Holden Commodore News

Sunday's race was probably the first time I've had a battle with my teammate, Jamie Whincup, and it was gloves off, serious, on-the-limit racing with no holds barred. There were more nerves in the garage than between us, though. At the beginning of our battle we were aware of fuel and tyre wear, but with about 15 laps to go I put more pressure on and Jamie responded. In the last five laps we were both pretty well tapped out and had nothing left in either the cars or us. Jamie had track position and cleaner air and was able to make it work for him. I got past a couple of times but I couldn't make it stick because there was nothing left in the tyres and he still had enough grip left to make the switchback and drive out of the corners. It's a difficult circuit to make a pass without losing it on the next corner and it's even harder when you have little grip left. Our team principal, Roland Dane, has always said he is happy for us to race hard and fast and fair with no team orders. That's what the fans got on the weekend and the result was pretty spectacular racing. We gave each other racing room, no doubt about that, because the ultimate sin is we both end up with a DNF. The only pit communication I got was to bring the car home. I don't think there are team orders among a lot of the other teams, either. The FPR drivers are in contention for the championship like us, so you won't see any team orders there. Also, the SBR drivers are very passionate, DJR drivers always push to the finish and the HRT drivers just want to win. Our sport is the healthiest it has been in a long time and a lack of team orders is instrumental. I had a few issues over the weekend which have to be sorted out. We had the pit stacking problem again and I'd love to see if there is some other option as it hurt me enormously on the Saturday pushing me back from third to 20th. Thankfully I got back to fifth, but it was a big drive. The other issue was when I accidentally hit the limiter which prevents the engine from going over 4000 revs. The button is on the bottom right of the steering wheel and out of the way, but it still has to be accessible so you don't miss it when you go into the pits. I accidentally hit it earlier in the lap and hadn't noticed the alarm. It didn't activate until the revs dropped below 4000rpm when I slowed in the corner. We either have to shield the button better to make it foolproof - although we don't want it too difficult to activate - or we need a more prominent alarm light on the dash. It didn't hurt me too much, but it's one of those little glitches we have to sort out before it does have a big impact. Our new Premier Campbell Newman came to our pits at the weekend and seemed very enthusiastic about the event and happy with the crowd attendance. He's been a big team fan since he officially opened our new garage, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him about his government's future support for the Townsville and Gold Coast rounds. I suppose it's difficult to have two races in any state with government support, but I think the crowd numbers speak for themselves.  

So I'd like to invite the new Premier to come to Townsville this weekend to see for himself how popular this event is with motorsport fans in the north.I'll even strap Campbell Newman into my car for a hot lap to fire up his support if he comes long. There is some fear that the new government will axe funding for the event, but I think the north of the state is starved for this level of entertainment and it would be unfair for our fans to be deprived.The 150,000 fans expected over the three days of the event come from far and wide. There is also talk of maybe Cairns or Mackay getting the event, but I don't mind so long as it stays in north Queensland. The Townsville fans will certainly be in for some acton with former F1 champ Jacques Villeneuve driving Greg Murphy's car while he's injured. I grew up watching him race and it will be great to rub fenders with him again. He got used to the cars pretty quick when he raced at the Gold Coast event a couple of years ago, so he only needs to familiarise himself with this rather unique track. Townsville is more like the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit because it goes around a park, but it's a semi-permanent track that is a hybrid of circuit and streets designed by Mark Skaife.The biggest challenge for Jacques will be getting his head around how much kerb you can use in the corners. We have our cars pretty well set up for this circuit and pulled off a one-two there last year. I also had pole on the Sunday, so we're going into the round with some confidence. We also have some momentum behind us after Darwin where we halted the dominance of the Falcons.But we can't be too cocky. It's difficult to get momentum, but it can be pretty easy to lose it. Last year we did well because we were the only team to use the loophole they had where we could re-use our soft tyres from the previous race. The team took the gamble and was quite smart about that, but it will be a level playing field now with the other teams working out tyre wear on the circuit.Format wise, it's two 200km races with a shootout on the Saturday, a mix of hard and soft tyres like in Darwin and a minimum of two stops per race. The weather and the track conditions will be different to Darwin so we just have to make sure the car is good enough on the hard tyre. Hopefully it's nice and hot so FPR melt their tyres again, although I'm sure the teams will have done some research over the short break to get better soft tyre life. If we can qualify in the top five we will have a shot at winning and pegging back the points gap to the top three. 

