Betty's Benz deal closer
The prospect of Betty Klimenko's Erebus Motorsport V8 continuing to race Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs beyond 2014 appears to be strengthening.
A new deal for Erebus to continue to race in V8 Supercars under the AMG Customers Sports banner has been in negotiation for some time. It would replace the existing two-year deal that expires at the end of 2014.
Completing the deal would be a major achievement for Erebus, which looked almost certain to be headed to another brand - there have been confirmed discussions with Volvo - earlier this year as it struggled to maintain a relationship with Benz.
The focus on the contract has been heightened because AMG Customer Sports boss Jochen Bitzer has flown in from Germany for this weekend's Wilson Security Sandown 500, while Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific marketing general manager Jason Nomikos and communications boss David McCarthy are Erebus guests at the opening round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
"At Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific we have been part of the contract discussions and they have been positive," McCarthy told v8supercars.com.au on Saturday afternoon. "There's been some good backwards and forwards."
"From our perspective there are no issues that remain unresolved. I think all sides want to move it forward and that is what we are doing.
"There are no unresolved issues from our perspective."
If a deal does get done, it would license Erebus to continue racing the E63 AMG in V8 Supercars racing. The team is understood to be seeking some assistance in terms of loan vehicle and other relatively minor areas, but neither AMG or M-B A/P would be signing on as financial backers of the program.
But nor would Erebus use AMG's racing supplier HWA as a significant technical partner as it did when the program was first approved in September 2012.
Prior to that M-B A/P had refused to approve the licensing of the project, but was reluctantly talked around by Benz's German head office.
The project also appeared to be in difficulty when the AMG boss who approved the deal was promoted within Benz and his replacement, Tobias Moers, was very negative in his public comments about the team's performance.
But he has more recently changed has tone as Erebus has improved its competitiveness, claiming a win at Winton in April.
"As Tobias said recently, where we started is not where we are now'," McCarthy explained.
"Motorsport has strong competitors and strong opinions. We all have those strong opinions. At the end of the day it is a Customer Sports program and that is supported by AMG and in turn, Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific, is not going to stand in the way of that."
McCarthy acknowledged Klimenko and Erebus CEO Ryan Maddison's personal passion for the Mercedes-Benz brand.
"The passion and commitment let alone the money that Betty and her team have put into this is really significant and that's recognised by Germany and that's recognised by us.
"We are a sales organisation, we are a customer organisation, Betty is a customer, Erebus is a customer and we respect that."
