The V8 Sleuth Podcast
Motorsport Podcast Network
Updated 2 days agoV8 Sleuth Aaron Noonan chats one-on-one with icons of Australian motorsport. Along with the big wins and the big moments, Noonz digs a step deeper and unearths a few forgotten tales and funny stories from their life in racing.
Are you the creator? Claim this podcast
Episodes (558)
Race Control: Craig Baird explains the calls from Sydney
Race Control: V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan chats with Supercars’ Driving Standards Advisor, Motorsport Australia’s Craig Baird, who explains all the details behind the calls made in Race Control during the latest Repco Supercars Championship round – the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney SuperNight at Sydney Motorsport Park. The V8 Sleuth Podcast appreciates the support of Motorsport Australia in putting our Race Control episodes together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Castrol Supercars Weekly: Are we having too many Shootouts?
V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan runs through the key news from the Repco Supercars Championship from this week ahead of the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney SuperNight, and puts forward the case that the championship is overdoing the ‘Top 10 Shootout’. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html Buy Hino Supercars Tour tickets here >> https://bit.ly/4bv3UbY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP Mini: How Courtney incensed T8 amid Homebush 2010 drama
This week’s ‘Mini’ edition of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol features James Courtney sharing some behind the scenes tales about his 2010 Supercars title-winning season. In this snippet, JC talks about the turmoil that was tearing the team apart from the inside, hearing the cheers of the crowd at Homebush in 2010, and how he inadvertently angered Triple Eight and Roland Dane enough for him to face the stewards over a claimed ‘obscene gesture’! This Mini came from Episode 326 back in 2023, the first of a two-part chat with Courtney about his career. To listen to the rest of the chat, tap this link >> https://bit.ly/3xYdOoQ Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: ‘The Dude’s breakthrough marks end of several eras
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Calder Park round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series, a special one in the career of Paul Morris but also one that marked the end of several eras in ATCC/Supercars history. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Castrol Supercars Weekly: The case for a Supercars playoff finals system
V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan runs through the key news from the Repco Supercars Championship from this week, headlined by confirmation of the new ownership structure at Triple Eight Race Engineering and he makes the case for the introduction of a playoff finals system to crown the champion. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html Buy Hino Supercars Tour tickets here >> https://bit.ly/4bv3UbY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: George Smith (Part 4)
We’ve had an incredible chat with George Smith that set a new benchmark for the longest recording in the history of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol. He shared so many stories from a career in the sport that has seen him in the middle of many of its most memorable and iconic moments that he and Noonz ended up chatting for almost four hours (!) and we’re releasing the final two parts this week. In Part 4, he talks about Peter Brock’s final Bathurst win in 1987 and the team’s emergence as a Ford Sierra squad in 1989-90 – and how the their fortunes could’ve been much greater had a pivotal chassis tuning change been made much sooner. He also talks about the opportunistic conversation that secured Dencar’s role as the Holden Racing Team’s chassis builder, and how Jeff Grech seemed to keep drawing Smith back into the sport time and time again; first with PWR, then with Tasman, and now with Team 18 - and reveals another near-miss along the way! He also shares more insight into his current project, the restoration of the ex-Paul Morris Big Kev Commodore. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: George Smith (Part 3)
We’ve had an incredible chat with George Smith that set a new benchmark for the longest recording in the history of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol. He shared so many stories from a career in the sport that has seen him in the middle of many of its most memorable and iconic moments that he and Noonz ended up chatting for almost four hours! We’re releasing the last two parts this week. We pick up Part 3 at the tail end of his time with Nissan Motorsport, including some insight into why the manufacturer skipped the 1985 season, before getting an offer he couldn’t refuse to rejoin the Holden Dealer Team, now under the custodianship of Peter Brock. He talks about building a fleet of cars at the end of 1985 before crating two of them up to send to Europe, and shares stories of the MHDT’s troubled campaign on the 1986 European Touring Car Championship, and the team’s rapid rebuild of the #05 Commodore after Allan Moffat’s practice crash at Bathurst later that year. He also talks about the team’s shock divorce from Holden at the start of 1987, how Moffat sneakily purchased one of the team’s new racecars, and the prank he helped play when it came time to reveal the reliveried car to the world. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: Brock’s comeback win aboard a Ford
