A LOOK AT THE NEW LARKHAM - ORRCON RACING LIVERY
17/3/2005 16:16 (Press Release) -
With the 2005 car livery of Larkham Motor Sport appearing for the first time last Saturday at the V8 Supercar season launch in Sydney, many people will notice the subtle changes from last year’s design.
Given that the silver, blue and yellow of the Orrcon Racing Falcon’s stood out during last year’s Championship, team owner Mark Larkham says “it is hard to improve what has generally been accepted as a good looking car.”
“This current livery is one that has evolved over time, and like many teams we like to contain some continuity between years. To identify an LMS car in the current era, just look for a GT stripe. That is the backbone of our car design. To me the large GT stripes signify strength, speed and performance. At some point most automotive marques have applied them to their pedigree sporting models. We have expanded them a little this year onto the side of the car rolling over onto the back windscreen. "
The real challenge says Larkham is “to keep the car design flowing amongst various sponsors logo’s and colours, rather than appear like a tacked together billboard. We really wanted to evolve the 2004 design, which was difficult, as we were already starting with something that looked pretty good.”
Starting with the ‘04 base graphics, Larkham and Orrcon’s design artist Carl Spencer spent numerous hours massaging various concepts that would subtly evolve the current look. This work started with lead pencil sketches, then coloured pencils, through to computer simulation and then many late nights with LMS signwriter Gary Frampton working bits and pieces of coloured vinyl and pinstripe tape until the desired outcome was achieved. From here it was into the LMS paint booth were painter Braden Clutterback started some colour sampling and template work.
One of the major differences in this year’s livery is the addition of the Orrcon ALLGAL logo on the bonnet to highlight the steel tube manufacturers product, made with a process that offers inside and outside steel tube protection . Further, a little ‘visual trickery’ has been applied to strengthen the important ‘Steel/Tube’ message on the side of the car.
Decorug, Australia’s leading decorator rug and timber flooring retail specialist, remain as a strong and pivotal part on the livery design for 2005 with it’s blue backgrounds and ‘Rugs & Flooring’ message, while Imaging Technology Australia (ITA) are now using a new brand logo to highlight their Imagejet range of laser, ink and ribbon cartridges on the rear quarter panels. Interestingly, two versions of this ‘arrowhead’ styled logo exist so it can be applied to both sides of the car and still keep the arrow pointing in a forward direction.
DeWALT Power Tools have also strengthened their presence on the car, but again with visual ‘gratification’. The proportion and placement of the DeWALT logo has been structured so as it blends nicely into the flow of the GT stripe in the ‘mouth’ of the car, without compromise to the effectiveness of their logo. And Ford Australia, as is the case with each of their sponsored teams, utilize the ever prominent windscreen band to highlight their message, in a shade of blue that fits perfectly with the overall design.
Other new features of the car are the oversized and very dynamic car numbers 10 and 20, on round backgrounds, along with a very interesting ‘cut out’ view of the engine trumpets that appear on the side of the front fenders.
“We tried to come up with something a little bolder and ‘techo’, which is why we went for the trumpets - it’s a little bit of fun if you like, just like the famous Ford ‘GT Superoos’ that made their way onto the car last year and have been very popular with Ford fans in particular,” said Larkham
“I think sometimes we can be a little too serious and corporate with our cars, so a little graphic fun and cleverness such as Murf’s ’04 Spiderman should be applauded.
“For many years I have had a great group of sponsors that allow us to deliver our best effort at livery design with everyone’s interest in mind.”
Across each of the Orrcon Racing Falcon’s in 2005 there is a total of 168 individual decals applications that make up the livery. Including the show car, prior to the start of the season there will be no less than six completed sets of body panels that will be ready to be bolted on.
The first hit out for the V8 Supercar’s is in Melbourne at the Foster’s Australian Grand Prix from March 3 – 6 with the opening round of the Championship in Adelaide two weeks later.
Release Date: 22/02/2005
Larkham Orrcon Racing
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