Our recent visit to Australia for the Formula 1 Grand Prix provided us with the chance to witness a non-championship round of the famous and fiercely competitive Australian V8 Supercar series.

My first glimpse was the perfectly aligned haulers in the Albert Park paddock. “Yes, it’s the Australian version of NASCAR,” Steve Hallam, general manager of the TEKNO team, told me.

Hallam worked for two decades in Formula 1, engineering Ayrton Senna’s Lotus and McLaren. He then moved across the Atlantic to North Carolina where he became director of racing at NASCAR's Michael Waltrip Racing.

For the past three years, the Briton has been living near Brisbane, Australia managing the TEKNO team.

Start of one of the 4 races held in Melbourne. (Photo: Australian V8 Supercar series)

The V8 Supercars seem to stand between a NASCAR Sprint Cup and a DTM. They are more sophisticated than their NASCAR cousins, but without the expensive all-carbon fibre and electronic gizmos of DTM.

The huge haulers are essential in this country, because Australia is big -- and I mean, big.

“The majority of the races are held on the east coast where the population is concentrated, but we also travel to races in Perth, Darwin, Tasmania, and New Zealand,” Hallam explained.

Contrary to common belief, the series is not all about Australian cars. This season we find Holden Commodore VFs, Ford Falcon FGs, Nissan Altimas, a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and a Volvo S60 Polestar on the grid.

TEKNO's Holden driven by Shane van Gisbergen. (Photo: René Fagnan)

The cars are astonishing. More compact and lighter than a Sprint Cup, a Supercar carries an elegant rear wing and no unattractive winglets all over the place.

“Our cars are designed to run on road courses exclusively,” Hallam continued.

“They are perfectly symmetrical, are fitted with front- and rear-independent suspensions, [and] are powered by 635-bhp 5.0L V8 engines fitted to the 6-speed manual sequential gearboxes. Some components are specs while others are open. We also have telemetry and data acquisition,” Hallam told us.

The body is made of steel, plastic, and carbon fibre components. Each car must bear a close resemblance to its road-going counterpart. They must be instantly recognisable by the fans.

A Sprint Cup vehicle weighs 1,576kg (3,475 lbs) with a driver and fuel, while the V8 Supercar is lighter at 1,400kg with a driver onboard. It is capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds, and can reach a top speed of 300km/h.

The cars run on spec low profile Dunlop control tires (hard and soft compounds are available).

The teams' transporters in the paddock. (Photo: René Fagnan)

“It costs a team approximately $3 million AUS ($2.94 million CAN) to race one car during one season,” Hallam confessed.

Series’ income is wisely and fairly distributed.
“The revenues are equally distributed to each car entered. If a team runs two cars, it receives two times the amount of money. It’s extremely fair,” Hallam continued.

The level of competition is very high with just one second generally separating the pole-sitter from the last starter on the grid. The races are hotly contested -- never boring -- with most competitors capable of running side-by-side, inches apart, without trading paints.

For Hallam, the recipe for success is simple.

‘The series’ officials always keep in mind their number one objective: entertain the fans,” he said.

In our next article, we’ll take a closer look at the Australian V8 Supercar itself.

Rule No.1: Entertain de fans. (Photo: René Fagnan)