HSVDT & HRT - big news today

[Carby650]

Guys I know that this has been rumoured for a few weeks but today the V8 Supercar web site confirmed it. The pairings for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

Skaife and GT will drive the no2 HRT car whilst the Kelly bros wil drive the no 15 Toll HSVDT car.
walkinshaw said it was to do with risk management. Basically he knows that Mark and Todd cannot win the championship but GT and Rick can so he does not want them in the same car.

[jaykay]

So there are 1 and 2 for Sandown and Bathurst then !!!!! :dance:

[Carby650]

So there are 1 and 2 for Sandown and Bathurst then !!!!! :dance:

lets hope so.
I really hope that they use GT's car and if they have to paint it up as the No2 HSV car then so be it. It appears to be the more reliable vehicle this year.

[VooDoo]

Wasnt this announced a few weeks ago. im sure ive read about it already.

[JT]

Wasnt this announced a few weeks ago. im sure ive read about it already.

was only speculation until now

[dadem0n]

Kelly brothers join forces in revamp for Holden enduro pairings

Brothers Todd and Rick Kelly will drive together in the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000 for the first time in their careers under a revamp of enduro pairings across the Holden Racing Team and the Toll HSV Dealer Team.

Rick, currently 2nd in V8 Supercar championship standings, will team up with Todd in the #15 Toll HSVDT Commodore VZ while third-placed Garth Tander will join five-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife in his #2 Holden Racing Team Commodore VZ.

Two-time Sandown 500 and seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards will drive in the #22 HRT Commodore teamed with young protégé Ryan Briscoe in the latter's first competitive V8 Supercar drive, while the #16 HSVDT Commodore will be piloted by V8 Supercar veteran Anthony Tratt and Fujitsu Development Series up-and-comer Tony D'Alberto.

"Being paired for the enduros is something that Rick and I have talked about forever and we're thrilled it has finally found a way to happen," said Todd Kelly, 26, who won his first Bathurst 1000 last year alongside Skaife.

Two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Rick, 23, added: "We have an enormous amount of respect for each other's driving ability and total faith in each other not to make silly mistakes. To win Bathurst back-to-back was incredible, but it would be even more special to win with my brother."

Tom Walkinshaw, whose company Walkinshaw Racing oversees the preparation of both the Holden Racing Team and the Toll HSV Dealer Team, said the revamp was principally designed to protect the championship aspirations of the leading contenders.

"Risk management says that you need to put Garth and Rick in separate cars for the enduros. The fact that they will each drive alongside a defending Bathurst champion is ideal for our needs," he said.

He said the Richards-Briscoe combination was also an exciting prospect for HRT fans.

"It's an intriguing pairing, to put the master in the same car with the apprentice. Jim is a proven performer at this time of year and if Ryan is as good as his CV suggests, he will be very competitive."

Holden Motorsport Manager Simon McNamara said: "We have two ambitions in mind at Holden this year, which is firstly to win the championship and secondly to win Bathurst.

"This plan not only gives us an each-way bet on the championship, it gives strong pairings with legitimate claims of winning Sandown and Bathurst."

Tander said he was delighted to be driving in the enduros with Skaife.

"Mark, Rick and Todd are all top drivers, and it wouldn't really matter which way we mix it, they are all Bathurst winners and all more than capable of doing the job," he said.

"Mark knows exactly what to do out there - last year at Bathurst he and Todd drove the perfect race, consistent without taking any risks. That's exactly what we need."

Skaife said he would do whatever was needed to achieve success.

"I will do what's best for Holden and what is best for the championship, without jeopardising our chances at Sandown and Bathurst," he said.

The Betta Electrical Sandown 500 will be held at Sandown International Raceway in Melbourne on September 1-3. The Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 will be held at Mt Panorama, Bathurst on October 5-8.

Pairings for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000:
Holden Racing Team #2 Commodore VZ: Mark Skaife/Garth Tander
Holden Racing Team #22 Commodore VZ: Jim Richards/Ryan Briscoe
Toll HSV Dealer Team #15 Commodore VZ: Rick Kelly/Todd Kelly
Toll HSV Dealer Team #16 Commodore VZ: Anthony Tratt/Tony D'Alberto


Never thought it would happen :yup:

[motomk]

Holden Racing Team #22 Commodore VZ: Jim Richards/Ryan Briscoe

Thats a strong pairing too. Two non-championship drivers who are pretty good drivers in their own right.

