Holden teams back V8 engine decision

Holden’s decision to homologate the next-gen Commodore with the existing V8 engine has been welcomed by privateer teams.

Having originally planned to introduce the new Commodore body and V6 turbo engine as one package, the manufacturer confirmed this morning a staggered rollout across 2018/19.

Teams will be able to carry their existing engines into the new body for 2018, while factory squad Triple Eight completes further development on the V6 via a series of wildcards.

Before today’s announcement, the challenge of getting the V6 turbo up and running had seen Triple Eight as the only squad expected to upgrade to the new car.

Others teams are now waiting on key information on the supply of body panels to determine when they will switch to the new model.

Triple Eight and Holden are working on the design of the racing bodywork with Opel in Germany, which is supplying the new road car following the end of local production.

The team plans to have its first car available for aerodynamic homologation testing in the final quarter of this year.

“Clearly the good aspect for us is that you can run the current engine (in the new car),” Mobil 1 HSV Racing boss Mathew Nilsson told Supercars.com of today’s news.

“With the timeframe at the moment, should there have been an engine change as well, there’d be a lot of work to go into that.

“That’s a positive aspect, but as far as the new car goes we still can’t judge yet, because the information from Holden and Triple Eight is still ongoing.

“We don’t have enough information at the moment to make the decision, but there’s still time for that to play out.”

Erebus general manager Barry Ryan confirmed that his squad would like to upgrade and is eager to have a firm direction by September as it plans the build of new chassis.

“Clearly the best thing for any team is to go with whatever the latest design car is and I’d say that’s the way we’ll head,” he said.

“But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before we make that decision. There hasn’t been a lot of information so far.” 

Brad Jones Racing co-owner Kim Jones stressed the supply of bodywork is the biggest unknown for the privateer teams, suggesting that his squad may stay with the VF initially.

“I’m sure we can purchase kits to build the cars, but that’s not the issue,” Jones told Supercars.com.

“You need stuff to keep following it up and making sure all the parts keep continuing it on.

“This year the amount of componentry we’ve consumed through no fault of our own… every time you turn around you’re consuming bits and pieces.

“There’s a lot of variables in how it will sit and work and where we’re going to be in two months, which is the point you need to evaluate what you’re going to do early next year. 

“I would think to start off we’ll be status quo for the short term. We’ll assess it as the information comes up.”

Regardless of when it upgrades its bodywork, Jones believes sticking with the V8 is important for multiple reasons.

“We’ve got 14 engines and they’re $130,000 each. It’s quite a large asset to change,” he said.

“When you do that, you want to make sure what you’re doing is the right thing.

"When you talk to the fan base, one of the big things they love is the noise of a V8.

“I’ve always been personally concerned (about the change to V6) because at the end of the day we’re at the mercy of our fans."

Like Jones, Ryan welcomed the ability to upgrade the cars while sticking with the V8.

“I don’t think there’s any rush to change (the engine)," he said.

“The fans drive our sport, the manufacturers unfortunately don’t at the moment…. we’ve got to listen to the fans I think.

"There’s other categories in the world with multiple styles of engines and it’s taken them a long time to get it right.”

Fellow privately-funded multi-car Holden team, Garry Rogers Motorsport, last month declared its intention to stick with its current package while it searches for a new manufacturer.

While allowing the V8 opens the door for GRM to upgrade relatively easily, team director Barry Rogers says there’s no rush to make a call.

“My initial thoughts would be to march on with what we’ve got, rather than investing in swapping new panels and shapes out,” he said.

“But Triple Eight is homologating the car, so it’s not like we need to do that so I don’t think it’s something you need to decide months in advance.

“At the latest, if you do need to decide it’d be by the end of the season where you could strip off the old panels and put on the new ones if need be.”

Holden's staggered rollout plan will include the establishment of an engine leasing program for the V6 turbos in 2019.