SCV8 Support Races Confirmed

[Neil Adams]

People where doubting that SCV8 would actually get of the ground, theres now a calendar and support races announced.

quote from www.scv8.co.uk

NEWS RELEASE

Mini Se7en and miglia races join scv8 series

Friday 16 January 2004 - Supercar Promotions Limited (SPL) have reached agreement with the Mini 7 Racing Club to feature both 2004 BRDC Championships of the Dunlop Mini Se7en and Dunlop Mini Miglia Challenge's within the all-new SCV8 Supercar Championship programme.

“The long established, highly successful and thoroughly enjoyable Mini Championships have always been a crowd favourite” said Roger Etcell of SPL. “Presenting these two comprehensive grids, along with other support races shortly to be announced, on the same programme as SCV8 will enable us to reach our goal for the complete entertainment show”.

Bill Sollis, Chairman of the Mini 7 Racing Club was also pleased with the partnership, saying; “The SCV8 Championship and race weekend concept is one of great value for entertainment and competition for both the fans and competitors alike. SPL's plans for the immediate and long term are very exciting and all of us within both the Mini Se7en and Mini Miglia paddocks are extremely pleased at having concluded the arrangement and now look forward to the season ahead”.

i know minis aren't exactly top notch support races but they are pretty entertaining.

I wonder what will replace the minis at the F3/GT meetings, Formula Ford perhaps?

[Stephen Green]

Do we know how many cars are scheduled to run in the frist race (SCV8)?

[BertMk2]

There are 3 confirmed teams for SCV8 as far as I know, each of these has to build 4 cars and run at least 2 themselves. Presumably there are more teams lined up to produce other models but these haven't been confirmed yet.

[Stephen Green]

So at the moment a minimum of 6 cars, maximum of 12. Lets hope we get a few more before the first race!

[BertMk2]

They need to get a shift on really don't they? The only car that's actually broken cover is the Jag (and there's only one of them). The artists impressions of the Vectra and 407 look pretty good though.

[ATF]

They still have time - the series doesn't start til May (31st May at that!)

Four manufacturers have been announced and I heard rumours of 2 more being announced soon so that would be 20/30 cars.

[Stephen Green]

I hope it works out otherwise it will be destined to follow the same road as Euroacr V8.

[BertMk2]

According to the SCV8 website there will be 5 teams in the first year (3 so far confirmed) - each building 4 cars, that gives a maximum of 20.

[Neil Adams]

why would support races sign up to support a race of 6 or 12 cars? truth is that SCV8 is looking stronger.

Yet people are still questioning whether its going to get off the ground or not.

The cars themselves are just one chassis with different shells bolted on, i expect that Rouse and company have many chassis allready put together.

[speedy king]

Couldn't they have more variety in the supports Don't get me wrong, i saw both series' at Snet last year and they were very good, but i prefer variety in the cars. so two series with just different engines wouldn't get me very excited...

[Stephen Green]

I'm not wishing them ill bttc but we have been here and read the book many times before. I'll reserve judgement until the first race. Can't be fairer than that can you?

[Duffacus]

I think they will be ready. Things seem to be looking good and with the stage its at now this championship is in quite a long way so if they knew it wouldn't get off the ground I think they would of quit or pulled out long before now.

[sceptic]

Yes, they still have time.

But they also still have several dates on their calendar which don't have circuits.

They have no drivers signed up.

They have not announced a TV deal, although the rumour on that front is that they will get a late night slot on Channel 4.

They only have two support races (both of which are only there because they were thrown off of the F3 support bill to accomodate Ford and Zip). If you had the choice of going to a circuit and seeing 13 races on the Toca Tour, or going to watch two SCV8 races and two Mini races, which would you think was the better value?

Some of you will remember the "Interactive Sports Car" championship three years ago. In January 2001, they had a confirmed calendar, lots of cars and a great TV deal.

By June 2001 the series had been cancelled and reinstated, the calendar was changed several times, and eventually just one race was run at Donington Park before the championship was abandoned altogether.

[BertMk2]

I hope it does get up and running - the concept is good and they should provide some good racing. But until they turn a wheel in anger it's still only a concept (having said that I'd be surprised if it didn't get going).

I think they're planning to add more support races to the bill - the minis are just the first ones confirmed.

[avro]

I have to say that I am disappointed in many of the above threads, it used to be that we as a country would get behind people trying to bring something new to spice up our entertainment, but most of you want to kick it down, Andy Rouse and Peter Hall are not stupid people and would not invest theirs and other peoples money without teams / drivers offering some kind of commitment.

We do need new championships, proper racing series to replace some of the old and tired series that should have been stopped years ago.

If we continue to chastise and critisise new ideas then we will end up with no UK motorsport industry outside of F1.

This type of attitude is strangling UK industry at present and if we continue down this road with our sport the UK will be a poorer place.

Get of the fence guys and start backing the sport not knocking it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stephen Green]

Avro, I don't think any of us WANT the series to fail, but we are airing our concerns that at this late date there seems to be little concrete evidence that it will really take off. The possibility of 8 car grids is hardly inspiring and will not attract spectator or sponsor interest unless grids are much fuller.

I have deep respect for Andy Rouse and Chris Hall and wish them every success but, as I and others have said, we need to see the cars on the grid before we can make any meaningful judgement.

One of the problems in motorsport has been the enormous numbers on new 'one make' series over the past few years. Some have succeeded whilst many others have failed. I believe that is why so many are sceptical about other new series.

