V8STAR to take to the track in Germany

[KC]

Taking a lesson from NASCAR, a new series has been born in Germany to contend for touring car honors. Tube-framed, 5.7 liter V8s, and silhouette bodiwork are all being combined to form the V8STAR, or V8 Silhouette Touring Auto Racing. The chassis are all constructed by Nitec, a division of Zakspeed and the Ford NASCAR derived engines are built by Jack Roush Engineering. The series has endorsement and backing power from German television RTL and daily newspaper giant Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ). At this time no factory involvement is present and factory logos are even being omitted for copyright reasons. Bodies have been produced to replicate an Opel Omega, a Lexus, an Audi A6 and a Jaguar S-Type. The cars cost around 265,000dm and engines running 72,000dm. The championship is worth 5 million deutsche marks making it a lucrative deal for privateer racers.

After initial tests at Estoril, the car ran with only minor teething problems and Porsche Supercup driver Altfrid Heger claimed the car was exhilirating to drive. It has a much more basso exhaust note and near 40% more power than the factory oriented DTM 4.0 liter V8 cars.

The series will consist of nine races of 160km in length. The official calendar for the series is...

April 28 Oschersleben
May 12 EuroSpeedway Lausitzring
May 26 Nurburgring
June 6 Salzburg
July 21 Nurburgring
August 18 EuroSpeedway Lausitzring
September 9 Hockenheim
September 29 Nurburgring
October 13 Oschersleben

[KC]

Here is an image of the test mule in action...

[touringlegend]

Now, thats what my ideal BTCC car would look like. I'm off to Germany then!

[fordracingaustralia]

Well, it's not a lesson from Nascar, it's a direct copy of Australian V8Supercars (the closest and most competitive motorsport in the world).

If you want to take a look then visit http://www.v8supercar.com.au

[AdrianG]

The only things this class has in common with Aussie V8s, is that they are rear wheel drive and powered by a V8.Theyare basically a NASCAR ripoff, with classier bodies, and a chassis that is probably more advanced control chassis than NASCAR rather than the production based `V8 Supercars'.

[Falcadore]

I remember a few people thought DTM2 was a rip off of V8Supercar as well. When living off the **** spewed out by Mrs. Cochrane & Sheen & etc. V8Supercar fans can be extroadinarily insular.
yours
Mark Jones

[KC]

It doesn't really matter who or what a series is based upon. It could be argued that V8Supercars are touring versions of SCCA TransAm, but it hardly matters. The V8STAR program will allow privateers to compete for DTM money without having to butt heads with the factory teams. The cars look good, they should be quick and fun to drive and most likely produce a good show. It will not require sponsors with budgets the size of Gross National Products to field a car and be competitive in the series. With RTL and WAZ in on the ground floor, they are already guaranteed media coverage, so it is a win-win situation for those involved.