I just finished watching the latest V8Extra, and if I had a dollar for every time 'T8 engineering' was said, well, I could retire while still in my 20's.
Then I got thinking. A lot of the success of the 888 cars has been put down to the standard of engineering. I'm not dissing either drivers as CL and JW have proven to be very competent and successful drivers; you don't get a 3-peat or championship/championship contention if you can't drive competively. But are we going to see such a dominance of the 888 cars this year. How much credit can the drivers, team and other factors take for the success. It's a bit like the chicken and the egg argument… a car is only as good as it's driver, but can a driver be only as good as the car?
This leads me on to teams/drivers that showed good form last year, and now have access to the engineering 'marvel' that is a T8 engineered vehicle. DJR showed good form and great potential last year. Now that they are a T8 engineered car can we expect to see either Andrew of JC as championship contenders late in the season. Could the car be the final piece of the puzzle. During V8Extra Fabian spoke about getting data from T8 in addition to the basic machine… how much will T8 be disadvantaging their own team and it's previously enjoyed dominance by sharing this data?
What do you all think. Do you think that this is a true test of the standard of work put in by the T8 engineering team, if other teams with their cars perform exceptionally well in '09. Or do you think it's not a test, becasue the abilities of the team outweight the performance of a car. (ie some would argue that a race is won on pit stop ability, and T8 have performed consistently in this area)
Displaying 1 to 9 of 9 replies
There have been 9 replies to this Discussion Topic:
*Nick* 2:15 pm March 14th 2009
ummmmm….i dunnocassey thats a tough one, ??????????????
OzQuest Homeloans 2:49 pm March 14th 2009
Well Casey i am of the opinion that you are correct in both top paragraphs.
Alot of people have asked me after the QLD test, what do you think of the T8 team, not much performance their….., didnt dominate too well……. etc etc etc…
You just need to understand some simple fundementlas and understand some simple sayings, plus read between the lines
1- You keep your friends close, and your enemies (Competition) closer
2- A 3 Peat Team just doesnt run out of fuel at a race track? ( How far can we go on new fuel)
3- Never count your cards at the Table!!!!!!!!!
T8 will be a very competitive team in 2009, and yes may even run away with it again……
Good luck JW……..you have a mass of supporters following you, not just 1504 members….
OzQuest Homeloans…
David Wood 4:38 pm March 14th 2009
5 cars worth of data develops a new chassis quicker than two…. ‘-)
Gordon Marshall 5:06 pm March 14th 2009
I think its good. It gives the team a bit of a test. also hopefully a few more fords, or cars with ford shells, will be at front.
jamiefan25 2:28 pm March 15th 2009
I agree
steveq-88fan 3:39 pm March 15th 2009
Good thoughts Casey, I am agreeing with David, more data makes the development easier.
Lets not forget that in 2008, DJR and PCR also had T8 shells and components. Ths big differecne this year will be the sharing of data. You still need to know how to read and use the data and T8 are masters at that sort of stuff.
I also think, as Russell Ingall pointed out on V8 Extra, that the team that thinks on it’s feet the best as pit strategy will come in in front, with all the variables of new fuel, soft tyres etc and, again T8 have been very good at this over a number of years.
SO I guess I am agreeing, but saying that the exercise will be of benefit to DJR and PCR, but of a greater benefit to T8 to get a handle on the new FG. Remember that in Vic there is only 1 Ford team (FPR0, so testing is alonly place for the 2 drivers and other Fords that they can “spy”on to look at data or set up.
FG-FPVGT 8:07 pm March 15th 2009
I agree with u Casey, to me the true test comes when Man & Machine have become syncronised as shown by T8 pitstops but as steveq-88fans has just said teams like DJR in the sense of gettin data from T8 engineering are the masters of that but at least it will keep everthing competitive on the track.
David Wood 8:34 pm March 15th 2009
You make a terrific point casey, and it is an interesting question to which there is only one real answer - “we will sure as hell find out”
My view on it is that first and formost, Triple 8 Race engineering is a business - and when there is acute demand for their product (ie cars and components) and if they have the resource, then there is a tangable benefit to be gained - primarily additional funding for TeamVodafone, and secondly adding more cars into the data pool.
With only 6 test days a year, do not underestimate the importance of data capture and development - this will make or break the first season of running the FG.
We know that Jamie has stated in the press his dissatisfaction with the sale of technology to other teams, however in my experience there is always a “factory” spec and a “customer spec”. I think most of this was just PR, and giving Jamie a rougher edge by spicing the pre-season with a little controversy.
What it also does in reality is rob some other teams of excuses - Ie: The only reason Jamie won the championship is because he had a T8 car… well now so do 3 other teams. I personally feel that Jamie will thrive with the challenge, and he will take immense personal pride in winning against clones of his car.
There can be no doubt that a T8 car is an awesome bit of kit - as I have said in other threads, I don’t expect JW and CL to be world beaters until at least after New Zealand, and HRT and Ingall should be able to capitalise on the FG development period. But thereafter…. look out….
In terms of which T8 equipped team will go the best - I expect it to be TeamVodafone (even without Can do Campbell) as they have shown many many times in the past that they prepare and do their homework better than anyone, strategy, pitstops, etc. With the rule changes in 2009, i think this will only highlight this strength even more.
In other words, i dont think too much will change. I am prepared to see Jamie do less winning in the first half of the year, and I think it will show his gritty qualities and determination a lot more. I am looking forward to Jamie getting into the trenches and really fighting it out. The T8 BF was a superior car in many areas than the rest of the field, so there will be a period of development to happen with the FG, and given that Holden have had the VE for 2 seasons, Jamie has a fight on his hands.
When it is all over, I expect him to hoist the Australian Touring Car Championship trophy above his head in homebush….
Jessie-Fleur 8:52 am March 16th 2009
I think the more data the faster the car will be up to speed. I think the bit that will sort the men from the boys will be the new fuel and tyres. That will be the make or break thing for all. I expect that there will be more pit stops and we all know whos the best in that area. I dont expect too much early in but I think it’ll be interesting viewing and that JW will come out on top…again.