high end supercars have trouble dealing with the (restricted) 427.. a stock GTO would have next to zero chance. Inclusion of the 427 is rather contentious issue down under however.
here is the entrant list for '03DevilYellow said:do the C5R's race at Bathurst ?
richards,tander,murphy,bright,brock,olly said:As the Bathurst 24 hour endurance race in Australia gathers momentum each year, it now seems appropriate that someone from the states brings a 2004 GTO to oz to see if they can take the winners laurels away from the monaro. For the uninitiated, monaro 427's have won both the inaugural 2002 race and the 2003 race. I would love to see this happen as a contest, as it would add even more interest to an increasingly popular event on the oz motor racing calendar. Any takers?.....my money is on the home team..........gto won't beat a monaro
Monarocountry, I agree with most of what you said, but, for the 24 hour race to increase it's popularity, there must be new interest injected each year to "fuel the fire" so to speak. I personally can't see any problem whatsoever with GTO teams from the states trying their luck. I can remember many years ago when Kevin Bartlett drove the Comaro at Bathurst. It was great for the race to see an oz product v an american product. Yes, we know the monaro is the basis for the GTO, but I think the americans see it quite differenty. To them, the GTO is a Pontiac, and they would most definately be wanting the GTO to beat the Monaro home. Yes, we have the home ground advantage, but this will only bring out more determination from the U.S. guys to bring home the bacon. We all like to see competition in sport, that's what makes it interesing. Personally, bring it on.monaroCountry said:The aurora engine is still in develoupment mode. Pretty intresting to see the aurora (5.0 L) against the C5R (7.0L), at this stage ill go with the 5.0. The corvette C5R did race once in Adelade?. Not quite sure of its placings.
As for Aust vs america? Ill go with the aust drivers. Most of them are V8 supercar drivers, therefore would know the circuit, conditions, have home develoupment/equipment adv, and are Aust top drivers. Look at OS drivers and their placing. Several former F1 drivers didnt rate, especially in the 1000 race. Another example is David Brabham, he basically comes every year to sandown, 1000 and the 24 hr races yet fail to place for whatever reason.
People tend to forget that V8 drivers are either top konica drivers, procar drivers or open wheeler drivers. Some have tried their luck OS but due to funding and/ or intrest and support from aust companies have failed.
GTO = monaro. With 3 in the field this year adding more would not be good for Procar and holden.
MonarocountrymonaroCountry said:olly
Most times i really would like the GTO and monaro to run at the same time and the same event i.e. 24hr bathurst. However hanging around the procar guys led me to the conclusion that there would be many detractors to this idea. In their view ONLY european cars should race. They would see it as holdenising their exclusive club. Trust me ive tried to convince and change their views, in the end I gave up. Only Ross Palmer and a couple of others guys seem to be defending the monaro, good on them.
How about we agree to disagree.............lolmonaroCountry said:Yep agree with you there.......however there are many europhiles around. Still I disagree with a gto and monaro (essentially the same car).
If somebody in the US was smart, they would sponsor one of the existing Monaro 427's (there are 3 competing) on the condition that they whack a GTO nose on it. Pontiac then have an instant front runner in an international event!!GMH GTO said:I wouldn't count the american GTO race team out. Put Scott Pruett, Boris Said, Lou Gigliotti and Tom Kendall in a GTO and see what happens.
I do have on video from 1990 when Dick Johnson came over here to run Nascar race at Waklins Glen a road course.