Cheap V8s

[Crash Test]

I read with interest the article in AA today about cutting the cost of V8 racing. What do you think, and what would you do?

I notice that they want to ban car to pit telemetry.
Hrmmm.
I dunno, wouldn't they still use this sort of technology on testing days (amongst other things), and wouldn't the teams still bring a D.A.G. to the track any way to analyse data between races? So where is the savings there? I can see savings if they look at the live data and see that the car has low oil pressure and overheating, "hey Freddy, come into the pits before you blow up".

Didn't someone say that the removal of the front undertray would be a safety issue? Besides, are there any massive monetary gains to be made there anyways?

What's the price difference between a useable aluminium wheel and a mag one?

Something not accounted for... panels.
I remember Larry a few years ago saying that if they moved to fibreglass panels there could be mega dollar savings. How much do teams spend on panels? Heck, they can't bog them up! I remember we had a door donated for us from DJR last year for a raffle, and there was nothing wrong with it except for a slight ding on the bottom end. Heck, there would be a whole heap of advantages of having 'glass panels, and it would be a way to save some serious $$$.

Thoughts?

[coln72]

The removal of the front undertray wasn't for money savings acording the the Herald Sun yesterday, it was to try to improve the amount of passing in races.

To reduce costs without making the cars 100% the same, I don't know. The smarter/richer teams will always be at the front no matter what it costs to run a car. They could remove the amount of modification required to make the body shells into racers by using narrower tyers, standard front ends, standard rear ends..........

I'll just disappear into the corner and wait for the nasty replys.....

[Chucky]

Telemtry and teh like is always the first target in these cost cutting exercises. Why, I don't know as the technology is not expensive anymore and the benefits for the longer races more than pay for such a system.

I did also notice the "control dash". With just about every team except for HRT and Kmart using the ubiquitous Motec dash, don't you think this is just a cute way of nailing Motec for a bulk discount?

Likewise the wheel issue, which was lifted straight from the BTCC (shades of TOCA creeping in) idea of a "control" wheel. They put out a tender for 800 wheels and of course they get a stupenduosly discounted price.

[johnh875]

I haven't read the article yet but I've seen a list of proposed changes and by the looks of things if they implement all those changes they may as well park them on Avesco trucks between races - ridiculous! Certainly reduce the aero to make passing easier and pursue cost savings. However no matter what you do the richer teams will find ways to spend their money!

[Peregrine]

Perhaps the Black Wiggle is getting a little concerned at Marcos' "dominance" since the introduction of Redprint and the BA Falcon...... maybe a rule change will enable Holden to dominate again ? :confused:

[Onlooker]

Originally posted by Crash Test

I remember Larry a few years ago saying that if they moved to fibreglass panels there could be mega dollar savings. How much do teams spend on panels? Heck, they can't bog them up!

I remeber when the VT came out they had an artile on them and the hours in a front gaurd by Dencar to pump it out ,roll the lip etc was like half a day or more each gaurd.A pair of front gaurds supplied to HRT in bare metal ,or factory undercoat was costing around $500 worth of labour alone.Then you have to paint and signwrite the thing so another $150-200 so say $400 each.

But some teams put new bonnet clips on every 2-3 races as part of normal maintance even if they only have a slight little stone chip in them.