IT’S OFFICIAL: NISSSAN JOIN V8 SUPERCARS (now we can all get some sleep)

BRITISH DRIVERS DOWN UNDER PAY TRIBUTE TO DAN

British sportscar drivers Richard Westbrook and Oliver Gavin will pay tribute to countryman Dan Wheldon at this weekend’s Armor All Gold Coast 600. Wheldon tragically passed away following an IndyCar accident in Las Vegas last weekend. He was scheduled to race alongside James Courtney at the Surfers Paradise street circuit this weekend. Both Westbrook and Gavin are life long friends and rivals of their countryman Wheldon, with all three members of the exclusive British Racing Drivers Club. Westbrook and Gavin will unveil special visor stickers in memory of Wheldon in pit lane at the Surfers Paradise street circuit at 9.30am local Queensland time. All BRDC members present at this weekend’s event will carry the special visor stripe stickers as a tribute to Wheldon. They are Westbrook, Gavin, Andy Priaulx, Emanuele Pirro, Gil de Ferran, Marino Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Lyons and Darren Turner. Westbrook will partner Todd Kelly in the #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore at the Armor All Gold Coast 600, while Gavin will drive alongside Greg Murphy in the #11 Pepsi Max Commodore. Source: Kelly Racing Media Release

HOLDEN WIN BATHURST AGAIN

Holden Racing Team drivers Garth Tander and rookie Nick Percat have taken a thrilling win in the 2011 Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama. Tander held off the challenge of a fast finishing Craig Lowndes to win by less than a second. With only one lap remaining Lowndes, last years race winner, was right on the tail of [...]

RAIN DAMPENS BATHURST PRACTICE

Thursday's practice session at a wet Mount Panorama has been cancelled due to a dispute over wet weather tyres. Two different batches of the control Dunlop tyres are present at the track, leading to concerns by some teams that one batch could be better than another, giving the teams that use them an unfair advantage. According to the website Speedcafe.com, unattributed "Paddock speculation" is suggesting that the newer of the two batches could prove up to four seconds per lap faster than the older tyres. Teams have now agreed to new regulations that will see them restricted to using just five sets of wet weather tyres in the race. The original supplementary race regulations stated that an unlimited amount of wet tyres could be used. Weather Reports for the weekend indicate wet and cold conditions will continue with heavy overnight fog and the chance of afternoon storms over the weekend.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

The 2012 V8 Supercar event around the streets of Hamilton in New Zealand will be the last. In another blow to the categories dreams of global expansion, Hamilton now joins Shanghai and Bahrain in failed overseas jaunts by the championship. According to the local Waikato Times newspaper, many local businesses are happy to see the back of the visitors from across the Tasman. "It has been a waste of time and money," Evelyn Booth, owner of the Bag Factory Shop told the paper. "We lose money when it's on, customers too, and we are going to be paying for it for a very long time." The council had "completely and utterly" let down the town, she said. The move to axe the race came at the request of V8 Supercars Australia after they took over the running of the event when the original promoter went broke. Acting V8 Supercars Australia chief executive Shane Howard met with the Hamilton City Council last Wednesday night, offering the council $1.2 million dollars to end the contract early. Local ratepayers had paid around $31.4m for the event including $9m worth of race infrastructure. These are now owned by V8 Supercars as a part of their deal for taking over the race.

THE V8 SPOTTERS GUIDE TO PHILLIP ISLAND

DER KOMMISSAR SKAIFE

A big weekend off the track for the V8 Supercars with the announcement of the newly formed V8 Supercars Commission. The Commission will act as an expert resource for the V8 Supercars board of directors and management team, with a primary focus on racing rules, regulations and race formats. The seven member body formally comes into existence today. As expected five touring car champion Mark Skaife has been appointed chairman-elect and will take up the role in October, after the Bathurst 1000. In the interim, Tim Edwards, team principal of Ford Performance Racing, will serve as chairman. Skaife has announced that when he takes up the role he will completely quit driving V8 Supercars. There has been no announcement regarding his television commentary commitments or his company's role in the CAMS Rising Star programme. Skaife will be joined in the commission by V8 Supercars CEO, Martin Whitaker, Shane Howard, The Chief Operating Officer of V8 Supercars, Three representatives of the V8 Supercars teams: Tim Edwards, Brad Jones and Ross Stone. As well as an independent member, who will have no commercial ties with V8 Supercars, that member will be former Motorsport News publisher and sometime F5000 driver  Chis Lambden. The Commission chairman, team representatives and independent member will be appointed for two-year terms.

GT’s JUST SUPER FOR SUBARU

The exciting Japanese based SUPER GT series is that countries most popular form of motorsport, and if Subaru Australia had it could be down under as well. Nick Senior, Subaru Australia Managing Director told In Pit Lane at the Australian International Motorshow in Melbourne that he would very much like to see the class racing in Australia and right across the Asia Pacific region. "We'd love to be in motorsport, but unfortunately the Australian Rally Championship is not an avenue that's getting mainstream appeal" he said. "I've been looking for some time now at this series in Japan that has amazing mainstream appeal... fans love it, it's got great audiences and I think the cars are pretty wild and special looking but they are based on production cars so that's what excites me.’ Mr Senior said that with so may Japanese manufacturers already involved in the series it would be a great showcase for their companies technology. "Right now those companies are alienated from motorsport here in Australia." Mr Senior said. Despite the move by V8 Supercars Australia aimed at attracting new manufacturers through it's "Car of the Future" project, Mr Senior said that the local series had "no appeal" He said that his vision for SUPER GT championship would be a regional approach, perhaps starting in New Zealand, working it's way across Australia, before moving into other South East Asian Markets before finishing up back in Japan. A feature of the Subaru stand at the Motorshow was the Liberty B4 GT-300 racer, and Mr Senior was hoping that the cars appearance may fuel some interest, not only from fans, but with other manufacturers. "we're contemplating seeing if we can call a meeting of them, (The Japanese Manufacturers) and see if there's any interest in this... I think that a South East Asian series with perhaps 10, 12 or 15 races with cars from distributors in each market and you could have 25 or 30 cars on the grid." Mr Senior said. With moves by both SUPER GT and the DTM to closely mirror each others regulations, European manufacturers like Audi, Mercedes and BMW may also be attracted to such a series.

TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT DENIES V8 SUPERCAR AXING

The Tasmanian Government has denied that it was withdrawing it's support for a V8 Supercar event at Symmons Plains. Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings accused VESA officials of "sabre rattling" over the future of the race. V8 Supercars Australia claimed that the State Government had scrapped its three-year deal to run the event and with no commitment beyond this year, the event from November 11-13 would be the last. Premier Gidding's however has denied that any final decision had been made and that the State was keen to see the event continue. "We know it is a very popular sport for many Tasmanians, but we have to go through a negotiation process and that is what is happening right now," she told the Hobart Mercury . "I think it might be a bit of sabre rattling by the V8s because we are still in discussions with them around a negotiation. The Tasmanian Minister for Tourism Scott Bacon also denies the event has been officially scrapped. "The suggestion that we have abandoned our commitment to events in 2012 and 2013 is incorrect," he said.

IN PIT LANE PODCAST: CAMS CEO DAVID MORGAN

CAMS CEO David Morgan steps into the In Pit Lane studio for a chat about his role, the role of CAMS and controversy surrounding the Confederation of Australian Motorsport.