Max Wilson gets the drive

[marcus]

So its been announced that Max Wilson will line up in the third Briggs Falcon.

and good luck to him as well , I really dont know alot about him except for his CART racing last year and I thought he did OK in that so hopefully he can adapt to V8's quickly and do a good job

[Crash Test]

Oh well, good luck to him. I hope he goes a bit better in V8s in what he has gone in just about all bar the junior levels of his career. I know I'm going to get snotted for that comment, so I'm leaving the country

BTW- Has anyone got a spare $175,000 to buy a talented driver 5 drives in a decent Konica car this season??

[knackaneal]

Originally posted by marcus
So its been announced that Max Wilson will line up in the third Briggs Falcon.

Aren't there supposed to be 4 or 5 Cat Cars next season??? So who's dropping out to make way for this mass invasion? (track density regulations?)

[Crash Test]

Briggs will only run 3 cars, with the possibility of a 4th later in the season. They are apparently considering making the grid sizes larger...

[mac]

So, are Lamy and Wilson both driving for Briggs next year?

[Crash Test]

Nope, Longhurst, Wills, and Wilson will do the driving. Will Will Will Will Will...

[DAVID PATERSON]

Briggs Motorsport's new headquarters are just around the corner from work, so last night I thought I would cruise by and have a squiz.

Wow, very flash! It looks more like a fancy upmarket office complex than a racecar factory. The tiled floor was gleaming and spotless. There is a sort of viewing area at the front so fans can watch the teams work on the cars. The place is very large and looked rather empty, certainly room for several more then the 4 cars that were there.

On the left are 2 Cat Falcons, an AU wearing Wills' name and an EL wearing Bowe's name! Both looked complete and ready to go.

On the right were 2 Betta Electrical AU Falcons, one looked about 90% complete, but was not wearing a racing number or driver's name. The other was just a painted shell with some suspension fitted.

Would anyone like me to call in regularly and give updates?

[Buckshot]

Sounds great David, if you could keep sussing it out that would be very ineteresting. You don't have a digital camera do you so you can take snapshots for us ?

[DAVID PATERSON]

I'm afraid I don't have such a device, in fact I don't own any knind of camera! Crash Test does however. I forgot to mention that the painted shell is fully caged.

[racer69]

great to see Max getting a run, i reckon he should do alright. I reckon it's great that an overseas driver (apart from NZ) has got a drive, hopefully more will follow.

[Amaroo Park]

It must just be me but why would Briggs hire Wilson when he could have hired someone who is known to be quick in a touring car in a race like Greg Ritter????????

[Crash Test]

The place is actually open to the public during the days.... so it is an interesting place to visit...

[StuiE]

is Pedro Lamy getting the drive for later in the season?

if the racing was better more international drivers would probably come over

[Crash Test]

I doubt it, but then again, they might need three enduro co-drivers. Wilson was the best of the imports- the others had trouble with the H-pattern gearbox.

[Buckshot]

the others had trouble with the H-pattern gearbox.

Yeah I noticed most of the foreign candidates mentioned this. They were crying they wanted their little sequential gear boxes - wimps !

[racer69]

why are they wimps, i think the point that came through was that the V8's are one of the very few top line Touring Car categories that still have H-pattern gearboxes, the drivers are just not used to them. DTM, BTC Touring, V8STAR, ETCC 2003 Super 2000 regs, FIA GT cars etc... all use sequential or paddle shifters. I agreed with what Marcel Tiemen said, that while sequentials would be possibly a bit more expensive to begin with, in time they are much cheaper, as it is impossible to go eg.. 6th to 3rd in one go, meaning nearly impossible to over rev and blow the motor. Nowadays i'm not even sure if it would be more expensive.

[marcus]

agree with that racer69 ....except it again would take another element away from the driver , call me old fashioned but i am into the complete art of race driving not just steering the car , ok so it wouldnt make that much of a diff , but seeing a driver pick the right gear and match it perfectly with the engine revs is great to see and i wouldnt want it any other way.

give em time they will get used to the H pattern gearbox...after all it is the natural way of driving

[Buckshot]

Yeah, exactly what marcus said.

If they want to race in a series where the car does everything for them try F1. We like pilots who can actually DRIVE a car.

If sequential gearboxes were introduced to V8 Supercar it would just be another chance for HRT to jump ahead of the field with some you beaut system no-one else could afford.

[marcus]

thats probably true Buckshot , HRT would gain more of an advantage straight away i feel , having the resources of TWR and the Arrows f1 teamn behind them , they could get all kinds of gadgetery ( maybe they do already ???) from Europe well in advance before other teams knew what hit them.

but I could be wrong ( wouldnt be the first time )

[racer69]

i'm not sure that HRT or anyone would gain all that much from the use of sequential boxes, as they are so common these days, Formula Holden use them, obviously Super Touring, the Super Trucks have fully automatic gearboxes, although i can see your point about making the drivers doing the work.

[DAVID PATERSON]

I called in again yesterday, the Cat AU has been repainted, a lot of the yellow is now red, looks OK.

The nearly complete car is wearing number 78, but no driver's name.

The car that was just a painted, caged shell, now has a motor, dash seat, brakes and suspension, but no signage, just colours.