Thread: V8 Supercars - whats happening to Ford?

Anyone know what the go is with the V8 Supercars? I always assumed it was a joint motorsport between Ford and Holden, but looking at it now, it seems more like it's Holden's party that Ford are invited to.

For the 2011 season, there are 11 Ford drivers vs 17 Holden drivers. Every Ford driver that has won the championship in the last six years (Courtney, Wincup and Ingal) have been taken by Holden, most the season following there win, so not even waiting for them to be a cold by product.

They've also taken one of the winning teams (the entire team) - Triple Eight Race Engineering.

The only other Ford driver to win packed up and went to NASCAR (probably to avoid having to move to Holden after winning as this seems to be the compulsory next move now).

Makes you wonder why Holden still let Ford have a couple of cars in there, might as well just make it the Commodore Cup now. So is this Ford pulling out support for local motorsport or Holden driving to be the dominating force by any means?

Personally I favour the Falcons in my choice of personal cars, but I recognise that the V8 Supercars are so far removed from the consumer vehicles, that it has no reflection on the quality or performance of my automobile, but wouldn't it be nice to see a fairer fight? I mean we wouldn't have let Geelong win the grand final playing 6 more players on the field.

I think this has significantly detracted from the sport, long gone now are these brand heroes like Brock (yes I know he had a short stint at Ford), Skaife, Johnson, Moffat, etc. Instead you just have drivers, with no loyalty to a brand, just using it as equipment.

I'm also surprised Holden have let it happen, regardless of whether intentional or not, it doesn't paint them as a fair competitor.

If Ford are going limp, perhaps then it's time to open the Championship to other manufacturers? Hyundai have V8 powered vehicles in the USA, there's Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar too. At least it might end up with a more competitive sport.

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Anyone know what the go is with the V8 Supercars? I always assumed it was a joint motorsport between Ford and Holden, but looking at it now, it seems more like it's Holden's party that Ford are invited to.

For the 2011 season, there are 11 Ford drivers vs 17 Holden drivers. Every Ford driver that has won the championship in the last six years (Courtney, Wincup and Ingal) have been taken by Holden, most the season following there win, so not even waiting for them to be a cold by product.

They've also taken one of the winning teams (the entire team) - Triple Eight Race Engineering.

The only other Ford driver to win packed up and went to NASCAR (probably to avoid having to move to Holden after winning as this seems to be the compulsory next move now).

Makes you wonder why Holden still let Ford have a couple of cars in there, might as well just make it the Commodore Cup now. So is this Ford pulling out support for local motorsport or Holden driving to be the dominating force by any means?

Personally I favour the Falcons in my choice of personal cars, but I recognise that the V8 Supercars are so far removed from the consumer vehicles, that it has no reflection on the quality or performance of my automobile, but wouldn't it be nice to see a fairer fight? I mean we wouldn't have let Geelong win the grand final playing 6 more players on the field.

I think this has significantly detracted from the sport, long gone now are these brand heroes like Brock (yes I know he had a short stint at Ford), Skaife, Johnson, Moffat, etc. Instead you just have drivers, with no loyalty to a brand, just using it as equipment.

I'm also surprised Holden have let it happen, regardless of whether intentional or not, it doesn't paint them as a fair competitor.

If Ford are going limp, perhaps then it's time to open the Championship to other manufacturers? Hyundai have V8 powered vehicles in the USA, there's Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar too. At least it might end up with a more competitive sport.

There are a few people out there who like the V8's, me being one of them.

As far as what happened to Ford, they pulled out of 888 so 888 went to GM which is Holden over here.

It was obvious that 888 was the premier team at the time but Ford motor Co. backed the has been Stone bros racing and the never will be FPR and hung Lowndsy (their most successful driver since Dick Johnson) and Wincup out to dry.

So why did they go to Holden, mainly because you don't advertise a product that doesn't support your company, this is why in their last season with Ford, 888 ran the Hogs Breath cafe insignia where the Ford badge should have been and did not have a single ford sticker on the car.

As far as the future goes, the car of the future is coming in 2013 and there will be an opportunity for any car manufacturer to run a car with a common engine, suspension and drive train which I believe will be great for the sport.

I think this has significantly detracted from the sport, long gone now are these brand heroes like Brock (yes I know he had a short stint at Ford), Skaife, Johnson, Moffat, etc. Instead you just have drivers, with no loyalty to a brand, just using it as equipment.

If you were attached so much to those names then you would be happy to know that James Brock was in the Fujitsu series, Skaife ran with Lowndes and came second, Steven Johnson was running today until they had an unscheduled BBQ and James Moffat finished in the top 10 so all your hero's names are still there, just a bit different format.

It to me is not so much about the cars them selves, it's about the racing.

Back in the 80's with Group A the sport was in turmoil and looking as though it would be no longer and Tony Cochrane and Cams re-invented it as V8 supercars and brought the entertainment back into the sport.

Entertainment sells tickets and selling tickets means the survival of the sport.

The race today was a ball tearer, the finish had me glued to the telly and sitting on the edge of my seat and the result would only have been better if Lowndsy had got past Tander but with that said, I think it's great Percat got a win on his first try up on the mountain.

I know a lot of people think differently but I don't bother watching AFL as it's just like watching netball these days, no one can touch anyone else or like sooker, where if someone does get a touch up by another player they laydown and cry so they get a free kick.

To me tha'ts not sport, that's just frustrating and boring but thats my point of view.

Cheers Casper