Holden Race Team- where to from here? (Merged)

[GTRMagic]

Black wheels ?

[JC Ohope]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Black wheels ?

Maybe they borrowed them off the Bundaberg car? They normally run black mags don't they?

[GTRMagic]

There are a few pics of the test day with the black wheels...? HRT previously ran white control wheels for a while too...

Of interest are MeN's comments tonight, suggesting that the appointment of Mr Henry as Racing Operations Manager may be facilitating the slotting in of Mr Dyer into a much heavier Race Engineering-type role...

They also wonder at the change of title from Mr Crawford's 'Team Manager' to Mr Henry's 'Racing Operations Manager', and this one may be a simple case of HR legal gymnastics, being unable to remove one head in a role, then replace that very same role with same title. Responsibilities can be moved around in a 'new sounding' role such that claims against the employer who made the change can be argued as replacing one skillset & responsibility suite with another entirely different line.

Back on the structure for a minute, if there is someone in charge of making sure the cars rock up to the race meetings, that the crew have a job to do, that they also know that, and perform it as per the 'plan', then the team will continue to operate at its level, developing its own innovations as time permits.

If there is to be a new engineering resource introduced, whether it is Mr Dyer or someone else, then this will change slightly to bring the engineering innovations into the mix, alongside the bedded down preparation & presentation crew under new management, and may drag the team forward.

Unless I missed something, HRT has just completed its 5th test day today... just one more left for the balance of the season, and any technical adjustments to test..

Maybe they are bringing out that shaker rig after all

[Axeman444]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Black wheels ?

that actually looks much better, more "tough"

[Go Harder.]

Captain Forklift tried very hard to stay hooked up with JC at the end of last year. How badly does he want to re-unite, and would he have the available funds should a sale take place? I'd imagine he could easily cash in his current REC with DJR wanting to remain a 2 car team.... Just a thought.

[peckstar]

I wonder how much it would cost to buy HRT

Tom bought the team for about $4 million from Mark (im basing this on auto action saying years ago that mark sold half to Tom for about $2m in debt that mark owed WP.(with the tom selling about half of each franchise for $4m each that was maybe a bad investment descision for mark)

Charlie now has $4 mill in his hand (was that a bad descision by Dick) plus i guess he can sell the rest of the franchise (in theory worth $4m but probably less in the real world) so a total of $5 to 8 mil

Would that be enough to buy HRT?

[GTRMagic]

From Twitter...



Related to This ??

[cavvy]

Originally Posted by peckstar

I wonder how much it would cost to buy HRT

Tom bought the team for about $4 million from Mark (im basing this on auto action saying years ago that mark sold half to Tom for about $2m in debt that mark owed WP.(with the tom selling about half of each franchise for $4m each that was maybe a bad investment descision for mark)

Charlie now has $4 mill in his hand (was that a bad descision by Dick) plus i guess he can sell the rest of the franchise (in theory worth $4m but probably less in the real world) so a total of $5 to 8 mil

Would that be enough to buy HRT?

& is HRT a separate entity from HSV?

Are the HRT black wheels a HSV marketing play:
HSV and arch rival FPV are expected to release Black Editions of their V8-powered muscle cars at the 2011 Melbourne motor show.

Purely a cosmetic upgrade and available on the ClubSport, Sportwagon and Maloo R8, the new HSV Black Edition is likely to retain the 317kW version of the 6.2-litre V8 that characterises the E-Series 3 HSV range.

The HSV Black Edition is expected to get different alloy wheels (painted in black, naturally) as well as unique black trim inside and out.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by cavvy

& is HRT a separate entity from HSV?

. [/I]

definitely HSV, is part owned by Holden, part by Tom this continued during the years when Tom did not own HRT

HRT as a race team is not allowed to be owned by Holden (as a manufacturer)

HRT was owned for a number of years by Mark skaife, who was latter bought out by Tom, for what we now know was a bargain price, (some would say Mark picked it up for a bargain price also)

[Kingair]

HRT might do a 888 and go to the blue oval, we could do with another mid-field running team!!!!

[Axeman444]

Originally Posted by Go Harder.

Captain Forklift tried very hard to stay hooked up with JC at the end of last year. How badly does he want to re-unite, and would he have the available funds should a sale take place? I'd imagine he could easily cash in his current REC with DJR wanting to remain a 2 car team.... Just a thought.

ahh you see that would all work very well... if JC actually got on with Capt Forklifts at the end of the '10 season

[Widow Maker]

http://www.bigpondsport.com/why-are-...8/default.aspx

There's no doubt Skaife destroyed HRT, let's hops they can sought out this mess.

