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NEWS: Phillip Island returns + Bathurst 1000 fallout · Full Credit to the Noise

• News pod Oct 16: Hello and welcome to Full Credit to the News brought to you by Authentic Collectibles. My name is Andrew Van Lorn and I'm joined by Speed Cafe's managing editor, Stefan Bartholomew. Stefan, how is your post-Bathus recovery going there? Hello, mate. It's been a busy week for a race that you claim was boring. It's sure given us some some big stories to write this week. Yeah, it definitely has, and we're gonna get into a whole bunch of that stuff. But we're gonna start with this morning's confirmation that Phillip Island is returning to the Supercars calendar as of Next season. This is something we wrote about it was in New Zealand, was it? Was it in New Zealand or Simmons Plains? Simmons Plains, that's right. April or May, I think. Yeah. That that was when it sort of popped on our radar and we did a story about it and it has now been confirmed. So it's a five-year deal. The event will be promoted by the state government funded Australian Grand Prix Corporation, which makes this effectively a replacement for MotoGP, which is off to Adelaide, of course. It will be part of the finals series next year. And our thinking is that Phillip Island will replace Sandown as the penultimate round. Sandown will move into the August slot currently held by QR and QR will drop off the calendar altogether. Does that sound about right to you, Stefan? It does. That's assuming they get the fourteen events up though. Yeah. And there was some suggestion this week that today they're actually going to announce a twelve round series. but they've gone with this good news, this deal with the Victorian government. And the return of Phillip Island. Now, whether that's to separate the good news out from some bad news that's coming next week, or whether there's actually going to be last of the late breakers compromise deal done with the teams to make sure it's 14. I guess we'll find out when we get to the Gold Coast. But certainly today's news I think is pretty exciting. Phillip Island is just such a awesome track, it's probably our best permanent racetrack, at least the most spectacular. And it's been a shame that it hasn't been on the calendar of our premier domestic series. We might have spoken about this before, you know, when we were initially looking at this when this story came out, but how do you think it's gonna race? 'Cause I've never I do totally agree, most spectacular circuit permanent facility in the country, but I never really felt like it was a great supercars circuit. But do you think gen three cars could race pretty well around there? I don't know. It's it's sorta hard to say. There's sort of the question on on the racing product and then also whether it's going to have a a finals sort of atmosphere because it has traditionally been tough for supercars to to get fans to go all the way out there. But certainly with the might of the AGPC's marketing muscle behind it, it'll probably give it every chance from that point of view. And then if you think about finals atmosphere and sort of classic grand finals, like the couple of years where it hosted the season finale. twenty years ago. They're absolute belters in O six and seven. So yeah, it'd be good to sort of get back to to some of that stuff. Probably one of the concerns actually is how tight the pit lane is. Yeah. And we talk about the potential of double stacking to to end somebody's finals campaign. Well, they're not gonna upgrade the facilities apparently before next year. So yeah, we'll see how all that goes. Yes, I do remember those couple of final rounds there. makes me Sound incredibly old that I was actually there working, but they they were quite spectacular. You're right about that. Let's move on to some huge news that broke on Tuesday morning on our website, I might add, and that is the Chevrolet driver shuffle that has taken place ahead of the Gold Coast next week. Now, Declan Fraser has been dropped by Premier Racing. His seat will be taken by Cooper Murray, who makes an early move across from Erebus. Erebus in turn has promoted co-driver Jared Hughes to the number 99 Camaro for the last three rounds of the year ahead of what we expect will be a full-time seat next year. Let's start with Declan. Has he been hard done by here, Stefan? Well, you certainly feel for him. It's never nice to to have the season end like this, but when you actually look at the the whole picture, it's just one of those things where there's this real culture in supercars where it's taboo to change the driver before the end of the season. But if it's not working and there's a solution there to be there to be put in, I I I feel like why why keep going? So yeah, it's in this situation it feels like it's just brought forward the inevitable that this has been on the cards for for quite a while. And my only real surprise in it is