V8 Supercars head to US

Overseas support for the Ford-against-Holden championship is running ahead of export demand for Australian-built cars, with America joining the Middle East and New Zealand on the upcoming calendar.

Plans eventually call for six overseas races in the championship, although this is likely to be at the expense of Tasmania - likely to be dropped after this year - and perhaps Winton in rural Victoria in 2013.

Singapore is also expected to join the touring car tussle from 2013 with Qatar targeted to take over the vacant date for a race in Bahrain, which ran for two years and created a double-header flyaway with Abu Dhabi.

The V8 series is continuing to copy the expansion of Formula One and will even race on the same American track, at the all-new facility called the Cirucit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. F1 is set for Austin in 2012 with V8s to follow a year later with the first full championship race for any Australian category.

The showdown in the Lone Star State could also include a cameo appearance by Marcos Ambrose, the two-time V8 champion now competing in Nascar races in the US. He had hoped to guest at the V8 finale in Sydney in 2009 and a special rule was passed as a result to allow high-profile guest drivers in the series.

"This is a huge deal for V8 Supercars and one that all Australians should be proud of," says the head honcho of V8 Supercar racing, Tony Cochrane. "Our sport is delighted to have entered this partnership with Austin and the incredible Circuit of the Americas. This is a truly amazing place."

Construction of the track at Austin - a sister city to Adelaide - is already underway and it will eventually run 5.5 kilometres with elevation changes of more than 30 metres. Apart from V8 Supercars and F1 it will host a round of the MotoGP world title in 2013.