Boost boss wants own Supercars team

Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton has declared an interest in starting his own Supercars team, citing Red Bull’s Formula 1 model as the way forward.

The ambitious Sydney-born, US-based Adderton’s Boost company is currently the primary sponsor of Walkinshaw Andretti United’s two-car Holden squad.

Adderton began backing Walkinshaw at the start of last year and had been in talks to buy an equity stake in the squad, before Andretti Autosport and United Autosports were brought in as partners.

Currently evaluating his options for the future, Adderton is not only aiming to remain in Supercars, but is keen to one day start a team of his own, which he says would be done “from scratch”.

“We want a team, we’d absolutely love a team,” he said when asked if ownership is on his radar.

“We’re always going to be focused on the team side of it, the team aspect. For us, we want that fan engagement.

“Look at what Red Bull is doing, they own their own events, they own and run their own Formula 1 team. At some point for a brand like ours, you’re going to think more like a manufacturer.

“When the cars are the same and you’re literally bolting everybody else’s parts on, as a brand you can control that. You can control that experience.

“When I look at Formula 1, even if I sponsored the McLaren team or the Mercedes team, it would always be the McLaren team or Mercedes team. But the Red Bull team is called the Red Bull team.

“As a brand, that starts to become… like right now it’s Walkinshaw Andretti United racing. I want Boost Mobile Racing.

“At some point the only way to do that is to get the team owners to realise that their brands aren’t as relevant anymore and brands like ours want to get in front.

“Maybe the only way to do that is to buy a team. That’s something we’re absolutely always looking at.

“Ultimately, it’s our money that’s running the team anyway. You start getting a lot of tax benefits if you own the team rather than just writing cheques as a brand and marketer.”

Sponsorship talks ongoing

While starting his own squad is an option, Adderton says he’s currently talking to “multiple people” about sponsorship for next year, including Walkinshaw.

Boost branding appeared at Brad Jones Racing and Tickford Racing towards the end of 2017, before Adderton opted for a full two-car model with Walkinshaw this year.

Adderton noted Walkinshaw’s improved performance as a carrot for continuing, and noted “there are other brands fighting for these cars” as well.

“I’m the kind of guy, and I said this to the team, I do the same thing with our athletes and our staff… if you perform and you hit your targets, we’ll pay you well,” he said.

“Teams say it’s a chicken and egg, give us the money and we’ll go faster. And I say no, go faster and I’ll give you the money.

“We’re very focused on performance, and I think the team is doing a much better job this year than they did last year.

“That’s encouraging for us, so we’re talking to them now about what next year looks like.

“We’re not going to pay top dollar to run 15th and 16th. Now these guys have shown they can get them going faster, then absolutely, we’d love to stay with the team.”

Asked if he expects to remain purely a sponsor next year, given that the new season is not far away, Adderton added: “Our options are open.

“If we can’t find a team that we really like and want to sponsor, our options are open to put our own Boost Mobile Racing team together. That’s an option that’s available to us.

“I just want to make sure we’re competitive, I’m a terrible loser.

“For the brand, we always like to be at the front. You can’t win every race, but… we’ll see.”