G'day from issue #3 of V8X Supercar Magazine.

How big is V8 Supercar going to get? I have just come back from Adelaide and it was bigger than last year. But it is not just the crowds that I am referring to, it is the corporate involve ment.

Just to name one example, the battle between Ford and Holden is now at new heights and is going to get even bigger.

Speaking of Henry and the General, I'd have to say that the interest and emotion that Craig Lowndes has created is a good thing for V8 Supercar (check out p.54).

Not everyone is happy with Craig's move from Holden to Ford butt you have to admit that for the sport in general the move has generated a lot of outside interest in the mainstream media.

Take 60 Minutes for example, they wouldn't have done their story if Craig had stayed at HRT.

And that's what V8 Supercar deserves to be, we're talking about a sport that ranks up there with AFL & NRL, so why shouldn't it constantly be in the major daily newspapers and on the telly, not just with the excellent job Network Ten does but across all channels.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox and continue on how big is this sport going to get.

At the Clipsal 500, Tony Cochrane called a press conference and said that the New Zealand round of the Shell Championship has been set in concrete and is definitely going ahead.

Tony also reaffirmed that after 2001 V8 Supercars will not be racing at Barbagallo Raceway. He said that physically the track cannot fit enough people in the gate to justify the expense of V8 Supercar travelling to W.A (the Adelaide Friday crowd is around the size of WA's Sunday crowd on a good day).

Also the expansion plans into Asia are still bubbling away and there is the odd story about V8 Supercar going to Homebush (site of the Olympic stadium for an Adelaide style street race. With two rounds down (and a third by the time you read this) it is a big year already and it doesn't look like slowing down.

Bring it on!

Big Hair Nev