It Starts Today At 10-00AM!

[Pickles]

Well yes, Supercars starts today at Newcastle, telecast commences at 10.am on Fox.
Of course this is the first Gen 111 race, & after all the "hoo-ha" of the last couple of years, it'll be interesting to see how the cars match up with each other.
There's been talk of "pork barreling" from both sides, and because this is the first race, & early in the season, there are apparently very few spares available, so accidents need to be kept to a minimum.
Lots of people "knock" Supercars, but to coin an often used phrase, "it is what it is" & it's what we've got, & I look forward to it.
I can remember several years ago when, I think it was Ch 10 had the TV rights, & I said there was no way I was going to go to Pay TV/Fox etc, but a friend of mine who was working in a Supercars team told me that the Fox Supercars telecast was better than anything that'd previously been on FTA,....but I took no notice,.... until Ch 10 was reduced to 1 hour highlights, minus adds, equated to about 35/40 mins of actual racing,.......so I got the Fox Sports package, best thing I ever did,....it's really really good.
At times, I find much of the pre-race stuff more interesting than the actual race, pit interviews with drivers, team personnel, seeing how the cars are "tuned up" etc etc, and of course then there's Larko,....how good is this guy,....and it's all on the Fox telecast.
Whilst I used to be a regular race goer, Sandown, Phillip Island, (Calder!) Winton etc, I don't go any more, (too old!) don't like the crowds, & to be honest I feel I see much more of the event on Fox than I've ever seen whilst actually being at an event.
Crowds are what they are, and IMHO events are being well attended, but to my mind there's more focus on televised features than there's ever been, which is good for guys like me.
So that's me for this weekend,..just under an hour to go!
Pickles.

[Blown Monaro]

Yep, I'll be tuning in to see how the Gen III's go, less down force hopefully will see closer racing and more passing.
The new cars should shake the field up a bit but i reckon the cream will rise to the top.
Ford sookin already is good for a laugh, cant run the hot rod cams anymore....

[whitels1ss]

The Camaro looks great on track!

[Pickles]

The Camaro looks great on track!

Yes, a very interesting day yesterday, & yes again, I agree with you,...the Camaro is a great looking racecar, absolutely creams the Mustang in looks IMHO.
Very interesting day yesterday, which showed, well I know there was no race, that the cars appeared to be pretty equal.
Looking forward to today's Quali, TT shootout & race i, but Jeez, that track is pretty tight in places with a lot of concrete, so I hope there's not too much carnage, particularly with spares in short supply.
Pickles.

[Souljah]

So what kind of bastardized LSx engine are they running? From what i've seen it's a 5.7L running LS9 heads...??

[Smitty]

Well yes, Supercars starts today at Newcastle, telecast commences at 10.am on Fox.
Of course this is the first Gen 111 race, & after all the "hoo-ha" of the last couple of years, it'll be interesting to see how the cars match up with each other.
There's been talk of "pork barreling" from both sides, and because this is the first race, & early in the season, there are apparently very few spares available, so accidents need to be kept to a minimum.
Lots of people "knock" Supercars, but to coin an often used phrase, "it is what it is" & it's what we've got, & I look forward to it.
I can remember several years ago when, I think it was Ch 10 had the TV rights, & I said there was no way I was going to go to Pay TV/Fox etc, but a friend of mine who was working in a Supercars team told me that the Fox Supercars telecast was better than anything that'd previously been on FTA,....but I took no notice,.... until Ch 10 was reduced to 1 hour highlights, minus adds, equated to about 35/40 mins of actual racing,.......so I got the Fox Sports package, best thing I ever did,....it's really really good.
At times, I find much of the pre-race stuff more interesting than the actual race, pit interviews with drivers, team personnel, seeing how the cars are "tuned up" etc etc, and of course then there's Larko,....how good is this guy,....and it's all on the Fox telecast.
Whilst I used to be a regular race goer, Sandown, Phillip Island, (Calder!) Winton etc, I don't go any more, (too old!) don't like the crowds, & to be honest I feel I see much more of the event on Fox than I've ever seen whilst actually being at an event.
Crowds are what they are, and IMHO events are being well attended, but to my mind there's more focus on televised features than there's ever been, which is good for guys like me.
So that's me for this weekend,..just under an hour to go!
Pickles.

