Beginning of the end of V8 Supercars?

Johntins,..."Money & TV Rights"....gotta agree with you there!
I was really upset when Foxtel got the rights, & what Ch 10 FTA provided was rubbish. Initially, I refused to get Foxtel, my thoughts were "Why should I pay for something that was previously free"? However, a friend of mine is the chief engineer/designer for one of the teams & He told me that the Foxtel coverage would be better than anything I'd ever seen on FTA, and it is, really good,....cameras everywhere, in & out of cars, in the pits, talking to engineers, drivers etc etc,...all good. Not keen on Skaife, but Russell's input is good.
Foxtel had a good deal at the time for a Sports/Combo Deal with free equipment & instal, & I only pay an $25/month for it, so it's well worth it for me, plus I have an "understanding" Wifey, who's also interested in it!
If you do get the chance, like I said, do watch a final practise session, because the way the cars get changed, shocks, springs, roll bars, tyres etc is common to most forms of motor sport,...it can be quite involved & interesting, to see how the times come down.
You mention the Nissan/Godzilla,....what a car that was, what a great job Fred Gibson did with it. I've heard it said that if that car's development had continued, it would be faster than the current V8SC. You mention money, & you're right, but that was relevant then as well, Gibson had a massive budget, & Brock in the HDT days always had plenty of dollars and all the best people like my good friend John (Sheppo) Sheppard, Ian Tate, Neil Burns etc etc.
Pickles.

Used to love it and I wouldn't have missed a race, but it's become increasingly more irrelevant over the last 10 years, so I stopped watching - I'm sure I'm not the only one. Would love to see something new to revitalise the series, the parity rules are garbage - yes, as Pickles said, very close qualifying and racing, but they're all driving essentially identical vehicles, so it may as well be a single formula racing series like Formula Ford, etc. Love watching those, and they don't pretend to be different like the Supercars do.

Used to love the days when a team could do something's outside the box to gain an advantage and then watch the others catch up.

In the Bathurst 1000, teams could opt for any strategy to gain an edge. None of that now, now they must complete a mandatory amount of stops and driver changes, minimum driving distances per driver, etc. All done to a very controlled and boring formula.

If they bring back some differeces that allow teams to do what they are best at, I'd tune in again (well, not on Foxtel so I probably wouldn't.)

Feeling a bit hypocritical right now. Just got home from an AFL game. Now, if ever a sport was taken over by professionalism and money.....

But I still love it. Go figure.

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Originally Posted by johntins

Feeling a bit hypocritical right now. Just got home from an AFL game. Now, if ever a sport was taken over by professionalism and money.....

But I still love it. Go figure.

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Money is there in all sports, & if ya're not "professional" ya don't survive, Golf & Tennis are good examples, and what about boxing, the dollars there are unbelievable.
Pickles.

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Originally Posted by Homestar

Used to love it and I wouldn't have missed a race, but it's become increasingly more irrelevant over the last 10 years, so I stopped watching - I'm sure I'm not the only one. Would love to see something new to revitalise the series, the parity rules are garbage - yes, as Pickles said, very close qualifying and racing, but they're all driving essentially identical vehicles, so it may as well be a single formula racing series like Formula Ford, etc. Love watching those, and they don't pretend to be different like the Supercars do.

Used to love the days when a team could do something's outside the box to gain an advantage and then watch the others catch up.

In the Bathurst 1000, teams could opt for any strategy to gain an edge. None of that now, now they must complete a mandatory amount of stops and driver changes, minimum driving distances per driver, etc. All done to a very controlled and boring formula.

If they bring back some differeces that allow teams to do what they are best at, I'd tune in again (well, not on Foxtel so I probably wouldn't.)

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My sentiments exactly [thumbsupbig]
I was always gluded to the idiot box when the V8`s were on my family and friends knew not to ring visit or disturb me and i persisted and im guessing maybe up to 10 years ago at least with the bs we have now .
I am a big petrol head having done a few quick laps around Bathurst ,Sandown in a tame V8 race car so the interest is there just not in the platform it is at present .
I will be there in front of the tv for the Bathurst top ten shoot out and the first few laps of a sunday and a bit in the middle and the last hour .A far cry from years ago where the whole day was taken up by watching the Big race.
Do i miss the good ol days hell yeah are we ever going to see them again Hell No it is a big business with some big players incl Foxtell and it is all about the mighty buck ,Look at your AFL players used to play for the love of Footy in VFL for no or very little reward now it is awash with a giant money pit , Sad But True:bat:

OK guys, if you read this, & Ya've got Foxtel, watch qualifying today at 11.40,...it's only 20mins, surely you can put up with it for that long!!
If ya're watching the race this afternoon, you might notice that there actually is plenty of strategy going on, more than ever actually, within the rules of course, but very very variable according to track position etc....different fuel loads, different times between stops, varying tyre changes all different to each particular team,....as the cars are so close, under a second for the top 20 cars, races can be won or lost by smart team strategy, running short, running long, if you watch the telecast this afternoon, & listen to the pre race stuff, what the teams are doing, ya'll actually find out there's heaps of strategy going on, much of which will be continually changing during the race, as things change for each car,..track speed is one thing, but it doesn't always win the race. The two HSV cars were the fastest in the race yesterday, but finished way back in 13th & 14th,..just not enough quali speed!
Strategy currently, is probably more evident now, than I've ever seen.
Pickles.
Just one thing, don't judge the racing by what you see on ch 10,...a ONE hour coverage, after the event with at least 20 mins of ads,..absolutely BORING,...yes that telecast is useless & it really does lead to the "taxi racing" slogan, but there is a whole heap more to it than that,...ya've gotta see it to believe it!!

You said it yourself Pickles - IF YOU HAVE FOXTEL - with their subscriber numbers dropping dramatically with streaming services coming on line, they are way too expensive for what you get. I pay $8 a month (our share of a combined subscription) for Netflix and Stan combined. Add in YouTube (free) which has some amazing content on it now and it sort of makes Foxtel look - well, a bit ****...

Like i said Gav, I pay $20/month for my sport/combo deal,..well worth it for me, even just for Supercars,..lots of other stuff I can get too,..classic movies, boxing etc etc,...which doesn't interest me, I think some VFL stuff is restricted to Foxtel too, but I really do get it, that most of you guys ain't into Supercars, but for me, at $20 a month, there's basically 2 meetings a month, 3 days of coverage each, more for the enduros, well worth it for me.....6 days racing for $20!!
Compared to what we spend/have to spend these days, $20 is well worth it for me.
Gotta go & watch quali!
Pickles.

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Originally Posted by Homestar

You said it yourself Pickles - IF YOU HAVE FOXTEL - with their subscriber numbers dropping dramatically with streaming services coming on line, they are way too expensive for what you get. I pay $8 a month (our share of a combined subscription) for Netflix and Stan combined. Add in YouTube (free) which has some amazing content on it now and it sort of makes Foxtel look - well, a bit ****...

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Foxtel is truly a money pit. I still have it, but only for the AFL and SWMBO's faves. If I can find a way of getting her stuff elsewhere it's gone, as Telstra's Live App gives me the AFL, just not on the TV, and there are ways around that. Netflix is great with a VPN.

Not sure what deal you got, but their website shows $26 a month for the basic package, and $55 a month if you add sport.

Link to the $20 a month package that includes sport would be handy.