Lowndes Wins Bathurst for the 7th time...

[Andy01]

Full credit to Lowndes/Richards for their big win today.
49 starts between them & 12 wins, not a bad effort!
Shame about Davy Reynolds cramp issues & subsequent meltdown as he was the class of the field. More to come on that story I suspect.
Nice to see a Falcon on the podium in it’s final go round too.
Roll on the Mustang/Camaro show next year! :D

[billdan]

Yes, I felt sorry for Dave Reynolds with cramping up and the pit lane penalty for spinning the rear wheels while on the jacks. His team should have taken control and put Luke Youlden into the car when he pitted, at least they would have finished 2nd.

Good to see Craig Lowndes win Bathurst in his last full time season.

[torana68]

At the moment there is no Camaro next year, it will be plastic bodied replica mustang vs plastic rep commodore/opal thing. Seems GM can’t see much sales from the Camaro which won’t be available from all dealers vs the mustang that is available at all ford dealers and is selling like hot cakes. I’m not a fan of silhouette cars (or OZ NASCAR) it’s Been going down hil for a while and needs major changes soon , like another three or more manufacturers, but seems no one is interested.
Bill is spot on the team failed their driver and paid the price ,Reynolds was s mess, hopefully he can get back to full health soon.

[doppler]

Some people think it's still holden vs ford but I wonder how much (or little) is left of the original car besides the shell (probably a lot of repo plastic there as well), and how a factory stock version would compare on the track.


Rick

[The_bluester]

Rick, to lay it out flat, there is basically nothing besides cosmetic items between the road and race cars (When the road cars were still a going concern)

The cars are an essentially control spaceframe chassis, control suspension with some adjustability and setup shoice, control brakes, control gearbox etc. Essentially the category is "BYO engine and appearance" The bodywork has to be either shrunk or stretched to fit the chassis dimensions, the Altima for instance races in the same dimensions as the Falcodore, but on the road there were a midsizer, think Camry, not Commodore.

Andy and I have discussed this for years, I have never been a fan of the category, and the "Car Of the Future" regs (Which is what they refer to the common chassis etc as) were too little, too late to bring in new manufacturers and IMO a step in the wrong direction. I would rather see them race production cars.

[The Mekon]

You might bring your own engine and appearance, but we'll make sure the engine does not create any more power than the others, nor have better fuel economy.
The category has become a bit of a "brand" joke.

But I do agree that Reynolds team made a big mistake in not getting him out of the car on the last fuel stop - they gave away an easy 2nd place.

[Tropo-Bob]

I liked it when it was an international event, but then it was pruned back to a derby for local cars. It lost credibility by going in the wrong direction.

Still, it makes money and is popular, particularly with the beer drinking, sporting-set in our community. Probably, the economy of Bathurst would suffer without it.

However, it needs to really lift its game to rekindle my interest.

[xelasnave]

What I found surprising was how Renolds managed such high lap times when he was clearly spent.

What I dislike about racing is the pit stop.
I know its now part of the action but if you can imagine how hard it is to crawl an extra tenth of a second per lap for the racer and have pitting as part of the race where seconds can be lost and therefore the race it is just wrong as far as I am concerned.

If it were up to me I would have compulsory pit stops of a appropriate time so no advantage or disadvantage can be gained and the race is decided on the ability of the driver not the pit crew.
If pit crews want give them their own competition but for me to have pitting as the major decider of a race is just plain wrong.

And look at how many races are lost in the pits... so often an infringement...entering a little too fast, spinning the wheels etc...

They may as well not put the drivers on the podium and just have the pit crews up there.

And safety cars ...
So you have half a lap lead and some fool running last crashes which brings out the safty car and when the race restarts you have the guy who was half a lap behind dragung you to the next corner afyer the start...that to me is just so wrong.
Thru no fault of the lead driver he loses that lead he has worked so hard for....
It should be about who is the fastest not who has luck in pitting or gets advantage from a safty car.

Many years ago the cars that were raced were basically what came off the showroom floor.
I liked that as you could really see what "real" car could manage.

And the start☺
Why not like a moto cross start ...now that would be fun☺
Imagine all cars in a line all dragging to go thru a corner that has only one racing line...thats where you see who is a real racer.
Anyways congratulations to Craig and his team and to the organisers as certainly the event is world class.
Alex

[AndyG]

Same here. I guess different people extract different values from this sport. For me, the real attraction was that (once upon a time), I could buy a car "not too different" from what was out there on the track. I could have a fave manufacturer. For 2-5 years, one manufacturer would trounce another, forcing them to improve. The tables could turn... A great driver could make up for the difference.

After the universal car concept, differences felt like mere lip service. The illusion of being able to own a "near" V8 supercar (via a trip to the dealers) evaporated. Having been always more interested in the Machine, rather than the Man, I felt like a fool baracking for any particular maker or car.

I was happy when they welcomed the other makers (nissan, volvo, etc). Though the real diversity, as discussed, was perhaps only skin deep.



The sceptic in my sees an opportunity for certain players to "take a fall" as to set up a situation that leads to what you've described. Especially if a team has more than one car. That said, it's a pretty baseless statement on my part - I haven't taken this sport seriously since AU Falcons where doing their thing.

[Kal]

Motor racing is never about just the driver, it is a team sport and has always been. Teams help with the preperation of the car, the setup of the car etc so if you want "pure" driver racing then you will probably need to look at computer sim racing

[xelasnave]

When I raced I was the team manager mechanic doctor and everything cause there was only me☺

I know what you say is true but it is the rider or driver who lays his body on the line and frankly I really think the pit thing is nonsense as is giving up your hard won lead because of a safety car.

Heck if I was racing in a race like that I would try for a good start and let those in front thrash themselves and their machine knowing that when the inevitable safty car arrives I am now close behind the guy that was way in front with better tires more fuel and not as tired...

I can handle pit stops as that reflects on preparation but will not give up on calling out safety car catch up.

Why should the leader be so harshly penalised because some one stuffed up...its wrong,

Alex