Dec

of Holden
a threat, failing to finish the first two races
and not starting the third.
of pit stops for the compulsory tyre changes
was quickest in this session from Seton,
had been completed, Skaife had moved
Murphy, Ingell and Perkins.
through to second ahead of Ambrose's
Qualifying was frantic with 1 0 changes to
Ford.
the top of the timing monitors by six
T he big mover was Bright in the #2 HRT
different drivers, but finally it was Murphy
Commodore. Starting from 2011', he moved
by 5/1 OO'h of a second from Skaife,
through the field - assisted by slick pit work
Ambrose (the best performed Ford,) Bright,
from his crew - to fourth place by lap 30.
Perkins a n d Kel ly.
HRT RACING UPDATE
Ambrose and Skaife but when the flurry
Jason Bright
Just one second
Ingell was struggling at this stage with a
slowing car - believed to be a gearbox
separated the top twenty cars!
problem - but Ingell stayed out to try and
Win/Win For Holden
In New Zealand!
T h e S h o o t Out r e s u l t e d in M u r p h y
dropped to eighth, while Ingell had a
Race three was the "Murphy Show" again,
Kiwi "Local" Murphy Wins
gearbox problem and would start from
as the #51 Kmart Commodore maintained
tenth, giving Mark Skaife a 9-point break
a handy buffer over the HRT pair of Skaife
over Ingell in the Championship. Skaife
and Bright. T here was a brief interruption
needed a 13-point or better gain over
from the safety car for 3 laps to remove
maintaining
Pukekohe New Zealand:
ever
round
Skaife
and
Ingell to secure the Shell Series Crown.
Nov 9'h - ll'h.
first
from
Ambrose. Kelly moved u p to fourth, Bright
Round; Skaife Seals Title!
T he
pole
the
Shell
outside of Australia was undertaken at the
Pukekohe circuit south of Auckland (NZ)
f i r s t- ever
VB
Supercar
Championship round had plenty o f action
through to second to gain valuable extra
points, as Bright tries to overhaul Ingell in
It started on lap one
in the turn two concertina and ran into the
Polls) and for the 80,000-plus crowd, the
back of the Lowndes' Ford. Lowndes spun,
result couldn't have been better; a New
Seton, Radisich, Ellery, Besnard and Kelly
Zealander won the inaugural round!
were all involved, while Bright took to the
Kmart Racing Commodore driver Greg
grass to avoid the melee. Race Stewards
Murphy repeated his non-championship
later deemed Bright at fault and, penalised
result with the Holden Racing Team of
him 50 Series points. A later incident with
1996, by taking pole position and winning
Ingell resulted in a stop-go penalty and
all three races, to leave both Holden and
left him 20'h on the track.
Kiwi race fans ecstatic!
In the double
Out front, Simon Wills had gambled
Holden "whammy" of the weekend, the
against an early pit stop in the CAT Falcon
Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife scored
but finally pitted on lap 25. One lap later
two 3'd placings and a second, to secure
increasingly heavy rain saw most cars pit
the 2001 Championship crown.
for grooved tyres - except for Mark
It was Skaife's f o u r t h Shell S e r i e s /
Larkham, who had to stay out because his
Australian Touring Car Championship title,
pit was blocked by another car.
his second in succession and HRT's fourth
weather worsened and the rain became a
Series victory in succession and fifth in six
years!
downpour
Added to that, HRT's Jason Bright
As the
Larkham's Falcon slid off the
track and into a barrier on lap 31.
was fourth overall on the day and has
With cars spinning off and the Paul Morris
closed the gap on Russell Ingell in the
Holden also crashing in the conditions, the
Championship points chase for second
overall. Bright now has the final round at
Sandown in Melbourne to overtake Ingell
home, but the fairytale was complete for
Murphy, the Kiwi winning the race and the
round in front of his home crowd. Round
12 winners were Murphy, Skaife, Ambrose,
Bright and Skaife's Bathurst c o - driver
Longhurst in his best result for the Rod
Nash Racing Team, finishing fifth overall.
For Skaife now with another title to his
name, he can go to the final round at
Melbourne's
S andown
Race w a y
race to win, as well as - as he did yesterday
- try and assist teammate Jason Bright in
making it a Holden Racing Team one/two
Series result.
