V8: Cochrane: pitlane scuppered Barbagallo race, not me

V8 Supercars Chairman Tony Cochrane has come out fighting in defence of the series’ recent decision to drop Barbagallo Raceway from the 2010 calendar.

Cochrane and the championship’s Board have copped considerable flak since dropping the race earlier this year but today cited safety concerns surrounding the Perth venue’s pitlane as justification for the decision. He also accused the Western Australian Sporting Car Club (WASCC) of spreading misleading information as to the championship’s stance, but refused to enter a slanging match.

One of Cochrane’s concerns also relate to a possible manslaughter charge being brought against the V8 Supercar Board should a serious accident occur.

“It’s fine if you are not trying to refuel or change tyres under time constraints with the number of people we have got in it and that pit does not get used for refueling when we’re not there,” he said.

“What the Western Australian Sporting Car Club keep coming back to us saying is ‘you have been coming here for 30 years, what’s changed?’

“Well I’m sorry, we have changed as a sport enormously. We used to go there for years and do three 20-minute races. We don’t do three 20-minute races anywhere anymore and I’d suggest our fans would go nuts if we turned up anywhere and did three 20-minute sprint races.”

Cochrane went on to explain that Will Davison’s accident last season at the pitlane entry, and its resulting chaos, had served as a warning that needed to be heeded.   

“So do you wait for the next thing that goes wrong in the pits where somebody loses a leg or somebody loses an arm or somebody gets severely burnt?” he mused. “What’s the trigger by what we go ‘we’d better do something about this’?

“Are you going to step into my shoes and take that risk? I’m not. Everyone says it’s a Tony Cochrane thing not wanting to go to Perth, but the (V8 Supercars Australia) Board voted 8-0 not to go back to Perth in a unanimous vote.”

Cochrane made it plain though that the championship would happily return to Western Australia should the suitable upgrades be made. Indeed, he suggested that V8 Supercars themselves were taking active steps to help achieve those goals.

“We put a whole raft of things on the table because we want to race in Perth,” he added. “That’s what gets lost in this. We, V8 Supercars Australia, want to race in Perth, but it has to be befitting of where the modern Championship is at.”  

Catch all of the 2010 V8 Supercar action on Motors TV throughout 2010.


Tom Hornsby