I've had a lot of bad luck through the season.

The annual RACQ Vehicle Running Costs Survey has found that the first electric car available in Australia - Mitsubishi's iMiEV - costs between $246.46 to $265.23 a week to run, spokesman Steve Spalding said. This compares with $256.50 for a Holden Commodore while the Toyota Prius C hybrid costs $159.79 a week. However, charging the electric Mitsubishi costs only 3.07c/km while the Prius C costs 6.78c/km. Spalding says their survey also takes into account other owner costs such as the purchase price, interest payments, registration, insurance, servicing and depreciation. "The main reasons for the higher total running cost for an electric vehicle is the higher purchase price which means higher interest payments, and the as yet unknown depreciation factor," he said. The Mitsubishi costs $48,000 while the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle has just hit the showroom floor at $51,000. "Before electric cars become viable there needs to be good demand on the second-hand market so there is a higher resale value," he said. "Plus over time manufacturers will reduce prices." It is the first time the survey has included an electric vehicle. The survey found the cheapest car to run is again the Suzuki Alto at $116.70, down $2.77 since last year, and the most expensive is again the Toyota LandCruiser GLX at $398.16 up $9.44. Spalding said that instead of buying an electric car, families could save thousands of dollars annually by choosing a lighter, smaller car. "You could save around $32 per week, or $1,707.92 a year by purchasing a medium-size car instead of a large car,” he said. “Downsizing from an all-terrain 4WD to a compact SUV could save you $111.67 per week, or $5,807 every year." Mr Spalding added that even switching between engine sizes in the same class could mean good savings on running costs - without sacrificing performance.  “High fuel prices are forcing many owners away from large vehicles into medium or smaller cars to save money. But Ford's four-cylinder turbo petrol 2.0 litre Falcon EcoBoost and the 4.0 litre LPG Falcon could help those looking to buck that trend,” Spalding said. “The EcoBoost has all the features and performance of a large car, but it will cost motorists $240.25 per week, compared to the Ford Falcon 4.0 litre petrol at $253.26 per week. That‟s a saving of almost $700 per year. “Meantime, Ford's 4.0 litre LPI Falcon, which runs on LPG, will cost motorists $232.42 per week, which is $400 a year cheaper than the EcoBoost and $1,100 a year less than the petrol 4.0 litre Falcon,” he said.     (source RACQ Vehicle Running Costs Survey)  

...about how tough they think the Thunder Ute is.

His co-driver, Warren Luff, has lapped Queensland Raceway in testing within just 0.1seconds of Lowndes. "He's a great universal driver and I'm glad he's sharing with me," said Lowndes at a recent test day on the Ipswich circuit. Luff finished last in the V8 Supercars series in the past two seasons and is without a full-time drive this year, but was snapped up by TeamVodafone principal Roland Dane to replace Mark Skaife as Lowndes's co-driver for the endurance rounds at Sandown and Bathurst. "My lap times have been quite good, but it's an easy car to drive so you don't have to overdrive the car to be quick," says Luff who is also a driver training instructor and stunt car performer at Movieworld. While he has only scored one podium in 59 V8 Supercars races, he has been in demand as a Bathurst co-driver, having paired with former champions Marcos Ambrose and James Courtney with whom he finished fourth in the 2010 event. "I've been lucky to score co-drives with three of the best drivers in the past decade and there is none better at the moment than Craig who is the Bathurst king," he said. "He's also a great guy, good fun and very helpful." The two have partnered for Audi in endurance races and hope to return to the notorious Nurburgring later this year to qualify for the famous Le Mans 24-hour race next year. "Once you get in that Audi racing fraternity they do so much racing there are a lot of opportunities," he said. "Le Mans is one of the races on my bucket list along with Daytona. "But top of my wish list is a win at Bathurst and this year is looking good.I'm not disappointed about not having a full-time drive in the series. "I would rather just do two races a year with TeamVodafone and have a chance of winning than just running at the back of the field filling up the grid." Lowndes's race engineer, Jeromy Moore, says Luff has big shoes to fill, stepping in after Skaife. "He doesn't give as much feedback on car set-up as Skaife, but he's been doing consistently quick lap times in practice and has been an easy fit into the team," he said.  

The lift comes as manufacturers offer sweeteners such as hefty discounts or free on-road costs in the end-of-financial-year sales war.