Sunshine then Storms
at Sandown
Kelly takes first Round Win,
However in a
PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING:
result back two laps to the end of lap 30
which gave Larkham - now out of his
on
December 1 and 2 with no pressure and
HRT 3 & 4.
confusing decision, race officials took the
the track - and being very bumpy, but it
Ambrose took fourth and was the first Ford
the leading group across the line at the
start of the 33'd lap.
- despite two slow corners at either end of
the Series.
race was red-flagged just after Murphy led
and secure a Series one-two for HRT.
Pukekohe's 2.8 kilometre circuit is very fast
Skaife
slowed near the line to allow Bright
and controversy.
when HRT's Jason Bright was caught out
on Nov 10/11 (while Australia went to the
the crashed Commodore of Cameron
keep "Team Red" behind him.
P ukekohe's
Championship for V8 Supercars to be held
He
McConville, but Murphy had enough to
RACING:
of
claim as many points as possible.
finished 27'h, two laps down.
Sandown: Nov 30
-
Dec 2
The final round of the V8 Supercar season
crashed car - the win.
at Melbourne's Sandown circuit saw Skaife
A subsequent re-look at the situation saw
respectively. Skaife took pole position from
and Bright finish 4'h and 5'h on the day
didn't take long to learn for the V 8
the results changed to the end of the 31'1
Supercar drivers. HRT's Mark Skaife set the
lap, giving Murphy the win from Ambrose,
early pace in the first session, along with
Skaife, Team Kiwi driver Jason Richards
Kiwi's Steven Richards, Greg Murphy and
Sunday but crashed out of the third leg
and Ingell. With most of the fans leaving
Paul Radisich.
to escape the rain, many of them were
after an overly ambitious move on Greg
While there were a number of spins, no
major damage was done until the second
Commodore into the wall.
later. The result also gave Skaife enough
Falcon.
in succession and, his fourth overall.
T he crew
Murphy saw the #1 HRT Commodore spin
and make contact with the Steven Richards
him the 2001 Shell Series title - his second
bar b r e a k that p i t c h e d t h e Big Kev
race on Saturday, came 4'h in race two on
unaware of Murphy's victory until much
of a points break over Ingell to guarantee
session when Paul Morris had a front sway
the Top 15 Shoot Out, won the first 150k­
managed to repair the car for a return late
Race two was much more straightforward
in qualifying but the Morris entry was never
with Murphy winning the start from
Sunday's two 150k heats were held in
constant rain that played havoc with the
field.
Bright's return of 5'h place in the
Top 15, 5'h in race one, ll'h in race two
and 4'h in the final resulted in an overall
Continued On Page 6
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sponsors, and our fans - stay tuned for
the next exciting episode ...
FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT
WITH MARK SKAIFE
All the best for Xmas and New Year and
look forward to speaking to you all again
Hi everyone,
in 2002.
What a fantastic year it's
been for Holden Racing
Team, Holden Motor Co.,
Holden
Special
Cheers,
Vehicles, CUB, Mobil
and
everyone
associated - one o f
the most successful
to date.
To win Bathurst, the
Championship, M o s t
Poles o f the Year Award, Manufacturer of
the Year and Team of the Year- is a tribute
to the whole TWR Australia operation. The
level of competition at the moment is as
good I healthy as it's ever been, and to
win 5 out o f the last 6 years
Championships a n d 4 in a r o w is
absolutely fantastic.
I'd also like to thank and congratulate the
other teams on their efforts throughout
the year - it's certainly kept us on our toes.
The competition has been rife with 10
different round winners- there have been
some outstanding drives, and a good mix
of young and 'more mature' drivers up
the pointy end of the field.
Round 12: It was great to get back to
Pukekohe, they did a great job of the
circuit and promotion of the overall event
was also very well done. Murph and the
Kmart Racing Team had a clean sweep,
taking out Pole and 3 race wins. Race 1
was a bit controversial being red flagged
due to inclement weather conditions,
which I've got to say I wasn't that upset
about - I had no windscreen wiper or
demister- and could barely see 2 foot in
front of me. This result, combined with
some points from qualifying, secured us
the 2001 Championship.
