2008 Australian Sports & GT Championship

[davelise]

Well someone had to do it.

Hope everyone is ready for the start of the season. Going to be a very busy time with A1GP, Clipsal, F1GP all within 6 weeks.

Good luck to all competitors.

[RS500]

All three national series will be wanting a strong year.

Aussie GT will be loosing a few key players in, Washington, Wall and possible Alan for most of the series due to his new international duties. From talking to a few people the F1 and Adelaide rounds will have decent sized grids. Last year for the new hybrid rules before the GT3 regs come into effect

Intermarque will be looking strong with its new calender this year after moving away from the AMRS/AMRC. Sounds like more competitors will be coming out. And some new interesting cars as well.

Pirelli Championship - still not much info regarding this series other than it will contain Rod Wilson's maserati's and some posches. May take a while for the new AMRC series to gain support from the teams and drivers


Well thats my 2c regarding the 08 national series

[mildura1963]

RS, any details on what new interesting cars we might see in Intermarque?

[cptkablamo]

It will be interesting this year with all three championships...
Is there a calendar for the Intermarque yet???

It will be interesting to see how this Pirelli GT thing goes and more importantly if it has any impact on the other two...

[RS500]

from what i can see there hasn't been to much said about the regulations for the Pirelli championship

[Buckshot]

Looking forward to see how the Aussie GT goes this year, I'd really like to see it do well. Last year the V8s and the Aussie GT were the only 2 Australian categories I bothered watching.

[SALEEN S7R]

Indeed fingers crossed Aussie GT's has a strong year this year, I havent seen any tv coverage of the series for a couple of years now but I try and keep up to date with whats going on and last year was pretty good by the looks of things. Fingers crossed for a even better 2008.

[Oldtony]

Been a bit of delayed highlights coverage on SBS SpeedWeek and CH9 Speed Machine, but nothing live. Certainly looks good on the screen with a variety of machinery to look at.

[RS500]

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Indeed fingers crossed Aussie GT's has a strong year this year, I havent seen any tv coverage of the series for a couple of years now but I try and keep up to date with whats going on and last year was pretty good by the looks of things. Fingers crossed for a even better 2008.

the first few events will drag people out of the wood work as they are 3 of the biggest motor sports events in Australia

from what i hear there are more people leaving the series than people coming in for the full season

[Buckshot]

Note to whoever's covering the Aussie GTs this year: Time is limited so don't waste it talking to the drivers at the beginning of every race that way we can see more of the on track action.

I record the coverage and skip through the interviews to the actual races everytime.

[00 XR8]

Originally Posted by Buckshot

Note to whoever's covering the Aussie GTs this year: Time is limited so don't waste it talking to the drivers at the beginning of every race that way we can see more of the on track action.

I record the coverage and skip through the interviews to the actual races everytime.

Amen to that. Every Speedweek and Speed Machine telecast has a ridiculous amount of talking in it. It is just talk talk talk, get a bit of racing out of the way (quick highlights), and then get back to the talking. Rather frustrating when you sit down to watch some actual racing.

I really don't see how this approach would be cheaper than a proper coverage of the racing, or how it would give sponsors any more exposure, or how it would help build the championship in any way.........

[Falcadore]

With three, four if you count Carrera Cup, it will see the butter scraped a bit thin. Fields might not be what was hoped and certainly one of the four, probably two will fall short of expectations.

But which two?

[EfiOz]

I'd say GT can only get stronger, especially with the calender they've got this year. The only dark cloud is the continuing 997 nonsense.

Isn't the Pirelli and Intermarque series the same thing?

Carrera Cup will continue to waddle along until Porsche get tired of it, I guess.

[Pro Racer]

will Bowe still have a gig after his Lambo got sold just before the Sandown enduro last year? hope so as that will atleast fill the gap of one of the key players that are leaving. IMO a Simonse/Ferrari V Bowe/Lambo fight for the championship would be awesome.

i too get frustrated with Speed Machine with the amount of interviews and little highlights packages.

[racer69]

Thats the AVE way though unfortunatky, and they have a mortgage on just about everything non-VESA...... they have to learn for starters that all commentary should be done at the racetrack, not in a studio one night during the week...

I'll expect the next TLA Lambo in about 2010 going on previous form

[RS500]

but they will only have it for 2 rounds

[johnh875]

Originally Posted by racer69

Thats the AVE way though unfortunatky, and they have a mortgage on just about everything non-VESA...... they have to learn for starters that all commentary should be done at the racetrack, not in a studio one night during the week...

Perhaps they could combine the two so they run interviews while showing the racing vision - we don't need to watch the blokes talk, and I agree pretending to commentate live is not the best way.

[D.R.T.]

I guess the issue behind the coverage is that its the competitors paying for it, and they all want their 5 seconds in the sun. To a certain extent to, each category is trying to develop the personalities between competitors and the viewer.