that Erebus has allowed Cooper, which is probably their best asset at the moment, to leave early. So clearly Roland Dane and and Premier have lent on GM to make all that side of it happen. Yep, yep, that definitely does make sense. Cooper going to premiere, that's that's interesting. Is that a good fit for him? And do you think he'll be able to put some pressure on Jaden O'Jader and help kind of drive that team forward? It's gonna be a really interesting comparison, won't it? It'll be a measuring stick for for Jaden, although I think it's it's one of those things that to jump into a team and and build that relationship with the engineer and everybody else, at this point of the season, it might be a little tricky for Cooper to sort of really show his best straight away. it's it's different than last year though, when they they brought Jaden in. Obviously he'd been a co driver somewhere else. Yeah. Where, where Cooper's switching from from being a main driver. So there will be a bit of expectation there that Cooper will be able to put something on the board straight away, but certainly that that comparison and that measuring stick for Jaden is gonna be really interesting. It's hard not to be happy for little Hughesy and that signing continues the tradition of Erebus promoting its co-drivers when they've done a good job in that role into a a a full time seat. The Gold Coast though is a pretty tough place to be making your solo main game debut. So I hope the expectations in the Erebus garage are realistic. Yeah, that was my first thought when this sort of rumour had started early in the weekend at Bathus was that it's great that Jared has has come off the two in juros. He's well familiar with the car and the team, but Gold Coast is probably the most difficult track to just be thrown into as a primary for the first time. So yeah. You'd think just keeping the thing straight will be will be a good outcome regardless of sort of the results and I just hope he can he can get the miles and the benefit out of it without it actually Denting his confidence. Yep, agree. Alright, now for some news from our dear friends at Authentic Collectibles, Brody Kastecki and Todd Hazelwood etched their names in history with an incredible Baths 1000 Triumph, and Authentic Collectibles is proud to announce a limited edition model of the iconic number 17 Ford Mustang in three different scales. Starting with the 118 scale, this die-cast model features opening parts like the doors and bonnet. It also includes the Peterbrock Trophy, the number one PerTec Pit Board and Replica Team Celebration posters. Next is the 112 scale model, a massive, highly detailed sealed body Ford Mustang with clear windows and a detailed interior. It also comes with the Peterbrock Trophy and Team Celebration posters. And finally, the 143 scale model is perfect for collectors who want something a little smaller. The sealed body die cast model comes with a clear display case, custom base, and a numbered backboard. These models are perfect for fans of Dick Johnson Racing and Bathus One Thousand Collectors. Celebrate DJI history by pre ordering at your local stockist or registering your interest on the Authentic Collectibles website. Authentic Collectibles Driven by Passion Made for Collectors. I think Will Hall was the only man happier than Dick Johnson with that result on Sunday. If a number seventeen Ford wins Bathurst, everyone with blue oval blood has to get the model car to remember it by, I reckon. Yeah. Absolutely. No, I think that was a I think that was a pretty good outcome for our mate Will and and his merry gang of authentic people that were all on the ground at Bathurst and were at your birthday, Stefan. They were right there to celebrate it. anyway, let's actually have a bit of a chat about Bathurst because I I want to circle back to that that instant classic of a Bathurne finish and in particular the heartbreak for team eighteen, because since we We last spoke, there's been some reaction from within the team and externally as well. Now, on Tuesday, the team issued a statement explaining that it was a software issue and that based on the post mortem, nobody is being fired. When I say that's i it it was a software issue, the fuel running out of fuel was because of a software issue. No, nobody's being fired. That is an important clarification for the team to make because back in 2023, both cars didn't make the finish on fuel and three people lost their jobs. In the aftermath of that. So now, as I said, it's been blamed on a software issue, but it's impossible that there isn't a human element to the miscalculation somewhere. This is this incident is clearly more heartbreaking than 2023 when the cars weren't in contention to win the race. But do you think that's actually maybe the difference here, Stefan? Like the 2023 incident felt like a kind of final straw scenario with a team that was struggling while I think the team's in a different place