Larry Perkins wants Holden to hand over its top teams’ "go faster" secrets.

The veteran team boss says the technical information the Toll/HSV Dealer team and its Holden Racing Team sister have used to make their VE Commodores so competitive in Perth should be made available to all Commodore V8 Supercar drivers.

Perkins believes the research and development data that could show how to make his own cars faster is owned by the carmaker – not the two Clayton-based Commodore teams – and has written to the carmaker asking to provide it to him and other Holden-supported teams.

"There is no doubt the first two races have been dominated by the Holden Racing Team conglomerate, and I refer to the grouping HRT and the Toll team," says Perkins. "They have faster machinery than the rest of us. I have an in-built excuse in that I have a couple of rookie drivers, but putting that aside I’m not convinced my machinery is up where it should be and ultimately that depends on how many R&D dollars you can invest.

"This comes back to the point where if you have a manufacturer too heavily involved in one or two teams you get an unhealthy outcome.

"It is not a desirable situation and I have certainly written to Holden asking for the technical data I assume Holden owns on what’s making those cars go so fast. I’m curious about what their response will be."

Perkins says, as a team owner, he respects what the two Clayton-based Holden teams have achieved so quickly with their new VE Commodore racers. But he is concerned the results prove the two teams’s relationship with the carmaker and each other remains too close.

"You don’t have to be Einstein to work out they have been extremely well funded teams and it’s great they’ve done such a good job," he says. "But unfortunately it has been at the expense of the rest of the Holden industry. That’s not just sour grapes, it’s a statement of fact."

Fellow Holden team owner Garry Rogers agrees that any manufacturer investment in VE Commodore race car development should be made available to all teams.

But he says most of his own team’s concerns relate to turning test speed into race pace, and that the Clayton Commodores might not have an inherent edge.

"When we tested our VE at the start of the year it was the same day the HRT and HSV cars did their testing and our car was as quick, so we didn’t have any issues there, but we haven’t been able to get it right at the races," says Rogers.

"I think in this instance both of those teams have done a bloody good job," he continues. "With the crap they’ve been going through they’ve been able to gouge and scratch to produce the goods. Personally I think that crap needed to go on to sort it out.

"You’ve also got to consider they’ve got some pretty good, experienced drivers driving those cars, which must have some bearing on it.

"But I think that if Holden’s investment in motorsport is for Holden as a brand, as versus HRT or the HSV team or GRM, I think that their R&D on the race cars should be shared with all teams because it is more important for them the Commodore is seen as a winning car. Holden may have a different opinion to that but I would have thought, so long as it’s a Holden, it’s a win for the company."

– Gavin McGrath

Holden cash crisis looming A budgetary black hole is looming on both sides of the V8 paddock. While Ford president Tom Gorman has put his own teams on notice about possible funding cuts, the Holden V8 teams are also preparing for the worst as both carmakers face tough times in the immediate future. There is no official word from Holden about reducing the level of support to the teams. Holden motorsport manager Simon McNamara declined to comment to V8X on the issue. But the company has already slashed payments to its drivers and reduced its spending on motorsport publicity. Several teams are worried their own budgets could be next. One team source suggests, while support for HRT and the HSV Dealer Team is safe at present, support for other Holden teams could be scaled back when their contracts with Holden come up for renewal. Garry Rogers says that would be a major hurdle for his team. "There’s been no discussion at this stage about reduction in budgets but I do know by association with people at Holden that everything they spend these days is pretty closely monitored," says Rogers. "We don’t need budget cuts. If anything, we need more. From my point of view we’ve always run our ship pretty tight but winning and performing well is expensive. "We’ve spent a lot more money in the past two years than we ever contemplated spending so we need to get additional funding to keep doing that." Rogers says the money he receives from Holden is roughly equal to what he gets from each of its other major sponsors, Valvoline and Cummins. He says without resources from of his own (Nissan) dealership business he would have to find another $1.5 million to run at the same level, so Holden’s support is vital. Larry Perkins’ contract with Holden is up for renewal at the end of this year. Now in his 23rd year of continuous sponsorship with Holden, Perkins agrees it is a difficult time for Holden but is hopeful the carmaker won’t put all its eggs in the HRT and Toll/HSV Dealer Team basket. "The Holden teams are not hiding the fact that there are cutbacks happening left, right and centre. Holden management has clearly said they are cutting and not advancing," he says. "The message is, and you don’t have to be a fan to realise, that both Holden and Ford have had better times. When you are not at a peak you have to make cutbacks and that’s where we all are. "I’m not privy to any other Holden contract but I’ve been looked after by Holden for many years and in that time I’ve delivered quite a few Bathurst wins and other good results. If I can continue to do that in a manner that is commercially viable I’d like to think I will continue to be sponsored." – GM