V8ST - Te News, 2013 v2.0

[HProject]

A few pics from yesterday

[Southern Man]

For those wanting a break from the Auckland weather, currently 25deg and still climbing in Timaru.

[on_to_it]

I doubt the track conditions have deteriorated since this morning so I'll assume they are much the same; if so, it appears that quite a few co-drivers are showing up their main driver team mates. I think in some pairings (not all), that's a genuine surprise.

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by Mark Petch

Anybody wanting to know the action as it happens i suggest you go to the V8ST website hit results, select live results.

Great qualifying run from Holdsworth this morning in the Chesters Commodore,
64.103 a tenth faster than last years best qualifying and in cold blustery conditions. So if the weather clears for this afternoons 2nd quaifying session we may yet see a 63 second run from the like of Murf, Mclaughlin, SVG, or possible Andre Heimgartner.

Mylaps link:

http://www.mylaps.com/en/classification/2938589

SVG takes pole for 2nd qualifying, but two tenths slower than the flying Holdsworth recorded in the first qualifying session for co-drivers.

http://www.mylaps.com/en/classification/2938599

[socram]

Originally Posted by Southern Man

For those wanting a break from the Auckland weather, currently 25deg and still climbing in Timaru.

4pm and 24 degrees in Auckland... I don't think we really need a break, but thanks for the offer! (It's also warmer than Sydney and Brisbane.)

[NZSTfan]

So with Leethal doing a 1.04.1 and setting a new record , how does that compare to what the supercars were doing? Did they get to 1.03.5 or thereabouts.

cold front hit the track at 4.30pm today so quietly chuffed with that.

[Southern Man]

Originally Posted by socram

4pm and 24 degrees in Auckland... I don't think we really need a break, but thanks for the offer! (It's also warmer than Sydney and Brisbane.)

Looks like they are playing water polo rather than cricket at Eden Park tonight.

[socram]

Originally Posted by Southern Man

Looks like they are playing water polo rather than cricket at Eden Park tonight.

Speedway cancelled too!!! This is the Auckland we love.

[adbutler]

great first race today (watched on livestream). 1 or 2 more laps and i think that moffat would have had edgell.

[NZSTfan]

Its gunna come down to the wire for Ant and Murphy. .....go 96!!!?

[NZSTfan]

Congratulations to Greg Murphy....well done
gutted for Ant though who ultimately lost out due to the only safety car if the event. If only the Cunningham car did the decent thing and pulled the damaged car off at T1 rather than T2/T3 which blew car 96's lead of around 10 seconds. Heart breaking for IMS I am sure but thrilling racing all round and the cars surely can go the distance.
Well done to M3

[CDM]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

gutted for Ant though

Ant won it according to the guy (Dobbo?) fronting TV3's sports news....LoL...

[Biggy G]

Big congrats to Murph, looked like a good set of races from the ST boys, and no carnage to speak of which was good to see. Thought the refuelling added a nice variable to the racing, were teams not able to do fuel and driver at the same time?

Interesting to see no Hampton Downs on the calendar for next season, the track was originally labelled something like "The home of Supertourer racing", just 2 seasons in and it's goooooooone.

2014 season isn't far away, main think I wanna know is if we'll see the VF Commodore introduced?



Let the Silly Season commence!

[Goat Boy]

Originally Posted by Southern Man

Looks like they are playing water polo rather than cricket at Eden Park tonight.

Up until the last few days the weather has been spectacularly hot and dry for several weeks. Well done to the ball boy who got the ball out of the drainage channel...

[Goat Boy]

It was beautiful weather yesterday and another hot one today too. It's been far more miserable in Canterbury in fact, my sister lives there so I know!

Anyway, went out on Sunday and had a great day, good racing in all classes although the Toyota 86's back markers were incompetent to say the least - the GJ Gardener entry (I kept saying "she" for some reason, how bad is that) got lapped TWICE in a 15 lap race, and didn't just get off the racing line but climbed the kerbs onto the grass and actually stopped to let the pack go by.

