2009 season V8SC preview

A new year, a new season, new everything (well, almost everything). 2009 marks the most change in recent memory to the main game of Australian Touring Car racing. Changes to teams and formats, as well as technology and the introduction of Ford’s new combatant should make for an exciting, albeit initially confusing season.

The races
The changes early last year with the announcement of a new semi-street race to be held in the tropical city of Townsville, in Northern Queensland. The new track will be part parkway and part street (much like Albert Park).

Another new addition will be the new street race in Sydney. After 3 years of talks, the event will finally go ahead as the last round of the Championship in early December. The race will be held around Sydney’s famed Olympic Park in Homebush. It will be the first time that a V8 Season will not conclude on a Purpose Build Road Course.

In addition to the new races, the schedule has been subject to a major overhaul. Big changes include the moving of the Tasmanian race to the first part of the year and moving the Perth race to the second last race of the series. Other changes can be found on the schedule below.

Race weekend
One of the biggest changes as far as the racing is concerned is the qualifying and the reintroduction of the top 10 shootout at every event in the 09 calendar and the reduction in races for the sprint rounds from 3 to 2.

Qualifying will still consist of 3 segments. The first segment will feature all the cars on track and only the top 20 will move on to segment 2. Segment 2 will feature the top 20 drivers from segment 1. The times from segment 1 will be wiped and drivers will have to post new fast times to qualify for the next segment. Segment 3 takes the top 10 drivers and run them one at a time from tenth fastest to P1. Drivers will have one chance at posting a time, and the fastest recorded time here will be the Pole sitter.

Qualifying will take on a greater importance this year as both races will use qualifying to determine the starting grid. This means, the position a driver achieves in qualifying is the position he will start both races from.

As mentioned before, the sprint race weekends have had their races reduced from 3 races to 2, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The Clipsal 500 will feature two 250 km races, The Hamilton 400, The Townsville 400, the Nitro Super GP Challenge, The Gulf Air Dessert 400 and the Sydney 400 Grand Finale will feature two 200 km races and Winton, The Falken Tasmania Challenge, The SKYCITY Triple Crown, The Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, Queensland and the Big Pond 300 will feature one 100 km race and one 200 km race.

The L&H 500 and the Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst will remain the same as 08 as will the ING GP Manufactures Challenge.

The new format has also led to the removal of overall round results. Each race will feature a podium presentation and driver and team results from the race will be added to their previous round results in their career. For example, a driver wins a race under the new format, and he has two round wins previously, his race win will become career win number three. It is the same for podiums, top 5s top 10s, etc. the changes effectively make a 26 “round” championship.

Technical changes
One of the big technical changes ties into the new race formats as well. 2009 will see the introduction of E85 blend fuel (85% Ethanol, 15% petroleum). The new environmentally friendly(er) fuel is consumed at a rate 30% more than conventional racing unleaded (2008 Fuel). This means that unavoidable pit stops for fuel will be made in at least once in every points race of the season. This, along with a tire stop here and there, will make pit strategy a very entertaining element in 2009.

Speaking of tyres, Dunlop, the official tyre supplier for the series, will provide a (super) soft compound tyre, similar to F1, which all teams must use once during a race.

These new technical changes have eliminated the need for a compulsory pit stop window, as no car can make it to the end of any race without a stop for fuel and tyres.

The cars and teams
As far as the machinery is concerned, Holden teams will continue the development of the VE Commodore, while many of the Ford teams have taken delivery of their new FG model Falcons.

With the dominance of the BF in 2008, many were expecting the new FG to be virtually unbeatable in 2009, but initial shakedowns scares and mediocre testing results have doused those fears for now.

While the V8 Supercar Series has fared well during the global economic downturn, it has not been immune, especially when it comes to its manufactures. First Ford, then Holden withdrew a great deal of manufacture support money from many top teams in their sables. In Ford’s case, the decision to give support to teams with blue in the car liveries over performance has been heavily criticised by Ford teams, drivers and fans.

Ford will have two manufacturer teams in 2009, Ford Performance Racing and Stone Bros. Racing, Leaving defending champions Triple 888 and long time Ford team Dick Johnson Racing, without backing from the Blue Oval. However, Ford will still provide technical support and equipment to all teams running an FG. Ford has also continued the personal sponsorship with Craig Lowndes and James Courtney.

Holden will officially support 4 teams in this season. These will be the Holden Racing Team, the New Kelly Racing Group (Only the Jack Daniel’s cars), Walkinshaw Performance (HRT’s second team) and Brad Jones Racing. Like the Ford teams, the remaining Holden teams will be given technical support and equipment.