Holden VE Commodore

Rising Australian motorsport star Adam Majoram recently caught up with Fiasco Sports to talk all things racing and V8 Utes.

V8 Ute driver Adam Marjoram racing on the Gold Coast. Source: Adam Marjoram

V8 Utes has a strong place in the heart of Australian motorsport and 20 year old Adam Marjoram is set to make his 2014 racing campaign stronger than ever.

While studying a double degree of Economics and Commerce and racing all over Australia, this year is set to be a challenging and exciting year for the Western Australian.

Marjoram was recently signed as part of V8 Supercar’s Erebus Motorsport Academy and Erebus Motorsport V8 Ute team, making his debut round at Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 look very strong.

The V8 Ute driver recently caught up with Fiasco Sports’ journalist Loren Hazelwood to talk about his exciting up-coming season.

Adam Marjoram confirms signing with Erebus Motorsport V8 Ute team. Source: Adam Marjoram

Loren: You had a great debut season in the V8 Ute series last year, how will this help your 2014 campaign?

Adam: Yeah, it was a great year learning all the tracks and handle the V8 Utes – they’re very different to any other form of race car! For 2014, I have signed with the Erebus V8 Ute team and the Erebus Academy. With the resources and access to all areas with Erebus, it will help me to develop as a driver on and off the track and provide me with a really competitive car. Hopefully we can push the top 5 consistently!

Loren: Now you just mentioned that Erebus Motorsport have signed you as a ute driver, will their experience in V8 Supercars be beneficial for your second season in V8 Utes?

Adam: For sure, Erebus are an extremely professional outfit and many of the things they have learned in V8 Supercars can be transferred to the V8 Ute team, whether it be technical or PR related.

Loren: You started out your racing career in sprint kart racing all over Australia, how has this helped in getting yourself to the level you are at today?

Adam: Karting is a great base for any young driver. It allows you to learn the fundamentals of racing and race craft. Transitioning into car racing is a hard process, however, the one thing you never lose is that race craft. Coming from Perth, you are very isolated; therefore you really have to travel abroad to race where the competition is. Because of this I was always learning new tracks; this really develops the adaptability of the driver so that when they are immersed into a new environment they can pick it up as quick as possible.

Loren: What has the V8 Ute experience been like?

Adam: It has been amazing! To only be in the car racing scene for two years and getting the chance to race at places like Bathurst, Surfers Paradise and in front of my home crowd at Barbagallo [Perth], has been amazing. I have learned so much about racing over the 2013 season…the tracks, the cars, the media. It has just been a dream come true for me! When I go to the track I am honestly like a kid in a candy shop, there is nowhere else I’d rather be!

Adam Marjoram walking away from his horrific crash. Source: Adam Marjoram

Loren: You unfortunately had a massive crash last year at the Gold Coast 500 and had to replace the car for the final round at Sydney, how did you take that challenge of overcoming a crash and coming to grips with a new car?

Adam: Yeah, that was definitely the biggest crash I had been in. You race knowing that accidents like that happen, but you just never expect it to happen to you. I felt pretty sore after the crash as you’d expect, but went straight into exams so I couldn’t see anyone about it! I have since seen a physio, and all is well now. But I was very lucky to get another V8 Ute for the Sydney 500. Unfortunately we were plagued with problems from chronic understeer to overheating engines. That dropped us three positions in the Championship and down to third in the Rookie of the Year Championship which was not ideal.

Loren: You’ve been busy juggling university studies and racing, do you have anything else planned for 2014?

Adam: Yeah, has been a busy, busy year! As part of the Erebus Academy I will be travelling to more V8 Supercar rounds outside of the V8 Ute calendar to learn and help the team. Otherwise, I am looking at getting back into a kart back here in Perth to keep my eye in a little more and keep up the training so that I am at my physical peak whenever I jump into a car! There also may be a couple of cool little things pop up during the year …you’ll have to keep posted.

Loren: The team here at Fiasco Sports will definitely be watching you this year! Is there anyone you would like to thank?

Adam: Thanks! Look everyone that has been instrumental in forging my Motorsport Career has been amazing, namely the support from Auto One, Valvoline, Supercharge Batteries, Nova, my team last year – Williams Race Tech – and and my new team, Erebus Motorsport.

Loren: Thank you very much Adam, catch you on the track!

Written by Loren Hazelwood. @LorenHazelwood

– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/go-aussie-adam-rising-v8-ute-driver-adam-marjoram/#sthash.qNLeeJLp.dpuf

Published on http://www.spultured.com

I remember it was about this time last year, when the media was talking about Casey Stoner retiring and how much it was going to hurt the MotoGP category. Everyone had their opinion about why Stoner should stay, how useless he was going to be in a V8 Supercar and how Honda would not be able to find a replacement for the Australian world champion.

Well look who’s laughing now.

If anything, the 27-year-old made his best decision of a lifetime. I mean, he has a family now and with the recent death of Marco Simoncelli, it’s definitely safer to be on four wheels than two.

And not even that, Stoner made way for a true star in the making. Marc Màrquez who is only 20 years old, a few weeks ago became the youngest ever rider to win a MotoGP race. Incredible! Màrquez also finished second at the Spanish Grand Prix to his teammate Dani Pedrosa from Repsol Honda. If anything the team is on better form than what they were this time last year, with the team not even barely damaged with the loss of world champion Stoner. Now whoever said Stoner was “irreplaceable” was clearly not thinking about the future.

Even though Casey Stoner is only racing in the Dunlop Development Series (category below V8 Supercars) he has been working with arguably the best V8 team in the main game (RedBull Racing Australia – Triple 8 Race Engineering) and is now an official representative for Holden Australia. Not only is Casey’s credibility growing, he’s now getting a lot more media attention. The MotoGP champ has only raced two championship rounds this year so it is still early days to determine whether he is good enough for the main game next year, but the team I’m sure will focus on Casey’s early development in the Holden VE Commodore and will see out the rest of the season in the development series.

Unfortunately with MotoGP being apart motorsport, it receives minimal media attention, either in print or broadcast journalism as of course, it isn’t as popular as the AFL, NRL etc. Not only has Casey Stoner grabbed the media, he’s also promoted the Dunlop Development Series, which for years has been underrated, with no coverage what-so-ever. Only problem here is that the only person who gets coverage in the series is Casey and the focus has been stolen from the young kids winning the races in the series.

Stoner I don’t believe has the amount of race craft at the moment on four wheels as some of the younger drivers in the development field, so he will have to test like crazy with his team from Triple 8 Race Engineering. Not only is the MotoGP with the best team, he also can receive some of the best V8 mentoring from current V8 Supercar Champion Jamie Whincup and also newly crowned all-time-best V8 driver Craig Lowndes. I mean Stoner has some of the best help on offer, so by the end of this year’s development series Stoner should be on the money.

I know Casey Stoner has a massive fan base from many Australians – on the other hand there are also many Australians who dislike Stoner and would rather someone like Valentino Rossi win races. It is a massive culture change for Stoner to come back and live in Australia so I believe we should all stop bagging him and support the Aussie who wants to race over here. Yes, he has a long way to go, but he’s only raced at Clipsal and Barbagallo. There is plenty more tracks for Stoner to prove himself to the V8 field and I can tell you, it will be one interesting year with the MotoGP champ in V8s.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t end up like Wayne Gardner…

Media by Loren Hazelwood

Motor sport media, marketing and content specialist

Go Aussie Adam: Rising V8 Ute driver Adam Marjoram

Stoner in Australia? Bloody Oath