Grid Lines....
1/9/2000 18:49 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - The Lites brigade may have hung up their helmets for this year (some of them anyway), but the paddock is still buzzing with Lites-flavoured gossip. All that, plus news on Jason Bright, the Queensland 500, awards nights, Lakeside Raceway and Bathurst form this edition of Grid Lines.
>> Leanne Ferrier will join an elite group of women who have driven a V8 Supercar, when she straps into a Garry Rogers-prepared Lites Commodore for next year’s series. It is unclear which car she will campaign, or who Rogers has secured as financial backer for the venture. With plenty of controversy surrounding the Stone Brothers’ entry into the series this year, expect plenty of anti-Level 1 tension in the 2001 paddock.
>> Formula Holden front-runners NRC Racing will campaign a V8 Lites Commodore in next year’s series. It is believed NRC racer Dale Brede, who finished 7th in this year’s Drivers Championship, will be given the seat.
>> AVESCO are planning a V8 Lites mini-enduro for future V8 Bathurst weekends. The race could be part of a new-look Konica-backed series next year, which will include a mixture of Shell Series support races, and stand-alone events.
>> Speaking of Lites, don’t! AVESCO say the Lites tag has given a “lightweight” feel to the inaugural series, and sends the wrong message to the motorsport-watching public. Expect the Lites, the name at least, to be dropped for next year’s six-round championship.
>> We note with interest the bombshell dropped by Barry Sheene on Ten's RPM program last weekend, stating that an Australian driver has a "Bright" future with Target Chip Ganassi Racing as soon as this year's Honda Indy. We checked out the rumour with our CART man-in-the-know, Aaron Irvine from SeventhGear.com, who described it as, "...weird, very weird...". We don't think much of it at the moment, but we also didn't think that anybody could get away with calling the best team owner in CART racing "Chipper" like Barry does! Stay tuned.
>> The Queensland 500 is no more. Instead, an expected 30,000 will journey to Queensland Raceway next weekend for the OzEmail 500, after organisers announced the new multi-year sponsorship deal with the online giant yesterday. OzEmail also sponsor Brad Jones’ Ford outfit.
>> Queensland’s traditional home of Motorsport, Lakeside Raceway, has won the necessary funds to make long-awaited improvements to the Northern Brisbane circuit. Owners have received a $240,000 grant from the State Government to “upgrade and widen” the track, as well as make other improvements to the site. The V8 Lites will return to Lakeside next year, however no Supercar return is planned for the near future.
>> The V8 Supercars’ long-awaited Bathurst return to the October long weekend won’t happen in 2001as planned. Tony Cochrane has said he is not prepared to take-on the footy finals, and will avoid a confrontation by scheduling next year’s FAI 1000 on 4-7 October instead. It is hoped the event will finally return to its traditional date in 2002.
>> The release of next year’s much-anticipated V8 Supercar calendar won’t happen until the first week of October. Why? Because, according to Tony Cochrane’s online column, “after looking at the feedback received from our fans throughout the year, we have included a number of changes to the existing format.” See, Tony really does listen! Don’t expect the V8 Supercars to venture any further north than Darwin until 2002 at least.
>> Struth, it’s a racing Ute! As well as all the usual support categories, next year’s Clipsal 500 in Adelaide will feature race-bred V8 Utes. Organised by GTP administrator PROCAR, the “Ute Muster” will feature 10 Holden and Ford utilities in a three-race series. The category will be production-based, with limited modifications.
>> A date has been set for the V8 Supercars’ “night of nights” – Saturday, December 2 – and V8 fans are all invited! The gala annual awards ceremony, to be televised on the Ten Network, will be held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Tickets can be purchased by phoning (07) 5526 3564.
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