We Want to Race Ford!
Stay! That’s the powerful message sent to Ford by factory drivers Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom with their one-two finish in today’s 200km race at the Sucrogen Townsville 400.
Ford Performance Racing is in negotiation with the blue oval to renew its naming rights sponsorship with the team beyond 2013, but there has as yet been no deal done.
Question marks have been put over a renewal because Ford has announced it is ceasing Australian production by October 2016 and killing off the Falcon model.
Ford has had official representation at only occasional V8 Supercars events this year. Both Holden and Nissan have full-time motorsport managers, while the Mercedes-Benz operation is a privateer effort.
Asked if his preference was to stay racing a Ford in 2014, Davison replied: “Absolutely. It doesn’t just benefit us drivers and FPR, I think it benefits all the category.
“So it is very important they remain in the category because it benefits all of us. It’s such a big part of the history of our sport and the fan base is 50 percent blue or whatever it is.”
Although Crag Lowndes bravely sprinted into the distance in the race on soft tyres in his Red Bull Commodore, the two Pepsi Max drivers were able to reel him in during the latter stages in their Falcon FGs.
In a show of strength at the Reid Park street circuit, there were five Falcons in the top 11, with Alex Davison (Jeld-Wen FPR) finishing ninth ahead of Chaz Mostert (Wilson Security DJR) and David Reynolds (Bottle-O).
Winterbottom said it was a great result for Ford fans, who have had to suffer a Holden Commodore domination this year. He and Davison had previously recorded one win each this year in 19 races.
“When you see so many Ford fans on the side of the track – there were so many blue flags on that in-lap – a one-two means more to them than anything,” Winterbottom said.
“We have had cars win separately on different occasions, but a one-two is a pretty dominant performance by the team. That was a good in-lap, it was great to see the blue flags. It was really cool.”
Winterbottom stressed that winning a race would not be enough to get Ford across the line on a renewal.
“The team is negotiating at the moment, but there is a lot more to it than just winning races. There are also the marketing tools all our commercial team try and push. It is important for Ford to get results but it’s not the be all and end all.”
Davison made the point that Ford has raced models other than Falcon in Australia in the past, suggesting the end of Falcon does not necessarily have to mean the end of the blue oval’s involvement in V8 Supercars.
“People forget there were Sierras and all sorts of other models over the years including Mustangs and Falcons. Whatever it is I am sure the fan base will come out and support us.”
