Motorsport: V8 Supercars look past Ford, Holden duopoly

Mark Skaife during the 'Car of the Future' announcement. It with allow cars other than Falcons and Commodores to join the V8 Supercars series. Photo / Getty Images

MELBOURNE - Chrysler has emerged as the most likely manufacturer to break the Holden-Ford duopoly in V8 Supercar racing after the sport opened the door for other makes to compete from 2012.

Leading manufacturers including Nissan, Hyundai and Honda have all said they have no current intention of joining the series even after new rules cleared the way for them to do so.

But Chrysler has indicated a potential interest in being part of V8 racing, cautiously welcoming the Car Of The Future regulations which will open up the series to non-Australian made V8 engines and makes other than Holden and Ford in 2012.

"We don't have plans at the moment, but we were certainly interested to hear what was going on with the series," Chrysler Australia spokesman Jerry Stamoulis said.

"With us growing our brands in Australia, it's something we could do in the future and we'd certainly keep in mind.

"We've got a heritage there. We love our V8s at Chrysler. It's premature to say we've closed the door completely, but premature to say we'll get involved."

Chrysler has had a relationship with the V8 series as a sponsor from 2006 to 2008, using its V8-engined 300C vehicles as pace cars.

Under the new regulations for 2012 and beyond, the series will remain for rear-wheel-drive, four-door V8s only.

But the cars will no longer have to be Australian-made, nor have a five-litre engine - meaning the Holden-Ford duopoly may be over.

Other manufacturers will now be given leeway to adapt their cars to suit the category blueprint.

Holden has expressed concern the introduction of new manufacturers may actually send costs spiralling.

But five-time V8 Supercar champion Mark Skaife, who put together the Car Of The Future plan, said the changes were needed to ensure the survival of teams already competing and the sport's continued growth.

Skaife said car building costs would be capped at $250,000 - a significant reduction on current levels.

He said the new rule changes would keep teams in business - helping cut costs from the estimated $8 million annually it costs to run a championship-competitive outfit.

"We want other manufacturers to come and play," Skaife said.

"We know the Red versus Blue battle has served us very well. We know our rules and regulations have served us very well over the past 17 years.

"But there are clear threats, there is a lack of other manufacturer integration in our sport, and we have to take into account the landscape changes in the automotive market."

V8 boss Tony Cochrane said the category would welcome other manufacturers, though it did not necessarily need them to remain successful.

And he was confident the Holden-Ford rivalry would not be watered down by introducing other makes of car.

"If through this whole process, all we do is get ourselves re-organised to make the racing more viable for our teams over the course of the next two years, then the exercise has been well and truly worth it," Cochrane said.

"We don't need dozens of manufacturers to end up with a great championship.

"What we've got is very good, but if others want to come and join in then we are going to make it as easy as possible for them to join in."

- AAP