Round 13: Although we don't test at
Sandown we call it our home track, as it's
about 10 minutes from the workshop, and
come the end of the year, you appreciate
not having to travel. The weekend started
well with us getting Pole, and winning
Race 1 - we went down hill from there. In
Race 2 we finished 4'h and Race 3 we didn't
finish at all after I got a bit over zealous
in the wet, just when I was allowed to go
out and play!!! So I watched the end of
the race as a spectator/commentator on
the TV in our pit garage.
Now that we've officially finished for the
year (excluding testing), I turn into a golf
promoter - the Mark Skaife Invitational
Charity Golf Day held on the NSW Central
Coast on 18 January 2002. The 2001
event raised just over $22,000 and we're
targeting for $30,000 in 2002 - with
proceeds going to Central Coast Health
and Ronald McDonald House.
Another race season over, and I'm thrilled
we're sporting the No. 1 on the side of
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wet which was evident with a fastest lap
of the race.
Broke problems in practice and race one
saw my cars front brakes fading and
therefore having to deal with a car with
far to much rear bias, making the first 48
lap race a difficult one. After working my
FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT
WITH JASON BRIGHT
Hello Club 1 members,
IThe final two rounds of
the Championship at
Pukekohe and Sandown
were
somewhat
frustrating. Our pace
certainly
did
not
match the amount of
silverware
we
managed t o bring
home
which
none.
way up to second and almost to first
around the outside of Mark at turn one
my brake problems started to get worse.
A small error at the end of the back straight
saw Murphy move in second and me rejoin
in third only to have accidentally pressed
the Pit Lane Speed Limiter button and lose
a further 6 or 7 positions. Soon after I was
pushed off by Radisich and amazingly hit
the speed limiter for a second time. For
the remainder of the race we managed to
pick back most of those positions and finish
fourth.
Race two and three certainly showed how
much set changes make in the wet. Race
two saw me get lapped by race winner
Todd Kelly the first time this had happened
in my career. For the final race we changed
many things on the car which made the
car excellent in the wet, unfortunately we
Qualifying 8'h in New
Zealand was unfortunately not where we
had hoped to be following the practice
pace that we had set. Further to this a
mistake at the end of the back straight
running into Craig Lowndes and causing
a chain of event's did further to frustrate
things. A late race sprinkle, which turned
into a downpour set up the next chain of
events. An extremely cautious Ingell into
were in no position to race for a race win
as our Championship situation meant that
we had to consolidate and settle for any
position in the top ten.
turn one made me believe he had a
problem and with Ambrose driving straight
through I proceeded to follow only to find
it's set-up.
that Russell did not have a problem. T he
resultant contact saw car 2 receive a stop
go penalty and broken power steering
which meant the car turned right but not
left making it very hard to enter the pit
lane. A further 50 point penalty over the
Lowndes incident did little to help our fight
for second in the Championship.
Race two was one of the most satisfying
races of the year and something that we
have had to do on one too many occasions
this year, and that is come back from an
adverse position and finish well. 20th to
4th placed us back in contention for the
weekend and with the pace that we had
we were looking forward to the final race.
A good start and pit-stop saw us in second
place, following the pit-stop unfortunately
contact as Mark drove down the inside at
the hairpin saw my steering bent and what
was going to be an exciting race to try and
chase Murphy turned into a race of survival
with a car that had a lot of understeer.
Fortunately we were able to hold a clean
pair of heels to Ambrose and consolidate
our Championship position heading to
Sandown.
Weather played an important part of the
Sandown weekend, with two races and
one practice session being held under wet
conditions. It was soon apparent that our
our car for 2002. I'd like to personally
thank all the boys/crew at HRT, our
T
car having been changed so much recently
was now a bit of a handful in the wet and
it was not until the final race on Sunday
that Car 2 was comfortable to drive in the
0ECENBER
2001
�'7;ji
If there was a positive to draw from either
of these meeting's it was certainly the pace
of the car and what we have learnt about
����
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New
l
m
GARAGE WINNERS
Pukekohe
Roger Elliott
Terry Warren
Caroline Warren
Robert T hompson
Timu Gregory
Alan Savell
Grant Wilson
Rob Ferguson
Stephen Farrow
Sandown
Donald Mcivor
Chris Halley
Kim Halley
Kirsty Halley
Rebecca Halley
Darren Reynolds
Kim Burrage
Kaitlyn Burrage
Russell Priest
Simon Evans
Matthew Priest
Mitchell Evans
Brett Grewcock
COLLEOOR SERIES
APPAREL & MERCHANDISE
A couple of new items we thought you
might be interested to know about:
As you would have seen in our last Team
Torque we showed you the 10 images of
Bar Mats- now in stock the HRT Bar mat,
the Collector Series. We now have the last
2 editions. T hese are the Peter Brock
price - $35, 89cm in length.
