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Skylines and Mustangs set to shakeup V8 Supercars

Altima V8 Supercar and Skyline GT (Nissan Motorsport)
Expert
6th May, 2015
10
1845 Reads

History could repeat for Australian touring cars as the V8 Supercars grid looks set to welcome the likes of Nissan Skylines and Ford Mustangs, in a throwback to eras when the performance models dominated the series.

Skylines, Mustangs and other two-door coupes will be permitted to race in the series when V8 Supercars introduces the Gen2 regulations from 2017.

Gen2 will open the door to additional engines, from the current V8s to turbo-charged six or four cylinders, and body configurations, such as two-door coupes along with four-door sedans, to encourage new makes into the series.

Currently, manufacturers have found the limitation on running five-litre V8s and four-door sedans limited. In order to race in V8 Supercars, returning manufacturers Nissan and Volvo have had to pluck V8 engines from elsewhere as the models they races aren’t sold with those power plants.

Gen 2 cars must be publicly available for sale in Australia, front-engined right-hand drive and a full four-seat configuration that will fit onto the existing Car of the Future chassis in rear-wheel drive form.

The free-for-all in terms of eligible racers, it’s hoped, will lead to a proliferation of makes and models entering the series, at a time when teams are moving away from the established Ford and Holden brands.

And it makes sense for teams and brands to look to Skylines and Mustangs to exploit the new rules. These cars are performance thoroughbreds with a rich racing pedigree in Australia and around the world.

The Skyline is best remembered in this country for its dominant spell in the Australian Touring Car Championship in early nineties, though any chance of a repeat of those crushing seasons is unlikely in what’s set to be heavily regulated parity measures as part of the Gen2 rulebook.

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Racing the two-door coupe Skyline is currently being weighed up at Nissan Australia headquarters, which would allow Nissan Motorsport to tap into its performance arm NISMO’s GT-R development.

The GT-R is already raced in various GT championships and claimed a Bathurst 12 Hour win in 2015, while Japanese Super GT versions of the GT-R have a V8 engine.

Meanwhile, Ford dealers are reportedly lining up to fund a Mustang campaign in the wake of Ford Australia’s decision to withdraw support for V8 Supercars.

While the Mondeo and Fusion look set to carry the mantle of the family sedan for the Blue Oval once the current Falcon is retired, the imported Mustang will be the true performance model in the range – and, therefore, the model to continue the brand’s Australian touring-car involvement.

There’s no better way for the V8-powered two-door coupe to be marketed given its history of multiple championship wins and a configuration so well suited to the Gen2 platform.

The Mustang silhouette is run by Ford teams in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series and in various GT classes.

A team wishing to homologate and race the Mustang would have an army of Blue Oval fans behind it, as the likes of the Skyline and Mustang have the sort of cult following that brand’s increasingly struggle to attain. And, let’s be honest, Mustangs and Skylines will excite race fans more than the current Falcons and Altimas.

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If V8 Supercars can get the engine and aerodynamic parity right from the different configurations, then early signs are that the Gen2 formula could be something special.

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