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Mercedes to join V8 supercars (30 posts)

Topic tags: Mercedes, v8 supercars

Viewing post 16 to 30 (30 total posts)

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Prisoner Monkeys said 8 months ago:

@ivz – Several manufacturers have been linked to joining the category, with various degrees of truth to them. I don’t think Chevrolet were ever considering it, but it’s believed the Chrysler were on the verge of joining the series with Garry Rogers Motorsport – Fujitsu Racing – with the 300C, but decided against it. Audi and BMW have been suggested as possible entrants with Brad Jones and Dick Johnson Racing respectively, and I’ve heard vague talk of Hyundai entering, but that’s it.

Honestly, I don’t think anyone else will join. Tony Cochrane and Mark Skaife have said that they would take up to five manufacturers, but Mercedes makes four and that seems to be enough for now.

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SouthPawRacer said 8 months ago:

Aaaaaaaand the announcement is official.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/motor-sport/mercedes-benz-joins-v8-supercars-with-stone-brothers-racing-and-erebus-motorsport/story-fnec19wg-1226477498324

Mercedes won’t be joining with full manufacturer support, it seems. The operation will be run locally by Erebus Motorsport and Stone Brothers Racing.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 8 months ago:

Yeah, that’s what was announced yesterday.

Anyway, I’m also hearing rumours that Chrysler could enter the series next year as well. They rejected the proposition a few months ago, but Garry Rogers was not at Sandown, leading to speculation that he was in America, negotiating directly with Chrysler.

I can’t for the life of me think why they would suddenly backflip on this, but in the time since turning down the chance to join V8 Supercars, Dodge – which is one of the brands the Chrysler group owns – has withdrawn from NASCAR. If Chrysler wants to maintain a presence in motorsport, V8 Supercars might be the ideal choice, given its format of V8-engined cars, the Car of the Future regulations that are designed to minimise costs, the renewed push out into international markets, and the series’ reputation worldwide.

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Keith Collantine said 3 months, 1 week ago:

Well here are the cars:

@motorstvall 3 @erebusv8 cars“ @speedcafe: First look at Erebus Mercs. More to follow. twitter.com/speedcafe/stat…”

— Trevor Johnson (@UKiRacer) February 14, 2013

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Prisoner Monkeys said 3 months, 1 week ago:

The SP Tools and IRWIN cars look great. The Heavy Haulage Australia car, however, looks horrendous.

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DavidS said 3 months, 1 week ago:

I like the Car of the Future, because they’ve actually made proper advances in the fundamental design of the cars, which were dinosaurs.

I just hope the Mercedes cars have a distinctive engine sound, rather than the normal one.

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the_sigman said 3 months, 1 week ago:

Not bad.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 3 months, 1 week ago:

A Chrysler 300C was unveiled as the new pace car for the series, replacing the Nissan GT-R. This has led to some speculation that Chrysler want to see the 300C compete, possibly as soon as the middle of the season; Mark Skaife has said that he wouldn’t be surprised if manufacturers make a mid-season debut so as to give them more time to develop a car, but to get their foot in the door before anyone else joins the party, because the sport has said five manufactureres is the maximum. Chrysler were previously tipped to enter as a full manufacturer, backing Garry Rogers Motorsport (the Fujitsu cars) and reportedly came very close to a deal before backing out for reasons that were never explained.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they want in and V8 Supercars Australia want them in – that way, they would have two (semi-)domestic brands (Ford and Holden) competing against one manufacturer from Japan (Nissan), one from Europe (Mercedes) and one from America (Chrysler).

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Frishy101 said 3 months, 1 week ago:

Here it is. The Chrysler 300 SRT8 Safety Car.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 3 months ago:

@davids – It does have a very distinctive sound to it.

I’m posting this from my mobile, so I can’t give you a direct link, but I *can* tell you where to find it. If you go to speedcafe.com, there is a video currently on the main page that features an on-board lap of Eastern Creek with Lee Holdsworth (the #4 IRWIN Tools car).

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Abdurahman said 3 months ago:

@prisoner-monkeys
Thanks for that! fantastic! I wish that type of quickshifter would find its way into roadcars instead of the paddleshift.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 3 months ago:

If you go onto the second page of stories on speedcafe.com, there is a video of the engine being turned on at the Mercedes launch. It doesn’t sound as tinny as the engine in the hot-lap video, probably because the camera is outside the car, so the sound is much more representative of the car.

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Abdurahman said 3 months ago:

I will check that second page, yup it was very tinny, but I thought probably because of the mic location, it sure sounds like it revs high and hard though.

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DavidS said 3 months ago:

Just found the video. It sounds very different (even excluding the transmission noise).
It’s nice to see (or hear) something different in the v8 supercars field. I might actually watch it this year.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 3 months ago:

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