Australia's premier motorsport series, V8 Supercars have ventured across the Pacific to the newly constructed Hermann Tilke designed race circuit marvel that is the Circuit Of The Americas. The circuit just outside Austin, Texas was purpose built for Formula One, but now V8 Supercars have arrived to stage their first ever championship event on US soil, the Austin 400. This weekend sees the event comprise 4 x 100km races around the fast, undulating circuit.
    The Saturday Races 13 and 14 have run, with both races producing the same podium trio of Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Fabian Coulthard. However the racing was frenetic and uncompromising right through the field and therefore exciting for us watching back in Oz. If the Saturday races are a benchmark, cannot wait for the Sunday races.
    One team steadily on the rise is Kelly Racing with their new Nissan Altimas. Race 13 saw Rick Kelly achieve Nissan's Car Or The Future's best result to date when he passed the chequered in P6. He then backed up a strong qualifying for Race 14 by finishing P8 and was unlucky not to get P6 albeit for want of fuel. Whilst admitting that the Nissan is down in straight line speed, the team are slowly coming to grips with it's cornering capabilities.  A team to watch. Let's see if they can continue to please their Nissan and Jack Daniels partners in the Sunday races who are both in attendance at the event.
    At formulafrontrow.com we quite often mention the importance of brand exposure and promotion. We'd like to know if you find the idea of staging regular event/s overseas appealing and whether this would help garner a wider fan and sponsor base and consequently higher TV ratings? Can V8 Supercars promote itself to higher levels in overseas markets such as the USA where NASCAR rules the tin-top racing world? Would love to know the TV ratings on SPEED in the US. Email us at: [email protected] or simply leave a comment. Circuit Of The Americas certainly fulfils its end of the deal.

    Periodically the validity of Formula One is brought into question regarding relevance to the ordinary motorist and modern day road car production. The pinnacle of motorsport to some outsiders seems like a form of motorsport terminally married to massive expenditure that very rarely translates technologically down the line to the average punter. But is this truly the case?
    All F1 teams in their eternal, relentless quest to gain a tenth or two on their opponents have devised new technologies to help propel them to that goal. A lot of these have permeated through to road car manufacturing. Whilst some have been subsequently banned in F1 in the spirit of competition, some are prevalent in road cars to this day. Active suspension, launch control, traction control and the ultra strong carbon fibre to name a few. Now we have kinetic energy recovery systems which harvest the energy when the driver is off the throttle.
    Next year sees F1 dispense with 2.4litre normally aspirated V8's and adopt 1.6litre V6 turbos with the emphasis on energy recovery systems. F1 are already using bio-fuel and from 2014 are mandated to carry a shade over a third of the amount of fuel they currently carry for a race distance, therefore placing the focus firmly on fuel efficiency and energy recovery. Will this increased engine efficiency eventually filter through to road car production? Can F1 be credited for pioneering new technologies that end up benefiting the average motorist? Let us know what you think. Send us an email at: [email protected] or simply leave a comment.
    Can't help but wonder, it's been a while since we've witnessed anyone in F1 run out of fuel. Remember Sir Jack Brabham in his last season in 1970 handing victory to Jochen Rindt at Brands Hatch when he famously ran out of fuel? Big question is though; what will the new turbo 2014 F1 cars sound like? 
    The European F1 season is upon us. Roll on....