Aussie V8 Supercar stars head to the USA

The spectacular door banging action that Aussies know and love about V8 Supercars is set to introduced to the US market for the first time in 2013 when the championship visits the Circuit of the Americas from May 17-19 for the inaugural Austin 400.

The traditional Ford vs Holden battle has been expanded this year with Nissan and Mercedes entries now doing battle in the championship for the first time.

Mercedes is a relative Australian touring car "rookie" but Nissan is making a return for the first time since the days of the Nissan GTR "Godzilla" which dominated the Australian Touring Car Championship in the early 90s.

NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip had the chance to witness V8 Supercars first hand in 2011 when he was part of the commentary team for SPEED TV's US broadcast of Bathurst 1000.

Waltrip took the opportunity to take a lap of the legendary 3.86 mile Mount Panorama circuit for a hair-raising ride alongside former Bathurst 1000 winner and 2000 Indy Lights driver, Jason Bright. Check out the ride captured on camera (click video link above) 

Two-time V8 Supercar champion and current NASCAR ace Marcos Ambrose is looking forward to seeing some of his old rivals doing battle in the US.

“The drivers may find the track a bit slick; at the Formula 1 event it took a long time to rubber up but that makes it even more fun to watch, especially as the V8 Supercars slide around quite a bit,” Ambrose said. (pictured right after winning the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide in 2004)

“The V8s are running the short circuit and that is somewhat unknown … but I think it might be the better choice. It is going to be very technical and full of passing opportunities.

“The first corner will be interesting. I was so, so afraid of a crisis situation at the start of the Formula 1 race but I guess they took care of each other and got through it. The problem is that you almost do a 180 (degree turn) and, with the wide entry, you can go in there four abreast, but four abreast cannot come out.”

Austin, Texas becomes the latest international venue for the championship. The series has made regular visits to neighboring New Zealand since 2001 and has included the likes of Shanghai, China plus Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in recent years.