The V8 Supercar knife is out

16/05/2008 V8 Supercars Chief Executive Officer, Wayne Cattach, said nothing is sacred as the V8 Supercars board strives to cut the running cost of teams.

All components of the car and even team employee numbers are being looked at in a bid to cut $500,000 in team costs in the first year of a planned cost containment program introduced.

“We've had a direction from the board to reduce the costs of running a car in the first 12 months by $500,000 and then in the subsequent year another $500,000,” he said.

“All issues in regards to running a team will be considered.

“We're working through a myriad of options to... reduce the costs of running a car in the championship.”

Cattach said it may mean a single-source engine for each manufacturer is introduced.

“We are reviewing everything at the moment that will save money for the championship,” he said.

“When we have evaluated it properly we will make a recommendation and it will go up to the board for consideration in achieving the monetary savings that they've ask us for and then decisions will be made on what we have implemented.”

Cattach indicated that the board recognises the urgency to act, given that the Total Racing Expenditure Cap (TREC) plan fell apart two years ago.

“At the time that TREC was being contemplated there wasn't a universal recognition that we had to do something about the costs,” he said.

“So then it was in the hands of TEGA, TEGA has disappeared (with the amalgamation of TEGA and the V8 Supercar board) and it's now in the hands of the V8 Supercar Australia board.

“And the V8 Supercar board understands that if we don't deal with this it will impact on the success of our sport.

“We've got to keep the teams out there in a strong and healthy state and left to their own devices this thing will become unsustainable.”

V8 Supercar board member and Jack Daniel's Racing team owner Larry Perkins said he “totally supported” the move to contain costs.

“There isn't a team owner that wouldn't welcome the initiative to create genuine savings,” he said.

“It is about identifying rules that aren't necessarily good rules and fixing them.

“Cost containment will come from very good rules that are very stable and very well thought out.”

Perkins said the cost containment would simply be a refinement of the rules.

“It's only a further honing of what we've had since 1993,” he said.

“We have the best and most sustainable category other than NASCAR in the world.

“We haven't got it far wrong.”

Perkins was confident it would not fall by the wayside like TREC.

“TREC was never any good and was never going to work,” he said.

“I have not even one drama about the cost containment working.”