Mark bought my '93 Van Diemen FF1600 for the Formula Ford series and finished about fourth before disappearing over to Europe. I followed him overseas in 1997 but with the limited opportunities and backing I had, I really couldn't do any more. Still, I have no regrets and am just happy to now see an Aussie winning GP races. And what a win it was! The Monaco track is all about driver talent. It's won in qualifying because you have to be on the front row to have any chance as it's a difficult circuit to pass on. But getting that fast qualifying lap takes a lot of bravery and skill. I think Mark is a lot more focussed this year because they don't have the car speed and he has to be more determined to give it a go. He's already out-qualified his teammate Sebastian Vettel more times than last year. Let's hope this is his year. Meanwhile, back here in Australia we're one-third of the way through the season with a few weeks' break before we hit the track at Darwin. We tested at Queensland Raceway this week and had my endurance race co-driver, Warren Luffy, on hand to do some all-important laps. He's just back from the Nurburgring 24-hour race so it was great to catch up and find out all about it. It's an event I would love to do next year if it doesn't clash with the V8s. However, I have yet to classify for the event and will need to stitch together a deal with Audi to go over and do a shorter event first. We tried last year but unfortunately crashed out and didn't qualify. At testing this week it was important to get Luffy's input on the car and, like we did with Skaifey, get him used to working with our race engineer, Jeromy (CORRECT) Moore, and building some team morale. One of the key elements in testing for me was starts after a couple of dud starts this year, especially blowing my pole position at Phillip Island. So I did a lot of race-start simulations as it's our weakest link at the moment. We also tried some new things with the suspension but there have been no mechanical issues for us this year, so there wasn't much to test in that regard. It's been difficult trying to continue to develop the current car while also focussing on the Car of the Future (COTF). Our first COTF chassis is probably 75 per cent done and on target for the first permitted test on August 8. I can't wait.  The earlier the better. I've been following the chassis build and everything is going to plan, but I won't get involved until we get further down the track and focus on the steering column and seat, then start track testing. I don't know how FPR can be thinking about having four cars next year with COTF. They have three cars now and I think some of the issues they had with Reynolds in the pits showed that it would be better to have two complete pit bays rather than three cars in one. It will take a lot more infrastructure to accommodate them and FPR has the facilities, but I just don't know if they need the extra pressure of four new COTF chassis, plus the added extras such as at least two spare cars. It's a bit of a stretch. I don't think we will go to four cars. Our Banyo workshops wouldn't accommodate four cars, but the collective data would be twice as good.  

The Daytona 500-mile is the most prestigious event in Nascar Sprint Cup and Commodores – rebadged as Chevrolet SS racers – will take pride of place in the GM world when they tackle the punishing event. Well, that’s not quite right, motorsport followers are well aware that every car competing in Nascar has exactly the same body shape. Stickers with name badges, headlights and grilles are attached to make them look like the cars they are named for. The strict rules Nascar rules are aimed at making the racing close, noisy and eventful. Crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousand love the format. Holden has just announced the new VF Commodore will be exported to the USA in late 2013, being sold over there as the new Chevrolet SS high-performance sedan. As part of the promotion of the Chevrolet SS the nameplate will be used on the Nascar racers. This will be the first time in 17 years that Chevrolet will sell a rear-wheel-drive sedan in the US, the company has been promoting front-wheel-drive in the meantime. Mark Reuss, GM President of North America, and one time president of Holden in Australia, said that as a passionate race fan and performance car enthusiast he was thrilled with the announcement. “I am delighted to say that Chevrolet will deliver a true rear-wheel-drive Nascar racecar in the SS that very closely links the performance sedan that will be available for sale,” Reuss said. “The Chevrolet SS is a great example of how GM is able to leverage its global product portfolio to deliver a unique performance experience that extends well beyond the track and I am personally looking forward to driving it.” Holden’s executive director of engineering, Greg Tyus, said Chevrolet and its customers would benefit from Holden’s proven expertise in developing and manufacturing rear-wheel drive cars. Mr Tyus said, "We were responsible for the design and engineering of the Chevrolet Camaro, VE Commodore was sold as the Pontiac G8 and we are currently exporting the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle – so we understand the needs of the North American market." Despite the difficulties of trading in the current economic environment, Holden vehicle exports were up 54 per cent in 2011 compared to 2010. "Today's announcement shows that we can, and will, continue to pursue targeted, profitable export programs that add value to Holden and GM. “We continue to export our engineering and design capability around the GM world and we have significant vehicle export programs to the Middle East, New Zealand and North America. Mr Tyus went on to say, “I’m incredibly proud of the talent we have here at Holden to design, engineer and build performance vehicles that appeal to both local and overseas markets and the new VF Commodore will be no different. Our expertise in this arena is second to none and highlights the flexibility of Holden’s Elizabeth manufacturing operations. It's great to have secured this new export program that will continue to support our plant." The VF Commodore won’t be an all-new car, but a major revamp of the current VE series. It had been intended for the VF to have all new sheet metal when it launch date was set as 2012, but the GFC and the severe financial problems experienced by General Motors meant the budget simply wasn’t available. Instead, the VF is likely to share the central part of its body with the VE Commodore, but have new front and rear ends. Whether this goes as far as replacement front and rear guards is simply a matter of speculation. Our feeling is that they will be, perhaps even with the use of aluminium the front guards and bonnet to reduce weight. Changes to the style, front and rear, will not only be aimed at a fresh new appearance but also at improved aerodynamics to help the VF cleave the air more cleanly. Expect heavily revised engines that have significantly lower fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. Similarly, automatic transmissions may receive taller gearing and electronics designed to chase lower engine speeds for given car speeds. Low rolling resistance tyres may be part of the package. We also anticipate an all-new interior look, or at least a heavily revised one.  

