Livery lookout - Part Two.

By Matthew Agius

The start of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship is only weeks away, and with the March One date fast approaching, more and more teams in the series have released new and vivid liveries for the fourteen round calendar.

Triple Eight Race Engineering was the first team to launch their cars after the previous instalment of "Livery lookout". With brand new naming rights sponsor Vodafone on board, the launch presented a stunning new design.

Combining the effects of day-glo red with silver chrome, the TeamVodafone BFII Falcons are sure to stand out in the field this year.

Despite this, only Vodafone signage, and logos of minor sponsors Caltex and Dexion were present on the car, which looked otherwise bare, so supporters of the 2006 'moral' champions should expect a bit more detail come the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

Next to unveil their cars were Jack Daniel's Racing. With a fresh, young driver line up for 2007, JDR gently evolved its previous design to utilise a 'wedge' stripe on the side of their new VE Commodore, whilst the rest of the livery, aside from the names on the side windscreen, remains relatively unchanged.

One of the more anticipated launches this year was Dick Johnson Racing's announcement that Jim Beam would sponsor the Gold Coast squad for the upcoming championship. Continuing the trend set by Triple Eight by using Ford's non-corporate colour, red, on the BFII Falcon, DJR's new cars feature extensive Jim Beam signage in an impressive white and red design.

The real 2006 champions, like Jack Daniel's Racing, launched a revised livery for their VE Commodores. Why change a winning combination? It seems as though the Toll HSV Dealer Team certainly asked themselves that question as Rick Kelly, Garth Tander and Toll CEO Paul Little pulled the covers of a familiar, yet striking looking VE Commodore.

The first time that the Toll HSV Dealer Team has started a season with two brand new cars bodes well for the reigning Drivers' and Teams' champions, with shaper lines adding to the more aggressive profile of the Holden VE - the Toll HSVDT have perfectly presented themselves as race winners for 2007.

Britek Motorsport also took the opportunity to update its designs for 2007. Jason Bright's return to his own team has been met with a new look #25 Fujitsu Falcon, with a sky blue and blood-red design. New teammate Alan Gurr will drive an IRWIN Industrial Tools BFII Falcon this year, with a similar design to Bright's albeit with a deeper blue.

Finally, Team Sirromet Wines has made a surprise move to invert its colours for 2007, with a predominantly white livery being used by the team's two cars in 2007. The orange "BWS" bonnet remains, whilst Sirromet logos will be black - a clever move to distinguish the operation from teams with similar paints in 2006.

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Stone Brothers Racing appears certain to use matching designs for its two cars in 2007. Russell Ingall's Caltex Falcon will have Vortex 98 signage with the traditional red, teal and white colour scheme, whilst James Courtney's Falcon will sport Jeld-Wen's blue and gold hues.

For many years now, both SBR Falcons have been separately sponsored, but 2007 appears likely to be the first time that each Falcon has sported similar designs.

The Holden Racing Team has also been keeping information about its 2007 livery tightly under-wraps, however photos that circulated the internet recently, indicated a Holden Commodore painted in day-glo red, black and white with the HRT lion and helmet logo.

However it remains strictly unconfirmed whether this is the real livery. The images seemingly showed that the car in question was a show car, and may not be the final design.

The only teams that are yet to officially launch or release pictures of their 2007 cars include the Holden Racing Team, Stone Brothers Racing, WPS Racing, Garry Rogers Motorsport and the Autobarn Race Team.

Ford Performance Racing will give the public its first look at their second BFII Falcon at the V8 Supercar Series launch on Thursday February 15th, whilst as reported in the previous instalment of "Livery Lookout", Team BOC will have a relatively unaltered livery this year.