(Edition 11) and Bathurst 2001 (Edition 12).
Edition 11 is signed by Peter Brock and
Edition 12 is signed by Mark Skaife & Tony
Longhurst.
Size - Black framed 470mm x 640mm,
$200.00 each plus $15 freight. Club
discount available. For orders call 03 9427
1277. As this newsletter is being sent with
Calendar- 2002 HRT Calendar with 12
the annual year book and at the time of
printing we did not have an exact date of
delivery. If you receive this prior to 19'h
Dec and would like one of these as a
Christmas gift we may be able to get this
to you in time if you have a credit card
various shots from this year, including the
Bathurst Victory, price - $20
available.
Coupe Range
-
we have a great new
range of HSV Coupe Apparel, please see
some of these items below. Yellow Polo
$55, Black T-shirt $40, Caps $20 each,
Coupe Racer $35.
Brock Biante A9X- We have just received
into stock the Brock LX Torana SS Hatch
Back A9X 1: 18'h Model. This Biante is $169
& certificate is signed by Peter Brock, 6000
produced.
Club members are entitled to
a 10% discount, postage costs additional.
Special - We have available at a special
price of $99 Craig lowndes 2000 1: 18'h
Biante Models (Usually $149). For orders
please call 03 9427 1277. (10% discount
is not available on top of this special price)
II
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Whilst
it's
our
S'h T o u r i n g Car
Championship, it's probably our best.
strategically on the run while racing and
not many drivers have that ability. Mark
certainly has and I would think that that
would carry him on for a few more years
at the top of the driver ratings.
TT: What are your thoughts on Jason's
(Bright) first year with the Team. For any
driver, stepping into an established team
with an established driver can be difficult.
Jason's come 3'd first up; is it difficult
bedding a new driver in and, have you
been happy with his performance?
HRT General Manager on the
2001 Season.
JG: Definitely! Jason's had the baptism of
fire because as you pointed out it's hard
fitting into a new team. We have very,
very high specific principals on how we go
racing, how we build our cars and how we
engineer our cars. It's been a tough year
from that point of view, having to take all
that in and go fast as well but we'd have
to say with his Adelaide performance and
others throughout the year - such as the
fastest lap ever at Bathurst - I mean you
don't do those sort of things if you are not
a good driver so, he's got a lot to look
forward to next year I would imagine.
It's been another stellar year for the
Holden Racing Team, winning its 4'h
c o n s e c u t i v e Australian T o u r i n g Car
Championship and S'h in 6 years, as well
as claiming victory on the "Mountain" while
Jason Bright on debut with the Team, was
in line to challenge for the Series until
Bathurst and finally finished 3'd overall.
We felt it was an opportune time for Paul
Weissel to catch up with HRT General
Manager Jeff Grech to talk about the year
gone and, the year ahead.
TT: Jeff, it's now December 2001 after
what's been a hugely successful year for
n: We've seen a changed format for the
VB Supercar races this year and that's been
to introduce Compulsory Pit Stops, which
in turn has brought a far greater and
important role for the rest of the team
members. Would you agree that the role
of the crew - either in pit stops or being
able to turn a repaired car around more
quickly - has a far greater role in achieving
a result for the drivers these days?
HRT and TWR Racing in general; take your
mind back to the start of the season and
particularly February when - at short notice
- TWR also had to prepare two cars for the
Kmart Team. What were your hopes and
expectations at that point?
JG: T h e main ambition was to stay
competitive, despite the potential
distraction of the new team. We had no
idea we would win the Championship, but
we felt that we would be up there with a
chance.
JG: Absolutely! The contribution to HRT's
Championship by the Team is I believe,
50% or more now, in that you have to have
reliability and you have to have speed and I mean that in pit stops. You also have
to have the ability if there is a hiccup such
as an accident or the driver qualifies low
or for whatever reason, where the Team
can carry performance of the driver back
towards the front, either by repair or by
smart strategy in the pit.
