Peter McKay

[bluesport]

FAVOURITES NO MORE
It really has been a crushing one year or so for Australian devotees of Ford and Holden.
First came the introduction at the beginning of last year of the new V8 Supercars Car of the Future formula, which opened up the category to brands other than the Lion and the Blue Oval.
After two decades of red versus blue, they were forced to share the glory with newbies Nissan and Erebus-AMG.
Then came the tragic news last year that both will soon shutter their local vehicle manufacturing operations.
And then last Sunday at Albert Park came another bitter pill to swallow when the old brandswere beaten by a bloody Volvo. The newest V8 Supercars manufacturer’s machine was driven by a precociously swift young Kiwi barely off his P-plates, Scott McLaughlan.
The two armies, those in red shirts and blue shirts, are very confused. Already the win by Volvo (in a non-title race) has freshened the debate about fine-tuning the performance of some cars to maintain parity between the five makes in V8 Supercars.
Those who were adamant last year that performance parity between the five brands did not need any meddling are now already suggesting the Volvo is going too quickly too soon.
It’s all a bit premature chaps. Volvo (and Erebus-AMG) are still to win a V8 Supercars championship race. Nowhere is it written that Holden and Ford have a right to rule.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorspo...#ixzz2wplIRzk6

[Marcos WTF]

So now Peter Mackay is putting words into my mouth. Jeez I don't recall
crushing disapointment. And Erebus & Datto have hardly covered themself with glory.

Some success, yes. But if you were to believe this media hack, you'd think we were all about to slash our wrists.........

[GTRMagic]

And now leaves the building @ Fairfax..

Story Here

Originally Posted by MrMcKay's Article

TIME FOR A PIT STOP
Forgive me. This will be pathetically indulgent. I may even steal from Peter FitzSimons’ bottomless cache of personal pronouns…
On Sunday April 5, 1998 this column spluttered feebly into life. Blame the then-new sports editor of The Sun-Herald Michael Koslowski. He recognised the global appeal of motor sports, unlike a contrarian queue of his predecessors. Let’s give the column a trial, Kos told me. These were great times. Mick Doohan was en route to bagging his fifth world 500cc title. Jacques Villeneuve went on to win the formula one crown.
V8 Supercars was growing fast, but I could always see limitations, potentially terminal, with a formula based on just two brands. I said as much, often.
V8 Supercars’ chairman Tony Cochrane’s vision splendid included taking the Aussie category to the world. Great in theory, but hopelessly flawed. Every international deal collapsed. V8 Supercars also had a habit of demanding taxpayers’ money to fund its circus. Occasionally, like Townsville and Darwin, it can be justified. But the Sydney street race should never have happened. I wasn’t too unhappy when Cochrane was pushed out by majority owner Archer Capital in 2012.
When legal letters sporadically arrived at Fairfax calling for my head, I was encouraged to “keep it up”. The seven sports editors who followed Koslowski continued the unstinting support. None of my sports editors told me what to write. Or what not to write. Ever. The role of the media is not to be cheerleaders for any sport, but to keep people honest when needed. And deliver praise when warranted.
The sport has given me tough moments too. Losing friends Gregg Hansford, Gary Patterson, Denny Hulme, Possum Bourne and Peter Brock hit particularly hard.
Sad times and grand times, it’s been an honour for me to tap out a column every week for more than 16 years – from the top of Pikes Peak, Monaco, New York, Detroit, exotic Winton, and on two occasions, a hospital bed. Now it’s time to take a break. Thanks for being good sports.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorspo...#ixzz360VGffbo

Mr Cochrane might be pleased...

[D.R.T.]

Sad to see the Inside Line column disappear, hopefully only for a short time.

I am sure we will see Mr McKay around racetracks around Australia

Peter is one of the good guys who will tell it how he sees it - which is quite refreshing these days when you have so called journalists on the wage list at V8SC pumping out the party line 'stories' to suit.

[Axeman444]

Couldn't we just have someone who sits in between the 2 extremities? THAT would be refreshing.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by Axeman444

Couldn't we just have someone who sits in between the 2 extremities? THAT would be refreshing.

agreed.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by Axeman444

Couldn't we just have someone who sits in between the 2 extremities? THAT would be refreshing.

Since the departure of Cochrane and a few others in V8s, he has been far more balanced and most recently has even been positive of the current formula and its management.

[old fart]

Peter is one of the old school reporters/scribes telling it the way it really was. His newspaper was regarded as conservative in its views(on most things) and Peter had the benefit of actually knowing what he was writing about. A long and distinguished career in motor sport (as it was in earlier days) and automotive journalism as well as being a pretty good driver to boot gave him credibility as against that displayed by numerous hacks today.
Sure, Peter had his pet subjects like we all do however to my mind he was always far more credible and balanced in his scribing even if it did result in him being barred from the v8 sports sedan media circus by 'cockroach'.
I wish Peter well and can't wait until he returns to the sport in one form or the other in the not too distant future-now that could be the start of a great rumour couldn't it !!

