Holden Racing Team

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Holden Racing Team

Manufacturer	Holden
Team Principal	Mark Skaife
Team Manager	Rob Starr
Race Drivers	2. Mark Skaife 22. Todd Kelly
Chassis	VE Commodore
Debut	1988
Drivers' Championships	6 (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
Round wins	53
Pole positions	59
2006 position	7th (2414 points)

Holden Racing Team, or HRT is a V8 Supercar racing team that began following the establishment in 1988 of the joint venture between the TWR Group and General Motors Holden, in forming Holden Special Vehicles. It was created as a marketing link between the Special Vehicle’s division and the on-track heritage of Holden’s motor sport activities. Special Vehicles Racing (HRT's original name) made it's debut in the Group A class at the 1988 Sandown 500.

The team's current full-time drivers are Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1980s 1.2 1990s 1.3 2000s 1.4 Ownership Battle 2 References 3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1980s

The Holden Racing Team was born in 1988 following the establishment of the joint venture between the TWR Group and General Motors Holden, in forming Holden Special Vehicles. It was a logical step to form a touring car team to create a marketing link between the Special Vehicles division and the on-track heritage of Holden's motor sport activities. However as HSV was concerned with producing 500 VL Group A Commodores to meet the Group A regulations, the touring car operation was contracted out to Larry Perkins. The Special Vehicles Racing Team debuted at Sandown in 1988 using the new VL Commodore SS Group A race car, based on the vehicles produced by HSV. The car was nicknamed 'Batman' due to the big wings, scoops and skirts on the body and was driven by Larry Perkins in the race. Perkins and Hulme finished second in the 500 kilometre race on debut.

Larry Perkins again ran Special Vehicles Racing in 1989, with Perkins teaming with Win Percy and finishing second at Sandown. For the Bathurst 1000, Perkins teamed with Tomas Mezera with Percy and Neil Crompton driving the second car. The race for both cars ran smoothly for the team, with Perkins and Mezera finishing sixth and Percy and Crompton finishing behind them in seventh. The end of 1989 saw the end of Perkins contract with HSV ended and the team would be conducted in-house and the Holden Racing Team was born.

[edit] 1990s

1990
Special Vehicles Racing was renamed the Holden Racing team for the 1990 season and Win Percy was both team manager and driver, with Crompton being the second driver. Percy competed in all rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship for the first time for HRT with his highest qualifying position 6th at Winton and highest race result a third place at Lakeside. At Sandown, Percy and Crompton qualify the car fourth, however did not finish the race. The Bathurst 1000 gave HRT their first win, with Percy and Allan Grice winning the race as the Ford Sierras and Nissan Skylines one by one retired from the race. Overall, Percy finished eighth in the championship, with Crompton in fifteenth.

1991
1991 saw Grice replace Crompton as the second driver for HRT and also saw a move from the VL Commodores used for the past 3 years to the newer VN Commodores. 1991 also saw the championship dominated by the Nissan Skyline GT-Rs due to a championship which allowed highly sophisticated cars to complete with more basic vehicles. Due to a decision between TWR and Holden, it was decided that HRT would only compete in as many races that they could manage within their budget. At the Bathurst 1000, Percy and Grice teamed together to score a second place for the team, with the second car of Crompton and Brad Jones failing to finish the race. Percy finished eighth overall in the championship and Grice finished fifteenth.

1992
1992 saw the arrangement between Holden and TWR regarding the budget of the team have the greatest effect with HRT only competing in three rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The only real success the team had in 1992 was a third place by Mezera and Jones at the Sandown 500. Following the 1992 season, the category was overhauled to become the V8 Holden versus Ford challenge that the V8 Supercars championship is today.

1993
1993 was the first season of the new championship series using Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons powered by five litre V8 engines. It was also the year in which the 1987 World 500cc motorcycle champion, Wayne Gardner was signed to drive for HRT to be the second driver to Mezera. Both drivers competed in all nine rounds of the championship with the best result a second place to Mezera at Symmons Plains. Overall Mezera finished in seventh place and Gardner finished in fourteenth. Both cars failed to finish at the Sandown 500, and Mezera and Percy did not finish and Gardner and Jones finished in third place after qualifying third and fourth respectively at the Bathurst 1000.

