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22 Oct 2016, 08:06 (Ref:3681866) | #1 | ||
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A TCR series for Australia?
http://www.touringcartimes.com/2016/...going-forward/
Any chance of this being a success? Also, which of the TCR-cars are actually available in Australia as road cars? Audis A3 and VW Golf for sure, and it looks like the Astra will make a comeback as well, but do you also get Seats and the Euro Honda Civic? |
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22 Oct 2016, 10:16 (Ref:3681883) | #2 | |
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I'd love to see it, but I'm not convinced there will be room for it.
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23 Oct 2016, 00:22 (Ref:3682020) | #3 | |
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To run a series you would have to tie it in with Supercars and their package
Otherwise there will be a Supercars smear campaign against it, ala Super Touring and PROCAR (especially as Supercars will want the manufacturer interest for their own Gen2 rules) |
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23 Oct 2016, 05:54 (Ref:3682067) | #4 | ||
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If what you are saying is true you should be able to quote something more recent |
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23 Oct 2016, 08:51 (Ref:3682075) | #5 | ||
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Other than that others learnt the lesson after what TOCA Australia and PROCAR copped The Super Touring debate was certainly not a two-way thing (In terms of TOCA Australia's involvement anyway, as an aside from Ch7, ARDC etc..) |
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23 Oct 2016, 09:58 (Ref:3682081) | #6 | ||
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Anyway off topic. This series will need to be part of something and there isnt many choices I really dont see it offering something for Australia, there are already heaps of options |
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24 Oct 2016, 03:05 (Ref:3682371) | #7 | ||
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Front wheel drive? No thanks.
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24 Oct 2016, 03:11 (Ref:3682372) | #8 | ||
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24 Oct 2016, 03:27 (Ref:3682376) | #9 | ||
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24 Oct 2016, 09:04 (Ref:3682418) | #10 | ||
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The Bathurst 6 hour would be the likely entry point for TCR type car.
http://bathurst6hour.com.au/ A whole new world of used JDM imports is likely to open up for Australian car buyers, in terms of rear wheel cars that may be have not seen on Australian roads before. Just a few of the Asian rear drive cars in production that will probably be still produced after the Holden, Toyota factory closures. Nissan 370Z Nissan Fuga (v6 slap on some turbos like were stuck on Commodores to turn them into tyre slayers) Hyundai Genesis Lexus LS460 Toyota Mark X (budget rear wheel drive) Toyota Crown Mazda MX5 |
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25 Oct 2016, 05:25 (Ref:3682674) | #11 | ||
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15 Mar 2017, 07:20 (Ref:3718716) | #12 | ||
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This. In a time when motor racing seems to be struggling in many areas including manufacturer involvement, TCR seems to be sweeping through Europe and Asia with the blessing at least of a variety of manufacturers. Gotta be honest, I'm yet to see a race that has captivated me, but maybe that would change if there were drivers or manufacturers that I cheered for.
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15 Mar 2017, 07:47 (Ref:3718720) | #13 | ||
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Lets say, hypothetically, we dumped the CotF/Gen2 thing, and went to TCR. All of a sudden, you'd open the taps on manufacturers who've walked away, or said no in the past, to want to get involved again. 26 cars straight off the bat, plus our existing driving and engineering talent, the racing would be pretty decent. Just about every manufacturer with a TCR-homologated car, has had some sort of involvement in motorsport here in Australia at some point in the past. With platform and running gear-sharing that exists these days with PSA, Nissan-Renault, VW/Audi/Skoda etc, you'd broaden the scope for even more manufacturers. Volvo would probably side-step into TCR too, once the WTCC finally goes belly-up. Could well be a much cheaper, and sustainable means of going forward. Plug-and-play options are there too with Audi, and a couple of others. The ruleset also lends itself to greater international potential, with world cup-style events, as well as tapping into the apparently sought-after Asia market. Putting aside all setiment around the V8 noise (which was kinda diluted once everyone fell in love with the racket the Volvo and MB made), and big RWD sedans that are either extinct, or on the verge of... if the sport jumped onto it within the next 2-3 years and really pushed it, it could be what takes us into the next 15 years or so of premier tin-top racing in Australia. I don't think bespoke racecars that are irrelevent to what's at the forefront of the new car market here in Australia, are the way forward anymore. It certainly never worked for sports sedans. |
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15 Mar 2017, 08:44 (Ref:3718733) | #14 | ||
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I cant add anymore to than what you just said, I've looked at the series over the last 12 months and the only thing I've wondered is why there has been zero movement toward it from this country to this point in time.