now in terms of being more consistently competitive. Yeah, I think it's it's a very different team to what it was in twenty twenty three and a lot of different people. Obviously, Adrian Burgess himself came in for twenty twenty four. So, all of that would be part of why they've reacted very differently this time. I think it would have been actually a fairly easy PR move to just point the finger at an individual and And basically get rid of somebody for it. Yeah. there's been some criticism that they've blamed the software sort of rather than just fully Adrian or Charlie Schwerkolt just taking full responsibility for it. But it sort of does come back to the fact that it is a it is a team issue. Like an engineer has programmed their fuel software wrongly and it's spat out the wrong number and no one's sort of twigged to the fact that it's the wrong number. So arguably the worst part out of all of it was how long it took to work out that something was wrong because they had enough time left to rescue it. But it seemed like those guys were the last to know and and ultimately they got the worst outcome, which was actually the thing stopping on the racetrack and not even making the checkered flag. Yeah, as you say, the clarification of the software element certainly hasn't stopped external criticism on Motor Racing three sixty on Wednesday night. Mark Scabe said it was horrible but unforgivable. What did you make of his comments on the whole thing? Well, I mean, he's right in that it's an unforced error and it had massive consequences. Like it should have never have happened. Yeah. But is it unforgivable? I mean, if team eight in got that right, does DJR's break change issue beforehand? D yeah, does that become unforgivable because it cost him a bathroom's win? So that's where The approach here is going back and improving the process rather than firing people and and pointing the finger at individuals. Because by handling this whole thing the right way, it really is an opportunity to galvanize the team together. And we know they had a big come to Jesus meeting at the workshop at seven thirty AM on Tuesday morning to discuss the issue and and sort of the fallout to it before they did their regular post Bathis debrief on the Wednesday. Yep. And I've in some ways the good part is that there's no time to really dwell on it any more than than that because with the Gold Coast coming up next week they've had to be flat out getting themselves ready for that. Yeah. A couple more quick Bathis things I wanted to touch on. now you did a story a couple of days ago about how The race winning shell Mustang is destined for the DJR Museum. The Bathis winning panels will come off the car before the Gold Coast next week. Brody Kastecki will continue to race the chassis for the foreseeable future, but eventually it will be refitted with those paddle panels and put on display. What I found interesting is that, as you wrote, this is the only Baths winning DJR car in the team's possession. Yeah, and Ryan Story spoke quite passionately about this when I asked him about the plans for the car the other day because even with this one they actually had someone that already had an option in place to buy it, but there were clauses in that for the team to keep it if it wanted to, and obviously it now will. So yeah, I think it's it's pretty well known that twenty years ago when DJ R had some some issues with with sponsorship going bad that DJ had to sell off his collection of cars which included the The 81 winning True Blue XT and the 89 Bathis winning Sierra. And then you look at the others, the ninety-four winning Falcon that was destroyed in in a crash in in 96. it's probably one of those ones where you look at it now, they could have actually resurrected the shell, but at the time it was more trouble to save it than than Binnett. So sadly that one's gone. And then the twenty nineteen Mustang. that went to the US I think just last year, but that was always going to be taken by Penske as part of the the divorce there. So yeah, this is obviously a special car. This one that won the race last weekend. It's kind of got an unusual backstory too because it's one of those chassis that was fabricated by James White who works for Erebus and it was actually initially done for the Planchard racing team. They took delivery of it but they never built it up into a car and when they decided to go a different direction With their triple eight customer deal, DJ R pounced on this one and now it's become actually Jimmy White's third Bathis winner. One final note having had some time to properly review and sort of ruminate on on the ending of that race, geez, the T V call of that last lap was so good, you know? And I think Bathus without Neil Crompton and Mark Scaife was always going to be a big test for the new T V lineup. And I don't doubt that. Neil Mark would have done an amazing job of calling that moment as well. But everyone involved in