While the news of Michael Schumacher making a comeback fro Ferrari is making motorsport headlines in other parts of the world the big motorsport news in Australia is all about Jamie Wincup, Craig Lowndes and 888 Racing going over to Holden for the 2010 V8 Supercar season.
When you think about all the years and dollars of development 888 Racing have put into their Ford engines you begin to realise that someone must have paid them a huge amount to turn their back on all that development and start all over again with Holden.
I wonder what that says about the top teams that are currently racing Commodores?
Â
Jamie Wincup, Craig Lowndes and 888 Racing Move to Holden
22 thoughts on “Jamie Wincup, Craig Lowndes and 888 Racing Move to Holden”
Comments are closed.
As a dedicated motor racing supporter and ford fan from an early age, I am sorry to say, but 888 motor sport has just signed the demise of v8 supercars in Australia. Obviously this deal is about making money, which shows that driver passion and the age old ford vs holden battel has indeed gone from motor racing. It now seems that all v8 fans are destined to watch the latest version of commodore cup from 2010. Could it be due to holden deciding that if they can’t beat the fords, they will throw lots of money at them and get them to join the holden camp; anything to get a holden on top of the podium. This new alliance will also ruin the other ford teams chances of being successful, as there development, etc has been supplied by 888. The management at ford definatley need a reality check and I suspect that the people making the monetry decisions are not in any way true motor sport fans. I and many other longterm supporters will end our following of v8 supercars in OZ at the end of the 2009 season…….
Damien that was exactly what I was thinking but didn’t have time to write.
It really looks like Holden decided that if you can’t beat them then buy them and sadly that’s not going to do much for V8 Supercars next year.
Stuart
coming from a massive ford fan i think there making a massive mistake and i hope they suffer for it
Now you ford guys know what it was like when Craig Lowndes left holden for ford when he was at his prime and winning. He didnt quite have the same sucsess in a ford…
Welcome back Craig to the lions badge
Excellent comments Damien. Former Ford Aust boss Geoff Polites who once helped drive the Ford racing programme, would be turning in his grave right now over the apparant lack of interest from the current crop of Broadmedows beancounters. How they could pull sponsorship from a team that had won the last three Bathurst races is beyond me. Having said that, is Roland Dane (or the drivers) giving any consideration to the fans??? I know it is a business but if fans decide to turn away from the sport due to lack of good competition, all they are left with is a bunch of big kids running around in souped up Taxis with no one watching. Given that around two thirds of any given V8 Supercar starting grid are Holdens already, what will the point be in seeing the best team in the country also running a Holden. Perhaps Tony Chochrane should not prolong the inevitable and simply make it a one make, one team series and have all cars identical and then leave it up to driver skill…that seems where it is headed. Of course, this is all assuming Triple 8 can replicate their success with the Holden brand. The big question is, who if anyone, can step up from the Ford side???? As a long time Ford Fan I really don’t feel like going to Bathurst this year……..
I only heard about this today 31Aug09 and I was hoping that it wasn’t true. I reckon that it will be the end of Ford v Holden.
Welcome to Formula Holden. DJR are doing well this year but they’re
supported by Triple 8. FPR are patchy at best, Stone Brothers are in with a chance, occasionally, but not really a threat. Compared to the other big sporting news to break this week, Carmichael Hunt moving to AFL, good for AFL but it won’t effect the game as such , but this decision will have major repucussions on Aust Motorsport. Ford can only blame themselves for there foolish decision to pull their support from the best Ford teams in our series. A Sad day for Ford fans. Lowndes moving back to Holden isn’t something to look forward to.
Sad thing about all this is that even if Craig will be driving a good holden again i dont think his heart will be in it as even he stated years ago that even while his pay packet was from holden he yearned to drive fords. And when he did drive them his success was very limited to start with It was only after joining forces with Jamie and 888 racing did he start to see a little success of what he use to in his hay days at holden under the wing of the great Peter Brock. Maybe the ghost Brocky has had a little bit to do with this telling him in no uncertain terms your in the wrong team Craig get back to the good cars lol lol
I dont beleave it. After 40 years of following the ford vs holden, it will finally come to an abtupt end.
The fools are Ford, but more so V8 Supercars as dont they think the rivalry will be lost. Even on top gear, (England) they realise the rivalry, is what holds the interest.
After all these years, i am sorry to say that the race will die, the competition will lack, the sponsors will be fighting for their lives, and the fans will be away by the droves. Tuning of from today after 40 odd years is so heart breaking but money rules.
Goodbye
After this weekends results it would appear next year will be all HRT. How boring if there is no Fords to split the pack of 4. I have always been a Ford and Craig supporter (even when he was the kid of Holdens) now I am confused and will have to wait and see how I feel next year, if I can be bothered to tune in. Why do I feel gutted?
Mike I couldn’t have said it better myself although I’m not sure that V8 Supercars really do believe what they’re saying … they may just be trying put some positive spin on what is really some very bad news for them.
I find it strange that Ford is taking such a retrograde step here because in America it seems that Ford is getting more involved in racing than they have been for a few years.