[johno067]

Will be interesting to see how Briscoe goes, certainly has the right bloke next to him to teach him the ropes, especially around Bathurst.

Could we see Briscoe join the V8 Supercar ranks next year? Anyone know what his plans are. As for the GT and co driver pairings, going to be hard combinations to beat, master stroke there by TW.

[HSVDKB]

The drivers of the #16 Toll car dont enthuse but I suppose the barrell was getting a little empty.

[MR.HRT]

the pairing of skaife and tander will be awesome and barring mechanical problems it's hard to see anyone beating them except maybe kelly/kelly:lol:

[GAL350]

Does anyone else except me think that this is grossly unfair? I know the two teams are one etc, but there is a clear advantage over every other team that I think should not be allowed to continue. This issue has been going on for years now. Its time V8SA pulled their fingers out and stopped beating around the bush. I bet the ford fans are fuming!

[MR.HRT]

Does anyone else except me think that this is grossly unfair? I know the two teams are one etc, but there is a clear advantage over every other team that I think should not be allowed to continue. This issue has been going on for years now. Its time V8SA pulled their fingers out and stopped beating around the bush. I bet the ford fans are fuming!

why is it grossly unfair?? There is nothing stoping the other teams whether they be ford or holden from doing similar. Ford should have got off it's backside last year when toll hsvdt was formed but they didn't. It was only going to be a matter of time before it paid off. Most of the top teams are running there best drivers together anyway.

[Black_Utester]

Does anyone else except me think that this is grossly unfair? I know the two teams are one etc, but there is a clear advantage over every other team that I think should not be allowed to continue. This issue has been going on for years now. Its time V8SA pulled their fingers out and stopped beating around the bush. I bet the ford fans are fuming!

Do you know the full setup behind these two entities? As they are listed as two separate entities coming under TWR, they are only allowed testing as a single team. That is, both HRT and TOLL can only test as one team.

[GAL350]

Yes I do know the full story. I dont necessarily agree with them having to test as one team either, but I believe they should be two seperate teams in the first place.

The distribution and allocation of team licences has been a cause of concern for me for a few years. Basically what it comes down to is that I believe for the competition to remain fair then all "teams" should have an equal number of cars. At this point in time I believe they should be limited to two cars. If we were in a position where more teams had more money and could have three or four cars each then I would be agreeable to that. As long as there wasn't just one, two or three of these super teams, but several who were all on a level playing field. Crap, I don't think I'm translating my thoughts very well to paper here :doh:

My point is that if they were in seperate teams in the first place then they wouldnt be able to switch drivers willy nilly. I just think it sux, thats all :P

[Carby650]

vpv8calais, whilst I hear what you are saying there are many teams that operate in a similar manner. Most teams share motors and other companants for example I think that Stone Bros also make motors for triple8. In essence they are all sharing bits and pieces. Really the only issue i would think in say Ingall driving with Lowndes for example would be sponsers. And I gotta say I'm surprised that HRT and HSVDT where able to negotiate that. Althought it would be good coverage for Toll having the Kelly' sin the one team.

[GAL350]

vpv8calais, whilst I hear what you are saying there are many teams that operate in a similar manner. Most teams share motors and other companants for example I think that Stone Bros also make motors for triple8.

That's correct. SBR are supplying half of the bloody ford entries :lol:. Ford arent the only ones doing this either though, for example, Supercheap are using Perkins built engines (is that why they're going so crap this year? :banghead:)

You make a fair point, although I think theres a bit of a difference between buying a few components from other teams to running and sharing all of the same components (and data too).

Ford and Holden share a lot of the same components too. All in the interest of parity. The cars are becoming too alike for my liking, and I would love to see another manufacturer enter the fold and spice things up a little. I'll just step a side and wait for the flaming on that point now :hide:

[The_Senator]

I *thought* i read in last weeks AA that V8SCA had ruled that is was illegal under the Teams Agreement..

I am just looking for my copy now (never at work when you need it).. Someone may like to confirm. It was written in the side columns on page 3 or 5..