1994
1994 saw the return of Peter Brock to a factory Holden team to team with Mezera. Brock also brought with him the sponsorship of Mobil and the team became the Mobil Holden Racing Team. The team was competitive throughout the season, with Brock taking the round win at Eastern Creek and second places at Sandown, Symmons Plains, Philip Island and Oran Park. For the endurance events, HRT hired Brad Jones and Craig Lowndes to drive the second car. At the Sandown 500, Jones and Lowndes finished fifth, with Brock and Mezera finishing 6th after qualifying first. At the Bathurst 1000, Mezera and Brock did not finish the race, however Jones and Lowndes finished second. Brock finished the championship in third place, with Mezera in ninth.

1995
Brock and Mezera continued to race for the team in 1995 with Lowndes and Greg Murphy joining the team for enduros. The year was successful with numerous top three results for both Brock and Mezera. However at both the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000, neither car finished either race. Brock finished the championship in third place and Mezera in fifth place.

1996
Lowndes joined Brock to drive for the team on a full time in 1996. This year was one of the most successful years for HRT by winning both the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000. Lowndes also became the youngest driver to win the Australian Touring Car Championship. Both Mezera and Murphy rejoined the team for the endurance races, with Lowndes and Murphy winning both events. Brock finished the championship in fourth position.

1997
1997 saw Lowndes head to Europe to compete in F3000 so Murphy joined Brock as the drivers for HRT. The year also saw a number of mechanical failures that prevented HRT from following on from the success of 1996. One highlight of the year however was the one-two finishes at both Symmons Plains and Wanneroo. Overall, Murphy and Brock finished the year fourth and sixth respectively. Lowndes returned to drive in the endurance events to join Mark Skaife as the co-drivers. Lowndes and Murphy finished in first place at the Sandown 500, however neither car finished the Bathurst 1000. AT the end of 1997, Peter Brock retired from the sport.

1998
Lowndes returned to HRT in 1998 and joined Skaife as the drivers for the championship. Lowndes continued the success of 1996, by winning the championship for the second time in his second full year of V8 racing. Murphy and Mark Noske joined the team for the enduros and after qualifying the cars first and second at Sandown, Lowndes and Skaife finished in second position. At Bathurst, Lowndes and Skaife finished sixth and qualifying first, and Murphy and Noske failed to finish the event. Skaife finished third in the championship.

1999
The team drivers remained the same for the 1999 season, with Lowndes winning his third championship for the team and Skaife finishing third. The team finished first and second in four of the thirteen rounds of the championship season. Paul Morris and Cameron McConville joined the team for the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000, with Lowndes and McConville finishing third at the Queensland 500 and second at the Bathurst 1000. Skaife teamed with Morris to finish third at Bathurst.

[edit] 2000s

2000
For the 2000 season, once again Lowndes and Skaife drove for HRT. Overall Skaife won the championship with Lowndes finishing in third place. For the Queensland 500 Lowndes and Skaife teamed together to finish in first place. The second car was driven by Todd Kelly and Nathan Pretty, however failed to finish the race. At the Bathurst 1000, Lowndes and Skaife finished in sixth position with the international drivers Jason Plato and Yvan Muller driving the second car finishing in tenth. At the end of the 2000 season, HRT announced that Craig Lowndes had decided to leave the team to drive for Ford.

2001
Lowndes' departure opened the door for Jason Bright to join the team in 2001. 2001 also saw a win at Bathurst for Skaife and Tony Longhurst as well as Skaife winning his second championship for the team. Bright finished third in the championships and Tomas Mezera returned to the team for the endurance races.

2002
2002 once again saw Skaife win the championship for the third year in a row, with Bright finishing fourth. HRT won the first eight rounds of the season (Skaife - 6 wins, Bright - 2 wins). The endurance races were the next two rounds of the championship and Jim Richards and Mezera joined the team for these two rounds. Skaife and Bright failed to finish the Queensland 500 after qualifying second while Richards and Mezera finished fourth. At the Bathurst 1000, Skaife and Richards teamed together to win the event, ten years after they teamed together to win the event in a Nissan GT-R. Bright and Mezera finishing third. The last three rounds of the championship were not as successful as the beginning of the season with the best finish a third place for Skaife at Sandown.

2003

In 2003, the parent company of HRT, TWR, suffered a financial collapse and a new owner had to be found. By mid-2003, it was announced that Mark Skaife would be the new owner. Jason Bright also left the team. Todd Kelly was hired to race in the second car. Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst were co-drivers for the endurance events. Skaife and Kelly drove together at the Sandown 500 and won the race with Longhurst and Richards finishing in tenth. At the Bathurst 1000, Skaife and Kelly were leading the race with ten laps to go, when they were given a mechanical black flag to repair damage to the left rear door sustained in an accident with one of the Brad Jones Racing cars. Skaife and Kelly finished the race in eighth with Richards and Longhurst in fifth.

