![]() Lowndes suffered a similar problem late in the race. They led 105 of 113 laps until Skaife suffered a high speed tyre failure entering The Chase. After Mark Skaife put HRT’s new VT on pole position for the 1998 Bathurst 1000, he and co-driver Craig Lowndes dominated the race. In 2000, though, Mark Skaife began to stamp his authority on V8 Supercar racing by claiming the championship solely behind the wheel of an HRT VT. With a total of 63 individual race wins in the Australian Touring Car Championship (aka V8 Supercar Championship Series after 1998), the VT also claimed three championships in a row.Īdmittedly two of those crowns in 19, which were both won by Craig Lowndes, were shared with the Holden Racing Team’s older VS model in several rounds. However, where there’s a will there’s always a way, which will be revealed later in this story.Īs a result, the new VT in V8 Supercar form would prove to be one of the most successful Commodore models, eclipsed only by the VE-VE II. Here he’s leading team-mate Mark Skaife in the older VS model, which contributed most of its running gear to the VT as a running change.Īs the VT was destined to replace the VS in the Ford vs Holden V8 Supercar wars in 1998, Holden and its race teams faced a major challenge in getting the new car down to the category’s 1350 kg minimum weight limit. The VT also boasted a much stronger and more rigid body shell, with greatly improved occupant protection in the event of major collisions.Īs a result, the all-new VT was a porker relative to the VS, with a hefty kerb weight of 1641 kg (Executive V8) compared to just 1448 kgs - a difference of 193 kg.Ĭraig Lowndes switched to HRT’s new VT Commodore for the last two rounds of the 1998 ATCC, wrapping up his second title in fine style at Oran Park. The VT was larger than its VS predecessor in almost every dimension, including length (+23mm), width (+48mm), wheelbase (+57mm), front track (+78mm) and rear track (+96mm). However, those same accolades would also present a weighty problem for race teams in creating one of the most successful Holden race cars of all time. When Holden launched the all-new third generation of its Commodore sedan - the VT - in August 1997, Australia immediately warmed to the more generous proportions and improved crash safety of The General’s handsome new arrival. Following Skaife at Oran Park in 2002 is former HRT team-mate Craig Lowndes in his AU Falcon a combination that could provide only limited resistance to Holden’s juggernaut. ![]() It was a golden era for the Holden Racing Team (HRT) under the ownership of UK-based Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). The most successful Holden driver of the VT-VX Commodore era was Mark Skaife, claiming three consecutive V8 Supercar championships and two Bathurst 1000s. ![]()
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