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Oran Park round of the 1989 Shell Ultra Australian Touring Car Championship, in which Peter Brock ended a long victory drought and notched up his first win for the ‘Blue Oval’. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Castrol Supercars Weekly: Ownership change at Triple Eight
V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan runs through the key news from the Repco Supercars Championship ahead of this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500, headlined by a change in ownership at Triple Eight Race Engineering and the end of an era for that team. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html Buy Hino Supercars Tour tickets here >> https://bit.ly/4bv3UbY FREE NTI Townsville 500 Official Program >> https://bit.ly/3XLWHRC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP Mini: Pole to pancaked – Bargs’ Bathurst ‘97 rollercoaster
This week’s ‘mini’ edition of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol features Jason Bargwanna talking about his year with the Holden Young Lions program in 1997. In this snippet, Bargs talks about how much it cost to be in the program, what was involved, how he nearly ended up in the main Holden Racing Team car at Bathurst, plus his rollercoaster weekend at The Great Race when he put the HYL car on provisional pole then crashed heavily in the morning warm-up. This Mini came from Episode 27 back in 2020. To listen to the rest of the chat, tap this link >> https://bit.ly/3VL1yQp Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: How a card draw literally determined the 1994 title
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Wanneroo round of the 1994 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, one where Mark Skaife mathematically clinched that year’s title based on the luck of a card draw. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: The Nissan race win that was taken away
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Winton round of the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship, one where Gary Scott and Nissan Motorsport got the win – but didn’t get to keep it. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ PODCAST: Gary Scott, Part 1 >> https://bit.ly/3KP1ERM PODCAST: Gary Scott, Part 2 >> https://bit.ly/3z8bewB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: George Smith (Part 2)
We’ve had an incredible chat with George Smith that set a new benchmark for the longest recording in the history of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol. He shared so many stories from a career in the sport that has seen him in the middle of many of its most memorable and iconic moments that he and Noonz ended up chatting for almost four hours (!) and we’re releasing the first two parts this week. In Part 2, he talks about Colin Bond’s defection from the Holden Dealer Team to Moffat Ford Dealers for 1977 and shares an incredible story about an unexpected mechanical problem that hit Allan Moffat’s #1 Falcon on the morning of that year’s Bathurst 1000. He then talks about his move to Datsun/Nissan, initially to work on its rally cars before being a foundation member of its Bluebird Group C touring car program - and he shares a few tales and confirms/dispels a few myths and rumours about the hidden technical trickery the turbocharged rockets possessed. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: George Smith (Part 1)
We’ve had an incredible chat with George Smith that set a new benchmark for the longest recording in the history of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol. He shared so many stories from a career in the sport that has seen him in the middle of many of its most memorable and iconic moments that he and Noonz ended up chatting for almost four hours! We’re releasing the first two parts this week. In Part 1, he talks about his current project: restoring the Big Kev Commodore that sat untouched for over 20 years following Paul Morris and Mark Larkham’s horror start-line crash at Oran Park in 2000. He then shares stories from his days with Dencar, his chassis building company with Dennis Watson that was responsible for underpinning many of the Holden Commodores that competed in touring car racing from the early-1990s to the mid-2000s, including a tale involving the production line in Elizabeth that Holden executives certainly didn’t find funny at the time… He then talks about how he got involved in the sport in the first place in Tasmania, landing a job with Harry Firth at the Holden Dealer Team, then linking up with Colin Bond’s Sydney-based HDT outpost. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Castrol Supercars Weekly: How Supercars can fix its practice problem
V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan runs through the key news from the Repco Supercars Championship this week, headlined by a string of co-driver announcements ahead of the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 enduros. Noonz also puts forward a radical solution to getting more racing into Supercars race weekends. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Live Night at Bathurst featuring Tony Cochrane >> https://bit.ly/3yXh6cb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: When Slade caused a controversial Safety Car
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Hidden Valley round of the 2009 V8 Supercars Championship Series, one where Tim Slade and Paul Morris Motorsport were accused – but cleared – of intentionally causing a Safety Car to benefit a teammate. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP Mini: How DJR built the world’s fastest Sierras
