rick kelly has just rapped up the v8 supercar and it was very close with 2 ppl on the same points leading into the last race, thoughts? GO HOLDEN!!!

I have reviewed the footage, CL was trying to block RK AND overtake TK at the same time on the grey section of the track.

Studied the braking points of CL vs TK vs RK, CL broke too late, and even without contact from RK, would have contacted TK.

A Drive through penalty for an avoidable accident seems fair both to me and the IPO (Investigating and Prosicuting Officer), though tripple eight race engineering has taken it to the racing stewards after dismissal from the IPO after a subsequent appeal. The basis for their argument seems to lie not in the incident, but the fact that the incident impacted the championship.

Consistency is important in decision making, and no other matters beyond the actual course of the incident should be considered. By tripple eight race engineering logic, if this had happened to say, Bright, then no appeal should be lodged. What T8RE are doing is a last-ditch effort to gain the crown.

Craig Lowndes made a definitive dive in front of Rick Kelly who was sliding up the inside of Lowndes at turn 3 and would have taken track position anyway. The drive through penalty was more than sufficient for the incident. Lowndes was a little to defensive by blocking Ricks line yet trying to take Todd's position, which is why Rick was given such a minimal penalty.

Campbell Little (CL's race engineer) is wasting his time with the appeal. I dont think AVESCO have ever changed their minds after an appeal has been lodged.


The 'Toll HSV Dealer Team' also won the team championship, By quite a margin as well.

Well done Holden, Cant wait for the VE debut.

Yeah it should be sick, do u know what teams are upgrading there cars?

I would say all teams are upgrading to the VE, I know for a fact that HRT and the Toll HSV dealer team are upgrading. PWR, GRM and Jack Daniels racing are also likely to upgrade.

I wouldnt be surprised if Holden donate the neccesary cars as a form of advertisement.

All Ford teams HAVE to use the BF model next year.

i guess its safe to say everyone here is a holden person :p

I'll give credit where its due, so well done to rick kelly on taking out the championship. I would personally have like Lowndes to have taken it but great effort on his part anyway.

I'd imagine all the big budget teams will be upgrading to the VE commie. As for ford, i'm surprised they haven't changed to the BF falcons yet.

That is one thing about next year I should mention.

AVESCO have ruled that teams are allowed a maximum budget of $6.75 million for a two car team which has come after reports that 5 teams this year spent between $12 and $15 million, This is to be governed from the commencement of the 2007 season.

The teams confirmed to have spent in excess of $12 million are:

Holden Racing Team
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Toll HSV Dealer Team
Stone Brothers Racing
Jack Daniels racing

Which will make for a far more even playing field next year.

this salary cap thing is crap, what if a team has both cars destroyed in the first few rounds, the cost of building a new one, salaries, engine rebuilds (every 2000km), panel damage, fines(?), developement. What happens if a team uses all it's money, then crashes a car?
I can almost guarantee that most teams spend at least $8m, and ALL spend at least $5m.

On a different note, I believe that the ford "orion" falcon will be raced from the start of the '08 season, 2 months before it is available as a road car. That'll be 2 months of hard sales for the old falcon.

I cant see how they can effectively govern teams spending, It isnt feasible really. Its going to be difficult trying to tell teams like HRT and Stone Brothers that they can only have 40% of their budget from now on.

They shouldnt be allowed to race the Orion model Falcon until the commencement of the 2009 season but AVESCO seem to frequently change technical rules to accomodate Ford. They currently stipulate that at least 3500 'special units' (V8's) need to be sold in order to comply with the regulations.

Just look at the stupid ruling for the VE chassis which has been deemed illegal and needs shortening so that its the same length as the Falcons, I dont like the idea of set floorplans.

Every ruling AVESCO have made in recent years has been favourable to the Falcon, In particular the ruling that the Manufacturer was not allowed to run its own team which was aimed squarely at stopping HRT's repeated dominace of the sport from the mid 90's onwards.

Edit - Rick Kelly will remain champion after Triple Eight Race Engineering had their appeal dismissed, They still have the option of appealing to the FIA however but that will be a costly exercise if they are to fail.

what also stopped the dominance of HRT was the switch to control (ford)suspension/aero components in 2003. this was because they previously ran production based parts, where the VT/VX pwned the AU.
come on ford, you're holding holden up. VE ownes BF.

CL:"the fans know who the real champ is"
damn, ford has a good strangle hold over lowndes to get him to act like that.

CL = Darth Vader, just less successful while on the dark side...

I have always found Lowndes to be a nice guy, One of the nicest drivers at the Clipsal each year. But this year he has taken over Marcus Ambrose's reign of public criticism and consistent whinging. I have no time for the guy anymore.

I still stand by reasoning for HRT, Skaife became the team principle when Holden were forced to hand over the franchise under the new regulations. Skaife seemed very stressed for a couple of seasons due to this reason but has recovered since Walkinshaw himself has decided to have an input again.

AVESCO are forcing Holden to use many Ford components from next year onwards under operation 'blueprint' or whatever the hell they have called it. The VE chassis has to be shortened just to be race legal because Ford lodged a complaint about it even though they have had the longer chassis since the commencement of 2003.

At least it'll be funny watching the VE pwn the BF in the production car race. The Clubbies did well last season.

ha ha lol... nice photoshop

ha ha lol... nice photoshop

I saw that over at LS1.com on Sunday night, Its funny because he didnt actually cheat and Lowndes and the Ford fans are just whinghing.

Guess that means Marcus Ambrose never won in 2003 then.

I wish some day we can have racing series like this one here in Colombia.
All we got is the Alto(suzuki alto) cup, the TwinCam(Suzuki Suift GTI) cup, and some others that doesn't deserve to be even mentioned.

If you want (and will pay), just ship 20 Commodore SSVs there and you can have your own series. You could be a millionaire. LOL

If you want (and will pay), just ship 20 Commodore SSVs there and you can have your own series. You could be a millionaire. LOL

Why not?

I mean several arab countries started the clubsport cup, racing a field of VZ Clubsports.