Livery lookout - Part One.

By Matthew Agius

With the start of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series just over a month away, punters both new and old keenly await the unveiling of the war paint for the various Ford and Holden operations in the series.

Only a handful of liveries have been unveiled in January, however with February only a few weeks away, the appetisers released so far will be enough for the punters before the forthcoming V8 Supercar Series launch.

The first livery made visible to the public and the media was Ford Performance Racing's war paint for Mark Winterbottom. Simply a gentle evolution of last year's Ford Credit design, the most noticeable change to Winterbottom's new car is the addition of Orrcon as a joint-major sponsor for 2007. The steel manufacturer now holds signage rights to the side of the car, with a few smaller logos adding to the front splitter of the Falcon, whilst foundation sponsor Ford Credit maintains large sponsorship on the bonnet.

If current rumours are anything to go by, Steven Richards may return to Ford driving a black and gold Falcon in 2007, with Castrol Edge the new rumoured replacement for Caterpillar on FPR's number six BFII Falcon. Previous suggestions included the parent Castrol brand and BP Ultimate, with a mockup image of a green and blue livery similar to the Ford World Rally team circulating the local press.

Second to reveal their 2007 design was Walden Motorsport - a privateer team making a return to the series this year. Sporting a double-blue scheme, the #24 VZ Commodore sports an outline of the Sydney Opera House and the slogan "Spirit of Sydney" - a self-promotion as the championship's only team operating out of Australia's largest city.

Crash.net has also acquired a mockup image courtesy of Tasman Motorsport, displaying the new look Tasman VE Commodore for 2007. Set to employ a rotational sponsorship arrangement similar to that used last year, the image displays the sponsor that will back the team at the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000, Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge and the Bahrain Desert 400.

Triple Eight Race Engineering will unveil a 'revolutionary' new paint scheme tomorrow (Tuesday January 23rd). Set to primarily feature new sponsors Vodafone and Sony Ericsson, a pixelated teaser image on the squad's website indicates a predominantly red design, on the back of the car.

Crash.net can exclusively reveal that Team BOC will not have any significant alterations to their 2006 livery design - the blue and white 'lightning' design will remain for this year, although there are likely to be sponsorship placement changes.

In contrast to Team BOC, the Fujitsu Racing website is advertising a new design, with a launch set during February.

Despite having traditionally showcased their new cars to the public in the off-season, deposed champions Stone Brothers Racing will not have a fan day in 2007, and will not attend the V8 series launch. A livery release is expected before the season opener in Adelaide.