Sandown

[Waatz]

Is there any livetiming for the V8 Supercars other than Bigpond, over here in NZ it's not on TV and im seriously gutted

[fpv_gtho]

Yeah its only Bigpond. So far its a 2 horse race, only Lowndes/Muller and Skaife/T.Kelly are in with a chance after the big wet tyre gambles that went on.

[fpv_gtho]

Now Murphy's in with a chance, he's just passed Lowndes and cloed the gap to Skaife to just under 30 seconds.

[2ndclasscitizen]

At Skaife's peak in the race, he had lapped 7th, but fuel concerns and a cracked front splitter meant he had to back off, allowing lowndes to pass. 1st Lowndes/Mueller, 888 Racing Ford, 2nd Skaife/T. Kelly HRT Holden, 3rd Richards/Whincup Dodo Racing Holden

[motorsportnerd]

Good race. Won by the (imo) best driver in V8 Supercar (Lowndes) and a Frenchman that the patriotic but unknowledgable local media claimed couldn't drive (Muller). Lowndes was brilliant - and is after years of crap cars masking his abilities finally starting to look like the driver he used to be in the HRT years (96-00). Muller drove very well - passing Skaife at one point, and then holding Skaife off on worn tyres. And this in a car with an H-pattern gearbox rather than the sequential he's used to, more power than his BTCC racer and lacking the traction of the Ice Racing AWD racers. And in the rain to boot. Muller can't drive? Doubt the Aussie media will eat its words, but it looked like he did a pretty good job too me. If a driver is talented (as Muller is) that talent will translate to pretty much any catagory. And while V8 Supercars may be harder to drive than some racing cars, the still have an engine, four wheels and a steering wheel - and top drivers will be able to adapt to them.
Skaife did well too - on an economy run with a broken front splitter and they almost pulled it off.
And can't forget the excellent drive by Jason Richards and Jamie Whincup in the Tasman Motorsport Commodore for third.

[holdens]

really good race... obviously i would have rathered a holden team win but craig lowndes had incredible pace they deserved the win. once again luck is against old mark skaife, its a pity really would like to see how he would have gone if those last 10 laps had both lowndes and skaife on more equal cars.

< 100th post! slow n steady ;)

[fpv_gtho]

Good race. Won by the (imo) best driver in V8 Supercar (Lowndes) and a Frenchman that the patriotic but unknowledgable local media claimed couldn't drive (Muller). Lowndes was brilliant - and is after years of crap cars masking his abilities finally starting to look like the driver he used to be in the HRT years (96-00). Muller drove very well - passing Skaife at one point, and then holding Skaife off on worn tyres. And this in a car with an H-pattern gearbox rather than the sequential he's used to, more power than his BTCC racer and lacking the traction of the Ice Racing AWD racers. And in the rain to boot. Muller can't drive? Doubt the Aussie media will eat its words, but it looked like he did a pretty good job too me. If a driver is talented (as Muller is) that talent will translate to pretty much any catagory. And while V8 Supercars may be harder to drive than some racing cars, the still have an engine, four wheels and a steering wheel - and top drivers will be able to adapt to them.
Skaife did well too - on an economy run with a broken front splitter and they almost pulled it off.
And can't forget the excellent drive by Jason Richards and Jamie Whincup in the Tasman Motorsport Commodore for third.


How do you think it wouldve turned out had that first wet segment been clearly a downpour, or a full dry race? It seems a few key runners were caught out by strategy, namely SBR, whilst the TPR guys didnt get it together in the first dry segment. And then theres those Perkins rear anti roll bars...

[motorsportnerd]

How do you think it wouldve turned out had that first wet segment been clearly a downpour, or a full dry race?

Ah, the "what ifs" of motor racing. No doubt the result would've been different.
Sandown does tell us three things heading into Bathurst. First, Lowndes cannot be discounted simply because he has a co-driver who is a non-regular in V8s. Second, HRT seems to have remarkable fuel economy. Third, Murphy is possibly the best "endurance" driver in the series - no matter how bad his season, or how off the pace his car heading into the enduros, he always seems to be right at the front at Sandown and Bathurst.
Other than that, Sandown tells us nothing. SBR may actually get their cars set up properly for Bathurst this year and Ambrose may actually be able to drive for a race win there rather than points.
We shall see. Four weeks to go....

[fpv_gtho]

I have to wonder what its going to take for Ambrose to jump in the new car, at the end of the year it'll be 3 seasons old, and yet its still capable of winning races week in week out. Lowndes will be hard to beat though

[motorsportnerd]

I'm guessing Ambrose's replacement will get the next new SBR car. Still no word on who that will be.

[syko]

I'm guessing Ambrose's replacement will get the next new SBR car. Still no word on who that will be.

i think it may be Cameron McConville, thats what i heard anyway

[fpv_gtho]

Thats one of the lesser known rumours, most seem to think the likes of Will Davison, Will Power, Winterbottom, Steven Richards still maybe and even James Courtney was being mentioned for a little while.

[motorsportnerd]

I can say with certainty it won't be Steven Richards (Larry has affirmed he will hold Richards to his contract with LPR) or James Courtney (he will still be racing in the JGTC with Toyota - where he's a front runner). I've heard it could be McConville too - especially as there are rumours that Garry Rogers will call it quits. However, if Rogers secures sponsorship and continues to run a team, he'll hold McConville to his contract.
Then there's the rumour it could be Steven Johnson.
I think its more likely that SBR will choose to blood a new guy - just like they did with Ambrose. Will Davison or Will Power could therefore be the frontrunners.

[fpv_gtho]

Its probably the best option. Over the last few years, Ambrose, Rick Kelly and maybe Paul Dumbrell have been the only rookies to get anywhere, and in that time theres been Winterbottom having a hard time with Orrcon, Whincup got pushed around by GRM, picked up for the enduro's by Perkins then finally secured by Tasman. Alex Davison seems to be screwed around by the 32 car limit at various rounds and his brother got jipped by Team Dynamik starting to fall apart.