V8 SUPERCARS teams are racing to chase Team Red into the booming GT sports car competition in Australia.
Walkinshaw Racing, which fields the factory Commodores of the Holden Racing Team, has snared the prized scalp of Porsche as its GT partner.
With Tekno fielding McLarens and Erebus also involved with Mercedes-Benzes in the GT3 competition category which produced a classic Bathurst 12-Hour race at Mount Panorama on Sunday, there is also predictable interest from Brad Jones Racing, Prodrive and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.
“We’ve got three McLarens for the full season. It’s a good category and there is a lot of interest,” says Jonathon Webb, the Tekno Autosports boss who also shared the 12-hour winning car with Shane van Gisbergen.
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“We’re an international team. I had my GT cars before my V8s,” says Erebus owner, Betty Klimenko.
But not everyone is a GT fan.
“I think it’s totally inappropriate that Walkinshaws are racing in that championship. It’s not their core business. It’s outrageous,” says Roland Dane, head of the title winning Triple Eight Race Engineering operation.
“There is no enough money to make it stack up. And I don’t think it’s healthy for Australian GT racing.”
Yet, ironically, Dane was deep in discussions with Ferrari about next year’s 12-hour race and admits he would like to make two visits to Mount Panorama each year, one for the V8 Supercars 1000 and one for the GT3 battle.
“I think the V8 teams have things to bring to the 12-hour. Even if it’s just supporting the overseas teams. And I hope we see that roll out,” says Dane.
“So, have I got an interest in helping a team in the 12-hour next year? Yes, I have. Yes, there is a definite opportunity.”
But Walkinshaw is already running with its program, which will see it field a single Porsche 911 RSR in both the sprint and endurance events in the Australian GT championship. There is no detail yet on drivers for the car, but Porsche confirms that — just as Steven Richards owns the BMW M6 GT3 he will race in GTs this year — the car is not owned by the factory.
“We’re just spreading our wings a little bit. We’ve been talking to Porsche since last year,” says Adrian Burgess, head of Walkinshaw Racing in Australia.
“They are so professional. You can see why they are the most renowned brand in endurance racing. You couldn’t ask for better.”
Burgess refuses to discuss the chances of HRT’s lead drivers, James Courtney and Garth Tander, racing the Porsche and says instead that he is looking at a range of drivers beyond the V8 Supercars pool.
“There will be internationals. It won’t just be an Australian team. But it’s slowly, slowly, learning as we go along.”
Rusty French, the Prodrive principal, refuses to discuss GT racing despite visiting the Erebus Mercedes garage, and Brad Jones is also surprisingly quiet despite spending time with Mercedes-Benz.
“I’m just here for the love of motorsport,” Jones jokes.
“This racing is extremely different to what we do. I don’t know that I could fit it in alongside the V8 Supercars program, but I’m certainly interested.”
