Lowndes and Whincup defecting?

[Hunter SS]

There is a rumour circulating that they are going to defect back to Holden (apparently it comes from somebody in the know in the television industry)..... they have re-signed with Team Vodaphone... but there is no mention of Ford in the article.....
Whincup and Lowndes sign on for new deal | Herald Sun

Apparently there is no mention of it either on their web site.....

TeamVodafone 2009 | Home

Apparently Team Vodaphone were mightily pissed off when Ford withdrew their funding.

See a Ford badge on this vehicle?


Apparently it was in protest at the funding withdrawn.... who knows.... lets hope that "IF" they change to Holden, they can still win in them!!

It will be interesting to see if there is any truth in it.

[shiftySLE]

have heard a lot of this, looks like it may be happening

[Hunter SS]

have heard a lot of this, looks like it may be happening

It would be good to have Whincup on our side... he is an exceptional driver!!

[DARK SIDE]

I hope they make the move.

It doesn't surprise me really, I remember hearing about how the team had an argument with ford at the start of the season.

[Hunter SS]

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[88GreenVN]

was on the radio tonight that they were going to announce it tomorrow....

[minux]

Does it actually matter they are switching? At the end of the day, the only difference in the cars is a little badge and the shape of the shell.

[Dougie_Diggler]

Confirmed.
Love it!!

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...-11088,00.html

[S.O.S]

Why would you make the move from a winning car you know the ins and outs of ?.

If they defected, that will be from holden 2 ford back 2 holden.

[Hunter SS]

Does it actually matter they are switching? At the end of the day, the only difference in the cars is a little badge and the shape of the shell.

they use different heads too... the current ford engines have more power solely because of the head work.
Same suspension, same fuel system... blah blah blah.... bring back production racing

[Scooter79]

.... blah blah blah.... bring back production racing

Exactly! Bring back the good old days like when we had BMW's up against a VL. Thats was quality racing. Obviously not the same cars, duh. but would be good to see some variation between the cars.

[shiftySLE]

Does it actually matter they are switching? At the end of the day, the only difference in the cars is a little badge and the shape of the shell.

I think it does matter, some follow the drivers and some follow the cars. Did you hope that Fords won when Lowndes moved over. Its like changing footy teams when your fave player shifts side. Whoever is driving them, I want to see the Holden little badge cross the line first.

[88GreenVN]

Go the mighty RED's - **** the Blue's

[shiftySLE]

Go the mighty RED's - **** the Blue's

My thoughts exaclty, they can get the wiggles to drive for all I care, Go the Reds!!

[Torquative]

dont forget Lowndes and Whincup learnt to drive in Commodores ...

personally I wont follow them as far as a supporter goes, I still have a soft spot for HRT and Kelly Brothers Racing, but I wont hold a grudge if they win from 2010 on.

Sucked in to Ford, got 888 to develop the FG, took delivery of their orders then shafted them by withdrawing funding. It was inevitable with 888 when they put it to Holden Vodafone colours are red and white which match their corporate colours, and with Vodafone announcing last last year their locked in til 2012 or something it was bound to happen ...

[AntStu]

With only 2 brands in the championship,it would be hard to have it any other way. whats wrong with going from holden to ford and back again?Its all gotten a bit monotonous since they turned it into a 2 horse race.Ive been attending Bathurst since the days when the pepsi and channel nine camaros, the JPS BMW 6 series even Volvos /Barinas were racing and it was fun.Spose back then the corporate buck wasnt the almighty ruler as it is these days and the thrill was in negotiating not only the mountain but the different class of car from Barinas through RX7's upto the V8's.I remember the first year they put audio into the cars and they were chatting to DJ across the top of the mountain and he asked them to hold a second while he passed a Volvo,or as he called it,"a house brick with brakes". Now,the only negotiating that takes place is what posi your in when the safety car comes out!
As for Lowndesy going back to Holden,he was spotted and mentored by Brocky and had a massive carreer ahead of him at HDT and was really starting to show his potential and all of a sudden he moves to Ford ?(some may argue with me here) but i definately feel and from what i remember hearing while in various pit crews, one of the other HDT youngins at the time kicked up a stink (feeling threatened by Lowndes) and Lowndes was really left with no choice.

