Motorsport: 'Several' manufacturers interested in joining V8 Supercars

V8 Supercars will be open to manufacturers other than just Ford and Holden. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - V8 Supercars "Car of the Future" chief Mark Skaife says several interested manufacturers have contacted him since the plan was launched last month.

But the five-time Bathurst champion says even if no other manufacturers end up joining Holden and Ford in the championship it won't dent its future.

Skaife says the plan, which is to be implemented by the start of the 2012 season and aims to dramatically reduce the cost of the race cars, will work with or without the support of new manufacturers.

"If in five years down the track no other manufacturer has joined Ford or Holden the whole plan is a better car for us over the next 10 years," Skaife said.

"It's more market relevant, it's more authentic to the manufacturer, it's cheaper to build, it'll improve the quality of the racing and keep teams in business.

"The whole plan is based on a scenario that doesn't actually embrace other manufacturers.

"If, for instance, other manufacturers come in then it's only making the pie bigger.

"We think that there's pretty strong interest.

"We know that under whatever scenario some manufacturers would want to badge the car rather than genuinely have their own engine running, some want their engine running.

"There's certainly differences in how each of the manufacturers view it as a marketing opportunity and an engineering project.

"That'll have to be determined as we walk along the next two or three years."

Regardless of whether another manufacturer such as Hyundai, Mercedes or BMW did join the championship, Skaife said Holden and Ford remained key partners in the V8 program.

"Ford and Holden are the absolute foundation of where we are today," he said.

"They don't really feel endangered by this in a competitive sense because they've got their own factory teams already. If those teams weren't good enough they wouldn't be the factory teams.

"If another manufacturer came in they're not going to be able to acquire Holden Racing Team for instance, so that part of their feeling is desensitised because of already having factory racing outfits."

Skaife also emphasised the sport's commitment to using a V8 engine as the power-plant for any future cars competing in the championship.

"For us the mandate of being a V8 power plant is crucial to the sound, the vibe and the atmosphere that we're able to deliver as an entertainment package," he said.

"That part of it we're pretty strong on. Clearly there are other alternatives from all sorts of V8s.

"The capacity of the V8, how hard they rev, what weight they are, whether they're all alloy, what sort of specification they are, we've got a very scientific way of analysing that specification and being able to equalise the performance of the engine."

- AAP