Whatever happend to the planned privateer Volvo 850 sedan team involving Francevic?

[racer69]

Sure, the depth of quality in Australian ST is pretty bad at the moment, but would running seventh in a sports sedan be any more impressive, i don't think so, and the depth isn't much better, Ricciadello and Baily seem to drive away from everybody, plus ST get on the TV, where has SS TV been this year, and that's what counts for a sponser.

On the Hyundai, even now it ain't that reliable. Leabeater missed the last 4 rounds of the 2000/2001 series because of separate problems at each meeting. As CT said, you would be better off with a BMW. And the Carina, the only good thing about the car was the paint job, it was great i thought.

[kmchow]

CT wrote:

>It depends. Normally TAFE crews will take on a crashed car, as >generally they are smash repair students. Plus you would have to >hope that the teacher of the apprentices has a decent motorsport >background. It would be no good giving your car to a group of people >who know less about what they are doing than you have.
>
I thought the TAFE students have a motorsport background? They don't really do motorsport repair/design? Didn't they build a Class 2 Toyota Corolla several years back? I thought they woud love to get their hands on a car to fix/repair/update? But as I mentioned before, who would pay for the necessary parts? Malcolm Rea probably doesn't have the budget to update the Carina?

Or could the Carina's lack of competitiveness have more to do with the fact the car didn't get too much research/development time? Toyota quit at the end of '94 which means the car only had 2 years of limited development compared to the BMWs which had tonnes of motorsport feedback/development.

[D.R.T.]

Yeah in the 2000 season Paul Leabeaters car did have some trouble, having said that though so did Aaron McGill. And he had a well prepared car and I believe fairly good about of backing from his sponsors. The primera was a bullet in 97 than, at the hands Adam Kaplan in 98, is wasn'tas good, 99 with cornish still got worse.
The carina's neve really got to show there potential, I'm sure with the right preparation like they had in the British championship, things could have been so much better.

[mtpanorama]

Originally posted by D.R.T.
99 with cornish still got worse.

You answere your own question right there.

[D.R.T.]

Yes your very right, I'm very sorry. Talking about the old BMW's, though, Robson still owns his 94 spec Longhurst 318i, but does John Saunders still own the old Faber Castell BMW 318i, that he raced at Mallala in 2000. That car looked great , bright orange, does anyone have any pictures of that car.

The best car to tackle the Super Touring season next year besides Morris's BMW in Australia, I believe would be Paul Grimms to 1998 spec Peugeot 406's, any know a price on those machines.

[kmchow]

DRT wrote:

>The best car to tackle the Super Touring season next year besides >Morris's BMW in Australia, I believe would be Paul Grimms to 1998 >spec Peugeot 406's,
>
Don't forget the Vectra of that Australian policemen? Both the 406 and Vectra have the more powerful STW spec engines, instead of their original BTCC ones I recall?

>any know a price on those machines.
>
Gotta be easily over 50K AUS??

Could the Primera's decreasing competitiveness be due to it's lack of proper/full engine/chassis overhaul?? OTOH, it could probably be just outclassed by the newer spec Vectra/406/overhauled Camry.

[Crash Test]

"Sure, the depth of quality in Australian ST is pretty bad at the moment, but would running seventh in a sports sedan be any more impressive"

- Put it this way, I don't think you could run competitively in any National category with a $25K car. You could race quickly, cheaply, but not in front of TV cameras or massie crowds at State level. But if you really want to race in front of the TV Cameras on the Power Tour, you should probably go and get yourself a $5K HQ for next season....

"i don't think so, and the depth isn't much better, Ricciadello and Baily seem to drive away from everybody, plus ST get on the TV, where has SS TV been this year, and that's what counts for a sponser."

- With only local sponsors on board for each round, the Sports Sedan folk could never afford to pay the outragous piles of cash that Channel 10 demand. At least they get to run on the the V8 Supercar program, which has the best crowd figures of the possibilities that were open to them at the start of last season. I suppose they could have gone with the Power Tour, but having your series broadcast on that definately doesn't come cheaply. Also for next year there are a few more cars coming through, and with some of the new cars this season having a bit more development work done to them, Baily and Ricciardello probably won't have everything going their own way. Then again, Baily has managed to do a 1:07 at QR....so he probably has a bit left up his sleeve.

