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LOWNDES & WHINCUP COME HOME TO HOLDEN

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's official. The Triple Eight team of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will race a Holden in 2010. Speculation had been growing that the British owned team would switch to the General Motors marque after Triple Eight was dropped from official Ford support earlier this year. In a press conference held at Holden's Port Melbourne headquarters this morning, the announcement was made that the championship team would be making the switch to Fords for 2010, Holden Executive Director Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, Alan Batey said that “Holden has a long and proud history in motorsport that stretches back over 40 years and today's’s announcement is an exciting step into the next chapter.” “Our commitment and passion for motorsport has not wavered. Today we are making a clear statement on how much we value this sport which is also a very smart, responsible sponsorship decision.... click headline for more.

PENSKE POWERS SATURN ?

Saturday, May 9, 2009

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Roger Penske has always been ambitious in his business pursuits and this week it has been announced that 'The Captain' is set purchase all of Saturn. However after being told that he could not legally purchase the hydrogen filled luminous body, he decided to simply to turn his attention to the defunct GM brand of the same name. General Motors is in the midst of a fire sale, yes thats right, all the big brands, Saab, Hummer, Pontiac and more, have all got to go! As the automotive giant remains on a $15.4billion government subsidised life support system, its restructure has meant bargains are to be had!. Considering their dire financial situation, the announcement made last week of GM's brand restructure, surprised noone. The move will see GM offload several brands in a move to focus their attention to their 'core four', Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Saturn is one of the brands that didn't make the cut. Saturn Corporation was established in 1985 to combat the success of Japanese imports in the small car market. First dubbed as 'The different kind of car company', it was always the poor cousin to GM's more premier brands such as Chevrolet and Cadillac. Like much of the US Automotive industry, Saturn suffered heavily from mismanagement and the imports it was designed to compete with, eventually accounted for its demise. Saturn spokesman Steve Janisse has revealed that several bids for the company have been made, however they wouldn't be revealing any of the interested parties until early June. A cautious Tony Porson, spokesman for Penske Automotive Group has stated they are considering the Saturn purchase, “It's very premature to assume anything will be done. I can confirm to you that we are looking at it”. Roger Penske has achieved virtually everything in the automotive world, however resurrecting a car company may be too much even for 'The Captain'. Saying that, Roger Penske's motorsport interests are as vast as they are succesful, with teams running in IndyCar, NASCAR and ALMS. His stint into Formula One in the mid 70's recorded a victory and he has more Indy 500 than any other team owner. Off the track the Penske Empire also includes the world's second largest automotive dealer network, Penske Automotive, representing over 250 franchises. If anyone can do what General Motors couldn't, It'd be Roger Penske to do it.

LOWNDES ON TOP AS TANDER HITS OUT

Saturday, May 2, 2009

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It was no surprise that a Triple 8 Falcon crossed the line first in today's V8 Supercar championship race at Winton, what was surprising is that it wasn't Jamie Whincup. Craig Lowndes drove a superb tactical race to lead home his team-mate as Fords took the top three places. In the debut race for the new soft option tyres Lowndes and his team picked the perfect strategy, starting on the normal control tyre before switching to the new option tyre late in the race. The move allowed Lowndes to move from fifth though to the lead late in the race as Whincup who switched tyres on the opening lap of the race struggled for grip. "We spent about one and a half or two hours last night trying to figure out what the best strategy would be because no one knew." Lowndes said after the race. Third place went to Ford Performance Racing driver Steven Richards who also chose to switch to the option tyre late in the race and it nearly paid off as he just missed out on second place. Rick Kelly was the first Holden home in fourth place. Kelly started on the option tyre before switching to the control tyre late in the race. Despite missing the podium he was relatively happy with his race. "... when you finish fourth it’s always extremely frustrating because you're so close to getting a podium and it would have been fantastic to get the first ever podium for Kelly Racing here today. he said. “Not to worry - we should be happy with the job we've done and we’ll do our very best to make sure we're in the top 10 again tomorrow."

VAUXHALL OUT, WILL HOLDEN BE NEXT?

Saturday, April 18, 2009

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General Motors British division Vauxhall have announced their decision to withdraw from the British Touring Car Championship for 2010. The company said that its decision to leave the championship was 'influenced by the absence of other manufacturer-backed teams and financial prudence in the current global economic downturn. "BTCC boss Australian Alan Gow said the he was not surprised by the decision and he was confident that the series would continue to be strong even without the factory presesnce. "Given the (widely reported) extremely difficult financial position in which GM finds itself, it's inevitable that the company must make some drastic cutbacks in nearly all areas of its operations - and motor sport is certainly not immune, as we have witnessed in all major forms of our sport over the last 12 months. he said. Gow thanked the company for its support of the series and said he was confident of continued success even without manufacturer support. "...it is important to remember that over the last six years we have seen direct manufacturer involvement decline within the BTCC - yet at the exact same time we have seen crowd figures rise, TV audiences rise, TV airtime rise, competitor numbers rise and the championship being as closely fought as ever. That's certainly no coincidence and the facts prove, over these last few years, that a heavy degree of manufacturer involvement is no longer crucial to either the success or popularity of the championship." The decision of Vauxhall to leave the series follows Spainish manufacturer SEAT who left after last year's series. SEAT continue to field cars in the World Touring Car Championship as doead GM through it's Chevrolet Europe division with the new Cruze.