Without the extra team to run, we would
have had more time to focus on the one
program as well as what the opposition
were doing, so it was a big challenge for
us to maintain that focus as well as get
another team up and running. I mean we
had six weeks to organise people and
drivers, then put them together to work as
one and be as competitive as the HRT side
of it was.
I think the guys this year have worked
harder than they ever have - and for longer
- and that's given us the best result ever.
TT: Mark Skaife's year: you've worked with
Mark now back with Gibson's in the early
'90's and now again for his last 2 titles with
HRT. He's been a very competitive and
successful driver for a long period of time.
JG: My comment on Mark this year is, he's
probably driven 2001 as good as any other
time of his career - probably if not the best
of his career! He's been very consistent,
very fast and certainly showing signs that
that speed will continue into 2002.
n: Is it fair to say that there's more to
winning than just being a fast driver in a
fast car - particularly in this championship?
You mentioned the word "consistency"; is
that the key to it?
JG: A b s o l u t e l y !
I t ' s p o s s i b l y more
important tn have a driver who can be fast
a n d a l s o think!
Y o u have to think
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TT: The Team was fortunate enough to take
out Bathurst again - HRT's third. What's
the feeling on winning what is a very
elusive and exclusive event?
JG: Bathurst is Bathurst! Ever since I was
a kid, it was one of my goals if ever I got
the chance to get involved in the business.
When you go there, you blank out every
other race bar that one as it's a great
personal achievement for someone to be
part of a team that conquers the Mountain.
At Bathurst, there's only one position to
be in and that's finishing first! Everything
else doesn't matter. I think that's been a
huge thing - certainly for the Team and I to go and beat that bit of raised dirt at
Bathurst, and it's been as much a highlight
as winning the Championship.
n: T he VB teams face new challenges
again in 2002 - longer races, twilight races
to name a couple; will it be as tough or
tougher to repeat the success?
JG: I think 2002 will be a real test of the
Team. While I say that every year, as we
sit now, a couple of things have come out:
we have 4 fast drivers under the T W R
"blanket" and they are s o competitive. As
a matter of fact, their biggest competition
is within, so that has got to be (1) managed
and (2) focused on.
Secondly, team-to-team there's also the
competition in the pits and in pit stops and
car preparation in engineering the cars.
For us in 2002, the target is (a) to win
another championship and (b) another
Bathurst, but to be able to manage that
within the Group is going to be an
enormous challenge and while we're
thinking it's hard, I think it will be twice as
hard as that in reality.
All we can do at this stage is say "come on
2002", grab hold of the challenge and see
where we end up!
n: Right here and now in early December,
how good is Christmas looking at the
moment?
JG: Christmas Day will be absolutely
excellent! I don't think I'll move out of the
house for the whole day!
Continued From Page
An
1
s•h place for the weekend, and left him 3'd
in the Championship just 56 points behind
Russell lngall.
indication
of
the
level
of
compet1t1v e n e s s i n the V8 Super car
category is the fact that over the 13 rounds,
10 different drivers scored round wins, but
Skaife's consistency won him the title.
The Holden Racing Team is delighted with
the debut solo effort of Young Lion Rick
Kelly. After dominating this year's Formula
Holden open wheeler series, TWR slotted
Given the variation of round winners in
2001,
2002 s h o u l d be
even more
competitive.
Next year's calendar sees a 12-round
the younger Kelly into the Kmart squad
Championship - one less than this season
for the Queensland 500 and Bathurst
- but an increase at most meetings of the
enduro events along side Nathan Pretty.
racing distance.
Kelly didn't gain a drive in Queensland
increased from 1OOk's to 150k's and next
Many heats will be
after mechanical problems on the start
year's Sandown event will combine last
line, but he and Pretty scored 14'h place at
weekend's two Sunday heats for a 300k
Bathurst.
finale
Last weekend's Sandown finale was
therefore the 18-year old's first solo run
to
the
season that
includes
compulsory pit stops for fuel and lyres.
