The Pastime That’s Taken Australia By Storm – V8 Supercar Racing
Not for the faint hearted but definitely for fans of sport at its most pulse racing, the pastime that is taking all coasts of Australia by storm right now is V8 Supercar Racing. Created and still based in Australia, but now reaching International Series level, this face-paced form of touring car racing is gradually making its way around the world thanks to television coverage of the white knuckle races that the sport is becoming famous for.Taking place right across Australia, except Western Australia so far, the sport has now been successfully picked up by neighbouring New Zealand and even Abu Dhabi and V8 Supercar races have seen crowds of over 250,000 spectators. What is it that makes this relatively new sport so appealing to fans and racers alike? Well the racing format has been kept very simple so spectators of any age can easily follow a race, and the race distances vary from sprint races right up to 200km races or even the 1000km Bathurst endurance race; so the suspense can build quite quickly in a single race, and you can usually rely on a high degree of action.The typical V8 Supercar season is 14 race weekends long and covers various purpose-built tracks around Australia and even taking to street circuits for special events. However, an element of V8 Supercar Racing that makes it so exciting is a simple regulation that states that race cars have to be based on either the Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore. Though neither of these standard production cars are particularly flashy or high-performance, they are historically the two most popular family car types in Australia, so the rivalry between the two plays a major part in the sport’s appeal. Though race cars usually still look a little like their original car, each V8 Supercar is modified extensively, not least the solid roll cage, dropped front mudguards, reinforced glass to minimise windshield repair and of course, the V8 engine. But these modifications are all highly regulated, so even in fields of almost 30 racers, qualifying lap times can sometimes still only be separated by just a second.In a sport that’s already as crowded as motor racing, it seems unlikely that the straightforward and simple approach of V8 Supercar Racing would be allowed but, in 1993, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport replaced its existing Group 3A Touring Car category with an entirely new three-class category. Class A is for Australian-produced 5.0 litre V8 engined Fords and Holdens, with Class B for any 2.0 litre production cars complying with the-FIA II Touring Car regulations and Class C was only temporarily introduced until the end of 1993. So from these two current categories, other road cars like the BMW M3 can race, but suped-up classics like the Nissan Skyline cannot. With many sport sponsors coming and going throughout its short history, the name “V8 Supercars” was not given until 1997, when IMG won the rights to the series.Janine Barclay writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
