F1 Fanatic

Nissan confirmed as entering the series with Kelly Racing:

http://www.speedcafe.com/2012/02/09/nissan-confirms-kelly-racing-v8-supercars-entry/

Well, that was massively anti-climactic. Everyone knew it was coming twelve hours before it was announced, and Nissan did not say which car they will use.

Mark Skaife reckons “two or three” other manufacturers are in talks to enter the category, and that at least one of them will join. Garry Rogers openly admits to talking with Chrysler, and he thinks they’re very serious about it, and I’ve also heard rumours that Hyundai are definately in (and have been for some time), and that Audi might be interested. I suppose the race now is to come to an agreement to enter and to get a good team; I reckon Tekno Autosports, Brad Jones Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport could all be swayed, while the single-car teams like Tony d’Alberto Racing and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport could be merged to form another team – but the catch is that with Nissan joining Kelly Racing, the split between Holden and Ford has gone from 17-11 to 13-11, and of all the teams that could easily defect to another manufacturer, most of them run Holdens; if Tekno, BJR and GRM all crossed the floor, there would be just six Holdens (Triple 8, HRT, Lucas Dumbrell and Walkinshaw). So I very much imagine that the Powers That Be at Holden and Ford are going to try and get as many teams as possible to commit to their chassis in 2013. I suppose VESA could open up one or more of the four RECs they hold in reserve so that the new manufacturers can have a presence on the grid, but that would still require them to work with an existing team.

It won’t be Infiniti yet as one of the requirements for CotF is that the manufacturer sells 10,000 cars in Australia, and I don’t think Infiniti sells any cars in Australia yet, just imports.

I’ve heard Infiniti are coming to Australia in 2013, and that they could use V8 Supercars as a platform for that expansion. I don’t know what the CotF regulations have to say about that, though.

I imagine Chrysler will enter under the Dodge brand using the Charger body or possibly the 300C Chrysler body. Hyundai would probably use the i45 or maybe the Elantra? I think more likely the former. Audi would almost certainly enter using the A4. But I cannot think what Nissan would use, it would have to be the Maxima based on their current range unless they bring out a 4 door GTR next year. Infiniti don’t really offer a lot of choice either, with it basically being a fancier Maxima.

I don’t understand all the talk about which car each manufacture will enter? The V8 Supercars at the moment are virtually the same. They use racing engines which are nothing like the road cars, and underneath there are no parts which come from the road car. The only thing that makes them different is the body, which is the only thing that really distinguishes the Holden Commodore from the Ford Falcon. And isn’t the ‘Car of The Future’ the one make with just the shell of each brand on top?
Nothing like the old Touring Car days, where the race cars were basically tuned versions of the road cars. Which is why the Nissan GTR smashed the competition back in the 90′s.
I would rather see the actual road cars on the track, wouldn’t that be better marketing for the manufacturers? I know that certain models would have an advantage, but then they could try and assist the cars that were at a disadvantage maybe?
But in the end, I guess what would just make it a GT series.

The RS4 has a v8 engine in it, I think the A4 body is a better size than the A8 as that seems a bit to large

The rod-going version of Altima has been launched in New York in the past day or so, and it didn’t take long for mock-ups of a racing version to appear:

http://img.tapatalk.com/7897f6f1-2813-92d7.jpg

http://www.speedcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/art-TK-Nissan-Altima-2013-JDR-1-344×224.jpg

@australian – Yes, the Altima. What were you expecting? The GT-R?

The Altima has just been unveiled, and it actually looks pretty good:

http://www.speedcafe.com/2012/10/30/gallery-nissans-glitzy-altima-v8-supercar-launch/

Still a shame about the name on the window, though.