Other features include a twilight Saturday
in a V8 Supercar and after overcoming pre­
race at the Eastern Creek round and a re­
qualifying to get onto the 32-car grid,
vamp of the points scoring system resulting
qualified in 26'h.
in less points per race win and without the
A first race engine
problem put Kelly to the back of the grid
heavy emphasis on events such as the
for race two and despite the constant rain,
Queensland 500 and Bathurst.
kept out of trouble to finish 22"d_
Finally
Race three however - still in the wet - saw
the
Holden
Racing
Team
acknowledges the 15-year support of
Rick Kelly stamp himself as a driver of the
t o u r i n g car championship racing in
From that 22"d starting position,
Australia from Shell Australia, after the
future.
he climbed through the field to finish 7'h
Company's
and what was also remarkable was the
weekend that i t will n o longer sponsor the
fact that the car did not have a scratch on
it after 90+ laps in appalling weather.
Rick's "elder" brother, 22-year old Todd,
won the Sandown finale - Kelly senior
scoring two third places and a first to claim
his first ever V8 Supercar round win. Todd
joined HRT 's Young Lion's program in
1997, scored his first race win last year
and now his first round victory.
Kelly
gained a full-time drive in the Series at
the start of this year with the TWR-prepared
Kmart Racing Team and finished a strong
6'h overall in the Championship.
Series.
announcement
at
the
HRT joins with all VB Supercar
teams in saying thank you to the Team at
Shell Australia for perhaps the longest
continuous naming rights sponsorship in
Australian sport.
Also as the V8 Supercar teams move to a
new Control lyre Supplier in 2002, the
Holden Racing Team says "thank you" to
Graeme Brown and the Bridgestone
Motorsport Crew.
Bridgestone has
supplied tyres to HRT since the early '90's
and has been the Control lyre Supplier to
V8 Supercars for the past three seasons
and the Team firmly believes that much of
Overall, TWR VX Commodores filled 4 of
the HRT success in the past 6 years can be
the top 6 places in the Series: Skaife
put down to the competitiveness and
winning for HRT, HRT 's Bright in 3rd,
reliability of the Bridgestone race tyres and
Kmart's Greg Murphy in 4'h and Kelly in
the professionalism of the Bridgestone
6'h!
Motorsport people.
HOT LAP WINNER
Top 10 Standings in the 2001
Shell Series Championship
The winner of the Hot Lap Competition
151: Mark Skaife
HRT
3478
has been judged and the winner is
2"d: Russell lngall
Castro I
2875
Rhiannon Gales, Blacktown
3'd: Jason Bright
HRT
2819
The winning entry read as follows:
4'h: Greg Murphy
Kmart
2724
5'h: Steven Johnson
Shell
2532
Velocity increasing,
6'h: Todd Kelly
Kmart
2479
T hrottle easing, ending the scream
7'h: Paul Radisich
Shell
2109
8'h: Marcos Ambrose
Pirtek
2086
9'h: Steve Ellery
Super Cheap
2073
1 O'h: Garth lander
Valv/Cummins 2047
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Holdens going really fast,
Skaifey speeding the car past,
Galesy's heartbeat ceasing.
Simply wish it wasn't a dream! ! ! !
Thank you t o all the members for taking
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the time to enter, it was a very competitive
field with a popular entry being, I just want
one!
DECEMBER
2 00 J
ANNUAL AVESCO AWARDS
T he Holden Racing Team cCt�ped off a
stellar 2001 Shell Championship by
collecting a number of the key awards on
Monday Dec 3'd AVESCO Awards night at
Melbourne's Crown Casino.
Mark
Skaife
collected
his
Shell
Championship trophy and along with Tony
L o n g h u r s t , was p r e s e n t e d with the
Bathurst-winner's award, while the Holden
Racing Team received the Champion Team
accolade. Fittingly too, Skaife received the
Confederation of Australian Motor Sport's
Australian Touring Car Championship
trophy - an award/trophy that had lapsed
in the revitalization of the V8 Supercar
category in the past few years, but had
been the "Holy Grail" of touring car racing
in Australia since its inception in the early
1960's.
The 2001 victory was Skaife's 4'h AT CC
crown and second in succession with HRT
and the Bathurst win with Longhurst was
Skaife's third Great Race victory.
HRT's Jason Bright concluded an excellent
debut season with the Team when he
collected the award for third place in the
Championship.
Brigh t ' s highlights
included a stirring come-from-behind win
at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide as well as
setting the fastest ever time around the
Mt Panorama circuit at Bathurst for a
touring car. Consistency was the key to
Jason's third-place finish, but the DNF
result for he and Tomas Mezera at Bathurst
cost his Championship aspirations dearly.
