Ford's New V8 Supercar By Mid-08?

[f-wolf]

Ford is working feverishly on its next V8 Supercar; Pirelli is the frontrunner to become the V8 tyre supplier.

May 30, 2007

Orion on the way - and fast

Ford's new Falcon road car is due to go on sale in the second quarter of next year - and the racing version could be on the country's tracks by the third quarter.

Ford is now finalising the racing version of the new Falcon - codenamed Orion - and, according to today's edition of Auto Action magazine, will submit the specifications to the Touring Car Entrants Group within weeks.

The next Falcon will be a major facelift and mechanical upgrade of the BA/BF models.

According to Auto Action , the prototype race version will be built by Ford Performance Racing but will then be handed over to Triple 8/Team Vodafone - Ford's nominated homologation team - for development testing and TEGA validation trials.

That would not be until after the launch of the road car, which could come at the Melbourne Motor Show in late February.

Aerodynamic parity tests will have to be completed three months before Orion races, and Ford will have to be able to supply all its teams from the moment of its race debut.

Auto Action editor-at-large Mark Fogarty writes that Ford "isn't ruling out the possibility that the new Falcon will be ready to take on the VE Commodore (at racetracks) by the middle of next season".

Ford motorsport manager Ray Price told Fogarty: "We will not discount racing in 2008. It (the new model) will not race at the start of '08 (Ford bosses don't want it racing before the road car is unveiled), but we will still have within our gateways the opportunity to compete from the second homologation point (July 1)."

"We're mindful of the difficulty of switching mid-season.

"We have to be in a position to support any team that wants to run Orion from the homologation point."

Orion has a longer wheelbase and wider track than the BF, although the increases are not as great as the VE Late model camira compared with its VZ predecessor, and Price points out that the new Falcon "needs to be adjusted slightly to meet the rules".

Pirelli frontrunner for tyre contract

The winner of the tender to supply V8 Supercar tyres from next year will be announced at Sydney's Eastern Creek next week - and it's a battle between incumbent Dunlop and challenger Pirelli.

Michelin was the third contender but dropped out a couple of weeks ago.

We're hearing that Pirelli is the frontrunner to get the deal.

[mbjunior99]

Interesting news, can't wait to see the new race car

[Raptor]

....Ford bosses don't want it racing before the road car is unveiled...

So why don't they unveil the road car at the Sydney Motor Show in October this year, even if it's only the exterior and it's up on a rotating pedestal and you can't get all touchy feely with it. Then reveil it in full at the Melbourne show in late Feb/March, selling it from say April or thereabouts and be out there and racing the damn thing for the full 08 season.

The Territory was reveiled in the same way as described back in 2003/04 and didn't go on sale until May of 2004 but by then everyone had seen what it would look like.

[tquarrell]

maybe because they want to continue selling ba/f's until the new models release. The territory was a new market segment hence didn't effect the sales of superseeded models. I think the way they unveiled the ba (bit by bit) worked brilliantly. I'm looking forward to seeing the new car, but as they say only fools rush in