"I thought the TAFE students have a motorsport background? They don't really do motorsport repair/design? Didn't they build a Class 2 Toyota Corolla several years back? I thought they woud love to get their hands on a car to fix/repair/update? But as I mentioned before, who would pay for the necessary parts?"

- A lot depends on the individual college, where they are, what their courses are, and who is running them etc. There are a few around that offer Motorsport Engineering courses, but they are few and far between. Then there are situations like one of the local club racers, who is an instructor at a TAFE institute, and his pit crew is made up of students. If you want the TAFE people to do anything to your car, you must give them the parts (whether it is at the track, or away from it). Going back to Bathurst 1996, when Mal Rose creased his Commodore at Forrests Elbow- he gave the car to a local TAFE college with the parts, and they repaired it. Basically, they specialise in smash repairing, and have brought many a dead car back from the grave.

"Malcolm Rea probably doesn't have the budget to update the Carina?"

I think we're still waiting for him to pay his $45 club subsription from last season...

"Or could the Carina's lack of competitiveness have more to do with the fact the car didn't get too much research/development time?"

- Put it this way, they are old cars (like the Primera situation). The cars came from Britain and went through Asia before Rea picked them up in around 1997. Who really knows what condition they came to Mal in.... but saying that, Mal apparently does have some trick bits up there on the Sunshine Coast that he has imported into the country.

"Don't forget the Vectra of that Australian policemen? Both the 406 and Vectra have the more powerful STW spec engines, instead of their original BTCC ones I recall?"

- They may have more powerful engines, but they give that a flogging with horrendous reliability. The Vectra started out life in South Africa in 1996 before Cam McLean raced it to the 1997 Independents Cup. The car spent a year in storage before John Henderson picked it up, upgrading from his old Opel. In 1998 the thing seldom made the grid with an awful lot of reliability problems. In 1999 the car started to finish races, and displayed the speed which it always promised, and in fact went faster in it than what McLean did. Cars like Newmans Pug were never properly taken care of.... that's a part of the reason why Super Touring died- the cost of keeping the cars on the track.

"Could the Primera's decreasing competitiveness be due to it's lack of proper/full engine/chassis overhaul?? OTOH, it could probably be just outclassed by the newer spec Vectra/406/overhauled Camry."

- Remember that the car was originally driven by Steven Richards, and prepared by Garry Rogers, and since then the car wouldn't have had as a good a driver, and the quality of preparation. Plus it has had some big shunts over the years....

[Michael H]

did anyone see that Targa New Zealnd program on Ten on Sunday? I swear I saw Robbie Francevic's face on the screen!

[DAVID PATERSON]

You certainly did see him. He was driving a Pontiac GTO, of course this is the ideal car for a tarmac rally on winding roads.

He freely admits that he is a beginner at rally driving and we shouldn't expect to much by way of results. However, he said and I quote, "at race driving, he is the best there is."

WTF? Do you think he knows Anthony Mundine?

[Morris 1100]

Having met Robbie I would think that he must be Anthony Mundine's hero!


Hey how about a fight between the two of them!

[kmchow]

Crashtest wrote:

>but saying that, Mal apparently does have some trick bits up there >on the Sunshine Coast that he has imported into the country.
>
If so, I then wonder why the parts were never installed in the car? Surely TAFE could help him? But then, who are we to question his decision.

>They may have more powerful engines, but they give that a flogging >with horrendous reliability. [RE: STW Opel/Pug engines]
>
Reliability a problem? But I don't recall hearing anything about probs with those STW engines. If so, how could they win races? OTOH, I guess it all comes down to money again??? IE: The Works teams probably tear the engines down after every race versus the new owners who don't have the luxury to do tear downs after every race and thus the problems appear?

[Crash Test]

Mal has some trick bits, but they are mostly hot up parts for road going Toyotas.

The engines weren't always the problem- quite often other bits would fall off the cars...

[racer69]

Most of the ST cars are getting too old, therefore there are going to be more reliability problems, unless they are really prepared and maintained.

On Francevic, he was one of the best, but apart from 85/86, we didn't see much from him apart from Bathurst and Winton in the Wolf Sierra in '88, same with Crosby, starred in '86 then nothing apart from enduro's and a few '87 rounds since.