Thread: Only Ten Days Until The Great Race Bathurst 2014

I would like to see lowndes win, otherwise McLaughlin or Courtney. Either way it will be a great race as always.

I wonder if Garry Rodgers is surprised at the amount of people that have embraced Scotty and the Volvo this season. A lot of my mates that follow the V8's still staunchly follow the drivers and teams they like,but don't mind seeing Scotty do well. A few people have posted on the V8 supercar themed threads on this forum during the year with support for McLaughlin. I never thought the day would come when i was wanting a Volvo to win at Bathurst.

I didn't either.

I have grown up supporting Ford in the V8's but there is an undeniably skilled driver behind the wheel of that Volvo.
The guy is 21 and is right up there with Australia's best drivers in a comparitively brand new car.

If nothing else it would be awesome to see the youngest driver ever to race a v8 supercar take out Bathurst.

Originally Posted by Dizza

I didn't either.

I have grown up supporting Ford in the V8's but there is an undeniably skilled driver behind the wheel of that Volvo.
The guy is 21 and is right up there with Australia's best drivers in a comparitively brand new car.

If nothing else it would be awesome to see the youngest driver ever to race a v8 supercar take out Bathurst.

G'day Dizza, I know what you mean mate,DJR has been the team i have always supported,and also SBR with the very talented Ambrose behind the wheel. Even used to follow 888 but when they went to Holden i lost interest with them,but i still have huge respect for Lowndes and Whincup. For some reason i never got behind Glenn Seton. Being a Kiwi i always like to see other Kiwi's do well even if Ford gets beaten,but if a Kiwi is driving the Holden its a little easier to take. At the start of the season in Adelaide i found myself totally engaged by the whole GRM setup. The sound the cars made,Dahlgren trying to make sense of what V8 Supercar racing is all about. The Volvo just looked awesome. And Scotties post race interview was priceless,that was it i was now a Volvo supporter.

When the V8's rolled into Townsville i found myself lining up to meet Scott and Robert and spend some cash at the GRM merchandise stand. Come next year with return of Ambrose to DJR Team Penske it will be hard to watch if Ambrose and Scotty are fighting each other for a race win,not 100% sure who i will want to win. Out of the up and coming young guns on the grid at the moment i think is well and truly above all of them, With the Gis and Percat and Mostert the next best. It is probably a big call so early in his career,but i think young Scotty has the potential to be one of the greats.

Originally Posted by Pickles2

As usual, I'm looking forward to it,.....BIG TIME.
I watch the whole 2.5 days iof telecast, & my race day TV is always preceeded by my Bathurst "BIG BREAKFAST", prepared by Wifey, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, fried potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, fried bread etc,...which puts me in a relaxed frame of mind to enjoy the race.
Who will win?,.......Don't know, no-one does,...it will be the most even race for years.
I suppose going on Jamie's driving this year, he "could" be described as favourite, but at Bathurst there are so many factors involved, not the least being something called "Luck", so, I don't think anybody can predict anything with any certainty.
But if I had to say anything, then I would say, the two HRT cars & the Red Bull cars would be looking good.
Pickles.

When and where for brekky

HRT and 888 have won 8 out of the last nine......

Six sleeps to go

Originally Posted by AndyG

When and where for brekky

If you saw my tummy, you'd know I don't need it, but Bathurst is special, so Wifey looks after me!
Pickles.

Originally Posted by discovery39

Well I would like to see the new lap times!
They have spent a fortune resurfacing the track. Fixing bumps and potholes etc.
So all new Bathurst??? They say lap times will be broken.......??

I found this article that might answer the question.
Expect lap times to tumble at Bathurst this year. With the new Generation cars now with another 12 months development,overall times at Bathurst are tipped to drop by around two seconds. Reigning Bathurst winner Mark Winterbottom said his team is predicting a significant increase in speed this year. "The track surface is going to be the big thing," he said. "We're expecting it to be around two seconds a lap quicker around Bathurst than what we were doing last year. "The cars have come a long way and development has been huge." Winterbottom's sentiment has been echoed by his race engineer,Grant McPherson.

"In all the analysis we've done,I think the lap times are going to tumble in both qualifying and the race," he said. "The exact magnitude remains to be seen. "Its all down to the new surface. There will be small gains in what each team has been in through the car for the last twelve months,but that could be one to two tenths,but you could be looking at two seconds in track grip." "Its difficult to put a number on how much is a car gain and how much is track gain,but i think track gain will be ten times greater than car development over the past twelve months," McPherson concluded.

Jamie Whincup maintains the V8 Supercar race lap record at Bathurst with a 2:08.4651 set in 2007. The current series leader is expecting similar conditions to when he set that lap record but adds he is not focusing on breaking records. "The resurfacing is going to make the track faster,without a doubt," Whincup said. "What it does to the tyres,we're not quite sure about,but at the 12 hour it looked after them pretty good. "Its an endurance event,its not about going fast,and its about being there at the end with a straight car. Its our aim always and certainly is this year." Whincup also explained the improvement in the cars since the last visit will allow drivers to push the new cars harder.

"Don't worry,everyone has been absolutely working their arses off to innovate and make them better," he added. "They're miles better than they were twelve months ago but it depends on conditions. "Everyone has been pushing hard in what is a financially difficult time. No team has been raking in the cash doing it easy. I know we're on the verge and if we're on the verge,there's going to be a lot worse than us. I think everyone is doing a great job to keep innovating the engineering side while strapped for cash." Greg Murphy holds the qualifying lap record from 2003 with a 2:06.8594,says it will come down to conditions on the day as to whether his record will fall.

"The track is similar to what it was in 2003;its been resurfaced," Murphy said. "The tyres are a lot different to 2003-they are still Dunlop control tyres but there have been a lot of changes in compound and construction. And they are now 18-inch instead of 17-inch. "The cars are faster overall than they were in 2003,they've got more horsepower than ever before." says Murphy. Winterbottom concluded he is expecting the improved grip to mean cars will get faster in their stints as the fuel burns off during the race. "The tyres don't degrade and the fuel load comes off so the cars go quicker," Winterbottom added. "I think it will be the same again. Last year you'd try to put tyres on to be quicker,this year you can let it run out because with the lighter fuel load the tyre grip will still be there."

The Bathurst 12 Hour fastest race lap dropped from 2:06.8714 in 2013 to 2:03.8506 this year after resurfacing.

The Mythical 300kph.
Its the question that gets asked every year when teams go to Bathurst-will they break the 300kph barrier? While debate about whether it has been achieved before or if it is possible has lingered over the last decade,this year things could be a lot more clear cut. With teams reporting cars were hitting the 7500rpm limit at Sandown in sixth gear,Albins understands an alternative final drive ratio might be available for Bathurst. Whether it runs or not remains to be seen. We won't know until after practice whether its a necessary change or not,but in mechanical theory at least,it could have cars reaching the fabled 300kph mark.