The Adelaide-built VF Commodore sedan is destined to return to the sizeable US automotive market from late 2013. It will join the Chevrolet family as the SS Performance model, alongside the Holden Caprice that's already on US soil as a police vehicle. The company's executive director of engineering Greg Tyus says it will be a limited production derivative of the upcoming VF Commodore, designed, engineered and built by Holden giving the Chevrolet brand a new rear-wheel drive performance sedan for the first time in 17 years. "The Chevrolet SS will be their new top-of-the-range rear wheel drive high performance sedan and as such will become Chevrolet's next NASCAR racecar and will debut next year at the Indy 500," he says. The Holden announcement was short on drivetrain, pricing or model line-up details but the VF Commodore will be engineered for better fuel economy and lighter kerb weight - including a larger percentage of high-tensile hot-pressed body parts sourced from Australian suppliers. Mr Tyus says the US performance model wouldn't involve major changes at the company's Elizabeth manufacturing facility - or any increase in workforce size - but he would not speculate on Sportwagon or Ute models joining the SS Performance sedan in the US. The VE Commodore Ute was up for export to the US when the Pontiac brand was selling the Commodore as a G8 sedan - even having design elements in place to pass US regulations and undergoing climate testing for that region - but the demise of the Pontiac program halted that. "Despite the fact that exports in today's economic conditions are tough, we can and will continue to pursue targeted and profitable export programs." "Holden has a great track record of producing performance cars for GM, the design and engineering of the Chevrolet Camaro, the VE Commodore and the Pontiac G8, we're currently exporting the Caprice police patrol vehicle," Mr Tyus says. Despite slow police patrol vehicle sales in the US, Mr Tyus says there is a lot of demand from "a different segment" for the higher-spec performance sedan, which also has supporters in high places. Former Holden bosses Mark Reuss and Alan Batey are now both high up the GM North America tree - Reuss is now GM North America President and Alan Batey was recently been appointed to the newly-created position of GM vice president, U.S. Sales and Service, reporting to Reuss. Mr Reuss says he was thrilled with the announcement. "I am delighted to say that Chevrolet will deliver a true rear-wheel-drive NASCAR racecar in the SS that very closely links the performance sedan that will be available for sale," Reuss says. "The Chevrolet SS is a great example of how GM is able to leverage its global product portfolio to deliver a unique performance experience that extends well beyond the track and I am personally looking forward to driving it," he says. Mr Tyus says Holden's track record in producing the Chevrolet and the now-defunct Pontiac G8 had generated support for Holden to produce another car. "There was a lot of clamouring for us to do something after that, in terms of our track record we're known for performance rear-wheel drive sedans and we anticipate that will continue," he says. Holden had already sent more than 30,000 G8 sedans and sold more than 40,000 re-badged Monaros - sold as Pontiac GTOs - over a four year stint from 2002. Holden has exported around 750,000 vehicles around the world in the five decades since it first loaded a boat full of FJs and sent them to New Zealand in 1954. The VE-based Pontiac G8 sedan export program came to a halt in 2009 with more than 36,000 G8s built in Adelaide and sent to the US.