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by old fart

Peter is one of the old school reporters/scribes telling it the way it really was. His newspaper was regarded as conservative in its views(on most things) and Peter had the benefit of actually knowing what he was writing about. A long and distinguished career in motor sport (as it was in earlier days) and automotive journalism as well as being a pretty good driver to boot gave him credibility as against that displayed by numerous hacks today.
Sure, Peter had his pet subjects like we all do however to my mind he was always far more credible and balanced in his scribing even if it did result in him being barred from the v8 sports sedan media circus by 'cockroach'.
I wish Peter well and can't wait until he returns to the sport in one form or the other in the not too distant future-now that could be the start of a great rumour couldn't it !!

Nice use of the word cockroach, did you back the 2l side in the 90s also?
McKays vendetta against the v8 series was a sad issue in his articles

Its why we would really like a reporter somewhere in between Phelps and McKay

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by old fart

Peter is one of the old school reporters/scribes telling it the way it really was. His newspaper was regarded as conservative in its views(on most things) and Peter had the benefit of actually knowing what he was writing about. A long and distinguished career in motor sport (as it was in earlier days) and automotive journalism as well as being a pretty good driver to boot gave him credibility as against that displayed by numerous hacks today.
Sure, Peter had his pet subjects like we all do however to my mind he was always far more credible and balanced in his scribing even if it did result in him being barred from the v8 sports sedan media circus by 'cockroach'.
I wish Peter well and can't wait until he returns to the sport in one form or the other in the not too distant future-now that could be the start of a great rumour couldn't it !!

Having known Peter personally for over 20 years I'd agree with all of that, except for the bit where he was balanced and credible in his coverage of V8s until recently.

While he leaned to the 2L camp initially, he used his column to further a personal vendetta against Tony Cochrane. The two absolutely despised each other.

Interestingly though, the person that banned McKay from V8 rounds was not Cochrane, but Wayne Cattach - he and McKay were not friendly from back in the DJR days.

For about 3 years there Peter's coverage of the V8s was simply off the rails. There was not a single, positive mention of anything V8 Supercars in his coverage and I commented at the time that, while I did't agree with V8s banning him for reporting factually accurate material, I did understand why they wouldn't bother trying to mend fences given his obvious agenda against them.

But since the ousting of Cochrane and the change in management (and attitude) at V8s what we've seen recently is the type of balanced reporting that he does so well. Great perspective and intelligence and a flair with this writing. At his best, he is one of the very best and I really enjoy his writing and will miss his Sunday column.

[old fart]

I've been around the sport for too many years to have favourites or side with any particular party, make, ideology and whatever-just a person who has loved and been involved in the sport since I was a youngster.
I enjoyed the 2ltr racing just as I enjoy supercarts or the various one make series that abound from time to time.
I didn't say Peter was a saint and did allude to the fact that he had his particular pet subjects just like you-that's what makes it fun.
Has anybody else heard the rumour I mentioned ?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by old fart

Has anybody else heard the rumour I mentioned ?

Is Mr Hitchcock moving onto greener pastures?

[old fart]

Geez, it didn't take long ---and GTR Magic as well!!

[mountainstar]

I think everyone knew he hated V8SC and would knock them at any opportunity, but then the proof is in the pudding and he turned out to be dead wrong. Until V8SC there wasn't much of a race calendar, professional teams and drivers were few and far between and tech rules were erratic.

Unlike 20 years ago, Australia now has a professional motorsports scene and many thriving championships such GT's, Ute's, the developmental series, Touring Car Masters and many other secondary championships.

While it's possible to poke holes in things V8SC has done over the years, they lifted the game for everyone involved.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I think everyone knew he hated V8SC and would knock them at any opportunity, but then the proof is in the pudding and he turned out to be dead wrong.

I'd completely disagree with you. In fact most of the criticisms that McKay had about the series turned out to be correct.

• It was unsustainable to have a series only open to 2 manufacturers - 100% correct
• Having a series where most of your biggest events are dependent upon taxpayer funding is a dangerous business model - 100% correct. Imagine how different the series would look if Gold Coast, Townsville and Sydney 500 disappeared. And let's not kid ourselves that scenario came very close to happening this year, and may still occur in 3 years time. Ipswich, Darwin, Symmons Plains also all rely on Govt funding.
• That the management of the category over the final few years of Cochrane's reign was chaotic and harmful to the category - Given the state of things when he left, I'd say he was correct about this. And while there were dozens of people toward the end that would say this privately, he was the only one to do so publicly.

That doesn't dismiss the overly negative approach he took for many years of course, but the fact he focused on the negative didn't mean he was wrong.

That also doesn't disagree with the remainder of your point - that V8 Supercars has been on balance good for Australian motorsport and has increased professionalism across the board.

[Mixer]

Mind you its kind of disingenuous to say that Red vs Blue is unsustainable 20 years later...

[gts300]

Originally Posted by eduardo1

Ipswich, Darwin, Symmons Plains also all rely on Govt funding.

