V8 Support Programs for 2004

[GROUPA]

Philip Island had the island magic race meet recently...were you there Race Time???

It was a good meeting in varied weather during the day...we even had hail & thunderstorms along with 28 degree heat.

The crowd was fairly big given the Rob Roy Hill Climb was on as well in the metro area.

Best of all the racing was excellent from formula vee to the 50k plate....there was even ex konica cars run by Whyhoon & the Smiths truck VR/VS ????

Sports Sedans are the way to go...the supercarcrowd seem to like these...lap times are close if not better than supercars.

I still think the way to go is the Alfa Sud/Laser series style with current top line drivers Ambrose, Skaife etc up & coming from other catergories and old champs, Longhurst,Grice nudge nudge wink wink.....etc..

[F|sh]

hmm TC and china? it shouldnt be called AVESCO anymore should be called tcvesco.

i believe anyone worth there salt would get there car toa V8 round. why not great sponsorship promotor and you can tell potenail sponsors that you race with the V8's

[RaceTime]

Sure was - full results here:

http://racetime.com.au/?event=p0306

[GTRMagic]

Interesting to see Tony D'Alberto had a clean sweep of the FF races too Quickest in all sessions, won all races for his class... good to see

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally posted by Morris 1100
Oh yes!!
And rememember that the Victorian scruits insist on metal valve caps on your wheels!

So do the Qld scrutes. No problem, they're 50c each at Bob Jane.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally posted by rdmdog
It would be great to see more interest from Queensland so we could beat them on their own turf again!

But you haven't! A NSW car has never won the Qld state title or a Nationals held in Qld.

Congratulations to Qld's Steve Thompson on winning the 2003 NSW IPRA championship and Qld's Wayne Wakefield on winning the 2003 IPRA Nationals at Sydney's Oran park. QUEENSLANDER!!!!

I think the Qld guys did a top job of supporting IPRA in NSW. 8 cars travelled down for the Nationals in 1998 and 15 travelled down for the 2003 Nats, as well as having several cars do most rounds of the NSW series. Fair bit of interest there i think.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally posted by GTRMagic
I still wonder whether an IPRA competitor will bother/be able to follow the multiple rounds of the new series attached to the Supercar circus.

These guys are not millionaires, its not a professional category in the sense that the teams and drivers are not paid by sponsorhip....

Somehow I find it hard to imagine a driver will spend his own money on an entry on a Supercar card, knowing full well their category is the most expendable on the calendar, so if one of the showy events runs over time, their races are likely to be reduced.

Would make more sense to continue running state rounds when the IPRA cars are the main show, and the other categories have to accomodate their entry for the weekend. Especially if the entry fees are raised on account of it being a national meeting (which a Konica round is isnt it?)

GTR, at first i'm inclined to agree with you, why travel the countryside to be cannon fodder when there's a healthy State competition at home, but consider the AHTCA example. They aren't a hugely different group to the IPRA and they have done a 6+1 round series for two years now with 40 cars at each round. They have managed this by relying on a core group of 15 or 20 cars to do every round and filling the grid with locals who only do 1 or 2 rounds of the National series.

When your name is 5th on a 5 bill card, you know you might get cut to make way for "the show", but a lot of people think it's obviously worth risking. Aside from the promotional oppurtunities, there's an excitement that comes from racing in front of that many people and being a part of something that big. When I did the V8 round at EC two years ago, a lot of the V8 fans didn't even know Group N existed and were fascinated to find a class that they could relate to and possibly afford themselves. A lot of people think that the only classes are the ones they see on TV.

[GTRMagic]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
A lot of people think that the only classes are the ones they see on TV.

You mean they're not?

I get where you are coming from, just relating it to the big pond small pond argument... the IPRA cars would come from being the headline act in their own various state series, to being TC's warmup act....

... and whether that attracts the SORF kingdom to the class to see a load of new cars there, to push out established competitors I am not quite sure yet.

