V8's: The New Kids Take Out the Block!

It was a fantastic weekend of motorsport with the V8's and the F1 both throwing up some lovely surprises.

Read my reviews of the weekend V8 races at Richard's F1!

***

The New Kids Take Out the Block!

 

It was a day dominated by the youngsters, with the Kiwi teenager Scott McLaughlin taking out the first race of the Sunday, and 21-year-old Chaz Mostert winning the second race at the Coates Hire Ipswich 360.

The comfortable wins by these two rookies is definitely a sign of things to come and shows us all that the series is in good hands!

The first race of the morning started with Championship leader Jamie Whincup and Fujitsu Racing GRM’s Scott McLaughlin on the front row. A good start from McLaughlin saw him taking the lead, with Mostert in second briefly before being overtaken again by Whincup.

See more at Richard's F1 here!

***

Whincup wins at Ipswich SuperSprint!

 

The Queensland Raceway track has been dominated by the Red Bull Racing’s Holden team for the last few years, but it is usually the veteran Craig Lowndes at the top of the podium. This wasn’t his Saturday, though, as the Saturday 60/60 SuperSprint race win was taken decisively by his teammate Jamie Whincup.

For the first time in four years, 30-year-old Whincup converted pole position at Queensland Raceway into a win, stretching his championship lead to 131 points from Lowndes who came in fourth. Behind Whincup was rising star rookie Scott McLaughlin in the Fujitsu GRM Commodore and Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom came in third.

Read more here!

***

V8s: Drumroll Please…Nissan and Kelly Racing reveal the 2013 car!

This was originally posted on Richard’s F1…check it out here! Ladies and Gentlemen, in announcement in Melbourne yesterday something special was revealed.

It was the car that you have all been curious about…The 2013 V8 Supercar in the form of a Nissan Altima!

In an event yesterday, Kelly Racing co-owners Rick and Todd Kelly and Nissan Australia Managing Director William F Peffer Jr unveiled the modified Nissan Altima that will make its first appearance on the track in Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 in 2013.

The car has been built to the “Car of the Future” regulations, including 18” wheels, a 100kg weight reduction, independent rear suspension and a transaxle gearbox.  The engine is a modified Nissan's VK56DE engine, a 5.6-liter V8 that is said to be slotted into the 2013 Nissan Patrol SUV.

V8 Supercars CEO David Malone remarked on the exciting time this was for fans and indicated this was the beginning of a new era for the series.

"New manufacturers joining the series will mean heightened competition and new technology racing on circuits around Australia and the world.” he said.

"2013 is a revolutionary year for V8 Supercars and the unveiling of the Nissan Altima is just the beginning. I congratulate Kelly Racing and Nissan for their hard work and look forward to seeing the cars' debut."

Todd Kelly was also, quite rightly, proud of the achievement.

"This is the proudest day in the relatively short history of our team, as well as one of the most significant days in recent times for the sport of V8 Supercars," Kelly said.

"Our team has done a tremendous job to design and build an all-new V8 Supercar, including a new engine, in roughly nine months."

What a job they have done! It will be interesting to see how the newcomers perform on track come 2013; this is the first time a non Ford/Holden vehicle will grace the series since 1995.

Come 2013, the Altima will be sporting the Jack Daniel’s Livery, so that will be something to watch out for as well.

Until then…the cards are on the table.  What will Mercedes show? Exciting times indeed!

Yassmin Abdel-Magied RichardsF1.com Journalist [Images via Nissan and Fox Sports]