EXCELERATE
Just released is the Summer Excelerate
Vol. 6, No. 3 - $6.95+GST.
Available on 03 9427 1277.
MOTOR
Club 1 would like to thank 'Motor' for their
continued support throughout 2001. We
look forward to another great season with
them.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Everyone at Club 1 and HRT would like to
thank you for your support throughout
2001. We are all thrilled that HRT have
managed another Championship win and
congratulate Mark Skaife. We would also
like to congratulate Jason Bright for his 3'd
position and know we'll see great things
from him in 2002.
The club has increased it's benefits for you
again in 2002 and you can see all of the
details on your renewal letter enclosed
with this annual year book, hope to have
you on board next year!
Have a very happy and safe Christmas and
New Year!
HSV COUPE
Omologoto). "In the 1960s and 70s the Pontiac GTO helped start the muscle
cor era and hod a wonderfully strong image," said Mark Behr, HSV Notional
Soles & Marketing Manager.
In addition to the side skirt GTO badges the model con be easily identified by
its distinctive 18-inch alloy wheel design, which uses the original theme of
the HK Monaro 327. Mechanically it receives a 255kW 5.7 litre LS 1 V8 coupled
to either a four-speed automatic or six-speed manual. All manual HSV Coupes
also receive the 'Quick Shift' short throw gearbox as standard. Standard
braking comes from the excellent Grooved HSV Performance broke package
with the option of the impressive Cross-drilled Premium broke system, both
with ABS.
With the arrival of the most eagerly anticipated new cor ever to hit the
Australian market, HSV has once again turned the high performance luxury
vehicle sector on its ear. The HSV Coupe, the company's first two-door model,
not only sets new benchmarks for styling, performance and sophistication
but also rewrites the rulebook in terms of value for money, making it on even
more enticing prospect for buyers.
"Holden's Monaro provides us with on excellent platform from which we
hove developed two of the world's most exciting cars - the HSV GTO Coupe
and HSV GTS Coupe. Not since the early seventies hove we seen the release
of such exciting, passionate, performance cars." said Mark Behr, HSV Notional
Soles & Marketing Manager.
Both models, GTO and GTS, feature a seductive two-door body which,
compared with HSV's highly successful sedan models, is unique rearward of
the windscreen (with two degree increased rake). The roof is 40mm lower
and the cor 1OOmm shorter, all of which is token out of the rear overhang.
While the result con only be described as sensational, the fact that Holden
look the Monaro from concept to reality in on HSV-Iike 22 months, meant
that HSV hod to deliver their Coupe to market even foster. Meeting this
extremely tight development time frame, while maintaining high quality
standards, demonstrates the enormous strides HSV has token in the area of
high technology. The use of design aids such as Alios models was a crucial
element in the process at HSV's Computer Aided Design (CAD) Centre in
Clayton, Victoria.
GTS COUPE Under the bonnet the GTS Coupe carries all the considerable
attributes of its HSV sedan namesake. And that means the legendary 300kW
5.7 litre C4B V8, Australia's most powerful production cor powerplonl. This is
teamed with a 6 speed close ratio gearbox complete with the 'Quick Shift'
short throw feature.
To match its exceptional performance the GTS Coupe comes standard with
the most awesome braking system ever fitted to on Australian manufactured
production cor. Dubbed the HSV Six-piston braking package (developed in
conjunction with AP Racing of HRT fame) it consists of enormous 362mm
front and 343mm rear discs, both Cross-drilled and Grooved. These ore
clamped by six-piston front callipers and four-piston rear callipers. Combined
with ABS the new package provides unparalleled braking performance and
matches the stopping power of any cor in the world.
GTS Coupe is not only on exhilarating performer it's also a stunning looker.
Externally it's distinguished by contrasting colour accents on front and rear
bumpers and side skirts, complemented by stunning 19-inch wheels (from
GTS sedan). a subtle roof spoiler at the top of the rear gloss and on evolution
of the double 'D' exhaust outlet. Bosch Rear Proximity sensors ore standard
fitment on GTS Coupe.
