THINGS are happening thick and fast in V8 Supercar land with a raft of changes to our sport to kick in from next year.
It seems like there has been wave after wave of developments in the category that all points to ensuring a brighter future.
You have to ask what other sport has to go through the big calls which are being made in V8 Supercars?
As we mentioned exclusively last week which was confirmed by V8 chairman Tony Cochrane last Sunday, the category and the second tier Fujitsu Development series will move to run on E85 ethanol fuel from next year.
That is fuel containing 85 per cent ethanol blended with 15 per cent unleaded petrol.
This is a huge call and we can’t just be seen to be rolling along.
There are environmental issues to address.
We can’t just move the 50m line back to 60m and hope that is good enough.
These are not small steps. They are massive changes.
It’s easy for me to write in this column that this needs to be done and that needs to be done but we have the people in place to make the big calls happen and I’m sure the category will be all the better for it.
I understand that V8 Supercars have entered into a major five-year arrangement with suppliers of E85 with the crucial details set to be announced at Bathurst in October.
For the category to be proactive on things that effect the environment is something to be commended because it is so easy for many organisations to be reactive.
While the ethanol step is big enough in itself, to be able to get a street race up and running in Townsville (July 10-12) next year with the help of three governments (federal, state and local) is massive.
There is no question that the scheduling of our 14-round championship for 2008 could have been constructed with more thought because we started far too early way back on February 24.
But it looks like the calendar will be back to a more suitable time-frame next year which is a massive plus for the fans.
When the championship starts in 2009 it’s going to be an awesome rollercoaster ride to the end.
So there’ll be 15 events in 38 weeks which is much more condensed than this year, probably about a month shorter.
I’ve heard on the grapevine that the board meeting last week was one of the best in terms of ideas and changes.
And the good thing is that they are not changes for the sake of making change.
There are a lot of well directed and justified format changes which will become clearer by Phillip Island in September.
It’s good for drivers, its good for the teams and ultimately a big plus for the fans.
Some years you question what they are doing that for and some decisions seem to be all over the place.
But it looks like what is being proposed for 2009 has V8 Supercars headed in the right direction.