[Neil Adams]

quote from Avro - i agree totally

"I have to say that I am disappointed in many of the above threads, it used to be that we as a country would get behind people trying to bring something new to spice up our entertainment, but most of you want to kick it down....

Get of the fence guys and start backing the sport not knocking it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

quote from sceptic

"They have no drivers signed up."

no i dont think they have, but plenty are interested. search on google, i did this months ago i found that there are drivers are interested in the championship.

quote from the press release

"Presenting these two comprehensive grids, along with other support races shortly to be announced"

it won just be the minis and scv8!

There are a lot of btcc teams that have yet to show their 04 cars and this championship starts a good month before SCV8.

Just off the top of my head drivers interested could be Gavin Pyper and maybe Tom Boardman, (Team Varta connection).

Perhaps its a bit quite on the confirmations front because they're busy getting the cars ready?

I think its about time for an official SCV8 representitive to explain where they stand.

[redshoes]

Don't believe everything you read in press releases. Of course they are going to predict "comprehensive grids", doesn't mean it's going to happen.

Mini are the only permanent support (so far) although a quick look at the schedules shows that they will be running at a couple of BRSCC clubies and an HSCC meeting.

As for drivers, well we could all pick names off the top of our head but as yet no one is confirmed. As you say there are a number of BTCC teams who have yet to show 2004 cars but there's an awful lot who have already.

3 teams are signed up to build cars - Team Dynamics, VLR and Varta - but so far VLR are the only one to make public any details (the 407 artist's impression). Dynamics are struggling to find a BTCC budget so you have to question how they are going to fund SCV8. Unless Varta have invested in a workshop I seriously doubt they have the resources required to build and run four cars.

I will agree with one comment - "I think its about time for an official SCV8 representitive to explain where they stand". Given that they were supposed to have a big unveiling at the Autosport Show, that would have been the perfect time for such an explanation but details were thin on the ground. Actually the unveiling was supposed to be the Jag in it's 2004 colour scheme, yet it was the same as the test scheme minus the white bits, and with no mention of any sponsorship decals.

As Stephen said, it's not that we want it to fail, it's just so far there's not much to show for all the hype.

[The Bear]

I agree with Redshoes.
There are always lots of people 'interested' in any new series but have they got the backing, money or sponsors? If I was a potential sponsor I would want to know which television channels are showing it, in which countries and at what time. At this moment my money would go to BTCC because I know they will get good media coverage all over Europe live, and recorded later. There are lots of drivers who would drive in almost any series if they can convince someone to pay for it.
I would love to see a good grid for a solid British V8 series but I know times are hard for racing teams and people with a few hundred grand to spare or rich daddies etc seem to favour BTCC or British GT.

[Mackmot]

Thats why I havent got involved, they said I would be able to offer equivalent to BTCC but they have not confirmed anything yet so it is now too late for me to get a sponsorship deal together to compete the championship. Maybe next year hey.

[Andrew Kitson]

I wish them all the best and hope it works. We need rear wheel drive. Anyone who knows anything about motor sport knows RWD is more spectacular with a powerful engine.
Andy Rouse I have the greatest respect for. He has done it all in saloon car racing, knows what is required and Pete is a very clever buisnessman and quick driver in his day too.
It may start off slowly, like most new classes so let's give it a chance.
The first race is still well over 4 months away. F1 teams
have only just started testing their 2004 cars and some of the seats are still empty...their season starts in 6 weeks so we need not panic about SCV8 just yet!

[JP]

But they also still have several dates on their calendar which don't have circuits.

SCV8 have said that a full calendar will be announced after January 31, having waited for the Brands Hatch situation to settle down. With the BRDC behind them, it's unlikely they'll struggle for venues.

They have not announced a TV deal, although the rumour on that front is that they will get a late night slot on Channel 4.

Apparently there are two terrestrial TV offers on the table, a good one and a better one, together with satellite programming and an announcement's due in the next week or so.

They only have two support races (both of which are only there because they were thrown off of the F3 support bill to accomodate Ford and Zip).

The Mini 7s and Miglias did have an offer to remain on the F3/GT package, but after being presented with a lot of background information which will no doubt be made public in due course, going with SCV8 looked a better long term proposition, both financially and in terms of "product fit" (both SCV8 and Mini 7 being entertainment orientated and "high spec, low tech" classes).

The SCV8 package is also expected to include Heritage GT and BRDC single-seaters, plus two guest races at each meeting. They're apparently hoping to present a compact, spectator-friendly, race day package, kicking off with SCV8 qualifying at 11 am, then straight into the first Mini race, with the two SCV8 50-milers spaced out by the other 4 support races, closing with the second Mini race, and all finishing by 5 pm. The SCV8 philosophy of what will make an entertaining race day seems to be very similar to that expressed in recent weeks by Dr Palmer.

The only major reservation at the moment seems to be timing, with the car "kits" scheduled to be delivered to the five franchised teams for late April (Chassis from Rouse, engine from Nicholson McLaren, transmission from Hewland and bodyshell from the selected manufacturer). Estimated build time's apparently 400 hours, so testing time might be at a premium before the end of May.

There's a month's gap then before the second scheduled race, so Snetterton on June 27 might be the best time for those so far unconvinced to take a look.

[BertMk2]

Interesting... I'm assuming JP that you have some kind of inside line on all this? It wouldn't hurt for the organisers to update the website a bit more frequently to let people know that progress is being made (last time I checked there were 3 confirmed franchise teams - who are the others and what bodyshells are tey running?).

[andy_b]

Originally posted by redshoes
but so far VLR are the only one to make public any details (the 407 artist's impression).

That would be mine then!

[andy_b]

.