Merc for Stone Brothers Racing

[tremolo]

"This is not a back flip – our position has not changed. Mercedes-Benz Australia has no plans to undertake any sales or marketing activities in conjunction with the series until the cunts start winning shit...at which point factory support will materialise & Conrod Straight will be renamed Konröd Straße as part of a 3 year sponsorship deal with V8 Supercars which we have already budgeted for," Mr McCarthy told motoring.com.au.

Fixed

[9triton]

lol, just got a FB message from him

wont the media be all over this - inc nsw ministers and police -

if any of the recent FB/twiiter celeb trolling indignation ,reported in the media, is anything to go by.

you'llbe able to go on tv and give a press conference

[Nafe]

No celebrity, media no care.

[Grumpy Rooster]

3 MB V8SC's to be run by SBR

[Babalouie]

This thread needs more Hitler-Downfall spoof vid

[big_pete]

[Momus]

Erebus makes me think of the Aircraft that ran in to the Mountain on a sight seeing trip.

Maybe SBR is running into a mountain with this.
Here's hoping they hand it to a few of the other front runners if it is good to go.

More likely the running into a mountain analogy.

This has all the hallmarks of MB Australia, and Germany damning it with faint praise and the HWA guy, with a big stake in AMG and the DTM series, carrying the can and hoping at the same time to relieve Betty Klimenko of a wad of cash.

[Momus]

A bit more detail and conjecture on the Nissan effort. HP claims are a bit wild...:

Nissan V8SC project riles Ford and Holden with 'production' engine claim

Nissan has revealed the engine that will power its four-car factory Altima attack on the 2013 V8Supercars (V8SC) championship. As expected, it is a modified 5.0-litre version of the VK56DE engine that is found in the new generation Patrol 4WD destined for Australian sale in early 2013.

And in a shot at its opposition, Nissan is happy to point out the VK56 will be the only production engine raced in the championship -- as Ford and Holden use racing-derived units. However, the obvious riposte is the production Falcon and Commodore have V8s engines and drive their rear wheels, unlike the road-going front-wheel drive V6 and four-cylinder Altima sedan that goes on-sale in Australia in the second half of 2013.

The V8SC engine, which carries ‘Powered By Nissan’ on its cam covers, was revealed this morning in the brand new engine shop at Kelly Racing’s Braeside (Vic) state-of-the-art headquarters, where Nissan’s return to Australian touring car racing after a 20 year absence is being prepared..

Team owner and lead driver Todd Kelly and Nissan Australia CEO/MD Bill Peffer did the honours.

“Everyone involved in Nissan Motorsport is proud of the fact that we will race a production-based engine and that we will truly be ‘Powered By Nissan’,” said Todd Kelly, the team’s technical chief.

While the new engine was shown off, there was no official estimate of the horsepower it will produce, or when it will first run in anger in an Altima V8Supercar. But as V8Supercars is parity formula, the DOHC alloy block 32-valve V8 will be equalised against the pushrod iron block eight valve Chevrolet and Ford SVO 5.0-litre V8s used by the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon opposition at about 650-660hp.

The Nissan engine has been sleaved and the bore and stroke adjusted to reduce its capacity from 5.6 to 5.0-litres.

While there are widespread rumours within the V8Supercar industry that the Nissan Motorsport effort is running well behind its original development schedule, it is expected the first of six Altimas under construction will still test in October.

The first round of the 2013 championship will be the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide next March.

There is no doubt the Kellys, who are swapping from Holden, have taken on an enormous technical challenge to make the Clipsal grid. Like all other V8Supercar teams they must develop their cars to 2013 Car of the Future regulations, but they are the only operation that must also develop a new engine, body and aerodynamic package.

Delays in finalising regulations and getting hold of control components have not helped any team, but have simply magnified the task for the Kellys, Nissan and Nissan’s global motorsport division, Nismo, which is providing technical support to the project.