the actual call of that lap, from Chad Nalon in the lane, the way he set it up as that last lap started, to Richard Crail and Gartan and Greg Murphy in the box, it was it was close to perfect. They all did an incredible job. It was, and like we tend to not hear all of the TV coverage when we're at the track. But certainly, yeah, as you point out, the When it came to the big moment, they all rose to the occasion. Richard, it's no surprise at all for those of us who have heard his work over a long period of time and even when you think back to when they were rotating commentators through earlier this year, the way he called that big moment between Brody Kistecki and Chaz Most at Rupuna really set him apart and really paved the way for him to get the full time deal. I thought at Bathurst that combination of Garth just having such fresh, relevant insight as the reigning race winner there was really good and just Murph being Murphy's just laid back and just gives that unfiltered opinion that that's really good. His complete disbelief at the start of the lap after Chad had said that w you know, had reported that they'd been told like, Don't hit the car and he's like, Hang on a minute, don't pit the car Like what on earth is going on here? Don't pit, don't bother. It was he was as furious as he would have been if he was in the car, I reckon. But Chad Nalon deserves credit for that as well. That was one of the all-time great pit reports at such a big moment. I totally agree. When you do look at it as well, like Mark Larkam has always covered himself in glory with the way he tracked that fuel situation. And I believe he had some help from Scott Sinclair who works in the box off mic, but those guys were well and truly onto it before team eighteen were. Before we do move on, and this is a question without notice, so apologies for that, but can you remember a Baths finish gaining the general zeitgeist traction of this one? Like last year was an epic race and an epic finish, right? But There's something about the relatability of like running out of fuel and it just if I feel like it's hit differently to the more general public and that's not a bad thing. Like we've seen companies with no involvement in the sport leveraging it through social media campaigns and stuff. Like it sucks for team eight and how it played out, but I feel like the the final lap of the twenty twenty six Bathers one thousand has gone further and wider in a way that I just can't really remember. And that's the thing, right? This became an instant classic of a great race because of that moment. It didn't actually matter what happened in the five hours and fifty minutes beforehand because these these races are remembered just for the moments, just for the tiny snippets that live forever. And this had all that and more. And yes, nowadays we see so much online reaction. probably surprised by some of the some of the corporations that sort of jumped on some some memes and some there there's obviously been some AI generated stuff about team eighteen and fuel which is all a bit some of it in good taste, some of it not. But yeah we're we're in a we're in a different world to say when when Jamie Wincup ran out of fuel in in twenty fourteen. Yeah, absolutely. Alright, let's finish up with a last bit of news, and that is that Aaron Cameron has signed a new multi-year deal with Blanchard Racing Team, which runs until at least the end of the 2028 season. I like this, Stefan. I think Camo is a fun addition to the grid. What I like about him is that he's naturally just so fast. Yes, he's got a lot to learn about executing races in terms of tire life and things like that. There have been some moments of impatience on the racecraft side of things this season, but the The unteachable part, I guess, you know, the natural ability is there and it feels like his ceiling is is pretty high. What are your thoughts on on BRT making this commitment to him? Yeah, it's a great thing, obviously, for Camo and a great story. The fact that it's multi year is is a decent old commitment. Obviously BRT have liked what they've seen. Not only has he come out with that pace at the start of the year, but he has worked hard on on the racecraft. He brought Steven Richards in as a bit of a mentor to work with him. He doesn't work for the team. He's he's been brought in by Camo. And Tim Blanchard did make some comments with the announcement about how much Camo has developed off the track, putting in the time at the workshop and just really fitting in well with the team. So yeah, I'm stoked for him that he's got this security going forward. Yep. No, I think it's really good news. All right, that will do us for this week's full credit to the news. Make sure you stay tuned to speakcafe.com. Across the weekend, we will have all of the best motorsport news from around the world on the website there. And full credit to the noise, we'll be back in this podcast feed next Tuesday morning.