28 per cent in that time.

Skaife says the target of the new rules is to reduce the cost of a V8 Supercar "rolling chassis" - basically the car minus the drivetrain - to $320,000 per unit, making it feasible for teams to build spare cars so they can more easily deal with a two-week turnaround between events.