{"id":580517,"date":"2026-04-02T10:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/580517\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:16:16","slug":"the-secret-to-xbox-wildcards-straightline-advantage-in-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/580517\/","title":{"rendered":"The secret to XBOX wildcard\u2019s straightline advantage in 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

THERE are many memorable elements of Triple Eight\u2019s first wildcard entry for the Bathurst 1000 back in 2013.<\/p>\n

There was its stunning bright green livery, promoting the XBOX ONE gaming console and the upcoming Forza Motorsport 5 game.<\/p>\n

Then there was its drivers: multiple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx and Swedish ace Mattias Ekstr\u00f6m.<\/p>\n

The latter\u2019s performance is still regarded as one of the greatest debuts by an international driver in modern Great Race history.<\/p>\n

The current issue of V8 Sleuth Magazine<\/a> includes a look back at Ekstr\u00f6m\u2019s barnstorming weekend at Mount Panorama, with then Triple Eight team boss Roland Dane sharing his memories about the program, the Swede\u2019s prodigious ability behind the wheel, and how a podium finish went begging.<\/p>\n

Dane also opens up on the big talking point around the car from that weekend: how ridiculously fast the #10 Holden was in a straight line.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Time and again, the broadcast would spot either Priaulx or Ekstr\u00f6m making passes at Griffins Bend or into the Chase.<\/p>\n

Will Davison<\/a> told his Ford Performance Racing crew that it was pulling five carlengths on his #6 Ford down the chute.<\/p>\n

Even their Triple Eight teammate Craig Lowndes<\/a> asked over radio if he could have that car\u2019s engine for his next race.<\/p>\n

Dane confirmed to V8 Sleuth Magazine that the engine was slightly different in spec to those in Triple Eight\u2019s Red Bull entries, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

The car\u2019s entire setup philosophy hinged around being fast down the straight, a decision aided by the radically different handling of the newly-introduction of the Car of the Future chassis platform.<\/p>\n

\"\"The following Lowndes (#888) and Davison (#6) were impressed by the XBOX Holden\u2019s straightline speed. Pic: an1images.com \/ Scott Wensley<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had this set of circumstances where the drivers that were in the cars all the time were going to Bathurst a little bit on-edge about how the car was going to feel across the top (of the Mountain),\u201d Dane told V8 Sleuth Magazine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we had with the XBOX car was two drivers with no preconceived ideas, particularly with Matthias.<\/p>\n

\u201cLudo (Lacroix, the car\u2019s race engineer) really pushed this philosophy of \u2018let\u2019s go up and down the hill as fast as we can, and then just tell them \u2018this is how the car is, get used to it\u2019 over the rest of it\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe setup of the car was as low drag as we could make it. Minimal rear wing, minimal toe, low ride height, as well as maybe taking a bit more of a risk on the viscosity of the oil in the gearbox and engine when it was perfectly legal to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe engine in that car was 4999cc. The engines in the (Red Bull) cars were typically 4980cc or whatever, so that there was room for them to be honed once more, but the engine in that car was absolutely maximised \u2013 legally \u2013 to the capacity limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll those things came together to make the car very fast in a straight line.\u201d<\/p>\n

The car went on to finish the race in 10th place despite an extra stop to replace a flat-spotted tyre during the final stint.<\/p>\n

Issue 2 of V8 Sleuth Magazine is available at newsagents and in airports Australia-wide, as well as via the V8 Sleuth Superstore<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THERE are many memorable elements of Triple Eight\u2019s first wildcard entry for the Bathurst 1000 back in 2013.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-580517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}