TANDER FASTEST IN PRE-SEASON V8 TESTING

Monday, March 9, 2009

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Holden driver Garth Tander has set the early pace for in pre-season testing for the 2009 Australian V8 Supercar championship at Victoria's Winton Raceway. Tander in the Walkinshaw Performance Commodore edged out the Garry Rogers Motorsport pair of Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso also in Commodores. Fastest of the Fords in the early going was Mark Winterbottom in the new Ford Performance Racing FG Falcon. The test was delayed by over 30 minutes after a big crash involving Commodore driver Macus Zukanovic. Zukanavic's car left the track at turn 11 and made heavy contact with the wall, he was extracted from the car by the safety team and taken to hospital with unspecified but aapparently non-life threatening injuries. More Updates later in the day.

KELLY BROTHERS GET THE JACK

Monday, March 2, 2009

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V8 Supercar brothers Todd and Rick Kelly have unveiled their new Jack Daniel’s Holden Commodores the new Kelly Racing headquarters in the Melbourne suburb of Braeside. Todd Kelly will drive the #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore while brother Rick will have the familiar #15 on the side of his Jack Daniel’s Holden. Both cars will make their race debuts at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 19-22. A common team and naming rights sponsor means that the Kelly brothers will not only have a major presence on track all season, but will also combine to form one of the strongest driver pairings for the annual endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst. Rick Kelly, who won the V8 Supercar Championship in 2006, believes that 2009 will be a “new beginning” for everyone involved with Kelly Racing. “The support we have had from Jack Daniel’s as we have gone through the tough months of establishing our own team has been incredible,” said Rick. “This is obviously an exciting year for our entire family because we have the responsibility of our own team, Todd and I get to race together as team-mates in V8 Supercar and we have all that to share with Jack Daniel’s and everyone associated with the brand. “Todd and I will be racing each other as hard as ever, but from now on I guess we will be a little happier if the other one manages a big result.” The partnering of Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly in 2009 provides the opportunity to further reinforce the ‘Pace Yourself. Drink Responsibility’ message, which is the core element of the Jack Daniel’s Racing Platform said Jack Daniel’s Australia Managing Director, Michael McShane. “The ability to have high profile sportsmen Todd and Rick Kelly, to assist in promoting the importance of drinking responsibly is critically important and we are thrilled to be able to reinforce this message thorough our association with Kelly Racing,” said McShane.

WE WILL RACE AT LE MANS: CORVETTE

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

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Corvette have denied an Autosport magazine story that claimed the team would not be running at next the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Steve Wesoloski, Road Racing Group Manager for the General said that the current plan was that the cars would be at the classic race in next June 2009. “I can confirm that we will be in Sebring, Long Beach and Le Mans with the C6 R in GT1” he said. The program as announced at Detroit last September will include the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Long Beach ALMS round and finally the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mr Wesoloski did say however that “for several reasons, primarily to preserve our budget, we will not be present at the Winter Test of the ALMS” The ALMS Corvette program in GT2 is also at this stage still on track. “Project GT2 is in hand, with the objective of beginning in Mid-Ohio” he said. Of course all of this could be dependent on their still being a General Motors come 2009. With Audi, Porsche, Acura and now Chevrolet all cutting back their ALMS programmes, the 2009 season will be a very different landscape from the one we saw in 2008.

NEW SMALL HOLDEN PLAN REVEALED

Monday, December 22, 2008

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General Motors' Australian division Holden has today announced the building of a new small car at the companies plant in Elizabeth in South Australia. The new car which at this stage has not been named will be built on the company's global Delta platform was announced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd whose Government has provided the Australian Auto Industry with millions of dollars of financial assistance. The new car will be supported by the Australian taxpayer with the Commonwealth contributing around$149 million over three years starting in 2009-10 to the project. Money will also come from the South Australian Government. Mr Rudd says the move gives confidence to a struggling industry. “If you look at the downturn in auto sales in the last 12 months, this is really tough,“ he said in a yet another triumph of stating the bleeding obvious. The new front-wheel-drive vehicle will be built in both sedan and hatch form, with design and engineering work takeing place at the company's Australian headquarters in Port Melbourne, Victoria.

KELLY WINS A WET ONE BUT ALL IS SUNNY FOR JAMIE

Saturday, November 22, 2008

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Falcon driver Jamie Whincup edged closer to his first Australian V8 Supercar championship despite finishing second to Holden's Todd Kelly at a wet and windy Symmonns Plains Raceway in Tasmania. Starting from the front row Whincup led early but was soon under pressure from main title rival Holden's Garth Tander as rain began to sweep the Northern Tasmanian track. Tander ran off the track in the tricky conditions and stalled leaving Kelly as Holden's main contender against the fast Fords of Whincup and Mark Winterbottom. Kelly drove brilliantly in the terrible conditions coming from way back in the pack to be challenging for the lead within a few laps. After changing to wets Kelly stormed through the field again to take the lead for good on lap 35. After the race an emotional Kelly, who leaves the Perkins team at the end of the year, described the race as one of his best ever.

HOLDEN SHOCK AT SYDNEY SHOW

Thursday, October 16, 2008

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Holden once again stole the show at the Australian International Motorshow at Sydney's Darling Harbour, but this time it was not a stunning locally built concept car but the Down Under debut of the Chevy Volt. The Volt has been seen plenty of times before, most recently from Paris, but the big news was that the car will be sold here in Australia as soon as 2012.