Dumbrell aims to double up

Buoyed by the new V8 Supercars television and media deal and the promising form of his new-look team, Lucas Dumbrell has confirmed his ambition to expand back to two cars in 2015.

After three years as a single car operation, LDM (Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports) ran two Triple Eight-built Holden Commodore VFs for rookie Scott Pye and West Aussie Dean Fiore in 2013.

However, the team struck various issues including a huge crash bill, prompting Dumbrell to hand back one of his two Racing Entitlements Contracts (RECs) to V8 Supercars for 2014 and enlist veteran Russell Ingall to drive his remaining entry with primary backing from Phil Munday’s Repair Management Australia. 

The deal was stitched together with the support of Holden Motorsport boss Simon McNamara and the team emerged from the Clipsal 500 Championship opener with Ingall 12th in the points table. 

The younger brother of V8 Supercars regular Paul Dumbrell, Lucas was left a quadraplegic in a Formula Ford accident in 2008, denying him his dream of also becoming a V8 Supercars driver. Instead he has channelled his passion into team ownership.

“I am excited to be in the series,” Dumbrell told v8supercars.com.au. “My obvious goal is to return to two cars next year and with the new TV deal and the dividend makes it a whole lot easier to do that. 

“It makes it a whole lot easier to do that when you know you are going to get a dividend of X amount.” 

V8 Supercars shifts in 2015 from the Seven Network to a media deal hosted by Foxtel, Fox Sports and Ten Network that runs until 2020 and is worth $241 million.

“I am definitely looking to expand back to two cars,” Dumbrell added. “I think the series has a great future ahead of it.”

Dumbrell’s declaration follows on from the confirmation that Tekno Autosports, the other single car operation on the grid, is also looking to expand back to two cars as soon as 2015. 

In 2014 the grid size dropped from 28 to 25 cars, but that would only be a temporary dip if LDM and Tekno both achieve their expansion ambitions.

Dumbrell made it clear he hasn’t committed to a second car yet, but he said Ingall in the driver’s seat of his reorganised team was helping marketability and the process of securing appropriate funding. 

He also highlighted another member of the team, engineer Brendan Hogan, as being a key part of his plan for the future.

“He is one of the best engineers going around at the moment,” Dumbrell declared. “He has had offers from some big teams, but he has turned them all down because he believes in what I am saying. I am pretty happy, he is a huge asset.”

Because of its two-car campaign in 2013, LDM also has plenty of hardware assets such as engines and gearboxes. The team would have to build a second Commodore because Fiore’s car is owned by his sponsors. 

But Dumbrell isn’t deterred by the prospect of having to go through that process. 

“One good thing about the Car of the Future is the physical chassis is actually very easy to make – absolutely 100 per cent ridiculously cheaper to make than the old car.

“Yes, all the bolt-on bits are expensive, but they always have been. But the physical core chassis (is) so much cheaper to make. So we would look at making one.

“The goal is to go back to two cars and car-wise we would get a new one built … just because the actual physical chassis is very cost effective to make.”