Martin....
except for Bathurst the whole 'Supercars' charade has moved on for me.. no interest here
(and especially since my employer ceased as major sponsor of HRT in 2017)

... now?
I am into TCM and Historics, Why so? the cars just have more relevance to me
they are made of actual metal, in most cases in a car manufacturing plant somewhere
in the world and not a sports sedan chassis with a plastic skin as 'Supercars'

TCM have far more actual makes and models on the track and despite size, weight
engine and engineering differences (no control all the same suspension parts here)
the racing is unbelivably close

and Historics.. where else do you get get an actual F1 on the circuit with one of
our Tasman series F5000? and no, these are not 'show' laps. pics from VHRR


335532759_1262796931294983_1148521606923118996_n.jpg


334963011_730409988536001_2756122876400321992_n.jpg

[Pickles]

Well here's a few comments from me re Newcastle.
I enjoyed the three days racing & thought that the Camaro was the better looking race car, however on the track they appeared to be pretty equal. Excellent crowd at Newcastle, Organizers, Council, MPs etc all very happy, and as usual the Fox TV coverage was excellent.
I thought the penalty handed out to 888 rubbing out both of their cars from a 1-2 position was a massive overkill.....if the cars had been running last & second last, would the penalty have had the same effect?...of course not.
I'm not a fan really of any driver in particular, although I do admire SVG's ability, & there's no doubt that Walkinshaw are getting more than their money's worth for Chaz who is doing a ripper job on & off the track for them.
And Smitty, I hear what you say, I like historics (I was taken to the historics last year, where I caught up with Sheppo & others!...LOVED it) & TCM too, & I'll be watching all of the AGP, but I suppose, going back to my youth when it was Holden early models (FX/FJ!, then whatever tin top racing we had,.... Series Prod, Group A, to Supercars and the evolution of where we are today. So I guess if it's V8 Sedan Car racing, I'll watch it. I don't watch Nascar much these days, but when Marcos was racing, I watched every race, and you know there's plenty that say the same about Nascar, doesn't relate to any road car etc, but it's one of the most popular sports in the U.S. Have you been to a race in the U.S.?..I haven't but I'd have loved to. The closest I got was when Bob Jane gave me a couple of tickets to go to the Thunderdome,...the noise was incredible,...I then understood why it was called the "Thunder" Dome,...nothing like the U.S. of course.
So, as far as the current Supercars racing is concerned, to use a phrase I first heard used by Mark Winterbottom, "It is what it is", I'm not saying it's the best but it's what we've got,..I just enjoy it.
Pickles.

[Goo]

I'm having trouble understanding how they got the car on the track, let alone through practice, qualifying, top ten & the 1st race without being pulled up on it.

The commentators claimed it was a safety infringement, filling the crush space between the roll cage & the drivers seat.

Don't they have to get these cars scrutineered?

Whilst I haven't been to a Nascar race in the US I did do a tour of the Brickyard at Indy, very impressive place & would certainly be a fantastic event to go to.

Have been to quite a few NHRA events and they put on a good show.

[Toddler78]

I'm having trouble understanding how they got the car on the track, let alone through practice, qualifying, top ten & the 1st race without being pulled up on it.

The commentators claimed it was a safety infringement, filling the crush space between the roll cage & the drivers seat.

Don't they have to get these cars scrutineered?

Whilst I haven't been to a Nascar race in the US I did do a tour of the Brickyard at Indy, very impressive place & would certainly be a fantastic event to go to.

Have been to quite a few NHRA events and they put on a good show.

Same can be said for F1, watching the interview Dutto was explaining the reasoning behind it, they were playing in the grey area of the rule book, which all the top teams do.

remember red bull (F1) and their blown defuser, Mececades with DAS? while there isn't a rule saying you can't do it the officials can't exclude a vehicle, they wait for an objection from another team before handing out their ruling. All the other teams would have probably known that it could be an issue and either waited until the race to put in an objection or put one in once they saw the footage of the dry ice going in the drivers door.

I doubt that the cars are scrutineered too much before the race event, but they are after the races. When I raced, all I had to do to pass scruineering was to show up to the drivers/riders briefing, and show my Bike and safety gear and I was ticked off, no more then 10 mins.
But I can assure you if a competitor put in an objection to say I was cheating then they would start looking closer.

I think the penalty whilst harsh is probably fitting for the type of infringement. 888 could easily afford a financial penalty, which is not much of a deterrent, same as red bull F1 breaching salary cap. A financial fine means nothing to them but lose of time in the wind tunnel is going to hurt more. On the salary cap breach I feel that that penalty was no where near enough, they should have lost points, drivers championship or constructors championship

[Pickles]

Well, it's not "starting today at 10-00am, but it is starting tomorrow!
It's interesting to note that SVG was not beaten "on the track" in the two races at Newcastle, I like the guy, and so I hope He can do well this W.E.
In the longer distance races at Newcastle SVG was able to utilise his unique "tire Life" skills, and 888's strategy was, as usual, also good, but these skills will not have nearly as much influence during the shorter races this W.E.....& Chaz's car was pretty fast, so there should be some close racing.
And of course it goes without saying that I wish Oscar all the best.
Pickles.