Recently, the spotlight was also thrown on the Kelly’s engineering structure when English motorsport veteran Tony Dowe left his post as performance director to join Walkinshaw Racing (which runs the factory Holden Racing Team and Supercheap Auto Racing). Mind you, it’s been a two-way street, with former Nismo and Walkinshaw employee, Shigeru Kugimiya, now at Kellys working on the engine project. In fact, there are numerous ex-Walkinshaw staffers employed at Braeside, including former HSV chief John Crennan, who is team chairman.

Nissan Motorsport must also finalise its 2013 drive and sponsor lineup. While the Kelllys are a lock, almost certainly in cars that will continue to be sponsored by liquor company Jack Daniel’s, it is doubtful either Holden-contracted Greg Murphy or pay driver Karl Reindler will return.

Drivers linked to the seats include Michael Caruso and James Moffat, the son of touring car legend, Allan.

Pepsi Max, which sponsors Murphy’s Commodore, is also leaving the team to become naming rights sponsor at FPR, factory Ford team.

The VK56 engine, which is made at the Nissan facility in Decherd, Tennessee in the United States, also powers the Nissan Titan, Armada and Pathfinder, as well as the Infiniti QX, all of which are sold in the North American market.

The Nismo-developed version of the VK56DE powered the rear-wheel drive Nissan GT-R FIA GT1 entry to a FIA GT1 World Championship. Another engine from the Nissan VK family, the VK45DE, has claimed victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour sportscar race in the LMP2 category and was formerly used in the Nissan GT-R entries fielded by NISMO in the Super GT Championship.

The Kellys secretly imported a second-hand VK engine from the USA in mid-2011, months before the deal with Nissan was finalised, so they could start development. It was dubbed ‘Project Boat Engine’ because curious staff were told it was to power Todd’s speedboat.


Nissan V8SC SPECIFICATIONS RUNDOWN
Block: Nissan VK56 – Cast Aluminium 90 degree V8
Heads: Nissan VK56 – Quad Cam, four valve per cylinder
Bore x Stroke: 102.69 mm x 75.31 mm
Capacity: 4990cc
Induction: Naturally aspirated, individual runner
Fuel: E85
Liners: Dry Cast Iron
Valve Train: Chain driven quad cam with direct acting DLC coated bucket followers
Ignition: Direct fire coil on plug
Injection: Sequential Compression
Ratio: 10.0:1
Maximum RPM: 7500

KEY SUPPLIERS
Blocks: Nissan
Heads: Nissan
Crankshaft: Pankl
Bearings: ACL
Camshafts: Piper Cams
Timing Drive Components: Nissan/NISMO/Albins
Pistons: Mahle
Pins: Mahle
Rings: Total Seal
Conrods: Carrillo
Valves: Del West
Valve Springs: Performance Springs International
Ignition System: Nissan
Plugs: NGK
Engine Management: MoTeC
Water Pump: Nissan Motorsport
Oil Pump: Dailey
Inlet Manifold: Nissan Motorsport
Exhaust: Nissan Motorsport

[St00ge]

Won't the Nissans and Mercs just be slowed down to make sure the Holdens and Ford still win?

I reckon it it maybe the other way round at the start

Lots of money to spend! Hopefully they let the Fords and Mercs race at proper speed rather than just slowing them both down to allow the Holdens to compete.

Have you watched much this year? 888 are pretty much the only Holden team that is performing constantly, same goes for FPR for Ford and the top ten of the championship table is pretty evenly split.

[willsy01]

Who/what the fark is Ross Stone shaking hands with???? ^^^^

Just saw on Twitter that the engine they're using is based on the Merc M159....

[Shitbreak]

Can anyone tell me how Erebus make their money? Is running a motorsport team that profitable in Australia (or are Erebus international)?

[BeverlyHillsCop]

Who/what the fark is Ross Stone shaking hands with???? ^^^^

Just saw on Twitter that the engine they're using is based on the Merc M159....

Erebus Motorsport Owner Betty Klimenko

[Cal]

It's inherited. Pie eater is spending it as fast as humanly possible.

[rowdytoot]

erebus is owned by a very wealthy property developer, I doubt it's a profitable business in and of itself, but I suspect thats' not the intention.

[Cal]

Nom nom nom