[DAVID PATERSON]

They probably wouldn't be pushing anyone out as such, because this is in addition to the state series, it isn't replacing anythig existent. Some people like to be big fish in small ponds and some just want to swim in the big pond, even if they're a minnow. This gives everyone a choice. SORFs have dabbled in IP over the years and achieved bugger all AFAIK.

[Morris 1100]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
But you haven't! A NSW car has never won the Qld state title or a Nationals held in Qld.

Congratulations to Qld's Steve Thompson on winning the 2003 NSW IPRA championship and Qld's Wayne Wakefield on winning the 2003 IPRA Nationals at Sydney's Oran park. QUEENSLANDER!!!!

I think the Qld guys did a top job of supporting IPRA in NSW. 8 cars travelled down for the Nationals in 1998 and 15 travelled down for the 2003 Nats, as well as having several cars do most rounds of the NSW series. Fair bit of interest there i think.

Must be the valve caps!

[SDR41A]

That's right Dave, the people who are spending the dollars with their race cars are entitled to do what they like regardless of all the critics. Remember what they say about critics - they can read a road map but have no means of getting there.

[Crash Test]

Just having a gander at the calendar on www.queenslandraceway.com.au, and september 18/19. AAA open race meeting, transam series/ute festival. Hrrmmm.... anyone know any more about this?

[Zinger]

I think it might have something to do with truck racing, they do a similar thing at Mallala with the Power Surge meeting in May. But sound interesting ???

[rdmdog]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
But you haven't! A NSW car has never won the Qld state title or a Nationals held in Qld.....

Yep your right, I was referring to the Q500 support races in 2000 (was it that long ago )

I guess we remember the better weekends a little longer.

What I meant was that it would be great to have the top 8-10 from QLD, NSW, Vic and SA as well as the guys who can from WA & TAS in the series, my thoughts would be each state to elect one of its State Championship rounds as their state's series round.

Unfortunately this would preclude the challenge from supporting the Konicas, and this would not be good, however it may entice more people to try it on?

[Crash Test]

The advantage is that they would get top billing and it might work out a bit cheaper, but the crowd probably wouldn't be as big...

[rdmdog]

Originally posted by Crash Test
The advantage is that they would get top billing and it might work out a bit cheaper, but the crowd probably wouldn't be as big...

Nar, the real advantage would be each state having a round with racing as good as the Nationals

[Crash Test]

Still, the racing, at least up here at a state level is pretty much better than anything else

[rdmdog]

Originally posted by Crash Test
Still, the racing, at least up here at a state level is pretty much better than anything else

Sorry mate, cant agree with you there, there is a good reason for the ammount of Queenslanders coming south for various round of the NSW State Championship in IMP PROD anyway!

[DAVID PATERSON]

Bit of a misunderstanding here i think. Crash is saying that the racing in ImProd in Qld is pretty much better than anythinge else at State level in Qld, which it is. I don't think he was passing comment on the racing in ImProd in NSW, which i hear is absolutely top shelf.

[Crash Test]

Yeah, what Patto said

[rdmdog]

Sorry Crash, I wasnt getting you then but Im getting you now

[F|sh]

dont know about qld racing but WA has the widest ranges of cars in its pretty damn small ip class.
commo's intergras,gemini,escorts,skylines and the rcing is alway top notch and no panel damage

[DAVID PATERSON]

Variety is one of the many great things abour ImProd, along with recognisable cars, David & Goliath battles, affordability, great sounds and you can easilty see it when they're really trying.

[Mattracer]

Originally posted by F|sh
dont know about qld racing but WA has the widest ranges of cars in its pretty damn small ip class.
commo's intergras,gemini,escorts,skylines and the rcing is alway top notch and no panel damage

A lot of top cars go West too. I've seen the ex-Brock Sierra RS500 and the ex-DJR Shell Sierra RS500 at Barbagallo in the mid-nineties.

[pete55]

Tasmania seems to get a few notable cars down there too.