NZV8 Team Owners form new company

[Mark Petch]

NZV8’s team owners are to head down the TEEGA road with the formation of a new company to be known as VEEGA, which is an acronym for V Eight Entrance Group Association. VEEGA will similarly form a joint venture company with the enshrined promoter’s of the New Zealand Championship Series TMC, The Motorsport Company. TMC is 60 percent owned by Motorsport New Zealand [the governing body of NZ motorsport, think CAMS in Australia] ane the remaining 40 percent, by the circuit owning car clubs

Whilst the joint venture company NZV8’s is to be owned on a 50/50 basis, the profits however will be split 67/33% in favour of VEEGA. The technical regulations and the policing of the same belong to VEEGA as does the IPO, which is a first for New Zealand. Colin Bond has offered his assistance to VEEGA and that offer seems likely to be accepted for at least the first few rounds of the forthcoming season beginning on the 4th November next.

This season, Besnard, Radisich, McLean and Youlden are all confirmed, and ex pat kiwi Craig Baird is also said to be a distinct possibility. Kayne Scott is expected to switch to a Falcon this season, joining other leading Ford drivers like McIntyre, Fogg, Paul and Mark Pettersen [not related] Procter and Fawcet, Holden fans must surely be holding their collective breaths. If Scott does indeed go Ford the only other Holden on past performance that can possibly challenge the Blue Oval must be Tasman’s NZ’s Andy Booth who at least won a race last season [albeit in Scott’s enforced Clipsal absence]. It remains to be seen whether Booth and his team can step up enough to emulate Scott’s lone Holden challenge to the fast Fords last year. Much has been said by Kevin Murphy, about Tasman Australia’s commitment to assisting Booth in Kiwi land this year, and with so many top drivers in Fords he is certainly going to need all the help he can get if he is to seriously challenge the Falcon’s in New Zealand this season.

Meanwhile VEEGA’s Board has set itself a priority to develop a “Blueprint for the future” which should see a common control engine used in both cars next season. This thorny issue has been made easier by the recent introduction of GM’s all new NASCAR small block RO7 engine that at long last carries the distributor at the front of the engine block. Purists on both sides can now have no augment over which location is better or indeed defines a Ford and Chevy small block.

VEEGA’s new technical Director will also be responsible for developing a more economical way to introduce new cars and will know doubt fully investigate the introduction of a control chassis, in concept similar to NASCAR, but to give the appearance of being derived from a stock body. The new VE is a good example of the end result, however TEEGA failed to make the chassis a control item, and therefore failed to contain a very significant cost. It is to be hoped that VEEGA does not make the same mistake.

[pete55]

I'm not sure a control engine is the way to go.

By the way Mark, wouldn't it be the V Eight Entrants Group Association?

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by pete55

I'm not sure a control engine is the way to go.

By the way Mark, wouldn't it be the V Eight Entrants Group Association?

pete55, thanks for picking up that quite unintentional typo "Entrants" is indeed the correct word.

As for control engines, its a no brainer for us here in NZ, as it will effectively half our current engine cost ie. from NZ$45,000 to $25,000. The blocks will be different ie. Ford's would get the true Ford Motorsport block and Holden's the after market, "Dart" version of the same block, but cylinder heads and intake manifold etc to be identical.

Its still down to the individual engine builder to blue print the engine. I am sure you will agree containing cost and ensuring parity are paramount to survival. Budgets in NZ are a fraction of the Fujitsu Series, let alone the main game, and as such we have to contain cost in order to continue to have 30 car plus grids.

I do however appreciate your comments pete55, which is why I decided to post them.

[GTRMagic]

Its a good move to formalise the commercial arrangments of the NZ V8 series. There are many things the TEGA/VESA group have put together very well... hopefully the learnings are translatable across the Tasman.

I am curious as to whether the NZ series will do something like they do in the Utes series here... legislate that a franchise is either a Ford or a Holden, to enforce some level of balance of car numbers in the series. May be worth some further thought... for the last thing the NZ series would really want is an all-Ford grid and race result at every meeting.

Is there any news on a replacement title sponsor for the series?

[mountainstar]

Great news. Hopefully I'll be the first american to race in NZV8's someday.

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Its a good move to formalise the commercial arrangments of the NZ V8 series. There are many things the TEGA/VESA group have put together very well... hopefully the learnings are translatable across the Tasman.

I am curious as to whether the NZ series will do something like they do in the Utes series here... legislate that a franchise is either a Ford or a Holden, to enforce some level of balance of car numbers in the series. May be worth some further thought... for the last thing the NZ series would really want is an all-Ford grid and race result at every meeting.

Is there any news on a replacement title sponsor for the series?

GTRMagic, as I understand it, there is at least one high potential multinational company interested in signing on for next year. However with budgets allready locked in for this finnancial year it's not looking good for a full replacement of Parker ENZED this season. It may indeed be a case of having to grin and bare it for this year as TMC are fast running out of time.

The good thing is that the class is in good shape and 30 plus cars will contest the championship. There is also a new F1 style qualifying format in place that will be unique to NZV8's and should also boost Saturday crowd numbers plus generate news for the Sunday papers etc.

.

[pete55]

All sounds good Mark. Hope you have success with your team and please let us know how things are going.

[flyingduck]

Well good to see the changes happening this year in the V8's. Will the reverse grid races be the same again this year.

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by flyingduck

Well good to see the changes happening this year in the V8's. Will the reverse grid races be the same again this year.

fd, most competitors thought it worked well last season, as well as both the spectator's and TV rating'a. Whist I am not a fan of any form of reverse grid racing, I also have to conceed it did not result in the carnage I expected. So in answer to your question, yes the majority rules, so it stays for another year.

There will also be an extra 2 laps added to each of the 3 races over the weekend, which should suit some of the competitors that struggle with the art of qualifying, but race well.

[flyingduck]

The thing I hated in the series last year was people doing bad results in races and saving green tyres for the reverse grid race. I believe you should be out there to do well in every race not just the reverse grid race and with the way the points are weighted for top finishers they get more points by using that sort of strategy.