Whatever the thinking might be behind what they’re doing I think it’s going to bite them in the arse and I don’t think it’s going to have such a positive effect on Holden either. Without the competition the increased sales that come with victory may not be there.
Stuart
omg harden up, Craig started in a holden, he had more success in a holden, i think this is good thing for other Ford drivers, they have the chance to step up to the plate, lets see if they can do it.
Yeah come on people read what Nick says its not the end of the world you know ford will bounce back they always do as Nick says he did start in a holden then defected to ford but maybe hes not the problem after all it is more Jamie then Craig that is having the success .Is it maybe a little bit of jelousy that is creeping in people minds to think that Jamie will do a lot of damage to the fords now more so then the “I dont want to be there Craig”?????????? lol
I have represented Australia overseas and I KNOW FULL WELL what winning brings. If you don’t come home with Gold, then nobody wants to no. It’s a fact of life.EVERYBODY KNOWS WHO COMES FIRST. Who came second, hell, let me think? The hard fact is we all know where the boys originated from, but after the years a bond is built up. Now it is broken and i honestly think die hards will dissapear. Hell if you don’t care who’s in what car, then bring back the GODZILLAS. Cant have that tho. But wait, Jamie and Craig will still be racing. Hell of a thorght tho. Real competition. Holden’s and Fords may have to buy everybody. Joke.
We’ll see but an all Holden or Ford Line up, would be rather boring. Think about the supporters, well, their money anyway.
Of to Japan to see my new Spec V. (Nissan GTR) oh yes, was going to buy an Australian car but got side tracted. Funny that.
Back Soon.
Every one is talking about Craig and how good he is. News flash… he is not 21 yrs old any more and he has dropped off his game.. He can harldly win races these days… and he has lost that drving edge. He now has a family and seeing brock die has made him turn into a little girl.
Reply. MikeCEO Says:
CEO????… Must not be making much money if you wanna buy Nissan GTR.
Ohh by the way… Go live in Japan if you think there cars are better and stop baging australian products. I lived in Japan for 5yrs.. There products are Cheap and crap.. things from Cars to electronics. Atleast aussie cars are made to last… who cares how fast a car is.. Anyone can have a fast car… its all about $ $ $ and sorry to tell you this… A nissand GTR is not a fast car.
Good luck with your CEO job ($2/hr in japan)
WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHYYYYYYY DID U GO BAK 2 HOLDEN CRAIG ! and jamie
YOU’VE WON SO MANY RACES IN FORD WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO TO HOLDEN WHO’S BEEN YOUR ARCH ENEMY FOR 8 YEARS MY DAD LOVES THE WAY THAT YOU SAY OKEY DOKEY IN THE CAR AND YOUR SO RELAXED
To the 888 team: It was a fair result at Bathurst on the w/end considering the problems the car had, the rain, strategies etc. What I was most disappointed in though, was the lack of availability to the fans. The 2009 race was my 16th time to Bathurst and my son’s 5th (he is 8 yo) and from the very first time he came he declared Lowndes and Wincup to be his favourite team. We made a huge effort this year to see the drivers and as Ford fans, it was surprising that we got more signatures from Holden drivers than from the Fords. That said – having to register to get on a list to get an autograph from our No 1 team was a joke. All the places were taken by the time we got to the 888 merchandise tent at 7.30 am on Saturday. The reason V8 Supercars are so successful is because of the fans. It seems Triple 8 have forgotten this. Maybe the Holden fans will adopt them and things will change – but keep ignoring the fans at your peril. By contrast – the guys from FPR bent over backwards to see the fans. And even more accomadating were the guys from the V8 Utes! They know that without the fans – they are unemployed. As a result – we spent our hard earned with FPR.
Go the Blue team.
Jeff you’ve raised a very valid point. No sporting team can survive if they ignore the fans.
Jason Bright from the Fujitsu team seems to understand how to treat fans … not that I’m a fan of that horrible green car 🙂 … he started following me on Twitter yesterday and there’s nothing on my Twitter bio that links me to this blog or to being a Ford fan (which I’m not).
Instead he must have seen a comment I made about the race on Twitter and simply joined me because I had showed an interest in car racing. That’s the sort of approach that does turn people into fans.
Stuart
I wonder if Holden are buying drivers
with the governments grant they have received
Feel sorry for the ford fans like my self but l follow the man not the car,
second time lucky hey!!!!!!!!
you ford blokes are doing a lot of whining. lampy should check his history cause whincup started for garry rodgers. the thing that puzzles me being a holden fan is this; ford pull the plug on a great team that has won the last two championships, the last three bathursts and supply most other ford teams with there donks and car shells etc. pull the plug partly because they think there is to much red in the livery. that is absolutely ridiculous. i love watching supercars have got every round on disk for ages. time the other ford teams grew a set and done there own homework
all the ford people should shut up and deal with it. If you all remember ford are the ones who told 888 racing they no longer had funding for them so if you ask me ford has shafted them big time and made ford look like a bunch of tight arses at the same time