As much as a die hard Holden fan i am, i can not really see why 2 drivers from different teams (HSVDT and HRT) would swap drivers. EVEN if they are under the same "Umbrella".. Surely you'd want to win for YOUR race team, not your overall management.. Garth would effectively be winning for HRT - something that looks good for them, but leaves HSVDT without that win.. Curious to say the least.

[goofafidamedes]

I think its just a case of the game (V8 Supercars) getting out of the control of the administrators. The make a rule about the ownership of HRT and HSVDT and now that they are considered one team, you can't change drivers between them?

It maybe outside the spirit of the sport, but I think the spirit of the sport has gone out the window since the days of the SATCC and moving to the Holden vs Ford category.

Oh well, the bosses will make a decision or a rule change and some people wont like it, some will but life will go on for the V8's.

They just better make sure they don't pull no FIA shit like what they've done to Renault. :rofl:

[speedyocca]

and besides didn't ford do it a few years ago with besnard(when he was at sbr) and seton(@ fpr) at bathurst

[seldo]

But the powers-that-be have decided that they are "one team" and thus cannot enjoy the multiple-car testing advantages of separate teams, so why shouldn't they take advantage of the down-side, and cross-match drivers.... I don't really see the problem. The opposition can't have their cake and eat it too... they are either 1 team or 2....make up your mind....

[Carby650]

But the powers-that-be have decided that they are "one team" and thus cannot enjoy the multiple-car testing advantages of separate teams, so why shouldn't they take advantage of the down-side, and cross-match drivers.... I don't really see the problem. The opposition can't have their cake and eat it too... they are either 1 team or 2....make up your mind....

Yah... about time somebody actually said that. Spoke to a mate yesterday who happens to be a Fraud supporter and even he said the same thing

[goofafidamedes]

But the powers-that-be have decided that they are "one team" and thus cannot enjoy the multiple-car testing advantages of separate teams, so why shouldn't they take advantage of the down-side, and cross-match drivers.... I don't really see the problem. The opposition can't have their cake and eat it too... they are either 1 team or 2....make up your mind....

I agree totally.

[Phantom]

Apparently V8 Supercars Australia are having a board meeting tomorrow (Tues) to discuss this.

[dazzle260]

I *thought* i read in last weeks AA that V8SCA had ruled that is was illegal under the Teams Agreement..

I am just looking for my copy now (never at work when you need it).. Someone may like to confirm. It was written in the side columns on page 3 or 5..

As much as a die hard Holden fan i am, i can not really see why 2 drivers from different teams (HSVDT and HRT) would swap drivers. EVEN if they are under the same "Umbrella".. Surely you'd want to win for YOUR race team, not your overall management.. Garth would effectively be winning for HRT - something that looks good for them, but leaves HSVDT without that win.. Curious to say the least.


he wouldnt be winning for hrt he would be winning for him. its been done so both garth tander and todds little sister rick have a chance of getting points. if they are in 2 seperate cars they have a better chance of atleast one of them getting points. both in the same car doesnt make sense as far as the championship goes. being a lowndes fan its hard to go past GT and skaife for the win though....unfortunately. it is however a long race and many things can go wrong. all set up for a cracker of a day though!

[Phantom]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20299222-39478,00.html

Looks like they'll be ok for Sandown. Dont know about Bathurst. Personally as both are grouped together for testing (you can bet they've already driven each others cars) I can see a problem.

Admittedly, it's not in the spirit of the rules but then again neither was Morris and Radisich last year.

[GAL350]

Todd Kelly quit his Holden Racing Team position this week to join younger brother Rick in the HSV Dealer Commodore for the endurance races, while Garth Tander left the HSV team to partner reigning Bathurst champion Mark Skaife in the HRT garage.

Hmmmm, Interesting. So lets say this all goes ahead for Bathurst aswell, then what happens. They both quit their new teams and go back to the old ones?

Give me a break. This is bullsh!t. Friggin politics and rules gettin in the way of proper, fair and fun motor racing. :flamin:

[JT]

I don't see what the big deal is,all the Ford teams that are complaining I bet if they had an oppurtunity to do the same they would

[Phantom]

Hmmmm, Interesting. So lets say this all goes ahead for Bathurst aswell, then what happens. They both quit their new teams and go back to the old ones?

Exactly what they will do. The only way this could be stopped is getting the drivers to nominate a team at the start of the year that they will drive for.