2017 VASC Silly Season

[Umai Naa]

Every driver's in the same boat.

Even Mr Whincup has struggled at times, since a change in engineer.

[Sandgroper]

Well its harder now than ever to win a race let alone finish in the top 10 so she has some work ahead of her. Other than that I say good luck to her. I like the idea.
Im involved with a number of female drag racers and the change in dynamics is well invited

[one five five]

Ridiculous that the series is partly-funding her entry into the series... major conflict of interest.

Simona is good enough to get a drive on merit...why couldn't she? Surely she should be tainted with the same brush now as the likes of Chris Pither & Dale Wood who are "paying" for their seats?

[Mixer]

Using the same line of thinking, do you think Tiger Woods is labelled a pay-golfer when the Government stumps up a couple of million to get him to come to a tournament?

Its perhaps a touch out of date but relevant all the same. If it gets bums on seats, sponsors on cars, and eyeballs on screens I don't see a particular issue with it.

[Micklegend]

What price for Simona to drive for Walkinshaw? Ryan did mention he had something different coming for next year, stranger things have happened. Gets Ryan a sponsor, constant publicity yada yada yada

Let the trolling begin....

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Its a good thing for the sport to bring Ms De Silvestro into the fold.

That VASC may be partially funding this isn't really the point, creating the diversity and interest from a marketing perspective from having a competitive female racer in the series should be a real boost to the profile of the category in places it wants to go with the marketing.

Diversity rocks!

I truly look forward to the day when we see her first VASC win (hopefully, depending on team choice)

It will make news around the WORLD!

Simona is a great racer and deserves a spot on most grids in the world. A great addition to the grid.

That said, v8sc buying a ride for purely marketing reasons is a significant shift for the promoter. Simona is now the equivalent of a ride buyer, the type that has been so heavily criticised by the establishment and v8 journos. Will there be consistency?

How do other teams and drivers feel about a driver being contracted to the promoter? Will there be preferential treatment- real or perceived?

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by Micklegend

What price for Simona to drive for Walkinshaw? Ryan did mention he had something different coming for next year, stranger things have happened. Gets Ryan a sponsor, constant publicity yada yada yada

The potential is there for any team to use Simona's gender as a way to unlock a sponsor that might otherwise not be interested. The link is already there with Harvey Norman - one of the largest advertisers in Australia and with huge potential for affiliate sponsors in the same vein as Kmart Racing, Supercheap Auto have executed. Whether or not they have the desire and funding for a full campaign is a whole other matter.

We have more FMCG brands in the sport than in the past, which is good, but I'd always love to see more.

Trying my best to avoid stereotypes here but if a female oriented sponsor was wooed to the sport on the basis of a female driver, and a concerted campaign was executed to try to get more women watching the sport, that has gotta be a good thing.

I think one of the really big changes with the automotive landscape with local manufacturing shutting down is that women are a really big part of purchasing decisions and Holden particularly are re-branding around that, with different types of celebrity ambassadors and so on.

[one five five]

Originally Posted by Mixer

Using the same line of thinking, do you think Tiger Woods is labelled a pay-golfer when the Government stumps up a couple of million to get him to come to a tournament?

Its perhaps a touch out of date but relevant all the same. If it gets bums on seats, sponsors on cars, and eyeballs on screens I don't see a particular issue with it.

Thats fine, but then all attacks on "pay-drivers" like Chris Pither, Dale Wood, David Wall, Tim Blanchard etc etc... should stop immediately too.

Will the "Supercars House Entry" be required to get special treatment in the team they are in? First batch of new developments etc..?
What happens if the "Supercars House Entry" lucks into a win from one of Supercars dubious safety car periods, won't that set a few doubts in motion?

Too much grey area and the Championship organiser should never be sponsoring cars in their own series.

[Umai Naa]

I don't know if they're directly sponsoring a car.

More or less facilitating the gig, if she wanted it. They've tee'd up a budget for her to slot into most teams on the grid. I don't think you'll see any major VASC branding on the car, well no more than the compulsary decals that every other car runs.

Warbo did say in recent times, that if they couldn't get Ms De Silvestro on board, then they wouldn't seek an alternative driver. There really isn't a suitable Plan B at this point in time.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by one five five

Thats fine, but then all attacks on "pay-drivers" like Chris Pither, Dale Wood, David Wall, Tim Blanchard etc etc... should stop immediately too.

I think your tinfoil hat has slipped.

I would personally posit that Chris Pither doesn't necessarily fit with the others.

Despite showing results in other classes (Dale Wood DVS, David Wall GTs, Tim Blanchard open wheelers), those three have done nothing but hold down the rear of the grid in ALL of their V8Supercar outings.

Simona is at least as good as some of the highly rated V8Supercar imports who drove here on merit - most recently Alex Premat fits the bill.

Time will tell whether Simona will ultimately be successful, if she ends up in a Nissan I am just not really sure she's going to be able to show her talent.

Whether or not a driver "brings" the sponsorship with them part of being a good driver and a marketable personality is being able to attract and keep sponsors.

The derision with the Walls, Woods and Blanchards is that their money is keeping better drivers out of those seats - but on the flipside you could say their money is keeping their respective teams going. So that is a difficult balance in a tough sponsorship market.

[one five five]

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

I don't know if they're directly sponsoring a car.

More or less facilitating the gig, if she wanted it. They've tee'd up a budget for her to slot into most teams on the grid. I don't think you'll see any major VASC branding on the car, well no more than the compulsary decals that every other car runs.