[Tourer]

Bit slow picking up on this (see other HRT thread on here) and personally I think that there is much more to the team's decline than just Mark Skaife taking over - the increased professionalism of the competition being one of the differences.

Also, I'd be thinking it would be better if they sort it out, rather than "sought" it out.

[fomoco]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

From Twitter...



Related to This ??

Would that depend on how much say he has in running the team?

Why hire someone, unless they have full control.

[Widow Maker]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Bit slow picking up on this (see other HRT thread on here) and personally I think that there is much more to the team's decline than just Mark Skaife taking over - the increased professionalism of the competition being one of the differences.

Also, I'd be thinking it would be better if they sort it out, rather than "sought" it out.

I agree, Skaife didn't have the professionalism to run a public toilet, let alone a race team.

[Woolley]

I'll put you down as 'not a fan of Skaife', then.

[Go Harder.]

Originally Posted by Widow Maker

http://www.bigpondsport.com/why-are-...8/default.aspx

There's no doubt Skaife destroyed HRT, let's hops they can sought out this mess.

Originally Posted by Widow Maker

I agree, Skaife didn't have the professionalism to run a public toilet, let alone a race team.

Sure you aren't pushing some hidden agenda here WM? You appear to be new here.... In case you aren't aware, the Skaife bash has been done before, and really is getting quite boring and repetitive. I'm sure you have the credentials to back yourself up (ie Championships, race wins, Bathurst wins etc..) but the last guy who went on a crusade like yours wound up banned. I'd hate to see you go the same way as him/her. Anyway back to the topic, will we see Chris Dyer in Darwin this weekend?

[Widow Maker]

Originally Posted by Woolley

I'll put you down as 'not a fan of Skaife', then.

He was a reasonable race car driver but a shocking businessman.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Widow Maker

He was a reasonable race car driver but a shocking businessman.

I think you could possibly say the same of several REC holders, past and present...

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Widow Maker

He was a reasonable race car driver but a shocking businessman.

Hmmm - I reckon that he was and is better than "reasonable" as a race car driver. His form definitely slumped during the team ownership period but MS was and is a very special driver when he's "on it". Regardless of the team, no "reasonable" driver would have been able to win as many Bathursts and Championships as MS - that takes class and consistency.

On the business front, in my view he's quite good in some ways but over time he has shown himself to not be a good manager of people. He is a VERY intense person - very driven & very focussed - probably more so than is obvious from outside and as a result he doesn't always see clearly what is going on around him.

Using GTR's fave word "allegedly" here rather a lot but allegedly a lot of crew left Gibsons when MS was running the team due to his manner with staff - many of them ended up at HRT, as did MS a few years after them. They were all able to work together well and win a brace of championships together but once MS took over and had them reporting to him again, allegedly the wheels seemed to get a bit wobbly and they started leaving.

To me that is his weak point as a business person - I should also add that as the whole saga of the changeover back to Walkinshaw ownership of the team was going on, the view in pitlane was very much one of MS getting the rough end of the stick rather than him blowing the whole ownership deal.

Looking to the future, they are clearly not having a good year and will need some very good people with a suitable structure, lack of interference from above and a good budget to get back on even terms with 888 consistently. It definitely CAN be done provided it is managed properly (look at DJR last year) so it is up to the remaining members of the Walkinshaw family to show that they have the nous that Tom had to get a great group of people together and allow that group to achieve.

[mayhem]

Can someone tell me, who/what has been the worst title defence V8 Supercars? Seeing Courtney down in 16th had me wondering...

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by mayhem

Can someone tell me, who/what has been the worst title defence V8 Supercars? Seeing Courtney down in 16th had me wondering...

this is currently the worst in v8 supercars times

lowndes won the ATCC in 1996 and did not back it up the next year, because he went to europe

[peckstar]

the DJ is coming to stay

it appears mum was in town on the weekend (she must have been so pleased) and the DJ might come and live for a while

As Walkinshaw hinted at a move to Australia closer to Walkinshaw Racing’s headquarters in Clayton, Melbourne, key HRT figures remain defiant. Drivers Garth Tander and James Courtney as well as senior team staff have insisted that morale in the outfit is high, despite the disappointing run in Darwin.

yeah right

[GTRMagic]

When will HRT put out its first album?

Could be bigger than Havana Brown

[Silver GT]

I think 888 should take em out and become a 4 car team.........HRT is a laughing stock....Buying Courtney so they could have the No.1 on their car was a stupid decision............they should be spending that money on making cars that are consistant. I guess this happens when you have crap management.