Future
In the middle of 2008, a working group known as the "Car of the Future" project and led by former driver Mark Skaife was organised by V8 Supercars to investigate future directions for the sport. The working group had the primary objective of cutting costs to just A$250,000 per car, with a projected timeline of introducing the new formula for the 2013 season. The plan was unveiled in March 2010 at Crown Casino and incorporated several key changes to the internal workings of the car, with the differential, brakes, cooling and fuel systems all changed to a control – or identical – component for all cars, as well as changes to the rear suspension and engine. Notably, the Car of the Future plan aims to encourage more manufacturers to enter the sport – provided that they have four-door saloon cars currently in mass production. While the plans were well received by all of the teams, Holden chief Simon McNamara warned potential new manufacturers to stay out of the championship just hours after the plans were released, claiming that they would "gain nothing" from entering the series, (which as of 2010 fields twice as many Holdens as Fords).
Along with the release of the Car of the Future plans, V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane detailed plans dubbed "Phase Two", intended to look at the direction of the sport in the first five years of the Car of the Future's introduction. In addition to more manufacturers, Phase Two plans include adding to the sport's international appeal by including races in India, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa, as well as two brand-new domestic races.
In addition to the Phase Two plans, the FIA has announced that V8 Supercars will head to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in 2013. In August 2011, it was revealed that V8 Supercars Australia was in the process of negotiating to hold a race at Clark International Speedway in the Philippines from 2013.
Nissan later confirmed that they would enter the series under Car of the Future regulations with Kelly Racing. Reactions to the manufacturer's decision to join the category were mixed, with the team reportedly receiving hate mail over their decision to part company with long-time supplier Holden. Stone Brothers Racing, in conjunction with Australian GT Championship team Erebus Racing later confirmed they would be adapating Mercedes-AMG cars to the new regulations.
Read more about this topic: V8 Supercar
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“But I choose to think he is escaped from the possibility of falling into any future afflictions, and that neither the malice of his pretended friends nor the sufferings of his real ones can ever again rend and torment his honest heart.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again ... the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“What seems to us serious, significant and important will, in future times, be forgotten or won’t seem important at all.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)