NZV8 Team Owners form new company

[Mark Petch]

NZV8’s team owners are to head down the TEEGA road with the formation of a new company to be known as VEEGA, which is an acronym for V Eight Entrance Group Association. VEEGA will similarly form a joint venture company with the enshrined promoter’s of the New Zealand Championship Series TMC, The Motorsport Company. TMC is 60 percent owned by Motorsport New Zealand [the governing body of NZ motorsport, think CAMS in Australia] ane the remaining 40 percent, by the circuit owning car clubs

Whilst the joint venture company NZV8’s is to be owned on a 50/50 basis, the profits however will be split 67/33% in favour of VEEGA. The technical regulations and the policing of the same belong to VEEGA as does the IPO, which is a first for New Zealand. Colin Bond has offered his assistance to VEEGA and that offer seems likely to be accepted for at least the first few rounds of the forthcoming season beginning on the 4th November next.

This season, Besnard, Radisich, McLean and Youlden are all confirmed, and ex pat kiwi Craig Baird is also said to be a distinct possibility. Kayne Scott is expected to switch to a Falcon this season, joining other leading Ford drivers like McIntyre, Fogg, Paul and Mark Pettersen [not related] Procter and Fawcet, Holden fans must surely be holding their collective breaths. If Scott does indeed go Ford the only other Holden on past performance that can possibly challenge the Blue Oval must be Tasman’s NZ’s Andy Booth who at least won a race last season [albeit in Scott’s enforced Clipsal absence]. It remains to be seen whether Booth and his team can step up enough to emulate Scott’s lone Holden challenge to the fast Fords last year. Much has been said by Kevin Murphy, about Tasman Australia’s commitment to assisting Booth in Kiwi land this year, and with so many top drivers in Fords he is certainly going to need all the help he can get if he is to seriously challenge the Falcon’s in New Zealand this season.

Meanwhile VEEGA’s Board has set itself a priority to develop a “Blueprint for the future” which should see a common control engine used in both cars next season. This thorny issue has been made easier by the recent introduction of GM’s all new NASCAR small block RO7 engine that at long last carries the distributor at the front of the engine block. Purists on both sides can now have no augment over which location is better or indeed defines a Ford and Chevy small block.

VEEGA’s new technical Director will also be responsible for developing a more economical way to introduce new cars and will know doubt fully investigate the introduction of a control chassis, in concept similar to NASCAR, but to give the appearance of being derived from a stock body. The new VE is a good example of the end result, however TEEGA failed to make the chassis a control item, and therefore failed to contain a very significant cost. It is to be hoped that VEEGA does not make the same mistake.