John Bowe: Great to See New Marques at the Front

What a great weekend for Volvo! The impact on V8 Supercars this time around really is back to the future for the marque – it was 1985 Mark Petch funded the Group A 240T across the Tasman to make an assault on the Australian Touring Car Championship.

Driven for him by fellow Kiwi Robbie Francevic, he made an immediate impact, sometimes for the wrong reason, but the car was fast and it helped polish the image everyone had of Volvo. So much so that the following year the factory and dealers ran a works team under the legendary Holden Team Manager John Sheppard.

From the third round onwards I joined the team in the newly arrived second car straight from open wheelers, I got my first pole at the second race, I did and still have a soft spot for those well-built Swedish automobiles.

The arrival and instant competiveness of new star Scotty McLaughlin has breathed incredible life into an already frantic competition. Some people love it and some may hate it but everyone has an opinion and that's what mainstream sport needs.

Benefitting from a mechanical drama in race four at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix, Scotty gave Volvo their first race win in many a long year in Australia, how awesome is that! 

Garry Rogers and his tight knit little team and Polestar have done what none of the other newcomers have been able to do. The real Championship round win can’t be far away, and this is with minimal testing.

Wait until they get some more development kilometres on it, the engine and the aero performance is so impressive and the driver also. You don't hold your own in that company with that pressure unless you are truly good at your craft.

How good would it be to be pin up boy for all those blonde haired, blue eyed Scandinavian ladies. I'm envious, Scotty!

The Holden, Volvo, Mercedes and Nissan are now pretty well matched aero wise, give or take a little here and there, in my opinion. Not so the FG in my view, but at least we now have a committee appointed by V8 Supercars to fix it, led by Steve Hallam, who has vast world level experience.

This year we really have the chance to see what the New Generation V8 Supercar has to offer, I'm so excited about all the marques having a crack at the front of the pack. All we need now is a couple more manufacturers and we will have without doubt the best race category in the world!

Cheers,JB

Follow John Bowe on Facebook. Bowe is supported by Wilson Security, Dunlop Super Dealers and Coates Hire, and competing in the 2014 Touring Car Masters Championship.