Other factors include completing the cloy modelling at Holden's studios and,
for the first lime, using computer cloy machining technology. In basic terms
the styling was done on computer using Alios software, then downloaded to
a computerised cloy cutting/milling machine which automatically produced
the styling in physical form, as a full size cloy model.
"We've used technology to our advantage to complete the HSV Coupe's
development program in about 16 months," explains HSV's Engineering
Manager, John Clark.
Neil Simpson, TWR (UK)'s Chief Designer, was responsible for the sensational
styling of the HSV GTO and GTS Coupes. "I really wonted to make a strong
statement with the central grille bar, a device I see as the HSV signature. This
is echoed in the front fascia's lower aperture and, at the rear of the cor, both
in the fascia, roof spoiler and as a support to the rear spoiler. I wonted the
cor to be recognisable as on HSV from all angles."
"There's a strong read from the bonnet shut lines down the fascia, then the
aperture and fog lamps really pull the graphic much wider but it's also quite
low, which gives the cor a great ground-hugging stance. The rear spoiler hod
to make a statement but I kept it flat with the deck lid so it really gives some
speed and length to the cor without being overly aggressive."
In fact the three-piece rear spoiler design is a first for HSV, as ore the three
element 'projector' headlights and distinctive toil lamps. Several highlights
also hint at the original Monaro GTS, including the three side skirt vents,
dubbed 'Shark Gills', and the high-quality retro styled injection moulded
badges. Located on the side skirts the chrome badges feature a 3D effect grey for GTO and red for GTS.
Interior appointments of both HSV Coupe models boost on exceptionally
high level of luxury and standard equipment including dual zone automatic
climate control air conditioning, on 8-speoker, 1 0-slock CD player/tuner/
cassette sound system, eight-way electric adjustable driver's seat with three
memory settings, both front seals incorporate electric rear access, unique
HSV Coupe alloy sill plates, 'Twilight Sentinel' automatic headlights on and
off and a selection of sumptuous leather/lismore trim treatments.
GTO COUPE In its search for on appropriate model nome for Coupe the HSV
team found one steeped in General Motors heritage - GTO (Gran Turismo
According to Mark Skoife, on integral member of HSV's Product Group, the
new HSV Coupes ore the best handling HSVs ever - a very big statement
indeed considering some of the superb HSV models of the post and present.
Although the HSV suspension hardware, including Multi-link, is carried over
from the sedan models, HSV engineers were able to capitalise on the more
rigid torsional characteristics of the Coupe's chassis. It allowed them to
produce razor sharp handling while at the some time luning the suspension
for a supple ride quality. Consequently, Coupe sets a new benchmark for
HSV in terms of both handling and ride. To complement this, Coupe has
been fitted with a specific HSV steering rock compared to its Holden two­
door relative for less turns lock to lock and foster turn-in.
Continuing HSV's leadership in combating theft, all HSV Coupes also benefit
from the datadots technology initiative - HSV DNA. Up to 10,000 dots the
size of a pin head contain the specific YIN or Vehicle Identification Number
of each HSV Coupe. The system makes it virtually impossible for thieves.
Even months prior to launch, HSV experienced unprecedented interest in the
new Coupe - on the phone, via HSV's website (www.hsv.com.ou). from current
HSV owners and, importantly, from traditional premium European coupe
buyers who, perhaps, hadn't previously considered on HSV Indeed over 200
firm orders ore already held for both models, a high percentage of which ore
for the 300kW GTS Coupe.
"The new HSV Coupe is the next major 'defining moment' in HSV's history",
says John Crennon, HSV's Managing Director. "We've applied the very best
we hove to offer to this sensational new model - stunning, aggressive, low to
the ground exterior appearance, superb ride and handling, spirited engine
performance and a dynamic feature-pocked interior."
"I believe that, if the HSV Coupe was released exactly as is but with BMW
badges, the price would be $150,000. By any measure, HSV's Coupe models
ore a great value for money story for a world-class high performance V8
two-door sports model."
Full GTO production begins in late January 2002, with GTS Coupe
commencing in February.
In addition, a range of HSV Coupe specific apparel is also being released as
a port of HSV'S $20 million a year apparel business.
Prices for the HSV GTO Coupe start at $73,750 (incl GST) while the HSV GTS
Coupe starts at $94,750 (incl GST). Prices exclude dealer and government
statutory chorges.
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