This week’s ‘mini’ edition of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol features Dick Johnson talking about how his team built what were widely renowned as the world’s fastest Ford Sierra touring cars in the late 1980s. In this snippet, Dick talks about how he initially had to buy management system chips from Andy Rouse, their very blunt parting of the ways and how the team was able to go its own way on developing the turbocharged rockets, culminating in DJR’s ‘ego trip’ to the 1988 Silverstone TT to take on Rouse and the factory-backed Eggenberger cars. This Mini came from Episode 14 back in 2019 when we were talking to Dick ahead of writing the sold-out, limited-edition book ‘Dick Johnson Racing/DJR Team Penske: 40 Years of Cars - 1980-2019’. To listen to the rest of the chat, covering the Tru Blu XDs and Greens’ Tuf XEs, Group A Mustangs and Sierras, and early Five Litre-era Falcons, tap this link >> https://bit.ly/V8SP14DJohnson We also did another chat with Dick on Episode 157 in 2021 looking at his highs and lows at the Bathurst 1000, which you can listen to here >> https://bit.ly/V8SP157DJohnson Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Race Control: Craig Baird explains the calls from Hidden Valley
Race Control: V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan chats with Supercars’ Driving Standards Advisor, Motorsport Australia’s Craig Baird, who explains all the details behind the calls made in Race Control during the latest Repco Supercars Championship round – the betr Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway. The V8 Sleuth Podcast appreciates the support of Motorsport Australia in putting our Race Control episodes together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Castrol Supercars Weekly: The sole Triple Crown contender determined
V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan runs through the key news from the Repco Supercars Championship this week, headlined by the on-track action from Friday at Hidden Valley where, after qualifying, just one driver remains in contention for the Triple Crown. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Revealed: Our V8 Sleuth Bathurst Live Night guest for 2024!
Tickets are now on sale for our annual V8 Sleuth Live night at this year's Repco Bathurst 1000, but there's been a few changes for 2024 that Noonz will take you through in this episode - as well as revealing the identity of this year's featured guest! Secure your tickets now via the link below ... they are limited and we've sold out very quickly in the past, so book now so you don't miss out! TICKETS >> https://bit.ly/3yXh6cb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: Andrew Miedecke (Part 2)
We’re talking to Andrew Miedecke for this week’s episodes of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol – and we’re releasing both parts at the same time! The second part of our two-part chat looks at the end of the road for Miedecke Motorsport as a touring car operation in 1989 and his union with Peter Brock, going from full-timer to co-driver for a host of elite squads, culminating in a Bathurst 1000 podium finish with Mark Larkham and Stone Brothers Racing in 1997. Miedecke also tells stories from racing NASCARs and winning Targa Tasmania, as well as going racing with son George and their current success in GT4 – which led to an unexpected congratulatory call from one of the biggest names in the automotive world! Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: Andrew Miedecke (Part 1)
We’re talking to Andrew Miedecke for this week’s episodes of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol – and we’re releasing both parts at the same time! In the first part of our two-part chat, he talks about choosing racing cars over horses in his native Tasmania, the story behind a one-off ATCC start in a Volvo in 1971, getting serious in open-wheel racing and trying to go overseas, getting into the car sales business and moving to Port Macquarie, returning to racing in the 1980s and earning the nickname ‘Mad Andy’, and finally hitting the big-time in touring cars with a Ford Sierra run on a shoestring budget. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: Ambrose’s Canberra ‘control tyre’
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Canberra round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series, one where Marcos Ambrose’s loose left-rear Bridgestone stole some of the limelight with a remarkable, unrepeatable, ‘not in a billion tries’ feat. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
V8SP: Wild and forgotten moments from the Canberra 400
With the King’s Birthday long weekend coming up, we’re looking back at a unique slice of Supercars history that traditionally fell on that public holiday weekend on this week’s episode of the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Castrol. The Canberra 400 only ran for three years (2000-2002) but left an incredible impression on fans and drivers – mainly for how cold it was! We look back through the event’s brief history, from the memorable races and results, the controversies, the massive shunts, and some of the weird things that happened. Find the right Castrol product for your vehicle or equipment here with the Castrol Product Finder >> https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia/home/oil-selector.html V8 Sleuth Superstore >> https://superstore.v8sleuth.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryco Rewind: The carnage amid Lowndes’ first title
For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the Mallala round of the 1996 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, a memorable one for Craig Lowndes that largely overshadows the carnage amid the day he clinched his first ATCC/Supercars title. Check out the Ryco Filters range >> https://rycofilters.com.au/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices