John Bowe: Exciting times for our sport

There are two big things occurring at the moment in our world. First, we have James Warburton sharing the view (the white paper) of the future in our only true 'professional motorsport' category, what we all now know as V8 Supercars.

There's no doubt that over the next few years we are in for lots of change - in this life, nothing stays the same. I'm betting that Holden will be involved, they always have been.

Let's hope Ford will surely see what a passionate spirit the world of motorsport creates in the Ford lovers ... but let's face it - we need a few more to join our category.

Australia has about sixty five brands available for sale ... which I personally think is madness in itself!

I applaud the straightforward way James talks about our issues and welcome his thoughts on solutions. Make no mistake, motorsport runs on money, it always has and always will.

The scientific way of motorsport today makes it more reliant than ever on cash. The acceptance of two door cars is a given in my book, who cares, if you have a proper and workable parity system, or balance of performance system.

Having 2/4 doors, a V8, V12 or four and six-cylinder turbo engines is fantastic as long as one is not dominant. I reckon it's so exciting; we could be back in the Times of Group A but this time with the successful parity system we have now.

Some more manufacturers - wouldn't that be so cool! I for one am excited about the future possibilities. Having driven for the past few years with Maranello Motorsport I have a very good understanding of how it works.

We can learn from that for sure, the future to me looks awesome with lots of possibilities - I find the very thought of rebuilding and making it better. Be assured folks, the change MUST happen!

The main thing that we all have to think of at the moment is the survival of the smaller, less wealthy teams.

Formula One is going through the same pain only with many more zeroes attached to it. The cost of top-line motorsport is going up every year because clever people always think of clever ways to go faster and that costs more.

Cost containment is a difficult thing to achieve, but to my mind the category needs the smaller teams like Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (LDM) badly, I hope there are enough sponsors out there to go around.

For sure the future will provide more manufacturers and that will help our situation/solution ... from what I'm hearing, there's a good chance that may well happen.

I'm hearing sooner rather than later, bring it on I say. Trust me, our racing is better than anywhere in the world, as are our top-line drivers.

With all of that said I've been in motorsport for more than 40 years (gulp), we are in good hands at the top level with James Warburton and his team.

In my time I've seen many CEOs come and go ... believe me when I tell you we are in very capable company!

What I have noticed is the response by those when a decision may affect them ... I'm talking the new TV deal. Sure, some have expressed their unhappiness ... let me assure you - no TV deal, no V8 Supercars. It's that simple, they (the teams) need the TV windfall money to keep racing!

Now to last weekend. Phillip Island is an amazing race circuit, it provides an awesomehigh speed spectacle.

Congratulations to Garry Rogers and his team, Valvoline Racing GRM.Sure Garth Tander was unlucky but you have to cross the line first to win. Garth's drive was perfect, as was Scotty McLaughlin's - motorsport at it's best, I reckon. I've always rated Garth as possibly the best defender in the field - Sunday's race once again proved my theory.

I watched lots of the race from Honda corner; Garth was under immense pressure but he did not flinch. Trust me, that's not easy to do. An outstanding performance all round by both drivers.

One thing that bugs me about V8 Supercar racing though is the lack of slipstreaming or drafting, as the Americans call it. The cars are so even and so efficient through the air that rarely is there a passing opportunity on the straights.

The power differences between all the cars is minuscule! Formula One recognised this a few years ago, hence they have DRS. Likewise the German based DTM Series. DRS is essentially a drag reduction system, and improves speed.

I think it's time to look at something like this for our premier motorsport category. Another thought I had, about 10 years ago in Champ Cars there was a thing called a Hanford device which attached to the rear wing and created a vortex behind the car, which in turn created a drafting opportunity.

Make no mistake, the racing, drivers and their teams in V8 Supercars are world class, the amount of side by side racing they manage while not having contact is actually incredible -but more passing with drafting opportunities would improve the spectacle immensely.

The process would need to be worked out by the V8 Supercar technical folk but I think it's well worth looking into. It's a great show now, that doesn't mean it can't be better still ... as the season winds down it's food for thought, I reckon!

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.