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I dont have a problem with the pace of the commodore cup cars or the drivers abilities.
The main issue really is image and the categories relation to the core values of the event. The Bathurst 12hr untill last year was essentially there for people to take a road going production car and race it, hopefully with manufacturers using the race to show off their new models capability which they did so throughout the races history.
While featuring a few older cars, most of the field were modern and completely relevant to the motoring public today. Even with the GT cars joining the race it is still essentially about putting modern cars to the test.
Commodore cup cars bare hardly any relation to their road going counterparts and are what you could term a genuine race car due to the number of modications they have undergone. Like i said before i think the category is great on its own, you wont hear a v8 engine note as great as theirs unless you go back to the group c group a days. I also have friends in the category and i genuinely enjoy it.
But i seriously think it is not the image you would want to mix with this category. The cars are ancient...the shell being from a car that was released 16 years ago...(i just thought to myself wow...nearly 20 years old) in a race that is for modern day gt cars and production cars.
Is this race now a VLN type event? If that is the intention then why not open the race to supertourers, v8supercars etc and pitch it as a all out race for anyone.
Saloon cars are in the same boat as commodore cup...old cars, which are associated with state level competition and like someone made the point before are associated with categories like the HQ series. They put on great racing on their own but have their place....i really dont think the 12 hr is it.
By keeping it a gt and production style event you give it a air of exclusivity about it while still keeping the feel of bathurst races of old which allowed a broad range of competitors.
Im not sure how the production car runners will react to these moves after already being displaced by gt cars last year...they now have to deal with complete race cars that are likely to place ahead of alot of them. Its not exactly going to entice these guys back is it...
This was a strange and unecessary move.
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