Motorsport: V8 history to be made - and fast

Greg Murphy. Photo / Christine Cornege

Greg Murphy and some of his V8SuperTourer series rivals will be at CRC Speedshow this weekend with a special offer for motorsport fans.

Promoters V8SuperTourers Ltd are offering two tickets for the price of one for the inaugural race at Hampton Downs on February 17-19.

"This is the premiere of a new form of V8 touring-car racing in New Zealand and we want enthusiasts to be part of motor-racing history when all 16 cars line up for that very first race," V8ST spokesman and competitor John McIntyre said.

"These are the fastest V8 touring cars ever to race at Hampton Downs and this circuit is just fantastic in our V8SuperTourer. As a driver, I can't wait."

McIntyre joins Murphy and several others at Speedshow to promote the new series with ticket sales. A prototype V8ST race car will be on show. The February opening round will feature three V8ST races, with support classes to include the Central Muscle Car series.

"A full field of Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, Falcons, Holden HQs and more will add plenty of excitement to the premiere event with four races over Saturday and Sunday," said McIntyre.

On show at Speedshow for the first and last time in New Zealand is the famous "Batmobile" - the 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL that Kiwi Chris Amon piloted to victory with German Hans-Joachim Stuck in a six-hour race at the Nurburgring.

The 3.0 CSL race cars were the first cars to be developed under BMW Motorsport. They were also the first to sport the official colours of BMW Motorsport - red, blue and purple.

Introduced in 1972, the 3.0CSL was a homologation specially built to make the car eligible for racing in the European Touring Car Championship. The 'L' in the designation meant "leicht" (light), in other designations it meant "lang" (long).

The lightness was achieved by using thinner steel to build the body, deleting the trim and soundproofing, using aluminium alloy doors, bonnets and boot lids, and using Perspex side windows. Initially using the same engine as the 3.0CS, the 3.0CSL was given a small increase in displacement to 3003cc by increasing the engine bore by a quarter of a millimetre.

This was done in August 1972 to allow the CSL to be raced in the "over three-litre" racing category, allowing for some increase in displacement in the racing cars. In 1973, the engine in the 3.0CSL was given a more substantial increase in displacement to 3153cc by increasing the stroke to 84mm. This final version of the 3.0CSL was homologated in July 1973 along with an aerodynamic package including a large air dam, short fins running along the
front fenders, a spoiler above and behind the trailing edge of the roof, and a tall rear wing.

The rear wings were not installed at the factory, but were left in the boot for installation later. This was done because the wings were illegal for use on German roads. The full aero package earned the racing CSLs the nickname "Batmobile".

In 1973, Toine Hezemans won the European Touring Car Championship in a 3.0CSL and co-drove a 3.0CSL with Dieter Quester to a class victory at Le Mans.

The 3.0CSL won five European Touring Car Championships between 1973 and 1979.

CSLs were so successful they continued to win races into the late 1970s even though production ended in 1975.