A sceptic might suggest Supercars has bought the rights to the series here to ensure it never sees the light of day, or not until their Gen 1/Gen 2/Gen 3 attempts have been exasperated. And if that is the case, your point about trying to get the series off the ground in this country 5 years too late might be very prophetic... |
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15 Mar 2017, 08:53 (Ref:3718737) | #15 | ||
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Will Holden continue under a TCR playbook? Do they even have an eligible car?
And should the series risk their participation, having been the backbone of Supercar, Group 'A', Group 'C' and every other series before... |
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15 Mar 2017, 08:59 (Ref:3718738) | #16 | ||
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Opel Astras are eligible.
Why foster Holden for the sake of potentially four or five marques? They've had a good rub of the green over the years as it is. |
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15 Mar 2017, 09:58 (Ref:3718748) | #17 | |
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15 Mar 2017, 10:12 (Ref:3718754) | #18 | |
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Which manufacturers in the recent past, have walked away from, or distanced themselves from Supercars, but have a TCR car?
Audi - yes. Alfa Romeo - yes. Ford - yes. Kia - yes. Hyundai - yes. Holden could transition via the above Astra, Nissan could do it to with whatever underpinnings they share with the Renault Megane. Pulsar? Renault themselves have kicked the tin in recent years in the ARC, so have Honda. Heck, there's even an eligible Subaru! Cars seem to be reasonably cheap to buy, too. I think the dearest was the Audi, built by SEAT Sport, under Ingolstadt's guidance, at around $120K Euro new. |
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15 Mar 2017, 10:42 (Ref:3718769) | #19 | ||
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And all the while we have three manufacturers dancing around this Gen 2 idea with zero global relevance and only one marque actually committing more than a few words on a press release every three months.
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15 Mar 2017, 12:17 (Ref:3718790) | #20 | ||
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Let's not mince words though, right now VW is dominating TCR (through VW and Seat), and people would inevitably whine about it.
Plus, you're going to get back to the safety and repairability questions that led to the current style of car. Also almost all of the current engineering pool of the teams as they exist now is completely useless if they are to race TCR. So the teams would downsize to perhaps 10% of what they are now. So not sure it is plug-in and go. |
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15 Mar 2017, 12:41 (Ref:3718794) | #21 | |
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Not entirely true of the engineering pool. There were a significant amount of SC personnel at the 12hr this year. Engineers, data engineers, mechanics, pit crews, fabricators, etc would all still be needed.
VW, via Engstler, got quite a headstart on everyone, building and testing cars before the ruleset was even finalised (Think Triple Eight and CotF transition). I don't think there's a factory VW team anyway. Backdoor support, at the most. It's also a BOP ruleset. Lead trophy seems to be the thing they do. There's a minimum weight, but ballast can swing from -20kg to +70kgs either side. You're right to query the repairability and safety though. However, they do have mid-mounted fuel cells much like the CotF concept. Cage design, etc is FIA-approved. I would also go as far as to suggest that the likelihood of having a car-destroying stack would be lower, due to slower speeds, and less vehicle mass. |
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15 Mar 2017, 12:47 (Ref:3718797) | #22 | ||
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These are far more akin to an Improved Production than GT3. You're right a lot of those things are necessary for GT3 but a great many of them will be redundant with TCR, because it is meant to be that there are not car constructors, which is fundamentally different to Supercars current model.
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15 Mar 2017, 15:43 (Ref:3718842) | #23 | ||
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There are no factory teams at all in TCR International. There's Audi Hong Kong in TCR Asia, but the rest are privateers in the TCR series. The cars are significantly slower than existing VASC cars. Would be an ideal support category. Only the VAG cars (Seat Leon, VW Golf, Audi S3) and the Honda Civic are at the ultimate pace so far. FWD only, use road-car derived suspension components. The formula needs further development before it is used for a 'headline' series IMHO. It's certainly progressing and affordable. We shall see how the STCC goes this season, the first of the established series to switch to a TCR ruleset. |
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15 Mar 2017, 19:03 (Ref:3718876) | #24 | |
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It does seem like if you run an international ruleset, you essentially open up to a lot more manufacturer interest or at least the ability to run under their auspices.
Run your own cowboy ruleset...in Australia...with a ravaged local manufacturing...yeah good luck with that |
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15 Mar 2017, 20:39 (Ref:3718884) | #25 | |||
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