2004
2004 saw Skaife and Kelly as teammates for the championship. For the enduro events, Jason Plato joined Peter Brock as the co-drivers. Brock came out of retirement again to attempt to score his tenth Bathurst win, however this was not to be after Plato collided with John Cleland driving for Ozemail Racing, after Plato slid into a tyre bundle on pit straight and had tyre and bodywork damage. Brock did not race one lap. Skaife and Kelly finished the race in fourteenth position, two laps down after a belt from the engine broke early in the race. Overall Kelly finished the championship in seventh place and Skaife finished in twelfth after a season of reliablity problems.

2005
The championship drivers remained the same for the 2005 season. Both Skaife and Kelly won rounds of the championship with Kelly winning the Shanghai round which was the first V8 Supercar round in South-East Asia. This victory gave HRT their 50th round win, the first team to do so. Skaife and Kelly teamed together to win the Bathurst 1000, and Jim Richards and James Courtney drove the second car, however failed to finish the race.

2006
2006 saw Skaife and Kelly team together for their fourth season together. Overall Kelly finished the season in sixth place and Skaife finished in sixteenth. Both drivers did have success during the season with Skaife winning in Pukekohe and Kelly winning in Surfers Paradise and Phillip Island. For the endurance races, a deal was done between HRT and the Toll HSV Dealer Team so that Garth Tander would drive for HRT with Skaife, and Todd Kelly would drive for the Toll HSV Dealer Team with his brother Rick Kelly. It must be noted that both teams were run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. This was done to allow Tander and Rick Kelly the best chance at winning the championship as they were first and second in the champioship before the enduros. However the plan backfired with the Skaife/Tander car failing to finish at both enduros. The second HRT car was driven by Jim Richards and Ryan Briscoe and finished in 21st at Sandown and didn't finish at Bathurst.

2007
The 2007 V8 Supercar season will see the debut of the new VE Commodores. Skaife and Kelly will continue their partnership as the drivers of HRT in 2007. It was announced that former Ford driver Glenn Seton, a lifelong friend of Skaife, will join the team to participate in the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst.^[1] It will be the first time he has ever driven a Holden Commodore, both road-going and racing. It is rumored he will drive with Skaife, though not confirmed as the exact combinations will depend on championship points. There has been no current announcement as who will be the other 'enduro' driver but it has been speculated it might be Craig Baird. The season begins in Adelaide between the 1st and 4th March.

[edit] Ownership Battle

At the start of the 2007 season, a battle erupted over the ownership of HRT. Skaife had been hounded by governing body, the Touring Car Entrants Group of Australia (TEGA), for more than four months for paperwork proving compliance with the Teams' Licence Agreement, but had failed to show the required information. He was given until March 12th to provide the evidence, or the team could be removed from the V8 Touring Car Competition^[2].

Skaife managed to produce sufficient evidence and TEGA allowed HRT to continue racing. A deal was struck between Skaife and TEGA that ensured that Skaife, and not Holden Motor Sport owner Tom Walkinshaw, had ownership and control over the team^[3].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Holden Racing Team website
• The V8 Supercar website

Teams contesting the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Toll HSV Dealer Team	Holden Racing Team	Tasman Motorsport	Stone Brothers Racing	Ford Performance Racing	Jack Daniel's Racing
1 Rick Kelly 16 Garth Tander	2 Mark Skaife 22 Todd Kelly	3 Jason Richards 51 Greg Murphy	4 James Courtney 9 Russell Ingall	5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Steven Richards	7 Shane Price 11 Jack Perkins
WPS Racing	Team BOC	Dick Johnson Racing	Supercheap Auto Racing	Team Kiwi Racing	Britek Motorsport
8 Max Wilson 10 Jason Bargwanna	12 Andrew Jones 14 Brad Jones	17 Steven Johnson 18 Will Davison	20 Paul Dumbrell 50 Cameron McConville	021 Paul Radisich	25 Jason Bright 26 Alan Gurr
Garry Rogers Motorsport	Team Sirromet Wines	Autobarn Racing	TeamVodafone	Paul Cruickshank Racing
33 Lee Holdsworth 34 Dean Canto	39 Fabian Coulthard 67 Paul Morris	55 Steve Owen	88 Jamie Whincup 888 Craig Lowndes	111 John Bowe