That said it would do the categories and the sponsors better to have more racing, which is what everyone is there for rather in a Q and A session.

Any official news on the participation of Washington, Wall and Simonsen for 2008 ? Also I guess, the plans for their teams and vehicles ?

[RS500]

Walls won't be running the 996 at this stage next year.

Can't really say much about Bryce. From what i heard in the paddocks at sandown, Bryce won't be racing (like Dave just focusing on CC)

Not sure on Alan's plans for 08 (ff may have heard something), I know he has another European drive sorted out (a very good one), and there no doubt it will be 100% more important than his drive here so he may not be around the whole year if at all.

[cptkablamo]

Last I heard (at Sandown) was that Simonsen is likely to have some events in Australia but whether this means one or two or a whole season was not clear...and of course that could have changed by now too...

[RS500]

thats pretty well much what i heard at sandown as well cptkablamo. The team wasn't sure yet when or if he would be competing, as there were a few questions asked about the car

[D.R.T.]

Enews has Simonsen competing in Australian GT as one of his four sportscar programs.

[peterelise]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

I guess the issue behind the coverage is that its the competitors paying for it, and they all want their 5 seconds in the sun. To a certain extent to, each category is trying to develop the personalities between competitors and the viewer.

That said it would do the categories and the sponsors better to have more racing, which is what everyone is there for rather in a Q and A session.

Any official news on the participation of Washington, Wall and Simonsen for 2008 ? Also I guess, the plans for their teams and vehicles ?

Can't speak for other competitors but I know I would rather see more racing and less interviews on the TV coverage, after all, its the racing that gives any sponsor their coverage? Perhaps the producers struggle to get enough interesting race footage to fill the half hour? If Richard is on he might be able to shed some light...

As for other competitor's plans for this year, I haven't heard much from anyone. In addition to the things others have read in "reliable" sources about Dave Wall and Bryce concentrating on Cup Car, there seemed to be a few guys at Sandown who weren't sure what they were going to be doing in 2008.

We will be back in the yellow Lotus and I know there are one or two other Lotuses specced the same as mine which may be joining the series this year when cars are ready (seems unlikely for the first round or two at least). I guess it won't be long now till we see the entry list for the first round...

[racer69]

Originally Posted by peterelise

Perhaps the producers struggle to get enough interesting race footage to fill the half hour? If Richard is on he might be able to shed some light...

That would be it, most of the time there isn't alot of camera's there, so they fill the races with onboard shots........ then again they probably only provide what is paid for.


It's a pity no TV networks are involved in motorsport these days, they are all outsourced to V8TV or AVE, with sub-standard results

[EfiOz]

ASTUTI MOTORSPORT TO RUN KAIAS ASTON MARTIN IN 2008 AUSTRALIAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP

John Kaias has joined Melbourne based Astuti Motorsport in his ‘all out’ bid for success in the 2008 Australian GT Championship.



Kaias will be campaigning what is arguably the ‘glamour’ car of the field, the FIA GT3 specification Aston Martin DBRS9 Aston Martin that he brought into the country from theUK in April of last year.



Commenting on the move to the Astuti outfit Kaias said: ‘After some lengthy thought on the best approach for my 2008 season, I have decided to join Astuti Motorsport.



I wish to take my motor sport to a higher level with a more professional approach and believe Astuti Motorsport are the team to help take me there



I know my DBRS9 is good enough to win the championship so now I must place a bigger focus on my own development with a team that can give me the best support along with my full commitment.



I thoroughly enjoy driving the DBRS9 which is why I have decided to take the next step’.

Astuti Motorsport was formed by Sam Astuti to tackle the competitive world of Australian Formula 3 competition and is thrilled to be extending their skill, professionalism and expertise into the Australian GT Championship.

Astuti has been aspiring to run a team in GT for some time and couldn’t be happier to have John and the amazing Aston on board for the 08 season where they are set to become a formidable combination poised for success

That the car is well and truly capable of running at the front of the field against the Ferrari 430’s, Lamborghini Gallardo’s and Porsche models is beyond dispute with Kaias scoring two 4th positions and a 3rd at Round 4 of last year’s Championship at Queensland Raceway, while Will Davison scored two 2nd places in the “James Bond” machine at Round 5 at Phillip Island.



Disappointment was the name of the game for the big Aston at the Sandown Classic last year when the 360 kilowatt V-12 engine was plagued by a mysterious fault that even a new ECU flown over from the UK failed to remedy.



The car, in the hands of Kaias and Davison eventually finished in 7th place despite running with several cylinders down.



Astuti Motorsport debuts the Aston Martin at round one of the 2008 Australian GT Championship at the A1GP at Eastern Creek (February 1-3) followed by the Clipsal 500 Adelaide and the Australian Grand Prix rounds.

For more GT information visit the Championship web site at www.gtchampionship.com.au