Moving off topic here, but realistically why do those sorts of events rely on Government Funding? Only because the circus thinks its bigger than it really is and *thinks* it needs more than it does to provide entertainment.

For example, pit lane garages. Installed at Symmons Plains, yet still absent from Ispwich. Do they still travel to Ipswich?

YES

Was the capital investment at Symmons Plains really needed.

Probably

As Ipswich wasn't the competition for the event it was more like Shanghai, Bahrain, Dubai, Texas and so on that had the $$$$$$$$$ to entice.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by gts300

Moving off topic here, but realistically why do those sorts of events rely on Government Funding? Only because the circus thinks its bigger than it really is and *thinks* it needs more than it does to provide entertainment.

For example, pit lane garages. Installed at Symmons Plains, yet still absent from Ispwich. Do they still travel to Ipswich?

YES

Was the capital investment at Symmons Plains really needed.

Probably

As Ipswich wasn't the competition for the event it was more like Shanghai, Bahrain, Dubai, Texas and so on that had the $$$$$$$$$ to entice.

Unless I missed something, Ipswich only exists on the calendar as part of a package deal with the Wueensland Governmemt for support at Gold Coast Indy and Townsville.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by gts300

Moving off topic here, but realistically why do those sorts of events rely on Government Funding? Only because the circus thinks its bigger than it really is and *thinks* it needs more than it does to provide entertainment.

For example, pit lane garages. Installed at Symmons Plains, yet still absent from Ispwich. Do they still travel to Ipswich?

YES

Was the capital investment at Symmons Plains really needed.

Probably

As Ipswich wasn't the competition for the event it was more like Shanghai, Bahrain, Dubai, Texas and so on that had the $$$$$$$$$ to entice.

You've conflated two separate issues with Symmons & Ipswich.

V8s dictates all venues have a certain level of infrastructure etc as part of the deal to race there. How circuits fund that is up to them, whether themselves or with Govt help.

The Govt money to V8s is appearance money - same as a concert promoter pays Springsteen, Beyonce or Bieber. They get paid for showing up regardless of the state of the circuit and facilities.

[one five five]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I think everyone knew he hated V8SC and would knock them at any opportunity, but then the proof is in the pudding and he turned out to be dead wrong. Until V8SC there wasn't much of a race calendar, professional teams and drivers were few and far between and tech rules were erratic.

That is a rather 'interesting' view of Australian motorsport prior to 1997 when V8Supercar was born.

McKay never seemed anti-V8Supercar to me, just anti-Tony Cochrane and the way Mr Cochrane declared war on anyone who didn't share his views on Australian motorsport, and i'd never blame anyone for that.

At the very least all McKay did was balance out the gushing "can't do no wrong" attitude that the News Limited papers continuously heaped on V8Supercars.

[GTRMagic]

Why not resume all of the houses around the circuit and convert it to a permanent race track? Run all year round events!

[naca]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Why not resume all of the houses around the circuit and convert it to a permanent race track? Run all year round events!

Because that would massively **** off the local residents and hotel guests. No one really cares about the noise at the moment because it is only 3 weekends a year, although if there is stuff happening every weekend then they probably will get ****ed off after a few months.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by naca

Because that would massively **** off the local residents and hotel guests. No one really cares about the noise at the moment because it is only 3 weekends a year, although if there is stuff happening every weekend then they probably will get ****ed off after a few months.

The hotel is on the race track... so noise should be expected..

As for the other... just keep resuming property till it goes away as an issue

[old fart]

The track is actually a public road and as such is able to attract govt. funding to a certain degree for repairs and maintenance-once it ceases to be a public road(and a tourist drive/attraction) such assistance may not be available to the BRC.
Part of the attraction of the circuit is that is public roadways and I believe that the cost of upkeep would be higher when closed rather than it is currently.

Not only do a substantial number of people reside immediately around the track it provides access to the parklands and the Fauna Reserve behind Skyline.
The noise aspect is something that is accepted by locals currently however any escalation would most likely cause concern-the noise carries down from the track and can be heard downtown at the best of times.

I would love to see the place utilised a lot more however the Mount Panorama Act would prevent that as it limits the usage to what it is currently.
Noise will be something that has to be taken into account when the proposed 2nd circuit evolves. We have all seen the problems noise has allegedly caused to surrounding areas of many existing Australian tracks and it is a real political issue for Councils and Governments.
Any escalation or intensification of the usage has to be balanced with the amenity of the existing area.

[porsche91722]

Sorry Mr McKay, but it seems that the discussion has steered clear of you. Lost interest perhaps! You're only a journo.
On the govt spending on circuits issue, our Qld mob (Ipwich city and state) have both stated how valuable the V8SC race at QR is to the local economy and both verbally back the race, but there doesn't seem to be much money from either of them tipped into improving the third world facilities at the track. I still think that QR could be built into a top class circuit, but it would mean big$ from the govt to do it.
Will we see it? Probably not, but they continue to kick in for the Townsville and Gold Coast events.
Maybe that's the message! Townsville and Gold Coast are more important than poor old Ipswich.