BOC confirm switch to Holdens
As we reported earlier here at TouringCarTimes, Team BOC have confirmed that they will be entering two Holden Commodore VE race cars in the 2008 V8 Supercars Series.
Team BOC is making a bold move by switching manufacturers from Ford to Holden – and has signed driver Cameron McConville to race alongside fellow driver Andrew Jones.
“Nervous energy with plenty of excitement in the air,” is how owner Brad Jones describes the mood in Team BOC camp as the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship series opener at the Adelaide Clipsal 500 looms quickly closer.
Fuelling the enthusiasm is the new supply agreement with Walkinshaw Performance that will see Team BOC drivers compete in highly competitive VE Holden Commodores.
“We have a pair of very good vehicles,” says Brad Jones. “One of them, driven by Todd Kelly, won last year’s final round and the other was used by Mark Skaife in the second half of last year.”
“The entire crew is hungry for success,” says new recruit Cameron McConville. “I’m coming off a bit of a lull with my previous team so I have a lot of motivation and am very focused on maximising our results with the equipment that we have for 2008.”
Brad Jones points out, “Cameron is a seasoned campaigner, eager for a fresh start with Team BOC. We’re looking to him for his knowledge and experience with the Commodore which he’s driven for the last ten years.” McConville’s first full season in the championship was 2000. He co-drove for the Holden Race Team (HRT) in Bathurst in 1999.
McConville joins Andrew Jones, the son of team co-owner Kim Jones and nephew of Brad, returning for his fourth year in the championship and his second full season with Team BOC.
For McConville, there’s plenty more that is familiar in his new surrounds. “It’s like a reunion of sorts,” he says. “I drove with Brad back in the Audi days in ’97. I started my full time pro racing with him so it is nice to come back and join him again.”
McConville is also renewing his working relationship with leading engineer, Wally Storey, who joins the team from Tasman Motorsport. “I worked with Wally for three years at Lansvale Racing and that connection with your engineer can have a big bearing on the end result in this sport – Wally is the best engineer I have ever worked with.”
Andrew Jones, too, also has great confidence in the changes, “It’s a big step but the equipment is a known quantity,” he says. “The history of the Walkinshaw Performance cars that we’re using is good – no question. So, we’ll have a great opportunity to succeed this year. Plus, we have a good environment, one that will bring us success.”
In the big shake up, which aims to put recent lean years behind them, Brad Jones has much faith in Walkinshaw and Holden with vivid recollections of two podium finishes with the HRT at Bathurst – a third in 1993 with Wayne Gardner and a second with then rookie, Craig Lowndes, in 1994. From 1989 to 1994 Jones and HRT dominated the AUSCAR series with five consecutive championship titles.
Says Brad Jones, “We looked long and hard last year for a partner to help us become successful again and it quickly became clear that this relationship with Holden was the best option to move us up the grid in V8 Supercar racing.”