Noted, i remembered Supercars themselves had pledged $1 million a few months back and took it that the Harvey Norman & SA Govt money was on top of this, but it may be that those sponsors cover the $1 million

I just think that any Supercars involvement in putting this together tarnishes it abit, as it looks like she is contracted to the series & they will 'place' her with a team.

The look would be much better if she was seeked out by a team and the deal done between team & driver... i guess Supercars wouldn't have had as much control over their new star that way though.

One hopes the publicity push that will come won't be at the expense of time to focus on the driving.

[peckstar]

or we could just read some linked articles instead of speculating

V8 Supercars backing for full-time female driver

The sanctioning body has taken the unusual step of securing sponsorship for a full-time female competitor to accelerate interest among top-tier V8 teams.

Believed to be worth around $1 million, the commercial support for a female racer in the title series will be available from 2017.

[old fart]

What happens if she runs foul of the rules and the IPO has to investigate?

[D.R.T.]

So who holds the contract?

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by old fart

What happens if she runs foul of the rules and the IPO has to investigate?

It will get investigated like any other driver.

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

So who holds the contract?

The details are in the media releases:

As previously reported, Supercars had itself secured the sponsorship funding for De Silvestro, who will become the first full-time female driver in the category’s modern era.

Retail giant Harvey Norman, which already sponsored the Supergirls Bathurst entry, and the South Australian Government have provided the backing for the deal to take place.

So Supercars is not paying her per se, but they have negotiated appropriate sponsorship to enable her to go run at a team next year, which is to be announced, and I presume with Harvey Norman backing.

Although it is expected that the 28-year-old Swiss will continue with Nissan in 2017, the Supercars statement does not confirm a team for her full-time contract.

She has not yet signed a contract with a team. I would imagine there would be a Memorandum of Understanding between Simona, Supercars and perhaps even Harvey Norman as such.

Also... I wonder what the chance now is the car could run again this year, similar to what Marcos Ambrose had?

[mayhem]

If she drives a Nissan, which round will she get to trial a new fuel mix for VASC?

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Mixer

She has not yet signed a contract with a team. I would imagine there would be a Memorandum of Understanding between Simona, Supercars and perhaps even Harvey Norman as such.

And that could be the precedence that is causing so much angst up and down pit lane.

Will she sign a contract with a team at all? Or will it be between V8SA and the team with Simona contracted to V8SA only.

That is a dangerous precedent.

V8SA will want Simona in victory lane to leverage this strategy - that can put themselves in a tricky position

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

And that could be the precedence that is causing so much angst up and down pit lane.

Will she sign a contract with a team at all? Or will it be between V8SA and the team with Simona contracted to V8SA only.

That is a dangerous precedent.

V8SA will want Simona in victory lane to leverage this strategy - that can put themselves in a tricky position

No more angst than trying to sign any new driver to a team.

I thinking this is a case of making mountains out of molehills

[twinwebbers]

Gees, you guys would whinge about the sun coming up in the morning.

It's a commercial arrangement that VASC as sponsorship manager have facilitated between Hardly Normal, South Australia and an as yet un-named party.

VASC and it's racing is a business if you don't like they way they do business then find another business to follow.

Meanwhile in international coverage... Black Flag

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by twinwebbers

It's a commercial arrangement that VASC as sponsorship manager have facilitated between Hardly Normal, South Australia and an as yet un-named party.

If it ends with the sponsors, the team and driver all in contract independent of V8SC than that is fine.

With V8SC announcing a 3 year contract without a team, this lends people to suggest that they may be more involved than merely 'facilitating' Mr Twin Webbers.

How would it be viewed if the AFL or NRL begun to contract athletes and then place them with teams?

Originally Posted by twinwebbers

VASC and it's racing is a business if you don't like they way they do business then find another business to follow.

That black and white is it? Look forward to that being applied consistently here. Agree or leave?

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

If it ends with the sponsors, the team and driver all in contract independent of V8SC than that is fine.

With V8SC announcing a 3 year contract without a team, this lends people to suggest that they may be more involved than merely 'facilitating' Mr Twin Webbers.

How would it be viewed if the AFL or NRL begun to contract athletes and then place them with teams?

Its fine anyway, because its nothing to do with you or any posters, wont change our opinion no matter what happens. Its between v8 supercars and the teams to sort out

AFL and NRL already help things like that happen through extra support of some teams think Melbourne Storm or Greater western sydney, no big deal.

Mountain out of molehill

The real question we should ask is why Simona, hardly set the world on fire in the racing she has done, won nothing of any note or at leats for a long time

[twinwebbers]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

How would it be viewed if the AFL or NRL begun to contract athletes and then place them with teams?

While I'm not a follower of either code, I believe things like this do happen in football codes. Marquee player contracts?

FFA was heavily involved in getting Tim Cahill back to Australia, independent of Melbourne City.

[Umai Naa]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

How would it be viewed if the AFL or NRL begun to contract athletes and then place them with teams?

Doesn't the ARU do this with players?

However, I do agree for the sake of the sport, there will be a reasonable degree of transparency in what makes up this arrangement.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

However, I do agree for the sake of the sport, there will be a reasonable degree of transparency in what makes up this arrangement.

why?

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

If it ends with the sponsors, the team and driver all in contract independent of V8SC than that is fine.

Just asking questions is a way of attempting to make wild accusations acceptable (and hopefully not legally actionable) by framing them as questions rather than statements.

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

How would it be viewed if the AFL or NRL begun to contract athletes and then place them with teams?

AFL has been doing it since at least 2011, look up Karmichael Hunt as one prominent example.

I am sure the NRL does the same too.