[HaMmErD]

I just htink that they just got offered more money... why wouldn't you? if you got offered and extra 100k - 150k a year you would be crazy not to take that offer

[Troy711]

Damn shame that.. I used to enjoy seeing all the Holden supporters get their backs up when Ford won. Just wait and see, next year every Holden support will be a Lowndes/Whincup FANATIC even though this year they slag the two off.

[greenfoam]

I'm a fans of Lowndes because he's the guy Brock took on as his last aprentice pretty much. Doesn't much matter which car hes in since they are the same thing anyway but it'll be a dent in the pride of the Ford fans and that's allways funny

[DARK SIDE]

its official Red letter day for TeamVodafone - v8supercars.com.au party time

[Hunter SS]

just because he is driving a Holden, doesn't mean i will follow Lowndes.... although i may follow Whincup... i have always had respect for him... he came up through the ranks the hard way, and he is talented!

[Premier 350]

Glad to have Whincup back, the only thing good about judas lowndes back at Holden is that at least he is'nt in a ford.

And Vodaphone took sponsor ship from 2gayfl teams to fund the new 888, Ices my cake!

The ford appologists have really bunched their panties over this one, their angst on the V8
forums is a delight to read.

[Hunter SS]

Whincup's response to fans criticism of the decision:

LET me say right from the start that I fully support TeamVodafone's decision to race Holdens next year.

I am proud to say that I will be associated with the Australian icon.

However, ever since we announced the decision today, I have been bombarded with questions, especially on my website.

I could be very weak and say it's got nothing to do with me, but I honestly fully support the team with what they've done.

I personally think there are three different types of fans.

First, we have had a huge response from the Holden fans who think it's fantastic news and are welcoming us on board.

Then you have the driver and team fans who are also in favour of the decision. They see the partnership as a good one that will allow us to deliver results.

Then we have the hard-core Ford fans who are bitterly disappointed with what's happened.

I've been getting this massive abuse from all these Ford people asking why I'm not loyal to the brand, but how can you be?

I don't feel any loyalty to Ford because they showed none to me.

Once you become a bit abusive for changing manufacturers it think it's important that these people look at the facts before they get too vocal.

The fact is that at the moment we don't have any manufacturer support.

At the end of 2008 when I won my first championship I personally approached Ford and pleaded with them to come up with some type of arrangement where they could use my win to get some good publicity.

While I tried for many months to reach agreement they chose to walk away.

They weren't interested in doing anything with myself or the team.

I tried my best to align myself to them and they showed me no loyalty whatsoever.

Therefore when the opportunity came up with Holden - which they embraced with open arms - straight up it was a great decision.

The Holden product is a fantastic product and TeamVodafone builds a fantastic race car and combined they will be a powerful combination.

It's a great step forward and it's also a nostalgic step backwards for me because I started with a Holden in 2003.

I didn't enjoy the success I wanted with them, but this now gives me the opportunity to get the Red Lion over the line.

Everyone knows what a big fan I am of Valentino Rossi who won world motorcycle championships with Honda and then moved to Yamaha and won again.

Well, I hope I can do a Rossi and win with Holden, too. No one has ever won championships with Holden and Ford, so with myself having achieved most of my goals in V8s this offers brand new goals and challenges.

But first I have to focus on the remainder of this year, starting with the big job I've got ahead of me this weekend at Sandown.

If I thought this announcement would have affected my performance I wouldn't have been involved.

So after this announcement all will be forgotten until the end of the year. It will be business as usual tomorrow.

I'll go home and do my normal preparation, look at video from last year, go over the data and immerse myself on focusing on getting the car the fastest around the track.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

Does it actually matter they are switching? At the end of the day, the only difference in the cars is a little badge and the shape of the shell.

Minux, why bore us with the same lines everytime V8 supercars are brought up? You sound like a violin, it's quiet obvious you don't like V8 supercars, so mabye get over it?

All i can say is, bloody hilarious.....The blue oval loyalists are going to hate this! They have lost there top team, but really, who can blame 888? They lost Ford backing after doing so much to put Ford back on the map in V8 supercars.....But, i guess atleast Ford are saving money, albeit at the expense of there best team by far!

[Maci]

*puts flame suit on*

im actually a ford fan, but to me, the v8 "supercars" are just that. they arent the car you buy at the lot and drive home.
honestly, i cant blame them, if holden will give them a shell AND some money, wouldn't you swap over?