EXCLUSIVE
By PAUL GOVER, News Ltd for AUTO ACTION©
Alfa Romeo is seriously studying a start
in Supercars!
The Italian brand is poised for the
biggest comeback attack in its corporate history and the program is built
around an all-new Giulia QV road car that lands in Australia in February and
will be an ideal platform for Supercars racing.
 |
| Holden NG Commodore |
It is even fitted with a new-age V6
twin-turbo engine that was inspired by sister company Ferrari and could be
tweaked to suit the upcoming Gen2 regulations, just as Holden is doing with the
powerplant it will fit into the NG Commodore for Supercars competition from
2018.
“We are looking at all the available
opportunities for Alfa Romeo that would fit the brand DNA. It is a racing brand
and it’s got a racing heritage,” says the newly-appointed CEO of Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles in Australia, Steve Zanlunghi (right).
“No news to report but we are looking at
a lot of different things.”
But FCA is well past looking, and Auto
Action can reveal there were secret meetings during the Sydney 500 that
included a briefing from Supercars’ managing director Matt Braid on the entry
requirements, and set-up costs for a front-line touring car program.
Auto
Action is so convinced there is fire beneath the
smoke screen that we have had Giulia images created to see how the car could
look as a Supercars contender. There are three electronic choices, picking up
previous Alfa Romeo competition liveries, with a rear wing imported from the
Volvo V60 already racing because of the similar size and shape of the two cars.
The Giulia QV hero car is a twin-turbo
V6-powered, four-door sedan with rear-wheel drive that is set to challenge the
BMW M3 and Mercedes C63 as a road car and is the right size and style for a
touring car contender. It comes with 375 kW, a 0-100km/h sprint time of just
3.9 seconds, and a top speed of 305km/h.
It has also proven its racetrack pace by
setting the lap record for a road going sports sedan at the Nurburgring in
Germany.
The Sydney 500 meeting was originally
believed to have centered on an FCA involvement in the Safety Car program for
Supercars, which became vacant when the existing Lexus deal expired at the end
of the Sydney street race.
FCA already has history on the Safety Car
front as it backed the program in the past with its brawny Chrysler 300C V8
sedan.
But Auto
Action is now convinced that FCA is exploring the costs and benefits of a
major motorsport program in Australia that would put a Giulia V6 onto the track
in 2018, with an initial investment of around AUD$3 million - without including
engine development costs - and ongoing support of an estimated AUD$2 million a
year for a two-car team.
The man leading the FCA discussions,
based on his recent low-key visit to the Sydney 500, is believed to be newly-hired
communications expert Glenn Butler.
 |
| FCA Australia Communications Manager Glenn Butler in Lamborghini Huracan (Photo: WHEELS) |
He left his high-profile post as editor of WHEELS magazine this year to join the
company’s upgraded public affairs team at FCA headquarters in Melbourne. He was
one of the first executive hires by Zanlunghi following his arrival.
Butler was spotted at Homebush on the
Friday of race week and admits it was more than just a sight-seeing day trip
from Melbourne.
“Yes, I was there for work,” he confirms
to Auto Action, without going into any
further detail.
But the timing of the trip, so close to
the arrival of the all-new Giulia, adds more impact to the Supercars
discussions.
FCA is yet to speak directly to any
Supercars teams, restricting its talks to head-office honchos, but would be a
prize catch for outfits including PRA and Brad Jones Racing.
Garry Rogers Motorsport also has history
with FCA, after pitching strongly for a Chrysler 300C program under the
exuberant previous CEO Clyde Campbell who took the Fiat 500 to the Bathurst
12-hour race, before Rogers landed Volvo as its COTF partner.
Walkinshaw Racing is unlikely, as Auto Action understands it is pushing
ahead with discussions about a program with Kia that would be based on another
all-new road car. The Kia GT, which has a V8 engine and rear-wheel drive, will
be unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show next month and should be on sale in
Australia before the end of 2017.
Alfa Romeo has one of the longest and
most-chequered racing histories of any carmaker, from Formula One in the 1950s with Juan Fangio, through to successful touring car programs in the BTCC with the 155, 156, and
DTM - with a high-tech 159, that used four-wheel drive and active suspension
technology that topped F1.
Alfa Romeo also raced in Australia during the
early days of Group A, with a pair of GTV6 2-litre cars for Colin Bond
and Alan Jones.
No comments:
Post a Comment