Nations Cup to race in Malaysia!

[DNQ]

Found this at the PROCAR website:

NATIONS CUP TO RACE IN MALAYSIA IN NOVEMBER

Nations Cup hotting up in Malaysia
DRIVERS and cars in the Megamantis.com Australian Nations Cup Championship are set to race overseas for the first time when they join the American and European Le Mans Series grand final in Malaysia in November.

A contingent of at least 12 exotic sports cars from the Nations Cup, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Viper and Porsche, is expected to enter for the Race of Champions weekend at the Sepang Formula 1 circuit near Kuala Lumpur on 8-11 November.

Under a deal between Nations Cup promoter PROCAR Australia and the Malaysian event organisers revealed yesterday, the Australian visitors will compete against invited Asian teams in the major support races for the Le Mans Series.

PROCAR Australia Chief Executive Ross Palmer said the deal, including the air transport of cars and crew between Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur, would be formally concluded over the next week but teams already had been invited to enter.

"The Nations Cup concept of the world's greatest production sports car marques competing against each other is unique and internationally attractive. This is a fantastic opportunity for PROCAR and our teams and we¹ll be looking to make a big impression," Palmer added.

The positive reaction of teams to the announcement was immediate, with Melbourne-based Prancing Horse Racing keen to send up to eight of its Ferrari 360 Challenge coupes.

"We're in the business of running cars for customers and to race in Malaysia is a very exciting opportunity for our drivers," said Prancing Horse Racing Director Mark Coffey.

"We hope one of our eight cars would be for an Asian driver. Sepang will be a fantastic place to showcase our team."

Team Lamborghini Australia Manager Andrew Smith said: "It will be quite a spectacle. Sepang International Circuit is one of the world¹s best racing venues and our Lamborghini Diablo will look right at home there.

"We know from the traffic on our internet site that these exotic cars have an enormous following in Asia. Our dealer phoned from Kuala Lumpur as soon as the news was released and he's keen to make a big impact with our visit."

So, it looks like PROCAR has beaten AVESCO to Asia!

[racer69]

All i can say is sucked in Tony C.

A race around Sepang is going to be awesome, hopefully they can get a big field. Lets also hope we get to see it on TV.

[Crash Test]

Heck, Formula Holden went into Asia a long time ago...and didn't go back.

Nations Cup would be more capable of catching on in Asia, because the cars are much more recognisable... and besides, PHR could probably provide a full grid of cars on its own

[Michael H]

Yes, this is great news, And I agree with you racer69, we must see the race on Australian TV. If Ten are serious about motorsports coverage they will show it.

[Crash Test]

The ball isn't really in channel 10s court- it is up to Procar to get their stuff shown on air.

One thing I find funny is the difference between Procar and the Power Tour. Procar have this great deal in place, but all we have seen to date is delayed NC and GT Performance, delayed at least a week, if not more, and one delayed round from the BRutes. The Power Tour get their stuff shown on the weekend after the event, and then the following weekends on Speedweek (that is SBS and Foxtel). Then they also get their stuff on late night channel 10.

[Woody]

If NC and GT performance are serious about getting there racing on TV they will show the Sandown 500 in full and the Malaysian race. I agree Crash test the power tour really has there act together and have less material to work with than PROCAR.

Apart from the truck racing the Power tour doesn't really have any real big draw cards but still manage to get lots of TV time. I think at Oran Park for the next round of the Power tour the serious is gonna be on a high.

[Crash Test]

The thing is for every class in the country (except for V8s) is that if they want to get on TV, they have to pay for it, and pay some serious dough for it...

As far as the Power Tour goes, their fight with CAMS is going to be fairly huge....certainly CAMS have done their best to **** them off with their Ute/Nascar/Daewoo efforts to date...