Makes you wonder why they bothered really, you can go out and do a track day for a lot less than the $80k it costs to buy one of those things!

[Goat Boy]

ST's with the enduro format and refuelling etc were pretty much indistinguishable from the V8SC's, the big screen helped a LOT too. I think they were disappointed in the crowd numbers but they were much better than in May, my guess would be somewhere between 5 and 10k in the afternoon. Grid walk was packed!

My main gripe would be the food outlets, unlike last year, left a LOT to be desired.

[BlueBlood]

Dunno why this has not been mentioned, but from what I saw the refuelling was a joke.
Pitstop times appeared to vary by about 8 seconds depending on how fast the jugs emptied (some appeared to flow much faster than others) and how much fuel was left in the jug. The commentators kept saying the variation was the time taken to raise the car, but that wont account for a margin that large.
Plenty of stalled cars on take off just made it look worse.
I know this was the first go at it, but it has to be more professional next season.
Maybe a tank size or a race length that made it essential that you got every drop of race fuel out of that jug is needed to ensure the cars have enough to get to the end.

[Ugy]

The crowd looked about the same as TITP.
Not worth the food outlets going there if they are going to lose money or break even.

[Goat Boy]

Originally Posted by Ugy

The crowd looked about the same as TITP.
Not worth the food outlets going there if they are going to lose money or break even.

Hmmm, agreed but what was there was back to the old style hot dogs and over priced chips. A pizza place would have done well I think! Mind you the food at Eden Park is just as bad and even more expensive...

[BackSeat Driver]

Originally Posted by HProject

A few pics from yesterday

This has got to be one of the coolest photos I have ever seen!!! Well done!!

[pukekoheracer]

Originally Posted by BackSeat Driver

This has got to be one of the coolest photos I have ever seen!!! Well done!!

I guess he will be looking for a new Backer for Next season to put on the side of that car

[Biggy G]

Originally Posted by pukekoheracer

I guess he will be looking for a new Backer for Next season to put on the side of that car

I'm gonna miss that livery!

[NZSTfan]

Yeah me too, I have always liked Eddie Bells car, especially when they had the blue tinted rear lights which they are no longer allowed. But Simon Evans is....?

Anyway, I thought this weekend really showed the public and race fans alike that the ST series is really up there. The fuel stops were very cool and the racing of the highest standard. There will still be haters no doubt, but who really cares about that. It is what it is, and that is a very cost effective alternative to V8SC. The series can now boast that they are only half a second off the pace of a Supercar now at Puke.

If the series goes for a softer tyre 'option' (which I think they should) then these cars will be on par with their much more costly cousins in Aus.

Well done to ST's for delivering what they have in only 2 years. I feel that next year there is going to be some big names hopping over for fang in these machines.

Great stuff

[socram]

Originally Posted by Goat Boy

Hmmm, agreed but what was there was back to the old style hot dogs and over priced chips. A pizza place would have done well I think! Mind you the food at Eden Park is just as bad and even more expensive...

Sadly, we seem to be ripped off at just about any and every entertainment venue, whether mobile or permanent.

I thought we were heading in the right direction at Hampton Downs with some great well priced sandwiches and even a Murphs pie, but I fear that things have slipped back to chips there too.

I am certainly not paying anyone, anywhere $4/$4.50 for a can of soft drink nor $5 for a not very large coffee. Why should we pay top restaurant prices at a mobile venue? Are they being charged too much to be there?

After a decent large coffee and an early breakfast en route, I now don't bother eating or drinking at the track if it is overpriced or lack lustre.

Used to love the full breakfast in the Silverstone paddock cafe on a cold autumn morning!

[isoskim]

Originally Posted by socram

Are they being charged too much to be there?

I'd be very surprised if they are being charged, it's more likely they are charging the organisers to be there.