Super5000 series beast unveiled …
THIS is the first look at the new Super5000 series racecar that is promising to revive top level open wheel racing in Australia.
News Corp Australia can reveal the full details of the Supercars’ proposed Super5000 series for the first time after obtaining exclusive pictures and video of the 850kg flyer that is expected to hit the grid next year.
A Supercars concept was developed and backed by Australian companies PAYCE and Wilson Security. The full specifications of the car can also be laid bare, with a V8 Supercars engine to deliver a staggering 600 brake horsepower.
Up to 20 cars could race at the Supercars season opening race in Adelaide next year should enough competitors sign up to the series and be approved by Supercars with the sporting body owning intellectual property rights to the series.
“Both PAYCE and Wilson are incredibly excited about this project for many reasons, one of them being the opportunity to introduce an exciting open wheel category in Australia the fans will embrace,” said Wilson Group CEO John McMellan. “It is also a way to introduce an incredibly powerful racing car in an affordable package which can be a pathway for younger driveways into the open wheel categories of Europe or the US.
“This is an amazing formula which we believe will attract a strong competitor base with a possible start to the Super5000 Series from next year.”
Running the same 5.0 litre engine used in a V8 Supercar, the carbon fibre and honeycomb built racecar hit over 300km/ h in a secret test at Phillip Island earlier this year.
It is understood the car is capable of going from 0- 100km/ h in less than three seconds.
Supercars began developing the Super5000 concept in 2015 to bol- ster the categories supporting racing before handing the project to PAYCE and Wilson.
“We appreciated Supercars developing the Super5000 concept and vision but were not in a position to progress it,’’ McMellan said.
“The opportunity to independently progress the project was there and it made sense for us to support it with Supercars retaining the rights for the category.’’
There have already been six expressions of interests from individuals considering buying and running the race car in a full championship series next year.
A car is expected to cost about $ 300,000 with the series aimed at helping young drivers develop their skills before embarking on a Supercars career.
The category is also hoping to open a pathway to Formula One.
“Now we hope with a positive market response we can present an undeniable case for the Super5000 to become an official support category in 2018,’’ said McMellan.
The Super5000 cars have conducted several high- speed tests with Supercars champion Garth Tander the latest driver to strap down in the concept car.
The Holden driver clocked 300km/ h during his test at Phillip Is- land. Lee Holdsworth and Alex Davison have also tested the car.
“The initial impression was ‘ wow’ this is a seriously fast race car and being much lighter than a Supercar with a similar amount of horsepower has plenty of acceleration,” Tander said. “The driveability was fantastic and the traction control means you can tune just how much power you want to the ground so it’s not going to snap out on you.
“The car felt comfortable straight away and I had no problems from a safety point of view as it has all of the modern day features including F1 style head protection, which is important in a really fast car.’’