27th March 2008
This weekend sees the start of the 2008 VSR V8 Trophy. The 2008 season will be a brand new leap into the unknown for the former ASCAR racers, who will be venturing out onto the road courses of the UK and Europe for the first time since the series’ inception. A link-up with the VSR Super-Silhouette Series means that the V8 Trophy race cars will, for the first time, get to stretch their legs at some legendary British circuits such as Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Lydden Hill, and starting this weekend, Snetterton in Norfolk.
The 460bhp V8 monsters will run exclusively on the more ‘traditional’ road course circuits this year. With a complete lack of dates being offered at the series’ spiritual home, Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire, the organisers have had to diversify the championship in order for it to survive.
A number of solutions were looked at during the off season, with the tie up with the VSR Series proving to be the best option to keep the series alive. The cars will run in the V8 class of the newly refreshed VSR Series, which will once again this year see classes for the former Eurocar V6 and V8 cars that once formed the core of that Championship. Both the V8 Trophy and VSR Series have suffered the loss of championship status for 2008, withdrawn by the MSA due to lack of entries in past years, but the merger and combined grids go some way toward securing a sustainable future for both series. The perfect end result would be for the unified VSR Series to regain Championship status for 2009.
It is hoped though, that the absence of Rockingham from the calendar will only be temporary. Everyone involved in V8 Trophy wants to be there, and the spectacle and noise of these cars on the oval is almost unrivalled in Europe. Rob Compton, driver of the #59 Domino’s/Team Air Ambulance Pontiac said, “It’s a shame that we’re not running on the oval, but c’est la vie! We’ll take the show on the road, and bring V8 trophy to more people than before.” The situation must be looked at positively though, and the sabbatical does mean that after 7 years the cars will be seen touring the country, opening up the possibilities for the public to see the cars closer to home. “Spreading the word has got to be good for the long term future of the series” said Compton. “Taking in road courses may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but in Europe, where speedways are a scarce commodity, it had to happen sooner or later. It’s a shame that it didn’t happen sooner, and that in itself may have helped maintain the numbers in the series. That’s the past. This is the future. The re-build starts here. Bring it on!”
Another chance to see the cars away from their natural environment will come at the Farnborough International Airshow in July. The V8 Trophy teams will be competing in a Pit Stop Competition over the two days of the show – the first time the crews have had to change tyres in anger since the end of the 2005 season. Then, the tyres being changed were supplied by Avon, but 2008 sees a return to Hoosier tyres last used in 2003.
Hoosier will provide both radial slicks and, for the first time a full wet tyre also, which means that the V8 Trophy cars will be racing come rain or shine! A spectacular handful in the dry, the cars are likely to be quite a sight in the rain – something we may get to see as soon as this weekend!
So what other changes have been made to the cars in order to go road course racing? The most major changes include those to the suspension and springs. The cars no longer need to turn left only, so all four corners can now be set up to accordingly. Similarly, the weight distribution of the cars has been altered - previously every possible component on the car was designed in order to help the car turn left. As per MSA regulations the cars now feature rain and brake lights, with the brakes being another major component that need attention.
With the cars doing 146mph average lap speeds on the Rockingham oval the brakes haven’t been used that much, but on the road courses they are likely to prove much more of a problem. Now, the front brake pads will suffer heavy abuse during the course of the season, and keeping them cool is likely to be the biggest problem. Some minor bodywork changes around the front grill are scheduled to appear over the course of the season.
V8 Trophy veteran and 2007 series champion Colin White has been in charge of testing most of these changes in time for the new season, and conducted a successful test at Lydden Hill last week. Pickup Truck Racing Champion and occasional V8 Trophy racer Steve Dance was also on hand in his Pickup, testing ahead their Brands Hatch season opener. Colin initially was lapping four seconds off the well established PTR setup, but after much of the day spent dialling in the car for the road courses, the #78 machine was lapping within half a second of the time set by the much more nimble #16 truck.
Amongst issues with the brakes, he also found that a smaller steering wheel may be needed – the large stock car versions perhaps not giving a quick enough response time to manoeuvre the bulky V8s around the more technical circuits. There haven’t been as many tests as the series organisers would have liked, with a visit to Pembrey being rained off teams have lost vital track time to discover such problems.
All these issues have been discovered, and the subsequent changes made, in the shortest off-season in V8 Trophy history, and unfortunately that has taken its toll on the grid we will see this weekend.
Confirmed for the season opener at Snetterton are reigning champion Colin White in the #78 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 2006 Rookie of the Year Tony Hurdle in his #98 Ben/Klann Tools Chevrolet, and an as yet unnamed driver taking the helm of the #99 FSNBF/Protex Revolution Racing Pontiac. Also possible is a second CWS entry, which would up the tally to 4 V8 Trophy machines, but a driver has yet to be sourced for that car as Colin’s brother Keith will racing his VSR VW Corrado on track at the same time as the V8s. Other V8 power comes from former Trophy racer Kevin Clarke in his Eurocar, which along with the Super Silhouette class should see a grid into double figures for the VSR Series.
It is unfortunate to have to announce that series stalwart John Steward will not be racing this year. Despite efforts to entice him, the driver of the #75 will not be seen on the road courses in 2008.
There are other drivers interested in the series and a number of cars are up for sale, but with an initiative to lower the required license level to National B not being accepted by the MSA, this has reduced the number of drivers eligible to compete. That said, there is still a large amount of interest in the new VSR V8 Trophy, but with the series moving into new territory it is understandable that a number of the interested parties want to see how things go before fully committing, and it is hoped that some of them will be seen out on the grid over the coming months. 2008 will see some previous drivers returning though…
Duncan Gray’s Team Networking are aiming to rejoin the action from round three at Lydden Hill with their two cars bringing new blood into the series.
Also set to return to V8 Trophy action at some point in 2008 is Steve Hobday. A contender for ROTY honours in 2004 with Team Renegade Racing, Hobday will be taking the covers off his Ford Taurus as he returns to racing after building up a new business.
2007 Rookie Champion Rob Compton’s #59 Domino’s Team Air Ambulance Pontiac Grand Prix is still undergoing a rebuild following his visit to the Turn 2/3 wall in the final qualifying session of last year. He hopes to be rejoining the grid sporting a new livery at Cadwell Park in two weeks time. “The rebuild of the #59 has taken longer than expected, and it just cannot be ready for this first round.” Compton commented. “It’s a shame, but I’m not going to rush it out, and have it break because of poor preparation. Team Air Ambulance will be running, as last year, to raise awareness and money for the air ambulance charities. We carry over our support from Domino’s Pizza, and add some help from a few new names - I’ll be working my fingers to the bone to get out for Cadwell.”
New tracks, new drivers, new problems and new challenges – 2008 really is a brave new world for the re-birth of American Style V8 Stock Car racing in the UK.
We hope you’ll enjoy being a part of it!
