New era approaching fast

To meet its overseas ambitions, V8 Supercars Australia has had to make a significant break with the past.

For 19 years the sport has been an exclusive rivalry between dominant General Motors Holden and Ford. But to make it relevant to international motor sport fans and sponsors it will have to add more manufacturers.

The V8 Supercar rivalry was built on Holden’s and Ford’s dominance in the automotive market during the 1990s.

“In 1993, Ford and Holden were the market leaders in Australia, with roughly 45 per cent of the market,” V8 official and former driver Mark Skaife says.

However, the sector is now dominated by smaller vehicles and a wide array of manufacturers.

“Ford and Holden’s market share is roughly 20 per cent,” Skaife says. “In this country we are the sport of the industry. We would be derelict if we didn’t look to include other manufacturers in the next phase of growth because they represent the other 80 per cent of the market.”

New standardised vehicles will be introduced at the start of the 2013 championship to open racing up to Japanese, South Korean and European makers, which will be able to retain the key styling characteristics they use to build brand loyalty and market their cars.

Skaife hopes audiences will recognise their favourite manufacturer in the expanded series and support them in the same way as Holden and Ford fans got behind their favourite manufacturers.

“One of the real failings of the Nascar motor racing championship in America is that you can’t tell the difference between a Chevrolet, a Ford, a Dodge and a Toyota,” Skaife says. “You need to be able to evolve the key styling aspects that make them authentic to the manufacturer.”

V8 Supercars Australia will unveil the new standardised vehicle prototype, which it is calling “Car of the Future”, at the Bathurst 100 event in October.

Bathurst is the pinnacle of the V8 Supercar calendar and attracts nearly 300,000 people each year to Australian V8 Supercar Mecca: Mount Panorama in NSW and a viewing audience of more than 2 million.

This year the race will mark the beginning of a new era for the sport, Skaife hopes.

Dan Hall

BRW

Comments (0)