No band in the history of music turned-in its best performance every concert and so it was when Australia’s V8 Supercars raced at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas last weekend.
Despite Fabian Coulthard’s controversial win in the third race, the first Aussie V8 race weekend in North America was dominated by the Red Bull Holden Commodore duo of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes and the on-track action lacked the ‘sizzle’ we know the category can often deliver.
Off-track it was a different story with the Aussie teams working over-time ‘schmoozing’ the locals and sponsors. The Nissan boys spent considerable time in Tennessee – at the Japanese marque’s massive manufacturing plant in Smyrna and also at the headquarters of team sponsor Jack Daniels.
Some of Car Showroom’s North American colleagues made the trip down to Texas and they too were impressed with the off-track show and also the V8 Supercars themselves. Our mates correctly identified that technically the new ‘Car Of The Futre’ machines don’t break new ground – rather they’ve leant heavily on successful racing categories the British Touring Car Championship, FIA GT Championship and NASCAR.
Our mates have seen other categories race at the Circuit of the Americas and they ventured the decision to run the V8 Supercars on the shorter 3.7kms track in Austin – ostensibly to provide more overtaking opportunities and livelier racing – may have backfired and if there is another event next year perhaps the full-length circuit might be a better choice (an opinions shared by the drivers too).
They were also dumfounded by the date: qualifying is underway for the Indianapolis 500 and last weekend was NASCAR’S ‘All Stars’ spectacular at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. So while the date may have suited the V8 Supercar championship schedule, it would have been impossible to select a worse date for North American racing fans – consequently the images of the sparse crowd in the grandstands in Austin (claimed total crowd for the weekend was 68,000) must have been disheartening for the Australian sponsors.
If the V8s return to Austin, Texas next year, some mis-informed media have suggested a long-distance race with NASCAR drivers as co-drivers. This has complications on several fronts – clashing sponsors for starters and also scheduling both in North America (NASCAR races virtually every weekend from March to November) and in Australia (further complicated by Network Seven’s massive commitments to AFL football).
In the final event, Coulthard was on the gas quickly at the lap 16 resumption of racing following a safety car interruption and naturally Lowndes and Whincup had no choice other than accelerating too. Coulthard was first to greet the chequered flag in his BJR/Lockwood Commodore – ahead of Lowndes and Whincup - and after the race conceded he did make a quick jump at the re-start, but after being told so, he immediately slowed and though the eventual start was reasonable.
So despite the all-new track being expected to throw-in some curve balls, in fact following the Austin, Texas race, the V8 Supercars form-guide remains unchanged: Whincup and Lowndes have the car speed in their Red Bull Commodores, the BJR Commodores are also fast, Ford’s Will Davison is playing a smart strategy game which is keeping him in the hunt for the championship, HRT continues to struggle as do the Erebus racing machines and the Nissan Altima squad continues to be more competitive every race.
After the North American races, Whincup leads the title chase on 1247 points from Lowndes on 1105, Davison (1029), Coulthard (984) and Jason Bright (945).
