Oliver praises V8 2005.

by Matthew Agius

Keen Australian racing observer and series commentator Barry Oliver has watched, analysed and formed opinions on the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series, and has been quite impressed with the performance, management and competitiveness of the series.

Present at the Ferodo Triple Challenge Oliver spoke to Crash.net Radio's Andy Stobart about the effective and exciting season so far, and continually praised AVESCO and TEGA (TouringCar Entrants Group Australia) for making V8 Supercars so close and competitive.

"Going into this second-last round its quite exciting because after this two-hour (practice) session, we've got twenty-six cars separated by just one second and only a quarter of a second separating the first five cars, so it all looks well for a sensational weekend," said Oliver of the weekend thus far.

A testament to the competitiveness of the Australian V8 Supercar Series, Oliver made mention of how close the racing at the top of the championship ladder is, and how the championship is likely to be go right down to the wire at the Bigpond Grand Finale.

"Let's not forget that at this point in time with 384 points still up for grabs there's only 110 points separating the first five cars. And fourth and fifth in the championship at the moment are the two HRT Commodores of Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly - guys that probably thought a few rounds back that they had no chance of being up there - and here they are literally knocking on the door, so who knows what can happen between now and the end of Phillip Island?"

Oliver followed suit with the numbers of Australian journalists, event managers, politicians and sports personalities who have branded V8s as the most competitive Touring Car championship in the world - and linked this success to the way the category has been administered.

"AVESCO need to be congratulated. When they first announced back in the mid-90s that they were going to do this (V8 Supercars) there were plenty of people out there who thought 'Well what's this all about?' But you've got to say that the runs are on the board, they've done quite extraordinary job in terms of marketing V8 Supercars."

"The other part of the equation is the fact that the category has become so unbelievable competitive. Lets not forget that [put NASCAR aside] that this is the most competitive tin-top category in the world - that's a big thing. We're seeing here (at Symmons Plains) that the cars are so incredibly close. The fact that we've got this close racing has generated so much interest - its brought new sponsors on, television has become such an integral part of it as well, its being beamed all over the world, so it really has gone ahead in leaps and bounds."

Oliver continued by saying that the drama and close racing is a real drawcard for fans.

"I think the fact that every year at the beginning of the season we say 'This is going to be the closest year on record' and it actually has happened. This has been an amazing year and I mentioned before that there are drivers who thought they were out of the game, and in fact they're still in there. Its turned up some very interesting results, we've had all sorts of dramas - who would have thought that Murphy and Ambrose would have got together at Bathurst and caused that logjam. Marcos had a pretty healthy lead in this championship - now he's 66 points behind his teammate - and really something unusual is going to have to happen for Russell Ingall to lose this championship."

Barry Oliver will be present at the upcoming Sensational Adelaide Classic Adelaide rally from November 16-20 competing in a Porsche 944 Turbo with legendary driver Jim Richards. The rally weaves its way through the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills (Home of the ARC Toyota Rally SA), the infamous Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Eastern and Southern suburbs and countryside - with the prologue being held on the Victoria Park racecourse - also used for the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar street race.